“Very. Now, then, did you see any one remove any of those stakes?” “Not a person.” “Did you remove any of them yourself?” “No, siree!” “Was any one with you in the potato field when the engineers came up?” “Yes; Dannie.” “Dannie who?” “Dannie Pickett; Abner Pickett’s gran’son.” “Is he in court?” “I reckon he ain’t. He didn’t come yisterday; an’ I sh’d say he’d find it perty tough sleddin’ to git here to-day.” “Now, then, did you or Dannie Pickett threaten those engineers with any harm?” “Well, I reckon I told ’em it wouldn’t be healthy fer ’em ef Abner Pickett was on deck; an’ Dannie, he ’lowed ’at they wouldn’t no railroad run through _his_ gran’pap’s graveyard; ho! ho! ho!” The recollection of the circumstance seemed to amuse Gabriel very much. “Funny, was it?” asked the lawyer. “Funny ain’t no name fer it,” replied Gabriel. Then the lawyer--Marshall of New York--put on an air of severity. “Now, sir, did you hear any one, at any time, threaten to destroy or remove the stakes set by the Delaware Valley & Eastern engineers?” Gabriel waited a moment before answering. He was evidently pondering the matter deeply. “W’y, I can’t say adzackly,” he replied slowly, “as I heard anybody threaten to pull up them stakes. No, I can’t say adzackly as I did.” “Well, what threats did you hear concerning those stakes?” “W’y, I didn’t hear nobody threaten to pull ’em out, er hammer ’em in, er chop ’em down, er burn ’em up. No, sir, I didn’t.” Gabriel looked beamingly down on the array of counsel, feeling that he had covered the ground that time, at any rate. He did not know that he had simply whetted the lawyer’s appetite for information. “Come, now, answer the question. You heard threats, what were they?” “W’y, I can’t adzackly say as I heard any threats.” Marshall, the lawyer, was becoming annoyed. He rose to his feet and shook his forefinger angrily at Gabriel. “You know more about this matter than you are willing to reveal,” he shouted. “Now, sir, I want you to tell this court what you know and all you know about the removal or threatened removal of those stakes!” Gabriel looked smilingly down upon him. “Well,” he replied slowly, “ez ol’ Isra’l Pidgin use to say, ‘Ef ye don’t know a thing, better let somebody else tell it.’ Thuffore I’d a leetle ruther somebody else’d tell it.” “And who is Israel Pidgin?” “Oh, an ol’ feller I use to know up in York State.” “Confine yourself to Pennsylvania and answer my question. I shall try to make it simple and direct. Did you, at any time, hear any person make a threat to remove those stakes, or express a wish to have them removed? Yes or no.”