w let
me hear your conditions."

"My only condition is, complete satisfaction to be made to the children
of your second sister."

"What! surrender a whole third of the property to them without any
deduction?"

"We will accept nothing less."

"What must I do first then?"

"First you must pay the baroness forty thousand florins."

"Forty thousand florins! Why?"

"In order that she may meet the bill as soon as she has acknowledged her
signature."

"Well, and what next?"

"You must sign deeds whereby you undertake to surrender to the children
of your late sister the estates of Zoldhalom and Oroekvar bequeathed to
them by your father."

"Why, they are the best paying properties of all."

"Then pay them the value of the estates in cash."

"That would seriously inconvenience me."

"Then make over your houses in Vienna and Pest."

"I cannot find it in my heart to part with them."

"Then propose some other expedient."

"Very well, I will. Give me till to-morrow to think it over."

And with that Mr. John put on his hat and took his leave.

The following day the lawyer awaited him in vain; then he waited for
him a whole fortnight, but Mr. John never came near him. Then he went to
the courts to find out what was being done and there he learnt, to his
astonishment, that the declaration of the Baroness Hatszegi
acknowledging the genuineness of her signature to the bill had already
arrived.

What had happened was this: As soon as Mr. John had got Sipos's opinion
gratis, he quickly traveled post to Hidvar and had a chat with his niece
over the business. The poor lady was so utterly crushed by her
misfortunes that she could scarce fix her mind steadily on anything and
was a mere tool in his hands. She accepted the properties offered to her
by her uncle--what did it matter to her now how much or how little they
brought in!--and gave an acknowledgment in writing that the signature to
the bill was her own.

Mr. Sipos was therefore not very much surprised when one day he received
a commission from the baroness's agent to pay over the forty thousand
florins in question to a financial agent at Pest. So Mr. John made a
rattling good profit out of the transaction and Henrietta in return for
her generosity had to pay up in cash as Mr. Sipos had shrewdly
anticipated she would have to do all along. But it was all one to
Henrietta.

CHAPTER XXIV

CONCLUSION

Meanwhile the long drawn out process between Mr. J