Mrs. Balfame

Only the little eyes beneath the heavy thatch of hair alternately glowed dully and spat fire.

The Judge sternly suppressed the t.i.tter that ran over the court-room as this caricature mounted the witness-stand, and the district attorney, in spite of frequent interruptions, elicited a remarkably clear and coherent statement. The Judge sustained him, for here was a real witness, and Miss Appel not only had been as thoroughly rehea.r.s.ed as Mrs. Figg, but she had a neat precise little mind set with rows of pigeonholes that ejected their contents in routine when her coach pressed the cognate b.u.t.ton.

She had come home abruptly from the dance-hall as she had an insupportable toothache--had run all the way, as she had some toothache-drops in her room. She was in such agony she hardly had noticed that her friend Conrad Kraus was behind her. When she reached her room she had applied the drops, and to her horror they made the pain worse. After walking the floor for perhaps ten minutes--she didn"t know or care whether it was ten or fifteen minutes--she was just starting to go down-stairs and heat some water for her bag when she heard the kitchen door open and shut. She held her breath and did not answer when Mrs. Balfame called, as she feared she was wanted and was determined to do nothing for anybody while her tooth ached like that.

Mrs. Balfame"s voice had sounded quite breathless, as if she had been running. In a moment Frieda heard her go into the dining-room then back to the kitchen, and turn on the tap,--not the filter, which made no noise,--and then she heard one gla.s.s clink against another on the pantry shelf. After that, Mrs. Balfame went upstairs from the front hall and the witness returned to her room and threw herself on the bed, where she remained until Mr. c.u.mmack came and asked her to go downstairs and make coffee. By this time her tooth ached so she didn"t care what she did.

Cross-questioned, she admitted that Mrs. Balfame was in the habit of drinking a gla.s.s of filtered water the last thing at night. No, she had not heard her go out, but only come in. But why, if Mrs. Balfame saw nothing outside to frighten her, or if she hadn"t been out, was she so short of breath? As may be imagined, mere speculation on Miss Appel"s part was cut short by Mr. Rush, who interrupted her constantly. Yes, she had heard what she now knew had been a shot but she had paid no attention. Who would, with a red-hot iron forcing one"s tooth down through one"s jaw?

Even the scornful questions of counsel which forced her to admit that she had lied to the coroner neither perturbed her nor made any impression on jury, press, or spectators. Every one present had suffered from toothache, and two farmers in the box showed their tusks in an appreciative grin when she replied tartly that she didn"t know or care anything that day but tooth, tooth, tooth. It was manifest that she was far too conservative to have had it out at once, to say nothing of the cost.

The only question she was not prepared for was the abrupt challenge of Mr. Rush as to how she could prove that young Kraus had followed her if she had neither seen nor spoken to him during that short run from Main Street. But although she was visibly perturbed at being confronted with a set of words to which no neat little pigeon-hole responded, it was so evident she was firmly convinced her friend had accompanied her, that for Rush to make too much of his solitary point would prejudice his case, and he let her go.

Conrad Jr. followed, and his story was equally straightforward. He also made a good impression. True, he had a very small closely cropped head, with eyes too small and ears too large, but he held himself with arrogance, and he was well dressed in a new grey suit and pink shirt.

Born in the United States, it was manifest that he was proud not only of being an American citizen but of the country"s choicest vintage. He had been sent to the public school until he was sixteen, had studied conscientiously, and his grammar was quite as good as that of the District Attorney, who in emotional moments confused his negatives. But, even Rush, whose advantages had been as superior as his natural equipment, became a good nasal American when excited, opened into vowels, and freely translated _you_ into _yer_. It is these persistent characteristics, so racy of the soil, which cheer us when apprehending that our original Americanism may in time be obliterated by the foreign influx.

No, said young Kraus, he had no sentimental interest in Frieda. (He smiled.) And he was engaged to a young lady to whom he had been attentive for three years. But he felt like a brother to Frieda; she had come to his father"s house direct from Germany, their families having been friends for generations. It was not only his duty but his pleasure to dance with her, she being "the best of the bunch down at the hall."

As he was dancing with her when her toothache became unendurable, it was natural that he should see her home; in fact, he always saw her home when it was convenient. Of course if he had to catch the last trolley for Dobton in a hurry, that was another matter.

