ing that
Virginia herself had over twelve thousand shares of stock; while her
mother left with me, as collateral on a note, more than two hundred
thousand shares more. Yet you asked this innocent girl, who trusted you
so fully, to wipe out her whole inheritance at one blow. You asked her
to come here and make a payment that would beat her out of half a
million dollars--_for fifty thousand dollars!_"

He paused and the men about the table murmured threateningly among
themselves.

"And now!" went on Blount with heavy irony, "you come here and ask for
your deed!"

"Yes, you bet I do!" snapped back Wiley, "and I'm going to get it, too.
If Virginia came here and offered you that money, that's enough, in the
eyes of the law. It was a legal payment under a legal contract, entered
into by this Board of Directors; and I call you gentlemen to witness
that she came here and offered the money."

"She came to _me_!" corrected Blount, "and in no wise as the
President of this Board!"

"Well, you're the man that I told her to go to--and if she offered you
the money, that's enough!"

"Oh, it's enough, is it? Well, it may be enough for you, but it is not
enough for the citizens of this town. We have organized a committee, of
which Mr. Jepson is a member, to escort you out of Vegas; and I would
say further that your bond and lease has lapsed and the Company will
take over the mine."

"We'll discuss that later," returned Wiley grimly, "but I'll tell you
right now that there aren't men enough in Vegas to run me out of
town--not if you call in the whole town and the Janitors' Union--so
don't try to start anything rough. I'm a law-abiding citizen, and I
know my rights, and I'm going to see this through." He put his back to
the wall and the burly Jepson took the hint to move further away.
"Now," said Wiley, "if we understand each other let's get right down
to brass tacks. It's all very well to organize Vigilance Committees
for the protection of trusting young ladies, but you know and I know
that this is a matter of business, involving the title to a mine. And
I'd like to say further that, when a Board of Directors talks a
messenger out of her purpose and persuades her to disregard her
instructions----"

"Instructions!" bellowed Blount.

"Yes--instructions!" repeated Wiley, "--instructions as my agent. I sent
Miss Huff down here to make this payment and I gave her instructions
regarding it."

"Do you realize," blustered Blount, "