ALBERT C. RITCHIE, GOVERNOR. 779

proceeds into Court out of which the purchaser shall be
paid the purchase money paid by him to the Collector on
said rejected sale, and all taxes and assessments assessed
on said real estate or leasehold estate and paid by said pur-
chaser since said sales, and all costs and expenses properly
incurred in said Court, with interest on all sums from the
time of payment at the rate of twelve per cent, per annum;
and if the purchaser has not paid the purchase money or
the subsequent taxes and assessments the Collector shall
apply such proceeds to the payments of taxes and assess-
ments for which said property may have been sold, and all
subsequent taxes and assessments then in arrears with in-
terest on the same according to law and the costs of pro-
ceedings; but such sales shall not be set aside if the pro-
visions of the law shall appear to have been substantially
complied with; and the burden of proof shall be on the ex-
ceptant, to show the same to be invalid under the law. The
Collector shall require the purchaser of such property on
the day of sale, or the day next succeeding, to pay on ac-
count of said purchase the amount assessed or taxed on the
property so sold, together with all costs and charges, and
no more, and the residue of the purchase money shall re-
main on a credit of one year and a day.

640. If the property so sold shall not be redeemed at
the expiration of a year and a day from the day of sale,
the collector shall, when required, and on payment of the
full amount of the purchase money, execute a deed for the
same to the purchaser, and the balance of the purchase
money so received by him shall be paid to the treasurer.
If it shall appear that the owner of the said property prior
to the execution of the deed for the same by the collector,
cannot, after reasonable effort, be found, or if said owner
shall refuse to receive said balance of money, then in either
case the treasurer shall invest the same for the benefit
of such owner, and shall safely keep the same, and from
time to time collect the interest thereon, and invest for the
benefit of such owner the interest from time to time.

641. Whenever property in the town of Laurel has
been sold by one Collector for taxes or assessments pur-
suant to law, and such sale has been reported and the deed
executed by the successor in office of the Collector who
made the sale as aforesaid, such report and such convey-
ance shall be as valid to all intents and purposes as they
would have been if made by the Collector who made the
sale. Whenever property in the town of Laurel has been