"The devil-stick!" he cried. "By all that is wonderful, the devil-stick!"
"Yes, the devil-stick. I got it from the assassin of Mr. Alymer!"
"The assassin--you know the assassin? Who is he or she?"
"It is not a woman, but a man. Battersea!"
[CHAPTER XV.]
CROSS-EXAMINATION.
Major Jen sprang to his feet with a loud cry. This information that Battersea was the criminal took him so utterly by surprise that for the moment he was tongue-tied. Then, when he recalled the feeble and emaciated form of the old tramp, when he recollected his weak intelligence, he altogether declined to believe that such a creature, one so wanting in activity, could have conceived and executed a triple crime--the theft of the devil-stick, the murder of Maurice, the stealing of the body. Battersea had not sufficient craft or strength to do such things. With a shrug of his shoulders the major resumed his seat.
"You must be mistaken, Lady Meg," he said in a quiet voice. "Whosoever may be guilty, Battersea, for physical and mental reasons, must be innocent."
"That you must prove," replied Lady Meg, dryly.
"And in accusing Battersea I go only on your own premises. You said that the man who stole the devil-stick, who had it in his possession, must be the guilty person. You see the devil-stick there." She pointed to the table. "Well, I obtained that from Battersea."