They followed quickly on the heels of the constable. Life had so little of the spice of variety then and there that even so trivial an affair created some stir and excitement. Also the squire had an amusing method of dealing out justice that made a trial conducted by him somewhat entertaining to those who were spectators. Nearly all the men of the town were there. The prisoner being arraigned at the bar of justice, the squire turned to McMurdy and asked, "How can you prove this collar to be yours?" "If the collar is mine," he replied, "Mr. Spear, who is present, can testify." Mr. Spear, the Presbyterian minister, stepped forward. "If the collar is McMurdy's," he said, "I wrote his name on it, on the inner side of the ear." "Hand it to me," said the squire. Taking it from the constable and turning up the ear, "Yes, here's the name. No better proof could be given, and my sentence is----" "If the court will excuse the interruption," began Dale, a mischievous twinkle in his eye; "let me say that according to law, as----" "No, the court won't be interrupted," returned the squire, frowning him down. "All laws were intended for the purpose of enforcing justice. I know what's right and what's wrong as well as the man that made the laws; therefore stand in no need of laws to govern my actions. "My sentence is that the prisoner be tied up forthwith to your buckeye and receive five lashes well laid on." It was done and the crowd dispersed. The trial had occupied scarcely five minutes and every one was satisfied except the culprit. CHAPTER VI. "There's even-handed justice for ye, stranger?" A stalwart backwoodsman in hunting garb of dressed skins was the speaker, and the words were addressed to Kenneth, near to whom he had stood during the brief trial of Bill Slack. Dale had walked away in company with a brother lawyer, and Kenneth was turning from the unpleasant scene with a thought of pity for the weakness and wickedness of the unhappy criminal. "Yes," he answered, "Squire Smith is a man of discriminating mind and judgment, very impartial in his decisions, and prompt in seeing them carried out. But what a happy world this might be if all were honest and upright!" "That's true; but we've got to take it as it is. "Got quite a town here," pursued the hunter, moving along by Kenneth's side as he walked up the street. "Last time I was round here in these parts, there wasn't so much as an Injun wigwam to be seen; nothin' but the thickest kind o' thick woods." "I thought your face was quite new to me," said Kenneth. "May I ask where you are from?" "You kin ask, sir, and I haven't the least objection in life to tellin'. I've been huntin' and trappin' all through this Northwestern Territory, along the Ohio and the Little Miami, and away up north by the great lakes; and even as far as the head waters of the Mississippi. And I come back with a lot of furs and skins. Sold 'em mostly in Detroit."