they knew, obviously, that the others had lied, and were enjoying their torment.
"I did not lie," said the Finder who named the White boy.
"Neither did I," said the other defiantly. "And I still think I'm right. I don't know how these other boys could get it so wrong."
"But you - you don't think you're right, do you? You don't think some miracle turned that slave baby White, do you?"
"No, sir. I must be... mistaken."
"Give me your license. Right now."
The miserable Finder stood up and handed the judge a leather case. The judge took from the case a piece of paper with an official seal on it. He wrote in the margin and then on the back; then he signed it and crimped it with his own seal. "There you go," he said to the Finder. "You understand that if you're ever caught attempting to practice the profession of Slave Finding in the state of Hio, you will be arrested and tried and, when convicted, you will face at least ten years in prison?"
"I understand," said the humiliated man.
"And you are also aware that Hio maintains a reciprocity arrangement with the states of Huron, Suskwahenny, Irrakwa, Pennsylvania, and New Sweden? So that the same or similar penalties will apply to you there if you attempt to practice this profession?"
"I understand," he said again.
"Thank you for your help," said the judge. "You should only be grateful that you were incompetent, for if I had cause to suspect you of perjury, it would have been prison and the lash, I assure you, for if I thought that you had willfully named this boy falsely, I would have no mercy on you. You may go."
The others obviously got the message. As the unfortunate man fled the courtroom, the other three who had named one boy or another steeled themselves for what was to come.
"Sheriff Doggly," said the judge, "would you kindly inform us of the identity of these two boys who stand identified by three of our panel of Finders?"
"Sure, Your Honor," said Doggly. "These two is Mock Berry's boys, James and John. Peter's near growed and Andrew and Zebedee was too small."
"You're sure of their identity?"
"They've lived here in Hatrack all their lives."
"Any chance that either of them is, in fact, the child of a runaway slave?"
"No chance. For one thing, the dates are all wrong. They're both way too old - the Berry boys is always short for their age, kind of late-blooming roses if you know what I mean, then they just shoot up like spring grass, cause Peter's about the tallest fellow around here. But these boys, they was already clever little tykes well known around town before ever the slave that cachet belongs to was born."
The judge turned to the Finders. "Well, now. I wonder how it happens that you appointed for slavery these two freeborn Black children."
One of them spoke up immediately. "Your Honor, I will protest this whole procedure. We were not brought here to be placed on trial ourselves, we were brought here to practice our profession and - "
The gavel slammed down on the desk. "You were brought here to practice your profession, that is true. Your profession requires that when you make an identification, it must be assumed by all courts of law to be both honest and accurate. Whenever you practice your profession, here or in the field, your license is on the line, and you know it. Now, tell me at once, did you lie when you identified these boys, or were you merely mistaken?"
"What if we was just guessing?" one of them asked. Verily almost laughed out loud.
"Guessing, in this context, would be lying, since you were swearing that the boy you named was a match for the cachet, and if you had to guess, then he was not a match. Did you guess?"
The man thought about it for a moment. "No sir, I didn't lie. I was just plain wrong I reckon."
Another man tried a different tack. "How do we know this sheriff isn't lying?"
"Because," said the judge, "I already met all these boys, and their parents, and saw their birth records in the county archive. Any more questions before you decide whether you'll lose your license or be bound over for trial as perjurers?"
The two remaining Finders quickly agreed that they had been mistaken. Everyone waited while the judge signed and sealed the limitation on their licenses. "You gentlemen may also go."
They went.
Verily rose to his