l being
called, stepped jauntily and readily into the place which the member of
Parliament just vacated. He took the oath--Scotch fashion--with the
same readiness and turned easily to the Treasury Counsel. And Spargo,
glancing quickly round, saw that the court was breathless with
anticipation, and that its anticipation was that the new witness was
going to tell something which related to the evidence just given by
Aylmore.

"Your name is David Lyell?"

"That is my name, sir."

"And you reside at 23, Cumbrae Side, Kilmarnock, Scotland?"

"I do."

"What are you, Mr. Lyell?"

"Traveller, sir, for the firm of Messrs. Stevenson, Robertson & Soutar,
distillers, of Kilmarnock."

"Your duties take you, I think, over to Paris occasionally?"

"They do--once every six weeks I go to Paris."

"On the evening of June 21st last were you in London on your way to
Paris?"

"I was."

"I believe you stayed at De Keyser's Hotel, at the Blackfriars end of
the Embankment?"

"I did--it's handy for the continental trains."

"About half-past eleven, or a little later, that evening, did you go
along the Embankment, on the Temple Gardens side, for a walk?"

"I did, sir. I'm a bad sleeper, and it's a habit of mine to take a walk
of half an hour or so last thing before I go to bed."

"How far did you walk?"

"As far as Waterloo Bridge."

"Always on the Temple side?"

"Just so, sir--straight along on that side."

"Very good. When you got close to Waterloo Bridge, did you meet anybody
you knew?"

"Yes."

"Mr. Aylmore, the Member of Parliament."

Spargo could not avoid a glance at the two sisters. The elder's head
was averted; the younger was staring at the witness steadily. And
Breton was nervously tapping his fingers on the crown of his shining
silk hat.

"Mr. Aylmore, the Member of Parliament," repeated the Counsel's suave,
clear tones. "Oh! And how did you come to recognize Mr. Aylmore, Member
of Parliament?"

"Well, sir, in this way. At home, I'm the secretary of our Liberal Ward
Club, and last year we had a demonstration, and it fell to me to
arrange with the principal speakers. I got Mr. Aylmore to come and
speak, and naturally I met him several times, in London and in
Scotland."

"So that you knew him quite well?"

"Oh yes, sir."

"Do you see him now, Mr. Lyell?"

Lyell smiled and half turned in the box.

"Why, of course!" he answered. "There is Mr. Aylmore."

"There is Mr. Aylmore. Very good. Now we