When she had entered the house, he had waited, thinking she might want some other drops or possibly a dentist. Once when he had had a toothache, he had been obliged to go to a dentist"s house at night. His papa had sent him, and naturally he thought of it as a possibility in Frieda"s case.

Then the kitchen door opened and a woman came out.

At this point the interest in the court-room became intense. Even the blase young reporters sat forward, their pencils poised. The Judge wheeled his chair to the right and stared down fixedly at the back of young Kraus" head. The district attorney balanced himself on his heels, his thumbs hooked in the sleeves of his vest, and Rush stood with his back curved as if to spring down the witness" throat with a wild yell of "Immaterial, irrelevant and incompetent." Only Mrs. Balfame sat like a statue that had neither eyes to see nor ears to hear.

Yes, Mr. Kraus recognised Mrs. Balfame"s figure and walk. She was one in a thousand for looks, and taller than many men. She had on a long dark ulster and a black scarf round her head. The kitchen light was behind her--

Here there was another furious contest between the chief counsel and the district attorney, but the Judge ordered the young man (who had consumed a toothpick imperturbably) to proceed with his story. Mrs. Balfame had slipped round the corner of the house, listened intently, walked for a minute toward the back of the grounds,--he could just see the moving shadow in the darkness,--turned abruptly and entered the grove.

Naturally interested, he waited to see what she was up to; and then--possibly three or four minutes later--he heard Balfame singing "Tipperary," and a moment or two after that the shot,--one shot, not two; he took no stock in the theory that there had been two shots,--followed by loud voices from the other side of the avenue.

Then he "beat it," that being his natural instinct at the moment. His papa had taught him to be cautious and to keep clear of other people"s fights. He had never been close up against a crime, and he hoped he never should be. He walked through the adjoining grounds at the back and then into Balfame Street and took the next trolley home. He didn"t feel like dancing after what he guessed had happened.

No, he had heard no sound of running footsteps, but he stood for a moment near the back fence of the Lequer place; there were people in the library until some man ran in calling for the doctor to come at once--and he did see a car leave the lane behind the Balfame place. He had thought nothing of it, however, as automobiles were everywhere all the time. No, he hadn"t tried to see whether the car was driven by a man or woman or how many occupants it had. Not only was the night very dark (as far as he remembered, the car had no lamps), but his one idea was to get out of the neighbourhood.

Rush put him through a grilling cross-examination, and although he could not shake his testimony, he made use of all his practised arts to exhibit the youth as a sorry coward who ran away when he heard a revolver-shot instead of rushing with the common instinct of American manhood to ascertain if it were the woman herself who had been the victim. How much had he been paid to give this testimony withheld at the coroner"s inquest? Young Kraus" ruddy hues had deepened to purple some time since, and he shouted back that he had come forward only when that woman"s lying friends were trying to fasten the crime upon his innocent papa. Here he was sternly admonished by the Judge to confine his answers to "Yes" and "No" unless he could control his temper. Rush forced him to reiterate that he had not had a glimpse of Mrs. Balfame"s face that night, that he never had spoken to her at any time; and the lawyer remarked crushingly that the young man"s brain must have been in a hopelessly confused state if he saw a car leave the lane so soon after the shooting--a car, moreover, without lights--and failed to connect this phenomenon with the immediately previous sound of a pistol-shot.

It was evident that his brain moved so slowly that it had taken him almost a week to put a good story together.

Young Kraus left the stand with his inborn sense of superiority over mere Americans severely shaken, but although his small angry eyes encountered more than one sneer, and many of those hostile spectators looked as if they would laugh outright were it not for their awe of the Judge, he had injured Mrs. Balfame far more than himself. Few believed him to be lying or that he had seen a vision, not a real woman, leave the Balfame house by the kitchen door. He was known to have been as sober as usual on the night of the dance, and as the evidence against his father had been regarded as fantastic from the first, there was no conceivable cause for him to lie.

Mr. Gifning, Mr. Battle and Mr. Carden, who were the first to reach Balfame, after he fell, were forced by the district attorney to give d.a.m.ning evidence against Mrs. Balfame. Her room was in the front of the house; if in it, she could have heard the shot as plainly as they on Mr.

Gifning"s veranda. But she did not come downstairs or manifest herself in any way until they had had time to summon the coroner (who to be sure lived round the corner) and Dr. Lequeur. It must have been quite six minutes before she opened her window and demanded the reason for the disturbance at her gate. At least, it had seemed that long. No, they never confused a revolver-shot with a bursting tire. They had when cars first came into use, but they had learned to differentiate long since.

