smile and ''lowed they could'; and
everybody walked into the lowest tunnel leaving the fire guard lanterns
outside; for this tunnel was lighted by electricity. As they all
walked in, the Sheriff was to the rear.

"Here, you, Mr. Sheriff," Matthews blurted out, going to the rear of
the procession, "seems to me my place is kind o' back o' behind o' you."

The Sheriff smiled a sickly smile and ''lowed it waz.'

Wayland took the record of the mine's output per day. (It averaged a
net return of forty per cent. dividend on a capitalization of ninety
million.) Then, he took the record of what the Smelter could consume
per day. The difference must be used for shipment or storage. Wayland
did the counting and measuring. MacDonald jotted down the notes. The
downy-lipped youth proceeded along the tunnel with an air of supreme
contempt. It was as they were about to enter the second tunnel that
his superiority expressed itself. Matthews afterwards said it was
because the black water drip or coal sweat was seeping through the
overalls.

"I don't see what we're delaying to take all these specific
measurements for anyway," he said.

"Don't you?" asked Wayland. "Then I'll tell you! I have the affidavit
of the most of the 'dummies' that the homestead entries were
fraudulent! You could see that if you knew that men can't farm at an
angle of ninety! In case that fails, I want proof that this coal is so
valuable it is being shipped out. I want exact proofs of the exact
profits being made on the fraudulently acquired mines."

"What's your idea? Shut 'em up from development for ever?" asked
Brydges belligerently.

"Brydges," said Wayland, "when you find you can't throw your pursuer
off the trail by the skunk's peculiar trick of defence, I'd advise you
to try kicking sand in the public's eyes and drawing a rotten herring
across the trail! This time, I think you'll find, the public won't go
off the trail after the rotten herring. They'll keep on after the
thief."

It was at that stage, Bat fell back abreast of the Sheriff, and
Matthews behind heard one of the two say, "Damn him, then, let him go
on and examine his bellyfull! It's his funeral; not ours!"

Wayland not only examined the second tunnel above the first, but he
insisted on descending a shaft that had been sunk almost vertically
from the crest of Coal Hill to get a measurement of the veins, for
stoping, or cross cutting, or drifting or some such technical