ous list of peccadillos, and then he called for a
shilling, a coin still somewhat in use in America. This he flipped
thrice.

"_Roue_ or sham," he said the first time.

"Rake or hypocrite," he exclaimed the second time.

"Devil or Pharisee," he cried the third time.

He peered over the coin and sent for his attorney. His soul passed
away, mourned by Little Thunder until the will was read, when his
lamentations ceased; he soundly berated Mynheer, the Patroon, in his
coffin and refused to go to his burying. Then he became an ardent
anti-renter, a leader of "bolters," a thunderer of the people's cause,
the devoted enemy of land barons in general, and one patroon in
particular, the foreign heir of the manor.

"But let him thunder away, sir," said Scroggs, soothingly. "The
estate's yours now, for the old patroon can't come back to change his
mind. He's buried sure enough in the grove, a dark and sombrous spot
as befitted his disposition, but restful withal. Aye, and the marble
slab's above him, which reminds me that only a month before he took to
his bed he was smoking his pipe on the porch, when his glance fell
upon the lifting-stone. Suddenly he strode towards it, bent his back
and raised it a full two inches. 'So much for age!' said he,
scoffing-like. But age heard him and now he lies with a stone on him
he can not lift, while you, sir"--to his listener, deferentially--"are
sole heir to the estate and to the feud."

"A feud goes with the property?" remarked Mauville carelessly.

"The tenants object to paying rent," replied Scroggs, sadly. "They're
a sorry lot!"

"Evade their debts, do they?" said the land baron languidly. "What
presumption to imitate their betters! That won't do; I need the
money."

"They claim the rights of the landlord originated in fraud--"

"No doubt!" Yawning. "My ancestors were rogues!"

"Oh, sir"--deprecatorily.

"If the tenants don't pay, turn them out," interrupted Mauville,
listlessly, "if you have to depopulate the country."

Having come to an understanding with his client, the lawyer arose to
take his departure.

"By the way," he said, obsequiously, selecting a yellow, well-worn bit
of paper from his bundle of documents, "it may interest you to keep
this yourself. It is the original deed for all these lands from the
squaw Pewasch. You can see they were acquired for a few shillings'
worth of 'wet and dry goods' and seventeen and a half ells of
duffels."

"The old patroons c