s on such a bad footing as the land, except
it be the king's highways. But no, the law is much the worse. The
highways, if the weather be dry, are tolerable, but the law is always
the same whether there be rain or sunshine."

Here the young Merveilleux stood up as if to allow the banker an
opportunity to congratulate him on this _jeu d'esprit_, but the other
only smiled calmly.

"You must know, moreover," continued Abellino, "that there is a vile
expression in the Hungarian language, 'Intra dominium et extra
dominium,' which may be expressed in French by 'In possession and out of
possession.' Now, whatever right anybody may have to any property, if he
be out of possession he is in a hobble; while he who happens to be in
possession, let him be the biggest usurper in the world, may laugh at
the other fellow, and spin the case out indefinitely. Now, here am I,
for instance. Just fancy, the inheritance, the rich property, was almost
in my hands; I hasten to the spot in order to enter into my rights, and
I find that some one has been before me, and sits comfortably in
possession."

"I understand," said the banker, with a cunning smile, "some
evil-disposed usurper is in actual possession, Monseigneur Karpathy, of
the property that was so nearly yours, and will not recognize your
rights, but stupidly appeals to that big book, among whose many
paragraphs you will also find these words written, 'There is no
inheriting the living.'"

The young dandy stared at the banker with all his eyes.

"How much do you know?" he cried.

"I know this much--the evil usurper who makes so free with your
inheritance is none other than your uncle himself, who is so lacking in
discretion as to sufficiently come to himself again after a stroke of
apoplexy, with the aid of a hastily applied lancet, to do you out of
your property, and place you in such an awkward position that you cannot
find a single article in that thick code of laws of yours which will
enable you to bring an action against your uncle, because he had the
indecency not to die."

"Then it is a scandal," cried Karpathy, leaping from his seat. "I have
everywhere been proclaiming that I intend to bring an action."

"Pray keep quiet," remarked the banker, blandly. "Every one believes
what you say, but I must know the truth, because I am a banker. But I am
accustomed to keep silence. The family relations of the Rajah of Nepaul
in the East Indies are as well-known to me as is the m