The lawyer placed both hands on the back of his chair and leaned forward.
"Because," he said in a denunciatory tone, "you were the accused's partner; because, having partly financed his scheme, you wanted to reap all the profits by swindling your partner out of his share. I maintain," he went on, waving aside an interruption that Mr. Solomon was about to make, "that your object was to let my client capture what prizes he could, and then, by contriving his arrest, seize for yourself all the proceeds of the expedition, together with any money that might accrue from the Government."
"It is a lie, a vicked lie!" the witness almost shrieked.
"I will go even further," pursued the lawyer, ignoring Mr. Solomon's indignant protest. "I will assert that the whole thing was a plot, engineered by you as soon as my client had laid his plans before you. With or without the connivance of Mr. Rossenbaum, the _Arrow_ was brought round to Singapore, coaled, provisioned, and armed by you, and, after you had caused the name _Hawk_ to be substituted for _Arrow_, was handed over to my client with the understanding that it was your ship."
Mr. Solomon attempted to make a reply, but was so overcome with indignation, anger, and other emotions that he could only utter inarticulate sounds.
"I should like to recall the witness, Tilak Sumbowa," went on Mr. Vayne, and the ship-chandler sat down, biting his nails with rage.
The water-clerk came forward looking very nervous.
"I gathered from your evidence that neither you nor Mr. Solomon were in Singapore on the night the _Arrow_, or, as she was then called, the _Hawk_, left," said Mr. Vayne.
"No; Mr. Solomon left me a note at mid-day saying he was called away on business. I have it here," and the witness triumphantly produced an envelope from his pocket.
Sumbowa passed the note to the lawyer, who scrutinised the envelope critically.
"This envelope is addressed to Mr. Solomon," he said.
"Yes. The note was lying on his desk without an envelope, so I picked one out of the waste-paper basket and put the note in it."
"And this is the identical envelope which you picked up out of the waste-paper basket?"
"All of which circumstance took place a few hours before the _Hawk_ left Singapore and during the time that Mr. Solomon was out of town?"