" He drew a
stiff paper from the inside pocket of his coat and waved it toward the
boy.
"Bunk! I don't know much about the law but I do know that you could have
obtained nothing of the kind without our being notified. And just which
one of you has been selected to do the appraising?"
"Him," answered Red laconically and jerked his thumb at the Boss.
"So," Jeems stared at him, "since yo' couldn't git what yo' want by
thievin' at night, yo're goin' to try and git it by day."
"But what are you really after? I'm curious to know. You certainly don't
want a sugar plantation which hasn't been paying its way since the Civil
War. That just isn't reasonable. And you ought to know that we can't
afford to buy you off. We must be living over a gold-mine that we
haven't discovered. Come on, tell us where it is," Val prodded.
"Cut the cackle," advised Red, "an' le's git down to it."
"I would advise you to get back in your car and drive out." Val wondered
if his face looked as stiff as it felt. "This visit isn't going to get
you anywhere."
"We ain't goin' any place, kid," remarked the rival. "You don't seem to
understand. We're stayin' right here. I got rights and the judge has
recognized them. I'm top guy here now."
"Yeah. Yuh ain't so smart as yuh think yuh are," contributed Red,
scowling at Val. "We ain't gonna leave."
It wasn't Red's speech, however, that straightened the boy's back and
made Jeems shift his position an inch or two.
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