The mood of Mason throughout the entire direct examination was that of a restless harrier anxious to be off at theheels of its prey--of a foxhound within the last leap of its kill. A keen and surging desire to shatter thistestimony, to show it to be from start to finish the tissue of lies that in part at least it was, now animated2 him.
And no sooner had Jephson concluded than he leaped up and confronted Clyde, who, seeing him blazing withthis desire to undo3 him, felt as though he was about to be physically4 attacked.
"Griffiths, you had that camera in your hand at the time she came toward you in the boat?""Yes, sir.""She stumbled and fell and you accidentally struck her with it?""Yes.""I don't suppose in your truthful6 and honest way you remember telling me there in the woods on the shore of BigBittern that you never had a camera?""Yes, sir--I remember that.""And that was a lie, of course?""Yes, sir.""And told with all the fervor7 and force that you are now telling this other lie?""I'm not lying. I've explained why I said that.""You've explained why you said that! You've explained why you said that! And because you lied there youexpect to be believed here, do you?"Belknap rose to object, but Jephson pulled him down.
"Well, this is the truth, just the same.""And no power under heaven could make you tell another lie here, of course--not a strong desire to save yourselffrom the electric chair?"Clyde blanched8 and quivered slightly; he blinked his red, tired eyelids9. "Well, I might, maybe, but not underoath, I don't think.""You don't think! Oh, I see. Lie all you want wherever you are--and at any time--and under any circumstances-except when you're on trial for murder!""No, sir. It isn't that. But what I just said is so.""And you swear on the Bible, do you, that you experienced a change of heart?""Yes, sir.""That Miss Alden was very sad and that was what moved you to experience this change of heart?""Yes, sir. That's how it was.""Well, now, Griffiths, when she was up there in the country and waiting for you--she wrote you all those lettersthere, did she not?""Yes, sir.""You received one on an average of every two days, didn't you?""Yes, sir.""And you knew she was lonely and miserable11 there, didn't you?""Yes, sir--but then I've explained--""Oh, you've explained! You mean your lawyers have explained it for you! Didn't they coach you day after day in that jail over there as to how you were to answer when the time came?""No, sir, they didn't!" replied Clyde, defiantly12, catching13 Jephson's eye at this moment.
"Well, then when I asked you up there at Bear Lake how it was that his girl met her death--why didn't you tell methen and save all this trouble and suspicion and investigation14? Don't you think the public would have listenedmore kindly15 and believingly there than it will now after you've taken five long months to think it all out with thehelp of two lawyers?""But I didn't think it out with any lawyers," persisted Clyde, still looking at Jephson, who was supporting himwith all his mental strength. "I've just explained why I did that.""You've explained! You've explained!" roared Mason, almost beside himself with the knowledge that this falseexplanation was sufficient of a shield or barrier for Clyde to hide behind whenever he found himself being toohard pressed--the little rat! And so now he fairly quivered with baffled rage as he proceeded.
"And before you went up--while she was writing them to you--you considered them sad, didn't you?""Why, yes, sir. That is"--he hesitated incautiously--"some parts of them anyhow.""Oh, I see--only some parts of them now. I thought you just said you considered them sad.""Well, I do.""And did.""Yes, sir--and did." But Clyde's eyes were beginning to wander nervously16 in the direction of Jephson, who wasfixing him as with a beam of light.
"Remember her writing you this?" And here Mason picked up and opened one of the letters and began reading:
"Clyde--I shall certainly die, dear, if you don't come. I am so much alone. I am nearly crazy now. I wish I couldgo away and never return or trouble you any more. But if you would only telephone me, even so much as onceevery other day, since you won't write. And when I need you and a word of encouragement so." Mason's voicewas mellow17. It was sad. One could feel, as he spoke18, the wave of passing pity that was moving as sound andcolor not only through him but through every spectator in the high, narrow courtroom. "Does that seem at all sadto you?""Yes, sir, it does.""Did it then?""Yes, sir, it did.""You knew it was sincere, didn't you?" snarled19 Mason.
"Yes, sir. I did.""Then why didn't a little of that pity that you claim moved you so deeply out there in the center of Big Bitternmove you down there in Lycurgus to pick up the telephone there in Mrs. Peyton's house where you were andreassure that lonely girl by so much as a word that you were coming? Was it because your pity for her thenwasn't as great as it was after she wrote you that threatening letter? Or was it because you had a plot and youwere afraid that too much telephoning to her might attract attention? How was it that you had so much pity all ofa sudden up at Big Bittern, but none at all down there at Lycurgus? Is it something you can turn on and off like afaucet?""I never said I had none at all," replied Clyde, defiantly, having just received an eye-flash from Jephson.
"Well, you left her to wait until she had to threaten you because of her own terror and misery20.""Well, I've admitted that I didn't treat her right.""Ha, ha! Right! RIGHT! And because of that admission and in face of all the other testimony1 we've had here,your own included, you expect to walk out of here a free man, do you?"Belknap was not to be restrained any longer. His objection came--and with bitter vehemence21 he addressed thejudge: "This is infamous22, your Honor. Is the district attorney to be allowed to make a speech with everyquestion?""I heard no objection," countered the court. "The district attorney will frame his questions properly."Mason took the rebuke23 lightly and turned again to Clyde. "In that boat there in the center of Big Bittern you havetestified that you had in your hand that camera that you once denied owning?""Yes, sir.""And she was in the stern of the boat?""Yes, sir.""Bring in that boat, will you, Burton?" he called to Burleigh at this point, and forthwith four deputies from thedistrict attorney's office retired25 through a west door behind the judge's rostrum and soon returned carrying theidentical boat in which Clyde and Roberta had sat, and put it down before the jury. And as they did so Clydechilled and stared. The identical boat! He blinked and quivered as the audience stirred, stared and strained, anaudible wave of curiosity and interest passing over the entire room. And then Mason, taking the camera andshaking it up and down, exclaimed: "Well, here you are now, Griffiths! The camera you never owned. Step downhere into this boat and take this camera here and show the jury just where you sat, and where Miss Alden sat.
And exactly, if you can, how and where it was that you struck Miss Alden and where and about how she fell.""Object!" declared Belknap.
A long and wearisome legal argument, finally terminating in the judge allowing this type of testimony to becontinued for a while at least. And at the conclusion of it, Clyde declaring: "I didn't intentionally26 strike her withit though"--to which Mason replied: "Yes, we heard you testify that way"--then Clyde stepping down and afterbeing directed here and there finally stepping into the boat at the middle seat and seating himself while three menheld it straight.
"And now, Newcomb--I want you to come here and sit wherever Miss Alden was supposed to sit and take anyposition which he describes as having been taken by her.""Yes, sir," said Newcomb, coming forward and seating himself while Clyde vainly sought to catch Jephson's eyebut could not since his own back was partially27 turned from him.
