The squire wiped the perspiration from his face, although the room was by no means warm.
"If you could pay somethin' on account, an' give bonds for the rest——"
"I don't believe you could scare up a dollar among the whole of us, and as for bonds—who would sign them?"
"But you can't expect me to let you go free after robbing a man's orchard, an' bein' sentenced in a regular court?"
"Certainly not, and for that reason we have settled down to the belief that we shall be your guests a very long while."
"If I should let you out long enough to give a show, would you come back here?" the squire asked after a long pause.
"Who would get the money taken at the door?"
"It would go toward payin' your fines."
"That's a matter we shall have to discuss, for it isn't a pleasant lookout to give a performance for the benefit of your court when we need money so badly ourselves."
"I'll come back in an hour an' get your answer," the squire replied with considerable show of dignity, as he left the building.