"Just finding out that old Doughnuts can travel when he has to?" The pony owed his name to that far-off episode of their first meeting.
"I was in a hurry. Did I ride him too hard?"
"No, did him good." He loosened the cinches, stripped off saddle and bridle and dismissed Doughnuts with a friendly slap for a luxurious roll. "What was the hurry, old girl? Has somebody been breaking into Dry Lodge?"
"No, no; all right there. But Angus, such a strange thing has happened. They've found coal in that round mountain!"
"Coal!" he exclaimed.
Swiftly, words tumbling over one another so that much had to be repeated, she related her experiences. As she spoke, mentioning the names of Garland, of Poole, and finally of Braden, she saw his face cloud and darken. The frank, genial lights of love and laughter left his eyes; they became hard, brooding, watchful.
"Well," she asked, "what do you think? Isn't that my property—our property?"
"I supposed so from what you told me, but I never knew where your lines ran. How did you know your boundaries?"
"I didn't really know them, I'm afraid. Uncle Godfrey just generally indicated where they were, from the house. But I know he said that hill was inside them."
"Your deeds would show; but Judge Riley has sent them away to be registered. I don't remember the description in them."