I don't know why.

But Lassiter had a way about him thet's awful.

He spoke a word--a name--I couldn't understand it, though he spoke clear as a bell.

I was too excited, mebbe.

Judge Dyer must hev understood it, an' a lot more thet was mystery to me, for he pitched forrard out of his chair right onto the platform.
"Then them five riders, Dyer's bodyguards, they jumped up, an' two of them thet I found out afterward were the strangers from Stone Bridge, they piled right out of a winder, so quick you couldn't catch your breath.