sh
colony. Under both rules the law of primogeniture sometimes held force.
That is, an estate passed to the eldest son of a family. Your estate was
such a one. In fact, we possess in this very office old charters and
papers which state that the property was entailed after the European
custom. If that were so, the courts might declare that the elder of the
twins born in 1788 was the sole owner of Pirate's Haven.

"But which of the twin brothers was the elder? You will say at once,
Richard. But your rival will say Roderick. And there is no proof. For in
the spring, two months after the birth of the boys, most of the family
papers were destroyed in the great fire which almost wiped out the city
and burned the Ralestone town house. There is no birth record in
existence. I appealed to your brother to return to me these papers which
Miles Ralestone took north with him after the war. You returned them
today but there was nothing in them of any value to this case.

"However, if you can find such proof, that Richard Ralestone was the
elder and thus the legal heir under the laws of Spain, then we shall
have a solid fact upon which to base our fight."

"There is such a proof," began Ricky slowly.

"What? Where?" demanded Mr. LeFleur.

"Don't you remember, Val," she turned to him, "what Rupert said about
the Luck last night--that the names of the heirs were engraved upon its
blade? We'll have to find the Luck! We'll just have to!"

"But Roderick took the Luck with him. And if it's still in existence,
this rival will have it now," her brother reminded her.

"Yes, of course, I was forgetting--" her voice trailed off into silence
and Val stared at her with a dropped jaw. Such a quick change of manner
was totally unlike Ricky. "Yes," she repeated slowly and distinctly, "I
guess we're the losers--"

"For Pete's sake--" he began hotly and then he saw her hand making
furious motions in his direction from behind the screen of her large
purse. "Well, I suppose we are in a hole." He managed to mend his tone a
fraction. "Rupert will probably be in to see you tomorrow, Mr. LeFleur."

"It would be well for him to become acquainted with the whole matter as
quickly as possible," agreed the unhappy Creole. "You may tell Mr.
Ralestone that I am, of course, having this claimant thoroughly
investigated. We shall have to wait and see. Time is a big factor," he
murmured as if to himself.

Ricky smiled brightly. There was a sort of eagerness