“Do you think that is enough, Mr. Benson?”
“It is an unimproved property, you know.”
“But even that would be almost double what Stephen and his brother paid for it.”
“How do you mean, Virginia? They took it in trade from Levi Tucker.”
“Oh, yes, he traded it for the distillery, have you forgotten? The distillery was valued at five thousand dollars, and the land at twenty-five hundred.”
Benson glanced at her sharply.
“Do you know the exact acreage, Virginia?” he asked.
“There are a thousand acres; at least, I seem to remember having heard Stephen say it was a thousand acres.”
It flashed upon him that she had known nothing of that second transfer of a thousand acres that the old tavernkeeper had made to the brothers. Probably she thought the sale of the distillery had been concluded by a cash payment, and that the money had been taken West for investment.
Benson hesitated. An abyss seemed to be yawning at his feet. What evil chance was it that had left her so illy-acquainted with her own affairs? In all the business he had transacted for her, she had signed the necessary papers without even looking at them. If she sold the wild land, the acreage could be managed.