find
a means of forcing her to sell that property to him. Now, when a person
owning property does not wish to sell, that person cannot be forced into
giving up the property unless it is discovered that the property doesn't
belong to that particular person. That's plain, isn't it?"

He was speaking to Captain Obed, and the captain answered.

"But it does belong to her," he declared. "Her Uncle Abner Barnes willed
it to her. Course it belongs to her!"

"I know. But sometimes there are such things as flaws in a title. That
is to say, somewhere and at some time there has been a transfer of that
property that was illegal. In such a case the property belongs to the
previous holder, no matter in how many instances it has changed hands
since. In the present case it was perfectly plain that Mrs. Barnes
thought she owned that land, having inherited it from her uncle.
Therefore she could not be forced to sell unless it was discovered that
there was a flaw in the title--that she did not own it legally at all. I
told my client--Mr. Kendrick, here--that, and he ordered me to have the
title searched or to search it myself. I have spent a good deal of
time at the recorder's office in Ostable doing that very thing. And I
discovered that there was such a flaw; that Mrs. Barnes did not legally
own that land upon which her house stands. And, as the land was not
hers, the house was not hers either."

Holliday Kendrick struck the desk a thump with his fist.

"Good!" he cried. "Good enough! I told 'em I generally got what I
wanted! Now I'll get it this time. Kendrick--"

"Wait," said John. "Captain Obed, you understand me so far?"

The captain's outraged feelings burst forth.

"I understand it's durn mean business!" he shouted. "I'm ashamed of you,
John Kendrick!"

"All right! all right! The shame can wait. And I want YOU to wait,
too--until I've finished. There was a flaw in that title, as I said.
Captain Bangs, as you know, the house in which Mrs. Barnes is now living
originally stood, not where it now stands, but upon land two or three
hundred yards to the north, upon a portion of the property which
afterward became the Colfax estate and which now belongs to Mr. Kendrick
here. You know that?"

Captain Obed nodded. "Course I know it," he said. "Cap'n Abner could
have bought the house and the land it stood on, but he didn't want to.
He liked the view better from where it stands now. So he bought the
strip nigher this way and move