The sharp unscrupulous lawyer who acted for the prosecution had secured
some fellows "of the baser sort" who testified that they had seen Mark
Carter buying a gun, that they had seen him creep softly to the window,
peer into the room, and take aim. They had been on their way home, had
seen Mark steal along in a very suspicious manner and had followed him
to find out what it meant. There were three of them; fellows whom Mark
had refused to play against on a County team because they were what is
called "dirty" players. There had been hot words between Mark and them
once when one of them had kicked a man in the face with spiked shoes
who was just about to make a goal. Mark had succeeded in winning the
umpire to his point of view and the others had lost their game and
incidentally some money, and they had a grudge against him. Moreover
there was money in this testimony for The Blue Duck Tavern could not
afford to have its habitues in the public eye, and preferred to place
the blame on a man who belonged more to the conservative crowd. The
Blue Duck had never quite approved of Mark, because though he came and
went he never drank, and he sometimes prevented others from doing so.
This was unprofitable to them. So matters stood when the noon-hour came
and court adjourned for lunch.