CHAPTER X.
TWO FAIR CHAMPIONS.
"Look, all of ye," shouted Briggs. "So much fer his big words; them's the things he did the job with."
The doctor stopped short at sight of these implements; stopped and stood motionless so long that his attitude might well have been mistaken for that of unmasked guilt. But his face told another story; blank amazement was all it expressed for a moment, then a gleam of comprehension; next a sneer of intensest scorn, and last, strong but suppressed anger. He strode in among the men gathered about Tom Briggs.
"Where did you get those tools, fellow?" he demanded, sternly.
"From the place where ye hid 'em, I reckon," retorted Briggs.
"Answer me, sir," thundered the doctor. "Where were they?"
"Oh, ye needn't try any airs on me; ye know well enough where we got 'em."