"I tried to convince the Land and Water Board of that in Santa Fé, but made no headway."
"How outrageous!" she exclaimed.
The waiter at her elbow recalled her to the requirements of the moment. Still with a trace of colour in her cheeks, the result of her indignation, she scanned the menu and wrote out her order.
"The thing is so utterably unreasonable," she resumed, more calmly. "Why did they let you start if they proposed afterward to hang a sword above your head?"
"The Board was ignorant of this law, as was everybody else, until it was brought to light by the applicant for cancellation," said Lee, "a certain Rodriguez, of Rosita."
"Who is he?"
Bryant shook his head.
"Don't ask me. No friend, at any rate."
She regarded him steadily for a moment.
"Probably a man put forward by Mr. Menocal."