The younger man gave him a queer look, and leaned closer, whispering something behind his hand. The answer was a grim smile and a shake of the head. After slight hesitation, the clerk wrote down the names as given.
The sound of heavy steps on the stairs preceded the entrance of Constable Small, who announced that the judge was out somewhere, but that Willie Baker and Nubby Snell had been sent scouting to find him.
“I never heard of such an outrage!â€� exploded the intensely annoyed Hitchens. “Somebody is going to regret this imposition. Time is valuable to us, and——â€�
“Don’t git flustered and fly off the handle, mister,� advised Deputy Newberry, twisting off a quid of War Horse with his teeth and stowing it, bulging, into his cheek with a tongue made dexterous by long practice. “It won’t joggle things along no faster, and I ca’late you’ll be the one to do the regrettin’ if you go shootin’ off a lot of loose talk. If you git sassy before the jedge, I warn ye now that it’ll prob’ly land ye in the caboose. ‘Go slow’ is a motter it’s best to toiler around here.�
“Why don’t you tell them something?� persisted Hitchens, again appealing to his companion.
“What talking I decide to do will be done to the judge himself,� said the older man.
In the course of fifteen minutes Judge Wiggin appeared. He was a lean and wiry man with a somewhat grim jaw and a steely blue eye. There was dignity in his manner. He scarcely glanced at the prisoners as he seated himself at the table opposite the clerk and adjusted his spectacles to read the complaint.
“Hats off!� he ordered, rapping with his knuckles. “John Doe and Richard Roe, by the complaint of a deputy sheriff and two constables, by the town of Greenbush duly and legally authorized, you are hereby charged with catawamping a hossless vehicle over a public highway, lying within the town limits, at a speed of forty miles an hour, thereby rupturing the law made and provided, and wantonly and willfully endangering the peace and safety of other persons who might find it necessary to locomote upon said highway.
“According to the complaint,� the judge continued, “the before-mentioned Richard Roe was the driver, and the before-mentioned John Doe the owner, of said hossless vehicle at the time of the infraction of said law. That being the fact, the penalty administered, in case the charge is admitted or proven, will be applied in full to the person who was engaged in piloting the juggernaut when you was nabbed. And let me add that in this court, with the exception of the judge presiding, unnecessary talk is a luxury, and luxuries add to the high cost of living. A word to the wise is a seed sown upon good ground that springeth up and beareth the fruit of economy. Richard Roe, guilty or not guilty?�
Biting his lip with annoyance, the younger of the two prisoners started to protest: “It was necessary—er—your honor, that we should catch the westward-bound train at Albion. If you were aware who we are, who your petty officers, hiding like highwaymen in ambush, had ventured to hold up——â€