ty and that the proper signals had been given at the required
crossings.

The judge left the bench and lounged about the clerk's desk, hoping to
catch Phil's eye and draw her aside for one of the parleys in which he
delighted; but Phil had immediately become absorbed in the testimony.
Waterman's voice rose louder and louder as he sought to befuddle the
motorman as to the time of the accident, the place where the collision
occurred and the signaling, but without avail. The attorney for the
company looked on with an amused smile of unconcern. Both the motorman
and the conductor had been carefully rehearsed in their testimony and
there was little likelihood that plaintiff's counsel would be able to
trap them. Waterman was going back and forth over the time of day,
attempting to show that the car was behind its schedule, and exceeding
the speed limit, but the man clung to his story stubbornly. It was at
exactly five minutes past three; he was running slowly, and had whistled
at all the earlier stops; and when he saw the plaintiff driving upon the
right of way ahead of him he put on the brakes as quickly as possible.

Phil moved to a chair just behind Waterman. He was so deeply engrossed
that he did not notice her. He was making no headway, and was about to
drop the witness when Phil bent over and whispered. Without turning
round he rose and renewed the attack.

"I will ask you, sir, to state to this jury whether it is not a fact
that the brake of your car was out of order and whether it had not given
you trouble before you struck the plaintiff?"

The witness stammered and glanced at counsel for the defendant, who rose
and objected to the question as not proper cross-examination. The judge
returned to the bench with renewed interest and overruled the objection.
The witness admitted that there had been some slight trouble with the
brake, and Waterman roared another question that drowned the
explanation.

"Isn't it a fact that you ran past Stop 7 just south of the scene of
this collision, and did not stop your car because it was out of control
by reason of a crippled brake?"

The witness was plainly disturbed, and the defendant's counsel was
unable to protect him. He admitted that the brake might not have been in
perfect order, but it was an old car--

"It was an old car," boomed Waterman, "and the brake was worn out and
you couldn't have stopped at that crossing even if you had wanted to!
Isn't that the fact?"

The