A Whim, and Its Consequences / Collection of British Authors Vol. CXIV

by G. P. R. James

The counsel for the prosecution hesitated for a moment or two, as if he doubted whether the boy's testimony would produce the effect he desired; but then he began the examination, touching but lightly on the point on which he had laid most stress in his speech. He was a sagacious observer of an opponent's proceedings, and he had already divined from the course of examination pursued, that it was as much the object of the counsel for the defence to fix down the commission of the crime to a certain period, as it had at first been his own. He looked upon a criminal trial as a sort of game at chess, where there were certain moves of necessity, but where it was expedient to vary his play according to the skill and the moves of his adversary. The method in which he conducted the examination produced the following evidence.

Witness.--"On the fifth of February I went from the cottage of Mr. Acton--the prisoner--to the day-school at Northferry. I went about seven in the morning. I came back to dinner at one, and returned to school at two. I left school at a little past four. I met my mother at the corner of the lane, and went back with her into the town. She bought me two penny buns at the shop, and we sat down and talked in the marketplace while I ate them. She had been selling rabbit-skins to the hatter. I do not know how she got them. She talked to me of a great many things. She asked me if Mr. Acton had come home yet, and I said, 'No.' She said he would be home soon, for she had seen him. She did not say when she had seen him. She did not say whether that day or the day before. She only said she had seen him. The church clock had just gone five a few minutes before; and I said, 'I must get home, mother, or Dame Humphreys will scold.' She kept me about five minutes more, and then let me go. It was getting quite dark when I came to the gates of the house--Mr. Tracy's house; and as they were open and it saved a good bit I slipped in and down the walks, into the Lady's Walk. When I came into the Lady's Walk it was a little lighter there, for there were no trees to the west; and I saw some one lying upon the grass close to the fish-pond of gold and silver fishes. I am sure it was a man, for I said to myself, 'There is one of the fellows drunk.' He lay quite still, and I went up the walk and got over the gate to the cottage. The prisoner was not there when I arrived. He did not come in for more than half-an-hour. I ran up to him; but he said, 'Do not touch me, Tim. Stay a bit, and I will be down in a minute.' I saw that his hands were all bloody, and that there was a great mark of blood upon his arm. He went up stairs and stayed some time; and when he came down he had on another coat, and his hands were clean. He was very white when he came in. His face is not usually white. He seemed heavy, but he heard me my catechism, and talked a good deal to me till I went to bed. I thought he looked strange, different from what I had ever seen him look before. Often while he was talking to me, he would begin to think, and stop in what he was saying; and once he got up and walked up and down the room. He was very strange till I went to bed."

Here ended the boy's examination-in-chief; and it was remarked that the counsel for the prosecution had not asked at what hour the witness had seen the man lying in Mr. Tracy's grounds, nor at what hour the boy had reached the cottage. Nevertheless, the impression produced by the witness's evidence was strongly against the prisoner. The simplicity with which it was given, and the evident bias of all his affections towards his friend and protector, when put in contrast with the facts which he disclosed--the pale face--the agitated demeanour--the moody thoughtfulness--the bloody hands--the stained garb, told wonderfully upon the minds of the court and the jury. Nor did the cross-examination remove this impression, though Sir ---- seemed perfectly unaffected by it, and rose with as calm and confident an air as ever.

"You are a dear, good little fellow," he said, in a kindly and almost playful tone; "and I wish to Heaven a great number of grown witnesses would take example from the clear and straightforward manner in which such a child gives his evidence. Pursue the same course, witness, and for my part, I will do nothing to puzzle or confound you; I seek but the truth."

Perhaps he took a little advantage of his high position at the bar, and the respect in which he was universally held, to commence the cross-examination in this discursive manner; but he then proceeded as follows. "You say that your mother asked you if the prisoner had returned home, and told you that he would do so soon, for that she had seen him. Can you recollect exactly at what time that was?"

Witness.--"It was after five, for the clock had struck."

Counsel.--"Did your mother leave you at any time after she first met you and bought you the two buns you have mentioned?"

Witness.--"Yes, she left me just the minute before she asked me that question: and she told me to sit by the pump till she came back."

Counsel.--"Did you yourself see the prisoner in the town while you were in Northferry that evening?"

Witness.--"No, I did not; but I think mother did; she kept looking down the street when she asked me."