Dan Shag took the stand, confirming Meiggs' testimony in regard to the loss of the Hollow Tree mail and the finding of it in the postboy's keeping.
"We have plenty of witnesses to prove the fact that the mail was in the pouch at Greenbrier," broke in Sheriff Brady. "I was present at——"
The sheriff was interrupted at this moment by a great commotion near the door, and it soon became evident that some one was trying to force an entrance into the room.
CHAPTER XIV.
AN UNEXPECTED CLIMAX.
"Order!" thundered "his honor."
The command of the court received but slight attention, as one and all turned to see what the commotion meant.
To the intense surprise of the onlookers, a tall, gray-bearded man, with long, white hair falling about his shoulders, was trying to force his way through the excited throng. Seeming to tower above those around him, the wild grandeur of the new arrival was given an additional picturesqueness by the presence of a gray squirrel standing boldly upright on either shoulder!
Few in the room had ever seen the newcomer, though all had heard of Old Solitaire, the mysterious hermit of the Kanawha range.
Squire Claverton looked upon him with dismay, demanding:
"What means this intrusion?"