"I know it."
"And fifteen I cannot make, nor ten either, unless a pair of wings should be given me to carry me over the river."
"Sure?"
"Sure!"
Here there was some commotion in their vicinity, owing to the withdrawal of the last witness from the stand. Hickory took advantage of the bustle to lean over and whisper in Byrd's ear:
"Do you know I think I have been watched to-day. There was a fellow concealed in Mrs. Clemmens' house, who saw me leave it, and who, I have no doubt, took express note of the time I started. And there was another chap hanging round the station at the quarries, whom I am almost sure had no business there unless it was to see at what moment I arrived. He came back to Sibley when I did, but he telegraphed first, and it is my opinion that Orcutt——"
Here he was greatly startled by hearing his name spoken in a loud and commanding tone of voice. Stopping short, he glanced up, encountered the eye of Mr. Orcutt fixed upon him from the other side of the court-room, and realized he was being summoned to the witness stand.
"The deuce!" he murmured, with a look at Byrd to which none but an artist could do justice.