"At that time I was very pressed for money. I yielded to the pressure of my necessities." "By which you mean?" "That I accepted a small loan." "You accepted a small loan. Did you not levy blackmail? Did you not extort blood-money, sir? Did you not demand a sum of money in exchange for your silence?" Mr. Bates raised his voice very considerably. The witness quivered. "I believe I did suggest that a small loan should be made to me." "And you got it?" "I did." "What was the amount of this small loan?" "A hundred pounds." "A hundred pounds?" This from the judge. The witness, "Yes, my lord." "You call that a small loan? Well, go on." Mr. Bates went on. "Then what did you do?" "I called again at the prisoner's office. When I found he was not there on this Friday I called at his private house." "On which occasion you found him ill in bed?" "I found him in bed." "In the presence of Mrs. Tennant you suggested that another small loan should be made you?" "I might have done." "You did not get it?" "I did not." "You were shown to the door instead?" "I left the house, resolving to tamper no more with my conscience." "Having been refused another small loan?" "I went at once to the police, and told them everything." "Including the incident of the small loan?" "I don't know that I told them about that." "I think it probable that you did not. Mr. Taunton, what is your profession?" The witness gripped the rail in front of him. "I have none." "May I ask, then, how you earn your living?" "As best I can." Mr. Bates turned to the judge. "I think it possible, my lord, that I may be able to throw a flood of light upon what the witness means by saying that he earns his living as best he can. Mr. Taunton, when did you last come out of gaol?" Obviously the witness gripped the rail in front of him still tighter. The moisture gleamed upon his forehead. "That has nothing to do with it." The judge interposed. "Answer the question, sir." The witness turned his twitching countenance towards the judge. "I would respectfully suggest, my lord, that it has nothing to do with the present case." Mr. Bates struck in. "With your lordship's permission, I may be able to render the witness material assistance. Mr. Taunton, at York Assizes, five years ago this month, under the name of Arthur Stewart, were you not sentenced to five years' penal servitude by Mr. Justice Hunter?" The judge pressed his spectacles into their place. "I thought I had seen the man before. I remember him very well. Was it a case of bigamous intermarriage?" "The man--this man--was found guilty of having married four women, one after the other, of robbing them of all they had, and then deserting them. Possibly, also, your lordship will remember that no less than three previous convictions were proved against him." "I remember the case very well. And I remember the man. It was one of the worst cases of the kind I had ever encountered. I believe I said so at the time."