Let him hear what could be brought against him--time enough to speak and act then.

He ate his lunch, he smoked a cigar; he walked out of the room with defiant eye and head erect when they came to fetch him before a specially summoned bench of his fellow-magistrates.

And it was not until he stepped into the dock, in full view of a crowded court, and amidst quivering excitement, that he and Cotherstone met.
The news of the partners' arrest had flown through the little town like wildfire.

There was no need to keep it secret; no reason why it should be kept secret.

It was necessary to bring the accused men before the magistrates as quickly as possible, and the days of private inquiries were long over.