"Mr. Gordon, you have said about enough----"

"To persuade you that this is a proper case for further investigation?"

"No, Sir, and I will tell you right now that this case will not be
adjourned for one hour!"

Gordon rose to his feet and faced his opponent, wording his question
slowly and with deliberate emphasis.

"Of course you personally have no special interest in convicting this
particular prisoner?"

Willard sprang from his seat and angrily tossed his cigarette into the
fire.

"Mr. Gordon, take care you do not go too far."

"Are you not especially anxious to win this case?"

"I am prosecuting, Sir, in the name of the People."

"In the name of the People!"

Gordon laughed the words out with stinging scorn, and the Attorneys
faced one another with a rage that in men of less refinement would have
set them at each other's throats. But the grapple was as deadly and the
purpose as grim as though the struggle had been physical. There was no
possible chance for argument now and Gordon flung off all restraint as
he poured forth his torrent of contempt.

"In the name of the People! What people gave you a commission to tamper
with the liberty of the meanest thing alive? What people privileged you
to prosecute an innocent man--for you know he is innocent--I have seen
it in every false smirk of your face ever since I entered this room. And
to prosecute him for what? For your own personal advancement--to win a
case for your client. Do you want me to tell you who your client is----"

"I want you to understand that you can't blackmail me, Sir!"

"Blackmail you? By the Lord Harry, you shall hear the truth from one
man if you never hear it again. Don't lay a hand on me or I'll break you
like this pencil! Blackmail you? To-night you've got to know that
another man knows you through and through. To-night you have to go
unmasked. Are you afraid of hearing me say who your client is? Are you
afraid of having me name the politicians whose orders you execute and
whose nod is your law? You have been ordered by the police to win this
case. This _case_ indeed! And you, the Assistant District Attorney, in
the name of the People, will win it by fair means or foul. You have
never investigated one fact, or asked one question, calculated to bring
out the truth, but by trick and wile you stoop to serve your master's
purpose. And do you think I do not know why? You poor fool! Every honest
man knows who cares to follow your dirty tr