ld Associates would be
obliged to defend the titles they had given to the land, and she as
majority partner in this lucrative enterprise would have to stand her
share of the risk and the legal expense involved. Adelle saw that the
affair was more complex than she had thought and said so, with no
indication, however, of giving up her purpose.

"It is not a simple matter at all to consider the claims of these
California Clarks. The land has passed out of our--your control: it has
probably passed through several hands in many instances, each owner
pledging his faith in the validity of his title. You can see that any
action taken now by these heirs of Edward S. Clark against the present
owners of Clark's Field would injure numberless innocent people. It is
not to be thought of for one moment!" Having reached a moral ground for
not upsetting things as they were, the president of the trust company
felt more at ease and expatiated at length on "the good faith of the
Washington Trust Company and all others" who had been parties to the
transaction. Adelle sighed as she listened to the torrent of eloquence
and realized what an upheaval her simple act of restitution would cause.
It seemed to her that the law was a very peculiar institution, indeed,
which prevented people from using their property for many years in order
not to injure some possible heirs, and then just as stoutly prevented
those heirs when they had been discovered from getting their own!

"It is simply preposterous, the whole thing," one of the younger
officers observed, rising to go about more important business.

"It's not likely to come to anything--they are poor people, these other
Clarks, you said?" inquired Mr. Smith.

"I know only one of them," Adelle replied. "He was a stone mason working
on my place in California. It was by accident that I learned of his
relationship to me. He has some brothers and sisters living, four of
them I think he said. They are all poor people. I don't know whether he
has any cousins. I didn't ask him. But I think he said something once
about an uncle or aunt, so it's likely there are other heirs, too."

The trust president asked testily,--

"You didn't by any chance mention to this stone mason your belief that
he was entitled to a share in his grandfather's property?"

"Yes, I did!" Adelle promptly replied. "We talked it over several
times."

The three gentlemen murmured something.

"And he is coming on to see about it.