d Mr. Leek; "I don't see at all why, as you, sir, have
only the same thing to say as myself, I should not be sufficient."

"Don't call upon me on any account," said Sir John Westlake.

"Oh! no, no," cried Mr. Leek; "there is no occasion. I won't, you may
depend, if it can be helped."

Sir John, in rather a nervous and excited manner, bade them good day,
before they got quite into the town, and hurried off; while the baron,
with a dignified bow, when he reached the door of his hotel, said to Mr.
Leek,--

"Of course I do not like the trouble of judicial investigations more
than anybody else, and therefore, unless it is imperatively necessary
that I should appear, I shall take it as a favour to be released from
such a trouble."

"My lord baron," said Mr. Leek, "you may depend that I shall mention
that to the magistrates and the coroner, and all those sort of people;"
and then Mr. Leek walked away, but he muttered to himself, as he did so,
"They will have him, as sure as fate, just because he is a baron; and
his name will look well in the 'County Chronicle.'"

Mr. Leek then repaired immediately to the house of one of the principal
magistrates, and related what had occurred, to the great surprise of
that gentleman, who suggested immediately the propriety of making the
fact known to the coroner of the district, as it was more his business,
than a magistrate's, in the first instance, since nobody was accused of
the offence.

This suggestion was immediately followed, and that functionary directed
that the body should be removed from where it was to the nearest
public-house, and immediately issued his precept for an inquiry into the
case.

By this time the matter had begun to get bruited about in the town, and
of course it went from mouth to mouth with many exaggerations; and
although it by no means did follow that a murder had been committed
because a dead body had been found, yet, such was the universal
impression; and the matter began to be talked about as the murder in the
subterranean passage leading to Anderbury House, with all the gusto
which the full particulars of some deed of blood was calculated to
inspire. And how it spread about was thus:--

The fact was, that Mr. Leek was so anxious to let Anderbury-on-the-Mount
to the rich Baron Stolmuyer, of Saltzburgh, that he got a friend of his
to come and personate Sir John Westlake, while he, the baron, was
looking at the premises, in order to drive him at once to