'This,' proceeded the counsel, 'is the girl who, as a child of some two and a half years, was stolen from the lord of the manor and Broxley Towers.'
John Crawford at this moment lost a good deal of his nonchalance, and leant forward on the bench, eagerly scanning Lotty's face.
Birth-marks on the child's side and left arm were then described, and it seemed to be tacitly admitted that if Lotty had these marks, which were very peculiar, she was undoubtedly the long-lost child.
Captain Paterson of the Nor'lan' Star was a witness now called and questioned, but not cross-examined. He knew Maggie Dyer, nurse at Broxley Hall to the child who would be the nearest heir to the estates on the death of the then lord of the manor. He had known Maggie long before then. Whenever his ship was paid off he used to run down to Broxley, and a friend of his, now first-mate of the Nor'lan' Star, used always to accompany him.
'You were supposed to be wooing Maggie?' said the judge.
'There was precious little supposition about it, my lord.'
'Why did you take the mate with you? It is not usual for a man going a-wooing to take a male companion with him.'
'Only for company's sake, sir. Nothing a sailor hates more than a tedious journey by rail with no one to speak to.'
'Did you go to the Hall?'
'Certainly so, sir. And the mate knew how to pass the time at the village inn while I was away. He is a sailor as well as myself.'