Martin Hallowell quarreled
and made a hasty division of what had belonged to them in common.
There had always been a slight doubt as to the title of the land upon
which the yellow stone farmhouse stood, and to the upper end of the
farms by the river. Anthony knew of it from the days when we studied
law together and he came back determined to make that property his. I
will not deny that he had some slight basis for his claim. He would
accept no compromise or offer of purchase, so in the end Jasper gave
in to him."

Cousin Jasper had not spoken throughout Tom Brighton's recounting of
the whole affair. But now he took up the tale himself, going over the
ground that, very evidently, he had pondered and argued and weighed
within himself a hundred times.

"I had much and he had nothing, he was in real want and had a wife and
two children besides. There was, as Tom says, some real basis for his
claim since the title had never been made quite clear. And there is,
further, no more bitter thing than a family quarrel, a division over
the settlement of property, this one asking for what is more than his,
that one fighting to hold what is not his own--no, it was unthinkable.
So we settled the matter peaceably enough. I built a new house above
him on the hill and he settled down in the place that had been home to
all of us. He seemed to have repented of the wrong he had done and we
were ready to forget it. I do not think that I ever doubted the
honesty of his purpose, at first. Then it came to my wishing for some
of the old possessions for my new house and he vowed that every one of
them was his."

"I know," said Janet, nodding quickly. "He wouldn't give up the
pictures, though he did not care for them himself. They were stored in
the dust and dirt under the eaves and he asked me if you had sent me
to see where he kept them. He only wanted them because they were
yours."

"I suppose he meant to sell them some day," Cousin Jasper answered,
"for there were several that were of almost as much value as the house
itself. But less than ever was I willing to bicker and haggle over
what I had really loved, and since he would not sell them to me I gave
the matter up. Even then, there was a little justice on his side, for
the pictures had been purchased with money from the lands that he
called his. But it was my great mistake, since he did not understand
at all why I yielded to him, and from that time he made certain that
he had but to f