When Bob found opportunity to present them, and tell who they were, and what they had come for, they were very coldly welcomed, but George Edwards was doubled up more than once by the hearty grasps he received.
These men were neither blind nor deaf. They knew all about that provision in the will by which Uncle Bob had been brought there, and they knew, too, how dishonorably he had acted toward his brother, for Mr. Evans had given them a full history of it. Their late employer had held a high place in their estimation, and they could not bear to have a stranger, and a man like this, step into his shoes.
“I am satisfied of one thing,” said Uncle Bob, as he and Arthur took possession of the room to which they had been conducted. “We have got into a bed of thorns. Somebody has been slandering me, and these people have made up their minds to hate me, without giving me time to show them what manner of man I am. Now, Arthur, let me caution you. You have come out here intending to carry things with a high hand, but that will never do. For a while, at least, you must conduct yourself in all respects as though you had no more rights here than a casual visitor, and I will do the same. Our first hard work must be to learn something of the way in which a sheep ranch is conducted, and while we are doing that, we must make all the friends we can. After we have firmly established ourselves here, we can take the position to which we are entitled by the terms of the will.”
Arthur, who had hoped to be recognized at once as one of the “bosses” of the ranch, did not like to wait; nor was he at all pleased at the idea of playing visitor when he thought he ought to have some authority, but he saw the wisdom of the course his father had marked out for him, and reluctantly promised that he would follow it.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE IDEA SUGGESTED.
Arthur and his father lost no time in removing some of the travel-stains from their hands and faces, and when they had put on plainer suits of clothes and taken off some of the jewelry they had worn during their journey, they went out—Uncle Bob to find Mr. Evans, and Arthur to hunt up Bob, who had promised to show him and George the mountain under which the vanquished giant was imprisoned.
The former found Mr. Evans waiting for him in a little room in which the late owner of the ranch had transacted all his business, and which was known as the office.
There was a desk and safe there, arm-chairs in abundance, and two large bookcases—one being devoted to works on agriculture and stock-raising, while the other was filled with histories, biographies, and works of like character—for Eben Howard, unlike his brother Robert, was a hard reader and a man of considerable attainments.
The safe was open, and piles of papers and note-books relating to the business of the ranch were scattered about over the desk.
Uncle Bob, assisted by Mr. Evans, at once went to work to make himself master of the contents of the books and papers, paying particular attention to his brother’s will, of course, while the boys walked down the river-bank toward the canyon, with a score or more hunting-dogs at their heels.