"Of course! But King's all right. That's the main point."
"It's a good thing for you that he got back," went on Trueman.
"I don't see how you figure that. If what I hear of him is true, he's a star-driver. It isn't a good thing for us to have star-drivers running cars against us."
"But for King, Plympton, one of your crack men would have been out of this race."
"What do you mean, Trueman?" asked the colonel curiously.
"Do you see that sandy-whiskered man over there?" asked Trueman, pointing.
"Yes."
"Well, he's an officer in plain-clothes. In his pocket he has a warrant for Sercomb's arrest. He'd have served the warrant and taken Sercomb out of the race if King hadn't said No."
"A put-up job, eh, to get rid of our best man!" scowled Plympton.
"No put-up job about it," answered Trueman. "Sercomb was responsible for the hocussing of King."