Evans groaned. “I read it, I read it, but I didn't want to believe it.”
“He set a trap for you half an hour after you had defended me.”
“He did! I told my wife I was a gone coon, but she overpersuaded me; 'Keep quiet,' said she, 'and 'twill blow over.' But you see it in the same light as I did, don't you, sir?”
Mr. Eden smiled grimly in assent.
“You are a doomed man,” said he coolly; “half measures can't save you, but whole measures may—perhaps.”
“What is to be done, sir?” asked Evans helplessly.
“Your only chance is to go heart and hand with me in the project which occupies me now.”
“I will, sir,” cried Fluctuans, with a sudden burst of resolution, “for I'm druv in a corner. So please tell me what is your project?”
“To get Mr. Hawes dismissed from this jail.”
As he uttered these words the reverend gentleman had a severe spasm which forced him to lie back and draw his breath hard. Evans uttered something between a cry of dismay and a groan of despair, and stared down upon this audacious invalid with wonder and ire at his supernatural but absurd cool courage.