“Come to the point, to the point!”
“It was this: you must know, gentlemen, that, in the examination, that
breech-loading gun played a prominent part. That man, Galpin looked at
it carefully, and asked master when he had last fired it off. Master
said, ‘About five days ago. You hear, I say, five days.’ Thereupon, that
man, Galpin, puts the gun down, without looking at the barrels.”
“Well?” asked M. Folgat.
“Well, sir, I--Anthony--I had the evening before--I say the evening
before--cleaned the gun, washed it, and”--
“Upon my word,” cried M. de Chandore, “why did you not say so at once?
If the barrels are clean, that is an absolute proof that Jacques is
innocent.”