ered the preparation of the second necessary.
Now, what is the most natural mistake, the most everyday, common
mistake?"

He paused again.

"Misdescription!" he announced, "a misdescription of the property, a
clerical error in that. And it's so profoundly simple! The instrument
signed and witnessed carelessly, without comparison; then the discovery
that the land was wrongly described, followed by the preparation of a
second conveyance, and neglect to destroy the first, which of course is
void both by error and lack of delivery. There you are! That's Braden's
defense. And the devil of it is, that without evidence to contradict it
it's perfectly good."

"Do you mean he gets away with it?" Turkey exclaimed.

"On the face of it he does," the judge replied, "but sometimes faces
alter. No man can construct evidence without a weak spot somewhere.
Leave these papers with me. I'll think the whole thing over again."

When his clients had gone he refilled his pipe and put his feet on his
desk. He sat for an hour, motionless, his cold pipe between his teeth.
Then once more he scrutinized the deeds carefully, looking at the faulty
type. At last he held them to the light and peered at them. Then he
brought his gnarled old fist down.

"By George!" he muttered, "it's a slim chance, and unprofessional as the
devil, but it's about the only one I see. As matters stand, it would be
folly to launch an action. 'Conscience makes cowards.' That's truer than
most proverbs, and Braden's a rank coward at heart. I'll give him a few
days to get really nervous, and then I'll try it. It may work--yes, it
_may_ work."

CHAPTER XXXVIII

GARLAND PLAYS A HAND

As Mr. Braden was quite sure that Garland had abstracted the deeds he
expected to receive a proposition from him. When this did not come he
was puzzled. What was Garland waiting for? Was it possible that he was
dickering with Mackay?

The result of this uncomfortable suspicion was that he began to sound
Garland, speaking carelessly of Faith's claim to the property,
ridiculing it. Garland, being by no means a fool, began to wonder why
Braden recurred to the subject, and began to lead him on.

"What made her think she owned the thing?" he asked. "If her deeds are
all right they ought to show her what's hers."

This confirmed Braden's suspicions.

"You heard Mackay say French gave them to her before he died."

"Yes, I heard that," said Garland. But if Braden kept insisting on