Page:The Great Harry Thaw Case.djvu/138

 "'Providence took charge of it,' he replied. 'This was an act of Providence. For my part I would rather have had him suffer in court the humiliation the revelation of his acts would have caused.'"

"Did he tell you what he had done, if anything, to bring White into court?" asked Mr. Delmas.

"He said he had gone to see Anthony Comstock, District Attorney Jerome and a private detective agency. He said Mr. Jerome had told him he had better let the matter drop; that there was nothing to it. The detectives told him they would take the matter up, but they had not submitted a proper report. As to Mr. Comstock, he said, he discovered that Delancey Nicoll, an attorney, was acting as legal adviser both to White and to Comstock. He regarded this as another link in the conspiracy against him.

"I asked him why he carried a pistol, and he said that Roger O'Mara, a Pittsburg detective, had advised him to do so after he had told O'Mara that on several occasions thugs had jostled him in an attempt to get him into a street brawl. He said these thugs were the hired agents of Stanford White, who did not want to take the responsibility and danger of making a personal attack. He said White had hired the Monk Eastman gang to get him into a quarrel and beat or kick him to death."

After these astounding statements, to which the jury listened eagerly, the bailiff cried:

"Mrs. Evelyn Nesbit Thaw to the Stand!"

A thrill ran round the court.