"What do I want?" replied Panna in astonishment, "why, to be examined as the others have been."
"Were you present when the misfortune happened?"
Panna felt a pang in her heart when the examining magistrate used the word "misfortune." She would have wished him to say "crime." But she answered with a firm voice.
"No, I was not present."
"Then you cannot be a witness."
"I am not a witness, I am the accuser."
The lawyer for the defense smiled faintly, but the prosecuting attorney drew himself up and answered sternly and impressively, before the examining magistrate had found time to open his mouth.
"You are mistaken, my good woman. I am the accuser, and you have nothing more to do here."
"That is true," the magistrate now remarked. "If you desire to obtain damages from Herr von Abonyi, you can bring the complaint before the civil court. You have nothing to do with the criminal trial."
"But it is my husband, my Pista, who has been murdered!" cried Panna, who was beginning to be greatly excited.