When Mr. Rush asked them sarcastically why one at least of the party had not searched the grove and attempted to capture the murderer, they replied they had by no means been sure that the shot had come from the grove. It might have come from anywhere. It was only after the doctor"s examination that the direction of the bullet had been agreed upon. Later they did search the grove with a dark-lantern brought from Mrs.

Gifning"s house; in fact, they searched every inch of the grounds, and their only reward was abuse from the police.

These three witnesses, examined after the noon recess, occupied very little time. It was at ten minutes to four that the district attorney electrified every one in the courtroom by calling to the stand a man whose name up to that moment had not been mentioned in the case. The reporters looked deeply annoyed; even Mrs. Balfame raised her head a trifle higher as if listening; Rush"s pale face was paler, the lines in it seemed deeper, as he sprang to his feet, alert at once, his nostrils expanding. The district attorney balanced himself on his heels, his thumbs in his waistcoat armholes, a grin of triumph on his sharp little face.

The name called was James Mott, and it was borne by a highly reputable drummer who had made sales for many years to houses carrying general merchandise, including that of Balfame & c.u.mmack. Mr. Mott was as well known in Brabant County as any of its inhabitants; in fact, he was engaged to an estimable young lady of Elsinore, and hence, so it soon transpired, had happened to be in town on the fatal night. For once the ac.u.men of the district attorney had proved more penetrating than that of the brilliant counsel for the defence.

Mr. Mott took the stand. He was a clean-shaven upstanding American with the keen eye and grim mouth of the travelling salesman who knows that he must do or die. He looked as honest as urbane, and for the first time Mrs. Balfame"s heart sank; and her hands, so the women reporters noted for the benefit of the public, clenched for a full minute.

Although Rush stood with his head stretched forward, he thought it wise to let the man tell his story in his own way. Interruptions would have been of little avail; the Judge would sustain the district attorney if it were patent the witness were telling the truth; and as he was completely in the dark himself it were better to wait until he got a promising lead. He knew that no man"s brain could work more quickly than his.

Mr. Mott being solemnly sworn, deposed that on the night of the shooting he had been taking supper with his friend Miss Lacke, who lived at Number 3 Dawbarn Street, just round the corner from Elsinore Avenue. He left her house at a little before eight, as he was obliged to catch the eight-ten for New York. As he closed the gate behind him, he saw David Balfame walk unsteadily past, shouting "Tipperary"; and being a friend of many years" standing, had concluded to follow and see Balfame safely inside the house. He would lose but a minute or two, and it seemed to him a decent act, for it was possible the man might fall and hurt himself before he reached his home. Mott was so close behind him that he must have just escaped the shot or shots himself, and although he jumped backward he saw distinctly somebody run out of the grove and toward the back of the house. Whether it was a man or a woman he had no idea, but the figure was tall--yes far taller than either young Kraus or Frieda.

Then, he said, he doubled on his tracks and got back into Dawbarn Street as quickly as he could. He blushed as he admitted this, but added that he knew from the shouts on Gifning"s veranda that men were hastening to Balfame"s aid, and he had to catch the eight-ten or lose his night train to the West and a big piece of business. Moreover, he didn"t like the idea of giving testimony against anybody; he abhorred the inst.i.tution of capital punishment. For the same reason he did not come forward until the District Attorney ferreted him out, as he was afraid the running figure might have been Mrs. Balfame and she was the last person he wished to harm, innocent or guilty.

No one could doubt that he told the truth and hated to tell it. Nor could any one jump to the conclusion that he was the a.s.sa.s.sin; he had as little motive for killing Balfame as any of the other men of Brabant County with whom he had been for years on the same cordial terms.

All that Rush could do was to make him admit that perhaps he was naturally confused by the flash, the report almost in his ear, the man sinking at his feet, and only fancied he saw a running form; the delusion would be natural in the circ.u.mstances, particularly as his thoughts seemed to have been concentrated upon getting out of the way.

