This was the substance of his testimony, and though the cross-examination, by Pleadwell, was sharp, rigid and severe, the effect of the evidence could not be broken.
At this point the Commonwealth rested. The case against Rennie had assumed a serious phase. Unless he could produce some strong evidence in his favor, his conviction was almost assured.
Pleadwell rose to open the case for the defence. After some general remarks on the unfairness of the prosecution, and the weakness of the detective’s story, he declared that they should prove, in behalf of the defendant, that he was not at or near the breaker until after the fire was well under way, and that the saving of a large portion of the company’s loose property from destruction was due to his brave and energetic efforts.
“Furthermore,” continued Pleadwell, earnestly, “we shall present to the court and jury a most irreproachable witness, who will testify to you that he was present and saw this fire kindled, and that the man who kindled it was not Jack Rennie.”
There was a buzz of excitement in the court-room as Pleadwell resumed his seat; and Tom’s heart beat loudly as he understood the significance of the lawyer’s last statement. He felt, more than ever, the wrong, the disgrace, the self-humiliation to which he should stoop, by giving his testimony in support of so monstrous a lie.
But what could he do? The strain on his mind was terrible. He felt an almost irresistible desire to cry out, there, in the crowded court-room, that he had yielded to temptation for the sake of blind Bennie; that he had seen the folly and the wickedness, and known the awful misery of it already; that the money that bought him was like rags in his sight; and that his own guilt and cowardice should save this criminal no longer from the punishment which his crime deserved.
By a strong effort, he repressed his emotion, and sat, with face flushed and pallid by turns, waiting for the time when his wretched bargain should be fulfilled.
The first witness called on the part of the defence was Michael Carolan, better known as “Silent Mike.”
He testified that Rennie came down from Scranton with him and a body of strikers on the morning of November 18; that they ate supper with Carolan’s married sister, who lived in the village, just beyond the burned breaker; that they spent the evening at a miners’ mass-meeting in town, and afterwards called at a drinking-saloon; and that they were on the way back to his sister’s house, for the night, when they heard the cry of “Fire!”