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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79381 ***
+
+
+
+
+                               Evidence
+
+                          By Murray Leinster
+
+           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
+                   All-Story Weekly, July 12, 1919.]
+
+
+It was hot. My pony jogged listlessly along, without interest or
+animation, while I was only concerned with the problem of getting
+to shade and water, but especially shade. The sun was hot enough to
+fry any one's brains in his skull, and my saddle burned my hand if I
+touched it where the sun struck it. There was a trickling stream of
+perspiration down either cheek, and a third stream down my nose. From
+time to time I smudged the dust across my face in an attempt to stop
+the streams, but the action merely interrupted their course.
+
+It was in this peculiarly Texan atmosphere that I came upon Jimmy
+Calton. He was standing by the open hood of one of these mechanical
+miracles known as a "tin lizzy," holding a sooted spark-plug in a cloth
+in one hand and attempting to clean it with the other. He was swearing
+the while, dispassionately, in a curious mingling of good Anglo-Saxon
+and dobe Spanish.
+
+"Hello, Jimmy," I said listlessly.
+
+He looked up and nodded.
+
+"Say, you look hot," he observed. "Come on an' ride a ways with me.
+Lizzy heah 'll be runnin' in a minute, an' you can tie yo' pony on
+behind."
+
+"Going anywhere in particular?" I asked.
+
+"Over t' see th' coroner," he told me. "Ol Abe Martin got shot th'
+other day an' folks are sayin' Harry Temple done it. They got 'im
+locked up, anyways."
+
+I dismounted stiffly and tied my pony to the rear of the machine,
+allowing him plenty of lead-rope. Jimmy finished wiping the last of the
+spark-plugs, apostrophizing the car in the mean time.
+
+"You creakin', growlin', spark-plug-foulin', blasted hunka tin," he
+finished lyrically, and put down the hood.
+
+He went to the crank and turned it half a dozen times. The engine
+caught, sputtered, and began to run with a pretentious roar. Jimmy
+hastily reached for the wheel and adjusted the spark and throttle, then
+climbed in leisurely. With a grinding and a lurch we started off, my
+pony following docilely behind.
+
+"Yes, tin, tin, tin," said Jimmy, doing mysterious things with his feet:
+
+    I have scorned yuh and I've flayed yuh,
+    But by the guy who made yuh,
+    You are bettuh than a big car,
+    Hunka tin!
+
+We slipped into the car's second and highest speed, and began to run
+more smoothly. Jimmy looked behind to see that my pony was all right
+and began to roll a cigarette with his left hand, while expertly
+guiding the car around the numerous ruts and rocks in the roadway. I
+watched the process of cigarette-rolling without interest.
+
+"I can't seem to get the knack of that," I remarked, when he had
+finished and was licking the edge of the paper to hold it in place.
+
+"Imitatin'," said Jimmy casually. "There ain't any way that everybody
+can do. Nobody else I know rolls 'em like this. It's jus' easiest
+fo' me. You'll have to mess around till you find a way that fits yo'
+fingers."
+
+"I'll smoke tailor-made," I said, "rather than bother with learning."
+
+"Jus' like th' new generation," said Jimmy severely. Jimmy, it may be
+said, is thirty, but affects the authority of a man of eighty. "Wantin'
+everything done by somebody else, or else by machin'ry. They even want
+theh thinkin' done fo' them."
+
+"It's too hot to think down here." I took off my hat and wiped the
+moisture off the sweat-band.
+
+"Judgin' by the little bit of it people do," Jimmy remarked acridly,
+"most folks agree with you. Most people look at thinkin' as somethin'
+they was taught to do in schools, an', as such, somethin' t' forget as
+soon as possible. From th' folks that don't think about th' spigoty
+revoltosos jus' across th' border an' are pained an' surprised when
+th' spigoties run off some o' their cattle, down to th' folks that
+ud rather buy cigarettes than bother thinkin' up a way to roll 'em
+one-handed fo' themselves, everybody's jus' th' same. Why, 'twouldn't
+surprise me none at all if most folks tol' th' truth jus' because it's
+too much trouble t' think up a lie."
+
+I accepted his rebuke in the matter of cigarettes meekly and said
+nothing.
+
+"It's a fac'," said Jimmy, with an air of mournful pity for a race
+fallen so low. "I saw in a book th' other day that th' best lyin' is
+th' lie that's near th' truth. Ain't that ridiculous? That's jus'
+justifyin' laziness. Ef folks 've got th' goods on yuh, an' yuh can't
+get away from th' truth, then it's all right t' dilute th' truth until
+it's harmless, but otherwise a good lie beats th' almost-truth nine
+ways from Sunday.
