e when
he stated that the result of the inquest very probably depended on
what the answer to the question might be,--as from that the jurors
would probably have to decide whether her brother was to be accused
of murder, or merely homicide,--he was quite sure, he said, under
these circumstances, Miss Macdermot would make an effort to answer it
fully and firmly. He was willing, he added, to put the question in a
form which might render it more simple for her to answer, though it
would oblige him to say that which he feared would be still further
distressing to her feelings.

He then told her and Mrs. McKeon, that from the evidence of the
servants it had appeared that she, Feemy, had agreed to elope
with Captain Ussher; and that, as far as could be judged from
circumstantial evidence, she was in fact eloping with him when Thady
had killed him; now, it was necessary for her to state whether she
was there of her own good will, going away with him; or if not, what
she was doing at the moment of the tragical occurrence.

After many fruitless attempts made by Mrs. McKeon to get an answer to
this, Feemy said, through her friend, that she was sitting down.

"Does she mean that she was sitting down when the blow was struck?"

"She doesn't know where she was."

"When was she sitting down?"

"She was sitting down till Captain Ussher lifted her up."

"When Captain Ussher lifted her up, was she going away willingly with
him?"

"Yes, she was."

"Did she struggle with him at all?"

"No."

"Did any of her friends know she was going with him?"

Before, however, the poor girl could be got to answer this question,
she had fainted, and it was found impossible to restore her for a
long time; and when she had recovered, it was only to give way to the
most distressing cries and hysterical shrieks; she threw herself on
the floor of the bedroom to which she had been taken, and Mrs. McKeon
was afraid that she would have broken a blood-vessel in the violence
of her emotions. As it was, she was for a long time spitting blood,
and fell from one fit into another, until the medical man who was now
with her was afraid that she would become entirely delirious.

It had long been found impossible to proceed with her examination any
further. She had, however, unwittingly, and hardly knowing at the
time what she was saying, given evidence against her brother which
the facts of the case did not warrant.

For when Thady had first seen her, s