The After House

"Can you be more specific?"

"I refer to the night when Captain Richardson found the prisoner

in the chart-room and ordered him on deck."

"I recall that, yes."

"Where were you during the quarrel?"

"I was behind Mr. Vail."

"Tell us about it, please."

"It was an ordinary brawl. The captain knocked the mate down."

"Did you hear the mate threaten the captain?"

"No. He went on deck, muttering; I did not hear what was said."

"After the crimes, what did you do?"

"We established a dead-line at the foot of the forward companion.

The other was locked."

"Was there a guard at the top of the companion?"

"Yes; but we trusted no one."

"Where was Mr. Turner?"

"Ill, in his cabin."

"How ill?"

"Very. He was delirious."

"Did you allow any one down?"

"At first, Leslie, a sort of cabin-boy and deck steward, who seemed

to know something of medicine. Afterward we would not allow him,

either."

"Why?"

"We did not trust him."

"This Leslie--why had you asked him to sleep in the storeroom?"

"I--was afraid."

"Will you explain why you were afraid?"

"Fear is difficult to explain, isn't it? If one knows why one is

afraid, one--er--generally isn't."

"That's a bit subtle, I'm afraid. You were afraid, then, without

knowing why?"

"Yes."

"Had you a revolver on board?'"

"Yes."

"Whose revolver was kept on the cabin table?"

"Mine. I always carry one."

"Always?"

"Yes."

"Then--have you one with you now?"

"Yes."

"When you asked the sailor Burns to let you see the axe, what did

you give as a reason?"

"The truth--curiosity."

"Then, having seen the axe, where did you go?"

"Below."

"Please explain the incident of the two articles Mr. Goldstein

showed to the jury yesterday, the shirt and waistcoat."

"That was very simple. Mr. Turner had been very ill. We took

turns in caring for him. I spilled a bowl of broth over the garments

that were shown, and rubbed them out in the bathroom. They were

hung in the cabin used by Mr. Vail to dry, and I forgot them when

we were packing."

The attorney for the defense cross-examined her: "What color were the stains you speak of?"

"Darkish--red-brown."

"What sort of broth did you spill?"

"That's childish, isn't it? I don't recall."

"You recall its color."

"It was beef broth."

"Mrs. Johns, on the night you visited the forward house and viewed

the axe, did you visit it again?"

"The axe, or the forward house?"

"The house."

She made one of her long pauses. Finally:-"Yes."

"When?"

"Between three and four o'clock."

"Who went with you?"

"I went alone."

"Why did you go beyond the line that was railed off for your safety?"