Then the lawyer—Marshall of New York—put on an air of severity.
“Now, sir, did you hear any one, at any time, threaten to destroy or remove the stakes set by the Delaware Valley & Eastern engineers?”
Gabriel waited a moment before answering. He was evidently pondering the matter deeply.
“W’y, I can’t say adzackly,” he replied slowly, “as I heard anybody threaten to pull up them stakes. No, I can’t say adzackly as I did.”
“Well, what threats did you hear concerning those stakes?”
“W’y, I didn’t hear nobody threaten to pull ’em out, er hammer ’em in, er chop ’em down, er burn ’em up. No, sir, I didn’t.”
Gabriel looked beamingly down on the array of counsel, feeling that he had covered the ground that time, at any rate. He did not know that he had simply whetted the lawyer’s appetite for information.
“Come, now, answer the question. You heard threats, what were they?”
“W’y, I can’t adzackly say as I heard any threats.”