-house that afternoon. Two score of women sat
comfortably in a space fitted with chairs at one end of the judge's
desk. But the body of the room was jammed with a standing crowd of
men, both Mexicans and Americans. Late comers crowded the corridor,
and those who could get them mounted chairs outside the door. Inside
the room a row of men swung their heels from each window seat, while
outside another row stood on the ledges and looked over their heads.

Colonel Whittaker told the story of how his son had set out from the
ranch to come to town and had never been seen alive again. He declared
that the young man had no enemies except the prisoner and that there
was no possible explanation of his disappearance except that he had
been murdered. Then he told of the work of the searching party which
he had taken to the White Sands, and of the body which they had found.
He had identified this corpse as the body of his son, and on the
sketched outline of a man's back he located the position of the three
bullet holes by which the young man had come to his death. The shirt,
with the initials worked in the collar, the ring, scarfpin, memorandum
book and envelopes that had been taken from the body were placed
before him and he identified them all as having belonged to his son.
The crowded court room was still, with the silence of tense
expectancy. Every neck was craned and every eye was fixed on these
articles as one by one they were held up before him and then passed on
to the judge's desk.

A slight disturbance at the door, as of people unwillingly moving
back, fell upon the strained hush. Some one was forcing his way
through the crowd. The witness leaned back in his chair, waiting for
another question, and the lawyers consulted together for a moment.
Then the prosecuting attorney asked the witness if he had positively
identified the body as that of his missing son, William Whittaker.

"I did, sir," replied Colonel Whittaker. As the words left his lips
his gaze fell past the attorney upon two men who had just struggled
out of the crowd and into the free railed space in front of the
judge's desk. His jaw fell, his pale face turned an ashen gray, his
eyes opened wide, and, with trembling hands upon the arms of his
chair, he unconsciously lifted himself to his feet. The lawyers, the
judge, and the jury followed his gaze. Some sprang to their feet and
some fell back in their chairs, their mouths open, but dumb with
amazement. All ov