"Miss Blake, will you kindly answer my question?" he said, when order
once again reigned in court.
"You're worse than a heathen," remarked the lady, irrelevantly.
"I am sorry you do not like me," he replied, "for I admire you very
much; but my imperfections are beside the matter in point. What I want
you to tell us is, did Miss Elmsdale open that door?"
"She did--the creature, she did," was the answer; "her heart was always
tender to dumb brutes."
"I have no doubt the young lady's heart was everything it ought to be,"
was the reply; "and for that reason, though she had an intense
repugnance to enter the room, she opened the door to let the dog out."
"She said so: I was not there," answered Miss Blake.
Whereupon ensued a brisk skirmish between counsel as to whether Miss
Blake could give evidence about a matter of mere hearsay. And after they
had fought for ten minutes over the legal bone, our adversary said he
would put the question differently, which he did, thus:
"You were sitting in the dining-room, when you were startled by hearing
a piercing shriek."
"I heard a screech--you can call it what you like," said Miss Blake,
feeling an utter contempt for English phraseology.
"I stand corrected; thank you, Miss Blake.
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