Gentlemen!
You are both in contempt of court, both of you!
You will apologize to the court and to each other, or I’ll declare a mistrial and commit you both for ten days and fine you five hundred dollars each.”
With this he leaned down and frowned on both.
And at once Jephson replied, most suavely and ingratiatingly:
“Under the circumstances, your Honor, I apologize to you and to the attorney for the People and to this jury.
The attack on this defendant, by the district attorney, seemed too unfair and uncalled for — that was all.”
“Never mind that,” continued Oberwaltzer.
“Under the circumstances, your Honor, I apologize to you and to the counsel for the defense.
I was a little hasty, perhaps.
And to this defendant also,” sneered Mason, after first looking into Justice Oberwaltzer’s angry and uncompromising eyes and then into Clyde’s, who instantly recoiled and turned away.
“Proceed,” growled Oberwaltzer, sullenly.
“Now, Clyde,” resumed Jephson anew, as calm as though he had just lit and thrown away a match. “You say your salary was twenty-five dollars and you had these various expenses.
Had you, up to this time, been able to put aside any money for a rainy day?”
“No, sir — not much — not any, really.”
“Well, then, supposing some doctor to whom Miss Alden had applied had been willing to assist her and wanted — say a hundred dollars or so — were you ready to furnish that?”
“No, sir — not right off, that is.”
“Did she have any money of her own that you know of?”
“None that I know of — no, sir.”
“Well, how did you intend to help her then?”
“Well, I thought if either she or I found any one and he would wait and let me pay for it on time, that I could save and pay it that way, maybe.”
“I see.
You were perfectly willing to do that, were you?”
“Yes, sir, I was.”
“You told her so, did you?”
“Yes, sir.
She knew that.”
“Well, when neither you nor she could find any one to help her, then what?
What did you do next?”
“Well, then she wanted me to marry her.”
“Right away?”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
“And what did you say to that?”
“I told her I just couldn’t then. I didn’t have any money to get married on.
And besides if I did and didn’t go away somewhere, at least until the baby was born, everybody would find out and I couldn’t have stayed there anyhow.
And she couldn’t either.”
“And why not?”
“Well, there were my relatives.
They wouldn’t have wanted to keep me any more, or her either, I guess.”
“I see.
They wouldn’t have considered you fit for the work you were doing, or her either.
Is that it?” “I thought so, anyhow,” replied Clyde.
“And then what?”
“Well, even if I had wanted to go away with her and marry her, I didn’t have enough money to do that and she didn’t either.
I would have had to give up my place and gone and found another somewhere before I could let her come.
Besides that, I didn’t know any place where I could go and earn as much as I did there.”
“How about hotel work?
Couldn’t you have gone back to that?”
“Well, maybe — if I had an introduction of some kind.
But I didn’t want to go back to that.”