"I call on the court to fine and imprison the witness for the use of an epithet so uncalled for and so little in harmony with the dignity of the place and the honorable judge and jury," Moth answered, loudly, and as if grieved and humiliated beyond expression.
"The attorney for the state will go on with the case, confining himself to its merits and the evidence in hand," Judge Douglas commanded, addressing Moth.
"The witness having testified to the truth of what we look to to prove the guilt of the prisoner, I have, your honor, no further questions to ask him," Moth concluded.
Upon Mr. Promb's intimating that he did not desire to cross-examine Mr. Seymour, Moth asked that Mr. Philetus Tipps be called.
This gentleman, who sat near Moth, arose upon his name being thus announced, and doing so lifted his eyes, as if to economize time in taking the oath, in pursuance of a habit long acquired. Mr. Tipps' presence was not commanding, though a tuft of hair standing upright on the edge of his narrow forehead served to augment his height and add to the dignity of his manner; it also gave him a somewhat fierce look, in which an air of alertness blended. Altogether his manner conveyed an idea of weariness, as if he were going through a ceremony often repeated and of little or no interest to him in the first instance. Contrary to what one would suppose of a person performing the office of constable, Mr. Tipps' body was nothing to speak of, being so slight that he might easily have slipped between the rails of a common fence without injury to his raiment. This, however, did not apply to his feet, which were much spread abroad, as if by long waiting and standing about the corridors of justice. It was also a peculiarity of Mr. Tipps that in raising his eyes to take the oath he did not look upward, but at an angle, as if the Being he appealed to dwelt somewhere on the horizon. This, however, was a device merely, it was apparent, to save labor and conserve his strength, and not at all as indicating the presence of the Deity in that particular place. Of these interesting details Moth took no account, but taking the witness in hand, as if he were a lemon or pomegranate ripe for squeezing, demanded of him, in a peremptory way:
"What is your name and residence?"
"Philetus Tipps, of Rock Island."
"What is your business?"
"Constable."
"Have you been looking up evidence in the case of the State versus Throckmorton?"