behind a bush and started for help, when I met the Captain and a few
others coming out to see what was the matter. That," finished Mr.
Swift, "is the facts of the case, just as they happened."

The Captain waited a minute or two, that the "facts" might sink deep
into the minds of the listeners.

"Were any shots fired by any one except Allen?" he asked coldly, when
the silence was sufficiently emphasized.

"There were not. Nobody," Swift flashed with a very human resentment,
"had a chance after he commenced!" He flushed at the involuntary
tribute to the prowess of his enemy, when he saw that maddening
grin appear again on Jack's lips; a grin which called him liar and
scoundrel and in the same flicker defied him.

The investigation took on the color of a sensation at that point,
when the stranger sprang suddenly to his feet and stood glaring at the
witness. There were no signs now of tears or weakness; he was a man
fighting for what he believed to be right and just.

"Captain, that man is a dirty liar!" he cried hotly. "He and his
precious cronies tried to rob me, out there. I was coming into town
from across the bay; I had hired a Spaniard to bring me across in a
small sailboat, and the tide carried us down too far, so I told him to
land and I'd walk back to town, rather than tack back. And these men
met me, and tried to rob me! This man," he accused excitedly, pointing
a rageful finger at Swift, "was going to stab me in the throat when
he saw I resisted. I was fighting the three, and they were getting
the best of me. I never owned a gun, and I just had my fists. The two