om Chase keep his money?"

"I don't know."

"Had you ever seen him putting any of it away around the barn, or in the
haystack, maybe?"

"No, I never did, sir," Joe answered, respectfully.

The prosecutor took up the now historic bag of gold-pieces and held it
up before the witness.

"When did you first see this bag of money?" he asked, solemn and severe
of voice and bearing.

"When Isom was lying on the floor, after he was shot."

"You didn't see it when he was trying to get the gun, and when you say
you were struggling with him, doing the best you could to hold him
back?"

Joe turned to the judge when he answered.

"It might have been that Isom had it in his arm, sir, when he made for
the place where the gun was hanging. I don't know. But he tried to keep
me off, and he hugged one arm to his side like he was trying to hide
something he didn't want me to see."

"You never saw that bag of money until the moment that Isom Chase fell,
you say," said the prosecutor, "but you have testified that the first
words of Isom Chase when he stepped into the kitchen and saw you, were
'I'll kill you!' Why did he make that threat?"

"Well, Isom was a man of unreasonable temper," said Joe.

"Isn't it a fact that Isom Chase saw you with that bag of money in your
hand when he came in, and sprang for the gun to protect his property?"

Joe turned to the judge again, with an air of respectful patience.

"I never saw that little pouch of money, Judge Maxwell, sir, until Isom
fell, and lay stretched out there on the floor. I never saw that much
money before in my life, and I expect that I thought more about it for a
minute than I did about Isom. It all happened so quick, you know, sir."

Joe spoke the last words with a covert appeal in them, as if placing the
matter before the judge alone, in the confidence of his superior
understanding, and the belief that he would feel their truth.

The judge seemed to understand. He nodded encouragingly and smiled.

"Do you recall the morning after your arrival at the home of Isom Chase
to begin your service there, when you threatened to kill him?" asked the
prosecutor.

"I do recall that morning," admitted Joe; "but I don't feel that it's
fair to hold me to account for words spoken in sudden anger and under
trying circumstances. A young person, you know, sir"--addressing the
judge--"oftentimes says things he don't mean, and is sorry for the next
minute. You know how hot the blood of y