"Now you got it; what you think?" asked the old man at last.
"It's tough luck," said Bob. "There's more to be said for your side of the case than I had thought."
"There's a lot more goin' to be said yet," stated Samuels, truculently.
"But I'm afraid when it comes right down to the law of it, they'll decide against your claim. The law reads pretty plain on how to go about it; and as I understand it, you never did prove up."
"My lawyer says if I hang on here, they never can get me out," said Samuels, "and I'm a-goin' to hang on."
"Well, of course, that's for the courts to decide," agreed Bob, "and I don't claim to know much about law—nor want to."
"Me neither!" agreed the mountaineer fervently.
"But I've known of a dozen cases just like yours that went against the claimant. There was the Brown case in Idaho, for instance, that was exactly like yours. Brown had some money, and he fought it through up to the Supreme Court, but they decided against him."
"How was that?" asked Samuels.
Bob explained at length, dispassionately, avoiding even the colour of argument, but drawing strongly the parallel.