A. I may have. I had always considered Cleghorn as immovable an institution as the Monument.
The laughter which greeted this sally appeared to reassure witness somewhat, as did the unexpected lines on which his rather irregular examination seemed to be developing. But his confidence was of short duration. The very next question brought him aware of the true purpose of this preliminary catechism, which was merely to constitute a pretext for getting him into the witness-box at all.
Q. Was your arrival that afternoon, may I ask, in response to a long invitation or a sudden call?
A. (With a sudden stiffening of his shoulders, as if rallying his energies to meet an ordeal foreseen.) A sudden call. I came down in response to a letter from my friend Mr. Hugo Kennett, inviting me to a few days’ shooting.
Q. Mr. Hugo Kennett is a particular friend of yours, is he not?
A. We have known one another a long time.
Q. Intimate to that degree, I mean, that you have few secrets from one another?
A. That may be.
Q. And can depend upon one another in any emergency?
A. I hope so.