"I did not pay them. Brand."
"Then who did?"
"I don't know," was Johnson's extraordinary reply.
Brand looked at him sternly and droned out a proverb: "'Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices,'" he quoted.
"What do you mean, brother?"
"Brother!" repeated Korah, rising with indignation. "I am not a brother to you, man of sin as you are. Your debts are paid! Yes, I believe that. You do not know who paid them. Liar! You paid them yourself with the wages of your sin."
"My sin!" gasped Johnson, aghast.
"Do not add deceit to your iniquity, man. You killed that girl; you stole her pearls; when you went to London it was to sell them. Now you have paid your debts at the cost of Bithiah's life. 'Be sure thy sin will find thee out.' It has found you out--murderer!"
"I am no murderer," cried the minister, vehemently; "as I am a living man, I had no hand in her death. I never saw her after she left my house. I searched, but in vain. Who paid my debts, I do not know. Yesterday I found a pile of receipted bills on this table. Who put them there I know no more than you do."
"You cannot impose upon me by such a story," said Brand, coldly; "debts like yours are not paid by unknown people. If such were the case, all you have to do is to see your creditors and ask who paid them."