nged. His fighting
blood was rising.

"Eh, them lawyers!" he cried fiercely. "I will be begging your pardon,
Mr. Coulson," he added apologetically. "But it will be a great peety
that a fine man like yourself would be hafing anything to do with the
tribe. But if they had jist been hafing the Gaelic, I would haf been
giving it to them. Och, but it will be a peety about the English. It
would be but a poor spoke, indeed."

"Well, Sandy, let us hope that there are some honest lawyers. I'm
going into Mr. Huntley's office on Monday, and I'll do my best for you.
Don't worry."

When the farewells had been said, and Elizabeth had comforted Eppie in
parting, the berry-pickers found to their joy that Mr. Coulson was to
accompany them for a short distance, on his way to Wully Johnstone's.
They had many eager questions to ask him. What were those men doing?
the boys demanded. How dared they try to turn old Sandy away? What
had they to do with his place, anyway? Mr. Coulson explained that they
could not understand it all, for law was a very complex thing indeed.
But all this property of Sandy's, as well as Tom Teeter's land, and
everything between here and The Dale, had once belonged to Mr. Jarvis,
and now belonged to the lady for whom Lizzie was called. Mrs. Jarvis
had come to Cheemaun this summer and had asked her lawyer to sell all
this property. And now it would appear that old Sandy's farm was for
sale, too. For Sandy had no deed of his property; in fact, had merely
worked it for Mr. Jarvis, who, Sandy declared, had told him that all
south of the Birch Creek belonged to him. But it wasn't in writing,
and lawyers did not believe anything they didn't see.

The children listened dismayed, and each proffered his own opinion as
to the line of conduct old Sandy should pursue. Charles Stuart would
barricade the gates and put up a palisade round the whole farm, the way
they did in the old Indian days. Yes, and he would buy a gun and shoot
dead anyone who set foot on his property. John heartily agreed with
the plan, introducing modifications. A palisade would require all the
soldiers in the County of Simcoe to man it. Instead, he would lay
mines and torpedoes and deadly man-traps up the lane and all through
the bush, so that no approach could be made to the house.

The two walked on ahead, consumed with excitement over the warlike
plans, and Elizabeth and Mr. Coulson fell behind. He saw the distress
in the littl