and breeding, who hides from his friends under an assumed
name, behaves in public in an eccentric manner, is turned out of his
hotel, goes to a remote inn, and disappears before anybody is up. The
body of a gentleman who occupied the room next to him is subsequently
discovered in a pit close by, and the footprints leading to the pit are
those of our young friend. The young man is subsequently arrested close
to the place where the body was thrown, and not then, or since, has he
offered his friends any explanation of his actions. In the
circumstances, therefore, I shall avail myself of Sir Henry's evidence.
In my own mind--from my own observation and conversation with
Penreath--I am convinced that he cannot be held responsible for his
actions. In view of the tremendously strong case against him, in view of
his peculiar attitude to you--and others--in the face of accusation, and
in view of his previous eccentric behaviour, I shall take the only
possible course to save the son of Penreath of Twelvetrees from the
gallows. I had hoped, Mr. Colwyn, that you, who witnessed the scene at
this hotel, and subsequently helped Sir Henry Durwood convey this
unhappy young man upstairs, would see your way clear to support Sir
Henry's expert opinion that this young man is insane. Your reputation
and renown would carry weight with the jury."

"I am sorry, but I am afraid you must do without me," replied Colwyn.
"In view of Penreath's silence I can come to no other conclusion, though
against my better judgment, than that he is guilty, but I cannot take
upon myself the responsibility of declaring that he is insane. In spite
of Sir Henry Durwood's opinion, I cannot believe that he is, or was. It
will be a difficult defence to establish in the case of Penreath. If you
wish the jury to say that Penreath is the victim of what French writers
call _epilepsie larvee_, in which an outbreak of brutal or homicidal
violence takes the place of an epileptic fit, with a similar break in
the continuity of consciousness, you will first have to convince the
judge that Penreath's preceding fits were so slight as to permit the
possibility of their being overlooked, and you will also have to
establish beyond doubt that the break in his consciousness existed from
the time of the scene in the hotel breakfast-room until the time the
murder was committed. The test of that state is the unintelligent
character of some of the acts of the sufferer. In my opinion, a def