oss-examination, but his story was not
shaken. He had a plenty of good-natured, lazy force, and took care
of himself. A witness brought in a short section of one of the apple
trees, which had twenty-nine rings showing its age, which made a
sensation.

Several other witnesses swore that when they were boys, they used
to hunt for cattle, on the bottoms, to the north of Cole's land, and
often got on to the old tree fences, to listen for the cow-bells. And
Bart rested his case.

One branch of this defence looked ugly. The defendant had not clearly
proven that he in person took possession of the land in time to
perfect his title by adverse possession. But he had shown another man
in possession, of some of the property, at least, and claiming it, and
he had purchased this right, whatever it was, had gone in under him,
and so succeeded to his possession, and right, if he had any.

This took the plaintiff by surprise, and when the defendant rested, he
and his counsel were on the alert to meet it. A note came in from the
outside, and the plaintiff and his counsel retired under leave of the
Court, for consultation. Meanwhile Judge Markham and the President,
who had taken much interest in the case, engaged in an earnest
conversation. Then Judge Markham came down from the bench, and calling
Bart to him, shook him warmly by the hand, and introduced him to Judge
Humphrey, and his associates. All of which the jury observed.

Upon resuming the case, the plaintiff produced his depositions, and
proved that the defendant's grantor, John Williams, Junior, was the
reputed natural son of Williams, of the Land Company, &c.; also called
witnesses to show that Cole came into the county in 1818. An attempt
was then made to impeach Bullock, which failed. Ward was then put on
the stand, and swore that he met Basil Hall, on a certain time, who
told him that he had no claim, right or title to the land whatever. He
also swore that he saw Hiram Fowler at work, mending the tree fence,
on the north, the summer that Cole came in.

Bart, who had evinced rare skill in the examination of his own
witnesses--a more difficult thing, by the way, than to cross-examine
those of an adversary--put him through a sharp and stinging
cross-examination. Under pretence of testing his memory, and of
showing bias, he took him over the whole course, and it appeared that
if he ever had the conversation he claimed with Basil, it must
have been after his sale to Cole; an