"And now, Griffiths," went on Mason, "just you show Mr. Newcomb here how Miss Alden arose and cametoward you. Direct him."And then Clyde, feeling weak and false and hated, arising again and in a nervous and angular way--the eeriestrangeness of all this affecting him to the point of unbelievable awkwardness--attempting to show Newcombjust how Roberta had gotten up and half walked and half crawled, then had stumbled and fallen. And after that,with the camera in his hand, attempting to show as nearly as he could recall, how unconsciously his arm had shotout and he had struck Roberta, he scarcely knowing where--on the chin and cheek maybe, he was not sure, butnot intentionally, of course, and not with sufficient force really to injure her, he thought at the time. But just herea long wrangle28 between Belknap and Mason as to the competency of such testimony since Clyde declared that hecould not remember clearly--but Oberwaltzer finally allowing the testimony on the ground that it would show,relatively, whether a light or heavy push or blow was required in order to upset any one who might be "lightly"or "loosely" poised29.
"But how in Heaven's name are these antics as here demonstrated on a man of Mr. Newcomb's build to showwhat would follow in the case of a girl of the size and weight of Miss Alden?" persisted Belknap.
"Well, then we'll put a girl of the size and weight of Miss Alden in here." And at once calling for Zillah Saundersand putting her in Newcomb's place. But Belknap none-the-less proceeding31 with:
"And what of that? The conditions aren't the same. This boat isn't on the water. No two people are going to bealike in their resistance or their physical responses to accidental blows.""Then you refuse to allow this demonstration32 to be made?" (This was from Mason, turning and cynicallyinquiring.)"Oh, make it if you choose. It doesn't mean anything though, as anybody can see," persisted Belknap,suggestively.
And so Clyde, under directions from Mason, now pushing at Zillah, "about as hard," (he thought) as he had accidentally pushed at Roberta. And she falling back a little--not much--but in so doing being able to lay a handon each side of the boat and so save herself. And the jury, in spite of Belknap's thought that his contentionswould have counteracted33 all this, gathering34 the impression that Clyde, on account of his guilt35 and fear of death,was probably attempting to conjure36 something that had been much more viciously executed, to be sure. For hadnot the doctors sworn to the probable force of this and another blow on the top of the head? And had not BurtonBurleigh testified to having discovered a hair in the camera? And how about the cry that woman had heard? Howabout that?
But with that particular incident the court was adjourned37 for this day.
On the following morning at the sound of the gavel, there was Mason, as fresh and vigorous and vicious as ever.
And Clyde, after a miserable night in his cell and much bolstering38 by Jephson and Belknap, determined39 to be ascool and insistent40 and innocent-appearing as he could be, but with no real heart for the job, so convinced was hethat local sentiment in its entirety was against him--that he was believed to be guilty. And with Mason beginningmost savagely41 and bitterly:
"You still insist that you experienced a change of heart, do you, Griffiths?""Yes, sir, I do.""Ever hear of people being resuscitated42 after they have apparently43 drowned?""I don't quite understand.""You know, of course, that people who are supposed to be drowned, who go down for the last time and don'tcome up, are occasionally gotten out of the water and revived, brought back to life by first-aid methods-workingtheir arms and rolling them over a log or a barrel. You've heard of that, haven't you?""Yes, sir, I think I have. I've heard of people being brought back to life after they're supposed to be drowned, butI don't think I ever heard just how.""You never did?""No, sir.""Or how long they could stay under water and still be revived?""No, sir. I never did.""Never heard, for instance, that a person who had been in the water as long as fifteen minutes might still bebrought to?""No, sir.""So it never occurred to you after you swam to shore yourself that you might still call for aid and so save her lifeeven then?""No, sir, it didn't occur to me. I thought she was dead by then.""I see. But when she was still alive out there in the water--how about that? You're a pretty good swimmer, aren'tyou?""Yes, sir, I swim fairly well.""Well enough, for instance, to save yourself by swimming over five hundred feet with your shoes and clothes on.
Isn't that so?""Well, I did swim that distance then--yes, sir.""Yes, you did indeed--and pretty good for a fellow who couldn't swim thirty-five feet to an overturned boat, I'llsay," concluded Mason.
Here Jephson waved aside Belknap's suggestion that he move to have this comment stricken out.
Clyde was now dragged over his various boating and swimming experiences and made to tell how many times hehad gone out on lakes in craft as dangerous as canoes and had never had an accident.
"The first time you took Roberta out on Crum Lake was in a canoe, wasn't it?""Yes, sir.""But you had no accident then?""No, sir.""You cared for her then very much, didn't you?""Yes, sir.""But the day she was drowned in Big Bittern, in this solid, round-bottomed row-boat, you didn't care for her anymore.""Well, I've said how I felt then.""And of course there couldn't be any relation between the fact that on Crum Lake you cared for her but on BigBittern--""I said how I felt then.""But you wanted to get rid of her just the same, didn't you? The moment she was dead to run away to that othergirl. You don't deny that, do you?""I've explained why I did that," reiterated44 Clyde.
"Explained! Explained! And you expect any fair-minded, decent, intelligent person to believe that explanation,do you?" Mason was fairly beside himself with rage and Clyde did not venture to comment as to that. The judgeanticipated Jephson's objection to this and bellowed45, "Objection sustained." But Mason went right on. "Youcouldn't have been just a little careless, could you, Griffiths, in the handling of the boat and upset it yourself,say?" He drew near and leered.
"No, sir, I wasn't careless. It was an accident that I couldn't avoid." Clyde was quite cool, though pale and tired.
"An accident. Like that other accident out there in Kansas City, for instance. You're rather familiar withaccidents of that kind, aren't you, Griffiths?" queried46 Mason sneeringly47 and slowly.
"I've explained how that happened," replied Clyde nervously.
"You're rather familiar with accidents that result in death to girls, aren't you? Do you always run away when oneof them dies?""Object," yelled Belknap, leaping to his feet.
"Objection sustained," called Oberwaltzer sharply. "There is nothing before this court concerning any otheraccident. The prosecution48 will confine itself more closely to the case in hand.""Griffiths," went on Mason, pleased with the way he had made a return to Jephson for his apology for the KansasCity accident, "when that boat upset after that accidental blow of yours and you and Miss Alden fell into thewater--how far apart were you?""Well, I didn't notice just then.""Pretty close, weren't you? Not much more than a foot or two, surely--the way you stood there in the boat?""Well, I didn't notice. Maybe that, yes, sir.""Close enough to have grabbed her and hung on to her if you had wanted to, weren't you? That's what youjumped up for, wasn't it, when she started to fall out?""Yes, that's what I jumped up for," replied Clyde heavily, "but I wasn't close enough to grab her. I know I wentright under, and when I came up she was some little distance away.""Well, how far exactly? As far as from here to this end of the jury box or that end, or half way, or what?""Well, I say I didn't notice, quite. About as far from here to that end, I guess," he lied, stretching the distance byat least eight feet.
