“‘You can’t do it,’ said the agent. ‘My client won’t sell, and wants to give you warning that he doesn’t like trespassing.’
“‘That means he wants a big price,’ said the Colonel, looking at the map. ‘What’s his figure?’
“And the agent grinned as he answered, ‘For the piece you require for the ore-dump, ten thousand dollars.’
“‘He is mad,’ said the Colonel, ‘perfectly stark mad. Tell him I shall dump my refuse on it, if I have to finance somebody to locate a mineral claim. What is the name of this lunatic?’
“‘Martin Lorimer,’ said the agent. ‘The crown in that case gives you the minerals; but before you put a pick into the ground you must meet all demands for compensation—and they’ll be mighty heavy ones. My client is also prepared to collect them by the best legal assistance that money can buy, and I guess you’ve given him a useful hint.’ 323
“My respected chief just walked out; but I think he was troubled at the name,” said Calvert. “And after that there was some fresh difficulty every week, while his temper, which was never a good one, got perfectly awful, until I came away. He’ll go off in a fit of apoplexy or paralytic seizure when his passion breaks loose some day.”
Calvert furnished other particulars before he resumed his eastward journey, leaving me with much to ponder. An actively worked mine is a public benefit, and its owners usually have free access and privilege upon the adjacent soil; but I knew that in such matters as cutting timber, water, and ore and refuse heaps a hostile neighbor could harass them considerably. “Uncle Martin is going to enjoy himself,” said Aline, when I told her so.
It was some weeks later when Harry and his assistants came home, bringing with him a heavy bank draft and a wallet stuffed with dollar bills. He looked more handsome and winning than ever when he greeted Aline, and—though it needed some experience of her ways to come to this conclusion—I could tell that she regarded him with approval. He had finished the railroad work, and when he had furnished full details about it, he showed that he had thoughtfully considered other matters, for he said:
“Ralph, I guessed you would be busy altering Fairmead on opportunity, and now that your sister has turned it into a palace I should always be afraid of spoiling something; so I have arranged by mail to camp with Hudson, of the next preemption. His place is scarcely a mile away. Miss Lorimer, you don’t realize the joys of living as a bachelor, or you would freely forgive me.”
“I think I do,” said Aline. “Half-cooked food on plates that have not been washed for weeks and weeks, and a house like a pig-stye. Have I not seen my brother 324 reveling in them? Mr. Harry Lorraine, from what Ralph has told me, there is no one I should more gladly welcome to Fairmead than its part-owner, and I am surprised that he should prefer the pig-stye. Still, in reference to the latter, is there not a warning about blindly casting?”