+
+"Only it's a lot o' trouble thinkin' up a good lie, an' fortifyin'
+it with accumulative evidence"--Jimmy rolled those two words off his
+tongue with some satisfaction--"accumulative evidence like a good lie
+ougt t' have."
+
+He fell silent for a while, doing marvels of steering in the avoidance
+of obstacles and depressions in the really horrible road.
+
+"An' thinkin'," he said suddenly, presently. "Folks don't like
+thinkin'. Anybody with any sense ud know Harry Temple wouldn't 've shot
+ol' Abe Martin. Harry Temple has got a bank-account in th' Farmers and
+Ranchers Bank, an' it ain't in reason that he'd go an' shoot anybody t'
+steal their roll.
+
+"Ol' Abe sold off six hundred steers, an' got th' money fo' them. He
+was ol'-fashioned an' didn't believe in banks, so he took th' money
+home with 'im. An' somebody went an' shot him an' took th' roll. But
+Harry Temple, with a bank-account in th' Farmers and Ranchers Bank--it
+ain't reasonable that he'd go an' shoot anybody fo' to steal their
+money. Ef he's any like I am, he's too busy wonderin' ef somebody is
+goin' t' steal his money to go stealin' somebody else's."
+
+Jimmy said this last with an air of virtue that made me smile. Jimmy is
+much too good a poker-player to be worried about his money. I know he
+owns one small ranch he never goes near, bought out of the proceeds of
+a colossal game still remembered along the border.
+
+"But they think he did it?" I asked.
+
+"Sho they do," said Jimmy scornfully. "They's goin' aroun' sayin' they
+know he did. That's _toro_, o' course."
+
+One of Jimmy's individualities is his habit of translating American
+slang into dobe Spanish and using it in his conversation.
+
+"what are you going to see the coroner for?"
+
+"They's holdin' a inquest," said Jimmy. "I'm sort o' goin' t' horn in a
+little, I reck'n. These folks are too lazy t' do any thinkin'. Ef I see
+a chance, I'm goin' to do some head-work fo' them. Theah's Abe Martin's
+place right ahead."
+
+We turned in the gate and swung up to the house. Half a dozen cars,
+most of them of the same make as Jimmy's, clustered about the front,
+and there were a dozen or more ponies tethered close by the porch,
+dozing in the baking heat. It was quite a pretentious place, built in
+the old-fashioned style of the days when a rancher was almost a baron
+in his own right. Two big barns and a huge stable behind the house
+almost dwarfed the dwelling proper, and quite hid it from the rear.
+
+Jimmy eased his car in among the others, snapped the switch, and
+alighted. Three or four of the men about the door nodded to him and
+told him the inquest had not started, but that it would begin shortly.
+Once he found that out, Jimmy plunged into an intricate and technical
+discussion of patented attachments for his machine, and I drifted off
+into the house.
+
+It was a very old house, and built with Old-fashioned disregard for
+space. I gathered, however, that the housekeeping done in it was but
+sketchy. Half a dozen of his riders made it their headquarters, with
+old Abe Martin. They bunked there, and a cook prepared the meals for
+all of them. There was a long table with a checked, red table-cloth
+on it--the room was empty now except for buzzing flies--where they
+had their meals. On the day of the shooting, I learned, the men had
+all been away on their duties, and the cook had gone into town for
+supplies, so Abe Martin had been alone.
+
+Presently I went out to look at the stables. They were huge, but not
+much used. Three or four ponies were in their stalls, and several more
+stalls seemed to be used from time to time, but most of them were
+without signs of recent use.
+
+There had been a time when the place was the headquarters of a busy
+ranch, but since the time of fences the activity had lessened until
+only Abe Martin, his half-dozen riders, and the cook lived there. It
+was curious to see the dwelling-place, large in itself, dwarfed by its
+outbuildings.
+
+A stir in the house called me inside. The inquest was evidently to
+be more or less of an informal affair, but there was none the less a
+determined and businesslike air behind it all. Those men meant to get
+at the bottom of the matter. The coroner seemed to be a conscientious
+individual, who took the evidence of the first witness with great
+exactitude, though he knew perfectly well beforehand just what the
+testimony would be. The whole inquiry, as a matter of fact, promised to
+be cut and dried in spite of Jimmy's announced intention of "horning
+in."
