savagely. "Well, I shall stay here in
charge of him, and I promise you he won't do anything more here than the
law permits him to."

"What _can_ we do?" asked Ralph, as the lawyer drove away, and the
officer sauntered around the premises like one who already owned them.

"I don't know what we can do now, except to go into town and consult a
lawyer. There is no question but that Massie is trying a little sharp
practice, and if it is a possible thing, he will get the best of us,"
said George. "Ralph, you and I will go into town, while Bob stays here.
I suppose we had better take Mr. Simpson with us, so that he can tell
all the particulars of paying the money."

"We will telegraph for father," cried Ralph, as if the thought has just
occurred to him. "He is a lawyer, and he will help us through with it."

"That's a good idea," replied George; "but we will also see a lawyer in
town, so as to know exactly what we ought to do now."

Mr. Simpson followed Ralph and George as they went to the stable, and
from time to time he repeated half to himself, as he passed his hand
over his forehead, as if to collect his scattered senses:

"I paid the mortgage--I paid the mortgage."

"We know you did, Mr. Simpson, and it will be hard if we can't prove it.
At all events, he has not got possession of the property yet, and I do
not believe he ever will."

CHAPTER XXXIII.

HOLDING POSSESSION.

It was a mournful-looking superintendent Bob made when his partners had
left him alone with the officer who was acting as keeper of the property
Massie had attached in pursuance of his swindling scheme.

Bob had a wholesome dread of openly defying the law. In a case like
moonlighting, where the question of legality had never been definitely
settled, he had been prompt enough to take his chances as to whether he
was proceeding in strict accordance with, or directly against, the law;
but in the present case, where the man whom he would have been most
pleased to forcibly eject from the premises was armed with all the
powers of the court, Bob was obliged to content himself with thinking
what he would like to do.

As the officer sat there near the engine-house, doing no more than was
absolutely his duty, Bob looked upon him as simply Mr. Massie's
representative, and the temptation to vent his anger by some act of
violence was very great.

He restrained himself, however, from saying or doing anything that
would entangle him in the mesh