A commotion at the door interrupted Hippy. The mountaineers came crowding in dragging Washington Washington with them. Washington's eyes were rolling, and he was trembling from fright.
"Is this heah your niggah?" demanded one, glaring at Hippy.
"No, he isn't my 'niggah,' but he belongs to our outfit. Why?" replied Lieutenant Wingate.
"'Cause we found him hidin' in the bushes, an' reckoned as mebby he is the feller that shot Lum."
"What, Wash?" laughed Emma Dean. "Why, Wash couldn't hit the side of a barn with a shotgun. Besides, he has no revolver, and it was a revolver that fired the shot you refer to."
"Let me talk to him," urged Grace. "Washington, were you outside near the building when the shots were fired?" she asked in a soothing tone.
"Yessah—yes'm."
"Did you see any one near the window?"
"Yessah—yes'm. Ah—Ah sawed er man hidin' in de bush dere."
"Did you see him shoot?" asked Elfreda.