The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1915-12-06
Ivy
(Cont1nued.l


with her handkerchief. She tried to
speak, but words would nc* come forth
from the lips that moved The woman
OF steel n ave who had excited admira
tion an.e comment at the opening of
the tria! now seemed verging on trans
formation to a~physical wreck with
pa1sied tongue.
..T will repeat the question began
the prosecutor, hoping to relieve the
strain Of the deep silence prevailing
throughout the wonan's ordeal.
But no. By-a tremendous effort she
pulled herself together, looked straight
into the attorneys. eyes and started,
though in broken tones at the begin
ming, to tell what she knew of and
had seen in the moments of the con-
summation of the crime that had
shocked a continent.
ssYou need not repeat that-that
Question: she. quickly said. IL will
answer it<ful1y. On the night in ques-
ton entered the library of my home.
a1ld-ahd- telephone bell was-was
ringing.
Again she paused. Her cheeks, her.
hands and her forehead twitched
nervously as sometimes they do in an
eIiileptics attack She CROPPED as though
Dt14Q1J- -fOE Il DOLl4G Oh S11C441A5 Sel1IS
which she carried in a gold mesh bag.
The once strong thread of mental re
serve and physical power had worn
too thin to stand the strain. 1t snap
ped.
The woman fell back in the witness
chair in a swoon as she gasped feebly,
water, water and the court attend
ants jumped to her aid.
=
After all, there was no just cause to
wonder at the unexpected collapse of
Joan Trask on the witness stand. Few
people there are who could have en-
dured what SIZE had endured without
emerging sfrc2l the test If they came
out Of it at all without either. health
OF mind vitality impaired. Years of
suspense and of sacrificing for anoth-
er things most dear to true woman's
heart had but lily prepared her to face
the merciless prosecutor of notorious
murder trial, even though the silent
victim whose blood demanded ven
geance had been the man she had loved
as husband.
What was it about that telephone
call on the night of the Staying of Ger
aid Trask which, when on the stand
the first day of the trial, caused her to
faint at its mention?
What was there about that talk over
the wire that broke down her reserve.
self contained demeanor and determin
ed poise when Questioned about it by
the prosecutor, when even poignant re-
minders of her husband's death had
failed to materially move her?
What was the mystery?
+ Undoubtedly the prosecutor knew
through her statements before the tria,
began and by her testimony at the
coroner,s inquest and in the grand
Juryroom-
The public, aroused to still higher
pitch of excitement over. the case
awaited f1npatiently the resumption Of
Mrs. Trask's testimony The trial.
postponed TO. day owing to her spec
tacuIar breakdown on $the witness
stand, was continued at 1870 a. NJ, {
day later, with Joan Trask again ap
pearing IN the role of central figure
Her eyes were clear; her voice wa
steady. She had conquered the veal
ness that had overpowered her. Sh
had reso1ved to go through to the en-
with the part she had been called o.
by the authorities to fill.
And then the public began to learl
as much of the inner details OF IL
tragedy as the district attorneys Off
itself knew The woman, barred he
heart to a gaping, thoughtless multi
tIide that fed its morbid mind on he
sorrow WITH the greed of a hydl
headed vampire. A heyday for I'll
ctnics and the scandal mongers We
the. caAe of the people versus Robe
Strickland, and they were mot to
robbed of any choice morsel of the
prey No, indeed
Now let US consider just what maj
ner of story it was that Joan Tras
Z told in those soul trying hours durin
which she occupied the witness cha
in Justice Dinsmore's tribunal.
She had heard the telephone bell il
her husbands library ring as she en-
tered the house on her return from
dinner given by a friend in honor o.
the wife of, one of the members OF a
foreign embassy who had been visiting
in the city. knowing her husband TO
be out for the evening, she entered the
library and answered the call.
The instrument was affixed to an
ornate. mahogany desk of modern de
sign standing at the left of the room,
a short space in front of an alcove and
a few feet distant from a safe in
which Traslz kept valuable papers,
some family heirlooms and from time
to time bundles of stocks and bonds
and sums of money. He frequently
used large amounts of cash in his
transactions at home, she testified.
A woman's voice answered when
Mrs Trask asked what was wanted,
voice that Mrs. Trask was certain that
she had heard before. At any rate, she
had a faint suspicion as. to who was
the owner of the voice-nothing def
mite