The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-30

mad narrated, had come to New 1ork and served on the Daily Netos as po- lice reporter. The District Attorney objected to this line of questioning, but the Judge permitted 1t to go on.
 Finally the witness was brought down to the night when he took Mary Page to the door of the cafe so that she might see him, Langdon. within.
 Did you notice anything peculiar about Miss Pages appearance at that time? And if so, tell the jury what you saw"
 T noticed that Miss Page seemed terribly excited, and when we got to the door that led to the cafe, there was positively an expression of horror on her face. never saw any ono so un- strung. She had on an evening gown. of course and saw" Brandon paused again.
 "Yes? What did you seer" cried Langdon.
 T saw a strange mark on her shoui- der-fnger- prints that came and went in the most uncanny way I was quite unnerved myself. Miss Page was by this time looking through the door at you. MT. Langdon."
 The prosecutor was on his feet in moment. Everyone was greatly excit- ed What did this strange testimony mean? People whispered and craned their necks.
 'T object!" shouted the District At- torney. This story has no bearing" "Overruled," His Honor calmly said. This testimony" cried Langdon, a | triumphant note in his voice, twill have an important bearing on the line of de- fense I shall later adopt" | T object again." fairly yelled the prosecutor Such talk tends to preju- 1 dice the jury"
 "Overruled," again the Judge drawled. "Is that the first time you ever saw these marks" Langdon asked. | "Yes, sir"
 And the last timer Ns <
 "No Six years laterDs 'F
 "Ten the jury.'
 l The witness coughed, as if preparing for an ordeal.
 Tt was the night of the opening of Miss Page in New York. I couldn't get a seat, so I stood in the rear of the house, near the side. After the second act, I think it was, there was loud ap- Iplause, and Miss Page came before the curtain several times. saw Dave Pol lock in a box, and Langdon down In the orchestra I noticed that Miss Page bowed directly to him more than once. I looked at my watch. I was a police
 reporter then, and 1t was almost time
 for me to be on duty at the station. So
 hurried away. Things were dull when | I got there, so I sat in a corner near
 the stove and must have become lit-
 tie drowsy. Pretty soon-I can't tell
 what time it was. but it must have been a couple of hours later-Langdon came rushing in. He was looking for Mary Page. We recognized each other, and I was surprised to find him in such
 place on such an errand. Then he told
 me of the murder of Pollock. You
 could have knocked me down. I was
 dazed, bewildered. The next knew
 Langdon had gone out hurriedly. The
 police were as excited and confused
 as I.
 Somehow the night wore on. had to stay on duty. In the morning, very
 early, the prisoners were brought out from the pen. I hadn't slept much. A paper was brought in. and I saw the staring headlines, telling all about the
 murder. That woke me up, I can tell iyou"
 Had the situation not been so tense, there might have been laughter here. But the e urCrOOm was so Stlll you COulO have heard a snowflake fall.
 What was my surprise, an instant
 later to see Mary Page enter the room
 from side door, in full evening clothes, . but with no hat or coat could scarce ly believe my eyes, I thought I'd gone
 mad, or something! Why, I'd just been reading about her-and there she stood, pale and beautiful, but bewilder- ed and frightened. A police officer took , hold of her. I knew I wasn't dream
 ing then. and I started up too, the
 newspaper still in my hand. "'Who is this woman?' the sergeant said.
 "'We don't know who she is.' tho
 officer answered. She wouldn't talk.
 She was pulled last night with couple of K Just then I was close to her. ShS , didn't recognize me; she seemed
 strangely dazed, almost hypnotized. Then she caught sight of the paper in
 my hand, with its big type running
 across the whole front page-'Sensa- tional Murder. She grabbed, and read it, mortified, and we all just stood there looking at her. without saying a word.
 Even the sergeant was silent. She
 seemed to devour the story. And then some vision must have come before her eyes, for she whispered something about "a bottle. 'whiskey'. and her face and arms became tense. I looked at her bare shoulder. and that's when I saw those strange finger prints again. They came and went as before. I
 couldn't believe it."
 The witness paused. There was no
 sound in all the room. "Go on." urged Langdon, at last. "Then, the outer door opened. and you. Mr. Langdon. came in. You looked tired. haggard bedraggled. You still
 had on evening clothes. I remember" turning directly to the jury, what . , sensation MT. Langdon's presence c-e- ated, his name having been in every
 headline too. Miss Page saw him. He
 went up to her without a word, and. they embraced each other. And then Miss Page stepped forward to the ser-
 geant's desk and whispered. so low that could hardly hear her. I give myself
 up.'"
 (To be continued)