"Well, then, I want you, Mr. Blaize,—if you don't mind—will you help me to get this man Bakewell off his punishment?"
To do Farmer Blaize justice, he waited very patiently for the boy, though he could not quite see why he did not take the gate at the first offer.
"Oh!" said he, when he heard and had pondered on the request. "Hum! ha! we'll see about it t'morrow. But if he's innocent, you know, we shan't mak'n guilty."
"It was I did it!" Richard declared.
The farmer's half-amused expression sharpened a bit.
"So, young gentleman! and you're sorry for the night's work?"
"I shall see that you are paid the full extent of your losses."
"Thank'ee," said the farmer drily.
"And, if this poor man is released to-morrow, I don't care what the amount is."
Farmer Blaize deflected his head twice in silence. "Bribery," one motion expressed: "Corruption," the other.