atter ... '" and so on, in the unfolding of the very scheme by
which these acres had been acquired. "Near headwaters," he had said; and
that statement, combined with the fact that nothing had occurred to stir
indistinct memories, had kept Bob in the dark. At the time "near
headwaters" had meant to him the tract of yellow pine near the head of
Sycamore Creek. So he had dismissed the matter. Now he saw clearly that
a liberal construction could very well name the Basin as the headwaters
of the drainage system from which Sycamore Creek drew, if not its
source, at least its main volume of water. He exclaimed aloud in disgust
at his stupidity; which, nevertheless, as all students of psychology
know, typified a very common though curious phenomenon in the mental
world. Suddenly he sat up straight in his saddle. Here, should Baker and
the Modoc Mining Company prove to be one and the same, was the evidence
of fraudulent intent! Would his word suffice? Painfully reconstructing
the half-forgotten picture, he finally placed the burly figure of
Welton. Welton was there too. His corroboration would make the testimony
irrefutable.

Certainties now rushed to Bob's mind in flocks. If he had been stupid in
the matter, it was evident that Baker and Oldham had not. The fight in
Durham was now explained. All the demagogic arousing of the populace,
the heavy guns brought to bear in the newspaper world, the pressure
exerted through political levers, even the concerted attacks on the
Service from the floors of Congress traced, by no great stretch of
probabilities, to the efforts of the Power Company to stop investigation
before it should reach their stealings. That, as California John had
said, was the first defence. If all investigation could be called off,
naturally Baker was safe. Now that he realized the investigation must,
in the natural course of events, come to his holdings, what would be his
second line?

Of course, he knew that Bob possessed the only testimony that could
seriously damage him. Even Thorne's optimism had realized the
difficulties of pressing to a conviction against such powerful interests
without some evidence of a fraudulent intent. Could it be that the
presence of this Saleratus Bill in company with Oldham meant that Baker
was contemplating so sinister a removal of damaging testimony?

A moment's thought disabused him of this notion, however. Baker was not
the man to resort to violence of this sort; or at least he w