THEODORE R. McKELDIN, GOVERNOR                   101

When any real estate shall be sold under the provisions of this Act,
for taxes, the sale, together with the proceedings had in relation
thereto, shall be reported to the Circuit Court for Worcester County
by the town clerk, and if upon the report, the court shall find that the
provisions of law in relation thereto have been complied with, the
court shall pass an order nisi giving three weeks' notice, warning all
persons interested in the property sold to be and appear by a certain
day in the said order nisi named, to show cause why said sale shall
not be ratified and confirmed; and a copy thereof shall be published
for three successive weeks in some newspaper published in Pocomoke
City; and if no objections to the ratification of such sale shall be filed
within the time limit named by the said order nisi, or if objections be
filed and the objector is unable and fails to show that the town clerk
has failed to comply with the provisions of this Act, the sale shall be
finally ratified and confirmed by said Court; and for the purpose of
hearing objections or passing orders under this Act, said court shall
be deemed always to be open as in Chancery proceedings; if the ob-
jection to the sale under this Act shows to the satisfaction of the
court that the town clerk failed to comply with the provisions of law,
said sale shall be set aside and said town clerk shall at once proceed to
make a new sale of the property and bring the proceeds into court,
out of which the purchaser shall be repaid the purchase money paid
by him to the town clerk on said rejected sale, and all taxes assessed
on said real estate and paid by the purchaser since said sale, and all
costs and expenses properly incurred in said court by said purchaser,
with interest on all sums at the rate of six per cent, per annum from
the time of payment but such sale shall not be set aside if the pro-
visions of law shall appear to have been substantially complied with,
and the burden of proof shall be on the exceptants to show that the
same are invalid, and when any sale shall have been finally ratified by
the court as herein provided, the order of ratification shall be con-
clusive as to the regularity of the town clerk's proceedings therein of
such sale, and shall not be open to inquiry except in case of fraud or
collusion in said proceedings and sale on the part of or between the
town clerk and the purchaser.

Whenever real estate shall be thus sold for taxes by the town clerk
the person or persons, party or parties, who owned the same prior to
said sale, or any or all of his, her or their heirs or devisees, may re-
deem the same by paying into court, to be paid to the purchaser
thereof, within the period of twelve calendar months from the day
of such sale, the amount of the purchase money together with in-
terest thereon at the rate of fifteen per cent, per annum added thereto
and all costs which may be incurred by the town clerk or the purchaser
in reporting or ratifying said sale; and the purchaser of such real
estate, if the said sale be ratified and confirmed, shall be entitled to re-
ceive a deed therefor from the town clerk at any time after the expira-
tion of twelve calendar months from the day of such sale; and if the
purchaser should die before having received a deed the town clerk shall
convey the real estate to the heirs or the devisees of the purchaser;
and if the town clerk should die, remove or refuse to execute a deed
his successor in office may execute a deed to the purchaser; when-
ever any personal property shall be removed from the town while any
taxes levied thereon remain due, in arrears or unpaid, the town clerk
shall have power to pursue said property and to collect said taxes