Shelookedup，becamesuddenlyawarethatsheandherquestionerwerethecentreofinteresttothewholecircleofpassengers，and，withaslightriseofcolor，returned，\"Yes。”
\"Well，MissMullins，I\'vegotaquestionortwotoaskye。Iaskitstraightoutaforethiscrowd。It\'sinmyrightstotakeyeasideandaskit——butthatain\'tmystyle；I\'mnodetective。I
needn\'taskitatall，butactasefIknowedtheanswer，orI
mightleaveittobeaskedbyothers。Yeneedn\'tansweritefyedon\'tlike；ye\'vegotafriendoverther——JudgeThompson——whoisafriendtoye，rightorwrong，jestasanyothermanhereis——asthoughye\'dpackedyourownjury。Well，thesimplequestionI\'vegottoaskyeisTHIS:DidyousignaltoanybodyfromthecoachwhenwepassedGalloper\'sanhourago？\"
WeallthoughtthatBill\'scourageandaudacityhadreacheditsclimaxhere。Toopenlyandpubliclyaccusea\"lady\"beforeagroupofchivalrousCalifornians，andthatladypossessingthefurtherattractionsofyouth，goodlooks，andinnocence，waslittleshortofdesperation。Therewasanevidentmovementofadhesiontowardsthefairstranger，aslightmutteringbrokeoutontheright，buttheveryboldnessoftheactheldtheminstupefiedsurprise。