Of what followed we saw nothing. We heard the voices, nearer and nearer. Then the men seemed to halt and to address the Professor in tones of argument. We are a peaceable folk in our valley and little given to the use of firearms, and I suspect that the constable and his aids really knew the Professor to be a peaceable man or they would not have come thus far with such boldness. To come farther they hesitated until they had made it perfectly clear that they acted in his best interests. Even Byron Lukens was willing to let "bygones be bygones." "I'm just doing of my duty, Mr. Blight," he said in a wheedling tone, "and if you'll come along quiet-like I'll say nothing about it to the squire." "You can fix it all up with the squire," I heard Joe Holmes say. "There's really nothing again you, only you must comply with the law." Then James spoke--to my astonishment not in a bold demand that the Professor surrender, but softly, asking him to be careful with the gun. "Nobody has nothing again you, Professor," he said as gently as he would have spoken to me, and hearing this I took heart, for with James in such a temper there seemed no danger of a serious clash. "No one has nothing against me," the Professor repeated in a tone of irony. "You only want to drag me through the village before the squire. Tell the squire to come here to me and explain." There was a moment of silence. It was so quiet outside that even the birds seemed to be listening and watching; then came the swish of weeds trampled under foot. "Be off, the whole crew of you," cried the man in the doorway, and I saw the butt of the gun rise to his shoulder. I wanted to cry out, but my throat was parched with fright, and Penelope was clinging to my neck in silent terror.