I didn't know but he'd try to shoot, and I
didn't want to hurt him, so I crep' up behind and threw him in the
bushes, cut a hole in the bag, and got the letter. That's the only one I
wanted and that's the only one I took. I didn't rob no mail, but I
warn't goin' to hev an honest, decent girl like Jennetta git that
letter, and there warn't no other way."
The stillness that followed was broken only by the Judge's voice.
"What became of that letter?"
"I got it. Want to see it?"
"Yes."
Bud felt in his pockets as if looking for something, and then, with an
expression as if he had suddenly remembered, remarked:
"No, I ain't got none. They stole my knife when they 'rested me." Then
facing the courtroom, he added: "Somebody lend me a knife, and pass me
my hat over there 'longside them sheriffs."
[Illustration: "I threw him in the bushes and got the letter."]
The court-crier took the hat from one of the deputies, and the clerk, in
answer to a nod of assent from the Judge, passed Bud an ink-eraser with
a steel blade in one end.
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