+
+The first witness was the cook, who had discovered the body. He had
+come back from town, entered the house and discovered his employer dead
+on the floor of the hall. He had been shot through the heart. A rider,
+whom the cook had hastily summoned, corroborated his testimony and
+added that the body was cold when he was called, proving that death had
+occurred some time before.
+
+"Th' evidence shows," said the coroner casually, "that Abe was shot
+when there wasn't nobody else in th' house but him an' th' murderer.
+Th' cashier of th' Farmers and Ranchers Bank ain't heah, but he has
+give me th' information that Abe had over four thousan' dollars on him
+when he was killed.
+
+"That's gone. Evidently he was shot fo' his money. It's part of th'
+duties of a coroner's jury t' uncover any evidence that will help in
+solvin' th' problem of who th' murderer might be. Miste' Joe Harkness
+will take th' stand."
+
+There was a movement of interest in the small crowd packed into the
+one room. I had managed to get beside Jimmy Calton, and his face
+became extraordinarily mild and gentle. It hinted at some expectation
+of excitement, if I knew Jimmy. Every one had heard Harkness's story
+before, so it was simply a recapitulation.
+
+"I ain't got a thing t' say," announced Harkness bluntly, "'cept that I
+seen Harry Temple come out o' this here house 'bout three o'clock, jus'
+after Abe Martin was shot.
+
+"I was havin' trouble with my spark-plugs down the road a ways, when I
+seen Harry. He come out o' th' kitchen door, looked all aroun' as ef he
+was lookin' t' see ef anybody seen him, an' then he went down to'd the
+stables. He went inside theah, then he come out o' that an' went over
+to th' quarters an' got a drink at th' pump by th' do'. I was wonderin'
+what he was doin', but it looks t' me like he was makin' sho' theh
+wasn't nobody aroun' that could 'a' tol' that he'd been aroun'.
+
+"An' theh's one mo' thing. When he come out o' th' house--he come out
+th' kitchen do'--he was puttin' somethin' in his breas' pocket."
+
+I glanced at Jimmy Calton. He was looking at Harkness with a gentle,
+placid smile. His face did not change when Harry Temple stood up, pale
+beneath his tan.
+
+"Eve'ything Harkness says is so," said Harry Temple determinedly.
+"Eve'y single word, only I didn't shoot ol' Abe. I come out heah t' see
+him 'bout sellin' him some yearlin's. He wasn't heah, so I went in th'
+kitchen t' see ef I couldn' leave word with th' cook.
+
+"Th' cook was missin', too, but I thought I heard somebody movin'
+aroun' somewhere, an' I went jus' where Harkness said, an' jus' in
+th' order he said. He must 've seen me first when I come out o' the
+kitchen. When I couldn't find nobody, I cranked up an' lef'."
+
+Harkness stood up.
+
+"I hate t' contradict Harry," he said sharply, "but he's made a
+mistake. He didn' crank up an' leave. He was drivin' somebody else's
+car, an' it had a self-starter on it."
+
+Harry Temple flushed slightly.
+
+"That's a fac'," he acknowledged. "I'd forgotten that. I was drivin'
+a car they lent me at th' garage. I'd lef' my own theah t' have some
+repairs made."
+
+"Of co'se," said Harkness sarcastically, "nobody suspec's that you was
+drivin' a strange car, with strange tires, so they couldn't prove
+nothin' on you by th' tracks."
+
+Jimmy put a question in a gentle voice.
+
+"There's another question," he said softly. "What was Harry puttin' in
+his pocket when Harkness saw him comin' out o' th' house?"
+
+"I don't remember puttin' anything in my pocket," said Temple,
+beginning to be worried. "It was prob'ly my handkerchief."
+
+There was a moment's silence. One or two of the men in the room stirred
+uneasily. Jimmy Calton smiled sweetly to himself.
+
+"Misteh Coroner," he said slowly, "may I make an obs'vation or so? It
+looks like somebody ought t' point out two or three fac's."
+
+"Go ahead, Jimmy," said the coroner. It seemed to be bothering him that
+so much seemed to point to the guilt of Harry Temple. Temple did seem
+to be quite a decent sort, and the coroner evidently hated to bring out
+so much to his discredit without anything to counteract the impression
+thus made. Knowing Jimmy, he knew Jimmy would not interfere unless he
+thought things were going the wrong way, and that meant in this case
+that he had something to say in Temple's favor.
