Knowing how utterly opposed his mother was to lynchings he had calculated upon her refusal and had provided for such a contingency. He fastened the attic door on the inside and took from a corner a stout stick and a rope which he had secreted there. Fastening the rope to the stick and placing the stick across the small attic window he succeeded in lowering himself to the ground. He ran with all the speed at his command and arrived at the railway station just in time to see the mob begin its march with Bud and Foresta toward the scene of the killing of Sidney Fletcher.
Arriving at the spot where Fletcher's body had been found, the mob halted and the leaders instituted the trial of the accused.
"Did you kill Mr. Sidney Fletcher?" asked the mob's spokesman of Bud.
"Can I explain the matter to you, gentlemen," asked Bud.
"We want you to tell us just one thing; did you kill Mr. Sidney Fletcher?"
"He tried to kill me," replied Bud.
"And you therefore killed him, did you?"
"Yes, sir. That's how it happened."
"You killed him, then?" asked the spokesman.
"I shot him, and if he died I suppose I must have caused it. But it was in self-defense."