Evening star., 1926-11-10

ness box, was explaining that he had
performed innumerable autopsies-
that was his business. The entire
courtroom, with perfectly audible
sigh of incredulouS horror, drew back
in their chairs as though from some
physical menace. Drew back, and then,
alas, human nature being human ma
ture. craned forward eagerly in their
chairs to see better the really fright
full object, dappled scarlet and chalk
white. that Senator Simpson was
casually placing on the edge of the
witness box.
All save two. BY the time that the
press had realized that they We're in
their privileged position in order to
report the reactions of others and not
| to concern themselves about their
| own, one chair in the courtroom was
| empty and one head was bowed 50
| low that only the edge of a black hat
| with a pearl pin thrust through 1t
could be seen. Charlotte Mills had
! forgotten that she was supposed to
| be a good repOrter-the courtroom
| was to see her no more that afternoon
and Frances Stevens Hall, after her
! first frantic start, had forgotten thai
| she was in the role of iron-willed and
Unconditional stole. Not once for the
! hour that remained was she able to
| turn again to the witness box, which
| she generally watches with cool, level,
| appraising eyes and family ironic
| lips. 1t was small wonder.
Head Is CHASTITY White.
| On the edge Of that box was a head,
CHASTITY white, with even more
| ghastly splotches of rusty red. A
red that is the color of only one
thing in the world-dried blood. SEN
ator Case, after a stunned moment.
| inquired in carefully level tones,
''This-this is not supposed to repre-
/ sent any particular person" And
| Senator Simpsons yirtuously indig-
nant, NO, no, certainly not. 1t is
| simply a human being, here to make
| DR.. SchultZ'S demonstrations simple, )"
! fell on practically deaf ears. To alf
| intents and purposes, those who
watched that appalling object saw
| something else; they saw laughing
girl whose laughter had been stopped
| forever by a reddening knife. James
Mills. Henry Stevens, William Stevens
| sat staring at it as though it had
| been the head of Medusa herself: for
! one unpleasant moment Willie be-
| trayed definitely the eccentricity
which has been attributed to him.
| He laughed. While the DOCTOR
| touching the head eXpertly and un-
! emotionally with a ruler, traced the
| course OF the bullet and knife, and
chatted pleasantly of centimeters and
millimeters, Of angles and surfaces,
| the courtroom sat, staring, staring
only shifting their eyes occasionally
| TO see if Mrs. Hall had lifted her head.
| Finally she did. and turned it
resolutely to those probing eyes; but
not all the iron viii that she has
! amply shown that she possesses could
! turn the fraction Of an inch that
would have enabled her to see the
| smoothly explanatory occupant OF the
witness boX-or the object OF his eX-
i plantations. Well for her that she did
4, not More than one who watched II
| through that hour will see 1t again-in
dreams. in shadows. in darkness.
| Senator Simpson had given the public
| their story: but not all the thousands
| of words that pour out of Somerville
| tonight-ug!y words. Of unexplained
wounds, ineXpiicable marks, contu-
| sions and runctures-all those thou
| sands Of words could not convey the
sick thrill that shook the drowsy
! courtroom to sudden life; that has not
/. shaken them possibly for the last
time,