Author of "Jill," "The Rebecca Rioter," "A Burglary," "Chloe Arguelle."

CHAPTER XIII.

REGINALD'S COURTSHIP.

The inquest upon young Ivor put the public in possession of no facts that were not known already. It was impossible to ascertain who had struck him down, as in consequence of the darkness and confusion that had prevailed at the time, it was quite as likely as not that the missile by which he had been felled had been launched entirely at random. Whether he had died immediately from the effect of that blow or been drowned was uncertain; but anyhow no one saw any cause to doubt that he had fallen senseless into the water, face downwards, just where he had been found. So the verdict of the jury confined itself to the statement that he was dead, and did not make any rash expression of opinion as to how he had come by his death.

It was a relief to Reginald when the inquest ended thus harmlessly, and he was able to shake off the uneasiness which had till then troubled him lest, perhaps, Richard Williams might not have been the only concealed witness of that little alteration which had been made in the position of David's body, or lest Richard might have confided what he had seen to some other person, who would insist on coming and telling the coroner whatever he knew about the matter-as Richard himself would have done if he had had the chance. Peopleare so extraordinarily and provokingly officious sometimes!

The result of the inquest upon Richard was less indefinite than that of the one upon David. Richard's body was examined by a doctor of more weight and higher standing than Dr. Jones, and this other doctor declared his positive conviction that the deceased could not ever have moved again after the blow on the head which he had received, and also

that neither purposely nor accidentally-was it possible for that blow to have been self-inflicted. When Dr. Jones found his own opinion supported so influentially, he no longer hesitated to make it known, and thus the unwonted spectacle of two doctors in perfect accord with one another was presented to the public. The jury, not being used to that sort of thing, hardly knew what to make of it at first, and were not quite sure whether the phenomenal medical concord might not conceal some dark and fearful mystery which it behoved them to bring to light. But on further consideration they changed their minds and determined, on the contrary, that when medical evidence was so unanimous it could by no possibility be in the wrong, and might safely be accepted as infallibly correct. What that evidence showed in the present case was, that the man must have been killed by someone else, and the murder committed at the place where he was found. It had been discovered also that the handle of the kitchen poker and the mark of the blow on the victim's head corresponded together with singular exactitude, and that there was no trace of anyone except Leah having been in or near the cottage at the time when the supposed murder had occurred. And as the readiest way of reconciling these facts to one another was to suppose that she had had a quarrel with her husband and resorted to poker arbitration, she became the object of awkward suspicions, and was committed for trial at the ensuing autumn assizes.

The verdict did not in the least upset her habitual stolidity.. She asked if she could have her cat with her in prison; on being answered in the negative, requested that the animal might be put in charge of a neighbour she named who she thought would be kind to it; and then she was removed to gaol with just the same immovable, sullen, heavy, phlegmatic expression as usual.

While all these events were taking place, Reginald was prosecuting his wooing with the utmost vigour possible, even though not quite with the unceremonious abruptness that his foster-mother had wished. He found that Nant Olchfa was to be shut up and left to itself for awhile immediately after David's funeral, as the family were then going to migrate to Mr. Morgan's house-Llysderw. Reginald had been asked. to stay on for the melancholy ceremony which his relationship made it natural for him to attend; but after that had taken place he would evidently have no excuse for remaining longer, and would be bound to take himself off, unless his hosts should suggest a prolongation of the visit. And to take himself off was the very last thing he wished to do just at the time when it was of vital importance to him to be constantly with Gladys, both in order to lose no opportunity of pushing on his suit, and also that he might appear in the eyes of his creditors as her favoured suitor.