“Hush! hush! he is going to be sworn as a witness,—some one is giving him a glass of cold water; I wish that I could hand him my scent-bottle,” whispered Alice, who was touched by Bruce’s evident struggle to overcome physical suffering and mental exhaustion by the force of strong will.
Bruce was sworn as a witness. Very simply and concisely he gave evidence as to what the reader knows already. He told of his hearing a noise, entering the chamber next to his own, seeing the forgers, and receiving, while struggling with Standish, a stunning blow from some heavy instrument wielded by Harper.
Harper’s name had not even been mentioned in the evidence given on the preceding day, Vibert not being in the slightest degree aware of the strange old man’s complicity in the crime of forging bank-notes. Bruce’s narrative, given in a low but clear and steady voice, commanded breathless attention. The silence observed in the crowded court was scarcely broken even by the rustle of a lady’s silk dress.
“You say that you were stunned by the blow given by this man Harper,” observed the magistrate. “Did you long continue in an unconscious state?”
“I know not how long I remained senseless,” was the answer of Bruce; “probably the cold night air revived me, for I found, when I came to life, that the two forgers were bearing me into the wood. I lay perfectly still, and they doubtless considered me dead, for the men uttered words to each other which I was certainly not intended to hear.”
“Can you recall to memory any of those words?” the magistrate inquired.
Bruce had a tenacious memory, and what had passed on that eventful night had been as it were branded on it, never to be erased. He at once replied to the magistrate’s question.
“The first words which I remember hearing were some spoken by Harper—‘How could you trust Vibert Trevor to pass my notes?’ said he.
“‘I trusted him no more than in angling I trust the fly on my hook,’ answered Standish. ‘I use him to make the gudgeons bite; but the fool knows no more of the nature of the work to which I have put him than does the senseless fly that covers the barb.’”
A thrill of satisfaction went through the court. Mr. Trevor could not restrain a faint exclamation of thankfulness at this clear testimony to the innocence of his unfortunate son drawn from Standish himself.