‘I was present at the execution of the will. The prisoner brought it. That is the will, so far as I can judge. I did not examine it. The prisoner read it aloud, at the testator’s request. He read the bequest ‘five hundred thousand pounds.’ He read slowly and distinctly. I paid particular attention to that part of the will. No one was present except the testator, the prisoner, Mr. James Semple, who, I believe, is also a grand-nephew of the deceased, and myself. The servants who witnessed it did not hear it read over. The testator expressed his satisfaction with the will as it was read to him. ‘When the prisoner finished reading the will, he left the room for a short time. I believe some one called to see him. He did not take the will away with him. He left it with the deceased. I think he laid it on the bed. I did not look at it, nor touch it. When he returned the servants were called in, and the will was signed.’ As the minister ceased speaking, a sound ran round the court, as of long-drawn inspirations. Then a slight buzz of conversation arose. Every man looked at his neighbour and smiled, and then looked at the prisoner. Alec’s pale face was set, and his eyes fixed on the minister. Sophy shuddered, and felt bewildered. She was not surprised that a girl sitting beside her whom she did not know gave a half-hysterical sob. The girl was Laura Mowbray. She was at that moment suffering something like agony. She saw that Alec was about to be condemned. She believed that her evidence might save him. Yet she dared not speak. She knew not what the consequences might be to herself, if she confessed that she had meddled with the will. She might even be accused of the fraud, and tried herself; and she shuddered at the thought. Then Mr. Corker rose to cross-examine the witness. ‘You approved of this singular bequest, Mr. Mackenzie?’ ‘I did not disapprove of it.’ The minister looked at the barrister disdainfully for an instant, and then turned his eyes back to the Judge, whom he had addressed throughout. ‘It would have been a very fine thing for you if it had been carried out, eh?’ ‘The bequest was not to me.’ ‘Look at me, sir, and answer my questions in a straightforward manner!’ shouted Mr. Corker. Dr. Mackenzie mutely appealed to the Judge for protection; but his lordship contented himself with pointing in Mr. Corker’s direction with the feather of his pen. ‘I know very well the bequest was not to you; but it would have been a very good thing for you if it had been half a million instead of five thousand pounds, wouldn’t it?’ ‘I was to be secretary to the trust,’ answered the minister, after a pause. ‘Exactly. For nothing, eh? Come now.’ ‘I could not be expected to devote a large portion of my time to work of that kind for nothing.’ ‘Of course not. You expected that it would be a snug little berth for you?’ The minister did not answer. ‘You foresaw this when Mr. Lindsay declared his intention of making this bequest, did you not?’