Ralph Gurney's Oil Speculation Part 31

"Well," he cried, even before they had had time to alight from the wagon; "how have you made out?"

"I haven't got time to tell you now," said George, hurriedly; "but you will hear it all when we are through with what we have to do. Mr.

Hillman, the lawyer whom we consulted, and who has come out with us, says that the first and main thing to do is to hold possession, not only of the wood-lot, but of the farm. Ma.s.sie will attempt this very afternoon to get his men in here, as his lawyer threatened, and if he succeeds we shall be the ones who will have to sue him, instead of his being the outside party, as he is now."

"Can we prevent any one from coming here?" asked Bob, quickly.

"Certainly you can, and must," replied the lawyer. "No one can come here without your permission until after the matter has been decided in court, and you must be careful that no one does."

"That settles it, then," said Bob, gleefully, as he started towards the well. "The first thing I'll do will be to fire out that fellow Ma.s.sie has got here, and he won't be handled very tenderly either."

"Stop!" cried the lawyer, obliged to speak very loudly, for Bob was some distance away before he had ceased speaking. "That man has a perfect right to be here, for he represents the court in the matter of holding certain movable property until the suit can be decided. What you are to do is simply to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining admittance."

"But how is that going to help matters?"

And Bob was again disconsolate because this revenge had been denied him.

"I prefer to wait until Mr. Gurney can get here before I decide fully on just what shall be done," replied Mr. Hillman. "He stands very high as a lawyer, and his advice in the matter will be worth much more than mine."

"Well," asked the moonlighter, impatiently, "how are we going to prevent any one from coming on the land?"

"That is a very easy matter. With your workmen and yourselves, you ought to form a regular patrol at those few points at which a person could enter, and the law will sustain you in keeping any one away, who does not come armed with an order from the court, even though you use force."

That was sufficient for Bob. Legally ent.i.tled to act on the offensive, under certain circ.u.mstances, and to defend his and Mr. Simpson's property against all save those coming in the name of the law, there was an opportunity for him to work off some of the anger which he had found so difficult to restrain during the forenoon.

George and Ralph were perfectly willing to let him attend to the defenses, they acting under his orders, and Bob set to work with a feverish energy that boded ill for the perfecting of Mr. Ma.s.sie's scheme.

Pete was ordered to take up his position at the entrance of the lane which led to the Simpson house, and Mr. Simpson was detailed to see that the negro did his duty. A stout club was all he was allowed as a weapon; but this would be sufficient, it was thought.

Four of the workmen, under the immediate supervision of Jim, were stationed at the road leading to the well, and their orders were peremptory against allowing any one to enter unless with the express permission of Mr. Hillman, who, if any papers purporting to be orders from the court were presented, would first examine them to learn if they were correct.

Four more men, under d.i.c.k, were stationed along the front of the property, with orders to patrol the entire line, and three others were stationed around the house, under Ralph's charge.

Bob intended to have a personal supervision of all the points of defense, and in order that he might move about more readily, he had one of his horses saddled, by which means of locomotion he could visit each of his sentries at least once every half hour.

The officer who had been stationed at the works as keeper of the property Ma.s.sie had attached, was informed that he would be considered a trespa.s.ser, and treated as such, if he attempted to go anywhere except just where those articles were which he was expected to guard.

George and the lawyer were thus left free from any duty of guarding the place, and this Bob very wisely concluded was necessary, since they might be obliged to go to town at any moment.

Mrs. Simpson was set at work cooking up a quant.i.ty of food for the defenders of the castle, and this Bob proposed to carry to them himself, for he did not intend that one of his men should leave his post, even for a moment.

After all this was done, Bob had time to talk with George and Mr.

Hillman relative to the interview that had been held in town.

Mr. Simpson had remained in the same dazed condition he had fallen into when Ma.s.sie's attorney first appeared, and had been unable to repeat a single word of the interview he had had with the money-lender when he paid off the mortgage, or to remember what had been done at the time.

The records had been searched, however, and no release had been found; therefore, it was plain that Mr. Simpson's ignorance of such matters had caused him to neglect to ask for one.

