Part 20 (2/2)

”I was.”

”Tell the court all that you saw on that occasion.” Galbraith was the speaker. He knew that Millicent's natural eloquence would give the story with more force if she were allowed to tell it in her own way without the usual questioning.

She began speaking in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the ground before her. As the memory of that dreadful day came back to her, she seemed to see it all again,--the peaceful woodland scene, the quiet river, the forest road, and at her side her humble friend and pupil. The walls of the court-room faded from before her, and judge and jury, lawyer and audience, were forgotten; she looked at Graham only, and spoke to him alone; his grave eyes met hers, and the sympathy in them made the task of telling her story an easy one. Aiding her recital with expressive gestures, she told of the appearance of Daniel Horton on the peaceful scene; she repeated his insolent words, unconsciously imitating the man's manner and voice; she described the affront offered to herself with burning cheeks and flas.h.i.+ng eyes; her voice grew tremulous and low when she spoke of the dead servant's efforts to save her from the insolent ruffian; when with a deep, horrified voice she told of the murder and death of Ah Lam, it was as if she were describing a scene still enacting itself before her eyes. A strong impression was made by the girl's words on all her hearers. The noisy court-room had grown perfectly still; the very recorders held their pens useless in their hands; and the eyes of the judge with the pink cravat were riveted on her face. As she ceased speaking, a sympathetic tremor ran through the crowd a.s.sembled in the court-room, and a low murmur was heard.

Maurice Galbraith, usually the most quiet and reserved of men, was evidently undergoing an unusual excitement, those who knew him thought; and Pierson, the counsel for the defendant, seemed rather disconcerted by the strong impression made by the witness.

When Graham came upon the stand and told his story of the night pa.s.sed in the shooting-lodge, Millicent listened breathlessly. The young painter gave his evidence with a certain picturesqueness, describing the arrival at the cabin of Dan Horton, his demand for food and shelter, his troubled sleep, his wounded face, the peculiar nature of the scratches, and finally, the finding of Millicent's handkerchief after his departure on the following morning. An effort was made to disprove the evidence, and an _alibi_ was sworn to by two new-found friends of the prisoner, who claimed to have pa.s.sed that night in his company. These witnesses, carefully prepared by Pierson, gave their evidence with few blunders; and Dan Horton, closely following every word of the defence, gave a satisfied smile at the new turn which the skilfully devised _alibi_ seemed likely to give to affairs.

Pierson's aim was to disprove Horton's ident.i.ty with the man who had killed Ah Lam and had afterwards seen Graham. He endeavored to show that there were two men engaged in the affair,--Horton, who had spoken to Miss Almsford, and his confederate, who, it was argued, must have committed the crime. When Millicent had told of the wounds inflicted by the Chinaman on the cheeks of his murderer, it was shown that Horton's face bore no trace of these scratches. It was argued, in reply to this, that in a man of Horton's vigorous temperament such wounds might easily be healed in as short time as had elapsed between the murder and the trial. At this point Galbraith had a trump card to play, the existence of which neither prisoner nor counsel had suspected. Neither had it been learned by the omniscient reporter, through whose instrumentality evidence is too often prematurely made public, cases are lost, and offenders are enabled to escape apprehension.

”I would inform your Honor that I have other proof of the ident.i.ty of the prisoner with the man who pa.s.sed the night following the murder in the shooting lodge.”

A new witness, by name John Du Jardin, by profession a wood-cutter, was called to the stand.

”Have you ever seen the prisoner before?”

”Yes, before wonce,” answered the old Frenchman.

”When was that?”

”The night after murder.”

”Where did you see him?”

”At the little 'unting 'ouse of M. Graham.”

”What were you doing at the lodge?”

Graham looked at his henchman with a perplexed expression, and smiled slightly at the answer.

”I were not in the cabin, I were by the window, lookin'.”

”Oh, you were looking in at the window; and what did you see?”

”I see monsieur, 'e sleepin'. I see dat man,” pointing to the prisoner; ”'e come, and monsieur give 'im to drink and to eat.”

”What else did you see?”

”I see _cet homme_, dat man lay 'imself _pres_ side by the _feu_.

Presentlee 'e sleep, monsieur 'e mark 'im; 'e take f.a.ggot from fire, 'e make point, 'e draw one picture of 'im.”

Here Pierson asked the witness what he was doing outside the lodge in the middle of the night.

”I was watch monsieur.”

”That seems very strange. Why did you want to watch him?”

<script>