“Bless my innocent soul,” Mr. McGraw had murmured at the time, “what a curious rule! I had a notion that that was the surveyor-general's business, not mine. I had a notion that he was paid for compiling that information for the people, and not forcing them to compile it for themselves.” However, in no whit daunted by the prospect of a little research work, Bob had had recourse to the land maps in the office. To his surprise and chagrin he discovered that as fast as he brought to light a “basis” for his selection, he was informed, after some perfunctory investigation by the employees of the State Land Office that these bases _had already been used!_ Eventually the light of reason began to sift through the fog of despair and suddenly Bob had a very brilliant idea. “Euchred!” he muttered to himself. “I do not happen to possess the requisite amount of inside information and I have no means of obtaining it until I ascertain where it is for sale! The purpose of this ridiculous rule is to keep the rabble out of the public domain until some middleman gets a profit out of his information. I'll just give up for the time being and await results.” Bob did not have long to wait. Within a week he received a letter from an alleged land attorney, offering to locate him on state lieu lands worth fifty dollars per acre, in return for the trifling payment of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre to the state and the further trifling payment of ten dollars per acre to the purveyor of information respecting the necessary basis for the exchange! At the time this procedure had struck Bob as rather humorous. He was an ardent admirer of genius wherever lie saw it, and even this exhibition of evil genius, which so adroitly deprived him of his constitutional right to the public domain without the payment of a middleman's profit, rather aroused his admiration. At the time he was not financially equipped to argue the matter calmly, clearly--and judicially, and he had no money to pay for “inside information.” He only knew that the rule requiring applicants to designate the basis was an office-made rule and had no place in Mr. McGraw's copy of the Political Code of the State of California. And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the knave caroled Bob, and charged the matter up to experience, not, however, without first storing the incident away in his nimble brain for future reference.