sult him about it. What has he got to do with us?"

"Since the well is on his land, and since you have been converting the
oil to your own use, he thinks he has a great deal to do with it,"
replied the second man, who looked very much like a lawyer, while the
other was evidently an officer of some kind.

"His land!" cried George; and then all four of the partners looked at
each other in a dazed way, as if they had suddenly been deprived of the
power of speech.

"Yes, his land," replied the lawyer. "He had a mortgage on all this
property, which he foreclosed, and he proposes to take possession of
the house at once."

"But--but I paid that mortgage!" cried Mr. Simpson, in a trembling
voice. "I paid that mortgage, and have got it now."

"Yes," was the quiet reply. "I understand that by some means you have
got the instrument itself in your possession, but if you had got it
because you had paid the amount due, you would have received and had
recorded a release from Mr. Massie. Have you got that?"

"A release!" repeated the old man, in bewilderment. "I don't rightly
understand you. I paid my money and got the mortgage. Wasn't that
enough?"

"_If_ you had paid the money," replied the lawyer, with a decided
emphasis on the first word, "you would have received a release, and that
would have been recorded with the mortgage, otherwise that instrument is
in full force."

"But I paid it! I paid it!" wailed the old man.

"I know you did, Mr. Simpson," said George, sternly, "and so does
Massie. This is a sharp trick on his part to force us into buying his
imaginary claim off, for he tried very hard to get hold of this property
in the first place, and would have succeeded if he had not tried to get
too much. We will consult a lawyer at once."

"In the meantime, gentlemen," said the lawyer, "I warn you against
removing any more oil, or interfering in any way with my client's
property."

"I don't suppose you have got an order of the court to prevent the well
from flowing, have you?" asked Bob, angrily, making what seemed such
unnecessary movements with his hands, that the lawyer stepped several
paces backward very quickly.

"This officer will remain in charge of such property as you may own
here, since it is attached by Mr. Massie," said the lawyer, evidently
thinking it best for him to depart, and getting into the carriage with a
celerity that hardly seemed possible in one of his age.

"Oh, he will, will he?" cried Bob,