A Bad Woman

"Who struck the bell at three o'clock?"

"I did, sir."

"When did you hear a woman scream?"

"Just before that."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. It was the Hansen woman. I didn't like her. She was
a bad woman. When I told her what she was, she laughed."

"Were you ever below in the after house?"

"No, sir; not since the boat was fixed up."

"What could you see through the window beside the wheel?"

"It looked into the chart-room. If the light was on, I could see
all but the floor."

"Between the hours of 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., did any one leave or
enter the after house by the after companion?"

"Yes, sir. Mr. Singleton went down into the chart-room, and came
back again in five or ten minutes."

"At what time?"

"At four bells--two o'clock."

"No one else?"

"No, sir; but I saw Mr. Turner--"

"Confine yourself to the question. What was Mr. Singleton's manner
at the time you mention?"

"He was excited. He brought up a bottle of whiskey from the
chart-room table, and drank what was left in it. Then he muttered
something, and threw the empty bottle over the rail. He said he
was still sick."

The cross-examination confined itself to one detail of Charlie
Jones's testimony.

"Did you, between midnight and 3 A.M., see any one in the chart-room
besides the mate?"

"Yes--Mr. Turner."

"You say you cannot see into the chart-room from the wheel at night.
How did you see him?"