The judge and his
nephew had made an exclamation at the sight of him; but they were merely
surprised at the unusual hour of his appearance and he explained this at
once.
"Where is Ruth? What is wrong? Has anything happened?" he asked, turning
in visible agitation from one to another. "What was it that those men
on horseback brought here? I could barely make out something moving this
way. Has anything happened to Ruth? The light was dim, and I was a long
way off. I was coming from the river where I had been attending to the
loading of a boat, and so happened to see that something was going on.
But I wasn't near enough to tell what it was. Of course I came at once
to see if there was any trouble, and to do what I could. Is anything
wrong with Ruth? My horse fell and lamed himself, or I should have been
here much sooner. Tell me instantly! What have you done with the child?
What have you allowed to happen to her? By God, if--"
He demanded this accounting in a tone of passionate fierceness such as
none of those present had ever heard in him, turning first upon William
Pressley and then upon Robert Knox.
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