"Not really!" exclaimed Mason, pretending to evince astonishment49. "This boat here turns over, you both fall inthe water close together, and when you come up you and she are nearly twenty feet apart. Don't you think yourmemory is getting a little the best of you there?""Well, that's the way it looked to me when I came up.""Well, now, after that boat turned over and you both came up, where were you in relation to IT? Here is the boatnow and where were you out there in the audience, as to distance, I mean?""Well, as I say, I didn't exactly notice when I first came up," returned Clyde, looking nervously and dubiously51 atthe space before him. Most certainly a trap was being prepared for him. "About as far as from here to that railingbeyond your table, I guess.""About thirty to thirty-five feet then," suggested Mason, slyly and hopefully.
"Yes, sir. About that maybe. I couldn't be quite sure.""And now with you over there and the boat here, where was Miss Alden at that time?"And Clyde now sensed that Mason must have some geometric or mathematic scheme in mind whereby heproposed to establish his guilt. And at once he was on his guard, and looking in the direction of Jephson. At thesame time he could not see how he was to put Roberta too far away either. He had said she couldn't swim.
Wouldn't she be nearer the boat than he was? Most certainly. He leaped foolishly--wildly--at the thought that itmight be best to say that she was about half that distance--not more, very likely. And said so. And at once Masonproceeded with:
"Well, then she was not more than fifteen feet or so from you or the boat.""No, sir, maybe not. I guess not.""Well then, do you mean to say that you couldn't have swum that little distance and buoyed52 her up until youcould reach the boat just fifteen feet beyond her?""Well, as I say, I was a little dazed when I came up and she was striking about and screaming so.""But there was that boat--not more than thirty-five feet away, according to your own story--and a mighty53 longway for a boat to move in that time, I'll say. And do you mean to say that when you could swim five hundred feetto shore afterwards that you couldn't have swum to that boat and pushed it to her in time for her to save herself?
She was struggling to keep herself up, wasn't she?""Yes, sir. But I was rattled54 at first," pleaded Clyde, gloomily, conscious of the eyes of all the jurors and all thespectators fixed55 upon his face, "and . . . and . . ." (because of the general strain of the suspicion and incredulitynow focused as a great force upon him, his nerve was all but failing him, and he was hesitating and stumbling) . .
. "I didn't think quite quick enough I guess, what to do. Besides I was afraid if I went near her . . .""I know. A mental and moral coward," sneered56 Mason. "Besides very slow to think when it's to your advantageto be slow and swift when it's to your advantage to be swift. Is that it?""No, sir.""Well, then, if it isn't, just tell me this, Griffiths, why was it, after you got out of the water a few moments lateryou had sufficient presence of mind to stop and bury that tripod before starting through the woods, whereas,when it came to rescuing her you got rattled and couldn't do a thing? How was it that you could get so calm andcalculating the moment you set your foot on land? What can you say to that?""Well . . . a . . . I told you that afterwards I realized that there was nothing else to do.""Yes, we know all about that. But doesn't it occur to you that it takes a pretty cool head after so much panic inthe water to stop at a moment like that and take such a precaution as that--burying that tripod? How was it thatyou could think so well of that and not think anything about the boat a few moments before?""Well . . . but . ..""You didn't want her to live, in spite of your alleged57 change of heart! Isn't that it?" yelled Mason. "Isn't that theblack, sad truth? She was drowning, as you wanted her to drown, and you just let her drown! Isn't that so?"He was fairly trembling as he shouted this, and Clyde, the actual boat before him and Roberta's eyes and cries asshe sank coming back to him with all their pathetic and horrible force, now shrank and cowered58 in his seat--thecloseness of Mason's interpretation59 of what had really happened terrifying him. For never, even to Jephson andBelknap, had he admitted that when Roberta was in the water he had not wished to save her. Changelessly andsecretively he insisted he had wanted to but that it had all happened so quickly, and he was so dazed andfrightened by her cries and movements, that he had not been able to do anything before she was gone.
"I . . . I wanted to save her," he mumbled60, his face quite gray, "but . . . but . . . as I said, I was dazed . . . and . . .
and . . .""Don't you know that you're lying!" shouted Mason, leaning still closer, his stout61 arms aloft, his disfigured faceglowering and scowling62 like some avenging63 nemesis64 or fury of gargoyle65 design--"that you deliberately66 and withcold-hearted cunning allowed that poor, tortured girl to die there when you might have rescued her as easily asyou could have swum fifty of those five hundred feet you did swim in order to save yourself?" For by now hewas convinced that he knew just how Clyde had actually slain67 Roberta, something in his manner and moodconvincing him, and he was determined to drag it out of him if he could. And although Belknap was instantly onhis feet with a protest that his client was being unfairly prejudiced in the eyes of the jury and that he was reallyentitled to--and now demanded--a mistrial--which complaint Justice Oberwaltzer eventually overruled--still Clyde had time to reply, but most meekly68 and feebly: "No! No! I didn't. I wanted to save her if I could." Yet hiswhole manner, as each and every juror noted69, was that of one who was not really telling the truth, who was reallyall of the mental and moral coward that Belknap had insisted he was--but worse yet, really guilty of Roberta'sdeath. For after all, asked each juror of himself as he listened, why couldn't he have saved her if he was strongenough to swim to shore afterwards--or at least have swum to and secured the boat and helped her to take hold ofit?
"She only weighed a hundred pounds, didn't she?" went on Mason feverishly70.
"Yes, I think so.""And you--what did you weigh at the time?""About a hundred and forty," replied Clyde.
"And a hundred and forty pound man," sneered Mason, turning to the jury, "is afraid to go near a weak, sick,hundred-pound little girl who is drowning, for fear she will cling to him and drag him under! And a perfectlygood boat, strong enough to hold three or four up, within fifteen or twenty feet! How's that?"And to emphasize it and let it sink in, he now paused, and took from his pocket a large white handkerchief, andafter wiping his neck and face and wrists--since they were quite damp from his emotional and physical efforts-turnedto Burton Burleigh and called: "You might as well have this boat taken out of here, Burton. We're notgoing to need it for a little while anyhow." And forthwith the four deputies carried it out.
And then, having recovered his poise30, he once more turned to Clyde and began with: "Griffiths, you knew thecolor and feel of Roberta Alden's hair pretty well, didn't you? You were intimate enough with her, weren't you?""I know the color of it or I think I do," replied Clyde wincing--an anguished71 chill at the thought of it affectinghim almost observably.
