I always guessed it was because you'd got wind of the smash-up down there, afore we did," said Hopkins grimly.
"What smash-up ?" asked Jim, with slightly resentful quickness.
"Why, the smash-up of the Sisters' title,--didn't you hear that ?" There was a slight movement of relief and a return of gloomy hauteur in Jim's manner.
"No, we don't know much of what goes on in the cow counties, up here." "Ye mout, considerin' it concerns some o' your friends," returned Hopkins dryly.

"For the Sisters' title went smash as soon as it was known that Pedro Valdez--the man as started it--had his neck broken outside the walls o' Robles Rancho; and they do say as this yer Brant, YOUR friend, had suthin' to do with the breaking of it, though it was laid to the ghost of old Peyton.

Anyhow, there was such a big skeer that one of the Greaser gang, who thought he'd seen the ghost, being a Papist, to save his everlasting soul went to the priest and confessed.
But the priest wouldn't give him absolution until he'd blown the hull thing, and made it public.

And then it turned out that all the dockyments for the title, and even the custom-house paper, were FORGED by Pedro Valdez, and put on the market by his confederates.

And that's just where YOUR friend, Clarence Brant, comes in, for HE had bought up the whole title from them fellers.