Contrary to his custom, Sherry had not started on his usual walk that morning. Possibly, his instinct told him there was something amiss with Tom, who had some difficulty in shaking him off while he harnessed the horses, which were to take the judge to the Court House. Mrs. Ralston was too ill to go.
“Tell Paul I shall pray for him every moment,” she said to her husband when he left her.
Neither of them now had any hope of an acquittal, and the judge’s face was very sad when he reached the jail, where Paul was waiting for him, dressed in the suit he had worn at the first trial.
“I want you to do me a favor,” Tom said, undoing a bundle he had brought with him. “Wear this coat to-day and vest and trousers. I have a reason for it.”
They were the same Paul had worn on the Sunday when Jack was killed, and, at first, he demurred, as he had an aversion to them. But Tom was so persistent that he yielded, noticing that Tom was wearing the coat he had given him that day and thinking, as they stood together for a moment, how much their clothes were alike in color and fit. He had no idea what Tom meant and wondered why he seemed so excited and unlike himself. He forgot it, however, when he was again in the court room, facing as dense a crowd as had been there nearly two months before. Sherry, who had come with the carriage, was with him, lying at his feet, wagging his tail as if he knew the aspect of matters was changed. Miss Hansford was in her place, straight and prim and even smiling, as she nodded to some of her acquaintances. Elithe was without her veil, with a brightness in her eyes amounting almost to gladness as she sat unmoved by the gaze of the multitude. Paul saw how unconcerned she seemed and marvelled at it just as he had at her changed manner ever since he told her of his fixed intention to give himself up. Didn’t she care, or had she become callous to the proceedings? He felt callous himself and wished it were over and he knew the worst. He would know it soon, and he stood up very readily to plead, “Not guilty!”
There was a new jury and the evidence had to be repeated as far as practicable. Some of the former witnesses could not be found, and those who were said as little as possible and were soon dismissed. Then Miss Hansford was called, and the interest began to increase, but soon flagged, as, without any flings at the prosecuting attorney, or going back to Paul’s boyhood, she told very rapidly all she knew of the matter and then sat down.
Elithe came next, her face flushed and her eyes shining like stars as she took the oath. She was first questioned about the escape, and told the story unhesitatingly, leaving herself out as much as possible and putting Tom to the front. Some thought she brought him in unnecessarily often and volunteered too much information with regard to his fidelity to Paul. They did not know she was working for Tom, who heard her with an occasional thought of the ocean not far away, and how easily it would be to bury himself in it. When Elithe began to speak of the Sunday night when the shooting occurred, there was no hesitancy in her manner and her voice was clear and distinct as she told what she thought she saw. She laid great stress on the rustling sound in the bushes and the firing low of the man she thought was Mr. Ralston.
“Aren’t you sure he was Mr. Ralston?” she was asked.
“I thought so then,” she replied.
“Do you think so now?” was the next question.