+
+"Misteh Coroner an' gentlemen," said Jimmy formally, "it don't seem
+hardly fair t' bring out all this heah evidence against a man without
+any evidence th' other way. I want t' point out two things about this
+heah case. Th' first is that Harry Temple has got money in bank, an'
+th' second is that he never disputed a single thing Harkness said about
+him. You know, an' I know, that a man with money in bank ain't goin'
+aroun' doin' highway robbery an' murder. He cain't affo'd to. You jus'
+think about that a while.
+
+"An' heah's somethin' else t' think about. Did you notice that Harry
+Temple said right off that he done jus' what Harkness said? Now ef he'd
+shot ol' Abe Martin, you know he'd 've tried t' make some o' that stuff
+soun' jus' a little less incriminatin'. He'd 've said he didn't go in
+th' house, jus' to th' door an' knocked, and he'd 've tried t' weaken
+eve'ything Harkness said, jus' that way.
+
+"But he didn't. He's tellin' th' truth so hard he cain't seem t' see
+it's puttin' a rope aroun' his neck, in spite of his bein' jus' as
+innocent as he says. As for his puttin' somethin' in his breas'-pocket,
+nobody puts money theah--an' especially stolen money--but mos'
+everybody puts theah handkerchief theah."
+
+"But--that ain't evidence," said the coroner disappointedly. "I tho't
+you had some fac's t' give us."
+
+"I give you one fac'," Jimmy offered. "Harry Temple didn' shoot Abe
+Martin. Looka heah, Harkness himself don't believe he did. Do you?" he
+demanded, turning to that person.
+
+Harkness sat stolidly in his chair.
+
+"You heard what I said," he grunted. "You heard what I seen him do."
+
+"Sho I did," Jimmy admitted readily, "but you knew he didn' shoot Abe."
+
+Jimmy seemed to be making a fool of himself. I tugged at his sleeve for
+him to sit down, but he paid no attention.
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Harkness suspiciously.
+
+"Nothin' whatever," said Jimmy with a gentleness I suddenly recognized
+as dangerous. "Nothin' whatever, excep' what I said. You know Harry
+Temple didn' shoot Abe."
+
+"You mean t' tell me I'm lyin'," Harkness angrily.
+
+"No," said Jimmy in a cooing drawl. "Nothin' so harmless. I'm accusin'
+you o' somethin' a damn sight mo' dangerous than lyin'. I'm accusin'
+you o' tellin' th' truth--th' exact truth."
+
+There was a puzzled pause. I noticed, however, that Harkness was
+watching Jimmy with a curious alertness.
+
+"It's always mo' dangerous t' tell th' truth in a case like this,
+Harkness," said Jiminy, still in that gentle drawl. "You tol' th'
+absolute truth about what you saw Harry do, an' that's th' mos'
+dangerous thing you could 've told, because there ain't but one man
+could 've tol' that.
+
+"Misteh Coroner, ef you'll look out o' the window, you'll see jus'
+wheah Harry Temple walked down th' kitchen steps, jus' wheah he went
+back to th' stables, jus' wheah he went into th' big barn, an' jus'
+wheah he got a drink. An' then, ef you look, you'll see wheah he
+stopped his car, so Harkness could see that it had a self-starter on
+it, instead of a crank."
+
+I saw a light break on the coroner's face, as he looked from place
+to place in the yard behind the house. He faced about, just as Jimmy
+deliberately pulled a revolver out of his pocket.
+
+"Harkness tol' th' truth," said Jimmy softly. "He tol' th' absolute
+truth, but--theh ain't but one place you can see all them things from.
+With all them barns outside, theh ain't but one place that you c'n see
+th' do' of th' stables, an' th' big barn an' th' pump by th' quarters
+_an'_ th' kitchen do' all at once. An' theh wasn't but one man in th'
+world who could 've seen Harry Temple do all them things, because theh
+wasn't but one man in that place.
+
+"Th' only place you c'n see all them places from is this heah room, an'
+th' only man in th' house when Harry Temple did them things was th' man
+who'd shot Abe Martin an' hadn't had time t' get away when Harry Temple
+come drivin' in!
+
+"Harkness"--Jimmy's voice was suddenly like steel--"ef you pull that
+gun on me I'll blow a hole right th'ough th' place yo' brains ought t'
+be!"
