Rainey's collar,
and for an instant Mr. Rainey shook himself loose and cried--"
"Not a word!" exclaimed Duff Salter. "What was _done_?"
"Mr. Rainey cried out something, all at once. The masther fetched a
terrible oath and fell back upon his seat. 'You assisted in this
villainy!' he shouted. They clinched, and I saw something shine dimly in
Mr. William Zane's hand. The report told me what it was. I lifted one
oar in a feeling of horror, and the boat swung round abruptly on the
blade of the other, and Mr. Rainey, released from the masther's grip,
fell overboard in the dark night."
Nothing was said by any person in the court except a suppressed "Bah!"
from Calvin Van de Lear.
"Silence! Order! I won't!" exclaimed the lame magistrate, rising from
his seat. "Now! Go on!"
"I dropped both oars in me terror, and one of them floated away in the
dark. We all stood up in the boat. 'My God!' exclaimed the masther,
'what have I done?' As quick as the beating of my heart he placed the
pistol at his own head. I saw the flash and heard the report. Mr.
William Zane fell overboard."
There was a shudder of horror for a moment, and then a voice outside the
window, hoarse and cheery, shouted to the outer crowd, "Andrew is
innocent! Three cheers for Andrew Zane!"
The people in and out of the warm and densely-pressed office
simultaneously gave cheers, calling others to the scene, and the old
magistrate, lame as he was, arose and looked happy.
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