As he spoke there was a commotion at the lower end of the court. A man and a woman pushed through the crowd and placed themselves in full view of the assembly. The man was Captain Jacob; the woman, a dark-skinned girl in a faded yellow dress with a tartan shawl. Lee uttered a cry.
"Zara!" he said, as he caught sight of the dress; "it is Zara!"
But he was wrong. It was not Zara, it was Tera!
[CHAPTER XV]
A STRANGE STORY
"Who is this?" asked the magistrate, amazed at the commotion. The Grimleigh people, recognizing Tera, were talking loudly and excitedly amongst themselves.
A babel of voices rose in answer to the question; but the usher of the court having proclaimed silence. Captain Jacob took upon himself to step forward.
"This, sir," said he, with his nasal drawl, "is the young gal Tera, or Bithiah, who was supposed to have been scragged."
"What does the man mean?" demanded the Bench. "How dare you interrupt the court, man?"
"Mean?" interposed the accused. "Well, I guess he means that I'm here to answer to the charge of murdering a girl who's not dead. This is Tera--the young lady herself, your worship!"