“When?”
“The same night the stakes was set.”
“What did he say?”
“He said nobody could do a better thing than to pull ’em all up an’ throw ’em into the crick.”
“That will do. Abner Pickett take the witness stand.”
Things were moving rapidly now. Before Gabriel fairly knew it he was down out of the witness box, and his employer had taken his place and been duly sworn.
“Are you the Abner Pickett of whom the last witness spoke?” was the first question asked him; and the answer came with a promptness that was startling.
“The same man exactly.”
“And is it true that you declared that a person could do no better deed than to remove the stakes set by the D. V. & E. engineers?”
“True as Gospel.”