"Wa'al, yes, except our boots," replied Badger.
"And you were awake?"
"No; but I can't say I was sleepin' heavy."
"Badger, did not you kill Tom Edwards?"
This question came with the suddenness of an explosion, and it so staggered Badger that it was fully a minute before he could stammer out:
"No. Who said I did?"
"I say it! You committed the murder at Shirley's bidding, so as to get me out of the way, and you prompted the murdered man whom you shot down in the darkness to say I did it," said Mr. Willett with a forceful manner that startled all.
During the confusion that followed this bold but perfectly just accusation, Badger left the witness-stand and mixed in with the astonished crowd.
Frank Shirley was next called, but as his evidence was much the same as that given by Badger, it is unnecessary to record it.
On his cross-examination, he claimed to have no ill-feeling against Mr. Willett or his son; and he had the boldness to claim that he did not want young Sam's fortune, as he was rich in his own right.