It depended on him.

If the mob could be held off over to-day, if men's minds could cool over night, the law could strike and the innocent and the hotheaded be spared from suffering.

He would wait; he would lay his information before the sheriff; and Horner would go quietly with a strong posse, for he would need a strong one.

He began to retrace his steps.
The men on the embankment were walking slowly, bending far over, their eyes fixed on the ground.

Suddenly one of them stood erect and tossed his arms in the air and shouted loudly.