"You're right, Anderson. That's jest the time I was asleep." "C'n you prove it? Got witnesses?" "Yes, but they don't remember the night." "Then it may go hard with you. Alf, I still believe you had somethin' to do with that case." "I didn't, Anderson, so help me." "Well, doggone it, somebody did," roared the marshal. "If it wasn't you, who was it? Answer that, sir." "Why, consarn you, Anderson Crow, I didn't have any spare children to leave around on doorsteps. I've allus had trouble to keep from leavin' myself there. Besides, it was a woman that left her, wasn't it? Well, consarn it, I'm not a woman, am I? Look at my whiskers, gee whiz! I--" "I didn't say you left the baskit, Alf; I only said you'd somethin' to do with it. I remember that there was a strong smell of liquor around the place that night." In an instant Anderson was sniffing the air. "Consarn ye, the same smell as now--yer drunk." "Tom Folly drinks, too," protested Alf. "He drinks Martini cocktails." "Don't you?" "Not any more. The last time I ordered one was in a Dutch eatin' house up to Boggs City. The waiter couldn't speak a word of English, an' that's the reason I got so full. Every time I ordered 'dry Martini' he brought me three. He didn't know how to spell it. No, sir, Anderson; I'm not the woman you want. I was at home asleep that night. I remember jest as well as anything, that I said before goin' to bed that it was a good night to sleep. I remember lookin' at the kitchen clock an' seein' it was jest eighteen minutes after eleven. 'Nen I said--" "That'll be all for to-day, Alf," interrupted the questioner, his gaze suddenly centering on something down the street. "You've told me that six hundred times in the last twenty years. Come on, I see the boys pitchin' horseshoes up by the blacksmith shop. I'll pitch you a game fer the seegars." "I cain't pay if I lose," protested Alf. "I know it," said Anderson; "I don't expect you to." The first day that Bonner drove over in the automobile, to transplant Rosalie in the place across the river, found Anderson full of a new and startling sensation. He stealthily drew the big sunburnt young man into the stable, far from the house. Somehow, in spite of his smiles, Bonner was looking older and more serious. There was a set, determined expression about his mouth and eyes that struck Anderson as new. "Say, Wick," began the marshal mysteriously, "I'm up a stump." "What? Another?" "No; jest the same one. I almost got track of somethin' to-day--not two hours ago. I met a man out yander near the cross-roads that I'm sure I seen aroun' here about the time Rosalie was left on the porch. An' the funny part of it was, he stopped me an' ast me about her. Doggone, I wish I'd ast him his name." "You don't mean it!" cried Bonner, all interest. "Asked about her? Was he a stranger?"