morning. There is the document; examine it if you like. The only shadow
of a claim you could have to this property you would have to derive from
ME. The only excuse you could have for this act of lawlessness would
be orders from ME. And all that you have done this morning is only the
assertion of MY legal right to this house. If I disavow your act, as I
might, I leave you as helpless as any tramp that was ever kicked from
a doorstep,--as any burglar that was ever collared on the fence by a
constable."
It was the truth. There was no denying the authority of the document,
the facts of the situation, or its ultimate power and significance.
There was consternation, stupefaction, and even a half-humorous
recognition of the absurdity of their position on most of the faces
around him. Incongruous as the scene was, it was made still more
grotesque by the attitude of Jim Hooker. Ruthlessly abandoning the
party of convicted trespassers, he stalked gloomily over to the side
of Clarence, with the air of having been all the time scornfully in
the secret and a mien of wearied victoriousness, and thus halting, he
disdainfully expectorated tobacco juice on the ground between him
and his late companions, as if to form a line of demarcation. The
few Mexicans began to edge towards the gateway. This defection of his
followers recalled the leader, who was no coward, to himself again.
"Shut the gate, there!" he shouted.
As its two sides clashed together again, he turned deliberately to
Clarence.
"That's all very well, young man, as regards the TITLE. You may have
BOUGHT up the land, and legally own every square inch of howling
wilderness between this and San Francisco, and I wish you joy of
your d--d fool's bargain; you may have got a whole circus like that,"
pointing to the gloomy Jim, "at your back. But with all your money and
all your friends you've forgotten one thing. You haven't got possession,
and we have."
"That's just where we differ," said Clarence coolly, "for if you take
the trouble to examine the house, you will see that it is already in
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