"Look at this old gentleman, sitting by me," said Sharpman, waving his hand toward Craft, "and tell me whether he is the one." The man turned his eyes on Old Simon, and looked at him closely for a full minute. "Yes," he replied, "I believe he is the one. He has grown older and thinner, but I do not think I am mistaken." Craft nodded his head mildly in assent, and Sharpman continued:-- "Did you take particular notice of the child's clothing as you saw it after the accident; could you recognize, at this time, the principal articles of outside wear that he had on?" "I think I could." Sharpman paused as if in thought. After he had whispered for a moment with Craft, he said to the witness:-- "That is all, for the present, Mr. Merrick." Then he turned to the opposing counsel and said:-- "Mr. Goodlaw, you may take the witness." Goodlaw fixed his glasses more firmly on his nose, consulted briefly with his client, and then began his cross-examination. After drawing out much of the personal history of the witness, he went with him into the details of the Cherry Brook disaster. Finally he asked:-- "Did you know Robert Burnham in his lifetime?" "A gentleman by that name called on me a week after the accident to make inquiries about his son." "Did you say to him, at that time, that the child must have perished in the wreck?" "I think I did; yes, sir." "On what did you base your opinion?" "On several circumstances. The nurse with whom he was sitting was killed outright; it would seem to have been impossible for any one occupying that seat to have escaped instant death, since the other car struck and rested at just that point. Again, there were but two children on the train. It took it for granted that the old man and child whom I saw together after the accident were the same ones whom I had seen together before it occurred." "Did you tell Mr. Burnham of seeing this old man and child after the accident?" "I did; yes, sir." "Did you not say to him positively, at that time, that they were the same persons who were sitting together across the aisle from him before the crash came?" "It may be that I did." "And did you not assure him that the child who went to the city, on the train that night after the accident was not his son?" "I may have done so. I felt quite positive of it at that time." "Has your opinion in that matter changed since then?" "Not as to the facts; no, sir; but I feel that I may have taken too much for granted at that time, and have given Mr. Burnham a wrong impression." "At which time, sir, would you be better able to form an opinion,--one week after this accident occurred, or ten years afterward?"