“You have a very good champion in this young man,” and the lawyer nodded at Hiram.
“He suspected all was not right with the option and he has dug up the fact that the witness to your uncle's signature, and the man before whom the paper was attested, both believed the option was for a short time.
“Caleb Schell's book shows that it was for thirty days. Uncle Jeptha undoubtedly thought it was for that length of time and therefore the option expired several days before he died.
“Mr. Pepper may have fallen under temptation. He considered heretofore, like everybody else, that the railroad would pass us by in this section. Pepper gambled twenty dollars on its coming along the boundary of the Atterson farm—between you and Darrell's tract—and thought he had lost.
“Then suddenly the railroad board turned square around and voted for the condemnation of the original route. Pepper remembered the option he had risked twenty dollars on. If it was originally for thirty days, it was void, of course; but Uncle Jeptha is dead, and he hopes perhaps, that nobody else will dispute the validity of it.”
“It's a forgery, then?” cried Mrs. Atterson.
“It may be a forgery. We do not know,” said the lawyer, hastily. “At any rate, he has the paper, and he is a shrewd rascal.”
Mrs. Atterson's face was a study.
“Do you mean to tell me we have got to lose the farm?” she demanded.
“My dear lady, that I cannot tell you. I must see this option. We must put it to the test——”