s."

At length the proper business of the inquest commenced. The coroner,
who was a local doctor, sat grave and disturbed. He knew Paul well,
and the two had often fought side by side on public questions. The
jurymen, too, although they in a way enjoyed their position, were sad
at heart. Nearly every one of them knew Paul and respected him. It
was terrible to them to see him before them there as a prisoner, and
yet they could not help admiring him. He was carefully dressed, and he
had seen to it that his clothes were brushed, and that his linen was
spotless. Not by a tremor of his lips or by the movement of a muscle
did he show what he felt. Pale, haughty, calm, dignified, he stood
before them as though he were a mere spectator of a scene which he
despised.

The case was taken in the ordinary way. The first to give evidence was
old Mr. Edward Wilson, the father of the murdered man. Even Paul
almost pitied him as he saw him. His face was haggard and drawn. He
who had been usually so florid looked as pale as ashes. His cheeks
were baggy and his voice was unnatural. He identified the murdered man
as his son. He confessed to his having returned that night after his
quarrel with Paul, when he had seemed much disturbed. Two letters
awaited him, both of which he had read and then destroyed by throwing
them into the fire. About nine o'clock he went out, saying that he was
going to his club. Since that time he had never been seen alive.
Where he had gone he could not tell; certain it is he never came home
again. He told of the feud which had existed between his son and Paul
Stepaside. He knew that Paul hated the murdered man with an intense
hatred, and had been known on many occasions to threaten him with
violence. He adhered strictly to the truth, and yet that truth was so
coloured by his own feelings and prejudices that it was evident he had
no doubt about who killed his son. He enlarged upon the fact that, as
far as he knew, his son had not a single enemy in the world besides
Paul Stepaside, and certainly no other had a sufficient motive to
murder him.

After this came the statement of the policeman. He had been walking on
his beat about seven o'clock, and had seen the body of a dead man lying
in a lane not far from Howden Clough. He quickly identified it as that
of Mr. Edward Wilson. He described the position in which it lay. He
told of the knife which was driven through the body. He immediately