m.

The man--a dissipated young man, now that his hat was off--came forward
in his long coat, his red hair and whiskers. But it seemed that he had
really very little information to give. He was on the banks of the river
when Lord Hartledon passed in the skiff, and noticed how strangely he was
rowing, one arm apparently lying useless. What part of the river was
this, the coroner asked; and the witness avowed that he could not
describe it. He was a stranger, never there but that once; all he knew
was, that it was higher up, beyond Hartledon House. What might he have
been doing there, demanded the coroner. Only strolling about, was the
answer. What was his business at Calne? came the next question; and as it
was put, the witness caught the eye of the new Lord Hartledon through an
opening in the crowd. His business, the witness replied to the coroner,
was his own business, and did not concern the public, and he respectfully
declined to state it. He presumed Calne was a free place like other
places, where a stranger might spend a few days without question, if he
pleased.

Pike chuckled at this: incipient resistance to authority cheered that
lawless man's heart. He had stood throughout, in the shadow of the crowd,
just within the door, attentively watching the witnesses as they gave
their evidence: but he was not prepared for what was to come next.

Did the witness see any other spectators on the bank? continued the
coroner. Only one, was the answer: a man called Pike, or some such name.
Pike was watching the little boat on the river when he got up to him; he
remarked to Pike that his lordship's arm seemed tired; and he and Pike
had walked back to Calne together.

Pike would have got away had he been able, but the coroner whispered to
an officer. For one single moment Mr. Pike seemed inclined to show fight;
he began struggling, not gently, to reach the door; the next he gave it
up, and resigned himself to his fate. There was a little hubbub, in the
midst of which a slip of paper with a pencilled line from Lord Hartledon,
was handed to the coroner.

"_Press this point, whether they returned to Calne at once and
together._"

"George Gorton," cried the coroner, as he crushed the paper in his hand,
"at what hour did you return to Calne?"

"I went at once. As soon as the little boat was out of sight."

"Went alone?"

"No, sir. I and the man Pike walked together. I've said so already."

"What made you go together?"

"