"
"I have, sir."
His hands rose, one to the right hand wall, the other to the left,
and remained there with their palms resting heavily against the
rotting plaster. She was more than ever hemmed in; but, though she
felt a trifle frightened at his aspect which certainly was not
usual, she faced him without shrinking and in very evident
surprise.
"You went immediately home with the child after that glimpse you
got of Mr. Etheridge?"
"Yes; I had no reason in the world to suppose that anything was
going to happen in the ravine below us. Of course, I went straight
on; there were things to be done at home, and--you don't believe
me, sir."
His hands fell; an indefinable change had come over his aspect; he
bowed and seemed about to utter an ironic apology. She felt
puzzled and unconsciously she began to think. What was lacking in
her statement? Something. Could she remember what? Something which
he had expected; something which as presiding judge over John's
trial he had been made aware of and now recalled to render her
story futile. It couldn't be that one little thing--But yes, it
might be. Nothing is little where a great crime is concerned. She
smiled a dubious smile, then she said:
"It seems too slight a fact to mention, and, in-deed, I had
forgotten it till you pressed me, but after we had passed the
gates and were well out on the highway, I found that Reuther had
left her little pail behind her here, and we came back and got it.
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