Ned did not answer. His face fell.
The justice looked surprised and disappointed. He returned to the effort.
"You were afraid of being seen by some of them? Was that the reason you did not follow them?"
Ned still was silent.
The justice was obviously ill at ease. He had ventured upon an innovation in a very important matter, which he felt was unjustifiable unless some valuable result were to accrue. There was something singular in the case, and he had his qualms in committing the boy to jail without a fair opportunity to show his innocence. For this he had already gone far. The fact would not be mended nor marred by going further.
"Did you leave any one in the theatre?" he queried.
"Yes, sir," faltered Ned.
"How many did you leave there?" demanded the magistrate briskly, seeing the possibility of shifting the crime from such narrow shoulders.
"Three men." (General sensation.)
"Give their names," said the magistrate, fingering his pen and feeling his hand upon the heart of the mystery.