his betrothed had been right; Jim had not fired the shot! He felt a
glow of admiration for Nancy's sure intuition and loyalty to her
pupil. He rejoiced that Jim was cleared for her sake and for the
boy's. Insensibly he had grown more and more interested in Jim and
attached to him. Now--everything was explained.

Everything? No, Jim's strange activity in concealing the evidences
of the shot, his queer reserve when questioned as to what he
knew--these seemed more perplexing than ever.

Farnsworth, hoping for light upon these points, settled back in his
chair to listen. Mr. Peaslee had more to say.

"It kinder goes agin the grain," Solomon resumed, with a weary,
deprecatory smile, "to own up you've been actin' like a fool, but I
guess I got to do it.

"This was the way on 't: I stepped over to Ed'ards's jest to talk
over matters and things. Well, I couldn't seem to raise anybody to
the front of the house, so I kinder slid into the boy's room to see
if there wasn't somebody out back. There wa'n't. There didn't seem
to be anybody to home.

"Now, gentlemen, seems as though you'd see how 't was when I
tell ye. There's an old white and yaller cat, with a kinder
sassy patch over her eye,"--Mr. Peaslee's meek voice here
took on a trace of heat,--"that's been a-pesterin' the life
out o' me goin' on a year. I guess ye know how 't is--one of
them pesky, yowlin', chicken-stealin', rusty old nuisances
that hain't any sociability to 'em, anyhow.

"Well, there she was a-settin', comfortable as a hot punkin pie, and
lookin' as if she owned the place. And there was the boy's gun right
there handy. The cat riled me so, I jest loaded her up. 'T wa'n't in
human natur' not to, now was it? 'T wa'n't nothin' but bird shot, so
I sorter stuck in a marble. It couldn't do no harm, and it might
kinder help a leetle. And I just fired her off. I didn't expect to
hit any French Canadian; I didn't know there was any of the critters
round.

"Then when I see a feller fall out of the bushes I was scared, now I
tell ye. Here I was, member of the grand jury, and everything, and
it didn't somehow seem right and fittin' for no member of the grand
jury to be fillin' up a feller human bein' with bird shot an'
marbles. I guess I didn't think much what I was a-doin' of, no-how.
'T any rate, I jest sneaked off home, and then I jest let things
slip along and slide along till here I be. I guess if a true bill's
got to be found agin any one, it's got to be f