CHAPTER XXII

THE LITTLE JOKER

"What are these?" demanded the reverend gentleman, unfolding the
parchment.

"Oh, it's only my little joker, that took his right bower and won the
trick," laughed the woman.

"I don't understand," said the rector, while Abel Force, Thomas Grandiere
and William Elk drew near and looked over his shoulders at the document.

"Well, read it, and then maybe you will understand. Don't you see it is
the marriage certificate?" demanded the woman.

"It is, indeed," said the rector, examining the document. "It is, indeed,
a certificate of the marriage of Angus Anglesea, colonel in the Honorable
East India service, Anglewood Manor, Lancashire, England, and Ann Maria
Wright, widow, of Wild Cats' Gulch, California, signed by the officiating
minister, Paul Minitree, pastor of St. Sebastian's Parish, Sebastian,
California, and witnessed by Henry Powers, Margaret Rayburn and Philomena
Schubert! It is dated August 1, 18--. Col. Anglesea, what explanation can
you give of this?" sternly demanded the rector, while the severe faces of
the other men emphasized the question.

"Why, he can't give any! The joker takes every trick! It's the highest
card in the pack, and I have just played it!"

"The thing is a forgery! I never was in California in my life! And I never
set eyes on this woman before this hour! It is a forgery, I say!"
exclaimed the colonel, so positively, so confidently, so authoritatively
that the men were once more puzzled.

"Oh, it's a misdeal, then, is it? I'll prove that it isn't!" said the
stranger. "Now, then, gentlemen, you can test the truth for yourselves.
Money is no object to you, particularly in such a case as this. You can
telegraph to the Rev. Father Paul Minitree, and ask him if this marriage
certificate is genuine, and you can telegraph every word of the
certificate, word for word. Ask him to compare it with the entry in the
parish register of August 1, 18--, and to telegraph the answer, at your
expense, mind you; and, though it will be expensive, it will be worth the
money, and you won't mind the cost," said the woman.

This settled the question.

Abel Force, the man most deeply concerned of any man present, had made no
violent demonstration. He had controlled his just wrath all through the
scene. His reverence for the sanctuary had aided his habitual
self-government in this ordeal.

Now, turning his back on Col. Anglesea, he said to Leonidas, who had been
a s