Now, Crosby and Curtis will testify that you took a pair of shears
from Cahill's, and from what Miss Post saw of your ring she can
probably identify that, too; so--"
"Oh, we concede the shears," declared Ranson, waving his hand
grandly. "We admit the first hold-up."
"The devil we do!" returned Carr. "Now, as your counsel, I advise
nothing of the sort."
"You advise me to lie?"
"Sir!" exclaimed Carr. "A plea of not guilty is only a legal form.
When you consider that the first hold-up in itself is enough to lose
you your commission--"
"Well, it's MY commission," said Ranson. "It was only a silly joke,
anyway. And the War Department must have some sense of humor or it
wouldn't have given me a commission in the first place. Of course,
we'll admit the first hold-up, but we won't stand for the second one.
I had no more to do with that than with the Whitechapel murders."
"How are we to prove that?" demanded Carr. "Where's your alibi? Where
were you after the first hold-up?"
"I was making for home as fast as I could cut," said Ranson. He
suddenly stopped in his walk up and down the room and confronted his
counsel sternly.
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