upon his arm, as if to show the
assembled multitude that he had no fear of his prisoner. Don shook off
the hand impatiently.

Outside, unable to restrain themselves sufficiently to be seated within
the room, old Kneebone and his friend Craybill walked up and down in the
narrow hall--lined with signs of attorneys, real estate men, and
insurance agents--from which made off the door of Blackman's office.

"They'll bind him over," said old Silas to his friend. "They'll do that
shore."

"Bind who over, Silas," said Craybill. "You mean Old Man Adamson and his
eejit, don't you? The eejit's arrested, anyhow. But what's it all about?
You don't believe it's true this here _is_ 'Rory's son, now do you? How
can that come?"

"Well, I ain't saying," replied old Silas cryptically, and nodding only
in the general direction of the door, "but you'll see."

Old Aaron helped himself to a chew of tobacco thoughtfully. "They say
Old Eph has got his dander up now, and's going to make plenty of trouble
all along the line. Reckon he's ashamed of his son being licked thataway
by just a kid like this. Come to think of it, it looks like Eph ain't
got much glory out of it so far, has he?"

"No, and I'll bet he had to dig up some money--the Judge, he likely
wouldn't think of it for less'n fifteen dollars anyways. That's the
price of a good shoat these days. If the case was appealed, or if it got
into a court of _nisy prisus_, or maybe got over into another county on
a change of _venoo_, you can bet Judge Henderson wouldn't be doing none
of them things for nothing, neither. The law's all right for them that
has plenty of money. Sometimes I think there's other ways."

"Huh," said his companion, "old Adamson tried the other way, didn't he?
Now look at him! If I was Old Man Adamson, or if I was his eejit son
either, the best thing we could do, seems to me, would be to get out of
town. This here boy's a fighter, if I'm any judge. Wonder if it is her
boy! If it is, whoever was his father, huh? And how was he kep' hid for
more'n twenty year?"

"He looks sort of changed since a couple of hours ago," said his friend
judicially. "He's quieter now--why, when he come into town he was just
laughing and talking like a kid. Of course, he must have knew--he knows
who his father is all right. Now, come to think of it, if this here boy
had any money he could sue them Adamsons for deefamation of character."

"How comes it he could? I hear say that all Old Ma