hat day that I have on now--"

"What!" and the alcalde jumped to his feet, his face white and stern,
while again that deep-throated growl went up from the crowd, "What do
you mean by 'that day?' Do you realize that your expression amounts
almost to a confession of guilt?"

"No," and Thure turned firmly to the alcalde. By a desperate effort he
had recovered his self-control. "It means, if that button was found on
the spot where the miner was murdered, that it did not come from my
clothes; for I did not have on the same clothes on the day we found the
wounded miner that I have on now. The button, if it came from my
clothes, and I confess that it looks as if it did, must have been got by
that man in some other way," and Thure's eyes flashed wrathfully in the
direction of Quinley, who grinned and touched his neck suggestively.

A hoarse laugh, that had no sound of mirth in it, came from the
surrounding crowd, at this improbable explanation of Thure, an
explanation that strengthened rather than weakened their belief in the
testimony of Quinley; but a look of relief, as well as of surprise, came
on the face of the alcalde.

"Ah, I forgot. We have not yet heard your story. You say that you found
the miner, John Stackpole, found him wounded?" he asked eagerly. "Then
he is still alive?"

"Yes, we found him," Thure answered slowly, "found him in the hands of
his murderers, but not in time to save him. He died before we could get
him home."

"Died! And in your hands!" and again the alcalde's face grew stern, and
again that hoarse unbelieving laugh came from the crowd. "Young man, do
you realize that you are telling a very improbable-sounding story? But,"
and the alcalde resumed his judicial gravity of countenance, "I am
forgetting that you are not on the witness stand. The button, it appears
then, came from the prisoner's coat," and he turned to the foreman of
the jury.

"It does," answered the foreman gravely.

"The prisoner may return to his place by the side of the sheriff. Now,"
and the alcalde's eyes searched the surrounding faces, "is there anyone
else present who has any testimony to give against the prisoners now on
trial before this court for the murder of John Stackpole?" and he
paused, to give anyone who wished to do so time to come forward.

"I reckon the testimony is plenty sufficient as it now stands," and a
huge brutal-looking man pushed his way through the crowd and faced the
alcalde. "Haven't two reputa