Bennett when he done it, but him an' Sandy socked it off on me. I got
life an' Owen got ten years.... There ain't no makin' him own up he done
it, air there, Orn?"

"Nope," mumbled the fisherman. "Most men won't take life sentence by
confessin' when by keepin' still they c'n git off with ten years."

"Mr. Waldstricker air a awful big, handsome lookin' man," asserted Tess,
thoughtfully. "Folks says he air good to the poor, too. He air the
biggest, fattest, elegantest elder in our church."

Andy flipped his fingers in the air and summed up what he thought of the
last statement in five words.

"Shucks! That fer the church," mocked he.

"It air just like Sandy Letts to lie about ye," remarked Tess, changing
the subject abruptly. "There ain't a hatefuller man in the Silent City
'n him. He makes a pile of money, though.... Once last fall he dragged
the lake fer two students an' got a thousand apiece fer handin' 'em over
to their folks, dead."

"He'd git five thousand fer handin' me over to Waldstricker, alive,"
replied Andy, solemnly. "I wouldn't a gone up if 't 'adn't been fer him.
He can lie faster'n a horse can trot."

Heaving a deep sigh, Orn turned to his daughter.

"What we goin' to do with my pal, Tess?" he asked. "He's got to keep out
of sight of folks.... Eb Waldstricker's five thousand bucks fer gettin'
'im back to Auburn will be settin' men like Sandy flyin' all over the
state."

The dwarf shivered from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

"I don't want 'em to git me," he whimpered disconsolately. "Ye won't let
'em git me, will ye, Orn?... Will ye, kid?"

Tess cheered the dwarf's despairing mood by a reassuring smile and
confident nods of the shining curls.

"Nope," she promptly promised.

And, "Nope," repeated Orn, grimly. "Git back under the bed, now, old
man. Any minute Sandy might be comin' in. Ye can't depend on that
squatter. He'd steal the pennies off'n his dead mammy's eyes."

As was her habit when thinking, Tess threaded her fingers through
several red curls, while her eyes followed Andy Bishop crawling feet
first under her cot.

"I bet ye didn't do nothin' wicked, ye poor little shaver," she
remarked.

"Bet I didn't do no Waldstricker murder," answered the dwarf.

"I know where I can hide 'im," she then said, with a satisfied smile.
"I'll fix up the garret fer 'im. 'Tain't very big, but no one but me
ever goes up there. You, there, under the bed, ye ain't 'fraid of bats
or