Nell turned very white, and threw up at the persistent juryman a frightened glance.
“Yes. He did say that he knew.”
“And he threatened to give information?”
“I don’t think,” interrupted the coroner, “that you ought to put it like that. Threaten is hardly the word. He said he would give information, did he not?”
“Yes,” said Nell, almost inaudibly.
The juryman, offended at what he considered a snub, sat back and looked at the ceiling. Another of the jury leaned forward:
“Are you engaged to Mr. King?” asked he.
“Really, gentlemen, we must keep to the point,” protested the coroner. But Nell answered this question in a louder voice.
“I am not engaged to him,” she said, firmly.
“That will do, I think,” said the coroner, who saw that there was a strong tendency on the part of the jury to satisfy their curiosity on points quite outside the subject of inquiry.