"Underneath the signature of Dale," continued the Judge, "somebody has copied that signature some fifty or sixty times. I wonder why."
"I dunno anything about it," Luke Tweezy denied, feebly.
"We'll come back to that," the Judge observed, softly. "G'on, Racey."
"I figure," said Racey, "that they'd hatched that forgery some while before Dale was killed. The killing made it easier to put it on record."
"Looks that way," nodded the Judge.
"Lookit here," boomed Jack Harpe, "you ain't got any right to judge us thisaway. We ain't on trial."
"Shore you ain't," asserted the Judge. "I always said you wasn't. This here is just a talk, a friendly talk. No trial about it."
"Here's another letter, Judge," said Racey Dawson.
The Judge read the other letter, and again fixed Luke Tweezy with his eye.
"This ain't a letter exactly," said Judge Dolan. "It's a quadruplicate copy of an agreement between Lanpher of the 88 ranch, Jacob Pooley of Piegan City, and Luke Tweezy of Marysville, parties of the first part, and Jack Harpe, party of the second part, to buy or otherwise obtain possession of the ranch of William Dale, in the northeast corner of which property is located an abandoned mine tunnel in which Jack Harpe, the party of the second part, has discovered a gold-bearing lode."