rticulars."

"So, then, it was curiosity that brought you to the inquest to-day?"

"It was."

The juryman looked at him astonished; so did all the rest. His manner
was so changed, his answers so prompt and ringing.

"And what was it," broke in the coroner, "that led you to register
yourself at the hotel under a false name?"

"I scarcely know," was the answer, given with less fire and some show of
embarrassment. "Perhaps I thought that, under the circumstances, it
would be better for me not to use my own."

"In other words, you were afraid?" exclaimed the coroner, with the full
impressiveness of his somewhat weighty voice and manner.

It was a word to make the weakest of men start. Mr. Hildreth, who was
conspicuous in his own neighborhood for personal if not for moral
courage, flushed till it looked as if the veins would burst on his
forehead, but he made no other reply than a proud and angry look and a
short:

"I was not aware of fear; though, to be sure, I had no premonition of
the treatment I should be called upon to suffer here to-day."

The flash told, the coroner sat as if doubtful, and looked from man to
man of the jury as if he would question their feelings on this vital
subject. Meantime the full shame of his position settled heavier and
heavier upon Mr. Hildreth; his head fell slowly forward, and he seemed
to be asking himself how he was to meet the possibly impending ignominy
of a direct accusation. Suddenly he drew himself erect, and a gleam shot
from his eyes that, for the first time, revealed him as a man of latent
pluck and courage.

"Gentlemen," he began, looking first at the coroner and then at the
jury, "you have not said you consider me guilty of this crime, but you
evidently harbor the suspicion. I do not wonder; my own words have given
me away, and any man would find it difficult to believe in my innocence
after what has been testified to in this place. Do not hesitate, then.
The shock of finding myself suspected of a horrible murder is passed. I
am willing to be arrested. Indeed, after what has here taken place, I
not only am willing but even anxious. I want to be tried, if only to
prove to the world my complete and entire innocence."

The effect of this speech, uttered at a moment so critical, may be
easily imagined. All the impressible people present at once signified
their belief in his honesty, and gave him looks of sympathy, if not
approval; while the cooler and possibly the more j