“They are forming their estimate of me, Solomon; I shall have them on the run yet!” he declared. “You are going out of your way to hunt trouble--as if you hadn't enough at the best of times, Price! Let these people manage their own affairs, don't you mix up in them,” advised the conservative Mahaffy. The judge drew himself up with an air of lofty pride. “Do you think I am going to be silenced, intimidated, by this sort of thing? No, sir! No, Solomon, the stopper isn't made that will fit my mouth.” A few moments later he burst in on Mr. Saul. “Glance at that, my friend!” he cried, as he tossed the paper on the clerk's desk. “Eh, what?--no joke about that, Mr. Saul. I found it under my door this morning.” Mr. Saul glanced at the penciled lines and drew in his breath sharply. “What do you make of it, sir?” demanded the judge anxiously. “Well, of course, you'll do as you please, but I'd keep still.” “You mean you regard this as an authentic expression, sir, and not as the joke of some irresponsible humorist?” “It's authentic enough,” said Mr. Saul impatiently. The judge gave a sigh of relief; he could have hugged the little clerk who had put to rest certain miserable doubts that had assailed him. “Sir, I wish it known that I hold the writer and his threats in contempt; if I have given offense it is to an element I shall never seek to conciliate.” Mr. Saul was clearly divided between his admiration for the judge's courage and fear for his safety. “One thing is proven, sir,” the judge went on; “the man who murdered that poor boy is in our midst; that point can no longer be disputed. Now, where are their fine-spun theories as to how he crossed to the Arkansas coast? What does their mass of speculation and conjecture amount to in the face of this?” He breathed deep. “My God, sir, the murderer may be the very next man you pass the time of day with!” Mr. Saul shivered uncomfortably. “And the case in the hands of that pin-headed fool, Betts!” The judge laughed derisively as he bowed himself out. He left it with Mr. Saul to disseminate the news. The judge strutted home with his hat cocked over one eye, and his chest expanded to such limits that it menaced all his waistcoat buttons. Perhaps he was under observation. Ah, let the cutthroats look their full at him!