The next minute Dannie was in the place vacated by his grandfather, and the old man, refusing to go far away, had dropped into a chair by the defendant’s table, inside the bar. Marshall began his questions with gentle emphasis. “Your name is Dannie Pickett?” “Yes, sir.” “And you are a grandson of the witness last on the stand?” “Yes, sir.” “And is it true that you pulled out the stakes set by the engineers of the Delaware Valley and Eastern Railroad Company?” “Yes, sir, it is.” “When did you remove them?” “The same night they were set.” “At about what hour of the night?” “I think it was about eleven o’clock when I began. I don’t know what time it was when I got through.” “How many stakes did you remove?” “All of ’em. I began in the potato field where they left off surveying that night, and I pulled ’em out all the way through the meadow, and across the road, and in the graveyard, and down the gap, and along the hill on the other side.” “You made a clean sweep of it, didn’t you?” “Yes, sir; I think I found every one, as far as I went.” “Was any one there with you?” “No, sir. I did it all alone. Oh, yes! there was some one with me comin’ back. The other engineers. I met ’em in the gap.” “You mean the engineers of the T. & W.?” “Yes, sir.” “So they were with you, were they?” “Yes, sir. But not until after I was all through an’ comin’ home. Then they made me go back with ’em.” “Down through the gap?” “Yes, sir, all the way.” “Did you tell them you had removed the stakes?” “No, sir, I didn’t.” “Did they know it?” “No, sir, they didn’t. Not one of ’em. I didn’t tell anybody, not even Gran’pap.” “Did any one ask you to remove those stakes?” “No, sir, not any one.” “Then why did you do it?” “Well, I just thought they had no right to set ’em where they did. I thought they wouldn’t ’a’ done it if Gran’pap had been there. I thought if I pulled ’em out, they couldn’t build any railroad through the graveyard. And then, I got very angry at the engineer for what he said to me when I asked him about the railroad.” “What did he say to you?” “Well, if you please, I’d rather not tell.” “You needn’t. Now, Dannie, didn’t you know that you were doing wrong when you removed those stakes, no matter what your motive might have been?” “I didn’t stop to think much about it then. I just went ahead and did it. But I know now that it was wrong. I’ve known it ever since it was done. I haven’t any excuse to make.” “Do you want it understood that you alone are to blame, and that you alone are responsible for this deed?” “Yes, sir. That’s it exactly.” “Well, let us see about that. Did you, on the evening of the night in which you removed the stakes, hear your grandfather declare that no person could do a better deed than to pull them all up and throw them into the brook?” “Why, yes, sir--yes; I heard him say somethin’ like that.” “Very well. Did or did not that declaration have anything to do with your subsequent conduct?”