Q. How then can you say for a certainty that this is yours?
A. Because my father has just brought it from our house, and I saw him go for it and return with it. I can give no better reason.
Q. Can you say of your own knowledge, from an examination of the image, that it is yours?
A. No, sir.
Q. Have you any more reliable knowledge concerning the mat being yours?
A. Yes, for the space in the middle was made expressly to fit the base of the statuette.
Q. And are you willing to risk your testimony upon that fact alone?
A. I am.
The mat and the statuette were then shown the witness and the jury, and the base of the statuette overlapped the plain surface in the centre of the mat half an inch. The witness became faint, and was carried into the lobby. The jury, without leaving their seats, rendered a verdict of NOT GUILTY.
The captain feasted Malcolm that night, and obtained from him the secret of his defence. Maguire, as a woman, had procured the situation of cook in the house of Mr. W. H. B., and had substituted for the original Samuel another, altogether similar, except that its base was half an inch larger.