command, he had tied Jack to a bedpost--an outrage that puzzled the dog
sorely--the boy threshed his bed for an hour--trying to think out a defence
for Jack and wondering if Whizzer might not have been concerned in the death
of the sheep.

It is hardly possible that what happened, next day, could happen anywhere
except among simple people of the hills. Briefly, the old Squire and the
circuit-rider had brought old Joel to the point of saying, the night before,
that he would give Jack up to be killed, if he could be proven guilty. But
the old hunter cried with an oath:

"You've got to prove him guilty." And thereupon the Squire said he would give
Jack every chance that he would give a man--HE WOULD TRY HIM; each side could
bring in witnesses; old Joel could have a lawyer if he wished, and Jack's
case would go before a jury. If pronounced innocent, Jack should go free: if
guilty--then the dog should be handed over to the sheriff, to be shot at
sundown. Joel agreed.

It was a strange procession that left the gate of the Turner cabin next
morning. Old Joel led the way, mounted, with "ole Sal," his rifle, across his
saddle-bow. Behind him came Mother Turner and Melissa on foot and Chad with
his rifle over his left shoulder, and leading Jack by a string with his right
hand. Behind them slouched Tall Tom with his rifle and Dolph and Rube, each
with a huge old-fashioned horse-pistol swinging from his right hip. Last
strode the school-master. The cabin was left deserted--the hospitable door
held closed by a deer-skin latch caught to a wooden pin outside.

It was a strange humiliation to Jack thus to be led along the highway, like a
criminal going to the gallows. There was no power on earth that could have
moved him from Chad's side, other than the boy's own command--but old Joel