Mark smiled incredulously at that; Benny Bartlett nodded his head in support of his father's assertion.
"Well?" inquired the squire. "Is there anything more you want to know?"
"No," said Mark. "Nothing."
"Satisfied now, are ye?" sneered the other; and then he turned to Colonel Harvey. "I think that is all, sir," he said. "What more do you want?"
The colonel stood gazing into space with a troubled look. He did not know what to say; he did not know what to think. He could not call these three men conspirators; and yet the handsome, sturdy lad who had done so much to win his approval, surely he did not look like a thief!
"Mr. Mallory," he inquired at last. "What have you to say to this?"
"Nothing," responded Mark. "Nothing, except to denounce it as an absolute and unmitigated lie from beginning to end."
"But what proof can you bring?"
"None whatever, except my word."
After that there was no more said for some minutes. The silence was broken by the superintendent's rising.