was lent him to do it with by this lying rat that's come in here to testify against me, that's his half brother and that has the same butterfly on his stomach this child has and that he's not saying anything about because he wants me sent up for something I didn't do!"
If you think that don't set off a bombshell in that courtroom, you don't know what a judge feels like when he thinks somebody has been trying to put something over on him. He was so sore I thought he'd hit Ed. He had him take off his shirt, and unbuttoned Danny's little suit himself, so gentle it was like he was his own son. And on Ed, sure enough, was the butterfly, all fixed up with curlicue feelers and red border, from the time he fired on the railroad and a tattoo man in Norfolk had fixed him up, or so he told the court.
"And this half brother of yours, this Moke Blue, has this butterfly too?"
"I don't know, sir."
"Do you want to be charged with perjury too?"
"Yes sir, he has it."
"And only the men in your family have it?"
"I heard so."
The judge drummed on the desk with his fingers, then leaned over and whispered with the prosecutor. Then: "Tyler, in the light of this piece of evidence, I'm not at all sure that I'm convinced of your innocence. Morally, it seems to me there was something queer about your failure to tell this girl of her parentage, and let her go on thinking she was guilty of something that must have struck her as utterly loathsome. But I am convinced that if these birthmarks are shown to a jury, whether Moke Blue can be located or not, it is going to be impossible to get them to convict you. So I'm dismissing the charge. But God help you if you're in trouble, on the basis of new evidence, in connection with this case again."
"I won't be. I'm not guilty."
"That reminds me: Why did you enter your plea of guilty in the first place? That still seems a queer thing to do."
"I told you, I didn't want her to know."
"About Moke Blue being her father?"
"That's it."
"You must indeed be in love with her."
"I might be."
Chapter 15
For the next week she hardly looked at me, and stayed on in the back room, while I stayed on at the stable. But she kept studying Danny and the butterfly, and you could tell she was trying to get used to it, what it meant. And then one day before the fire, while Jane was out back cooking supper, she picked him up in her arms, and said: "My little boy." She said it over and over, with tears shining in her eyes and running down her face. After that she began taking care of him, and wouldn't let Jane do anything at all. Then was when she began to notice me again, and watch me, like she was studying about something. And then one morning, just before daylight, she came down to the stable with a lantern, and I had a wild idea she had come to make up and be my wife. But she wasn't thinking of that, even a little bit. She hadn't undressed from the night before, and set the lantern down, and sat on my bunk with it shining up on her face, so I could see it but couldn't see her eyes. "Jess, ever since that night in the courtroom, I've been thinking back, trying to remember how it all was, and specially that's what I've been doing tonight. And there's one thing I've got to know."
"I'll tell you anything I can."
"When did you first know Moke was my father?"
"Before you were born, even."
"And how did you know?"
"I knew I wasn't."
"You mean there had been nothing between you and Belle for some time and that meant somebody else had to be my father and you figured it had to be Moke?"
"That's it."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Maybe Belle wouldn't let him."
"What reason could she have for not letting him?"
"Ashamed, maybe."
"Or maybe she didn't know it."
"If I knew it, she had to."
"Not if only the men in that family had the butterfly. I haven't got it. Maybe neither of them knew it until Danny came and they saw the birthmark. Maybe that's why they began to fight. Maybe that's why Moke took Danny. Maybe that's why Bell
If you think that don't set off a bombshell in that courtroom, you don't know what a judge feels like when he thinks somebody has been trying to put something over on him. He was so sore I thought he'd hit Ed. He had him take off his shirt, and unbuttoned Danny's little suit himself, so gentle it was like he was his own son. And on Ed, sure enough, was the butterfly, all fixed up with curlicue feelers and red border, from the time he fired on the railroad and a tattoo man in Norfolk had fixed him up, or so he told the court.
"And this half brother of yours, this Moke Blue, has this butterfly too?"
"I don't know, sir."
"Do you want to be charged with perjury too?"
"Yes sir, he has it."
"And only the men in your family have it?"
"I heard so."
The judge drummed on the desk with his fingers, then leaned over and whispered with the prosecutor. Then: "Tyler, in the light of this piece of evidence, I'm not at all sure that I'm convinced of your innocence. Morally, it seems to me there was something queer about your failure to tell this girl of her parentage, and let her go on thinking she was guilty of something that must have struck her as utterly loathsome. But I am convinced that if these birthmarks are shown to a jury, whether Moke Blue can be located or not, it is going to be impossible to get them to convict you. So I'm dismissing the charge. But God help you if you're in trouble, on the basis of new evidence, in connection with this case again."
"I won't be. I'm not guilty."
"That reminds me: Why did you enter your plea of guilty in the first place? That still seems a queer thing to do."
"I told you, I didn't want her to know."
"About Moke Blue being her father?"
"That's it."
"You must indeed be in love with her."
"I might be."
Chapter 15
For the next week she hardly looked at me, and stayed on in the back room, while I stayed on at the stable. But she kept studying Danny and the butterfly, and you could tell she was trying to get used to it, what it meant. And then one day before the fire, while Jane was out back cooking supper, she picked him up in her arms, and said: "My little boy." She said it over and over, with tears shining in her eyes and running down her face. After that she began taking care of him, and wouldn't let Jane do anything at all. Then was when she began to notice me again, and watch me, like she was studying about something. And then one morning, just before daylight, she came down to the stable with a lantern, and I had a wild idea she had come to make up and be my wife. But she wasn't thinking of that, even a little bit. She hadn't undressed from the night before, and set the lantern down, and sat on my bunk with it shining up on her face, so I could see it but couldn't see her eyes. "Jess, ever since that night in the courtroom, I've been thinking back, trying to remember how it all was, and specially that's what I've been doing tonight. And there's one thing I've got to know."
"I'll tell you anything I can."
"When did you first know Moke was my father?"
"Before you were born, even."
"And how did you know?"
"I knew I wasn't."
"You mean there had been nothing between you and Belle for some time and that meant somebody else had to be my father and you figured it had to be Moke?"
"That's it."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Maybe Belle wouldn't let him."
"What reason could she have for not letting him?"
"Ashamed, maybe."
"Or maybe she didn't know it."
"If I knew it, she had to."
"Not if only the men in that family had the butterfly. I haven't got it. Maybe neither of them knew it until Danny came and they saw the birthmark. Maybe that's why they began to fight. Maybe that's why Moke took Danny. Maybe that's why Bell