mmens, in the one or two lucid moments which returned to her after
the assault, gave utterance to an exclamation which many think was meant
to serve as a guide in determining the person of her murderer. She said,
'Ring,' as Mr. Byrd here will doubtless remember, and then 'Hand,' as if
she wished to fix upon the minds of those about her that the hand
uplifted against her wore a ring. At all events, such a conclusion is
plausible enough, and led to my making an experiment yesterday, which
has, for ever, set the matter at rest in my own mind. I took my stand at
the huge clock in her house, just in the attitude she was supposed to
occupy when struck, and, while in this position, ordered my clerk to
advance upon me from behind with his hands clasped about a stick of
wood, which he was to bring down within an inch of my head. This was
done, and while his arm was in the act of descending, I looked to see if
by a quick glance from the corner of my eye I could detect the broad
seal ring I had previously pushed upon his little finger. I discovered
that I could; that indeed it was all of the man which I could distinctly
see without turning my head completely around. The ring, then, is an
important feature in this case, a link without which any chain of
evidence forged for the express purpose of connecting a man with this
murder must necessarily remain incomplete and consequently useless. But
amongst the suspicious circumstances brought to bear against Mr.
Mansell, I discern no token of a connection between him and any such
article, while we all know that Mr. Hildreth not only wore a ring on the
day of the murder, but considered the circumstance so much in his own
disfavor, that he slipped it off his finger when he began to see the
shadow of suspicion falling upon him."

"You have, then, forgotten the diamond I picked up from the floor of
Mrs. Clemmens' dining-room on the morning of the murder?" suggested Mr.
Byrd with great reluctance.

"No," answered the District Attorney, shortly. "But Miss Dare distinctly
avowed that ring to be hers, and you have brought me no evidence as yet
to prove her statement false. If you can supply such proof, or if you
can show that Mr. Mansell had that ring on his hand when he entered Mrs.
Clemmens' house on the fatal morning--another fact, which, by-the-way,
rests as yet upon inference only--I shall consider the case against him
as strong as that against Mr. Hildreth; otherwise, not."

Mr. Byrd, wi