A wild scene followed, but in the midst of it Dan whispered to the boy: 'Get away, and hold your tongue.

Don't mind me.' Frightened and bewildered, Blair quitted the city at once, leaving Dan to pass the night in the lock-up, and a few days later to stand in court charged with manslaughter; for the man was dead.

Dan had no friends, and having once briefly told the story, held his peace, anxious to keep all knowledge of this sad affair from those at home.

He even concealed his name--giving that of David Kent, as he had done several times before in emergencies.

It was all over very soon; but as there were extenuating circumstances his sentence was a year in prison, with hard labour.
Dazed by the rapidity with which this horrible change in his life came upon him, Dan did not fully realize it till the iron door clanged behind him and he sat alone in a cell as narrow, cold, and silent as a tomb.