“Not generally; but Peter Roper might, if there is the ghost of a pretext, and if there is a dishonest servant, like Hogsden, left in charge, who will steal and help to steal; then, you see, the thing is easy enough, as long as the Judge befriends trespassers. But the Supreme Court will put things to right again. That is to say, if the Judge's findings are not a string of falsehoods which will utterly mislead the Supreme Court.”
This property, Mr. Mechlin had repeatedly said, he intended should be a homestead for his wife, so the suit in ejectment was brought in her name. She at the same time filing a petition for a homestead before the Probate Court, and asking that Gabriel Alamar be appointed administrator of her husband's estate.
All this would, of course, involve the property in tedious legal proceedings, there being the probate matters, beside the suit in ejectment to litigate in the District Court. The attorney employed in the case advised George to have a deed executed by Doña Josefa, conveying the property to Mrs. Mechlin, as it had been agreed before the death of their husbands that it should be done. Doña Josefa cheerfully assented, remembering that Don Mariano had said to her:
“If I should die before I get my land patented, the first thing you must do is to make a conveyance of his place to Mr. Mechlin.”
The shock caused by his father's death when that of Don Mariano was yet so recent, acted most injuriously upon George's health. It made him feverish, inflaming his wound again very painfully, as the ball had never been extracted; now it chafed the wound, and gave him as much pain as before.
Mrs. Mechlin, Doña Josefa and Mercedes were also in their beds, suffering with nervous prostration and night fevers. It seemed impossible that people could be more bereaved and disheartened than these ladies, and yet exist. Mr. Lawrence Mechlin saw that George must have skillful medical attendance without delay, and wanted his own doctor to take him under his care. So he and Gabriel arranged all business and other matters in order that George should go East. It was heart-rending to Elvira—the mere thought of leaving her mother and sister sick, and all the family in such distress—but she must go with her husband. Gabriel would attend to the lawsuits. He had powers of attorney from George and Mrs. Mechlin, and was the administrator.
The answer to Mrs. Mechlin's complaint was a masterpiece of unblushing effrontery that plainly showed it had originated in a brain where brazen falsehoods and other indecencies thrived like water-reptiles growing huge and luxuriating in slimy swamps. The characteristic document ran in the following manner:
In the District Court of the —— of the County of San Diego, State of California.
Beatrice Mechlin, Plaintiff,
v.
Peter Roper, John Gasbang, and Charles Hogsden, Defendants.
And now come the defendants, Peter Roper, John Gasbang and Charles Hogsden, and for answer to plaintiff's complaint, on file herein, they and each of them say:
That they deny that in the year of 1873, or at any other time before or after that date, James Mechlin was owner of the premises described in this complaint; deny that the said James Mechlin ever purchased from William Mathews the aforesaid property or any part thereof, or paid any money or any other valuable consideration; deny that the said Mechlin ever built a house, or planted trees, or resided on the said property himself, with his family, or by agent or servant occupied said premises; deny that respondent, Charles Hogsden, was ever put in charge of the aforesaid premises or any part thereof, as the agent, or servant, or tenant of the said James Mechlin; deny that the said James Mechlin ever was in the possession of the said premises, but on the contrary, these defendants allege that if James Mechlin had any kind of possession, it was as a naked trespasser, and his title to said property was at all times disputed and contested by other parties.
These defendants allege that defendant Charles Hogsden was the rightful owner of the said premises; that defendants Peter Roper and John Gasbang are the innocent purchasers of the legal and equitable title, and are now in actual and lawful possession of the said premises, having paid a just and fair price to the rightful owner, Charles Hogsden.