red the same
ground and corroborated what the landlord had said.

"You say he swore at you for being slow?" the coroner asked.

Jake nodded with a grin. "I don't remember just the words--I get swore
at so much that it don't make the impression it might--but it was good
straight cussin' all right."

"And he struck you as being agitated?"

Jake's grin broadened. "I think you might say agitated," he admitted
guardedly. "He was mad enough to begin with, an' now the brandy was
gettin' to work. Besides, he was in an all-fired hurry to leave before
the rest o' the party come back, an' while I was bringin' out the horse,
he heard 'em laughin'. They wasn't in sight yet, but they was makin' a
lot o' noise. One o' the girls had stepped on a snake an' was squealin'
loud enough to hear her two miles off."

"And Gaylord left before any of them saw him?"

The boy nodded. "He got off all right. 'You forgot to pay for your
horse,' I yelled after him, and he threw me fifty cents and it landed in
the watering-trough."

This ended his testimony.

Several members of the picnic party were next called upon, and nothing
very damaging to Radnor was produced. He seemed to be in his usual
spirits before entering the cave, and no one, it transpired, had seen
him after he came out, though this was not noted at the time. Also, no
one had noticed him in conversation with his father. The coroner dwelt
upon this point, but elicited no information one way or the other.

Polly Mathers was not present. She had been subpoenaed, but had become
too ill and nervous to stand the strain, and the doctor had forbidden
her attendance. The coroner, however, had taken her testimony at the
house, and his clerk read it aloud to the jury. It dealt merely with the
matter of the coat and where she had last seen Radnor.

"_Question._ 'Did you notice anything peculiar in the behavior of Radnor
Gaylord on the day of his father's death?'

"_Answer._ 'Nothing especially peculiar--no.'

"_Q._ 'Did you see any circumstance which led you to suspect that he and
his father were not on good terms?'

"_A._ 'No, they both appeared as usual.'

"_Q._ 'Did you speak to Radnor in the cave?'

"_A._ 'Yes, we strolled about together for a time and he was carrying my
coat. He laid it down on the broken column and forgot it. I forgot it
too and didn't think of it again until we were out of the cave. Then I
happened to mention it in Colonel Gaylord's presence, and I suppose h