“Pat, are you telling me the truth? A man holding the position which Mr. Pearson does, making such sacrifices as that with a prisoner, and one who is here sentenced for the crime which he is? Now, before we go in, I caution you to be watchful.” “Well, Mr. Pearson, a time we have had with the 78 convict, a murderer, and the worst hypocrite I ever saw.” “You found things as Pat represented them, did you?” “No, I did not. The fellow was working very hard when we reached the place.” “The same thing occurred with me. I once hastened to investigate and found him as you did, doing his duty. So, sometimes, we are not to judge the poor prisoner too harshly, for we are not always informed correctly.” “I am here to speak for myself. I am the one who has informed you, as well you know, and I will prove to you, your honor,” said Pat, “that I gave the man a good bating.” “Yes, that would not be hard for me to believe. You did that, but it would be hard to make me believe some of the reports that have been made against the prisoner.” “You seem to take a deep interest in No. 78. What is the secret, pray tell me?” “I have no secret, sir.” “_I have a secret which I shall tell some day, and you will believe me_,” a voice was heard to say. CHAPTER X. PAT ALLOWS THE PRISONER TO ESCAPE. “I am going to leave you in charge of this place and I am going to investigate. I shall don a suit of one of the guards and follow this man around from morning until night and see if I will have any trouble with him. “Come along, Pat. Find me a club. That is about the first thing I shall have to do—use it on goodness knows whom. But someone is going to get a punishment from me.” “If you find a job with the last fellow I had to bate, you will have a good job.” “Now, Pat, did you notice any strange actions about this mutt, Mr. Pearson? I did, and I am under the impression that some secret lies there, and the old saying is, ‘Murder will out.’” “You are not of the opinion that he is guilty of murder?” “I see, Pat, that you do not understand me. I believe that Mr. Pearson knows this convict, in some way that he does not care to tell. There is a mystery there.” “Now, here is a club I have carried, and I know a good one. And if you want two, here is another.” “What would I do with two, Pat? One is all you can use at one time.” “Well, I’m thinking that if he had two clubs in his hands, as he was throwing them, I would never have been able to give him the bating I did.” “I hope that I shall not have to use one, Pat, much less two. Now, I am going to take charge of the prisoner, and, Pat, as I shall be close to him all of the time, you had better drop around to the office quite often and see how Mr. Pearson is getting along.” “I will do that, your honor.” “You may go—no, I will go alone, as I will then be less liable to be noticed.” “Very well. Good luck to you and your new job.”