In a moment Fox was hustled forth out of the throng into the foreground.
"I would," gasped Urith, in quivering fury, "that I had another pistol, and I would shoot you as I have the horse, base, vile coward."
Fox looked at her contemptuously out of his one eye. "It is well that none is in your hand—a maniac should not be trusted with firearms, or should practise them on herself."
"What has he done?" shouted Farmer Cudlip. "What is the charge against him?"
"I say," answered Urith, "that whilst all were engaged looking for their colts, I saw him light a piece of tinder with flint and steel, and then thrust it into the ear of the horse."
Silence followed this announcement. The men had been too surprised to follow her charge when first made.
"What do you say to that, Master Crymes?" asked Cudlip.
"It is a lie," retorted Fox. "She did it herself, so as to make a spectacle and appear as the preserver of her lover."
Again silence, save only for the trampling of the enringed ponies. The sheep-bell had ceased; maybe the sheep that bore the bell was lying down.