o 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 Dick, 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 Massie had attached, was informed that he would be considered a
trespasser, 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 quantity 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 Massie'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. Massie, 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 bef