The witness answered combatively, and in this mood he made a better impression than he did on his direct examination. The prosecuting attorney looked relieved. Tom listened with an attention painful to see, his eyes moving anxiously from Lincoln to Dave as he wondered what point in Dave's armor the lawyer could be driving at. He saw plainly that his salvation was staked on some last throw.
"You didn't have any candle in your hand, did you, at any time during the evening?"
"No!" said Dave, positively. For some reason this question disconcerted him and awakened his suspicion. "What should we have a candle for?" he added.
"Did either George Lockwood or Tom have a candle?"
"No, of course not! What 'd they have candles for?"
"Where were the lights on the camp-ground?"
"Closte by the preachers' tent."
"More than three-quarters of a mile away from the place where the murder took place?"
"Anyway as much as three-quarters," said Dave, who began to wish that he could modify his previous statement of the distance.
"How far away were you from Lockwood when the murder took place?"