Being in the witness-box and sworn, Mona, with the eyes of the judges, advocates and spectators upon her, begins to tremble all over, but she answers firmly when spoken to.
“You wish to say something about the captain—what is it?”
“That he is a bad man, and a disgrace to the army.”
The Governor puts up his eyeglass and looks at her. Then he smiles rather cynically and says:
“You seem to know something about the army, miss. What is the medal you are wearing on your breast?”
“The Victoria Cross, sir,” says Mona, throwing up her head, “won by my brother when he died in the war, and sent home to my father by the King.”
The eyeglass drops from the Governor’s nose and his face straightens. After a moment of silence the High Bailiff says:
“What you say of the captain—is it from hearsay or from personal experience?”
“From personal experience, sir.”