ual condition of formality and restraint.

"This is not evidence, but the raving of frenzy," he said, in
impassioned tones. "The witness has been tortured by the demands of the
prosecution, till she is no longer responsible for her words." And
turning toward the District Attorney, who, at the first sound of his
adversary's voice, had roused himself from the stupor into which he had
been thrown by the fearful and unexpected turn which Imogene's
confession had taken, he continued: "If my learned friend is not lost to
all feelings of humanity, he will withdraw from the stand a witness
laboring under a mental aberration of so serious a nature."

Mr. Ferris was an irritable man, but he was touched with sympathy for
his friend, reeling under so heavy a blow. He therefore forbore to
notice this taunt save by a low bow, but turned at once to the Judge.

"Your Honor," said he, "I desire to be understood by the Court, that
the statement which has just been made in your hearing by this witness,
is as much of a surprise to me as to any one in this court-room. The
fact which I proposed to elicit from her testimony was of an entirely
different nature. In the conversation which we held last night----"

But Mr. Orcutt, vacillating between his powerful concern for Imogene,
and his duty to his client, would not allow the other to proceed.

"I object," said he, "to any attempt at influencing the jury by the
statement of any conversation which may have passed between the District
Attorney and the witness. From its effects we may judge something of its
nature, but with its details we have nothing to do."

And raising his voice till it filled the room like a clarion, Mr. Orcutt
said:

"The moment is too serious for wrangling. A spectacle, the most terrible
that can be presented to the eyes of man, is before you. A young,
beautiful, and hitherto honored woman, caught in the jaws of a cruel
fate and urged on by the emotions of her sex, which turn ever toward
self-sacrifice, has, in a moment of mistaken zeal or frantic terror,
allowed herself to utter words which sound like a criminal confession.
May it please your Honor and Gentlemen of the Jury, this is an act to
awaken compassion in the breast of every true man. Neither my client nor
myself can regard it in any other light. Though his case were ten times
more critical than it is, and condemnation awaited him at your hands
instead of a triumphant acquittal, he is not the man I believe h