gers proceeded to cut coat, shirt, and undershirt from him.

"He wouldn't go to the receivin' hospital," Bud said to Saxon.

"Not on your life," Billy concurred. "I had 'em send for Doc Hentley.
He'll be here any minute. Them two arms is all I got. They've done
pretty well by me, an' I gotta do the same by them.--No medical students
a-learnin' their trade on me."

"But how did it happens" Saxon demanded, looking from Billy to the two
strangers, puzzled by the amity that so evidently existed among them
all.

"Oh, they're all right," Billy dashed in. "They done it through mistake.
They're Frisco teamsters, an' they come over to help us--a lot of 'em."

The two teamsters seemed to cheer up at this, and nodded their heads.

"Yes, missus," one of them rumbled hoarsely. "It's all a mistake, an'...
well, the joke's on us."

"The drinks, anyway," Billy grinned.

Not only was Saxon not excited, but she was scarcely perturbed. What had
happened was only to be expected.

It was in line with all that Oakland had already done to her and hers,
and, besides, Billy was not dangerously hurt. Broken arms and a sore
head would heal. She brought chairs and seated everybody.

"Now tell me what happened," she begged. "I'm all at sea, what of you
two burleys breaking my husband's arms, then seeing him home and holding
a love-fest with him."

"An' you got a right," Bud Strothers assured her. "You see, it happened
this way--"

"You shut up, Bud," Billy broke it. "You didn't see anything of it."

Saxon looked to the San Francisco teamsters.

"We'd come over to lend a hand, seein' as the Oakland boys was gettin'
some the short end of it," one spoke up, "an' we've sure learned some
scabs there's better trades than drivin' team. Well, me an' Jackson
here was nosin' around to see what we can see, when your husband comes
moseyin' along. When he--"

"Hold on," Jackson interrupted. "Get it straight as you go along. We
reckon we know the boys by sight. But your husband we ain't never seen
around, him bein'..."

"As you might say, put away for a while," the first teamster took up the
tale. "So, when we sees what we thinks is a scab dodgin' away from us
an' takin' the shortcut through the alley--"

"The alley back of Campbell's grocery," Billy elucidated.

"Yep, back of the grocery," the first teamster went on; "why, we're
sure he's one of them squarehead scabs, hired through Murray an' Ready,
makin' a sneak to get into the stables o