Not again. It's taken Andy Maxwell two years-1908-1910-to help his family recover from the vendetta that nearly killed his mother, burned their Sierra Nevada ranch house, and exhumed some long-buried family secrets-including the fact that his father was black. At last, Andy thinks, he can return to University of California and pursue his history doctorate in peace. Not so. First of all, it turns out they don't want a miscegenated mongrel in the Ph.D. program. Just when he's enlisted the eminent San Francisco journalist, Ambrose Bierce, to help him attack that problem, it turns out that marauder who started all the trouble in the first place didn't stay Shanghaied. Michael Yellow Squirrel is back for another try at eliminating every last Maxwell on earth. So much for school. And then there's the election. Reform gubernatorial candidate Hiram Johnson wants Andy to run for the California legislature and help foil the railroad barons. And then there are the women - the debutante beauty and the Arapaho princess...