“Well, I’d often seen him, sir, and I knew him well enough by sight. There was something about his walk, too, that I couldn’t mistake.”
“Indeed? But that is not a very sure point to go upon, is it?”
“That’s as may be, sir.”
“Now, Pollock, you are on good terms with Mr Dorrien, are you not? You would not wish to injure him?”
“No, indeed, sir,” answered the witness earnestly. “He’s a kind landlord to us, is the Squire—and as for Madam, I’ve known her since she was a little maid not much higher nor my knee—bless her sweet face.”
Great applause. Mr Windgate began to look more and more confident.
“Quite so. Now, don’t you think you may be mistaken in identifying the man who saved Miss Ingelow with the one you met on the cliff on the night of the disappearance of Hubert Dorrien?”
“M’lord, I must take exception most strongly to my learned brother’s mode of cross-examination,” said Mr Benham. “He appeals most powerfully to the feelings of the witness, and then does what is tantamount to begging him to unsay what he has already stated on oath.”
“Hardly that, I submit,” rejoined the other. “My unfortunate client is placed in a very grave position. Surely then it behoves us to make certain as to our facts.”
“But the witness had already stated on oath his certitude as to the identity of the men.”