They Hanged My Saintly Billy (52 page)

mills
.
I
have
met
him
in
the
street.

Serjeant shee
.
Spoken
to
him?

mills
.
Merely
said
'How
do
you
do?',
or
'Good
morning'.

Serjeant shee.
You
have
not
been
to
any
attorney's
office
with
him?

mills.
No.

Serjeant shee.
You
left
Dolly's
in
February.
Where
are
you
living now?

mills
.
At
Rugeley,
with
my
mother.

Serjeant shee
.
Where
were
you
living
before
that?

mills
.
Among
my
friends.

Serjeant shee
.
Was
that
at
Hitchingley?

mills
.
Yes.
I
have
some
friends
there.

Serjeant shee
.
Who
are
they
?

mills
.
Friends
are
friends,
I
suppose.

Serjeant shee
.
I
do
not
mean
to
ask
you
any
rude
questions,
but
that is
hardly
a
proper
answer.
Do
you
know
a
man
of
the
name
of Dutton
?

mills
.
I
do.
He
is
a
friend
of
mine
.

Serjeant shee
.
Was
it
with
him
you
were
living
?

mills
.
I
stayed
at
his
cottage
a
short
time.

Serjeant shee
.
What
is
Mr
Dutton?

mills
.
A
friend
of
mine:
a
labouring
man
of
some
thirty
perhaps.
I

have
known
him
about
two
years.

Serjeant shee
.
Is
there
a
Mrs
Dutton?

mills
.
Yes,
his
mother.
She
lives
in
the
cottage
.

Serjeant shee
.
How
many
rooms
?

mills
.
Two
down
and
two
up.

Serjeant shee
.
His
mother
slept
in
one
of
the
upstairs
rooms?

mills
.
Yes.

Serjeant shee
.
Where
did
you
sleep?

mills
.
In
the
bed
with
her.

Serjeant shee
.
Will
you
swear
that
you
always
slept
in
that
bed
?

mills
.
Yes.

Serjeant shee
.
Why
did
you
leave
Dolly's?

mills
.
I
did
not
like
the
place;
it
was
of
my
own
accord
.

Serjeant shee.
Y
ou
can
read
newspapers,
I
suppose?

mills
.
Yes.

Serjeant shee
.
Have
you
read
the
case
of
a
Mrs
Dove?

mills
.
I
do
not
remember;
I
may
have
done
so.

Serjeant shee
.
It
is
a
case
that
lately
occurred
at
Leeds,
of
a
lady
who

was
said
to
have
been
poisoned
by
her
husband.

mills.
N
o
,
I
did
not
read
it;
I
heard
it
spoken
of.

Serjeant shee
.
By
whom?

mills
.
By
many.
I
cannot
mention
one
more
than
another.

Serjeant shee
.
By
Mr
Stevens,
or
Mr
Gardiner,
or
Captain
Hatton?

mills
.
No,
by
no
one
belonging
to
this
trial
.

Serjeant shee
.
Were
you
told
what
the
symptoms
of
Mrs
Dove were?

mills
.
I
think
not;
I
merely
heard
it
was
another
strychnine
case.

Serjeant shee
.
Were
the
symptoms
of
strychnia
ever
mentioned
to

you
by
anyone?

mills.
N
o
,
never.

Serjeant shee
.
When
and
to
whom
did
you
first
use
the
expression '
twitching',
which,
with
'jerking',
occurred
so
repeatedly
in
your evidence
yesterday?

mills
.
To
the
Coroner,
I
did.
Or,
if
I
did
not
mention
'twitching', I
mentioned
something
to
the
same
effect.

Serjeant shee
.
It
is
fair
to
tell
you,
as
I
have
the
deposition
before me,
that
you
did
not.

the attorney-general
.
If
you
do
so,
I
shall
show
how
these
depositions
were
taken.

Serjeant shee
.
I
intend
to
put
them
in.
When
did
you
first
use
the word
'twitching',
which
you
used
so
frequently
yesterda
y?

mills
.
I
cannot
remember
when
first
I
used
the
word,
but
I
believe
it was
in
Mother's
house
before
I
came
to
London
.

Serjeant shee
.
Will
you
swear
to
that?

mills
.
Yes;
and
I
described
the
symptoms
the
young
man
died
under.

Serjeant shee
.
Will
you
swear
you
used
the
word
'twitching'?

mills
.
Yes;
at
Mother
's.

Serjeant shee.
I
s
your
mother
here?

mills
.
No,
she
is
not.

Serjeant shee
.
Have
you
ever
been
asked
by
anybody
if
there
were

not
'twitchings'?

mills
.
I
cannot
remember
.

Serjeant shee
.
You
stated
yesterday
on
oath
that
on
the
Saturday between
twelve
and
one
o'clock
some
broth
was
brought
to
The Talbot
Arms
Hotel
in
a
breakfast-cup;
that
you
took
it
up
into Cook's
bedroom;
that
you
tasted
it,
and
drank
about
two
tablespoons;
that
you
were
sick;
that
you
were
sick
the
whole
afternoon, and
vomited
at
least
twenty
times
?