ugged at
a grizzled foretop.

"You may."

"Old-timer," said Hiram, "we didn't hear of you till late last night.
We had moved on from Hermosa. That's all, Your Honor. Thank you."

"Will the learned counsel for the defense outline the rest of his
program?" inquired the judge, with respectful gentleness.

"He will," said Johnny. "I'll have to ask you to continue the case
until to-morrow, or maybe later--till I can get some of the Garfield
men who can swear to the size of the horse Adam Forbes rode. Then I
want--"

Charlie See rose.

"I offer my evidence. I slept with Adam Forbes the night before he was
killed; and I saw him start. He rode a big horse."

"Thank you," said Johnny. "I'll call you after a while. Get yourself a
reserved seat inside here. I knew Adam Forbes rode a big horse, and I
can describe that horse--if Adam Forbes was the man I met in Redgate,
which I've never doubted. A big blaze-faced bay with a Heart-Diamond
brand. This way." He traced on the wall a heart with an inscribed
diamond. "But I want to call the men who brought in Adam Forbes. I
want to question them about all the tracks they saw, before it rained.
So you see, Your Honor, I'll have to ask for a continuation. I can't
afford to be hanged to save the county a little money."

"You'll get your continuation."

"But that isn't all. That yearling I branded--he was from the river
_bosques_, for he had his tail full of sand burs, and the bunch he
was with was sure snaky. His mammy's a Bar Cross cow and he's a Bar
Cross bull--and so branded by me. He'll be back with her by this
time. He had all the Hereford markings, just about perfect. His mammy
wasn't marked so good. She had a bald face and a line back, all right,
and white feet and a white belly. But one of her stockings was
outsize--run clear up her thigh--and she had two big white spots on
her ribs on the nigh side. I didn't see the other side. And one of
her horns drooped a little--the right one. I would like to have you
appoint a commission to bring them into court, or at any rate to
interview them and get a statement of facts."

"That's reasonable," said the judge. "Application granted." He called
to Tom Ross. "Tom, that's your job. You and your three peelers find
that Bar Cross cow--objection overruled--and that bull yearling. Mr.
Clerk, you may so enter it, at the charge of Sierra County."

Wade was on his feet again.

"But, Your Honor," he gasped, "those men are the prisoner's