es of the law; but in order to preserve
this outward tranquility, he was obliged to ease his mind in some way,
which he did by actually glowering at the innocent officer as though he
would "wither him with a glance."

Of course there was a certain amount of work which it was absolutely
necessary to do, such as caring for the oil, attending to the engine
which forced the oil into the tank, and such things as even the law
might not be able to restrain. But the work on the buildings, the
sinking of pipes in order to get a supply of gas for illuminating
purposes, extending the road from the well to the house, and all that
labor which was for the purpose of improvement of the property, was
necessarily at an end.

Had George remained, his prudence would have dictated the discharge of
all their force of workmen who were not employed exclusively on the
well, until the question at law had been settled. But to Bob such a
course seemed too much like submitting to what was a deliberate wrong,
perpetrated under the guise of justice, and he preferred the expense,
rather than even the semblance of "backing down."

The officer may or may not have had a disagreeable time in the pursuance
of his duty while Ralph and George were in town; but to Bob it was
certainly anything but pleasant, since he had great difficulty in not
coming to an open conflict with this personification of law, brought in
to aid fraud.

It seemed to the ex-moonlighter as if his companions would never return,
and once at least during every ten minutes he walked toward the house,
in the hope of seeing them as they came up the lane.

It was not until quite two hours past noon that his vigil was rewarded,
and then he saw them coming toward the house with a fourth party in the
wagon, whom he rightly conjectured was the lawyer whom they had been to
consult.

"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. Massie 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 i