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tion to the general principles of law governing the interpretation of written documents.”

“I am quite aware of those principles, Mr. Attorney, and I cannot see that they touch this question."

"As your lordship pleases. Then I will fall back upon my main contention, that Miss Smithers is, for the purposes of this case, a document, and nothing but a document, and has no more right to open her mouth in support of the plaintiff's case than would any paper will, if it could be miraculously endowed with speech."

"Well," said the Judge, "it certainly strikes me as a novel point. What have you to say to it, Mr. Short?"

All eyes were now turned upon James, for it was felt that if the point were decided against him the case was lost.

"The point to which I wish you to address yourself, Mr. Short," went on the learned Judge, "is-Is the personality of Miss Smithers so totally lost and merged in what, for want of a better term, I must call her documentary capacity as to take away from her the right to appear before this court like any other sane human being, and give evidence of events connected with its execution?"

"If your lordship pleases," said James, "I maintain that this is not so. I maintain that the document

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remains the document; and that for all purposes, including the giving of evidence concerning its execution, Miss Smithers still remains Miss Smithers. It would surely be absurd to argue that because a person has a deed executed upon her she is, ipso facto, incapacitated from giving evidence concerning it, on the mere ground that she is it. Further, such a decision would be contrary to equity and good policy, for persons cannot so lightly be deprived of their natural rights. Also, in this case, the plaintiff's action would be absolutely put an end to by any such decision, seeing that the signature of Jonathan Meeson and the attesting witnesses to the will could not, of course, be recognised in their tattooed form, and there is no other living person who could depose under what circumstances the signature came to be there. I submit that the objection should be overruled."

"This," said his Lordship, in giving his decision, "is a very curious point, and one which, when first raised by the learned Attorney-General, struck me with some force; but on considering it, and hearing Mr. Short, I am convinced that it is an objection that cannot be supported"-(here Eustace gave a sigh of relief)."It is argued on the part of the defendant that Miss Smithers is, for the purposes of this case, a document, and nothing but a document,

and as such that her mouth is shut. Now, I think that the learned Attorney-General cannot have thought this matter out when he came to that conclusion. What are the circumstances? A will is supposed to have been tattooed upon this lady's skin; but is the skin the whole person? Does not the intelligence remain, and the individuality? I think that I can put what I mean more clearly by means of an illustration. Let us suppose that I were to uphold the defendant's objection, and that, as a consequence, the plaintiff's case were to break down. Then let us suppose that the plaintiff had persuaded the witness to be partially skinned "—(here Augusta nearly jumped from her seat) "and that she, having survived the operation, was again tendered to the Court as a witness: would the Court then be able, under any possibility, to refuse to accept her evidence? The document, in the form of human parchment, would then be in the hands of the officers of the Court, and the person from whom the parchment had been removed would also be before the court. Could it be still maintained that the two were so identical and inseparable that the disabilities attaching to a document must necessarily attach to the person? In my opinion, certainly not. Or, to take another case, let us suppose that the will had been tattooed upon the leg of a person, and, under

similar circumstances, the leg were cut off and produced before the Court, could it then be seriously advanced that because the inscribed leg-standing on the table before the Court-had once belonged to the witness sitting in the witness-box, therefore it was not competent for the witness to give evidence on account of his or her documentary attributes? Certainly it could not. Therefore, it seems to me that that which is separable must, for the purposes of law, be taken as already separated, and that the will tattooed on this witness must be looked upon as though it were in the hands, at this moment, of the officers of the Court, and, consequently, I overrule the objection."

"Will your Lordship take a note of your Lordship's decision?" asked the Attorney-General, in view of an appeal.

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Certainly, Mr. Attorney. Let the witness be

sworn."

CHAPTER XXI

GRANT AS PRAYED

ACCORDINGLY Augusta was sworn; and Eustace observed that when she removed her veil to kiss the Book the sight of her sweet face produced no small effect upon the crowded court.

Then James began his examination-in-chief, and following the lines which he had laid down in his opening speech, led her slowly, whilst allowing her to tell her own story as much as possible, to the time of the tattooing of the will on Kerguelen Land. All along, the history had evidently interested everybody in the court-not excepting the Judge-intensely, but now the excitement rose to boiling point.

"Well," said James, "tell his Lordship exactly how it came to pass that the will of Mr. Meeson was tattooed upon you."

Accordingly, in quiet but dramatic language Augusta narrated every detail, from the time when Meeson confided to her his remorse at having disinherited

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