the gun-man's appearance and evident intention was
quite sufficient to excuse Ware's shooting; and the fact that Oldham, as
he was still known, instead of Saleratus Bill, received the bullet was
evidently sheer unavoidable accident. Bob's testimony added little save
corroboration. As soon as he could get away, he took the road to
Fremont.

Orde was awaiting his son at the station. Bob saw the straight, heavy
figure, the tanned face with the snow-white moustache, before the train
had come to a stop. Full of eagerness, he waved his hat over the head of
the outraged porter barricaded on the lower steps by his customary
accumulation of suit cases.

"Hullo, dad! Hullo, there!" he shouted again and again, quite oblivious
to the amusement of the other passengers over this tall and bronzed
young man's enthusiasm.

Orde caught sight of his son at last; his face lit up, and he, too,
swung his hat. A moment later they had clasped hands.

After the first greetings, Bob gave his suit case in charge to the hotel
bus-man.

"We'll take a little walk up the street and talk things over," he
suggested.

They sauntered slowly up the hill and down the side streets beneath the
pepper and acacia trees of Fremont's beautiful thoroughfares. So
absorbed did they become that they did not realize in the slightest
where they were going, so that at last they had topped the ridge and,
from the stretch of the Sunrise Drive, they looked over into the canon.

"So you've been getting into trouble, have you?" chaffed Orde, as they
left the station.

"I don't know about that," Bob rejoined. "I do know that there are quite
a number of people in trouble."

Orde laughed.

"Tell me about this Welton difficulty," said he. "Frank Taylor has our
own matters well in hand. The opposition won't gain much by digging up
that old charge against the integrity of our land titles. We'll count
that much wiped off the slate."

"I'm glad to hear it," said Bob heartily. "Well, the trouble with Mr.
Welton is that the previous administration held him up--" He detailed
the aspects of the threatened bribery case; while Orde listened without
comment. "So," he concluded, "it looked at first as if they rather had
him, if I testified. It had me guessing. I hated the thought of getting
a man like Mr. Welton in trouble of that sort over a case in which he
was no way interested."

"What did you decide?" asked Orde curiously.

"I decided to testify."

"That's right."