“Had you washed them?”

“No.”

“Were they washed on shipboard?”

“They look like it.  They have not been ironed.”

“Who gave them to you to pack in your trunk?”

“Mrs. Johns.”

“What did you do with them on reaching New York?”

“I left them in my trunk.”

“Why did you not return them to Mr. Turner?”

“I was ill, and forgot.  I’d like to know what right you have going through a person’s things—­and taking what you want!”

The stewardess was excused, the defense having scored perceptibly. 
It was clear what line the young Jew intended to follow.

Oleson, the Swede, was called next, and after the usual formalities:—­

“Where were you between midnight and 4 A.M. on the morning of August 12?”

“In the crow’s-nest of the Ella.”

“State what you saw between midnight and one o’clock.”

“I saw Mate Singleton walking on the forecastle-head.  Every now and then he went to the rail.  He seemed to be vomiting.  It was too dark to see much.  Then he went aft along the port side of the house, and came forward again on the starboard side.  He went to where the axe was kept.”

“Where was that?”

“Near the starboard corner of the forward house.  All the Turner boats have an emergency box, with an axe and other tools, in easy reach.  The officer on watch carried the key.”

“Could you see what he was doing?”

“No; but he was fumbling at the box.  I heard him.”

“Where did he go after that?”

“He went aft.”

“You could not see him?”

“I didn’t look.  I thought I saw something white moving below me, and I was watching it.”

“This white thing—­what did it look like?” “Like a dog, I should say.  It moved about, and then disappeared.”

“How?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Over the rail?”

“Oh—­no, sir.  It faded away.”

“Had you ever heard talk among the men of the Ella being a haunted ship?”

“Yes—­but not until after I’d signed on her!”

“Was there some talk of this ’white thing’?”

“Yes.”

“Before the murders?”

“No, sir; not till after.  I guess I saw it first.”

“What did the men say about it?”

“They thought it scared Mr. Schwartz overboard.  The Ella’s been unlucky as to crews.  They call her a ‘devil ship.’”

“Did you see Mr. Singleton on deck between two and three o’clock?”

“No, sir.”

The cross-examination was very short:—­

“What sort of night was it?”

“Very dark.”

“Would the first mate, as officer on watch, be supposed to see that the emergency case you speak of was in order?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did the officer on watch remain on the forecastle-head?”

“Mr. Schwartz did not; Mr. Singleton did, mostly except when he went back to strike the bells.”