refuse to do as I bade him without owning himself to be a rascal.
Shall I tell you what I think will come of it?"

"What will come of it?"

"He will not appear. I feel certain that he will not have the courage
to show himself in the court. When the day comes, or, perhaps, a day
or two before, he will run away."

"What will you do then?"

"Ah, that's the question. What shall we do then? He is bound to
prosecute, and will have to pay the penalty. In such a case as this
I think we could have him found and brought into court for the next
assizes. But what could we do then? Though we were ever so rough to
him in the way of contempt of court and the rest of it, we cannot
take the property away. If he has got hold of the will and destroyed
it, or hidden it, we can do nothing as to the property as long as he
is strong enough to hold his tongue. If he can be made to speak, then
I think we shall get at it."

Mr Balsam shook his head. He was quite willing to believe that his
client was as base as Mr Apjohn represented him to be; but he was
not willing to believe that Mr Cheekey was as powerful as had been
assumed.

CHAPTER XVIII

Cousin Henry Goes to Carmarthen

On his return from London Mr Apjohn wrote the following letter to his
client, and this he sent to Llanfeare by a clerk, who was instructed
to wait there for an answer:--

MY DEAR SIR,--

I have just returned from London, where I saw Mr Balsam,
who will be employed on your behalf at the assizes. It is
necessary that you should come into my office, so that I
may complete the instructions which are to be given to
counsel. As I could not very well do this at Llanfeare
without considerable inconvenience, I must give you this
trouble. My clerk who takes this out to you will bring
back your answer, saying whether eleven in the morning
to-morrow or three in the afternoon will best suit your
arrangements. You can tell him also whether you would wish
me to send a fly for you. I believe that you still keep
your uncle's carriage, in which case it would perhaps be
unnecessary. A message sent by the clerk will suffice, so
that you may be saved the trouble of writing.

Yours truly,

NICHOLAS APJOHN.

The clerk had made his way into the book-room in which Cousin Henry
was sitting, and stood there over him while he was reading the
letter. He felt sure that it had been arranged by Mr Apjohn that it
should b