"Mr. Man hires him a lawyer an' pleads 'not guilty,' as bold as brass. As I figured I had th' case all hunkadory I only had one witness--th' owner of th' calf. I goes into the box an' gives my evidence an' pulls out th' hide exhibit to identify. A red an' white one I'd put in an' a red an' white one I pulls out, but I well-nigh had a fit when I saw th' brand on it. It was th' prisoner's _own_. I looked like a proper fool, I guess, with th' mossback an' his 'mouthpiece' both givin' me th' 'ha, ha.' Luckily for me, Inspector Purvis happened to be in court an' of course his statement that everything had been in order at th' preliminary trial when he committed th' man was accepted by the judge, an' after a hard fight with th' defending counsel--who, of course, wanted to proceed right then an' there--we got th' case set over, an' started in to investigate. 'Twasn't much use, though. They--th' prisoner, his wife, an' th' lawyer--put it all over us--easy. Yes, _sir_, they had th' bulge on us, all right, an' they knew it. Case was dismissed at its second hearing through lack of evidence--th' judge intimating, however, that he was satisfied that there'd been some funny work somewhere, though, under th' circumstances he had no alternative but to give th' prisoner th' benefit of th' doubt. Th' O.C., Purvis, an' th' lawyer, well-nigh crucified me with their remarks. Been mighty careful ever since, yu' bet!
"A constable named Mason nailed him later, though, for stealing a horse. He had him dead to rights an' made a better job of things than me. My 'rube' got three years. I had charge of th' escort when we took him, along with some others, up to th' 'Pen.' It was then that he told me the whole business. He'd fixed it up with his wife th' night she come to see him in th' cells. When she came out with that gunny-sack, she'd put one of their own calf-hides in on top of his clothes. That's what made th' sack look so big. How in h--l he ever managed to snake _my_ sack from alongside me on th' seat--without me feelin' him--swop them two hides, an' then put it back again, was a corker, but he managed it, somehow, an' dropped th' real 'un on th' trail, where his wife, followin' us up in th' dark on a saddle-horse, snaffled it an' took it home in quick shape an' burnt it."