began.

So far Kittredge had heard the voice of justice only in mild and polite
questioning, now he was to hear the ring of it in accusation, in rapid,
massed accusation that was to make him feel the crushing power of the state
and the hopelessness of any puny lying.

"Kittredge," began the judge, "you have denied all knowledge of this crime.
Look at this pistol and tell me if you have ever seen it before." He
offered the pistol to Lloyd's manacled hands. Maitre Pleindeaux took it
with a frown of surprise.

"Excuse me, your honor," he bowed, "I would like to speak to my client
before he answers that question."

But Kittredge waved him aside. "What's the use," he said. "That is my
pistol; I know it; there's no doubt about it."

"Ah!" exclaimed Hauteville. "It is also the pistol that killed Martinez. It
was thrown from private room Number Seven at the Ansonia. A woman saw it
thrown, and it was picked up in a neighboring courtyard. One ball was
missing, and that ball was found in the body."

"There's some mistake," objected Pleindeaux with professional asperity, at
the same time flashing a wrathful look at Lloyd that said plainly: "You see
what you have done!"

"Now," continued the judge, "you say you have never been in the alleyway
that we showed you at the Ansonia. Look at these boots. Do you recognize
them?"

Kittredge examined the boots carefully and then said frankly to the judge:
"I thank they are mine."

"You wore them to the Ansonia on the night of the crime?"

"I think so."

"Aren't you sure?"

"Not absolutely sure, because I have three pairs exactly alike. I always
keep three pairs going at the same time; they last longer that way."

"I will tell you, then, that this is the pair you had on when you were
arrested."

"Then it's the pair I wore to the Ansonia."

"You didn't change your boots after leaving the Ansonia?"

"No."

"Kittredge," said the judge severely, "the man who shot Martinez escaped by
the alleyway and left his footprints on the soft earth. We have made
plaster casts of them. There they are; our experts have examined them and
find that they correspond in every particular with the soles of these
boots. What do you say to this?"

Lloyd listened in a daze. "I don't see how it's possible," he answered.

"You still deny having been in the alleyway?"

"Absolutely."

"I pass to another point," resumed Hauteville, who was now striding back
and forth with quick turns and sudden st