y day
he abused me as if I was a dog. _I_ killed him."

He stopped. All the exultation of his triumph was not quite conquered
yet. He had killed his enemy.

"That day," he went on, "I was going down to the mill; I had a big stick
in my hand that I had but just cut, and I thought what a good one it
would be to knock a man down with. I was going along, in and out among
the bushes, when I caught sight of him coming riding slowly in front. I
knew he was most likely going to the creek, for it seemed as if he could
not keep from meddling with me continually, and I did not want to talk
to him, so I slipped into a big bush to wait till he was gone by. I
declare I had no thought of harming him, but he always put me in a rage,
so I did not mean to speak to him at all. Well, he came close up, and
all of a sudden I thought I should like to pay him out for hitting me
with his whip, and I just lifted up my stick and knocked him over. It
was a sharper blow than I meant it to be, for the blood ran down as he
fell. He lay on the grass, and I was going to walk back home when I saw
that my stick was all over blood, and there was some on my hands too.
That made me mad with him, because I thought I might be found out by it.
I went a little way further to hide the stick, and I saw a man lying
down. Then I thought _he_ might have seen me and I should have to quiet
him too, but he was fast asleep, and did not move a finger; that made me
think of putting it on him. He had a big knife stuck in his belt, but it
had half fallen out, and I took it that I might put some of the blood on
it. When I came back with it to the place, I found that Doctor Morton
had moved. I had not meant at first to kill him, but when I saw that he
was alive I was vexed, and thought if I left him so he would be sure to
know who had hit him, so I finished him. I wanted to make people believe
that it was the Indian who had done it, and they did. That is all I've
got to tell."

Nearly the whole story had been told in a sullen, monotonous tone, and
when it was finished Clarkson shut his eyes and turned a little away
from his auditors, as if to show that he did not mean to be questioned.
They did indeed try to say something to him of his crime, but he would
not answer, and presently the doctor, after leaning over him for a
moment, motioned Mr. Bayne to be silent. Death was quickly approaching,
and it was useless to trouble the dying man further. After a little
while the man