en, but I don't know what stronger circumstantial evidence could be brought to convict a man. Why, Doc hadn't an enemy in the whole world that I ever heard of. He was so generous with men, and so gentle with women, that I often envied him his power to attract everybody to him. This is the only trouble of any sort I ever knew him to get into—this fatal claim-quarrel."
"Yes, and that makes it seem so much worse, that he was killed by malice—if killed by malice he was. But suppose, as that man said, the other shot might have killed him, and killed him accidentally?"
"In that case do you suppose any man would be so base as to conceal the circumstances, and let another man bear the accusation of willful murder? It is not probable, in the least; and if nothing better than such a supposition comes to aid him, Newcome will surely be convicted."
The young men remained silent for some moments, each engaged in painful reflections. There was no light in the room but that of the moon, which shone in at the uncurtained windows so as to illuminate it quite enough to make all its contents distinctly visible. Without thinking about it at the time. they had, as they afterward remembered, specially noticed -the order and arrangement of every thing in the room, as being so remarkably brought out by the unusual splendor of the moon's brilliancy. Some such recognizance of the fact was present to their minds at that moment. It was a momentary, partial obscurity of one of the windows, which drew their attention to the circumstance that some one was passing it in the direction of the door, and led them to look for it to open. It did so, though without noise or jar, and the familiar form of their late friend glided beside their bed.
Standing there, he opened his vest and put a finger to the wound in his side, his face wearing an expression of agony which was perfectly distinct, and terrible to behold. Then silently turning, he pointed to where Ed was lying muttering in his sleep, and vanished away before their eyes. So paralyzed with horror were both the young men, that, for a brief interval, neither of them spoke or stirred. Squire was the first to recover himself.
"Did you see any thing, Flag?"
"Why do you ask?" returned he, with an involuntary shudder. "Did you see any thing?"
"I saw Doc standing beside the bed."
"So did I. Can this be a trick of Ed's? Ile seems to be unusually sound asleep, for all our talking has not waked him, and that looks suspicious."
"But he does not know. Let's get up and look out."
They arose, and going out of doors, took a view of the neighborhood. There were no hiding-places anywhere near—nothing but the open prairie shining with dew, and no creature in sight except Ed's Indian pony quietly feeding near the house corner.
