He explains to
me the nature of my uncle's property, and I listen attentively. There was
no part of the will in dispute; there were no legacies, no mortgages.
Everything is clear and straightforward. Happy Caspar! Happy man!
Then we went into the office to look over the deeds. The close air of
this place of dry, hard business, those long rows of boxes, the files of
bills--all these together put weak notions of love out of my head. I sat
down in an arm-chair while Monsieur Becker, collecting his thoughts, puts
his horn spectacles in their place upon his long, sharp nose.
"These deeds relate to your meadow-land at Eichmatt. There, Monsieur
Haas, you have a hundred acres of excellent land, the finest and
best-watered in the commune; two and even three crops a year are got off
that land. It brings in four thousand francs a year. Here are the deeds
belonging to your vine-growing land at Sonnenthal, thirty-five acres in
all. One year with another you may get from this two hundred hectolitres
(4,400 gals.) of light wine, sold on the ground at twelve or fifteen
francs the hectolitre. Good years make up for the bad. This, Monsieur
Haas, is your title to the forest of Romelstein, containing fifty or
sixty hectares (a hectare is 2-1/2 acres) of excellent timber.
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