mb as an oyster. Might as well try to
get anything from an Indian. They're going to try t' other--Trail."

He left the hall, but was back in five minutes' time with the forger.
They entered the master's room, and Patricia, seized by a sudden
impulse, followed them, leaving Betty trembling in the window seat.

Unnoted by all but one of the company, she slipt to a seat in the shadow
of her father's burly shoulders. He was leaning forward, talking to the
Governor, who sat very erect, his features fixed in an expression of
dogged determination. The Surveyor-General sat well behind the table,
and upon the polished wood before him lay a little heap of torn petals
and broken stems. At the far end of the room and leaning heavily against
the wall was the prisoner whose examination was just finished.

Sir Charles had seen the entrance of the lady of the manor, and he now
rose from his seat and came to her. "Not a syllable," he whispered in
answer to the question in her eyes. "Roundhead obstinacy! But I think
that this fellow will prove more malleable."

His prediction was verified. Ten minutes later the Governor rose to his
feet triumphant. "So!" he said, drawing a long breath. "We are, I think,
gentlemen, at the very core at last. The time, day after to-morrow; the
place, Poplar Spring in this county. And now to work! Those of these
d--d Oliverians whom we can reach must be arrested at once. Swift
messengers must be sent to all plantations far and near. The trainbands
must be called out. Time presses, gentlemen!"

"And these men?" said the Colonel.

"Must go to Jamestown gaol, where the one shall hang as surely as my
name is William Berkeley. For the other--"

"Your Excellency has promised me my life," said Trail cringingly, but
with an inscrutable something that was not fear in his sinister green
eyes.

"An escort must be gotten together," said the Colonel, "and the day is
far advanced. I advise keeping them here until the morning."

"See that you keep them straitly then," said the Governor.

"Trust me for that, your Excellency," said the overseer grimly.

"Then to work, gentlemen," cried the Governor, "for there is much to do
and but little time to do it in. Major Carrington, you with Mr. Peyton
will ride with me to Jamestown. Colonel Verney, you will know what
measures to take for the safety of your shire. Woodson, have the horses
brought around at once."

The Council broke up in haste and confusion, and its memb