Suddenly Micajah Green noted that the blacksmith was looking at him with a significant gleam in his black eyes and a flush on his swarthy face.
'Who said ye warn't goin' ter be 'lected?'
'Why, this hyar prophet o' yourn on the Big Smoky.'
'Why did he 'low ez that warn't comin' ter pass?'
'He wouldn't gin no reason.'
'He lef' ye ter find that out. An' ye fund it out?'
The sheriff said nothing. He was breathlessly intent.
'An' he met me in the woods, an' lowed ez Rick Tyler oughtn't ter be tuk, an' hed done no wrong; an' he called the gov'nor's reward blood-money, an' worked hisself nigh up ter the shoutin' p'int; an' called me "Judas" fur takin' the boy, sence me an' him hed been frien'ly, an' lowed ez them thar thirty pieces o' silver warn't out o' circulation yit.'
'An' then,' the bold-faced deputy struck in, 'he rode up yestiddy, a-raisin' a great wondermint over a gaynder-pullin', ez if thar'd never been one before; purtendin' 'twar wicked, like he'd never killed an' eat a fowel, an' drawin' pistols, an' raisin' a great commotion an' excitin' an' destractin' the Settlemint, so a man handcuffed, an' with a rope twisted round his arms an' legs, gits out of a house right under thar nose, an' runs away. Rick Tyler couldn't hev done it 'thout them ropes war cut, an' he war gin a chance ter sneak out. Now, I ain't a prophet by natur'e but I kin say who cut them ropes, an' who raised a disturbamint outside ter gin him a chance ter mosey.'
'Whar's he now?' demanded the sheriff, rising from his chair and glancing about.