"Fall in behind," the sheriff gruffly replied; and so out of all the town people Jack alone associated himself with the prisoner. Up the stairs whereon he had romped when a lad, Harold climbed spiritlessly, a boy no longer. The halls were lined with faces, everyone as familiar as the scarred and scratched wall of the court room, and yet all were now alien--no one recognized him by a frank and friendly nod, and he moved past his old companions with sullen and rigid face. His father met him at the door and walked beside him down the aisle to a seat. The benches were crowded, and every foot of standing space was soon filled. The members of the First Church were present in mass to see the minister enter, pale and haggard with the disgrace of his son. The judge, an untidy old man of great ability and probity, was in his seat, looking out absently over the spectators. "The next case" to him was _only_ a case. He had grown gray in dealing with infractions of the law, and though kindly disposed he had grown indifferent--use had dulled his sympathies. His beard, yellow with tobacco stain, was still venerable, and his voice, deep and melodious, was impressive and commanding. He was disposed to cut short all useless forms, and soon brought the case to vital questions. Naturally, the prosecution made a great deal of Harold's bad character, drawing from ready witnesses the story of his misdeeds. To do this was easy, for the current set that way, and those who had only _thought_ Harold a bad boy now _knew_ that he was concerned in all the mischief of the village. In rebuttal, Mr. Talcott drew out contradictory statements from these witnesses, and proved several alibis at points where Harold had been accused. He produced Jack Burns and several others to prove that Harold liked fun, but that he was not inclined to lead in any of the mischief of the town--in fact, that he had not the quality of leadership. He pushed young Burns hard to get him to say that he knew the words of insult which Slocum had used. "I think he used some girl's name," he finally admitted. "I object," shouted the prosecution, as if touched on a hidden spring. "Go on," said the judge to Talcott. He had become interested in the case at last. When the lawyer for the prosecution cross-examined young Burns he became terrible. He leaned across the table and shook his lean, big-jointed finger in Jack's face. "We don't want what you _think_, sir; we want what you know. Do you _know_ that Slocum brought a girl's name into this?" "No, sir, I don't," replied Jack, red and perspiring. "That's all!" cried the attorney, leaning back in his chair with dramatic complacency.