in Chester, and warned him against holding the court; and had the
boldness to tell him, that blood would be shed, if it was attempted,
especially if the sheriff appeared with an armed posse."

"Indeed! why, I am astonished at their insolence!" exclaimed the
squire. "But what did the judge tell them?"

"Why the judge, you know, has an oily way of getting along with ugly
customers," replied the sheriff, with a significant wink; "so he
thanked them all kindly for calling on him, and gravely told them he
agreed with them, that no court should be holden at this time. But, as
there was one case of murder to be tried, he supposed the court must
come together to dispose of that; after which they would immediately
adjourn. And promising them that he would give the sheriff directions
not to appear with any armed assistants, he dismissed them, and sat
down and wrote me an account of the affair, winding off with giving me
the directions he had promised, but adding in a postscript, that I was
such a contrary fellow, that he doubted whether I should obey his
directions; and he should not be surprised to see me there with a
hundred men, each with a gun or pistol under his great-coat. Ha ha!
The judge is a sly one."

"One word about that case of murder, to which you have alluded, Mr.
Patterson," interposed Jones, after the jeering laugh with which the
sheriff's account was received by Haviland and Peters, had subsided.
"I have heard several mysterious hints thrown out by our opponents
about it, which seemed to imply that the prosecution of the prisoner
was got up for private purposes; and I think I have heard the name of
Secretary Brush coupled with the affair. Now, who is the alleged
murderer? and where and when was the crime committed?"