SERJEANT SHEE. He called six or seven times on you to see whether
you liked the place: do you mean to tell that to the jury on your
oath?
MILLS. I am not going to take my oath: but when he called on me he
always asked how I liked London.
SERJEANT SHEE. Then what did he call about?
MILLS. Sometimes one thing, sometimes another.
SERJEANT SHEE. What else besides Mr Cook's death?
MILLS. Nothing besides that.
SERJEANT SHEE. Had you conversed with him much at The Talbot
Arms while he was lodging there just before the funeral?
MILLS. Some little.
SERJEANT SHEE. Had you never been in a room with him alone at The
Talbot Arms?
MILLS. NO.
SERJEANT SHEE. At Dolly's Hotel he spoke to you about Mr Cook's death and your health, and your liking for London, but nothing else; is that so ? On your oath, did he speak to you about anything else?
MILLS. Yes, many more things.
SERJEANT SHEE. What else?
MILLS. I cannot remember.
SERJEANT SHEE. Tell me a single thing of importance that he spoke to
you about except Mr Cook's death?
MILLS. I do not keep such things in my head for weeks or months
together.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did you not say to him after he had been calling two or three times: 'Why, Mr Stevens, you have been here often enough; I have told you all I know'?
MILLS. NO, I did not.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did he give you money during the time you were there? MILLS. Never a farthing.
SERJEANT SHEE. Has he promised to get you a place?
MILLS. Not at all.
SERJEANT SHEE. When did you talk to him last?
MILLS. On Tuesday at Dolly's Hotel.
SERJEANT SHEE. Was Mr Cook's death still the subject of his talk?
MILLS. He merely said 'How do you do?', and asked me how I was;
plenty more were present.
SERJEANT SHEE. Does he live at Dolly's ?
MILLS. He may do, for aught I know.
SERJEANT SHEE. Where was it at Dolly's you saw him last Tuesday ?
MILLS. In a sitting-room.
SERJEANT SHEE. Were you alone with him?
MILLS. No.
SERJEANT SHEE. Who else was there?
MILLS. Lavinia Barnes, of The Talbot Arms.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did she have a place at Dolly's too ?
MILLS. She is working there now.
SERJEANT SHEE. So Mr Stevens had an interview with you and Lavitna Barnes ?
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL. I beg your pardon, the witness has not said so; do not put an ambiguous phrase into her mouth.
LORD CAMPBELL. If you repeat what she says, you must repeat it correctly.
SERJEANT SHEE. What am I to call it, my Lord, but an interview? Was there a meeting between him and you and Lavinia Barnes in the same room?
MILLS. There were two other gentlemen in the room besides us three.
SERJEANT SHEE. Who?
MILLS. Captain Hatton and Mr Gardiner.
SERJEANT SHEE. On this occasion, was all the talk about Mr Cook's death?
MILLS. I cannot remember; it might be mentioned. I don't pretend
to keep in my head what the conversation was.
SERJEANT SHEE. Will you undertake to say there was no single subject
of conversation mooted between you and Lavinia Barnes and those
gentlemen except the subject of Cook's death?
MILLS. There were many more things talked about.
SERJEANT SHEE. What?
MILLS. That I do not wish to mention.
SERJEANT SHEE. You must mention what was the subject of conversation.
MILLS. I cannot remember. They were not talking with me alone, but among themselves; I paid no attention to what they were talking about. Perhaps my thoughts were occupied about something else.
SERJEANT SHEE. They did talk about Mr Cook's death ?
MILLS. They might, but I cannot remember.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did they talk about the evidence that you were to
give at this trial?
MILLS. No; not that I heard.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did they read your depositions over to you, those
taken before the Coroner?
MILLS. No, they did not.
SERJEANT SHEE. Was anything read to you from a newspaper?
MILLS. No.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did Mr Stevens then, or at any previous time, talk to you about the symptoms which Mr Cook exhibited shordy before his death?
MILLS. He did not.
SERJEANT SHEE. Was that the first time since Mr Cook's death that
you had seen Captain Hatton?
MILLS. No, I had seen him once before. He was dining at Dolly's.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did he speak at all about Mr Cook's death to you ?
MILLS. He might, but I cannot remember.
SERJEANT SHEE. Do not tell me you cannot remember: what did he speak to you about? Did he, upon your oath, speak to you about Mr Cook's death?
MILLS. I cannot remember. He might do.
SERJEANT SHEE. Do you recollect anything else he said?
MILLS. He asked me how I was, I remember.
SERJEANT SHEE. Had you seen Mr Gardiner before, since Mr Cook's death?
MILLS. Yes. Three or four times.
SERJEANT SHEE. Where?
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?