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79381 ***
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+<body>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79381 ***</div>
+
+
+<div class="titlepage">
+
+<h1>Evidence</h1>
+
+<p class="ph1">By Murray Leinster</p>
+
+<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br>
+All-Story Weekly, July 12, 1919.]</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap">
+
+<p>It was hot. My pony jogged listlessly along, without interest or
+animation, while I was only concerned with the problem of getting
+to shade and water, but especially shade. The sun was hot enough to
+fry any one's brains in his skull, and my saddle burned my hand if I
+touched it where the sun struck it. There was a trickling stream of
+perspiration down either cheek, and a third stream down my nose. From
+time to time I smudged the dust across my face in an attempt to stop
+the streams, but the action merely interrupted their course.</p>
+
+<p>It was in this peculiarly Texan atmosphere that I came upon Jimmy
+Calton. He was standing by the open hood of one of these mechanical
+miracles known as a "tin lizzy," holding a sooted spark-plug in a cloth
+in one hand and attempting to clean it with the other. He was swearing
+the while, dispassionately, in a curious mingling of good Anglo-Saxon
+and dobe Spanish.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Jimmy," I said listlessly.</p>
+
+<p>He looked up and nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, you look hot," he observed. "Come on an' ride a ways with me.
+Lizzy heah 'll be runnin' in a minute, an' you can tie yo' pony on
+behind."</p>
+
+<p>"Going anywhere in particular?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Over t' see th' coroner," he told me. "Ol Abe Martin got shot th'
+other day an' folks are sayin' Harry Temple done it. They got 'im
+locked up, anyways."</p>
+
+<p>I dismounted stiffly and tied my pony to the rear of the machine,
+allowing him plenty of lead-rope. Jimmy finished wiping the last of the
+spark-plugs, apostrophizing the car in the mean time.</p>
+
+<p>"You creakin', growlin', spark-plug-foulin', blasted hunka tin," he
+finished lyrically, and put down the hood.</p>
+
+<p>He went to the crank and turned it half a dozen times. The engine
+caught, sputtered, and began to run with a pretentious roar. Jimmy
+hastily reached for the wheel and adjusted the spark and throttle, then
+climbed in leisurely. With a grinding and a lurch we started off, my
+pony following docilely behind.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, tin, tin, tin," said Jimmy, doing mysterious things with his feet:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">I have scorned yuh and I've flayed yuh,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">But by the guy who made yuh,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">You are bettuh than a big car,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Hunka tin!</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>We slipped into the car's second and highest speed, and began to run
+more smoothly. Jimmy looked behind to see that my pony was all right
+and began to roll a cigarette with his left hand, while expertly
+guiding the car around the numerous ruts and rocks in the roadway. I
+watched the process of cigarette-rolling without interest.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't seem to get the knack of that," I remarked, when he had
+finished and was licking the edge of the paper to hold it in place.</p>
+
+<p>"Imitatin'," said Jimmy casually. "There ain't any way that everybody
+can do. Nobody else I know rolls 'em like this. It's jus' easiest
+fo' me. You'll have to mess around till you find a way that fits yo'
+fingers."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll smoke tailor-made," I said, "rather than bother with learning."</p>
+
+<p>"Jus' like th' new generation," said Jimmy severely. Jimmy, it may be
+said, is thirty, but affects the authority of a man of eighty. "Wantin'
+everything done by somebody else, or else by machin'ry. They even want
+theh thinkin' done fo' them."</p>
+
+<p>"It's too hot to think down here." I took off my hat and wiped the
+moisture off the sweat-band.</p>
+
+<p>"Judgin' by the little bit of it people do," Jimmy remarked acridly,
+"most folks agree with you. Most people look at thinkin' as somethin'
+they was taught to do in schools, an', as such, somethin' t' forget as
+soon as possible. From th' folks that don't think about th' spigoty
+revoltosos jus' across th' border an' are pained an' surprised when
+th' spigoties run off some o' their cattle, down to th' folks that
+ud rather buy cigarettes than bother thinkin' up a way to roll 'em
+one-handed fo' themselves, everybody's jus' th' same. Why, 'twouldn't
+surprise me none at all if most folks tol' th' truth jus' because it's
+too much trouble t' think up a lie."</p>
+
+<p>I accepted his rebuke in the matter of cigarettes meekly and said
+nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a fac'," said Jimmy, with an air of mournful pity for a race
+fallen so low. "I saw in a book th' other day that th' best lyin' is
+th' lie that's near th' truth. Ain't that ridiculous? That's jus'
+justifyin' laziness. Ef folks 've got th' goods on yuh, an' yuh can't
+get away from th' truth, then it's all right t' dilute th' truth until
