The detective had gone too far to falter now and he replied: "Yes." "I don't seem to remember your face," purred the bandit-chieftain, "when did I ever see you before?" "We have never met, but I saw your magnificent work yesterday afternoon and wished to show you my appreciation." "Rubbish!" snapped Jesse. "I don't believe you were ever in Monegaw Springs in your life before this morning." Then turning again to the astounded onlookers, he asked: "Do any of you know this man? Have you ever seen him before?" But nobody had and they said so in no uncertain terms. "You hear what these gentlemen and ladies say," observed the bandit-chieftain. "None of them have ever laid eyes on you till just now. "You're a slick talker, but you can't fool _me_. I owe it to the other sojourners at the Springs to see that you're taken care of so you can't try to work the gag on them. "Will some of you gentlemen kindly send for the constable? I wish to have this man locked up as a thief. If he can establish his innocence, the judge will give him the opportunity." The look of malignant hatred that Dillaby bestowed upon his tormentor as he heard the request made Jesse grin and he watched him with keen enjoyment as several of the men rushed off to summon a guardian of the law. Standing On the edge of the crowd, young Rozier had been an indignant witness of all that had transpired. Realizing that the tracing of the wine to his father would spell defeat for their second plan, he had held his tongue. But when he heard his foe's call for a constable and saw people start to get one, he could contain himself no longer. Pushing his way to the side of the man-hunter, he exclaimed: "I can vouch for this man, Mr. Howard. This is an outrage to treat him so." "Is this one of your father's guests, the capitalists?" asked the great outlaw, innocently. "Yes." "Then why didn't you interfere before the matter had gone so far?" "Because I only just got here." "Where have you been since you pointed my tent out to your friend?" This question was uttered in a voice inaudible to any save the banker's son and the man-hunter. But it told them that their connection had been known from the first and that the by-play had been indulged in merely for the purpose of compelling them to acknowledge it publicly. Ere either could recover from the shock of the discovery, Jessie was saying to the crowd: "Mr. Rosier says that a cruel mistake has been made and that the man I thought was a thief is in reality a special friend of his father--a capitalist, who is his house guest." And then to their amazement, instead of apologizing to the stranger, he continued: "I beg your pardon for having sent any of you after the constable. But there is so little difference between some men of wealth and thieves that my mistake is not unnatural."