"The deuce, he did! How's that?"
"That's what we can't tell; we only know, that instead of young Hadley, we came within an ace of killing 'Squire Williams!"
"'Squire Williams!"
"Yes, sir. He came along at the precise hour that should have brought the other, and it being too dark to distinguish one man from another, or from old Nick for that matter, we fell on to him, and but for the merest chance would have finished him."
Here the enactment of the early part of the evening was rehearsed in full.
"It is well you got off so easily, and I must give you credit for your ingenuity; but I am exceedingly sorry the bird we were after has escaped. However, as that cannot be helped or amended just now, we will proceed with the rest of our work."
"What hour of the night is it?"
"About one o'clock; and that reminds me of the fact that we will not have time to take all the stock to-night; we shall, therefore, confine our operations to a single item—the taking of Mandeville's horse."
"Mandeville's?"
"Yes; why not?"