Davilo sat in his chair unguarded, but in an attitude strangely constrained and motionless.
Only his bright eyes moved freely, and his head turned a little from side to side.

He recognised us instantly, and his look expressed no trace of fear.
"The _quarry_" whispered Esmo, observing my perplexity.
"It paralyses the nerves of motion, leaving those of sensation active; and is administered to a prisoner on the instant of his arrest, so as to keep him absolutely helpless till his sentence is executed, or till on his acquittal an antidote is administered." The counsel for the prosecution stated in the briefest possible words the story of Astona, from the moment when she left my house to that at which she was found dead, and the method of her death; related Davilo's words, and then proceeded to call his witnesses.

Of course the one vital question was whether by possibility Davilo, who had never left my premises since the words were uttered, could have brought about a death, evidently accidental in its immediate cause, at a distance of many miles.

His words were attested by one whom I recognised as an officer of Endo Zampta, and I was called to confirm or contradict them.

The presiding judge, as I took my place, read a brief telling terrible menace, expounding the legal penalties of perjury.
"You will speak the truth," he said, "or you know the consequences." As he spoke, he encountered Esmo's eyes, and quailed under the gaze, sinking back into his seat motionless as the bird under the alleged fascination of the serpent.