ted
from discovery by the trees than I had supposed. She had seen me; I
heard her cry of alarm. The instant afterward I saw Stanwick leap over
the rivulet and take to flight. That action roused me. Without stopping
for a word of explanation, I pursued him.

Unhappily, I missed my footing in the obscure light, and fell on the
open ground beyond the stream. When I had gained my feet once more,
Stanwick had disappeared among the trees which marked the boundary of
the park beyond me. I could see nothing of him, and I could hear nothing
of him, when I came out on the high-road. There I met with a laboring
man who showed me the way to the village. From the inn I sent a letter
to Miss Laroche's aunt, explaining what had happened, and asking leave
to call at the Hall on the next day.

Early in the morning the rector came to me at the inn. He brought sad
news. Miss Laroche was suffering from a nervous attack, and my visit to
the Hall must be deferred. Speaking next of the missing man, I heard all
that Mr. Loring could tell me. My intimate knowledge of Stanwick enabled
me to draw my own conclusion from the facts. The thought instantly
crossed my mind that the poor wretch might have committed his expiatory
suicide at the very spot on which he had attempted to kill me. Leaving
the rector to institute the necessary inquiries, I took post-horses to
Maplesworth on my way to Herne Wood.

Advancing from the high-road to the wood, I saw two persons at a little
distance from me--a man in the dress of a gamekeeper, and a lad. I was
too much agitated to take any special notice of them; I hurried along
the path which led to the clearing. My presentiment had not misled me.
There he lay, dead on the scene of the duel, with a blood-stained razor
by his side! I fell on my knees by the corpse; I took his cold hand in
mine; and I thanked God that I had forgiven him in the first days of my
recovery.

I was still kneeling, when I felt myself seized from behind. I struggled
to my feet, and confronted the gamekeeper. He had noticed my hurry in
entering the wood; his suspicions had been aroused, and he and the lad
had followed me. There was blood on my clothes; there was horror in
my face. Appearances were plainly against me; I had no choice but to
accompany the gamekeeper to the nearest magistrate.

My instructions to my solicitor forbade him to vindicate my innocence by
taking any technical legal objections to the action of the magistrate
or of