Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1910-05-13
Is 1t the u b ?"

lOE yOu. very hiuu- hOpS yOu VIII
find it amusing. Good morning!" And
Lord Ronsdale vanished down the mar
row way.
The others of the party entered the
courtroom and were shown to the seats
that Captain Forsythe had taken par
ticular pains to reserve for them.
That's John Steele cross examining
now" Captain Forsythe whispered to
the girl. And the wi~tness-that's
Dandy Joe, as he's called. one of the
police spies. cheap race track mar and
so on. in the box. He came TO the
front In a murder trial quite celebrat-
ed In its day and one l always had
my own little theory about. Not that
it matters now" he added. with a sigh.
But the girl was listening to another
voice. a clear voice. a quiet voice, a
voice capable of the strongest varying
accents. She looked at the speaker.
He held himself with the assurance
of one certain of his ground. His
shoulders were straight and broad. He
stood like an athlete, and when he
moved 1t was impossible to be uncon-
scious of a certain physical grace that
came from well trained muscles. He
carried his head high. as II from a
habit of thought of looking up. not
down, when he turned from the pages
of the heavy tones in his study. His
face conveyed an impression of intel
ligence and intensity. His eyes. dark
and deep. searched fully those they
rested on.
He had reached q point in his cross
examination where he had almost
thoroughly discredited this witness
for the prosecution when, turning to-
ward a table to take up a paper. his
glance, casually lifting. rested on the
distinguished party In the rear of the
room. or, rather. it rested on one of
them. Against the dark background
the girls golden hair was well calcu-
lated to catch the wandering gaze.
The flowers in her hat, the great bunch
Of violets in her dress added insistent
alluring bits of cuiNr in the dim spot
where she sat Erect as a lily stem.
she looked oddly out of place In that
large, somber room. There. where the
harsh requiem of bruised and broken
lives increasingly sounded, she seemed
like some presence typical of spring.
wafred thiriner by mistake. The man
continued to regard her. Suddenly be
started. and his eyes almost eagerl.
searched the lovely. proud face.
His back was turned to the judge,
who stirred nervously. but waited a
fraction of a second before he spoke.
IF the cross examination is finish
ed be began.
John. Steele wheeled; his face chang
ed; a smile of singular charm accom-
panied his answer.
"Your lordship will pardon me; the
human mind has its alterations. AT
the moment by a curious psychology
ical turn, a feature of another prob
lem seized me-. 1t was like playing
two games of chess at once. Per
haps your honor has experienced the
sensation"
His lordship beamed. quite so.'
he observed %unctuously.
The business of the morning ran on.
and John Steele at length concluded
his cross examination. 81 think. your
lordship. the question Of the reliabil
ity of this man al a witness In this
or--any other case-fuly established
ANY other case?' said his lord
ship. I'VE are not trying any other
case"
witness may CO." said his lordship
brusquely.
Dandy Joe. a good deal damaged in
the worlds estimation, stepped down.
His erstwhile well curled mustache of
brick dust hue seemed to droop as he
skunk out of the box. He appeared
subdued, almost frightened, quite un-
like the jaunty little cockney that had
stepped SO blithely forth to give his
testimony.
The witnesses all heard, John Steele.
for the defense, spoke briefly. but his
words were well chosen, his sentences
of classic purity. AS the girl listened
it seemed to her not strange that Cap
tain Forsythe, as well as others per
haps, should be drawn hither on oc-
casions when this man appeared.
Straight. direct logic characterized the
speech from beginning to end. Only
once did a suggestion of sentiment
curt pity for that gin besotted thing.
the prisoner-obtrude itself; then ii
passed so quickly his lordship forgot
to intervene. and the effect remained.
a flash, Illuminating. Rembrandt-like.
Time slipped by. The judge looked
at his watch. b%ethought him of a big
silver dish filed with amber hued spe-
cialty of the Ship and Turtle and adj
journed court. His address interrupt
ed by the e~xigencies of the moment.
John Steele began mechanically to
gather up his books. He absently sep
arated them again. At the same time
Sir Charles and his party walked to-
ward the bench. They were met by
his lordship and cordially greeted.