"He has not."
Uncle Sid interrupted.
"I expect I can contribute some facts, Senner. The truth is, your company would have been fifty thousand dollars out, if it hadn't been for 'Lige Berl,—I don't defend him, either. As it is, you've got a bank account fatter than it was, an' I'm owner o' the Pico ranch."
"And our money having been risked without our consent, you are getting the sole benefit of it?" Seymour's voice was biting.
"That's just as you say, Senner. I'm goin' to let in a few others, Helen an' Ralph, an' we've no objections to you if you want to come in."
Seymour's face flushed angrily. He mistook the kindly old man's offer for a bribe.
"I've made money, but I've made it honestly, not by taking bribes."
Uncle Sid's face grew purple. His eyes shone from a maze of deep, hard lines.
"Look here, Mr. Seymour, I've got a name reachin' back three hundred years. You just shin up your jenny-logical tree an' shake out your ancestors, an' I'll match 'em as they fall, hides, an' horns, an' taller, an' what's more, if they line up better'n mine, I'll go along where you're more than half minded to send 'Lige."
Seymour was quick in thought and quick in action. He saw that he had been mistaken. A kindly, if somewhat cynical, smile softened his face.