that  we  could  get  at ;  an'  thin  we  wint  to
help  with  the  furniture  at  the  dwellin'-
house,  an'  we  saved  ivery  thing  we  could."

Silent  Mike  had  done  well.  Few  people
had  ever  before  heard  so  many  words  come
in  succession  from  his  lips,  and  he  told  his
story  with  such  impressive  earnestness
that  it  was  easy  to  believe  that  he  spoke
the  truth.  Indeed,  there  was  very  little
in  his  account  of  the  occurrence  that  was
not  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  facts.
He  had  simply  omitted  to  state  that  he
and  Rennie  had  gone,  first,  up  to  the
breaker  and  kindled  the  blaze,  and  then
returned,  hastily,  to  the  crossing  where
they  certainly  were  when  the  first  cry  of
"  Fire  !  "  was  heard.
Rennie's  case  was  looking  up.  There
was  a  recess  for  dinner,  and,  when  court
was  re-opened,  Sandy  McCulloch  was  put
on  the  witness-stand.
He  was  just  getting  into  bed,  he  said,
when  he  heard  the  cry  of  "  Fire  !  "  He
looked  out  and  saw  that  the  breaker  was
burning,  and,  hurrying  on  his  clothes,  he
ran  down  the  hill.
THE  BLIND   BROTHER.  97

"  When  I  cam'  to  the  fit  o'  the  hill,"  he
continued,  in  answer  to  Pleadwell's  ques-
tion, "  I  heard  some'at  behin'  me,  an'  I
lookit  aroun',  an'  there  I  see  Jack  the
Giant  an'  Silent  Mike  a-speedin'  up  the
track  toward  the  breaker.
