“We object to this evidence,” said the opposing attorney.  “There is no proof that the A. Jones referred to is the prisoner.”

“The minutes,” said Colby, “state that a motion picture was taken of the meeting.  I have the film here, in this room, and beg permission to exhibit it before your honor as evidence.”

The judge was a bit startled at so novel a suggestion but assented with a nod.  In a twinkling the operator had suspended a roller-screen from the chandelier dependent from the ceiling, pulled down the window shades and attached his projecting machine to an electric-light socket.

Then the picture flashed upon the screen.  It was not entirely distinct, because the room could not be fully darkened and the current was not strong, yet every face in the gathering of stockholders could be plainly recognized.  Jones, especially, as the central figure, could not be mistaken and no one who looked upon the picture could doubt his identity.

When the exhibition was concluded and the room again lightened, Le Drieux’s face was visibly perturbed and anxious, while his attorneys sat glum and disconcerted.

Colby now put Goldstein on the stand, who testified that he recognized Jones as president of his company and the owner of the majority of stock.  The young man had come to him with unimpeachable credentials to that effect.

The girls were now smiling and cheerful.  To them the defense was absolutely convincing.  But Le Drieux’s attorneys were skillful fighters and did not relish defeat.  They advanced the theory that the motion picture, just shown, had been made at a later dale and substituted for the one mentioned in the minutes of the meeting.  They questioned Goldstein, who admitted that he had never seen Jones until a few days previous.  The manager denied, however, any substitution of the picture.  He was not a very satisfactory witness for the defense and Colby was sorry he had summoned him.

As for the judge, he seemed to accept the idea of the substitution with alacrity.  He had practically decided against Jones in the matter of the pearls.  Now he listened carefully to the arguments of the prosecution and cut Colby short when he raised objections to their sophistry.

Finally Judge Wilton rose to state his decision.

“The evidence submitted in proof of the alleged fact that the prisoner is Jack Andrews, and that Jack Andrews may have robbed the Countess Ahmberg, of Vienna, of her valuable collection of pearls, is in the judgment of this court clear and convincing,” he said.  “The lawyer for the defense has further succeeded in entangling his client by exhibiting an additional assortment of pearls, which may likewise be stolen property.  The attempt to impose upon this court a mythical island called Sangoa is—­eh—­distinctly reprehensible.  This court is not so easily hoodwinked.  Therefore, in consideration of the evidence advanced, I declare that the prisoner is Jack Andrews, otherwise Jackson Dowd Andrews, otherwise parading under the alias of ‘A.  Jones,’ and I recognize the claim of the Austrian police to his person, that he may be legally tried for his alleged crimes in the territory where it is alleged he committed them.  Therefore I order that the prisoner be held for requisition and turned over to the proper authorities when the papers arrive.  The court is adjourned.”