"I don't know what to think," said Jim angrily; "I never met anyone like you before, Sidney. If I had not some knowledge that the things you say come true I should think you were pretending. A boy like you ought to be whipped."
"That is what the Colonel said," replied Sidney quietly. "But tell me, Dr. Jim, did you really think I had killed him?"
"I did not. But Frisco says you did."
"If he believed that, he would not have run away," said Sidney shrewdly.
"Well come to the point. Who murdered the Colonel?"
"Petronella," said Sidney.
Herrick rose up with a look of surprise. Astonished as he was he could hardly help laughing. This statement bore out his speech to Stephen. He had said that Sidney would accuse someone else. Now it only remained for Petronella to shift the blame on to the shoulders of a third party. "I do not believe that," said Herrick, "why should Petronella kill Carr?"
"You had better come up and hear what she has to say Dr. Jim."
"In a moment. But tell me how you know--through your instinct?"
Sidney shook his head. "No. That feeling only comes at times," he said. "I do not pretend to know everything. I said so before. I don't know why you should look on me as queer Dr. Jim," he continued plaintively, "it is not my fault if things come into my head. When they do, I sometimes tell people, but not always. I don't like being laughed at."