He then turned to Crozier again, and his voice rose as it did when he began the examination.

It was as though he was starting all over again.
"What was it compelled" (he was boldly venturing) "you to leave Ireland at last?
What was the incident which drove you out from the land where you were born--from being the owner of two thousand acres"-- "Partly bog," interposed Crozier.
"-- From being the owner of two thousand acres to becoming a kind of head-groom on a ranch?
What was the cause of your flight ?" "Flight! I came in one of the steamers of the Company for which your firm are the agents.

Eleven days it took to come from Glasgow to Quebec." Again the court rippled, again the attendant intervened.
Burlingame was nonplussed this time, but he gathered himself together.
"What was the process of law which forced you to leave your own land ?" "None at all." "What were your debts when you left ?" "None at all." "How much was the last debt you paid ?" "Two thousand five hundred pounds." "What was its nature ?" "It was a debt of honour--do you understand ?" The subtle challenge of the voice, the sarcasm, was not lost.

Again there was a struggle on the part of the audience not to laugh outright, and so be driven from the court as had been threatened.
The judge interposed again with the remark, not very severe in tone, that the witness was not in the box to ask questions, but to answer them.

At the same time he must remind counsel that the examination must discontinue unless something more relevant immediately appeared in the evidence.
There was silence again for a moment, and even Crozier himself seemed to steel himself for a question he felt was coming.
"Are you married or single ?" asked Burlingame, and he did not need to raise his voice to summon the interest of the court.
"I was married." One person in the audience nearly cried out.