An hour later the invaders had pitched camp a mile below, and after placing a trusted man on guard Appleton sent his weary men to bed.
It was Curtis Gordon himself who brought O'Neil the first tidings of this encounter, for, seeing the uselessness of an immediate attempt to overcome Dan's party by force, he determined to make formal protest. He secured a boat, and a few hours later the swift current swept him down to the lower crossing, where McKay put a locomotive at his disposal for the trip to Omar. By the time he arrived there he was quite himself again, suave, self-possessed, and magnificently outraged at the treatment he had received. O'Neil met him with courtesy.
"Your man Appleton has lost his head," Gordon began. "I've come to ask you to call him off."
"He is following instructions to the letter."
"Do you mean that you refuse to allow me to run my right-of-way along that hillside? Impossible!" His voice betokened shocked surprise.
"I am merely holding my own survey. I can't quit work to accommodate you."
"But, my dear sir, I must insist that you do."
O'Neil shrugged.
"Then there is but one way to construe your refusal—it means that you declare war."
"You saved me that necessity when you sent Linn to hire my men away."