Then in at the door burst the constable.
“Halloo! what is the meaning of this?” he shouted. “Insured again?”
“I am not insured,” answered Pepperill. “If you want to arrest the culprit’there she is.”
“How came this about?” asked Pooke. “I’m not going to arrest nobody without a cause.”
“There is cause enough,” said Pasco. “Kitty is the person who has set fire to my rick. I have plenty of evidence for that. And now that I have, you’ll all see I’m innocent’white as driven snow.”
“What is the meaning of this?” asked the constable, turning Kitty about that the blaze might illumine her face. In the yellow glare it could be seen that she was deathlike in complexion, and that her eyes were wide distended in terror. She trembled, and seemed unable to stand without the support of the table.
“I’ll tell you all,” said Pasco majestically, “and then, perhaps, Mr. Pooke, you’ll believe my word in preference to that of such as she.”
“What is it?” asked Pooke. “I’ll not arrest nobody without good cause shown, as satisfies my judgment. I said so before.”
“Look at that lantern,” said Pasco.
“Well, I sees it.”