"Well, English lawyers are to be found. I dare say there are twenty within five minutes' distance of this place."
"Oh, I don't want to bother. I only wanted to ask some one's opinion in a general way."
"Well, what's the point?"
"Why this," said Dacres, after a little hesitation. "You've heard of outlawry?"
"Should think I had—Robin Hood and his merry men, Lincoln green, Sherwood Forest, and all that sort of thing, you know. But what the mischief sets you thinking about Robin Hood?"
"Oh, I don't mean that rot. I mean real outlawry—when a fellow's in debt, you know."
"Well?"
"Well; if he goes out of the country, and stays away a certain number of years, the debt's outlawed, you know."
"The deuce it is! Is it, though? I've been in debt, but I always managed to pull through without getting so far. But that's convenient for some fellows too."
"I'm a little muddy about it, but I've heard something to this effect. I think the time is seven years. If the debt is not acknowledged during the interval, it's outlawed. And now, 'pon my life, my dear fellow, I really don't know but that I've jumbled up some fragments of English law with American. I felt that I was muddy, and so I thought I'd ask you."