he had made his way to the
entrance with the aid of his cane, "I wish to see my servant, Sandy
Campbell, who is said to be in your custody."

The sheriff hesitated. Meantime there was some parleying in low tones
among the crowd outside. No one interfered, however, and in a moment the
door opened sufficiently to give entrance to the old gentleman, after
which it closed quickly and clangorously behind him.

Feeling no desire to linger in the locality, Miller, having seen his
companion enter the jail, drove the carriage round to Mr. Delamere's
house, and leaving it in charge of a servant with instructions to return
for his master in a quarter of an hour, hastened to his own home to meet
Watson and Josh and report the result of his efforts.

XXIV

TWO SOUTHERN GENTLEMEN

The iron bolt rattled in the lock, the door of a cell swung open, and
when Mr. Delamere had entered was quickly closed again.

"Well, Sandy!"

"Oh, Mars John! Is you fell from hebben ter he'p me out er here? I
prayed de Lawd ter sen' you, an' He answered my prayer, an' here you is,
Mars John,--here you is! Oh, Mars John, git me out er dis place!"

"Tut, tut, Sandy!" answered his master; "of course I'll get you out.
That's what I've come for. How in the world did such a mistake ever
happen? You would no more commit such a crime than I would!"

"No, suh, 'deed I wouldn', an' you know I wouldn'! I wouldn' want ter
bring no disgrace on de fam'ly dat raise' me, ner ter make no trouble
fer you, suh; but here I is, suh, lock' up in jail, an' folks talkin'
'bout hangin' me fer somethin' dat never entered my min', suh. I swea'
ter God I never thought er sech a thing!"

"Of course you didn't, Sandy," returned Mr. Delamere soothingly; "and
now the next thing, and the simplest thing, is to get you out of this.
I'll speak to the officers, and at the preliminary hearing to-morrow I'll
tell them all about you, and they will let you go. You won't mind
spending one night in jail for your sins."

"No, suh, ef I wuz sho' I'd be 'lowed ter spen' it here. But dey say dey
're gwine ter lynch me ternight,--I kin hear 'em talkin' f'm de winders
er de cell, suh."

"Well, _I_ say, Sandy, that they shall do no such thing! Lynch a man
brought up by a Delamere, for a crime of which he is innocent?
Preposterous! I'll speak to the authorities and see that you are
properly protected until this mystery is unraveled. If Tom had been
here, he would have had you out be