Mallien sneered. "I suppose you'll try and prove that it isn't." "Certainly," retorted Hendle, angered by this extreme selfishness. "You may be sure that I shall do all I can to protect my own interests. Would you not do the same were you in my position?" The other shirked a straightforward reply as a selfish man would. "That is neither here nor there," he snapped, "I want my rights." "You shall have them, if you have any." "From what Mrs. Beatson told me----" "Mrs. Beatson knows no more nor no less than I do," interrupted the Squire patiently. "She is aware that Leigh found--or said that he found--a will made by John Hendle one hundred years ago, leaving the property to Eunice Filbert and her descendants. If such is the case, and you are rightfully entitled to take my place, well"---- Rupert shrugged his square shoulders, and completed his sentence by waving his hand vaguely to the four corners of the room. Mallien scowled and tried to pick holes. "Oh, you can be certain that I shall claim my rights to the last farthing," he growled savagely, and rather annoyed by Rupert's reasonable attitude. "Naturally. That is only fair. I am not the man, as you well know, to keep what does not honestly belong to me. But," added Hendle with emphasis, "the will has yet to be found." "It must be found," declared Mallien violently. "That is easier said than done. Leigh seemed to have mislaid, or hidden it, very thoroughly. Inspector Lawson did not come across it, and I can't lay my hands on it nohow. And, remember, even when it is discovered, the legality of it has yet to be proved." "If it is signed and witnessed properly I inherit," shouted Mallien, doggedly, and objecting, as such an illogical man would, to the mere shadow of a contradiction. "Don't go too fast," said the Squire dryly. "There is such a thing as the Statute of Limitations." "Oh, is there? And what deviltry is that?" "A law which, in most cases, operates against the restoration of property devolving under a lost will, found--as this one has been--after so long a period of time." "You talk like a book," sneered Mallien, uncomfortably, for here was an obstacle which he did not expect to meet. "And you will take advantage of this infernal Statute?" "Why not?" demanded Rupert, calmly. "Would you not do the same under the same circumstances?" "I prefer not to enter into any argument on that point," said Mallien loftily. "It seems to be a silly law. And what about not keeping what isn't your own." "If the Statute of Limitations acts in my favor, the property would be my own," answered the Squire coolly. "Hair-splitting!" "Common sense! And I would not have used such an argument, but for your display of greedy selfishness." "Me selfish. How dare you!" Mallien fumed and fretted, and made as though he would throw himself on his cousin.