“But you mus’n’t do anything of the sort. You must leave the whole matter in the hands of your counsel, and be guided by their directions.” “I will do so.” The lawyer then proceeded to draw out of the prisoner all the facts relating to the murder, and made memoranda of them. “Ross, you say there was a man with Buckstone when you first saw him on the rocks?” continued Dick Birch. “Yes, I do; of course you know that better than I do,” replied Ross, with a smile. “Why should I know it?” “Because you were the person.” “Could you swear that I was the person, Ross?” asked Dick, with as much indifference as he could assume. “I could not. It was too dark to see plainly who it was; and I was busy with another affair. I didn’t care who it was.” “Now, Ross, I wish you to think of this matter. You cannot swear that I was the person?” “No, I cannot. Does it do you any harm to have it known that you were the person with Buckstone?” “Never mind that, just now, Ross. All we want here is the truth. When you first saw the man with Buckstone, did you think who it was?” “No, sir; I did not.” “After you had done the deed, did you think who it was?” “No.” “Now, Ross, according to your statement, Buckstone and this man were talking together, and you listened to them.” “Yes, sir; I did.” “Then you heard the stranger’s voice.” “Certainly I did.” “Could you tell by the voice whether it was any one you had heard speak before?” “Well, he didn’t say much. I heard him ask Buckstone if he intended to marry Mary. Then, pretty soon, Buckstone told a long story about how it was--that he did intend to marry her at first, and then he didn’t. This made me so mad I didn’t want to hear any more, and I went off after a club. When I came back, they were talking about a consideration for marrying my sister, which didn’t make me feel any better. I heard what Buckstone said, and I didn’t care a straw what the other man talked about; besides, he didn’t speak very loud.” “Then you could not tell from his voice who he was?” “No, sir; I could not. I didn’t mind much about it; but I have thought since, from the way he spoke about the marriage, that he was a lawyer.” “Did you think, at the time, that he was a lawyer?” “I didn’t think anything about it.” “What did he say that made you think he was a lawyer?” “He asked Buckstone if he intended to marry Mary, and said the intention made all the difference in the world.” “Just so; now, Ross, you did not think, at the time, who this stranger was,--are you quite sure on this point?”