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.
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