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Prosecution 'Witnesses / 43
overweight. Many of the reporters thought that he looked more relaxed and was better dressed than he had been at the first trial, when his suits often looked as if they needed to be pressed. He was the only witness who would testify that Hiss had been a spy. Much of his testimony was circumstantial evidence. He would testify to circumstances and the jury would draw conclusions from these circumstances. The prosecutor knew that if the jury did not believe Chambers, there was no case.
Chambers talked about his early life. He and his brother had grown up in poverty. His father left the family when he was five, and sent only eight dollars a week for their support. Chambers was a brilliant student in high school, but he felt like an outsider. He was chosen to speak at graduation, but the principal did not approve his speech. He was asked to rewrite it. He did, but at graduation he read his original speech and was disgraced. He went to Williams College for two days but left because he "thought it was too rich for his blood." He attended Columbia University, working at night at the New York Public Library at 42nd Street. One time when the library was missing books, library of-
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