I got back to the court room about ten minutes to one and only a few was there. It was awful interestin' now, and I couldn't keep away or hardly wait for the next thing. Pretty soon Mitch came in and set by me. His hair was combed slick, and he acted terribly quiet. Then the judge came and my pa and court was opened. Pretty soon Mr. Miller came in and sat with Mitch and me and after a while Mrs. Miller, who hadn't been there before, and my ma was with her. The court room was so full you couldn't breathe. Then my pa got up and began to talk and he said he had some evidence which was competent, but needed to be explained first to the judge, and he thought they'd better go into the judge's room and talk about it first. So the judge, my pa, and Major Abbott went to the judge's room and closed the door, and the jury just waited and the audience began to whisper and I looked across the room and saw John Armstrong. Everybody was there except grandpa and grandma, Willie Wallace, my uncle and maybe a few others. After a while the judge, my pa and Major Abbott came out of the judge's room. The judge got on the bench and said, "You may proceed, Mr. States Attorney." My pa turned around and looked down in the audience, and said in a loud voice, "Mitchell Miller, take the witness stand, please." I was knocked over. Here was Tom Sawyer right over again. Mitch was goin' to testify. What on earth did he know? He'd never told me a word. Mitch was dreadful pale, and so was Mr. Miller. But Mr. Miller says, "Come on, my boy, and may God help you." So they got up, and Mr. Miller walked with Mitch inside the railin' and stood there, very sad, until Mitch took the witness chair, then he walked back and sat down inside the railing. All the jury was craning their necks now and the court room was so still that the tickin' of the clock was scary. It seemed as Mitch was only twelve, they had to ask him about whether he knew what he was doin'. So my pa began this a way, after Mitch was sworn. "What is your name?" "Mitchell Miller." "How old are you?" "Twelve years old." "Do you understand the obligations of an oath?" "I do, sir." "What are they?" "They are to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." "And if you don't tell the truth, what will happen to you?" "I'll be punished." "How?" "By prison." "What else?" "By God." "You believe in God, do you, Mitchie?" asked my pa in a quieter voice. "I do," said Mitch. "And a hereafter." "I do." "And that you'll be punished in the hereafter if you don't tell the truth?" "That's leading, your honor," interrupted Major Abbott. "Yes," said the judge. "Very well," said my pa. "What else will happen to you if you don't tell the truth, Mitchell?" "I'll be punished in the hereafter." "Cross-examine," said my pa. Then Major Abbott began in kind of a sneerin' voice. "So you think you'll be punished in the hereafter?" "Yes, sir." "Why?"