As they sped towards town Weir and Madden rapidly made their plans, for the sheriff having witnessed with his own eyes the enormity of the plotters' guilt was all for quick action. "These engineers of yours with us and the other men Meyers will bring down can be thrown as a guard around the jail," he stated. "I'll swear them all in as deputies. With Sorenson and Vorse locked up along with Burkhardt--and I'll throw Lucerio, the county attorney, in with them on the off chance he's an accomplice--there will be high feeling running in San Mateo. As quick as I can make arrangements, we'll take them to safe quarters elsewhere--to-night if possible, to-morrow at the latest, in fast machines. These men have friends, remember." "You've Burkhardt handcuffed; it might be well to gag him, too, for fear the crowd might make trouble if he yelled for help," Weir replied. "Yes, we'll do that, though I think we can rush him into the jail before anyone knows what's happening." On the outskirts of town therefore the cars stopped. When Burkhardt, who had recovered his senses and with them a knowledge of his plight, perceived the sheriff's intention his rage burst all bounds. "You fool, you muddle-headed blunderer!" he exclaimed, with a string of oaths. "Take these cuffs off! You'll lose your job for this trick. When I see Sorenson----" "When you see him, you'll see him; and that will be inside a cell," was the cool rejoinder. "I didn't know you were a dynamiter and would-be murderer until to-night, but I watched you at work and saw you shoot twice at Weir." "You'll unlock these, I say, here and now!" And the raging voice went off in a further stream of biting curses. "Look at me; I'm Burkhardt. You're crazy to talk of throwing me in jail, with my influence and----" "Your influence be damned," was the imperturbable answer. "You'll have a long time in a penitentiary to see how much influence you have, if you don't swing first." Burkhardt struggled fiercely for a moment against the steel bands about his wrists and the men who held him. "No crook like this Weir shall ever send me behind bars, or any other man put me there. Wait till Sorenson and Vorse and Judge Gordon learn what you're trying! Wait till they find out you've double-crossed us for this engineer! Wait till Gordon turns me loose with a _habeas corpus_, you'll sweat blood for this night's work, Madden!" The sheriff shook out the red handkerchief with which he expected to bind the prisoner's mouth. "I'll wait for a long time if I wait for Gordon to issue the writ," he remarked. "Seeing that he's dead." "Dead! You're a liar, you sneaking cur; you can't bluff me. And when I'm loose, if I don't fill you full of lead it will be because----"