"I'll be derned ef it ain't Jack Allston's boy!" he exclaimed. "Why, o' course I know yeou."
"I told you my name before."
"I wuz so 'xcited that I didn't take notice. I wuz so sure, yeou see, thet we hed the right one. Boys"—turning to the others—"I'll swear thet this here lad don't know no more 'baout who stole them hosses than we do. I know all his folks, an' there ain't a dishonest hair in the heads o' enny o' them. I'd ha' know'd him at fust, but I ain't seen him fer a year or more, an' he's grow'd. An' besides, my eyesight ain't what it used ter be. Boys, we've hed a narrer escape from committin' a murder." The men now crowded round Al and shook his hands, and apologized for their rough treatment of him.
While they were thus engaged the three who had gone in pursuit of Al's accuser returned.
"Ain't you got him?" cried Farmer Chadwick.
"No, he gave us the slip. The moon has gone under a cloud, and in the darkness he got away. But we'll catch him yet."
Then the man turned to Al.
"Boy," he queried, "have you any suspicion as to who the fellow is?"
Our hero hesitated, then he replied:
"Yes, I have."