Cross Roads see un go gallopin' by, and
followed un up Beacon Hill. Catched un in the quag by th' old gravel
pits."

"Oh, dear!" said Miss Waddy.

Little by little Mavis pieced the story together. Mr. Barradine had
been out riding late yesterday, and the riderless horse had given the
alarm some time about nine o'clock in the evening. But, although a
wide-spread search continued all through the night, the body was not
found until past noon to-day.

They had found it at Kibworth Rocks. These rocks, situated in Hadleigh
Wood, about two miles from the Abbey, were of curious formation--a
wide mass of jagged boulders cropping out unexpectedly from the sandy
soil, some of them half hidden with bracken, while others, the bigger
ones, rose brown and bare and strange. They provided a redoubtable
fortress for foxes, and contained what was known as the biggest
"earth" of the neighborhood. Not far off, the main ride passed through
the wood, making a broad sunlit avenue between the gloomy pines; but
no one without local knowledge would have suspected the existence of
the rocky gorge or slope, because, although only at a little distance,
it was quite invisible from the ride.

The body had been discovered lying in a narrow cleft, the head
fearfully battered; and how Mr. Barradine came by his death was
obvious. He had been riding through or near the rocks, and the horse,
probably stumbling, had thrown him; and then, frightened and
struggling away, had dragged him some considerable distance, until
the rocks held him fast and tore him free.

What remained doubtful was how or why Mr. Barradine approached the
rocks. Of course, his horse might have shied from the ride and taken
him there before he could recover control of it; or, as perhaps was
more probable, Mr. Barradine might have ridden from the safe and open
track in order quietly to examine what was called the main earth, and,
if fortunate, gratify himself with a glimpse of two or three lusty fox
cubs playing outside the burrows.

However, as Mr. Allen sagely observed, such conjectures were at
present idle. These and all other matters would be cleared up at the
inquest.

"Oh, dear!" said Miss Waddy. "Will there have to be an inquest?"

"Certainly there will," said Mr. Allen.

"Yes, that's the law always," said somebody else.

"Surely not," said Miss Waddy, "in the case of such a well-known
gentleman as Mr. Barradine."

"It would be the same," said Allen, "if it was the P