It may be stated here that, the evening before, the professor had had a long talk with Ralph regarding the Rackbirds and their camp.  Professor Barre had heard something of the matter before, but many of the details were new to him.

When Ralph left him, the professor gave himself up to reflections upon what he had heard, and he gradually came to believe that there might be some reason for his identification as the bandit captain by the man Banker.

For five or six years there had been inquiries on foot concerning the second son of Senor Blanquote of Granada, whose elder brother had died without heirs, and who, if now living, would inherit Blanquote’s estates.  It was known that this man had led a wild and disgraceful career, and it was also ascertained that he had gone to America, and had been known on the Isthmus of Panama and elsewhere by the name of Raminez.  Furthermore, Professor Barre had been frequently told by his mother that when he was a boy she had noticed, while on a visit to Spain, that he and this cousin very much resembled each other.

It is not necessary to follow out the legal steps and inquiries, based upon the information which he had had from Ralph and from Banker, which were now made by the professor.  It is sufficient to state that he was ultimately able to prove that the Rackbird chief known as Raminez was, in reality, Tomaso Blanquote, that he had perished on the coast of Peru, and that he, the professor, was legal heir to the Blanquote estates.

Barre had not been able to lead his pupil to as high a place in the temple of knowledge as he had hoped, but, through his acquaintance with that pupil, he himself had become possessed of a castle in Spain.

CHAPTER LII

THE CAPTAIN TAKES HIS STAND

It was now July, and the captain and Edna had returned to Paris.  The world had been very beautiful during their travels in England, and although the weather was beginning to be warm, the world was very beautiful in Paris.  In fact, to these two it would have been beautiful almost anywhere.  Even the desolate and arid coast of Peru would have been to them as though it were green with herbage and bright with flowers.

The captain’s affairs were not yet definitely arranged, for the final settlement would depend upon negotiations which would require time, but there was never in the world a man more thoroughly satisfied than he.  And whatever happened, he had enough; and he had Edna.  His lawyers had made a thorough investigation into the matter of his rights to the treasure he had discovered and brought to Europe, and they had come to a conclusion which satisfied them.  This decision was based upon equity and upon the laws and usages regarding treasure-trove.

The old Roman law upon the subject, still adhered to by some of the Latin countries of Europe, gave half of a discovered treasure to the finder, and half to the crown or state, and it was considered that a good legal stand could be taken in the present instance upon the application of this ancient law to a country now governed by the descendants of Spaniards.