safe while the
axe was on the ship."

"Did you see the body of Burns, the sailor, lying on the deck at that
time?"

"He might have been there; I did not see him."

"Are you saying that you went to the forward house to throw the axe
overboard?"

"Yes--if I could get in."

"Did you know why the axe was being kept?"

"Because the murders had been committed with it."

"Had you heard of any finger-prints on the handle?"

"No."

"Did it occur to you that you were interfering with justice in
disposing of the axe?"

"Do you mean justice or law? They are not the same."

"Tell us about your visit to the forward house."

"It was between two and three. I met no one. I had a bunch of keys
from the trunks and from four doors in the after house. Miss Lee knew
I intended to try to get rid of the axe. I did not need my keys. The
door was open---wide open. I--I went in, and--"

Here, for the first time, Mrs. Johns's composure forsook her. She
turned white, and her maid passed up to her a silver smelling-salts
bottle.

"What happened when you went in?"

"It was dark. I stood just inside. Then something rushed past me and
out of the door, a something--I don't know what--a woman, I thought at
first, in white."

"If the room was dark, how could you tell it was white?"

"There was a faint light--enough to see that. There was no noise--just
a sort of swishing sound."

"What did you do then?"

"I waited a moment, and hurried back to the after house."

"Was the axe gone then?"

"I do not know."

"Did you see the axe at that time?"

"No."

"Did you touch it?"

"I have never touched it, at that time or before."

She could not be shaken in her testimony and was excused. She had
borne her grilling exceedingly well, and, in spite of her flippancy,
there was a ring of sincerity about the testimony that gave it weight.

Following her evidence, the testimony of Tom, the cook, made things
look bad for Singleton, by connecting him with Mrs. Johns's intruder in
the captain's room. He told of Singleton's offer to make him a key to
the galley with wire. It was clear that Singleton had been a prisoner
in name only, and this damaging statement was given weight when, on my
recall later, I identified the bunch of keys, the file, and the club
that I had taken from Singleton's mattress. It was plain enough that,
with Singleton able to free himself as he wished, the attack on Burns
and the disappearance of the a