of all this Ed Sorenson had been forming a little individual
scheme that would promote his own affairs, chief of which was to win
Janet Hosmer. Drinking heavily ever since his rebuff, he had sunk into
a condition of evil determination and recklessness that made him fit
for any desperate act. After much meditation fed by whisky, he had
evolved a plan that would bring him success. Thereupon he had loaded
his car with a quantity of selected stuff and made a mysterious
journey at night.

"She'll learn I meant business," was his frequent soliloquy.

And while these strands were being knit into the skein Martinez was
producing another. Quietly, carefully, persuasively, he had been
pursuing his own particular course of eliciting history for use in his
"Chronicle," as he named it,--and for another use concerning which he
was as still as death.

That he was successful in obtaining what he had been after was made
known to Weir about dusk that evening while he was talking with
Pollock in his office. But that he had not been so lucky in covering
his tracks was likewise apparent.

The telephone rang. Steele took down the receiver.

"See Janet Hosmer at once," Felipe Martinez' terrified voice came over
the wire. "She'll have it, the paper--the one you want. They've
learned I got it; they're after me now. Hammering on the door. If you
don't hurry----"

His words ceased abruptly in an anguished quaver. At the same time
Weir heard carried to him the sound of a crash as of a door smashed.
Excusing himself hurriedly, Steele Weir seized his holster from a nail
and buckled on the belt. Then snatching his hat, he ran outside the
building to his car.

"Now, who is he gunning for?" Pollock asked himself aloud, "I rather
wish he had invited me along."

But neither he nor Weir himself, nor any soul in San Mateo, knew that
at last the furious torrent of events had burst upon the community.
Weir sensed something. But Sorenson brooding on the morrow thought the
moment had not yet come. His son was occupied with his own treacherous
scheme. Even Vorse and Burkhardt smashing their way into Martinez'
office saw nothing beyond the immediate necessity. Yet the flood was
bearing down on all.

CHAPTER XIV

OLD SAUREZ' DEPOSITION

In order to understand why Vorse and Burkhardt were attacking
Martinez' office it is necessary to trace the lawyer's movements and
the incidents which precipitated that act. Martinez had, as stated,
not bee