If Goarly had so done the deed as to be beyond the possibility of detection, Nickem could not have brought himself to regard Goarly as a sinner.

As it was he had considerable respect for Goarly;--but might it not be possible to drop down upon Scrobby?
Bearside with his case against the lord would be nowhere, if Goarly could be got to own that he had been suborned by Scrobby to put down the poison.

Or, if in default of this, any close communication could be proved between Goarly and Scrobby,--Scrobby's injury and spirit of revenge being patent,--then too Bearside would not have much of a case.

A jury would look at that question of damages with a very different eye if Scrobby's spirit of revenge could be proved at the trial, and also the poisoning, and also machinations between Scrobby and Goarly.
Nickem was a little red-haired man about forty, who wrote a good flourishing hand, could endure an immense amount of work, and drink a large amount of alcohol without being drunk.

His nose and face were all over blotches, and he looked to be dissipated and disreputable.
But, as he often boasted, no one could say that "black was the white of his eye;"-- by which he meant to insinuate that he had not been detected in anything dishonest and that he was never too tipsy to do his work.