id: "you have yourself to thank for it if I refuse to
lose sight of you now." I managed to say that he might trust me to say
nothing. He refused to trust me; he put out his hand to take hold of me.
I could not stand that. "I'll go with you," I said; "don't touch me!"
We reached the carriage and returned to Maplesworth. The same day we
traveled by post to London.

In London I contrived to give the Captain the slip. By the first coach
the next morning I want back to Maplesworth, eager to hear what had
happened, and if the body had been found. Not a word of news reached me;
nothing seemed to be known of the duel in Herne Wood.

I went to the wood--on foot, fearing that I might be traced if I hired a
carriage. The country round was as solitary as usual. Not a creature was
near when I entered the wood; not a creature was near when I looked into
the clearing.

There was nothing on the ground. The body was gone.

No. 4.--The Reverend Alfred Loring, Rector of Nettlegrove, testifies and
says:--

I.

EARLY in the month of October, 1817, I was informed that Miss Bertha
Laroche had called at my house, and wished to see me in private.

I had first been presented to Miss Laroche on her arrival, with her
aunt, to take possession of her property at Nettlegrove Hall. My
opportunities of improving my acquaintance with her had not been so
numerous as I could have desired, and I sincerely regretted it. She had
produced a very favorable impression on me. Singularly inexperienced and
impulsive--with an odd mixture of shyness and vivacity in her manner,
and subject now and then to outbursts of vanity and petulance which she
was divertingly incapable of concealing--I could detect, nevertheless,
under the surface the signs which told of a true and generous nature,
of a simple and pure heart. Her personal appearance, I should add,
was attractive in a remarkable degree. There was something in it so
peculiar, and at the same time so fascinating, that I am conscious it
may have prejudiced me in her favor. For fear of this acknowledgment
being misunderstood, I think it right to add that I am old enough to be
her grandfather, and that I am also a married man.

I told the servant to show Miss Laroche into my study.

The moment she entered the room, her appearance alarmed me: she looked
literally panic-stricken. I offered to send for my wife; she refused the
proposal. I entreated her to take time at least to compose herself. It
was not in he