all with their eyes fixed on him, in a blank gaze of
aloofness or speculation. He felt as if his soul must have been in
some way separated from his body, and then returned to it to find all
the world gazing at the place where his soul should be without seeing
that it had returned and was craving their intelligent support. The
whole situation seemed to him cruelly impossible,--a sort of insane
delusion. Only one face never failed him, that of Bertrand Ballard,
who sat where he might now and then meet his eye, and who never left
the court room while the case was on.

When the time arrived for the introduction of the witnesses, the court
room again filled up; but he no longer looked for faces he knew. He
held himself sternly aloof, as if he feared his reason might leave him
if he continued to strive against those baffling eyes, who knew him
and did not know that they knew him, but who looked at him as if
trying to penetrate a mask when he wore no mask. Occasionally his
counsel turned to him for brief consultation, in which his part
consisted generally of a nod or a shake of the head as the case might
be.

While the District Attorney was addressing the jury, Milton Hibbard
moved forward and took the District Attorney's seat.

Then followed the testimony of the boys--now shy lads in their teens,
who had found the evidences of a struggle and possible murder so long
before on the river bluff. Under the adroit lead of counsel, they told
each the same story, and were excused cross-examination. Both boys had
identified the hat found on the bluff, and testified that the brown
stain, which now appeared somewhat faintly, had been a bright red, and
had looked like blood.

Then Bertrand Ballard was called, and the questions put to him were
more searching. Though the manner of the examiner was respectful and
courteous, he still contrived to leave the impression on those in the
court room that he hoped to draw out some fact that would lead to the
discovery of matters more vital to the case than the mere details to
which the witness testified. But Bertrand Ballard's prompt and
straightforward answers, and his simple and courteous manner, were a
full match for the able lawyer, and after two hours of effort he
subsided.

Then the testimony of the other witnesses was taken, even to that of
the little housemaid who had been in the family at the time, and who
had seen Peter Junior wear the hat. Did she know it for his? Yes. Why
did she