+it's harmless, but otherwise a good lie beats th' almost-truth nine
+ways from Sunday.</p>
+
+<p>"Only it's a lot o' trouble thinkin' up a good lie, an' fortifyin'
+it with accumulative evidence"—Jimmy rolled those two words off his
+tongue with some satisfaction—"accumulative evidence like a good lie
+ougt t' have."</p>
+
+<p>He fell silent for a while, doing marvels of steering in the avoidance
+of obstacles and depressions in the really horrible road.</p>
+
+<p>"An' thinkin'," he said suddenly, presently. "Folks don't like
+thinkin'. Anybody with any sense ud know Harry Temple wouldn't 've shot
+ol' Abe Martin. Harry Temple has got a bank-account in th' Farmers and
+Ranchers Bank, an' it ain't in reason that he'd go an' shoot anybody t'
+steal their roll.</p>
+
+<p>"Ol' Abe sold off six hundred steers, an' got th' money fo' them. He
+was ol'-fashioned an' didn't believe in banks, so he took th' money
+home with 'im. An' somebody went an' shot him an' took th' roll. But
+Harry Temple, with a bank-account in th' Farmers and Ranchers Bank—it
+ain't reasonable that he'd go an' shoot anybody fo' to steal their
+money. Ef he's any like I am, he's too busy wonderin' ef somebody is
+goin' t' steal his money to go stealin' somebody else's."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy said this last with an air of virtue
+that made me smile. Jimmy is much too
+good a poker-player to be worried about his
+money. I know he owns one small ranch
+he never goes near, bought out of the proceeds of a colossal game still remembered
+along the border.</p>
+
+<p>"But they think he did it?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Sho they do," said Jimmy scornfully. "They's goin' aroun' sayin' they
+know he did. That's <i>toro</i>, o' course."</p>
+
+<p>One of Jimmy's individualities is his habit of translating American
+slang into dobe Spanish and using it in his conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"what are you going to see the coroner for?"</p>
+
+<p>"They's holdin' a inquest," said Jimmy. "I'm sort o' goin' t' horn in a
+little, I reck'n. These folks are too lazy t' do any thinkin'. Ef I see
+a chance, I'm goin' to do some head-work fo' them. Theah's Abe Martin's
+place right ahead."</p>
+
+<p>We turned in the gate and swung up to the house. Half a dozen cars,
+most of them of the same make as Jimmy's, clustered about the front,
+and there were a dozen or more ponies tethered close by the porch,
+dozing in the baking heat. It was quite a pretentious place, built in
+the old-fashioned style of the days when a rancher was almost a baron
+in his own right. Two big barns and a huge stable behind the house
+almost dwarfed the dwelling proper, and quite hid it from the rear.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy eased his car in among the others, snapped the switch, and
+alighted. Three or four of the men about the door nodded to him and
+told him the inquest had not started, but that it would begin shortly.
+Once he found that out, Jimmy plunged into an intricate and technical
+discussion of patented attachments for his machine, and I drifted off
+into the house.</p>
+
+<p>It was a very old house, and built with Old-fashioned disregard for
+space. I gathered, however, that the housekeeping done in it was but
+sketchy. Half a dozen of his riders made it their headquarters, with
+old Abe Martin. They bunked there, and a cook prepared the meals for
+all of them. There was a long table with a checked, red table-cloth
+on it—the room was empty now except for buzzing flies—where they
+had their meals. On the day of the shooting, I learned, the men had
+all been away on their duties, and the cook had gone into town for
+supplies, so Abe Martin had been alone.</p>
+
+<p>Presently I went out to look at the stables. They were huge, but not
+much used. Three or four ponies were in their stalls, and several more
+stalls seemed to be used from time to time, but most of them were
+without signs of recent use.</p>
+
+<p>There had been a time when the place was the headquarters of a busy
+ranch, but since the time of fences the activity had lessened until
+only Abe Martin, his half-dozen riders, and the cook lived there. It
+was curious to see the dwelling-place, large in itself, dwarfed by its
+outbuildings.</p>
+
+<p>A stir in the house called me inside. The inquest was evidently to
+be more or less of an informal affair, but there was none the less a
+determined and businesslike air behind it all. Those men meant to get
+at the bottom of the matter. The coroner seemed to be a conscientious
+individual, who took the evidence of the first witness with great
+exactitude, though he knew perfectly well beforehand just what the
+testimony would be. The whole inquiry, as a matter of fact, promised to
+be cut and dried in spite of Jimmy's announced intention of "horning
+in."</p>
+
+<p>The first witness was the cook, who had discovered the body. He had
+come back from town, entered the house and discovered his employer dead
+on the floor of the hall. He had been shot through the heart. A rider,
+whom the cook had hastily summoned, corroborated his testimony and
+added that the body was cold when he was called, proving that death had
+occurred some time before.</p>
+
+<p>"Th' evidence shows," said the coroner casually, "that Abe was shot
+when there wasn't nobody else in th' house but him an' th' murderer.
