Page:Caroline Lockhart--The full of the Moon.djvu/249

 Will the Hon. 'Hank' T. Spiser kindly step forward and swear himself?"

Spiser, who had been leaning against the wall in the rear of the room, extracting vast satisfaction from Ben's predicament, Nan's pale face and anxious eyes, now pushed his way to the front and "swore himself" upon the tattered Bible.

"This fellow," he nodded contemputuously [sic] toward Ben, "was foreman for me for over a year, and gave fair satisfaction until a certain party"—his face was ugly with a sneer—"came into the country, when he began to neglect his work, and I fired him. He was sore, and threatened to get even.

"He went into partnership with a 'nester' down in the Longhorn bosque, and their herd didn't grow fast enough to suit 'em. My foreman saw some suspicious-looking brands in their bunch. I hired a couple of Mexicans to trail 'em, and he found it no great job to come up on this fellow Evans burning a brand. I had him arrested, and that's all there is to it."

He turned to leave the stand.

Bob stopped him with a quick gesture.