Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1911-10-14
CHAPTER XVII.
ALL THIS STOOD.

1T SHALL spare you the opening
details Of the trial. also much 01
preliminary testimony. Enough
! that mt the close of the sixth day
the outlook was a serious one for Ar.
thur Cumberland. The prosecution ap.
peared to be making good It's claims.
The quiet and unexpectedly dlgnified
way In which at the beginning the
defendant had faced the whole antag-
onistic courtroom with the simple
plea OF mot guilty" was being slowly
but surely forgotten In the accumulat-
cd proofs Of his discontinued life under
his sisters dominating influence. his
desire for independence and free use
Of the money held in trust for him by
this sister under their fathers will.
the qunrrels which such situation
would naturally evoke bet wecn cbarac-
tiers cast In such different molds and
actuated by such opposing tastes and
principles. aud the final elimination
Of the same at the dinner table when
| Adelaide forced him. as II were. TO sub
scribe to her prohibition Of all further
use OF liquor In their house. Follow
ing this evidence Of motive came the
still more damaging one Of oppor-
tunity. He was shown to have been
In the clubhouse at or near the time Of
Adelaide's death. The matter Of the
bottles was gone into and the event In
Cuthbert road Then I was called to
the stand and my testimony asked for.
! had prepared myself for the ordeal
and faced 1t unfiinchingiy. That I
might keep intact the one point neces-
snry to Carmel's safety I met my In
quisitors now. as before. with the ut
most candor In all other respects. In.
deed. In one particular I was even
more exact In my details than at any
previous examination. acknowledged
what ! had hitherto concealed. that In
my first entrance into the clubhouse I
had come upon mans derby hat and
coat hanging In the lower hall. and
when questioned more infinitely on the
subject allowed It to appear that II
was owing to the disappearance Of
these articles during my stay upstairs
that had been led into saying that
some one had driven away from the
Whispering Pines before the coming
of the police.
This, as you will see. was In open
contradiction Of my former statements
that I had seen an unknown party
thus attired driving away through tho
upper gateway Just as I entered BY
the lower. But II was a contradiction
which. while noted by Mr.. Motfat.
Arthur's lawyer. failed to injure me
with the Jury and much less with the
spectators That l should prevaricate
even to my own detriment at pre-
liminary examination only to tell the
truth openly and like man when in
court and under the sanctity Of an
oath was. in the popular estimation.
something TO my credit. and Mr.. Mof-
fat. whose chief recommendation as
counsel lay in his quick appreciation
Of the exigencies Of the moment. did
not press me too sharply on this point
when he came to his cross examina.
ton.
But In other respects he drove me
hard. An effort was made by him
first Of all to discrcdit me as a wit.
ness. My lack Of appreciation for
Adelaide and my secret but absorbing
love for Carmel wcrc incxorably
brought out; also the cnsy. happy-go
lucky tenor Of my life and my logged
persistence. In any course 7 thought
consistent with ny happiness. NV
character was well known In this
town Of my birth. and II would have
been folly for me to attempt to gloss
1t over. ! had not even the desire 10
do so. II my sins exacted pennnce l
would pay II here and now and TO the
full. Only Carmel should not suffer.
! refused TO admit that she had given
any evidences Of returning my reck-
less passion. My tongue would not
speak the necessary words, and II was
not made to. 1t was not her charac.
ter. but mine. which Mr.. Moffat was
endeavoring to assail. n
Rut though I was thus shown MP
for what ! was. In a manner most
public and undesirable. neither the
rulings Of the court nor the attitude
Of the jury betrayed any lo~s Of con.
fidence In me as credible witness.
and. seeing this. the willy lawyer shift.
ed his ground and confined himself to
an endeavor TO shake me on certain
definite and important points concern
ing my finding Of the body. Then he
brancbed OF into less narrowing
topic and cross examined me In re-
gard TO the ring I had said that II
was on her hand when I bade goodby
10 her In her own house and that II
was not there when ! came upon her
dend. Had the fnct made me curious
TO examine the hand? No, Then !
could not tell whether the finger on
which she wore II gave any evidence
Of this ring having been pulled OF
with violence; No. I could not swear
that III my opinion It was? I could
not.
The small flask Of cordial and the
three glasses. one clean and the 9th.
ers showing signs Of ha wing been used.
were next taken up. but with no re-
suit for the defense. I had told all !
knew about these In my direct exami-
Lao, la.. ls.. A. A..