elief!"

"And after what we have heard, inexplicable," asserted Mr. Ferris. "To
be told of a supposable case of murder one minute, and then to see it
exemplified in this dreadful way the next, is an experience of no common
order. I own I am overcome by it." And he flung open a door that
communicated with the lane and let the outside air sweep in.

"That door was unlocked," remarked Mr. Lord, glancing at Mr. Orcutt, who
stood with severe, set face, looking down at the outstretched form
which, for several years now, had so often sat opposite to him at his
noonday meal.

With a start the latter looked up. "What did you say? The door unlocked?
There is nothing strange in that. She never locked her doors, though she
was so very deaf I often advised her to." And he allowed his eyes to run
over the wide stretch of low, uncultivated ground before him, that, in
the opinion of many persons, was such a decided blot upon the town.
"There is no one in sight," he reluctantly admitted.

"No," responded the other. "The ground is unfavorable for escape. It is
marshy and covered with snake grass. A man could make his way, however,
between the hillocks into those woods yonder, if he were driven by fear
or understood the path well. What is the matter, Orcutt?"

"Nothing," affirmed the latter,--"nothing, I thought I heard a groan."

"You heard me make an exclamation," spoke up Mr. Ferris, who by this
time had sufficiently overcome his emotion to lift the head of the
prostrate woman and look in her face. "This woman is not dead."

"What!" they both cried, bounding forward.

"See, she breathes," continued the former, pointing to her slowly
laboring chest. "The villain, whoever he was, did not do his work well;
she may be able to tell us something yet."

"I do not think so," murmured Mr. Orcutt. "Such a blow as that must have
destroyed her faculties, if not her life. It was of cruel force."

"However that may be, she ought to be taken care of now," cried Mr.
Ferris. "I wish Dr. Tredwell was here."

"I will go for him," signified the other.

But it was not necessary. Scarcely had the lawyer turned to execute this
mission, when a sudden murmur was heard at the door, and a dozen or so
citizens burst into the house, among them the very person named. Being
coroner as well as physician, he at once assumed authority. The widow
was carried into her room, which was on the same floor, and a brother
practitioner sent for, who took his place