CHAPTER XII
The court in which the Mickleton election petition was to be heard sat in the Town Hall of that borough, and the first day, Tuesday, was occupied in formalities, but even so the end of the great room set aside for the public was crowded.
The main part of the business was taken the next morning, the proceedings were short—and they proved decisive. After a few unimportant witnesses had been called—their testimony was very inconclusive—Mr. Stephens was heard. To the member's intense relief not a word passed upon the Bogey Man, not a word upon the bag of sovereigns, for the inquiry was conducted with honour, and the conventions of our elections were allowed. When Mr. Clutterbuck heard that his own secretary was to be examined, he could not but feel confident in the result, but the spectacle of one whom he trusted and who was his right hand throughout the struggle being used by the lawyers against himself, was a thing Mr. Clutterbuck very properly resented. He silenced his anger by remembering that justice will have its course.
Charlie Fitzgerald gave his evidence in that simple, direct way which should be a model for us all; he answered every question in few words, neither embellishing nor concealing anything. He admitted the very considerable influence of the Fishmonger Relief Committee, and was proceeding to estimate the ten or twelve thousand it had spent for his employer, when Sir John Compton at once interfered and ruled the evidence out. It had been clearly laid down in three precedents that an independent organisation was free to spend what sums it saw fit so long as those funds did not proceed from the pocket of the candidate or his agent.
The thing seemed settled and Mr. Clutterbuck was breathing again towards the close of that day, when counsel in a tone ominously calm, said shortly:
"Now, Mr. Fitzgerald, will you tell us where you were between half past nine and midnight, of Monday the 6th of November of last year?"
Mr. Fitzgerald remembered the hour and day and all the events with truly remarkable accuracy. He said with perfect frankness that he had spent the evening going in a cab from the Curzon Arms to the Mother Bunch; from the Mother Bunch to the Harvest Home; from the Harvest Home to the Drovers, from the Drovers to the Naked Man; from the Naked Man to the Adam and Eve; and from the Adam and Eve to the Prince of Wales's Feathers; he could not be absolutely certain of the order but it was more or less as he had stated it.
Those in court who did not understand the nature of the confession began to smile, but in a few moments they saw the drift of the examination when counsel put this perfectly plain demand:
"Mr. Fitzgerald, think carefully: did you or did you not offer a glass of whiskey in the Prince of Wales's Feathers to one Alfred Arthur Pound?"
"I offered a glass of whiskey to him and to several gentlemen," said Charlie Fitzgerald openly.