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The Green Bag,
being no will capable of taking effect, and no known relations, the Duchy had claimed all the property as an escheat, and that between £, 5,000 and,£20,000 was then in the hands of the Duchy waiting for claimants; that it was know that Ainsworth himself had no legal next of kin, having been of illegitimate birth, and that his last wife was also an illegit imate child reared in the work-house, but that there was an impression that there were relatives of the first wife, who would be en titled to claim as next of kin if they could be found. When I went to bed I was too restless to sleep, and my thoughts suddenly took defin ite shape. Ainsworth — Manchester —what had I once heard to connect the place with the name? And then (by one of those extra ordinary freaks of memory which now and then occur to every one, I fancy) I remem bered word for word part of my conversation with Ralph Jackson on the night when he told me of his determination to go abroad. I remembered his words distinctly, " My father had an elder sister named Mary who married a man of low birth living in Man chester named Ainsworth; my aunt died a few years after her marriage, and many years after her death Ainsworth married some low woman, and my father never held any com munication with him after his second mar riage." I felt so strangely moved by this sudden flash of memory that I got up at once, lit my candle, and wrote down the words exactly as I remembered them. I wrote out to Jackson by the next mail, telling him what had been told to me in Man chester, and urging him to return to England and claim the money, if he felt reasonably cer tain that the dead man Ainsworth was the first husband of his Aunt Mary. In those days communication with Adelaide was slow and I could not rely on receiving any reply for six months. On Saturday the 2 ist of September, I re ceived a letter from Jackson, saying that he felt certain that Ainsworth was the man who
had married his aunt; that he had some years previously had to prove his pedigree strictly in relation, to some property which had been in the family for two generations, but at the moment of writing, he could not quite re member all the details, or where the proof of the pedigree could be found; that he was leaving Adelaide at the end of July by the clipper ship " Crest of the Wave," and would be in Liverpool before the end of October; and that he hoped during the voyage home his memory, which had become impaired through illness, would revive. And now comes the strange part of my story, which I can only record faithfully just as it all happened. On the afternoon of the next day, Sunday the 22d of September, being myself out of health, overworked, and longing for a change of air and scene, I had taken a long walk on the hills, eaten a hearty early dinner, and then I lay down on my bed and fell into a heavy sleep, and as I slept I dreamed a very vivid dream. I saw Ralph Jackson lying in his berth on board ship, pale, worn and thin, like one who had recently had a wasting fever; standing by the side of the berth was a man, whom I took to be the ship's surgeon, for he was holding Jackson's wrist in one hand, and a watch in the other; all at once Jackson drew his wrist from the doctor's grasp, and gazed at vacancy (in my dream I could see no object at which he was looking), but a smile, as if of joyful recognition passed over his face, and he reached out his hand and called out feebly, " Borret, Borret," and then said more slowly, " I am dying Borret; Grayson of Rochdale has some deeds of pro perty in Mason street; the proofs you want are with the deeds." Then there was a rush of blood to his pale, thin lips, and he lay back, dead. That was my dream. I awoke with a start to find the afternoon sunlight streaming through the half-darkened window. I felt certain I had seen a vision of what was happening afar off. I looked at my watch; it was four o'clock. I carefully noted down