The probabilities were that Mr. Ma.s.sie, after learning of the valuable well which had been found on this property which might have been his had he not tried to gain possession of the whole farm, had taken advantage of this oversight on the part of his debtor, and, although he had been repaid the borrowed money, intended to deny that he had ever received it.

That Mr. Hillman had fears of the ultimate result was shown by his desire to consult with Mr. Gurney before taking any steps in the matter, other than to hold possession of the property, and all the partners save Mr. Simpson, who did not seem to be able to understand anything just then, felt that there was a possibility that they might lose "The Harnett" after all their labor and rejoicing.

Bob was by no means easy in his mind when he left Mr. Hillman and George to begin his rounds of the outposts; but he was determined that, since all they could do was to hold possession, no one not legally ent.i.tled to it should gain admittance to the place.

For two hours, during which Bob had made his rounds four times, nothing had been seen to indicate that any one had even a desire to enter the Simpson farm, and then, while Bob was talking with the old man, trying to force him to remember all he had done while at Mr. Ma.s.sie's office, three wagons filled with men were seen down the road coming directly toward the place.

There could be no question but that this was the money-lender's party coming to take possession, and they were in larger force than any one had antic.i.p.ated.

Riding quickly to the house, Bob ordered Ralph and his men to join Pete and Mr. Simpson, and then he called in d.i.c.k and his men, giving these last orders to proceed at once to support Jim, in case any of the newcomers attempted to go that way.

He thought, however, that the greatest trouble would be had at the lane, and he believed he was fully prepared for it.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV.

THE MISSING WITNESS.

Bob had hardly called the main portion of his men to the point which was threatened by the money-lender's party, when the wagons reached the entrance to the lane, and the occupants began to get out.

"You cannot enter here!" cried Bob, as the first man started toward the lane, as if he would force his way past those who were guarding the entrance.

"I am sent here by the owner of the property, and it is my intention not only to go in, but to drive away those who are intruding here," replied the man, in an offensive tone.

"Well," cried Bob, the anger which he had kept under control with greatest difficulty during the day now gaining the ascendancy, "it may first be necessary for you to get in before you drive any one out, and I warn you that you attempt to enter at your peril. I am here by the orders of the true owner of the property, and it will be a mighty hard show for you to get in, since my instructions are to keep every one out."

By this time Mr. Hillman had arrived at the scene of the threatened trouble, and he said, loudly, so that all might hear him:

"Gentlemen, the owner of this property is Mr. Daniel Simpson, my client.

Acting under my advice, he refuses to allow any one to enter on his farm, and for that purpose has a body of men here to defend his rights.

I warn you that you will be rendering yourselves liable to prosecution if you attempt to enter here against his express orders to the contrary."

For a moment those who had been sent by Ma.s.sie retreated to the wagons, as if unwilling to do anything which might bring them in conflict with the majesty of the law, and it seemed very much as if they were going to leave the place, when the lawyer who had first visited the well, and who had accompanied them, called out:

"You know very well that this is Mr. Ma.s.sie's property, since he has foreclosed the mortgage he held upon it, and if, in obeying his orders, you do anything which renders you liable to the law, it will be him, not you, who will be obliged to answer for your actions. I insist upon your going into the lane."

"It will be their heads which will get cracked, at all events, if they attempt to come in here!" cried Bob, almost beside himself with rage; "and if you think we haven't the right or the inclination to knock down the first man who tries to come in, why don't you lead the way, to shew that you are not frightened?"

Although Mr. Hillman would have prevented Bob from speaking, if he had been able to do so, the speech had had its effect, for the men cried out to the lawyer:

"Yes, you lead the way, and we will follow you!"

Leaping from his horse and seizing Pete's club, Bob cried out:

"Show your men that you have a right to come in here, and I will show them what they may expect if they try to follow, by an example on your own head."

The legal gentleman was not as eager to lead the way as he was to urge the men on, and instead of going boldly up to Bob, he tried to induce his men to go in. But none of them would make the attempt, because of the formidable array before them, and seeing how useless his efforts would be in this direction, the lawyer called one of the men to him, talking to him in a low tone.