"And the feel of it, too, didn't you?" persisted Mason. "In those very loving days of yours before Miss X camealong--you must have touched it often enough.""I don't know whether I did or not," replied Clyde, catching a glance from Jephson.
"Well, roughly. You must know whether it was coarse or fine--silky or coarse. You know that, don't you?""It was silky, yes.""Well, here's a lock of it," he now added more to torture Clyde than anything else--to wear him down nervously-andgoing to his table where was an envelope and from it extracting a long lock of light brown hair. "Don't thatlook like her hair?" And now he shoved it forward at Clyde who shocked and troubled withdrew from it as fromsome unclean or dangerous thing--yet a moment after sought to recover himself--the watchful72 eyes of the juryhaving noted all. "Oh, don't be afraid," persisted Mason, sardonically73. "It's only your dead love's hair."And shocked by the comment--and noting the curious eyes of the jury, Clyde took it in his hand. "That looks andfeels like her hair, doesn't it?" went on Mason.
"Well, it looks like it anyhow," returned Clyde shakily.
"And now here," continued Mason, stepping quickly to the table and returning with the camera in which betweenthe lid and the taking mechanism74 were caught the two threads of Roberta's hair put there by Burleigh, and thenholding it out to him. "Just take this camera. It's yours even though you did swear that it wasn't--and look at thosetwo hairs there. See them?" And he poked75 the camera at Clyde as though he might strike him with it. "They werecaught in there--presumably--at the time you struck her so lightly that it made all those wounds on her face. Can'tyou tell the jury whether those hairs are hers or not?""I can't say," replied Clyde most weakly.
"What's that? Speak up. Don't be so much of a moral and mental coward. Are they or are they not?""I can't say," repeated Clyde--but not even looking at them.
"Look at them. Look at them. Compare them with these others. We know these are hers. And you know thatthese in this camera are, don't you? Don't be so squeamish. You've often touched her hair in real life. She's dead.
They won't bite you. Are these two hairs--or are they not--the same as these other hairs here--which we know arehers--the same color--same feel--all? Look! Answer! Are they or are they not?"But Clyde, under such pressure and in spite of Belknap, being compelled to look and then feel them too. Yetcautiously replying, "I wouldn't be able to say. They look and feel a little alike, but I can't tell.""Oh, can't you? And even when you know that when you struck her that brutal76 vicious blow with that camera-thesetwo hairs caught there and held.""But I didn't strike her any vicious blow," insisted Clyde, now observing Jephson--"and I can't say." He wassaying to himself that he would not allow himself to be bullied77 in this way by this man--yet, at the same time,feeling very weak and sick. And Mason, triumphant78 because of the psychologic effect, if nothing more, returningthe camera and lock to the table and remarking, "Well, it's been amply testified to that those two hairs were inthat camera when found in the water. And you yourself swear that it was last in your hands before it reached thewater."He turned to think of something else--some new point with which to rack Clyde and now began once more:
"Griffiths, in regard to that trip south through the woods, what time was it when you got to Three Mile Bay?""About four in the morning, I think--just before dawn.""And what did you do between then and the time that boat down there left?""Oh, I walked around.""In Three Mile Bay?""No, sir--just outside of it.""In the woods, I suppose, waiting for the town to wake up so you wouldn't look so much out of place. Was thatit?""Well, I waited until after the sun came up. Besides I was tired and I sat down and rested for a while.""Did you sleep well and did you have pleasant dreams?""I was tired and I slept a little--yes.""And how was it you knew so much about the boat and the time and all about Three Mile Bay? Hadn't youfamiliarized yourself with this data beforehand?""Well, everybody knows about the boat from Sharon to Three Mile Bay around there.""Oh, do they? Any other reason?""Well, in looking for a place to get married, both of us saw it," returned Clyde, shrewdly, "but we didn't see thatany train went to it. Only to Sharon.""But you did notice that it was south of Big Bittern?""Why, yes--I guess I did," replied Clyde.
"And that that road west of Gun Lodge79 led south toward it around the lower edge of Big Bittern?""Well, I noticed after I got up there that there was a road of some kind or a trail anyhow--but I didn't think of it asa regular road.""I see. How was it then that when you met those three men in the woods you were able to ask them how far itwas to Three Mile Bay?""I didn't ask 'em that," replied Clyde, as he had been instructed by Jephson to say. "I asked 'em if they knew anyroad to Three Mile Bay, and how far it was. I didn't know whether that was the road or not.""Well, that wasn't how they testified here.""Well, I don't care what they testified to, that's what I asked 'em just the same.""It seems to me that according to you all the witnesses are liars80 and you are the only truthful one in thebunch. . . . Isn't that it? But, when you reached Three Mile Bay, did you stop to eat? You must have been hungry,weren't you?""No, I wasn't hungry," replied Clyde, simply.
"You wanted to get away from that place as quickly as possible, wasn't that it? You were afraid that those threemen might go up to Big Bittern and having heard about Miss Alden, tell about having seen you--wasn't that it?""No, that wasn't it. But I didn't want to stay around there. I've said why.""I see. But after you got down to Sharon where you felt a little more safe--a little further away, you didn't loseany time in eating, did you? It tasted pretty good all right down there, didn't it?""Oh, I don't know about that. I had a cup of coffee and a sandwich.""And a piece of pie, too, as we've already proved here," added Mason. "And after that you joined the crowdcoming up from the depot81 as though you had just come up from Albany, as you afterwards told everybody.
Wasn't that it?""Yes, that was it.""Well, now for a really innocent man who only so recently experienced a kindly change of heart, don't you thinkyou were taking an awful lot of precaution? Hiding away like that and waiting in the dark and pretending thatyou had just come up from Albany.""I've explained all that," persisted Clyde.
Mason's next tack5 was to hold Clyde up to shame for having been willing, in the face of all she had done for him,to register Roberta in three different hotel registers as the unhallowed consort82 of presumably three different menin three different days.
"Why didn't you take separate rooms?""Well, she didn't want it that way. She wanted to be with me. Besides I didn't have any too much money.""Even so, how could you have so little respect for her there, and then be so deeply concerned about herreputation after she was dead that you had to run away and keep the secret of her death all to yourself, in order,as you say, to protect her name and reputation?""Your Honor," interjected Belknap, "this isn't a question. It's an oration83.""I withdraw the question," countered Mason, and then went on. "Do you admit, by the way, that you are a mental and moral coward, Griffiths--do you?""No, sir. I don't.""You do not?""No, sir.""Then when you lie, and swear to it, you are just the same as any other person who is not a mental and moralcoward, and deserving of all the contempt and punishment due a person who is a perjurer84 and a false witness. Isthat correct?""Yes, sir. I suppose so.""Well, if you are not a mental and moral coward, how can you justify85 your leaving that girl in that lake--after asyou say you accidentally struck her and when you knew how her parents would soon be suffering because of herloss--and not say one word to anybody--just walk off--and hide the tripod and your suit and sneak86 away like anordinary murderer? Wouldn't you think that that was the conduct of a man who had plotted and executed murderand was trying to get away with it--if you had heard of it about some one else? Or would you think it was just thesly, crooked87 trick of a man who was only a mental and moral coward and who was trying to get away from theblame for the accidental death of a girl whom he had seduced88 and news of which might interfere89 with hisprosperity? Which?""Well, I didn't kill her, just the same," insisted Clyde.
