"Why man! what did you see?" asked Mr. Allewinde.
"Nothing particular."
"Had you your eyes open?"
No answer.
"Now by virtue of your oath were your eyes open?"
No answer.
"Come, sir, I must, and will have an answer; on your solemn oath were your eyes open when you walked by that field?"
At last, after various renewed questions, the witness says, "No."
"Did you shut them by accident?"
After that question had been sufficiently often repeated, the witness again said, "No; he had been blinded;" and in the same way it was at last extracted from him that his ears had been stopped also, and that he had been led along the road by the field, that he might be able to swear that he had passed the place during the night without either seeing or hearing what was at the moment taking place there.