et thar printed piece out loud."

The retired soldier took the sheet, several days old, and with the first
glance at its headlines, his features stiffened and his eyes blazed into
indignation.

"This is a slander!" he exploded. "It's an infamous libel. Do you
actually want me to read it aloud?"

Asa nodded, and, in a voice of protest, McCalloway gave audible
repetition to a matter to which he refused the sanction of belief.

"New Murders for Old." That was the first headline, and the subheads and
the item itself followed in due order:

"Commonwealth uncovers startling evidence.... Asa Gregory
indicted for firing fatal shot at Goebel.... Alleged he
received a pardon for prior offence as price of fresh infamy."

"Perhaps the most astounding chapter in a long serial of the
bizarre and melodramatic came to light today when the Franklin
Grand Jury returned a true bill against Asa Gregory, a
notorious mountain feudist, charging him with the assassination
of Governor Goebel. In the general excitement of those days,
the presence of Gregory in the state capitol escaped notice.
Now it develops, from sources which the Commonwealth declines
at this time to divulge, that on the day of the tragedy
Gregory, who already stands charged with the murder from ambush
of several enemies, came cold-bloodedly to town to seek a
pardon for one of these offences, and that in payment for that
favour he agreed to accept unholy appointment as executioner of
Governor Goebel. Gregory is now in hiding in the thicketed
country of his native hills, and it is foreseen that before he
is taken he may invoke the aid of his clansmen, and precipitate
further bloodshed."

McCalloway laid down the paper and stared at the blossom-burgeoning
slopes. It was strange, he reflected, that one could so swiftly yield to
the instincts of these high, wild places. For just now it was in his
heart to advise resistance. He thought that trial down there, before
partisan juries and biased judges, would be a farce which vitiated the
whole spirit of justice.

It might almost have been his own sentiments that he heard shrilled out
from the excited lips of the boy; a boy whose cheeks had gone pale and
whose eyes had turned from sky-blue to flame blue.

"They're jest a'seekin' ter git ye thar an' hang ye out of hand, Asa.
Tell 'em all ter go everlastin'ly ter hell! Ye kin hide o