Murder -- Fiction; San Francisco (Calif.) -- Fiction
Instantly voices of officers rang all about the court, crying, "Order,
order!" though there had been no sound, only a great stir, which seemed
to pass across the crowd, and which the next moment might have become
articulate. I sat trembling, wondering what it all meant, clasping my
hands tightly in my lap. All the back of the hall was crowded with
men, and most of these looked like street-loungers, unshaven and rough.
They stood so close together they hid the door, and seemed to sway and
press forward upon the room; and I thought, "There are a great many
Mexicans in here."
Mr. Dingley asked me more questions--if I had heard voices quarreling,
and I had not; which side of the street had been in sunshine, and what
color dress I had worn. I told him, thinking that this was nonsense
again. And then Mr. Jackson said something to the judge, Mr. Dingley
sat down, and Mr. Jackson leaned on the railing, making me think of a
figure on the stage, and asked me why had I gone out at that early hour
of the morning, what had been my business, how had it happened that I
was walking through such a street as Dupont, and how did I suppose the
doors of the saloon had happened to be open so early? It was all in
such a tone as made my cheeks burn with a sense of shame and
indignation, though I could not see what he was getting at. Then
suddenly he veered and demanded how could I tell that the handle of the
revolver had been mother-of-pearl when it had fallen on the shady side
of the street, how large was it exactly, how had Johnny Montgomery held
it, how had he thrown it, then--quickly leaning toward me--could I
produce this revolver?
At this there were sounds from the back of the court like hisses, and
voices choked off on the first syllable by rappings and calls of
"Order!" The small man who was Mr. Dingley's associate attorney was
calling out, "I object, your Honor," very fiercely.
I felt faint, and did not know in the least what was the trouble. I
began to answer that I had not touched the revolver, but the judge
smiled at me, and said in his conversational voice: only now it was not
indifferent but very kind, "You needn't answer that question."
So I said, "Thank you." And Mr. Jackson said, "That will do," and I
noticed that some of the jurors were smiling, but quite nicely, so I
didn't mind that, as I went down out of the witness-box.
"Can it be that this is all I am to do?" I thought. "Is it over?" I
had expected this for so long in my days and in my dreams; and the
moment had come and had passed so quickly. And here was father waiting
for me.
"I shall have to testify. I will take you to the witness room and you
can wait for me there," he explained to me.
"Oh, no," I said, "let me stay here. I am afraid to be alone." I
suppose the thought of the Spanish Woman occurred to him, for he did
not insist, but really I was not afraid of anything except of having to
leave the court room before I knew what the end was to be.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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