"Hell! She ain't thinkin' of doin' that!"
"She certainly was. She would have made the proposal to you already, if I had not asked her to wait until I could advise with her again."
The young man's blue eyes opened wide in astonishment.
"What good would that do her?"
"It would give all of you California Clarks your slice of Clark's Field—how many of you are there?"
"I dunno exactly—maybe twenty or twenty-five—I haven't kep' count."
"Say there are twenty-five heirs of old Edward S. living. Each of them would have a hundred thousand dollars apiece roughly. That sum of money is not to be despised even to-day."
"You bet it ain't," murmured the mason feelingly. His face settled into a scowl; and leaning forward he demanded,—"What are you drivin' at anyway, Judge?"
The judge did not answer.
"You ain't goin' to let that woman hand over all her money to a lot of little no-'count people she's never laid eyes on, just because they are called 'Clark' instead of 'Smith' or some other name?"