Mrs. Lewis was about to reply, when Little Snap said:
"Do not mind it, mother; I shall come out all right. There, be calm, and know that I have done nothing that I am afraid to answer for.
"Mr. Brady, I will accompany you without opposition, so you will not be obliged to fasten my hands."
"I am not so sure of that. 'Safe bind sure to find,' I have always noticed. Hold out your hands, young man."
Little Snap was inclined to rebel against this unnecessary treatment, but, fortunately, his better judgment prevailed, and he held out his wrists to receive the bonds Sheriff Brady was so anxious to snap upon them.
"We were lucky to get him so easily," said the officer. "Now we will take him before Squire Claverton at once."
With these words the sheriff marched away from the home he had so ruthlessly entered, his arm locked in that of the prisoner, the crowd following in increasing numbers as the procession kept on.
Mrs. Lewis, without stopping to throw anything over her head, persisted in keeping close by the side of Dix, though he tried to have her remain at home, knowing that her presence would be of no avail to him.
Squire Claverton, who was a brother to Clevis Claverton, prided himself upon being "the great legal light" of Six Roads. He was a man not generally liked, being too willing to mix in whatever petty quarrels came up, without regard to the matter of justice. In fact, he had little, if any, idea of the fundamental principle of law. He seemed to labor under the belief that might made right, and that it was his business to crush the weak.
He must have been expecting his callers, for he showed no surprise at their appearance, but chuckled with evident delight at his prospects.