but whether Durand will. We can show he's been trying to stand in the
way of justice, that he's been cooking up false evidence."

"Let's hurry! Let's get to the police right away!" the girl cried, her
eyes shining with excitement. "We ought not to lose a minute. We can
get Clay out in time to go home to dinner with us."

Bromfield smiled wanly. He came to time as gallantly as he could.
"All right. I'm elected to take his place, I see."

"Only for a day or two, Clarendon," said the older man. "As soon as we
can get together a coroner's jury we'll straighten everything out."

"Yes," agreed the clubman lifelessly.

It was running through his mind already that if he should be freed of
the murder charge, he would only have escaped Scylla to go to wreck on
Charybdis. For it was a twenty to one bet that Jerry would go to
Whitford with the story of his attempt to hire the gang leader to
smirch Lindsay's reputation.

CHAPTER XXXVI

A BOOMERANG

It must be admitted that when Bromfield made up his mind to clear
Lindsay he did it thoroughly. His confession to the police was quiet
and businesslike. He admitted responsibility for the presence of the
Westerner at the Omnium Club. He explained that his guest had neither
gambled nor taken any liquors, that he had come only as a spectator out
of curiosity. The story of the killing was told by him simply and
clearly. After he had struck down the gunman, he had done a bolt
downstairs and got away by a back alley. His instinct had been to
escape from the raid and from the consequences of what he had done, but
of course he could not let anybody else suffer in his place. So he had
come to give himself up.

The late afternoon papers carried the story that Clarendon Bromfield,
well-known man about town, had confessed to having killed "Slim"
Collins and had completely exonerated Lindsay. It was expected that
the latter would be released immediately.

He was. That evening he dined at the home of the Whitfords. The mine
owner had wanted to go on the bond of Bromfield, but his offer had been
rejected.

"We'll hear what the coroner's jury has to say," the man behind the
desk at headquarters had decided. "It'll not hurt him to rest a day or
two in the cooler."

After dinner the committee of defense met in the Red Room and discussed
ways and means. Johnnie and his bride were present because it would
have been cruel to exclude them, but for the most part they we