“Now, sir, you can proceed, if you please,” said the magistrate, sternly. “I have consented to hear what you have to say in this matter, but it does not necessarily follow that I place any reliance upon this specious tale of yours.”
“Oh, dear me, no. Certainly not. You will, of course, take it for what it is worth. I am not the first man by a good many who has had the misfortune to be looked upon with doubt and mistrust.”
“You will be pleased to confine yourself to the facts, and not indulge in extraneous or impertinent observations,” cried the magistrate.
His companion bowed and said quietly—
“The facts are in themselves significant enough.”
“Are they?”
“Yes, I hope so. Let me see, where did I leave off? Oh, I know, at that part of the narrative where you parted with this unfortunate woman. Well, Mr. Kensett, she went her ways. She kept her promise; for from that day to the present moment you have not seen or heard anything of her. Is that so?”
“Yes, that is so.”
The magistrate began to feel a vague fear, and shuddered in spite of himself.
Mr. Sutherland continued—