"Answer the question!" thundered Mason.
"I ask the court to instruct the witness that he need not answer such a question," put in Jephson, rising and fixingfirst Clyde and then Oberwaltzer with his eye. "It is purely90 an argumentative one and has no real bearing on thefacts in this case.""I so instruct," replied Oberwaltzer. "The witness need not answer." Whereupon Clyde merely stared, greatlyheartened by this unexpected aid.
"Well, to go on," proceeded Mason, now more nettled91 and annoyed than ever by this watchful effort on the partof Belknap and Jephson to break the force and significance of his each and every attack, and all the moredetermined not to be outdone--"you say you didn't intend to marry her if you could help it, before you went upthere?""Yes, sir.""That she wanted you to but you hadn't made up your mind?""Yes.""Well, do you recall the cook-book and the salt and pepper shakers and the spoons and knives and so on that sheput in her bag?""Yes, sir. I do.""What do you suppose she had in mind when she left Biltz--with those things in her trunk--that she was goingout to live in some hall bedroom somewhere, unmarried, while you came to see her once a week or once amonth?"Before Belknap could object, Clyde shot back the proper answer.
"I can't say what she had in her mind about that.""You couldn't possibly have told her over the telephone there at Biltz, for instance--after she wrote you that ifyou didn't come for her she was coming to Lycurgus--that you would marry her?""No, sir--I didn't.""You weren't mental and moral coward enough to be bullied into anything like that, were you?""I never said I was a mental and moral coward.""But you weren't to be bullied by a girl you had seduced?""Well, I couldn't feel then that I ought to marry her.""You didn't think she'd make as good a match as Miss X?""I didn't think I ought to marry her if I didn't love her any more.""Not even to save her honor--and your own decency92?""Well, I didn't think we could be happy together then.""That was before your great change of heart, I suppose.""It was before we went to Utica, yes.""And while you were still so enraptured93 with Miss X?""I was in love with Miss X--yes.""Do you recall, in one of those letters to you that you never answered" (and here Mason proceeded to take up and read from one of the first seven letters), "her writing this to you; 'I feel upset and uncertain about everythingalthough I try not to feel so--now that we have our plan and you are going to come for me as you said.' Now justwhat was she referring to there when she wrote-- 'now that we have our plan'?""I don't know unless it was that I was coming to get her and take her away somewhere temporarily.""Not to marry her, of course.""No, I hadn't said so.""But right after that in this same letter she says: 'On the way up, instead of coming straight home, I decided94 tostop at Homer to see my sister and brother-in-law, since I am not sure now when I'll see them again, and I wantso much that they shall see me respectable or never at all any more.' Now just what do you suppose, she meantby that word 'respectable'? Living somewhere in secret and unmarried and having a child while you sent her alittle money, and then coming back maybe and posing as single and innocent or married and her husband dead-orwhat? Don't you suppose she saw herself married to you, for a time at least, and the child given a name? That'plan' she mentions couldn't have contemplated95 anything less than that, could it?""Well, maybe as she saw it it couldn't," evaded96 Clyde. "But I never said I would marry her.""Well, well--we'll let that rest a minute," went on Mason doggedly97. "But now take this," and here he beganreading from the tenth letter: "'It won't make any difference to you about your coming a few days sooner thanyou intended, will it, dear? Even if we have got to get along on a little less, I know we can, for the time I will bewith you anyhow, probably no more than six or eight months at the most. I agreed to let you go by then, youknow, if you want to. I can be very saving and economical. It can't be any other way now, Clyde, although foryour own sake I wish it could.' What do you suppose all that means--'saving and economical'--and not letting yougo until after eight months? Living in a hall bedroom and you coming to see her once a week? Or hadn't youreally agreed to go away with her and marry her, as she seems to think here?""I don't know unless she thought she could make me, maybe," replied Clyde, the while various backwoodsmenand farmers and jurors actually sniffed98 and sneered, so infuriated were they by the phrase "make me" whichClyde had scarcely noticed. "I never agreed to.""Unless she could make you. So that was the way you felt about it, was it, Griffiths?""Yes, sir.""You'd swear to that as quick as you would to anything else?""Well, I have sworn to it."And Mason as well as Belknap and Jephson and Clyde himself now felt the strong public contempt and rage thatthe majority of those present had for him from the start--now surging and shaking all. It filled the room. Yetbefore him were all the hours Mason needed in which he could pick and choose at random99 from the mass of testimony as to just what he would quiz and bedevil and torture Clyde with next. And so now, looking over hisnotes--arranged fan- wise on the table by Earl Newcomb for his convenience--he now began once more with:
"Griffiths, in your testimony here yesterday, through which you were being led by your counsel, Mr. Jephson"(at this Jephson bowed sardonically), "you talked about that change of heart that you experienced after youencountered Roberta Alden once more at Fonda and Utica back there in July--just as you were starting on thisdeath trip."Clyde's "yes, sir," came before Belknap could object, but the latter managed to have "death trip" changed to"trip.""Before going up there with her you hadn't been liking100 her as much as you might have. Wasn't that the way ofit?""Not as much as I had at one time--no, sir.""And just how long--from when to when--was the time in which you really did like her, before you began todislike her, I mean?""Well, from the time I first met her until I met Miss X.""But not afterwards?""Oh, I can't say not entirely101 afterwards. I cared for her some-- a good deal, I guess--but still not as much as I had.
I felt more sorry for her than anything else, I suppose.""And now, let's see--that was between December first last say, and last April or May--or wasn't it?""About that time, I think--yes, sir.""Well, during that time--December first to April or May first you were intimate with her, weren't you?""Yes, sir.""Even though you weren't caring for her so much.""Why--yes, sir," replied Clyde, hesitating slightly, while the rurals jerked and craned at this introduction of thesex crime.
