n investigation of the public records, and
a careful inquiry among all persons who had transacted law business for
his father, no evidence could be recovered to support his defence. The
period was now near at hand when he conceived the loss of his lawsuit to
be inevitable, and he had formed his determination to ride to Edinburgh
next day, and make the best bargain he could in the way of compromise.
He went to bed with this resolution and, with all the circumstances
of the case floating upon his mind, had a dream to the following
purpose:--His father, who had been many years dead, appeared to him, he
thought, and asked him why he was disturbed in his mind. In dreams men
are not surprised at such apparitions. Mr. Rutherfurd thought that
he informed his father of the cause of his distress, adding that the
payment of a considerable sum of money was the more unpleasant to him,
because he had a strong consciousness that it was not due, though he was
unable to recover any evidence in support of his belief, "You are right,
my son," replied the paternal shade; "I did acquire right to these
teinds, for payment of which you are now prosecuted. The papers relating
to the transaction are in the hands of Mr.--, a writer (or attorney), who
is now retired from professional business, and resides at Inveresk,
near Edinburgh. He was a person whom I employed on that occasion for
a particular reason, but who never on any other occasion transacted
business on my account. It is very possible," pursued the vision, "that
Mr.--may have forgotten a matter which is now of a very old date; but you
may call it to his recollection by this token, that when I came to pay
his account, there was difficulty in getting change for a Portugal piece
of gold, and that we were forced to drink out the balance at a tavern."

Mr. Rutherfurd awakened in the morning with all the words of the vision
imprinted on his mind, and thought it worth while to ride across the
country to Inveresk, instead of going straight to Edinburgh. When he
came there he waited on the gentleman mentioned in the dream, a very
old man; without saying anything of the vision, he inquired whether he
remembered having conducted such a matter for his deceased father.
The old gentleman could not at first bring the circumstance to his
recollection, but on mention of the Portugal piece of gold, the whole
returned upon his memory; he made an immediate search for the papers,
and recovered them,--so tha