The gunman was running for dear life down the spoil bank. On the opposite side his companions were in full flight. Payne did not follow. He stood and watched them, outraged to the marrow. "And keep off, too!" he shouted grimly. "Tell your lawyer, tell your sheriff, tell 'em all, keep off!"
XXVIII
"It's impossible!"
Roger was too stunned to grasp the true significance of the situation at once.
"The Senator's company wouldn't have sold me this land if there was a suit on it."
Then, little by little, the facts began to clarify in his mind. Connors, the lawyer, was Senator Fairclothe's law partner; Fairclothe had been anxious to see the tract drained.
"Oh, my God!" he groaned, "Are they that rotten!"
"But you had the title searched before you bought?" said Higgins.
"Of course. Right back to the first Spanish land grant, and there wasn't a flaw in it."
"Then those fellows are stung."