the hull of the fish wheel. He retrieved Mr. Skooglund from his
environment of flopping salmon and tied the line under the arms of the
inert man. He scrambled back on deck and hauled the Swede after him.

"Get a bucket of water and throw it on him."

Under this ungentle treatment the victim presently opened his eyes. He
reached an unsteady hand to his head and inspected a knob thereon the
size of an egg.

"Yust ven I hear de little angels iss singing, de earthquake troo de
church down on me."

His vision encountered the Sheriff and the Wildcat.

"Was any salmon saved?"

The Sheriff reassured him.

"You had a wallop on the head. You're all right now." He abandoned Mr.
Skooglund for a moment and turned to the Wildcat.

"Where's the dividend?"

"Cap'n, how come?"

"Come through with the clean up. You got enough watches and rings from
them passengers to sink this craft."

"Mebbe it's de bag."

Convoyed by the swinging muzzle of the Sheriff's gun, the Wildcat dived
again into the open hatch and returned presently with the jingling
wheat sack swung about his shoulders.

The Sheriff inspected the contents.

"That's it."

He turned to the Swede.

"You able to walk?"

It seemed that Mr. Skooglund could navigate on his hind legs. The fat
bad actor still lay unconscious on the deck. The Wildcat had done a
good job with the oar, and it took six buckets of water to bring the
fat man out of his slumbers. The quartette preceded the Sheriff down
the narrow gang plank to the bank. They made their way a mile upstream
and came upon the Sheriff's horse, hitched fast to a cottonwood on the
river bank. The Sheriff fired his revolver three times in the air. Half
an hour later he yelled loudly, and an answering call came from the
distance through the night.

"That's the rest of the gang."

The party was joined presently by half a dozen riders. Two hours later
the Wildcat, heavily ironed, rode beside Mr. Skooglund in the smoking
car of the train headed for The Dalles. Dawn was breaking as the
Sheriff and his companions marched up the street from the station.

Presently, in a cell apart from the rest of the world, the Wildcat
heard the clanking of the heavy bolts which made the cell door a
barrier.

"Lady Luck, how come?"

6.

Lady Luck was on the job. At eleven o'clock that morning the fat bad
actor confessed, and in his confession the Wildcat was cleared.

A Deputy brought a telegram to the Sheriff. The Sher