THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY.—We only desire the truth. It is easy to make an experiment.
WITNESS.—Oh, certainly!
P.—Let it be done.
Witness puts a cartridge into each barrel, and goes to the window to explode them. The sudden explosion is followed by the screams of several ladies.
WITNESS.—(Returning, and showing that the barrels are no more foul than they were before.) Well, you see I was right.
P.—(To the accused.) You see this circumstance on which you relied so securely, so far from helping you, only proves that your explanation of the blackened state of your hands was a falsehood.
Upon the president’s order, witness is taken out, and the examination of the accused is continued.
P.—What were your relations with Count Claudieuse?
A.—We had no intercourse with each other.
P.—But it was known all over the country that you hated him?