“But you can’t lay it to me!” Alex declared. “I didn’t do it!”
The banker looked at King questioningly.
“Don’t they know?” he asked, and King smiled and shook his head.
“Flint did the shooting,” the banker said, then. “King and I came near seeing it done! We came to the door of the sitting room at the moment Flint was sliding the gun over the bare floor to the place where Alex found it. We, Trumbull, King, myself, and—well, one more!—came up here together last night and camped out not far from the old mine, with others! We saw you boys entering the shack, and King and myself followed on after you, while Trumbull went to the front door to head you off if you tried to run away from us.
“You see,” continued the banker, with a smile, “we did not know exactly what view you would take of our following you up here! I came near going to the front door, instead of Trumbull, but he had the key and thought it advisable to go that way in, himself. If I had, I presume I should have been shot, just as he was. My idea is that you boys would have been murdered, too, for the men who did the shooting are suspicious of any one who even looks at the old shack.”
“Why didn’t you tell us of this before?” asked Alex, turning to King. “You scared me out of a year’s growth. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it!”
“I arrested you for two reasons,” King replied. “One was to keep the murderers from doing it. The other was to prevent the murders discovering they were known to be the guilty ones. If I had done otherwise, there might have been more shooting, or there might have been a rush on their part to get away. I’m sorry if I frightened you, boys, but the scare didn’t last long!”
“The men may get a hunch, even now, and make off,” Case put in.
“You heard that shot, a few moments ago?” asked the deputy.
“Yes; of course we did—and thought some one was shooting for our benefit! What about it?”