“Mrs. Naseby,” said I, “when you first missed your money, had you any reason to believe that the prisoner had it?”
“No, sir,” she answered.
“Had you ever before detected her in any dishonesty?”
“No, sir.”
“Should you have thought of searching her trunk, had not Nancy Luther advised you and informed you?”
“No, sir.”
Mrs. Naseby then left the stand, and Nancy Luther took her place. She came up with a bold look, and upon me she cast a defiant glance, as much as to say “Trap me, if you can.” She gave her evidence as follows:
She said that on the night when the money was stolen she saw the prisoner going upstairs, and from the sly manner in which she went up, she suspected all was not right. So she followed her up. “Elizabeth went into Mrs. Naseby’s room, and shut the door after her. I stooped down and looked through the keyhole, and saw her at the mistress’s drawer. I saw her take out the money and put it in her pocket. Then she stooped down and picked up the lamp, and as I saw that she was coming out, I hurried away.” Then she went on and told how she had informed her mistress of this, and how she proposed to search the girl’s trunk.
I called Mrs. Naseby back to the stand.
“You say that no one save yourself and the prisoner had access to your room,” I said. “Now, could Nancy Luther have entered that room, if she wished?”