convivial-looking gentleman next to him is our counsel, Mr. Heath, a
most able man and"--here Mr. Marchmont whispered behind his
hand--"fully instructed by Doctor Thorndyke."

At this juncture the judge entered and took his seat; the usher
proceeded with great rapidity to swear in the jury, and the Court
gradually settled down into that state of academic quiet which it
maintained throughout the proceedings, excepting when the noisy
swing-doors were set oscillating by some bustling clerk or reporter.

The judge was a somewhat singular-looking old gentleman, very short as
to his face and very long as to his mouth; which peculiarities,
together with a pair of large and bulging eyes (which he usually kept
closed), suggested a certain resemblance to a frog. And he had a
curious frog-like trick of flattening his eyelids--as if in the act of
swallowing a large beetle--which was the only outward and visible sign
of emotion that he ever displayed.

As soon as the swearing in of the jury was completed Mr. Loram rose to
introduce the case; whereupon his lordship leaned back in his chair and
closed his eyes, as if bracing himself for a painful operation.

"The present proceedings," Mr. Loram explained, "are occasioned by the
unaccountable disappearance of Mr. John Bellingham, of 141, Queen
Square, Bloomsbury, which occurred about two years ago, or, to be more
precise, on the twenty-third of November, nineteen hundred and two.
Since that date nothing has been heard of Mr. Bellingham, and, as there
are certain substantial reasons for believing him to be dead, the
principal beneficiary under his will, Mr. George Hurst, is now applying
to the Court for permission to presume the death of the testator and
prove the will. As the time which has elapsed since the testator was
last seen alive is only two years, the application is based upon the
circumstances of the disappearance, which were, in many respects, very
singular, the most remarkable feature of that disappearance being,
perhaps, its suddenness and completeness."

Here the judge remarked in a still, small voice that "It would,
perhaps, have been even more remarkable if the testator had disappeared
gradually and incompletely."

"No doubt, my lord," agreed Mr. Loram; "but the point is that the
testator, whose habits had always been regular and orderly, disappeared
on the date mentioned without having made any of the usual provisions
for the conduct of his affairs, and has no