Then it came to a sudden and most unexpected ending.

The lawyer-in-chief of the Western Union was George Gifford, who was perhaps the ablest patent attorney of his day.

He was versed in patent lore from Alpha to Omega; and as the trial proceeded, he became convinced that the Bell patent was valid.

He notified the Western Union confidentially, of course, that its case could not be proven, and that "Bell was the original inventor of the telephone." The best policy, he suggested, was to withdraw their claims and make a settlement.

This wise advice was accepted, and the next day the white flag was hauled up, not by the little group of Bell fighters, who were huddled together in a tiny, two-room office, but by the mighty Western Union itself, which had been so arrogant when the encounter began.
A committee of three from each side was appointed, and after months of disputation, a treaty of peace was drawn up and signed.