"And yet at nights, and in spite of the fact that she was alone over there in her little room--as faithful to you, asyou yourself have testified, as any one could be--you went off to dances, parties, dinners, and automobile102 rides,while she sat there.""Oh, but I wasn't off all the time.""Oh, weren't you? But you heard the testimony of Tracy and Jill Trumbull, and Frederick Sells, and FrankHarriet, and Burchard Taylor, on this particular point, didn't you?""Yes, sir.""Well, were they all liars, or were they telling the truth?""Well, they were telling the truth as near as they could remember, I suppose.""But they couldn't remember very well--is that it?""Well, I wasn't off all the time. Maybe I was gone two or three times a week--maybe four sometimes--not more.""And the rest you gave to Miss Alden?""Yes, sir.""Is that what she meant in this letter here?" And here he took up another letter from the pile of Roberta's letters,and opening it and holding it before him, read: "'Night after night, almost every night after that dreadfulChristmas day when you left me, I was alone nearly always.' Is she lying, or isn't she?" snapped Mason fiercely,and Clyde, sensing the danger of accusing Roberta of lying here, weakly and shamefacedly replied: "No, she isn'tlying. But I did spend some evenings with her just the same.""And yet you heard Mrs. Gilpin and her husband testify here that night after night from December first on MissAlden was mostly always alone in her room and that they felt sorry for her and thought it so unnatural103 and triedto get her to join them, but she wouldn't. You heard them testify to that, didn't you?""Yes, sir.""And yet you insist that you were with her some?""Yes, sir.""Yet at the same time loving and seeking the company of Miss X?""Yes, sir.""And trying to get her to marry you?""I wanted her to--yes, sir.""Yet continuing relations with Miss Alden when your other interests left you any time.""Well . . . yes, sir," once more hesitated Clyde, enormously troubled by the shabby picture of his character whichthese disclosures seemed to conjure, yet somehow feeling that he was not as bad, or at least had not intended tobe, as all this made him appear. Other people did things like that too, didn't they--those young men in Lycurgussociety--or they had talked as though they did.
"Well, don't you think your learned counsel found a very mild term for you when they described you as a mentaland moral coward?" sneered Mason--and at the same time from the rear of the long narrow courtroom, aprofound silence seeming to precede, accompany and follow it,--yet not without an immediate104 roar of protestfrom Belknap, came the solemn, vengeful voice of an irate105 woodsman: "Why don't they kill the God-damnedbastard and be done with him?"--And at once Oberwaltzer gaveling for order and ordering the arrest of theoffender at the same time that he ordered all those not seated driven from the courtroom--which was done. Andthen the offender106 arrested and ordered arraigned107 on the following morning. And after that, silence, with Masononce more resuming:
"Griffiths, you say when you left Lycurgus you had no intention of marrying Roberta Alden unless you could notarrange in any other way.""Yes, sir. That was my intention at that time.""And accordingly you were fairly certain of coming back?""Yes, sir--I thought I was.""Then why did you pack everything in your room in your trunk and lock it?""Well . . . well . . . that is," hesitated Clyde, the charge coming so quickly and so entirely apart from what hadjust been spoken of before that he had scarcely time to collect his wits--"well, you see--I wasn't absolutely sure. Ididn't know but what I might have to go whether I wanted to or not.""I see. And so if you had decided up there unexpectedly as you did--" (and here Mason smirked108 on him as muchas to say--you think any one believes that?) "you wouldn't have had time to come back and decently pack yourthings and depart?""Well, no, sir--that wasn't the reason either.""Well then, what was the reason?""Well, you see," and here for lack of previous thought on this subject as well as lack of wit to grasp theessentiality of a suitable and plausible109 answer quickly, Clyde hesitated--as every one--first and foremost Belknapand Jephson--noted--and then went on: "Well, you see--if I had to go away, even for a short time as I thought Imight, I decided that I might need whatever I had in a hurry.""I see. You're quite sure it wasn't that in case the police discovered who Clifford Golden or Carl Graham were,that you might wish to leave quickly?""No, sir. It wasn't.""And so you didn't tell Mrs. Peyton you were giving up the room either, did you?""No, sir.""In your testimony the other day you said something about not having money enough to go up there and takeMiss Alden away on any temporary marriage scheme--even one that would last so long as six months.""Yes, sir.""When you left Lycurgus to start on the trip, how much did you have?""About fifty dollars.""'About' fifty? Don't you know exactly how much you had?""I had fifty dollars--yes, sir.""And while you were in Utica and Grass Lake and getting down to Sharon afterwards, how much did youspend?""I spent about twenty dollars on the trip, I think.""Don't you know?""Not exactly--no, sir--somewhere around twenty dollars, though.""Well, now let's see about that exactly if we can," went on Mason, and here, once more, Clyde began to sense atrap and grew nervous--for there was all that money given him by Sondra and some of which he had spent, too.
"How much was your fare from Fonda to Utica for yourself?""A dollar and a quarter.""And what did you have to pay for your room at the hotel at Utica for you and Roberta?""That was four dollars.""And of course you had dinner that night and breakfast the next morning, which cost you how much?""It was about three dollars for both meals.""Was that all you spent in Utica?" Mason was taking a side glance occasionally at a slip of paper on which he had figures and notes, but which Clyde had not noticed.
"Yes, sir.""How about the straw hat that it has been proved you purchased while there?""Oh, yes, sir, I forgot about that," said Clyde, nervously. "That was two dollars--yes, sir." He realized that hemust be more careful.
"And your fares to Grass Lake were, of course, five dollars. Is that right?""Yes, sir.""Then you hired a boat at Grass Lake. How much was that?""That was thirty-five cents an hour.""And you had it how long?""Three hours.""Making one dollar and five cents.""Yes, sir.""And then that night at the hotel, they charged you how much? Five dollars, wasn't it?""Yes, sir.""And then didn't you buy that lunch that you carried out in that lake with you up there?""Yes, sir. I think that was about sixty cents.""And how much did it cost you to get to Big Bittern?""It was a dollar on the train to Gun Lodge and a dollar on the bus for the two of us to Big Bittern.""You know these figures pretty well, I see. Naturally, you would. You didn't have much money and it wasimportant. And how much was your fare from Three Mile Bay to Sharon afterwards?""My fare was seventy-five cents.""Did you ever stop to figure this all up exactly?""No, sir.""Well, will you?""Well, you know how much it is, don't you?""Yes, sir, I do. It was twenty-four dollars and sixty-five cents. You said you spent twenty dollars. But here is adiscrepancy of four dollars and sixty-five cents. How do you account for it?""Well, I suppose I didn't figure just exactly right," said Clyde, irritated by the accuracy of figures such as these.
But now Mason slyly and softly inquiring: "Oh, yes, Griffiths, I forgot, how much was the boat you hired at BigBittern?" He was eager to hear what Clyde would have to say as to this, seeing that he had worked hard and longon this pitfall110.