+Th' cashier of th' Farmers and Ranchers Bank ain't heah, but he has
+give me th' information that Abe had over four thousan' dollars on him
+when he was killed.</p>
+
+<p>"That's gone. Evidently he was shot fo' his money. It's part of th'
+duties of a coroner's jury t' uncover any evidence that will help in
+solvin' th' problem of who th' murderer might be. Miste' Joe Harkness
+will take th' stand."</p>
+
+<p>There was a movement of interest in the small crowd packed into the
+one room. I had managed to get beside Jimmy Calton, and his face
+became extraordinarily mild and gentle. It hinted at some expectation
+of excitement, if I knew Jimmy. Every one had heard Harkness's story
+before, so it was simply a recapitulation.</p>
+
+<p>"I ain't got a thing t' say," announced Harkness bluntly, "'cept that I
+seen Harry Temple come out o' this here house 'bout three o'clock, jus'
+after Abe Martin was shot.</p>
+
+<p>"I was havin' trouble with my spark-plugs down the road a ways, when I
+seen Harry. He come out o' th' kitchen door, looked all aroun' as ef he
+was lookin' t' see ef anybody seen him, an' then he went down to'd the
+stables. He went inside theah, then he come out o' that an' went over
+to th' quarters an' got a drink at th' pump by th' do'. I was wonderin'
+what he was doin', but it looks t' me like he was makin' sho' theh
+wasn't nobody aroun' that could 'a' tol' that he'd been aroun'.</p>
+
+<p>"An' theh's one mo' thing. When he come out o' th' house—he come out
+th' kitchen do'—he was puttin' somethin' in his breas' pocket."</p>
+
+<p>I glanced at Jimmy Calton. He was looking at Harkness with a gentle,
+placid smile. His face did not change when Harry Temple stood up, pale
+beneath his tan.</p>
+
+<p>"Eve'ything Harkness says is so," said Harry Temple determinedly.
+"Eve'y single word, only I didn't shoot ol' Abe. I come out heah t' see
+him 'bout sellin' him some yearlin's. He wasn't heah, so I went in th'
+kitchen t' see ef I couldn' leave word with th' cook.</p>
+
+<p>"Th' cook was missin', too, but I thought I heard somebody movin'
+aroun' somewhere, an' I went jus' where Harkness said, an' jus' in
+th' order he said. He must 've seen me first when I come out o' the
+kitchen. When I couldn't find nobody, I cranked up an' lef'."</p>
+
+<p>Harkness stood up.</p>
+
+<p>"I hate t' contradict Harry," he said sharply, "but he's made a
+mistake. He didn' crank up an' leave. He was drivin' somebody else's
+car, an' it had a self-starter on it."</p>
+
+<p>Harry Temple flushed slightly.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a fac'," he acknowledged. "I'd forgotten that. I was drivin'
+a car they lent me at th' garage. I'd lef' my own theah t' have some
+repairs made."</p>
+
+<p>"Of co'se," said Harkness sarcastically, "nobody suspec's that you was
+drivin' a strange car, with strange tires, so they couldn't prove
+nothin' on you by th' tracks."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy put a question in a gentle voice.</p>
+
+<p>"There's another question," he said softly. "What was Harry puttin' in
+his pocket when Harkness saw him comin' out o' th' house?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't remember puttin' anything in my pocket," said Temple,
+beginning to be worried. "It was prob'ly my handkerchief."</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment's silence. One or two of the men in the room stirred
+uneasily. Jimmy Calton smiled sweetly to himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Misteh Coroner," he said slowly, "may I make an obs'vation or so? It
+looks like somebody ought t' point out two or three fac's."</p>
+
+<p>"Go ahead, Jimmy," said the coroner. It seemed to be bothering him that
+so much seemed to point to the guilt of Harry Temple. Temple did seem
+to be quite a decent sort, and the coroner evidently hated to bring out
+so much to his discredit without anything to counteract the impression
+thus made. Knowing Jimmy, he knew Jimmy would not interfere unless he
+thought things were going the wrong way, and that meant in this case
+that he had something to say in Temple's favor.</p>
+
+<p>"Misteh Coroner an' gentlemen," said Jimmy formally, "it don't seem
+hardly fair t' bring out all this heah evidence against a man without
+any evidence th' other way. I want t' point out two things about this
+heah case. Th' first is that Harry Temple has got money in bank, an'
+th' second is that he never disputed a single thing Harkness said about
