Yollop Part 12

Yollop: "He didn't say he had been out of WORK for three months."

Counsel, patiently: "Well, what did he say?"

Yollop: "He said he had been out of jail for three months."

Counsel, suddenly referring to his notes again: "Er--ahem!--By the way, Mr. Yollop, you don't hear very well, do you?"

Yollop: "I am quite deaf."

Counsel: "He might have said a great many things that you failed to hear,--especially if his voice was weak?"

Yollop: "I dare say he did."

Counsel, lifting his eyebrows significantly and nodding his head: "Ah-h-h! Didn't he tell you that he had a wife and several children?"

Yollop: "I don't recall that he said anything about several children. He said he had several wives."

Counsel, startled: "What's that?"

A bailiff, harshly addressing a woman in the front row of spectators: "Order! Order!"

The Woman in the front row: "The dirty liar!"

The State, sticking its hands in its pockets and strutting to and fro, smiling loftily: "Repeat the answer for the gentleman, Mr.

Reporter."

Counsel: "Never mind,--never mind. I move that the answer be stricken out, your honor, and that you instruct the jury to disregard the supposedly facetious reply of the witness."

The Court, to Mr. Yollop: "Did this defendant say to you that he had several wives?"

Yollop, looking blandly at the jury until convinced by twelve expressions and the direction in which twenty four eyes were gazing that the court had spoken: "I beg pardon, your honor. Were you speaking to me?"

The Court, raising his voice: "Did he tell you that he had several wives?"

Yollop: "He did."

The Court: "Motion overruled. Proceed."

Counsel: "Exception. Now, Mr.--"

Child in the front row, still gazing intently at a very baldheaded man on the opposite side of the aisle: "I want my daddy! I want--"

The Court: "You must remove that child from the court room, madam.

Officer, see that that child is removed. Remove all of them. You may remain here, madam, if you choose to do so, but the court cannot allow this trial to be--"

The Woman in the front row: "Please, your honor, if you will let me keep them here I'll promise to--"

The Court: "Officer, remove those children at once."

The Woman: "And what's more, he tells a dirty lie when he says--"

The Court: "Silence! You will have to leave the room also, madam.

This is outrageous. Officer!"

The State, magnanimously: "May it please the court, the State has not the slightest objection to the lady and her children remaining in the court room, provided they do not interrupt these proceedings again."

The Court, melting a little: "Do you think you can keep those children quiet, madam, and refrain from audible comments yourself?"

The Woman: "Yes, sir. I'm sure I can."

The Court: "It is not my desire to be harsh with you, madam, but if this occurs again I shall have you ejected from the room. Proceed."

Counsel: "Now, Mr. Yollop, you have testified that you bound and gagged your sister at the direction and command of this defendant and that he rifled the apartment at will, keeping you covered with a revolver. You also have stated that you laid the pistol on the desk, within his reach, when you believed the police to be at the door.

Why, did you do that?"

Yollop: "Because I did not think that I needed it any longer."

Counsel, sarcastically: "Oho! so that was the reason, eh?"

Yollop: "Well, I was glad to be rid of it. I was dreading all the time that it might go off accidentally. They frequently do."

Counsel: "I see. Now, isn't it a fact, Mr. Yollop, that you laid the revolver down to go to the a.s.sistance of this defendant who was in a fainting condition?"

Yollop: "No, it isn't. He was all right."

Counsel: "Don't you know that you laid it down because you were convinced in you own mind that he was physically unable to take advantage of it? That he was in no condition to use it?"

Yollop: "No."

Counsel, with a pitying look at the jury: "He was still the big, strong, able-bodied man that you had knocked down with your brawny fist, eh?"

Yollop, mildly: "He may have been a little sleepy. I was."

A Bailiff: "Order! ORDER!"

Counsel, severely: "Now, Mr. Yollop, will you tell this jury why, after you had found it so simple to knock the defendant down and disarm him earlier in the evening, you failed to repeat the experiment when he had you covered the second time?"

Yollop: "The first time I acted on the spur of the moment, and under stress of great excitement. I had had time to collect my wits by the time he gained possession of the revolver. I wasn't as foolhardy as I was at the beginning. I was afraid he would shoot me if I tackled him again."

Counsel: "Isn't it a fact that he appeared much stronger and not so weak and listless as when you first encountered him?"

Yollop: "I didn't notice any change in him."

Counsel: "Didn't you testify awhile ago that while he was sitting at your desk, under cover of the gun, he ate a whole box of chocolate creams,--at your generous invitation?"

Yollop: "Yes. He ate them, all right."

Counsel: "Wouldn't you, as an intelligent man, a.s.sume that a pound of chocolates might have the effect of restoring to a half-starved man a portion of his waning strength,--at least a sufficient amount to encourage him to put up some kind of a fight against you?"