Page:The Rejuvenation Of Miss Semaphore.pdf/228

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but I found her changed into the infant you see in the middle of that same night."

A roar of laughter drowned her words.

The counsel for the prosecution was very stern.

"I do not know, madam," he said, "what may be the state of your mind, though I should advise your relatives to have it enquired into, but we cannot have the time of the court taken up in listening to such ridiculous and impossible statements. Remember, please, that you are on your oath, and give truthful replies to the questions put."

"I am speaking the truth," wailed Prudence. She was desperate, careless of consequences, driven into a corner. "You may put me in prison if you like, but I can say nothing else. My sister bought the Water from a Mrs. Geldheraus, of 194, Handel Street, on the 27th of June last, at three o'clock in the afternoon. She took a dose of it that same night, broke the bottle, I think, by accident, and unwilling to lose the wonderful water—at least, so I conclude, for I not present—drank up all that was left. I heard her crying in the night, and found her turned into a baby. I could not keep