sive--and
each one according to the gifts with which God has been graciously
pleased to endow him! I am frank to say, however, that my decisions have
received their meed of praise from men thoroughly competent to speak
on such matters." He was turning the leaves of the ledger as he spoke.
Suddenly the movement of his hand was arrested.

"Found it?" asked Mr. Saul. But the judge gave him no answer; absorbed
and aloof he was staring down at the open pages of the book. "Found the
entry?" repeated Mr. Saul.

"Eh?--what's that? No--" he appeared to hesitate. "Who is this man
Quintard?" The question cost him an effort, that was plain.

"He's the owner of a hundred-thousand-acre tract in this and abutting
counties," said Mr. Saul.

The judge continued to stare down at the page.

"Is he a resident of the county?" he asked, at length.

"No, he lives back yonder in North Carolina."

"A hundred thousand acres!" the judge muttered thoughtfully.

"There or thereabouts--yes, sir."

"Who has charge of the land?"

"Colonel Fentress; he was old General Ware's law partner. I've heard it
was the general who got this man Quintard to make the investment, but
that was before my time in these parts."

The judge lapsed into a heavy, brooding silence.

A step sounded in the narrow hall. An instant later the door was pushed
open, and grateful for any interruption that would serve to take Mr.
Saul's attention from himself, the judge abruptly turned his back on the
clerk and began to examine the record before him. Engrossed in this, he
was at first scarcely aware of the conversation that was being carried
on within a few feet of him. Insensibly, however, the cold, level tones
of the voice that was addressing itself to Mr. Saul quickened the beat
of his pulse, the throb of his heart, and struck back through the years
to a day from which he reckoned time. The heavy, calf-bound volume in
his hand shook like a leaf in a gale. He turned slowly, as if in dread
of what he might see.

What he saw was a man verging on sixty, lean and dark, with thin, shaven
cheeks of a bluish cast above the jaw, and a strongly aquiline profile.
Long, black locks swept the collar of his coat, while his tall, spare
figure was habited in sleek broadcloth and spotless linen. For a moment
the judge seemed to struggle with doubt and uncertainty, then his face
went a ghastly white and the book slipped from his nerveless fingers to
the window ledge.

The stranger