When Paul Judson arrived, to what had been home, in answer to Mr. Kane's wire, it was to find that Tom Hewin, whose sub-contract still controlled this part of the estate, had begun removing the rich outcrop where the north end of the cottage had rested.
"This is outrageous, Hewin! We don't want this touched——"
"It's the contract, Mr. Judson. In section seven. I supposed——"
Paul left him, agonized at heart.
An injunction the next day stopped the theft of the outcrop, and removed the Hewins from their connection with the property and the strike.
Only Ed was left to his mother to arrange for the burial of Diana and Will. Neither of them knew, although Stella suspected, that there were three dead in the two graves.
XIX
Life at the Hernandez home had its definite compensations, Pelham found. A nearby garage held the indispensable car; and there was now no one to censor his comings and goings. As long as he slept on the mountain, Mary clung to this rôle; the relief of the lifted restraint was immediate.
His mining inspector's badge gave him the run of the mountain property, although he was careful not to use it in direct union propaganda.