onal. Crimes attended with violence
were not unknown in the vicinity, and cattle were now and then stolen
in the neighboring province of Alberta; but that such things as the
prosecutor's tale revealed should happen aroused wide-spread
astonishment and virtuous indignation. Nevertheless, they were proved,
for Flett had procured a number of witnesses and, what was more, had
secured their attendance.

In addition to this, other offenses were hinted at; the doings of an
organized gang of desperadoes and their accomplices were detailed, and
facts were brought to light which made the withdrawal of the Sachem
license inevitable. The defense took strong exception to this mode of
procedure, pointing out that the court was only concerned with a
specified offense, and that it was not permissible to drag in
extraneous and largely supposititious matter. During the sweltering
days the trial lasted, there were brisk encounters between the lawyers,
and several points the prosecution sought to prove were ruled
irrelevant. As a climax, came George's story, which caused a
sensation, though the close-packed assembly felt that he scarcely did
justice to his theme.

In concluding, the Crown prosecutor pointed out how rapidly the
outbreaks of turbulent lawlessness had spread. They were all, he
contended, connected with and leading up to the last outrage, of which
the men before him were accused. It was obvious that this unruliness
must be sternly stamped out before it spread farther, and if the court
agreed with him that the charge was fully proved, he must press for a
drastic and deterrent penalty.

The odds were heavily against the defense from the beginning. The
credibility of Flett's witnesses could not be assailed, and
cross-examination only threw a more favorable light upon their
character. Inside the court, and out of it as the newspapers
circulated, Grant stood revealed as a fearless citizen, with a stern
sense of his duty to the community; George, somewhat to his annoyance,
as a more romantic personage of the same description, and Hardie, who
had been brought in to prove certain points against which the defense
protested, as one who had fought and suffered in a righteous cause.

In the end, the three prisoners were convicted, and when the court
broke up the police applied for several fresh warrants, which were
issued.

As George was walking toward his hotel, he met Flett, to whom he had
not spoken since they separated