ts on foot to secure this tract without knowledge of
its special value, simply for its speculative value. Mr. Berl acted at
once. At this time the Pacific Bank failed, and the fifty thousand
dollars saved to the company through his influence,--I don't pretend to
defend this,--was used by him for the purchase of the Pico ranch."

"One moment," Seymour interrupted. "Did Mr. Berl intend to restore this
money?"

"I can only give you facts, Mr. Seymour, not opinions."

"Very well. But from your own showing, if other parties had secured this
property, we would have had the revenue from the sale of the water and
our money beside."

"I don't think that follows. But the actual fact is, that other parties
did not get this tract and that Mr. Berl did."

"Has Mr. Berl got it now?"

"He has not."

Uncle Sid interrupted.

"I expect I can contribute some facts, Senner. The truth is, your
company would have been fifty thousand dollars out, if it hadn't been
for 'Lige Berl,--I don't defend him, either. As it is, you've got a bank
account fatter than it was, an' I'm owner o' the Pico ranch."

"And our money having been risked without our consent, you are getting
the sole benefit of it?" Seymour's voice was biting.

"That's just as you say, Senner. I'm goin' to let in a few others, Helen
an' Ralph, an' we've no objections to you if you want to come in."

Seymour's face flushed angrily. He mistook the kindly old man's offer
for a bribe.

"I've made money, but I've made it honestly, not by taking bribes."

Uncle Sid's face grew purple. His eyes shone from a maze of deep, hard
lines.

"Look here, Mr. Seymour, I've got a name reachin' back three hundred
years. You just shin up your jenny-logical tree an' shake out your
ancestors, an' I'll match 'em as they fall, hides, an' horns, an'
taller, an' what's more, if they line up better'n mine, I'll go along
where you're more than half minded to send 'Lige."

Seymour was quick in thought and quick in action. He saw that he had
been mistaken. A kindly, if somewhat cynical, smile softened his face.

"I beg your pardon, Captain. I won't put you to that trouble."

"No trouble at all, Senner, if 'twill ease you up any." Uncle Sid's face
relaxed.

"I think you have all of the essential facts, Mr. Seymour," Winston
began. "Mr. Berl took fifty thousand dollars of the company's money. It
has been returned. According to the strict interpretation of the law,
this restitution does not fr