said he'd found marks of rabbit-snares there, and he was watching to
see if anybody came to set any more."

"Yes--quite an ordinary part of his duty, of course. What next?"

"Well, Grant didn't see any more. He waited a bit, and then moved off to
another part of the wood, and he didn't notice anything else particular
till the barn was on fire. It was dark, then, of course."

"Yes--you must tell me about the fire. Who discovered it?"

"Oh, a man going home along the lane. He ran and called some people, and
they fetched the fire-engine from the village and pumped out of the
horse-pond just close by. It was pretty much of a wreck by the time they
got the fire out, but it wasn't all gone, as you might have expected.
You see, it had been out of use for some time, sir, and there was mostly
nothing but old broken ploughs and lumber there; and what's more, there
was a deal of rain early in the week, as you may remember, sir, so the
thatch was pretty sodden, being out o' repair and all--and so was the
timber, for the matter o' that, for there's no telling when it was last
painted. So the fire didn't go quite so fierce as it might, you see;
else I should expect it had been all over before they got to work on
it."

"Not at all a likely sort of place to catch fire, it would seem,
either," Hewitt commented. "Old ploughs and such lumber are not very
combustible."

"Quite so, sir; that's what makes 'em think it so odd, I suppose. But
there _was_ a bundle or two of old pea-straw there, shied in last
summer, they say, being over bundles from the last load, and there
left."

"And when was Mr. Bowmore seen next?"

"He came strolling back, sir, and told the young lady he'd left her
father outside, or something of that sort, I think; said nothing of the
quarrel, I believe. But he said the barn was on fire--which he must have
known pretty early, sir, for 'tis a mile from the house off that way;"
and the coachman pointed with his whip.

"Nothing was suspected of the murder, it seems, till yesterday morning?"

"No, sir. Miss Claire got frightful worried when her father didn't come
home, as you would expect, and specially at him not coming home all
night. But when the fire was quite put out, o' course the people went
away home to bed, and it wasn't till the morning that anybody went in to
turn the place over. Then they found the body."

"Badly burnt, I believe?"

"Horrid burnt, sir. If it wasn't for Mr. Peytral's being missing, I