"Mr Lawson," pursued the same questioner, after the excitement had a
little subsided, "may I ask you to state to the jury what you know about
the enclosure spoken of in this letter? Tell us all about it."
"I shall tell you what General Harding told me. He said he received in
it a finger, which was that of his son. He recognised it by a scar well
known to him: it was the scar of a cut given him by his elder brother,
when they were boys out shooting together."
"Can you tell what became of that finger?"
"I can. It is here. General Harding placed it in my hands, along with
the letter in which it had been enclosed."
The witness then handed up the finger spoken of. It was a ghastly
confirmation of his testimony, and produced a tremendous sensation in
court; which continued, long after Mr Lawson had been noticed to leave
the witness-box.
"My Lord!" called out the plaintiff's counsel, "I have one more witness
to examine, and then we shall be done. This is Mr Henry Harding."
"The gentleman who so calls himself!" interposed one of the barristers
who had been briefed by the party for the defence.
"And who will so prove himself!" confidently retorted the plaintiff's
counsel.
By consent of the judge, the claimant was put upon the stand, and became
emphatically the cynosure of every eye in the crowded court.
He was elegantly, though not foppishly dressed, wearing upon his hands a
pair of stout dogskin gloves.
"May I ask you, sir," said his counsel, "to draw off your gloves? The
left-hand one will be enough."
The request was complied with, the witness making no other answer.
"Now, sir, have the goodness to hold out your hand, so that the jury may
see it."
The hand was stretched forth. _It wanted the little finger_!
Increased sensation in the court!
"My Lord, and gentlemen of the jury, you perceive there is a finger
missing? _It is here_."
As the counsel said this, he stepped towards the witness-box, holding
the strange object in his hand. Then, quietly raising the hand of his
client, he placed the missing finger in juxtaposition with the stump,
from which it had long ago been so cruelly severed.
There could be no doubt about the correspondence. The white
cartilaginous seam that indicated the scar, commencing upon the back of
the hand, and running longitudinally, was continued to the finger's tip.
The jury could not help being convinced. _The claimant was Henry
Harding_.
The sensation in court had now come to its climax; and so had the trial
to its end.
The case of "Harding _versus_ Harding" was by an unanimous verdict
decided in plaintiff's favour--defendant "to pay costs in the suit!"