"In that event, you don't need my answer."
"I must have your answer to shape my proof. You'll give it to me here or on the witness stand. I'll leave it to you to decide which."
Matthewson faced him like a man at bay; then, as he saw his unflinching purpose, he yielded and answered:
"The papers purport to impugn titles to a million dollars' worth of land and two millions' worth of stumpage. They impugn too the honour of the men who hold those titles."
It was Trafford's turn for surprise. The words took him back to the great scandal of the Public Lands Office, before and while Matthewson was Governor—the one storm that it had seemed for a time even his political resources could not weather. Then came the sudden collapse of the attack and the disappearance of documents that were relied on to support it. He recalled that Judge Parlin had been retained to prosecute the case, and that it was said that papers had been stolen from his office which it had never been possible to replace.
"You mean," he said, "the Range 16 scandal."
