"I fancy Mr. Wright has bribed him to forget where his property was. Two days ago he had a very clear idea of the location, but this morning he thinks Mr. Wright is correct. In fact, he is almost ready to swear he owned land only in the valley."
"He told me exactly where it was situated, an' we bought with the positive understandin' that he was sellin' a tract on the mountain," Joe said.
"That is one of the questions I wanted to decide. If he made those representations, we may force him to tell the truth rather than stand a suit for obtaining money under false representations."
Fred thought it was time to tell of Mr. Wright's proposition, and when he had finished the story the lawyer said with a look of positive relief:
"I'm glad to hear that. We will force them to show their hands by asking an immediate trial for Thorpe."
"But suppose he should be convicted?" Fred cried. "Skip is not at home, and we need his evidence."
"We must take that risk, rather than allow them time to work up a worse plot."