“Did Joe Newbolt ever make love to you?” he asked.
Joe’s face flushed with resentful fire; but Ollie’s white calm, forced and strained that it was, remained unchanged.
“No, sir; he never did.”
“Did he ever kiss you?”
“No, I tell you, he didn’t!” Ollie answered, with a little show of spirit.
Hammer rose with loud and voluble objections, which had, for the first time during the proceedings, Joe’s hearty indorsement. But the judge waved him down, and the prosecutor pressed his new line of inquisition.
“You and Joe Newbolt were thrown together a good deal, weren’t you, Mrs. Chase–you were left there alone in the house while your husband was away in the field, and other places, frequently?”
“No, not very much,” said Ollie, shaking her head.
“But you had various opportunities for talking together alone, hadn’t you?”
“I never had a chance for anything but work,” said Ollie wearily.