he figured out he could do it easier with Joe Powers back of him than
against him. James K. is the smoothest fraud on the Pacific Coast.
But Jeff--why, every hair of his head is straight. He's one out of a
million, believe me."

"You've said it," Chunn agreed.

Rogers smiled across at them. "He's left a lot of good friends behind
him anyhow. But it's strange he could drop off the earth without a soul
knowing about it."

"The men who murdered him know about it," Rawson answered significantly.

Captain Chunn shook his head. "No, that boy will turn up yet."

"But not in time to save us. We're licked. There's not one chance in a
million for us. That's the discouraging feature of it, to be sold out
after we had won our fight."

Rawson agreed with Hardy. "Yes, we're licked. Even if Jeff were to show
up, with all these stories against him, we wouldn't be able to stem the
tide now."

"Mister Raw-w-son--Mister Raw-w-son." The singsong voice of a bellhop
echoed through the rotunda.

Captain Chunn's walking stick flagged the lad and brought him sliding
across the polished floor.

"Telegram for Mr. Rawson."

The big politician ripped it open and ran his eyes rapidly over the
yellow slip. From his lips burst a sudden oath of surprise.

"By Jupiter, the miracle's happened. Jeff is alive and on his way here.
He's sent me a wireless from out at sea somewhere."

"What!" Captain Chunn let out a whoop of joy.

"Listen here." Rawson read aloud his message. "'Shanghaied on schooner
_Nancy Hanks_. Escaped at Honolulu. Back in Verden to-night. Keep up the
fight.'"

"Didn't I say Jeff was alive? Didn't I say he would come back and beat
those robbers yet?" the owner of the _World_ demanded.

"Don't get excited. It may be a fake." This from Hardy, who was almost
as much moved himself.

"Fake nothing! We'll go down to the telegraph office and make sure it's
0. K. Won't this make a bully story for the _World_ 'Shanghaied' in big
letters across the top, and underneath a red hot roast of the old city
hall gang's methods of trying to defeat the will of the people." Rawson
laughed aloud as his imagination pictured the story.

The old soldier's eyes gleamed. "I'll run twice as many copies as usual.
We'll plaster the state with them, calling for mass meetings everywhere
to insist on the legislature passing our bill."

"Go easy, gentlemen," advised Rogers. "If it's true we hold a trump
card, but we want to play it mighty carefully