"Oh--ah--ah--that is," began Clyde, hesitatingly, for at Big Bittern, as he now recalled, he had not even troubledto inquire the cost of the boat, feeling as he did at the time that neither he nor Roberta were coming back. Butnow here and in this way it was coming up for the first time. And Mason, realizing that he had caught him here,quickly interpolated a "Yes?" to which Clyde replied, but merely guessing at that: "Why, thirty-five cents anhour--just the same as at Grass Lake--so the boatman said."But he had spoken too quickly. And he did not know that in reserve was the boatman who was still to testify thathe had not stopped to ask the price of the boat. And Mason continued:
"Oh, it was, was it? The boatman told you that, did he?""Yes, sir.""Well now, don't you recall that you never asked the boatman at all? It was not thirty-five cents an hour, but fiftycents. But of course you do not know that because you were in such a hurry to get out on the water and you didnot expect to have to come back and pay for it anyway. So you never even asked, you see. Do you see? Do yourecall that now?" And here Mason produced a bill that he had gotten from the boatman and waved it in front ofClyde. "It was fifty cents an hour," he repeated. "They charge more than at Grass Lake. But what I want to knowis, if you are so familiar with these other figures, as you have just shown that you are, how comes it that you arenot familiar with this figure? Didn't you think of the expense of taking her out in a boat and keeping the boatfrom noon until night?" The attack came so swiftly and bitterly that at once Clyde was confused. He twisted andturned, swallowed and looked nervously at the floor, ashamed to look at Jephson who had somehow failed tocoach him as to this.
"Well," bawled111 Mason, "any explanation to make as to that? Doesn't it strike even you as strange that you canremember every other item of all your expenditures--but not that item?" And now each juror was once moretense and leaning forward. And Clyde noting their interest and curiosity, and most likely suspicion, nowreturned:
"Well, I don't know just how I came to forget that.""Oh, no, of course you don't," snorted Mason. "A man who is planning to kill a girl on a lone10 lake has a lot ofthings to think of, and it isn't any wonder if you forget a few of them. But you didn't forget to ask the purser thefare to Sharon, once you got to Three Mile Bay, did you?""I don't remember if I did or not.""Well, he remembers. He testified to it here. You bothered to ask the price of the room at Grass Lake. You askedthe price of the boat there. You even asked the price of the bus fare to Big Bittern. What a pity you couldn't thinkto ask the price of the boat at Big Bittern? You wouldn't be so nervous about it now, would you?" and hereMason looked at the jurors as much as to say: You see!
"I just didn't think of it, I guess," repeated Clyde.
"A very satisfactory explanation, I'm sure," went on Mason, sarcastically113. And then as swiftly as possible: "Idon't suppose you happen to recall an item of thirteen dollars and twenty cents paid for a lunch at the Casino onJuly ninth--the day after Roberta Alden's death--do you or do you not?" Mason was dramatic, persistent114, swift-scarcelygiving him time to think or breathe, as he saw it.
At this Clyde almost jumped, so startled was he by this question and charge, for he did not know that they hadfound out about the lunch. "And do you remember, too," went on Mason, "that over eighty dollars was found onyou when you were arrested?""Yes, I remember it now," he replied.
As for the eighty dollars he had forgotten. Yet now he said nothing, for he could not think what to say.
"How about that?" went on Mason, doggedly and savagely. "If you only had fifty dollars when you left Lycurgusand over eighty dollars when you were arrested, and you spent twenty-four dollars and sixty-five cents plusthirteen for a lunch, where did you get that extra money from?""Well, I can't answer that just now," replied Clyde, sullenly115, for he felt cornered and hurt. That was Sondra'smoney and nothing would drag out of him where he had gotten it.
"Why can't you answer it?" roared Mason. "Where do you think you are, anyhow? And what do you think we arehere for? To say what you will or will not answer? You are on trial for your life--don't forget that! You can't playfast and loose with law, however much you may have lied to me. You are here before these twelve men and theyare waiting to know. Now, what about it? Where did you get that money?""I borrowed it from a friend.""Well, give his name. What friend?""I don't care to"Oh, you don't! Well, you're lying about the amount of money you had when you left Lycurgus--that's plain. Andunder oath, too. Don't forget that! That sacred oath that you respect so much. Isn't that true?""No, it isn't," finally observed Clyde, stung to reason by this charge. "I borrowed that money after I got toTwelfth Lake.""And from whom?""Well, I can't say.""Which makes the statement worthless," retorted Mason.
Clyde was beginning to show a disposition116 to balk117. He had been sinking his voice and each time Masoncommanded him to speak up and turn around so the jury could see his face, he had done so, only feeling moreand more resentful toward this man who was thus trying to drag out of him every secret he possessed118. He hadtouched on Sondra, and she was still too near his heart to reveal anything that would reflect on her. So now he satstaring down at the jurors somewhat defiantly, when Mason picked up some pictures.
"Remember these?" he now asked Clyde, showing him some of the dim and water-marked reproductions ofRoberta besides some views of Clyde and some others--none of them containing the face of Sondra-- which weremade at the Cranstons' on his first visit, as well as four others made at Bear Lake later, and with one of themshowing him holding a banjo, his fingers in position. "Recall where these were made?" asked Mason, showinghim the reproduction of Roberta first.
"Yes, I do.""Where was it?""On the south shore of Big Bittern the day we were there." He knew that they were in the camera and had toldBelknap and Jephson about them, yet now he was not a little surprised to think that they had been able to developthem.
"Griffiths," went on Mason, "your lawyers didn't tell you that they fished and fished for that camera you sworeyou didn't have with you before they found that I had it, did they?""They never said anything to me about it," replied Clyde.
"Well, that's too bad. I could have saved them a lot of trouble. Well, these were the photos that were found in thatcamera and that were made just after that change of heart you experienced, you remember?""I remember when they were made," replied Clyde, sullenly.
"Well, they were made before you two went out in that boat for the last time--before you finally told herwhatever it was you wanted to tell her--before she was murdered out there--at a time when, as you have testified,she was very sad.""No, that was the day before," defied Clyde.
"Oh, I see. Well, anyhow, these pictures look a little cheerful for one who was as depressed119 as you say she was.""Well--but--she wasn't nearly as depressed then as she was the day before," flashed Clyde, for this was the truthand he remembered it.
"I see. But just the same, look at these other pictures. These three here, for instance. Where were they made?""At the Cranston Lodge on Twelfth Lake, I think.""Right. And that was June eighteenth or nineteenth, wasn't it?""On the nineteenth, I think.""Well, now, do you recall a letter Roberta wrote you on the nineteenth?""No, sir.""You don't recall any particular one?""No, sir.""But they were all very sad, you have said.""Yes, sir--they were.""Well, this is that letter written at the time these pictures were made." He turned to the jury.
