spot,
the detective pointed out, at last, the very root, not more than three
quarters of an inch thick, which formed a loop on the surface of the
ground, in which the unfortunate man's foot had caught, precipitating
him upon the stone. Every member of the jury having examined it, Mr.
Bangs took out his knife and cut it away in order to prevent similar
accidents in future. The coroner did not think the blow sufficient to
kill the man, though it must have rendered him insensible. The killing
was done by means of the knives. These were identified by the Squire and
Timotheus as belonging to the Bridesdale kitchen. There was neither time
nor necessity for prolonging the examination. Matilda Nagle and her son
Monty, with much satisfaction, confessed that they had followed the
Bridesdale force and had seen the man fall, that she had turned him over
on his back and struck him to the heart with the knife she carried,
which she left there, because she had no further need for it. Her son
had followed her example. The jury retired, or rather the court retired
from the jury, and, when Squire Walker called the coroner in again, he
read the second verdict, to the effect that the deceased Harding, while
in a state of insensibility owing to a fall, had been murdered by one
Matilda Nagle with a table knife, and that her son, commonly known as
Monty, was accessory to the deed. The double inquest was over, and the
bodies were transferred to coarse wooden shells, that of Nagle being
claimed by his fellow detective, and Harding's being left for a time
unburied in case some claimant should appear.

The magistrates, and Mr. Bangs as clerk, now sat in close session for a
little over half an hour, inasmuch as they had already come to certain
conclusions in the office at Bridesdale. One result of their conference
was the arrest of the madwoman and her son, much to the regret of the
Squire, Mr. Errol, and many more. Rigby was ordered to treat them
kindly, and convey them, with a written order signed by the three
justices, to the nearest town, there to hand them over to the police
authorities to be forwarded to their appropriate lunatic asylum. Old Mr.
Newberry, whom the case had very much affected, volunteered to accompany
the criminals, as he had to go to town at any rate, and offered to drive
them and the constable there, and take his wife as company for the
insane Matilda. Accordingly, he brought round the waggon in which he had
driven up, and