a conclusion
upon the matter; so that what made Sir John so very anxious that he
should not be called forward in the matter, consisted in the simple fact
that he was nothing else than plain Mr. Brown, who kept a hatter's shop
in the town; but he could not keep his own counsel, and, instead of
holding his tongue, as he ought to have done, about the matter, he told
it to every one he met, so that in a short time it was generally known
that something serious and startling had occurred in the subterranean
passage to Anderbury House, and a great mob of persons thronged the
beach in anxious expectation of getting more information on the matter.

The men, likewise, who had been ordered by the coroner to remove the
body, soon reached the spot, and they gave an increased impetus to the
proceedings, by opening the door of the subterranean passage, and then
looking earnestly along the beach as if in expectation of something or
somebody of importance.

When eagerly questioned by the mob, for the throng of persons now
assembled quite amounted to a mob, to know what they waited for, one of
them said,--

"A coffin was to have been brought down to take the body in."

This announcement at once removed anything doubtful that might be in the
minds of any of them upon the subject, and at once proclaimed the fact
not only that there was a dead body, but that if they looked out they
would see it forthwith.

The throng thickened, and by the time two men were observed approaching
with a coffin on their shoulders, there was scarcely anybody left in the
town, except a few rare persons, indeed, who were not so curious as
their neighbours.

It was not an agreeable job, even to those men who were not the most
particular in the world, to be removing so loathsome a spectacle as that
which they were pretty sure to encounter in the ice-well; but they did
not shrink from it, and, by setting about it as a duty, they got through
it tolerably well.

They took with them several large torches, and then, one having
descended into the pit, fastened a rope under the arms of the dead man,
and so he was hauled out, and placed in the shell that was ready to
receive him.

They were all surprised at the fresh and almost healthful appearance of
the countenance, and it was quite evident to everybody that if any one
had known him in life, they could not have the least possible difficulty
in recognising him now that he was no more.

And the only appearance