ith Mr. Dunkelberg and then came to me and said:

"Wal, Bart Baynes! I never was so glad to see anybody in all the days o'
my life--ayes! We been lookin' up the road for an hour--ayes! You come
right into the house this minute--both o' you."

The table was spread with the things I enjoyed most--big brown biscuits
and a great comb of honey surrounded with its nectar and a pitcher of
milk and a plate of cheese and some jerked meat and an apple pie.

"Set right down an' eat--I just want to see ye eat--ayes I do!"

Aunt Deel was treating me like company and with just a pleasant touch of
the old company finish in her voice and manner. It was for my
benefit--there could be no doubt of that--for she addressed herself to
me, chiefly, and not to Mr. Dunkelberg. My absence of a few days had
seemed so long to them! It had raised me to the rank of company and even
put me above the exalted Dunkelbergs although if Mrs. Horace Dunkelberg
had been there in her blue silk and gold chain "big enough to drag a
stone boat," as Aunt Deel used to say, she might have saved the day for
them. Who knows? Aunt Deel was never much impressed by any man save
Silas Wright, Jr.

Mr. Grimshaw came soon after we had finished our luncheon. He hitched
his horse at the post and came in. He never shook hands with anybody. In
all my life I have met no man of scanter amenities. All that kind of
thing was, in his view, I think, a waste of time, a foolish
encouragement to men who were likely to be seeking favors.

"Good day," he said, once and for all, as he came in at the open door.
"Baynes, I want to have a talk with you and the boy."

I remember how each intake of his breath hissed through his lips as he
sat down. How worn and faded were his clothes and hat, which was still
on his head! The lines on his rugged brow and cheeks were deeper than
ever.

"Tell me what you know about that murder," he demanded.

"Wal, I had some business over to Plattsburg," my uncle began. "While I
was there I thought I'd go and see Amos. So I drove out to Beekman's
farm. They told me that Amos had left there after workin' four days.
They gave him fourteen shillin's an' he was goin' to take the stage in
the mornin'. He left some time in the night an' took Beekman's rifle
with him, so they said. There was a piece o' wood broke out o' the stock
o' the rifle. That was the kind o' gun that was used in the murder."

It surprised me that my uncle knew all this. He had said noth