“It seems,” he said, “that old Uncle Bill ain’t got any more title to that ground up there than a man has to something he never saw before, or heard of before, in all his life. That land was patented more than forty years ago, and the taxes have been paid regularly by the heirs of the original owner. Must have been that they didn’t know that Bill Harmon was livin’ on it, or --maybe they didn’t care a cuss seein’ as they wasn’t using it. Anyhow, they sold her out, lock, stock, and barrel, to Hiram Newport, down in Placerville. You know him, I reckon. Lawyer. Lends money on mortgages, and owns a bank of his own.” “Dirty old skinflint!” David exclaimed. “Course we knows him. Pirate!” Goliath rumbled. “Well, it seems old Newport had a scheme up his sleeve, and he goes back East somewheres and gets some feller that makes a specialty of buildin’ reservoirs and power plants, interested in this land. And Uncle Bill’s place being in a big gulch with a narrow outlet that could be dammed easily, is a sort of key to the whole blamed thing. Feller that Hiram goes to takes an option. Sends out some engineer experts of his to pass on it. They goes up with a few men to make a survey. Old Harmless is at first sort of dazed, then when these engineer fellers tells him what’s up, he tells ’em he owns that gulch and for them to get to hell out of there. When they don’t hike the old man gets his dander up and it’s sure up all right --just as if bein’ peaceful and quiet for longer’n any one can remember had sort of bottled it up for fair, and now he’s got the cork out. “Uncle Bill goes into his cabin and shows up with his Winchester and--you know how that old feller can shoot. Well, he shoots the hat off one engineer’s head, takes a second shot at a mighty costly theodolite they’d planted, and scores a bull, then with a few shots just above their heads sort of hastens their gallop as they’re takin’ down the trail. They come down to me and demand the protection of the law. I laughed. It seemed so foolish for anybody to be afraid of Old Harmless who’d never fought anybody or anything for more’n forty years. I thought I’d have to go up and see about it, however, so off I goes, all alone.” He stopped, scratched his head, and grinned as if amused with his own experience.