"Come nearer. Didst thou recognize Pan Krepetski? But how, since it was so dark, that thou couldst hit a man on the snout without knowing it?"
"Because I know him from childhood. I knew him by his bow-legs and his head, which sits, as it were, in a hole between his shoulders, and by his voice."
"Did he speak to you?"
"He spoke with us, and afterward I heard him speak to those who came with him."
"What did he say to them?"
"He said this: 'If I could have trusted money with you, I should not have come, even if the night were still darker.'"
"And wilt thou testify to this before the mayor in the town, or the starosta?"
"I will."
"When he heard this, Pan Zbierhovski turned to his attendants and said,--
"Guard this man with special care, for me."