the surf.'
Mrs. Bertram heard the tidings; she was far advanced in her pregnancy;
she fell into the pains of premature labour, and, ere Ellangowan had
recovered his agitated faculties, so as to comprehend the full distress
of his situation, he was the father of a female infant, and a widower.
CHAPTER X
But see, his face is black and full of blood;
His eye-balls farther out than when he lived,
Staring full ghastly like a strangled man,
His hair uprear'd, his nostrils stretch d with struggling,
His hands abroad display'd, as one that grasp'd
And tugg'd for life, and was by strength subdued
Henry VI, Part II
The Sheriff-depute of the county arrived at Ellangowan next morning by
daybreak. To this provincial magistrate the law of Scotland assigns
judicial powers of considerable extent, and the task of inquiring into
all crimes committed within his jurisdiction, the apprehension and
commitment of suspected persons, and so forth. [Footnote: The Scottish
sheriff discharges, on such occasions as that now mentioned, pretty much
the same duty as a coroner.]
The gentleman who held the office in the shire of---at the time of this
catastrophe was well born and well educated; and, though somewhat
pedantic and professional in his habits, he enjoyed general respect as an
active and intelligent magistrate. His first employment was to examine
all witnesses whose evidence could throw light upon this mysterious
event, and make up the written report, proces verbal, or precognition, as
it is technically called, which the practice of Scotland has substituted
for a coroner's inquest. Under the Sheriff's minute and skilful inquiry,
many circumstances appeared which seemed incompatible with the original
opinion that Kennedy had accidentally fallen from the cliffs. We shall
briefly detail some of these.
The body had been deposited in a neighbouring fisher-hut, but without
altering the condition in which it was found. This was the first object
of the Sheriff's examination. Though fearfully crushed and mangled by the
fall from such a height, the corpse was found to exhibit a deep cut in
the head, which, in the opinion of a skilful surgeon, must have been
inflicted by a broadsword or cutlass. The experience of this gentleman
discovered other suspicious indications. The face was much blackened, the
eyes distorted, and the veins of the neck swelled. A coloured
handkerchief, which the unf
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