Page:Marsh--The seen and the unseen.djvu/71

Rh scampered round the prison in his usual twenty-mile-an-hour fashion, he attacked the subject in hand in that tumultuous, hearty way he had.

"Paley, what's all this stuff and nonsense about those photographs? I'm surprised at you; 'pon my word, I am."

"May I inquire, Major Hardinge, why?"

The governor was the official to the finger-tips again.

"Send up a cock-and-bull story like that to headquarters! What do you think that we're likely to make out of it? A ghost story! There can't be the slightest doubt in the world, Paley, that somebody's been playing tricks with you — that's the general opinion at the office."

"May I ask, Major Hardinge, if I am supposed to be the person who has been playing tricks on Mr. Paley?"

The inquiry came from Dr. Livermore.

"I'm not here to inquire who is, or who isn't. In fact, I'm not here to make any inquiry at all — the case, upon the face of it, is too trivial for inquiry. We've decided to squash it. But since I am here I may as well see this man — eh — what's his name? Solly! — just so! It appears that there are some peculiar circumstances in the case of this man — eh? — Solly, I shouldn't be surprised if you've got the wrong man here after all."

"The wrong man, major! How do you mean?"

"Those wise heads at the Quarter Sessions have made a mistake — one more example of the immaculate perfection of the system of trial by jury. Mind, I don't say that this is so. I say that it