"I know it? Say, Rover, are you going crazy? I don't know any such thing," and now Davenport put on an assumption of anger.
"I say you do know it—you and your whole crowd!" retorted Dick Rover. "This land is a tract said to be full of oil, and you want to do me out of my rights." And now Jack's father appeared to warm up.
"Rover, I've had enough of your bluffing, and I won't stand for any more of it!" cried Carson Davenport. "You may be able to put up a big front with some folks, but it won't go with me. I claim that this land is mine, and I won't pay any more attention to what you say until you produce those precious papers that you have said so much about. And even then I may not listen to you. My private opinion is that the army authorities ought to take up your case and make an example of you," went on the oil promoter, with more of a sneer than before.
"The army authorities?" questioned Dick Rover, puzzled.
"That's what I said. I've heard a thing or two about you. It was all well enough for you to pull Spell in and get a medal for doing it. But when that poor fool wrote out a so-called will leaving you everything he possessed, I reckon he rather put his foot into it," finished Davenport significantly.
Jack's father and the boys were, of course, astonished, and even Davenport's companions showed that this was something they had not been expecting. The men crowded around to find out what was coming next.
"Davenport, I'll have to ask you to explain yourself!" exclaimed Dick Rover, and strode forward, his eyes flashing.
"Want me to explain myself, do you?" cried the oil promoter savagely. "All right, then, I will. According to reports Lorimer Spell ran out ahead of you in that fight, and then he was shot in the back. Do you understand that—shot in the back! Well, who did it? Certainly not the Germans. They were in front of him."
"Do you mean to insinuate that I or one of our other men shot Spell?" demanded Dick Rover, and now his face was almost white.
"He had made a will in your favor—you were the only one to profit by his death."