Turner and the captain.'"
Whatever question Mr. Goldstein had been framing, he was not
permitted to use this part of the record. The log was admissible
only as a record on the spot, made by a competent person and
witnessed by all concerned, of the actual occurrences on the Ella.
My record of Mrs. Johns's remark was ruled out; Turner was not on
trial.
Turner, pale and shaking, left the stand at two o'clock that day,
and I was recalled. My earlier testimony had merely established
the finding of the bodies. I was now to have a bad two hours. I
was an important witness, probably the most important. I had heard
the scream that had revealed the tragedy, and had been in the main
cabin of the after house only a moment or so after the murderer. I
had found the bodies, Vail still living, and had been with the
accused mate when he saw the captain prostrate at the foot of the
forward companion.
All of this, aided by skillful questions, I told as exactly as
possible. I told of the mate's strange manner on finding the bodies;
I related, to a breathless quiet, the placing of the bodies in the
jolly-boat; and the reading of the burial service over them; I told
of the little boat that followed us, like some avenging spirit,
carrying by day a small American flag, union down, and at night a
white light.
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