But only for a moment; fear gave place to astonishment, for Jack Rennie had started to his feet, with wild eyes and face blanched with sudden dread, and, bending over till his great beard swept Pleadwell’s shoulder, he whispered, hoarsely, into the lawyer’s ear, in a tone audible throughout the room,—
“Ye did na tell me who the lad was! He mus’ na be sworn; it’s na lawfu’. I’ll no’ have it; I say I’ll no’ have it!”
In another moment Pleadwell had his hand on the man’s shoulder, and forced him into a seat. There was a whispered consultation of a few minutes between attorney and client, and then, while Rennie sat with his eyes turned steadfastly away from the witness, his huge hand clutching the edge of the table, and the expression of nervous dread still on his face, Pleadwell, calmly, as if there had been no interruption, proceeded with the examination.
He asked Tom about his residence and his occupation, and about how blind Bennie lost himself in the mines. With much skill, he carried the story forward to the time when Tom said good-night to Sandy, and started down the hill toward home.
“As you approached the breaker, did you see a man pass by you in the shadow?”
“I did,” replied Tom.
“About how far from you?”
“I don’t know; ten feet, maybe.”
“Where did he go?”