"Well, the reason for that was," and here once more his throat became so dry that he could scarcely speak, "we didn't know whether we could get any lunch at Big Bittern, so we decided to take some things along with us from Grass Lake. Her bag was packed full of things, but there was room in mine. Besides, it had my camera with the tripod outside. So I decided to leave hers and take mine."
"You decided?"
"Well, I asked her what she thought and she said she thought that was best."
"Where was it you asked her that?"
"On the train coming down."
"And did you know then that you were coming back to Gun Lodge after going out on the lake?"
"Yes, sir, I did. We had to. There was no other road. They told us that at Grass Lake."
"And in riding over to Big Bittern—do you recall the testimony of the driver who drove you over—that you were 'very nervous' and that you asked him whether there were many people over there that day?"
"I recall it, yes, sir, but I wasn't nervous at all. I may have asked about the people, but I can't see anything wrong with that. It seems to me that any one might ask that."
"And so it seems to me," echoed Jephson. "Then what happened after you registered at Big Bittern Inn and got into that boat and went out on the lake with Miss Alden? Were you or she especially preoccupied or nervous or in any state different from that of any ordinary person who goes out on a lake to row? Were you particularly happy or particularly gloomy, or what?"