that he, a stranger in the city, had boarded for
three months in River Street, at Hattie's home,
and that on Christmas Day (two weeks before
the trial) the house next to Hattie's home had
been broken into, and household goods taken.
It had been done between the hours of one and
two o'clock in the day. The family had gone
out at one, and at two o'clock the goods ap-
peared in a pawnbroker's shop on the next
block. This fixed the hour when the crime had
been committed. Monsieur Leclerc being a
stranger and foreigner, and boarding in the
house adjoining that from which the goods
were taken, was naturally enough suspected.
But the clinching thing about it was that the
pawnbroker in whose shop the goods were f oimd
was confident that monsieur was the identical
young man who had brought them there.
As this evidence came out, monsieur whis-
pered with great earnestness to his boyish coun-
sel the words, " I can prove zat I vas not zare."

" No loud talking," said the Judge, glancing
in the direction of the prisoner and his coimsel.
" Silence ! " proclaimed the blind Crier from



and saw him return promptly at two o'clock to
the house, where all the family knew that he
met them at the Christmas dinner.
As Hattie told her story in a simple, unaf-
fected manner, shyly avoiding any look toward
monsieur, the practiced eye of the District
Attorney at once divined her secret. When
he came to cross-examine her, he asked the di-
rect question whether she loved the prisoner,
Hattie, with a scared look, remained silent.
The boyish attorney objected to the question.
