“Young man! This is no time for levity!” he roared forth menacingly. “You are on the verge of being arrested for murder. Did you know it?”
The minister watching, thought he saw a quiver go through the steady eyes, a slight contracting of the pupil, a hardening of the sensitive mouth, that was all. The boy stood unflinching, and spoke with steady lips:
“I did not.”
“Well, you are!” reiterated the elder, “And even if the man doesn't die, there is plenty else. Answer me this question. It's no use beating around the bush. Where were you at three o'clock this morning?”
The answer came without hesitation, steadily, frankly:
“On Stark's Mountain, as nearly as I can make out.”
Billy held his breath and wondered what was coming next. He caught his hands on the window ledge and chinned himself
