“I do.”
“Does this mean that it was not in your possession at any time during that interim?”
“It certainly does.”
“Mr. Cumberland, more than one witness has testified to the fact of your having been seen to place your hand in the casket of your sister, before the eyes of the minister and of others attending her funeral. Is this true?”
“It is.”
“Was not this a most unusual thing to do?”
“Perhaps. I was not thinking about that. I had a duty to perform, and I performed it.”
“A duty? Will you explain to the jury what duty?”
The witness’s head rose, then sank. He, as well as every one else, seemed to be impressed by the solemnity of the moment. Though the intensity of my own interest would not allow my eyes to wander from his face, I could imagine the strained look in Ella’s, as she awaited his words.
They came in another instant, but with less steadiness than he had shown before. I even thought I could detect a tremor in his muscles, as well as in his voice: