"This senseless feud has gone
far enough. I must stop it--at once."
He touched his broad hat, and she returned to the house to dress.
Meanwhile Colonel Pennington had reached the crossing once more,
simultaneously with the arrival of Sam Perkins, the chief of police,
accompanied by two automobiles crammed with patrolmen. Perkins
strutted up to Bryce Cardigan and Buck Ogilvy.
"What's the meaning of all this row, Mr. Cardigan?" he demanded.
"Something has slipped, Sam," Bryce retorted pleasantly. "You've been
calling me Bryce for the past twenty years, and now you're mistering
me! The meaning of this row, you ask?" Bryce continued. "Well, I'm
engaged in making a jump-crossing of Colonel Pennington's tracks,
under a temporary franchise granted me by the city of Sequoia. Here's
the franchise." And he thrust the document under the police chief's
nose.
"This is the first I've heard about any franchise," Sam Perkins
replied suspiciously. "Seems to me you been mighty secret about this
job. How do I know this ain't a forgery?"
"Call up the mayor and ask him," Bryce suggested.
"I'll do that," quoth Mr. Perkins ponderously. "And in the meantime,
don't do any more digging or rail-cutting." He hurried away to his
automobile, leaving a lieutenant in charge of the squad.
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