Frobisher wiped his shining head; his hand was shaking slightly.
"If you put it that way, I did," he said. "It was brought to me and offered for sale that night and I bought it."
"What did you give for it?"
Frobisher gaped open-mouthed at the question. It came back to him with sudden force that he had not given anything for the Moth at all, he had only promised for Lopez's sake to tell a lie and stick to it. Counsel rapped sharply on the table before him.
"I asked you what you gave for the Cardinal Moth?" he exclaimed.
"A trifle," Frobisher admitted. "Well, nothing in money at all. You see, the man who sold it to me——"
"Can you see the man in court? Look round and let us know if he is here."
Frobisher slowly looked round the court, not so much to find Lopez as to regain his own scattered wits.
CHAPTER XXVI.
A BAD QUARTER OF AN HOUR.