, his business concluded, swung about on his heel and
quitted the office. The judge, his eyes starting from their sockets,
stared after him; the very breath died on his lips; speechless and
motionless, he was still seeing that tall, spare figure as it had passed
before him, but his memories stripped a weight of thirty years from
those thin shoulders. At last, heavy-eyed and somber, he glanced about
him. Mr. Saul, bending above his desk, was making an entry in one of his
ledgers. The judge shuffled to his side.

"Who was that man?" he asked thickly, resting a shaking hand on the
clerk's arm.

"That?--Oh, that was Colonel Fentress I was just telling you about." He
looked up from his writing. "Hello! You look like you'd seen a ghost!"

"It's the heat in here--I reckon--" said the judge, and began to mop his
face.

"Ever seen the colonel before?" asked Mr. Saul curiously.

"Who is he?"

"Well, sir, he's one of our leading planters, and a mighty fine lawyer."

"Has he always lived here?"

"No, he came into the county about ten years ago, and bought a place
called The Oaks, over toward the river."

"Has he--has he a family?" The judge appeared to be having difficulty
with his speech.

"Not that anybody knows of. Some say he's a widower, others again say
he's an old bachelor; but he don't say nothing, for the colonel is as
close as wax about his own affairs. So it's pure conjecture, sir." There
was a brief silence. "The county has its conundrums, and the colonel's
one of them," resumed Mr. Saul.

"Yes?" said the judge.

"The colonel's got his friends, to be sure, but he don't mix much with
the real quality."

"Why not?" asked the judge.

"He's apparently as high-toned a gentleman as you'd meet with anywhere;
polished, sir, so smooth your fingers would slip if you tried to take
hold of him, but it's been commented on that when a horsethief or
counterfeiter gets into trouble the colonel's always first choice for
counsel."

"Get's 'em off, does he?" The judge spoke somewhat grimly.

"Mighty nigh always. But then he has most astonishing luck in the
matter of witnesses. That's been commented on too." The judge nodded
comprehendingly. "I reckon you'd call Tom Ware, out at Belle Plain,
one of Fentress' closest friends. He's another of your conundrums. I
wouldn't advise you to be too curious about the colonel."

"Why not?" The judge was frowning now.

"It will make you unpopular with a certain class. Those of u