the shot, but Mr. Anthony had neither stopped nor answered; on the contrary, he had broken into a run.  The officer had considered this strange behavior, but, being at all times most respectful toward Americans, he had made no effort to detain him.  Passing on, he had found the body of the dead man.  A revolver was beside it.  It was shocking!  It had quite upset the witness.  He had blown his whistle, and seeing a light in the Governor’s mansion close by had called there for assistance.  Soon afterward another officer had arrived upon the scene.

When this amazing testimony was translated to Kirk he was astounded; but his indignation was as nothing to that which swept over him when a servant in the Alfarez household swore to having actually witnessed the murder.

This fellow declared that he had been troubled greatly with a toothache.  Toward morning of the night in question, too restless for sleep, he had gone out upon the sea wall.  Even now, his face was swollen, and he made a determined effort to show the court the particular tooth which had made him an unwilling beholder of the tragedy.  Overcome by exhaustion, he had fallen asleep after a time, and he was awakened by the sounds of a quarrel.  On opening his eyes, he saw two Americans, one of whom was Senor Cortlandt, and the other Kirk Anthony.  Being utterly ignorant of their language, he had no means of knowing what was said, nor did he consider the altercation serious until the large man shot the Senor Cortlandt.  Then, being terror-stricken at what he had beheld, he had run away, entirely forgetting his toothache, which, by the grace of God, was quite gone.  That was all he knew of the matter.  He recognized Anthony as the man who had done the shooting.  He was troubled greatly with toothaches.

It all seemed like some grotesque, practical joke, and Kirk at first could not believe that the evidence of these witnesses could have weight.  But he soon became convinced that this was no laughing matter.  Since they had perjured themselves so readily, it was evident that some determined influence was back of them, and how far that influence might carry it was hard to tell.  The reason for it was all very simple, of course, and yet he was at a loss how to combat it.  Wade was called next and told the story of that damning incident at the supper-party, being corroborated by the others.  Then there were several witnesses who swore to inconsequent things, such as waiters at the Hotel Central, and the doctor who had examined Cortlandt.

For once in his careless life the young man realized that he was face to face with something bigger and stronger than his own determination, and it daunted him.  He began to see that he had underestimated these foreigners, for it seemed an easy matter to convict an innocent man in these Central American courts.  He recalled certain ridiculous stories of Spanish justice which he had laughed at; he remembered Mrs. Cortlandt’s vivid tale of an execution she had once beheld in the court-yard of Chiriqui prison; and suddenly he decided to cable for Darwin K. Anthony—­ the one man who was strong enough to save him.