Mr. Mott admitted almost too eagerly that this might be true, but added that when the district attorney, who was a cousin of Miss Lacke, as well as an old friend of his own, had squeezed the story out of him bit by bit (the form of extraction was supplied by Mr. Rush), that had been his impression; he seemed to have that tall running figure imprinted upon his retina, as it were. Of course it might be just imagination. He wished to G.o.d he could swear it was. When asked sharply if even one of his parents was German, he recovered his poise and replied haughtily that he was straight American and as pro-Allies as the best man in the country. He had never entered Old Dutch"s beer garden; his choice was a hotel bar, anyhow; he avoided saloons.

Rush had a diabolical power of making a witness look ridiculous, but the American mind is essentially a just mind, normally unemotional, and a very magnet for facts. As the Judge adjourned the court until Monday the sob-sisters trailed out dejectedly, after a vain endeavour to get close to Mrs. Balfame; the young men sauntered forth with their heads in the air, and Rush"s lips were so closely pressed together that his face looked pure granite. As a matter of fact, his heart felt like water.

Mrs. Balfame, who had not permitted herself to show a flicker of interest while Mott was on the stand, rose as the Judge left the room.

She smiled upon each of her friends separately and kissed the prominent ladies of Elsinore who had sat beside her throughout that trying day.

"Please don"t come over to the jail," she said. "I know you are worn out, and I have a bad headache. I must lie down. But do please come to-morrow. You are all too good. Thank you so much."

Then with a faint smile and a light step she followed the sheriff through the long tunnel, a horrible vision dancing before her eyes.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII

When Rush arrived at the sitting-room of the jail"s private suite he found Mrs. Balfame, not in tears as he had nervously antic.i.p.ated, but distraught, pacing the room, her hands in her disordered hair.

"I am done for! done for!" she cried as Rush hastily closed the door.

"It would have been better if I had told the truth in the beginning--that I _had_ gone out that night. It was not such a bad excuse,--that I thought I saw a burglar down there,--and it was G.o.d"s truth. Or I could have said I was walking about the grounds because I had a headache--"

"It never would have gone down. If I could have discovered who the other person in the grove was--found him and his forty-one-calibre revolver, well and good. Failing that, our line of defence is the best possible. I will admit, though," he too was pacing the room,--"it looks bad to-day, pretty bad. There isn"t the ghost of a chance to prove Mott was the man.

Gore has the time to the minute he left Susie Lacke"s; you must have gone out some time before--"

"Oh, he didn"t do it. I"ve not thought it for a moment. No such luck. It was some enemy who went straight to New York--in that car. But I--I--Auburn--the electric chair--they all believed--Oh, my G.o.d! G.o.d!"

She had tossed her arms above her head then flung herself down before the table, her face upon them, rocking her body back and forth. Her voice was deep with horror and despair, her abandonment far more complete than on the day of her arrest; and wrought up himself, Rush was stirred with the echo of all he had felt that day. In the semi-intimacy of these past ten weeks, when he had talked with her for hours at a time, she had disillusioned him in many ways, bored him, forced him to admit that her lovely sh.e.l.l concealed an uninteresting mind, and that the only depths in her personality that he was permitted to glimpse were such as to make him shrink, by no means to excite that fascination even in repulsion peculiar to the faults of a more pa.s.sionate nature. He still thought her the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, however, and if it was beauty which now left him cold, his admiration of her had been renewed these last three days when her manner and appearance in court had been beyond all praise. He had excoriated himself for his fickleness, his contemptible failure as a lover; and the more he hated himself the more grimly determined he was to behave precisely as if he still loved and revered her as he had when ready to sacrifice life itself for her sake. He was in such an _impa.s.se_ that he cared little what became of himself.

He leaned over the table and pressed his hands hard on her arms.

"Listen!" he said peremptorily. "You never will go to Auburn. You will leave this jail not later than the middle of next week, a free woman. If I cannot get you off by my address to the jury,--and it will be the supreme effort of my life,--I"ll take the stand and swear that I committed the murder myself."

"What?" She lifted her head and stared up at him. His face was set, but his eyes glowed like blue coals.

"Yes. I can put it over, all right. You remember I went to your house from the Club that day. n.o.body saw me go; no one saw me leave. From the moment I left you, until the following morning, no one--no one that I know of--saw me that night, except Dr. Anna. We met out on the road leading to Houston"s farm, and she drove me in. She believes I did it.

So does c.u.mmack, and if necessary he will manage to get an affidavit from her--"

Mrs. Balfame had sprung to her feet. "Did you do it? Did you?"