is of his charge.

He showed it was beyond doubt that Mr. Gardiner returned to the inn
with money, having collected his rents in Wiltshire; and this was known
in the inn, and proved by several, and might have transpired in the
yard or the taproom. The unfortunate gentleman took Captain Cowen, a
respectable person, his neighbor in the inn, into his confidence, and
revealed his uneasiness. Captain Cowen swore that he supped with him,
but could not stay all night, most unfortunately. But he encouraged
him, left him his pistols, and helped him load them.

Then his lordship read the dying man's deposition. The person thus
solemnly denounced was found in the stable, bleeding from a recent
wound, which seems to connect him at once with the deed as described by
the dying man.

"But here," said my lord, "the chain is no longer perfect. A knife,
taken from the 'Swan,' was found under the garden wall, and the first
traces of blood commenced there, and continued to the stable, and were
abundant on the straw and on the person of the accused. This was
proved by the constable and others. No money was found on him, and no
keys that could have opened any outer doors of the 'Swan' Inn. The
accused had, however, three years before been guilty of a theft from a
gentleman in the inn, which negatives his pretence that he always
confined himself to the stables. It did not, however, appear that on
the occasion of the theft he had unlocked any doors, or possessed the
means. The witness for the Crown, Barbara Lamb, was clear on that.

"The prisoner's own solution of the mystery was not very credible. He
said he had a double--or a person wearing his clothes and appearance;
and he had seen this person prowling about long before the murder, and
had spoken of the double to one Pott. Pott deposed that Cox had spoken
of this double more than once; but admitted he never saw the double
with his own eyes.

"This double, says the accused, on the fatal night let himself out of
the 'Swan' Inn and escaped to the garden wall. There he (Cox) came up
with this mysterious person, and a scuffle ensued in which a bag was
dropped and gave the sound of coin; and then Cox held the man and cried
'Thieves!' but presently received a wound and fainted, and on
recovering himself, staggered to the stables and drank a pint of brandy.

"The story sounds ridiculous, and there is no direct evidence to back
it; but there is a circumstance that lends some colo