"I would like the jury to look at these pictures and then listen to just one passage from this letter written by MissAlden to this defendant120 on the same day. He has admitted that he was refusing to write or telephone her,although he was sorry for her," he said, turning to the jury. And here he opened a letter and read a long sad pleafrom Roberta. "And now here are four more pictures, Griffiths." And he handed Clyde the four made at BearLake. "Very cheerful, don't you think? Not much like pictures of a man who has just experienced a great changeof heart after a most terrific period of doubt and worry and evil conduct--and has just seen the woman whom hehad most cruelly wronged, but whom he now proposed to do right by, suddenly drowned. They look as thoughyou hadn't a care in the world, don't they?""Well, they were just group pictures. I couldn't very well keep out of them.""But this one in the water here. Didn't it trouble you the least bit to go in the water the second or third day afterRoberta Alden had sunk to the bottom of Big Bittern, and especially when you had experienced such an inspiringchange of heart in regard to her?""I didn't want any one to know I had been up there with her.""We know all about that. But how about this banjo picture here. Look at this!" And he held it out. "Very gay,isn't it?" he snarled. And now Clyde, dubious50 and frightened, replied:
"But I wasn't enjoying myself just the same!""Not when you were playing the banjo here? Not when you were playing golf and tennis with your friends thevery next day after her death? Not when you were buying and eating thirteen-dollar lunches? Not when you werewith Miss X again, and where you yourself testified that you preferred to be?"Mason's manner was snarling121, punitive122, sinister123, bitterly sarcastic112.
"Well, not just then, anyhow--no, sir.""What do you mean--'not just then'? Weren't you where you wanted to be?""Well, in one way I was--certainly," replied Clyde, thinking of what Sondra would think when she read this, asunquestionably she would. Quite everything of all this was being published in the papers every day. He could notdeny that he was with her and that he wanted to be with her. At the same time he had not been happy. Howmiserably unhappy he had been, enmeshed in that shameful124 and brutal plot! But now he must explain in someway so that Sondra, when she should read it, and this jury, would understand. And so now he added, while heswallowed with his dry throat and licked his lips with his dry tongue: "But I was sorry about Miss Alden just thesame. I couldn't be happy then--I couldn't be. I was just trying to make people think that I hadn't had anything todo with her going up there--that's all. I couldn't see that there was any better way to do. I didn't want to bearrested for what I hadn't done.""Don't you know that is false! Don't you know you are lying!" shouted Mason, as though to the whole world, andthe fire and the fury of his unbelief and contempt was sufficient to convince the jury, as well as the spectators,that Clyde was the most unmitigated of liars. "You heard the testimony of Rufus Martin, the second cook upthere at Bear Lake?""Yes, sir.""You heard him swear that he saw you and Miss X at a certain point overlooking Bear Lake and that she was inyour arms and that you were kissing her. Was that true?""Yes, sir.""And that exactly four days after you had left Roberta Alden under the waters of Big Bittern. Were you afraid of being arrested then?""Yes, sir.""Even when you were kissing her and holding her in your arms?""Yes, sir," replied Clyde drearily125 and hopelessly.
"Well, of all things!" bawled Mason. "Could you imagine such stuff being whimpered before a jury, if you hadn'theard it with your own ears? Do you really sit there and swear to this jury that you could bill and coo with onedeceived girl in your arms and a second one in a lake a hundred miles away, and yet be miserable because ofwhat you were doing?""Just the same, that's the way it was," replied Clyde.
"Excellent! Incomparable," shouted Mason.
And here he wearily and sighfully drew forth24 his large white handkerchief once more and surveying thecourtroom at large proceeded to mop his face as much as to say: Well, this is a task indeed, then continuing withmore force than ever:
"Griffiths, only yesterday on the witness stand you swore that you personally had no plan to go to Big Bitternwhen you left Lycurgus.""No, sir, I hadn't.""But when you two got in that room at the Renfrew House in Utica and you saw how tired she looked, it was youthat suggested that a vacation of some kind--a little one--something within the range of your joint126 purses at thetime--would be good for her. Wasn't that the way of it?""Yes, sir. That was the way of it," replied Clyde.
"But up to that time you hadn't even thought of the Adirondacks
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animated
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undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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physically
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tack
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truthful
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fervor
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blanched
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| v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮 | |
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eyelids
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lone
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miserable
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defiantly
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catching
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investigation
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kindly
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nervously
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mellow
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spoke
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snarled
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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26
intentionally
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| ad.故意地，有意地 | |
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27
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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28
wrangle
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| vi.争吵 | |
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29
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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30
poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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31
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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32
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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33
counteracted
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| 对抗，抵消( counteract的过去式 ) | |
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34
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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35
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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36
conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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37
adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
bolstering
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| v.支持( bolster的现在分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助 | |
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39
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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40
insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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41
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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42
resuscitated
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| v.使（某人或某物）恢复知觉，苏醒( resuscitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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44
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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46
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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47
sneeringly
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| 嘲笑地，轻蔑地 | |
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48
prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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49
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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50
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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51
dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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52
buoyed
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| v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神 | |
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53
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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54
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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55
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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56
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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58
cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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59
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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60
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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63
avenging
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| adj.报仇的，复仇的v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 )；为…报复 | |
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nemesis
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| n.给以报应者，复仇者，难以对付的敌手 | |
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gargoyle
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| n.笕嘴 | |
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66
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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67
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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68
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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69
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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70
feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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71
anguished
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| adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式) | |
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72
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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73
sardonically
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| adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地 | |
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74
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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75
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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76
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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77
bullied
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| adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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79
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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80
liars
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| 说谎者( liar的名词复数 ) | |
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81
depot
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| n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站 | |
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82
consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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83
oration
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| n.演说，致辞，叙述法 | |
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84
perjurer
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| n.伪誓者，伪证者 | |
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85
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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86
sneak
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| vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行 | |
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87
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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88
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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89
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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90
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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91
nettled
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| v.拿荨麻打，拿荨麻刺（nettle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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92
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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93
enraptured
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| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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95
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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96
evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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97
doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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98
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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99
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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100
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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101
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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102
automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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103
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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104
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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105
irate
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| adj.发怒的，生气 | |
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106
offender
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| n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者 | |
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107
arraigned
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| v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责 | |
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108
smirked
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| v.傻笑( smirk的过去分词 ) | |
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109
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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110
pitfall
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| n.隐患，易犯的错误；陷阱，圈套 | |
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111
bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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112
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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113
sarcastically
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| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
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114
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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115
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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116
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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117
balk
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| n.大方木料；v.妨碍；不愿前进或从事某事 | |
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118
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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119
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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120
defendant
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| n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的 | |
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121
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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122
punitive
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| adj.惩罚的，刑罚的 | |
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123
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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124
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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125
drearily
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| 沉寂地，厌倦地，可怕地 | |
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126
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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