"Yes—no—that is, he took me over a lot of ground that contained many fine large walnut trees. See here, Squire, have I been swindled?"
"That depends. Weefer is about as smart as they make 'em, so I don't think he'd be fool enough to swindle any one—not, at least, so that the law could take hold of him. Did he say the land he showed you was his? Tell me exactly what he said; for if he over-reached himself, my old law partner would like to handle the case for you. To win a case against Weefer would be a great feather in his cap. The fact is that all the walnut on Weefer's land consists of stumps, for the trees were cut off two or three years ago. There's a fine lot of standing walnut adjoining it, but it belongs to Doctor Taggess."
"Then I am swindled."
"I hope so—that is, I hope, for the sake of our old firm, which I'll have to go back into if I'm not reëlected, that you've a good case against Weefer. Now tell me—carefully—exactly what he said. Did he say that Taggess's land was his?"
"No—o—o," said Philip, after a moment of thought, "I can't say that he did. We rode out there on horseback, stopped at the edge of some wooded ground, and he said, 'Did you ever see finer walnut land than that?' Those were his very words—I'll swear to them—the old scoundrel!"
"Quite likely, but did he say that those trees—that land—was his?"
"No; not in so many words, but he certainly gave me that impression."
"With what exact words?" Again Philip searched his memory, but was compelled to reply:—
"With no words that I can recall. He talked rapturously about the beauty of a lot of walnut trees, from the money point of view."