+him. You know, an' I know, that a man with money in bank ain't goin'
+aroun' doin' highway robbery an' murder. He cain't affo'd to. You jus'
+think about that a while.</p>
+
+<p>"An' heah's somethin' else t' think about. Did you notice that Harry
+Temple said right off that he done jus' what Harkness said? Now ef he'd
+shot ol' Abe Martin, you know he'd 've tried t' make some o' that stuff
+soun' jus' a little less incriminatin'. He'd 've said he didn't go in
+th' house, jus' to th' door an' knocked, and he'd 've tried t' weaken
+eve'ything Harkness said, jus' that way.</p>
+
+<p>"But he didn't. He's tellin' th' truth so hard he cain't seem t' see
+it's puttin' a rope aroun' his neck, in spite of his bein' jus' as
+innocent as he says. As for his puttin' somethin' in his breas'-pocket,
+nobody puts money theah—an' especially stolen money—but mos'
+everybody puts theah handkerchief theah."</p>
+
+<p>"But—that ain't evidence," said the coroner disappointedly. "I tho't
+you had some fac's t' give us."</p>
+
+<p>"I give you one fac'," Jimmy offered. "Harry Temple didn' shoot Abe
+Martin. Looka heah, Harkness himself don't believe he did. Do you?" he
+demanded, turning to that person.</p>
+
+<p>Harkness sat stolidly in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"You heard what I said," he grunted. "You heard what I seen him do."</p>
+
+<p>"Sho I did," Jimmy admitted readily, "but you knew he didn' shoot Abe."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy seemed to be making a fool of himself. I tugged at his sleeve for
+him to sit down, but he paid no attention.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" demanded Harkness suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothin' whatever," said Jimmy with a gentleness I suddenly recognized
+as dangerous. "Nothin' whatever, excep' what I said. You know Harry
+Temple didn' shoot Abe."</p>
+
+<p>"You mean t' tell me I'm lyin'," Harkness angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Jimmy in a cooing drawl. "Nothin' so harmless. I'm accusin'
+you o' somethin' a damn sight mo' dangerous than lyin'. I'm accusin'
+you o' tellin' th' truth—th' exact truth."</p>
+
+<p>There was a puzzled pause. I noticed, however, that Harkness was
+watching Jimmy with a curious alertness.</p>
+
+<p>"It's always mo' dangerous t' tell th' truth in a case like this,
+Harkness," said Jiminy, still in that gentle drawl. "You tol' th'
+absolute truth about what you saw Harry do, an' that's th' mos'
+dangerous thing you could 've told, because there ain't but one man
+could 've tol' that.</p>
+
+<p>"Misteh Coroner, ef you'll look out o' the window, you'll see jus'
+wheah Harry Temple walked down th' kitchen steps, jus' wheah he went
+back to th' stables, jus' wheah he went into th' big barn, an' jus'
+wheah he got a drink. An' then, ef you look, you'll see wheah he
+stopped his car, so Harkness could see that it had a self-starter on
+it, instead of a crank."</p>
+
+<p>I saw a light break on the coroner's face, as he looked from place
+to place in the yard behind the house. He faced about, just as Jimmy
+deliberately pulled a revolver out of his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Harkness tol' th' truth," said Jimmy softly. "He tol' th' absolute
+truth, but—theh ain't but one place you can see all them things from.
+With all them barns outside, theh ain't but one place that you c'n see
+th' do' of th' stables, an' th' big barn an' th' pump by th' quarters
+<i>an'</i> th' kitchen do' all at once. An' theh wasn't but one man in th'
+world who could 've seen Harry Temple do all them things, because theh
+wasn't but one man in that place.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+  <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt="">
+  <div class="caption">
+    <p></p>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Th' only place you c'n see all them places from is this heah room, an'
+th' only man in th' house when Harry Temple did them things was th' man
+who'd shot Abe Martin an' hadn't had time t' get away when Harry Temple
+come drivin' in!</p>
+
+<p>"Harkness"—Jimmy's voice was suddenly like steel—"ef you pull that
+gun on me I'll blow a hole right th'ough th' place yo' brains ought t'
+be!"</p>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79381 ***</div>
+</body>
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+[Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook [#79381](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79381)