"He made no threat at all, then?"
"As I said, after thinking the matter over, I thought it would be policy to pay him," answered the witness, trying to evade the point.
"But you have not answered the question. Did he, or did he not, make any sort of a threat which caused you to change your mind?" demanded Mr. Farrington.
"Well, yes, in a certain sense."
"In what sense?"
"He threatened to make false statements about my business."
"Would these statements have injured you?"
"They might have, for a time."
"You are sure the statements he threatened to make were false, with no foundation of truth," asked Mr. Farrington.
The witness hesitated. He saw Fred looking him square in the eye, and he shrank from answering, for he realized that the truth would probably be brought out by his former clerk.