"Now, now, never mind the invoice for a minute, John! I want to ask Bill just one question. It may not be beneath your dignity, either, to join me in wanting to know why Bill did not bring this Al Freeman to us with that story. That hurts me, Bill. I can't understand why you heard him out and did not give us the chance to face him with it. I--I dislike to think that you gave the story any credence; but since----" Emmett turned and came back to the desk. His hard brown eyes fixed themselves upon Bill's face. "If Bill took enough stock in the yarn to listen to it, there's just one thing for me to do. I'm responsible for the Company's funds. I think I shall demand that you bring an auditor to examine the books." "An auditor has gone over the books, hasn't he? You showed his certificate at the annual meeting. And Al didn't say you had juggled the accounts, John." "No, he could hardly say that," Rayfield put in. "At this late day--hoping, I suppose, that we could not prosecute him for stealing our outfit--he claims that we arranged for him to steal it so that we could board with Bill!" He threw back his head suddenly and laughed, his sides and rounded front shaking with mirth. "A fine tribute to your cooking, Bill! You should have given him a dollar or two for that!" "I thought you two ought to know what he's saying," Bill replied soberly. He had no heart for joking, that morning. "He was telling it in Tommy's Place, and Tommy overheard him and made him come to me and repeat what he had said to others. I thought it was no more than right to let you know." "We appreciate your spirit, Bill, but I can't seem to understand his object. Did he give you any valid reason for concocting such a yarn?" "He said that you hadn't played fair with him. He said you had paid him some money, but not what you had promised." Bill sighed,--a purely physical incident caused by his general depression and the ache in his heart for Doris. This conspiracy tale did not seem important, now that he had told it to Walter and John. The sunny, well-regulated offices, the sight of John and Walter on the job, busy with Parowan affairs, reassured and shamed him--though he reflected that he had not really doubted them, even in his midnight musings when a man's faith burns weakest. "I told him you'd have paid enough to keep his mouth shut," he added. "And I wouldn't make enough of the yarn to bring him to you. I told Tommy to take him out and dump him outside the city limits." "In that case," said John in a tone of displeasure, "I don't see just what you can expect us to do about it; or why you came to us with it during office hours. Walter may have all the time in the world to gossip--but I happen to have work to do. When you decide what you're going to do about it, let me know and I'll stand any investigation you may want to start. But I can't stand here discussing a crazy yarn like that unless it's of some importance to the Company." Bill rose and picked up his hat.