w was found, identified. Aven Uncle Cam, short-sighted as
he is, remembered who wore it that day; aven see her gallopin' into town
and noticed she'd lost it. This same girl hung around the cliff till she
found a secret place where two people put their letters. She comes in
here and tells me I've no business taggin' her. What business had she
robbin' folks of letters, stealin' 'em out, and givin' 'em into wicked
hands? Lettie, you know whose letter you took when you could reach far
enough to git it out, and you know where you put it.

"You said you could ruin Phil. It's aisy for a woman to do that, I
admit. No matter how hard the church may be on 'em, and how much other
women may cut 'em dead for doin' wrong things, a woman can go into a
coort-room and swear a man's character away, an' the jury'll give her
judgment every time. The law's a lot aisier with the women than the
crowd you associate with is." O'mie's speech was broken off by his
cough.

"Now to review this case a bit. The night av the Anderson's party you
tried to get the letter Marjie'd put up for Phil. You didn't do it."

"I never tried," Lettie declared.

"How come the rid flowers stuck with the little burrs on your dress?
They don't grow anywhere round here only on that cliff side. I pulled
off one bunch, and I saw Phil pull off another when your skirts caught
on a nail in the door. But I saw more 'n that. I stood beside you when
you tried to get the letter, and I heard you tell Judson you had failed.
I can't help my ears; the Almighty made 'em to hear with, and as you've
said, I am a contemptible spy.

"You have given hints, mean ugly little hints, of what you could tell
about Phil on that night. He took you home, as he was asked to do. But
what took you to the top of the cliff at midnight? It was to meet Jean
Pahusca, the dog the gallows is yappin' for now. You waited while he
tried to kill Phil. He'd done it, too, if Phil hadn't been too strong to
be killed by such as him. And then you and Jean were on your way out to
his cabin whin the boys found you. You know Bill and Bud was goin' to
Red Range, that night in the carriage when they overtook you. It was
moonlight, you remember; and ridin' on the back seat was Cris Mead,
silent as he always is, but he heard every word that was said. Bud come
all the way back with you to keep your good name a little while longer;
took chances on his own to save a girl's. It's Phil Baronet put that
kind of loyalty int