s "church-going clothes," as he called them.
He had to tell the old lady all that had befallen him.

"I never would have thought it of that Miss Rexhill," Mrs. Purnell
declared.

"It wasn't Miss Rexhill, it was her father and Race Moran," Dorothy
interposed.

"Or the Senator either, speaking merely from the looks of him," her
mother retorted. "And think of the position he holds, a Senator of the
United States!"

"That's no hall-mark of virtue these days," Wade laughed.

"Well, it should be. If we're to have people like him running the
Nation, there's no telling where we'll end."

"It just goes to show how an honest man, for I think Rexhill was an
honest man when I first knew him, can go wrong by associating with the
wrong people," said Wade. He could not forget his earlier friendship for
the Rexhills, and to him the word friendship meant much. "He not only
got in with a bad crowd, but he got going at a pace that wrung money out
of him every time he moved. Then, in the last election, he was hit hard,
and I suppose he felt that he had to recoup, even if he had to sacrifice
his friends to do it. We mustn't judge a man like that too hard. We live
differently out here, and maybe we don't understand those temptations.
I'm mighty glad they've gone away. I can get right down to work now,
without any qualms of conscience."

"But think of you, Dorothy, out all night in those mountains!" Mrs.
Purnell exclaimed.

"Mother--" Dorothy smiled tenderly. "You always think backward to
yesterday, instead of forward to to-morrow."

By then, the first of the neighboring ranchers were drifting in, in
response to Wade's summons. When all were present, and Trowbridge had
wrung Wade's hand in a hearty pressure of congratulation, they were
asked into the living-room, where Santry stood in a corner, munching
slowly on a mouthful of tobacco and smiling grimly to himself.

"Gentlemen," began Wade, facing the little group of stern-faced men,
"you all know why we are here. To a greater or lesser extent, we've all
suffered from Race Moran's depredations, although until lately none of
us knew his motive. Now, however, we know that there is gold here in the
valley--on our land--which Moran is trying to get possession of. He has
proved that he is willing to resort to any villainy to get what he
wants, and while he and his men are at large our lives and most of our
ranches are in danger.

"We have tried the law, but it has not helped us. Such