“I should think so.”
“That will do, Mr. Lieutenant. I expect after this disclosure of your true character you will find it rather difficult to get anybody to play cards with you again in this vicinity.”
The once pompous but now crestfallen little lieutenant hurriedly took his seat amid the titters and contemptuous glances of the spectators.
Several bell-boys and servants of the hotel testified to Myles’ condition on the night of his arrival and the morning after, also to the fact that he had gambled and been a loser.
The telegraph operator was made, very unwillingly, to describe Myles’ agitated manner on the second evening that he was in town, upon his return from Mr. Watkins’ office. He also testified that Myles had telegraphed to his paper for money, and had acknowledged himself to be so short of funds that he had been obliged to leave his watch at the hotel as security for a two days’ board-bill.
The famous fifty-dollar bill was shown, and the treasurer’s private mark on it was pointed out to each one of the jury. The division superintendent identified the mark on the bill as being that of the treasurer of the road, while the bank cashier identified the bill as one deposited by the landlord of the hotel.
The examination of these witnesses occupied the entire morning, and when, at noon, the court took a recess, public opinion had set pretty strongly against poor Myles, and many persons confidently predicted that he would serve a term in the penitentiary.
Even Myles himself was greatly depressed by the seeming weight of testimony against him; but Billings was as cheerful as a cricket.
“Why, my dear boy,” he cried, “the more evidence they pile up the more fun it will be for us to knock it down! You just wait till the captain begins to pour in his hot shot; if he don’t make them hunt their cyclone cellars then I’m a clam, that’s all.”
When court was opened again after the recess, there was a general air of curiosity and expectation visible on all faces. The most important witness for the company had not yet been examined, and his testimony was awaited with eager interest. There was, therefore, quite a little flutter of excitement noticeable when Ben Watkins was called to the stand.