the forecastle-head. It had seemed to come over the bow. The
marlinespike he threw had had no lanyard.

Mrs. Turner and Miss Lee escaped with a light examination. Their
evidence amounted to little, and was practically the same. They
had retired early, and did not rouse until I called them. They
remained in their rooms most of the time after that, and were busy
caring for Mr. Turner, who had been ill. Mrs. Turner was good
enough to say that I had made them as safe and as comfortable as
possible.

The number of witnesses to be examined, and the searching grilling
to which most of them were subjected, would have dragged the case
to interminable length, had it not been for the attitude of the
judges, who discouraged quibbling and showed a desire to reach the
truth with the least possible delay. One of the judges showed the
wide and unbiased attitude of the court by a little speech after an
especially venomous contest.

"Gentlemen," he said, "we are attempting to get to a solution of
this thing. We are trying one man, it is true, but, in a certain
sense, we are trying every member of the crew, every person who
was on board the ship the night of the crime. We have a curious
situation. The murderer is before us, either in the prisoner's
dock or among the witnesses. Let us get at the truth without
bickering."

Mrs. Johns was called, following Miss Lee. I watched her carefully
on the stand. I had never fathomed Mrs. Johns, or her attitude
toward the rest of the party. I had thought, at the beginning of