An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

chin and cheek maybe, he was not sure, but not

intentionally, of course, and not with sufficient force really to

injure her, he thought at the time. But just here a long

wrangle between Belknap and Mason as to the competency

of such testimony since Clyde declared that he could not

remember clearly—but Oberwaltzer finally allowing the

testimony on the ground that it would show, relatively,

whether a light or heavy push or blow was required in order

to upset any one who might be “lightly” or “loosely” poised.

“But how in Heaven’s name are these antics as here

demonstrated on a man of Mr. Newcomb’s build to show

what would follow in the case of a girl of the size and weight

of Miss Alden?” persisted Belknap.

“Well, then we’ll put a girl of the size and weight of Miss

Alden in here.” And at once calling for Zillah Saunders and

putting her in Newcomb’s place. But Belknap none-the-less

proceeding with:

“And what of that? The conditions aren’t the same. This

boat isn’t on the water. No two people are going to be alike

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1042

in their resistance or their physical responses to accidental

blows.”

“Then you refuse to allow this demonstration to be

made?” (This was from Mason, turning and cynically

inquiring.)

“Oh, make it if you choose. It doesn’t mean anything

though, as anybody can see,” persisted Belknap,

suggestively.

And so Clyde, under directions from Mason, now pushing at

Zillah, “about as hard,” (he thought) as he had accidentally

pushed at Roberta. And she falling back a little—not much—

but in so doing being able to lay a hand on each side of the

boat and so save herself. And thejury, in spite of Belknap’s

thought that his contentions would have counteracted all

this, gathering the impression that Clyde, on account of his

guilt and fear of death, was probably attempting to conjure

something that had been much more viciously executed, to

be sure. For had not the doctors sworn to the probable

force of this and another blow on the top of the head? And

had not Burton Burleigh testified to having discovered a hair

in the camera? And how about the cry that woman had

heard? How about that?

But with that particular incident the court was adjourned for

this day.

On the following morning at the sound of the gavel, there

was Mason, as fresh and vigorous and vicious as ever. And

Clyde, after a miserable night in his cell and much

bolstering by Jephson and Belknap, determined to be as

cool and insistent and innocent-appearing as he could be,

but with no real heart for the job, so convinced was he that

local sentiment in its entirety was against him—that he was

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1043

believed to be guilty. And with Mason beginning most

savagely and bitterly:

“You still insist that you experienced a change of heart, do

you, Griffiths?”

“Yes, sir, I do.”

“Ever hear of people being resuscitated after they have

apparently drowned?”

“I don’t quite understand.”

“You know, of course, that people who are supposed to be

drowned, who go down for the last time and don’t come up,

are occasionally gotten out of the water and revived,

brought back to life by first-aid methods—working their

arms and rolling them over a log or a barrel. You’ve heard

of that, haven’t you?”

“Yes, sir, I think I have. I’ve heard of people being brought

back to life after they’re supposed to be drowned, but I

don’t think I ever heard just how.”

“You never did?”

“No, sir.”

“Or how long they could stay under water and still be

revived?”

“No, sir. I never did.”

“Never heard, for instance, that a person who had been in

the water as long as fifteen minutes might still be brought

to?”

“No, sir.”

“So it never occurred to you after you swam to shore

yourself that you might still call for aid and so save her life

even then?”

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“No, sir, it didn’t occur to me. I thought she was dead by

then.”

“I see. But when she was still alive out there in the water—

how about that? You’re a pretty good swimmer, aren’t you?”

“Yes, sir, I swim fairly well.”

“Well enough, for instance, to save yourself by swimming

over five hundred feet with your shoes and clothes on. Isn’t

that so?”

“Well, I did swim that distance then—yes, sir.”

“Yes, you did indeed—and pretty good for a fellow who

couldn’t swim thirty-five feet to an overturned boat, I’ll say,”

concluded Mason.

Here Jephson waved aside Belknap’s suggestion that he

move to have this comment stricken out.

Clyde was now dragged over his various boating and

swimming experiences and made to tell how many times he

had gone out on lakes in craft as dangerous as canoes and

had never had an accident.

“The first time you took Roberta out on Crum Lake was in a

canoe, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“But you had no accident then?”

“No, sir.”

“You cared for her then very much, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“But the day she was drowned in Big Bittern, in this solid,

round-bottomed row-boat, you didn’t care for her any more.”

“Well, I’ve said how I felt then.”

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1045

“And of course there couldn’t be any relation between the

fact that on Crum Lake you cared for her but on Big Bittern

——”

“I said how I felt then.”

“But you wanted to get rid of her just the same, didn’t you?

The moment she was dead to run away to that other girl.

You don’t deny that, do you?”

“I’ve explained why I did that,” reiterated Clyde.

“Explained! Explained! And you expect any fair-minded,

decent, intelligent person to believe that explanation, do

you?” Mason was fairly beside himself with rage and Clyde

did not venture to comment as to that. The judge

anticipated Jephson’s objection to this and bellowed,

“Objection sustained.” But Mason went right on. “You

couldn’t have been just a little careless, could you, Griffiths,

in the handling of the boat and upset it yourself, say?” He

drew near and leered.

“No, sir, I wasn’t careless. It was an accident that I couldn’t

avoid.” Clyde was quite cool, though pale and tired.

“An accident. Like that other accident out there in Kansas

City, for instance. You’re rather familiar with accidents of

that kind, aren’t you, Griffiths?” queried Mason sneeringly

and slowly.

“I’ve explained how that happened,” replied Clyde nervously.

“You’re rather familiar with accidents that result in death to

girls, aren’t you? Do you always run away when one of

them dies?”

“Object,” yelled Belknap, leaping to his feet.

“Objection sustained,” called Oberwaltzer sharply. “There is

nothing before this court concerning any other accident.

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1046

The prosecution will confine itself more closely to the case

in hand.”

“Griffiths,” went on Mason, pleased with the way he had

made a return to Jephson for his apology for the Kansas

City accident, “when that boat upset after that accidental

blow of yours and you and Miss Alden fell into the water—

how far apart were you?”

“Well, I didn’t notice just then.”

“Pretty close, weren’t you? Not much more than a foot or

two, surely—the way you stood there in the boat?”

“Well, I didn’t notice. Maybe that, yes, sir.”

“Close enough to have grabbed her and hung on to her if

you had wanted to, weren’t you? That’s what you jumped

up for, wasn’t it, when she started to fall out?”

“Yes, that’s what I jumped up for,” replied Clyde heavily.

“but I wasn’t close enough to grab her. I know I went right

under, and when I came up she was some little distance

away.”

“Well, how far exactly? As far as from here to this end of

the jury box or that end, or half way, or what?”

“Well, I say I didn’t notice, quite. About as far from here to

that end, I guess,” he lied, stretching the distance by at

least eight feet.

“Not really!” exclaimed Mason, pretending to evince

astonishment. “This boat here turns over, you both fall in

the water close together, and when you come up you and

she are nearly twenty feet apart. Don’t you think your

memory is getting a little the best of you there?”

“Well, that’s the way it looked to me when I came up.”

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“Well, now, after that boat turned over and you both came

up, where were you in relation to it? Here is the boat now

and where were you out there in the audience, as to

distance, I mean?”

“Well, as I say, I didn’t exactly notice when I first came up,”

returned Clyde, looking nervously and dubiously at the

space before him. Most certainly a trap was being prepared

for him. “About as far as from here to that railing beyond

your table, I guess.”

“About thirty to thirty-five feet then,” suggested Mason, slyly