"Come, answer my question," rapped out the other.
"He—he must have come back to the office after I found the note," whimpered Sumbowa.
"You have simply been telling the court a tissue of lies from beginning to end," thundered the lawyer. "You have contradicted yourself so many times that you can't remember what you have said. Now let me tell you this, my man: unless you are prepared to confess the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, you will find yourself in the dock on a charge of perjury and with the moral certainty of being sentenced to a long term of imprisonment with hard labour. Now, answer me; did you receive that note before or after the departure of the Hawk?"
"Af-after," sobbed the witness.
"How long after?"
"About a fortnight."
"Do you know why Mr. Solomon gave you that note?"
"No."
"But he told you to swear that you found it in his office on the day in question?"
"Yes."