he
then appeared much better, and almost relieved of rheumatism and pains
attributable to an old wound in the right knee. The skull had not been
fractured by the blow on the temple, but witness believed it had caused
death; and the andiron, which he identified as the one found on the
floor close to the deceased, was so unusually massive, he was positive
that if hurled with any force, it would produce a fatal result.

Mr. Churchill: "Did you at that examination detect any traces of
chloroform?"

"There was an odor of chloroform very perceptible when we lifted the
hair to examine the skull; and on searching the room, we found a vial
which had contained chloroform, and was beside the pillow, where a
portion had evidently leaked out."

"Could death have occurred in consequence of inhaling that chloroform?"

"If so, the deceased could never have risen, and would have been found
in his bed; moreover, the limbs were drawn up, and bent into a position
totally inconsistent with any theory of death produced by anaesthetics;
and the body was rigid as iron."

The foregoing testimony was confirmed by that of Doctor Cranmar, a
resident physician, who had been summoned by the Coroner to assist
Doctor Ledyard in the examination, reported formally at the inquest.

"Here, gentlemen of the jury, is the fatal weapon with which a woman's
hand, supernaturally nerved in the struggle for gain, struck down,
destroyed a venerable old man, an honored citizen, whose gray hairs
should have shielded him from the murderous assault of a mercenary
adventuress. Can she behold without a shudder, this tell-tale
instrument of her monstrous crime?"

High above his head, Mr. Churchill raised the old-fashioned andiron,
and involuntarily Beryl glanced at the quaint brass figure, cast in the
form of a unicorn, with a heavy ball surmounting the horn.

"Abednego Darrington!"

Sullen, crestfallen and woe-begone was the demeanor of the old negro,
who had been brought vi et armis by a constable, from the seclusion of
a corner of the "Bend Plantation", where he had secreted himself, to
avoid the shame of bearing testimony against his mistress' child. When
placed on the witness stand, he crossed his arms over his chest,
planted his right foot firmly in advance, and fixed his eyes on the
leather strings that tied his shoes.

After some unimportant preliminaries, the District Solicitor asked:

"When did you first see the prisoner, who now sits before you?"