“I’ll tell you right away,” replied Mr. Snodgrass, as, by the light of the gas lantern on the auto he read the letter.
As he glanced rapidly over the pages his face took on an anxious look.
“Is there anything wrong?” asked Ned.
“There is indeed,” replied the professor gravely. “The letter was written over a week ago, and, among other things Nestor says there is likely to be trouble over the mine.”
“What kind? Is Noddy Nixon trying to get it away from us again?” asked Jerry.
“No,” replied Mr. Snodgrass. “It appears our title is not as good as it might be. There is one of the former owners of the land where the mine is located who did not sign the deed. He was missing when the transfer was made, but Nestor did not know this, so there is a cloud on our title.”
“But I thought we claimed the land from the government, and were the original owners,” put in Ned.
“It seems that a company of men owned the mine before we did, but they sold out to Nestor and some of his friends. They all signed the deed but this one man, and now some one has learned of this, and seeks to take the mine, on the theory that they have as good a claim to the holding as we have.”
“I should say that was trouble,” sighed Bob. “To think of losing what we worked so hard to get!”