Beneath this there was about a column dealing with Mr. Oliver's exploits and their own. Frank glanced at parts of it with blank astonishment. "You never told him all that stuff," he declared, passing it to Harry. Mr. Oliver intercepted the paper, and his expression hinted at half-disgusted amusement. "Didn't you know any better than to tell a story of this kind to a newspaper man?" he asked. "Read a little of it!" Harry's face flushed as he read. "I didn't tell him half of it," he protested. "Besides, I didn't know what he was." Mr. Oliver laughed at last; and just then another man got up and made a speech about Mr. Barclay, who rose and looked down the table with a quiet smile. "I appreciate what you have said of my doings, boys, and now I'll base my few observations on one of the first speaker's remarks," he began. "He stated that the man who began by robbing the Government would end by robbing everybody else; but he was wrong. The man who robs the Government _is_ robbing every other citizen. Each of us is part of a system that's built up, we believe, on the rock of the constitution. Otherwise, if you were merely individuals, doing just as you wished, obeying nobody, you could live only like the Indians, holding your ranches and cattle--if you had them--with the rifle. All commerce and security is founded on the fact that we're not separate men, but a nation. Well, the nation wants troops, and warships, judges, courts, schools, and roads. It expects you to pay your share, since you get the benefit, and every man who beats it out of one tax or duty is playing a mean game on and stealing from the rest. That's the one point I want to make clear." Then, to the confusion of Harry and Frank, they were commended; and afterward the company broke up into groups to talk and smoke. Mr. Oliver and the boys, Mr. Marston, Mr. Webster and Mr. Barclay still sat together, and presently Mr. Barclay turned to the boys. "I've some news for you," he announced. "The schooner has been surveyed. She's very little damaged, and the authorities, who have seized her, have decided to allow your claim in full. As soon as she's sold, they'll forward you a treasury order." "And we'll really get all that money?" Frank asked with a gasp. "It seems pretty certain." The blood rushed into Frank's face. "It would go a long way toward buying a small, half-cleared ranch," he exclaimed joyfully. "I've one to sell," laughed Mr. Webster. "You can have it cheap." "Are you serious?" Mr. Oliver inquired. "Sure!" was the answer. "I never was much good at ranching, and the place is too small to feed more than a few head of stock. It might pay growing fruit; but if I did any planting now I'd have to wait three or four years before I got any returns worth while, and I was always kind of smart at carpentering. I could get contracts for building log bridges and cutting wharf piles now, and I'd let the ranch go at a very moderate price." "How much do you want?"