He  was  strongly  moved,  and  so  also  was  the
whole  house;  Mrs.  Pratt  and  several  other  women
were  weeping  when  he  sat  down,  and  many  an  eye
that  was  full  of  hate  was  riveted  upon  the  unhappy
prisoners.
Witness  after  witness  was  called  by  the  State,  and
questioned  at  length;  but  the  cross-questioning  was
brief.  Wilson  knew  they  could  furnish  nothing
valuable  for  his  side.  People  were  sorry  for  Pudd'n-
head;  his  budding  career  would  get  hurt  by  this  trial.
Several  witnesses  swore  they  heard  Judge  Driscoll
say  in  his  public  speech  that  the  twins  would  be  able
to  find  their  lost  knife  again  when  they  needed  it  to
assassinate  somebody  with.  This  was  not  news,  but
now  it  was  seen  to  have  been  sorrowfully  prophetic,
and  a  profound  sensation  quivered  through  the
hushed  court -room  when  those  dismal  words  were
repeated.
The  public  prosecutor  rose  and  said  that  it  was
within  his  knowledge,  through  a  conversation  held
with  Judge  Driscoll  on  the  last  day  of  his  life,  that
178


PUDD'NHEAD    WILSON

counsel  for  the  defense  had  brought  him  a  challenge
from  the  person  charged  at  this  bar  with  murder;
that  he  had  refused  to  fight  with  a  confessed  as-
sassin— "that  is,  on  the  field  of  honor,"  but  had
added  significantly,  that  he  would  be  ready  for  him
elsewhere.  Presumably,  the  person  here  charged
with  murder  was  warned  that  he  must  kill  or  be  killed
the  first  time  he  should  meet  Judge  Driscoll.  If
counsel  for  the  defense  chose  to  let  the  statement
stand  so,  he  would  not  call  him  to  the  witness-stand.
