Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 11 1And he began slowly, and as it were reflectively, looking
round him again. But the court was all excitement by now.
Alyosha rushed towards him, but the court usher had al-
ready seized Ivan by the arm.
‘What are you about?’ he cried, staring into the man’s
face, and suddenly seizing him by the shoulders, he flung
him violently to the floor. But the police were on the spot
and he was seized. He screamed furiously. And all the time
he was being removed, he yelled and screamed something
incoherent.
The whole court was thrown into confusion. I don’t re-
member everything as it happened. I was excited myself
and could not follow. I only know that afterwards, when
everything was quiet again and everyone understood what
had happened, the court usher came in for a reprimand,
though he very reasonably explained that the witness had
been quite well, that the doctor had seen him an hour ago,
when he had a slight attack of giddiness, but that, until he
had come into the court, he had talked quite consecutively,
so that nothing could have been foreseen — that he had, in
fact, insisted on giving evidence. But before everyone had
completely regained their composure and recovered from
this scene, it was followed by another. Katerina Ivanovna
had an attack of hysterics. She sobbed, shrieking loudly, but
refused to leave the court, struggled, and besought them
not to remove her. Suddenly she cried to the President:
‘There is more evidence I must give at once ... at once!
Here is a document, a letter... take it, read it quickly, quick-
ly! It’s a letter from that monster... that man there, there!’