individuality of
life. Had it not been for the open dress, with its waist almost beneath
the armpits, the hair cut short on the forehead, and the perfection of
the neck and shoulders, I should have taken it for a literal portrait of
one of the ladies of the house. As it was, I could not rid myself of the
idea that one, if not both, of Mr. Leavenworth's nieces looked down upon
me from the eyes of this entrancing blonde with the beckoning glance
and forbidding hand. So vividly did this fancy impress me that I half
shuddered as I looked, wondering if this sweet creature did not know
what had occurred in this house since the happy yesterday; and if so,
how she could stand there smiling so invitingly,--when suddenly I became
aware that I had been watching the little crowd of men about me with as
complete an absorption as if nothing else in the room had attracted
my attention; that the face of the coroner, sternly intelligent and
attentive, was as distinctly imprinted upon my mind as that of this
lovely picture, or the clearer-cut and more noble features of the
sculptured Psyche, shining in mellow beauty from the crimson-hung window
at his right; yes, even that the various countenances of the jurymen
clustered before me, commonplace and insignificant as most of them were;
the trembling forms of the excited servants crowded into a far corner;
and the still more disagreeable aspect of the pale-faced, seedy
reporter, seated at a small table and writing with a ghoul-like avidity
that made my flesh creep, were each and all as fixed an element in the
remarkable scene before me as the splendor of the surroundings which
made their presence such a nightmare of discord and unreality.

I have spoken of the coroner. As fortune would have it, he was no
stranger to me. I had not only seen him before, but had held frequent
conversation with him; in fact, knew him. His name was Hammond, and he
was universally regarded as a man of more than ordinary acuteness, fully
capable of conducting an important examination, with the necessary skill
and address. Interested as I was, or rather was likely to be, in this
particular inquiry, I could not but congratulate myself upon our good
fortune in having so intelligent a coroner.

As for his jurymen, they were, as I have intimated, very much like
all other bodies of a similar character. Picked up at random from the
streets, but from such streets as the Fifth and Sixth Avenues,
they presented much the sa