"The trial has been too much for her. She's overwrought."
Broderick, who overheard the remark, grinned sardonically. Turning to
Thorne, he remarked:--
"I'm an expert in these matters. It's got all the earmarks of the real
thing. Murgatroyd did well." And then, as one who enjoyed all the
privileges of the court-room, he advanced close to the bench, and
shading his mouth, while he spoke, suggested genially:--
"Your Honour, get out the Penal Code."
But the Court merely beckoned to Thorne and suggested that he take
charge of his client; that the strain had been too much for her. And
much as Thorne wanted to believe her story, he felt as the Court felt:
that the tale was little short of preposterous.
"But--it's true," Miriam persisted to her counsel, "incredible as it may
seem."