Counsel:  “But you admit you were surprised?”

Yollop:  “Yes.  I was surprised.”

Counsel, shaking his finger and speaking with something like malevolence in his voice and manner:  “Don’t you know, Mr. Yollop, that this man was so exhausted from lack of food that he was not only unable to defend himself from your assault but that the weakest blow—­or even a gentle push with the open hand,—­would have sent him sprawling?”

Yollop:  “I don’t know anything about that.”

Counsel:  “Wasn’t he so weak that he could hardly walk across the room after he arose?”

Yollop:  “Possibly.  He was not too weak, however, to climb up two floors on a fire escape and pry open my window before I,—­”

Counsel:  “Now,—­now,—­now!  Please answer my question?”

Yollop:  “He complained of being dizzy.  He held his hand to his jaw. 
That’s all I can say.”

Counsel:  “You were pointing the revolver at him all the time, you have testified.  Is that true?”

Yollop:  “Yes.”

Counsel:  “If he had made an attempt to attack you, you would have shot him, wouldn’t you?”

Yollop:  “I would have shot at him, I suppose.”

Counsel, slowly, distinctly, dramatically:  “In other words, you would have been strong enough to do the thing that he was unable to do,—­pull a trigger.”

Yollop:  “I haven’t said he was unable to pull a trigger.”

Counsel:  “Answer my question!”

The State, bouncing up:  “We object to this question.  It calls for a conclusion on the part of the witness that—­”

The Court:  “Objection sustained.”

Counsel, glaring:  “Exception.”  Then, after mopping his brow and consulting his notes:  “Now, Mr. Yollop, you say you conversed with this defendant at some length while waiting for the police to arrive.  Have you any recollection of this defendant telling you that he was driven to theft because he had been out of work for nearly three months?”

Yollop:  “No.”

Counsel:  “Didn’t he say something of the kind to you?”

Yollop:  “He didn’t say he had been out of work for three months.”

Counsel, patiently:  “Well, what did he say?”

Yollop:  “He said he had been out of jail for three months.”

Counsel, suddenly referring to his notes again:  “Er—­ahem!—­By the way, Mr. Yollop, you don’t hear very well, do you?”

Yollop:  “I am quite deaf.”

Counsel:  “He might have said a great many things that you failed to hear,—­especially if his voice was weak?”

Yollop:  “I dare say he did.”

Counsel, lifting his eyebrows significantly and nodding his head:  “Ah-h-h!  Didn’t he tell you that he had a wife and several children?”

Yollop:  “I don’t recall that he said anything about several children.  He said he had several wives.”

Counsel, startled:  “What’s that?”