me he didn't ride down the highway, at
least till he came within sight of the station."

"Mr. Hickory," inquired the lawyer, severely, "are you in possession of
any knowledge proving that he did?"

"No, sir."

Mr. Byrd, who had been watching the prisoner breathlessly through all
this, saw or thought he saw the faintest shadow of an odd, disdainful
smile cross his sternly composed features at this moment. But he could
not be sure. There was enough in the possibility, however, to make the
detective thoughtful; but Mr. Orcutt proceeding rapidly with his
examination, left him no time to formulate his sensations into words.

"So that by taking this wagon you are certain you lost no time?"

"Yes, sir."

"Rather gained some?"

"Yes, sir."

"Mr. Hickory, will you now state whether you put forth your full speed
to-day in going from Mrs. Clemmens' house to the Quarry Station?"

"I did not."

"What?"

"I did not put forth any thing like my full speed, sir," the witness
repeated, with a twinkle in the direction of Byrd that fell just short
of being a decided wink.

"And why, may I ask? What restrained you from running as fast as you
could? Sympathy for the defence?"

The ironical suggestion conveyed in this last question gave Hickory an
excuse for indulging in his peculiar humor.

"No, sir; sympathy for the prosecution. I feared the loss of one of its
most humble but valuable assistants. In other words, I was afraid I
should break my neck."

"And why should you have any special fears of breaking your neck?"

"The path is so uneven, sir. No man could run for much of the way
without endangering his life or at least his limbs."

"Did you run when you could?"

"Yes, sir."

"And in those places where you could not run, did you proceed as fast as
you knew how?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well; now I think it is time you told the jury just how many
minutes it took you to go from Mrs. Clemmens' door to the Monteith
Quarry Station."

"Well, sir, according to _my_ watch, it took one hundred and five
minutes."

Mr. Orcutt glanced impressively at the jury.

"One hundred and five minutes," he repeated. He then turned to the
witness with his concluding questions.

"Mr. Hickory, were you present in the court-room just now when the two
experts whom I have employed to make the run gave their testimony?"

"No, sir."

"Do you know in what time they made it?"

"I believe I do. I was told by the person whom I informed