"Where is he?"
The voice of the sheriff was pitched considerably above the ordinary key, and Charles Stevens, hearing it in the kitchen, became alarmed, and hastened into the front apartment, saying:
"I am here. Is it me you want to see?"
"Yes, Charles Stevens, I arrest you in the king's name."
"Arrest me? Marry! what offence have I done that I should be arrested by the king's officers?"
"It is murder!" he answered.
"Murder!" shrieked both the mother and son.
"Verily, it is," answered the sheriff. Then he produced a warrant issued on the complaint of Sarah Williams, charging Charles Stevens with the murder of one Samuel Williams.
Charles could scarcely believe his ears, when he heard the warrant read. He had for a long time known Sarah Williams to be a bold, scheming woman; but that she would proceed to such a bold, desperate measure as this seemed impossible.
"I am innocent!" he declared, while his mother sank into a chair and buried her face in her hands.