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Jimmy's sentiments toward the three women whose interests brought them daily

to the court-room had undergone considerable change. The girl that he had put

upon a pedestal to worship from afar, the girl to whom he had given an idealistic

love, he saw now in another light. His reverence for her had died hard, but in the

face of her arrogance, her vindictiveness and her petty snobbery it had finally

succumbed, so that when he compared her with the girl who had been of the

street the latter suffered in no way by the comparison.

Harriet Holden's friendship and loyalty were a never-ending source of

wonderment to him, but he accepted her own explanation, which, indeed, was

fair enough, that her innate sense of justice had compelled her to give him her

sympathy and assistance.

Just how far that assistance had gone Jimmy did not know, though of late he had

come to suspect that his attorney was being retained by Harriet Holden's father.

Bince appeared in the court-room only when necessity compelled his presence on

the witness stand. The nature of the man's testimony was such that, like

Krovac's, it was difficult of impeachment, although Jimmy was positive that Bince

perjured himself, especially in a statement that he made of a conversation he had

with Mr. Compton the morning of the murder, in which he swore that Compton

stated that he intended to discharge Torrance that day.

The effect of the trial seemed to have made greater inroads upon Bince than upon

Jimmy. The latter gave no indication of nervous depression or of worry, while

Bince, on the other hand, was thin, pale and haggard. His hands and face

continually moved and twitched as he sat in the courtroom or on the witness

chair. Never for an instant was he at rest.

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