tter, an' Mrs. Langmore said she would make
the girrul mind as sure as fate, an' thin Miss Margaret got roused up
an' she said fer Mrs. Langmore to beware, that she had Southern blood
in her veins, an' she wouldn't be accountable fer what she did, if her
stepmother wint too far."

There was a pause, and a murmur ran the round of the little courtroom.
The testimony seemed to be highly important and many shook their heads.
The girl and her stepmother had certainly had a bitter quarrel, the
girl had hot Southern blood in her veins, and the bitterness had ended
in the tragedy. In the minds of many it was only a question of what
the extenuating circumstances might be.

"Was Mr. Langmore present at this quarrel?" asked the coroner, after
another pause.

"He was at the breakfast table, but afther that he wint to the bank."

"Did you hear anything more?"

"Not right away, sur. Oi wint to me work. Whin Mr. Langmore came from
the bank Oi heard him talkin' to Miss Margaret."

"What was said then?"

"Oi dunno exactly, exceptin' that he said he was sorry she an' her
stepmother had quarreled, an' he wanted her to make it up wid his
woife."

"And what did Miss Margaret say to that?"

"She said that all she wanted was to be left alone."

"What else?"

"Oi didn't hear anything more, as Oi wint to the ciller fer coal. By
an' by Oi see Miss Margaret in the garden cryin'. Oi wanted to go to
her, but Mrs. Langmore kim to the kitchen an' Oi had to attind to me
wurruk."

"How did Mrs. Langmore seem to appear when she came to the kitchen?"

"Sure an' she was very excited an' findin' more fault than iver. She
stayed only a few minutes, an' thin wint to the library, an' that was
the very last Oi saw av her. Oi'm sorry she's dead, but she had that
divil's own temper!" And the domestic heaved a long sigh.

"That will do. You may sit down." The coroner looked around the
courtroom. "Is Doctor Bardon present?"

For reply the young physician came forward from one side of the room.
He looked pale and slightly troubled. In a low voice he corroborated
the testimony already given regarding the finding of the two bodies,
and told what he had done in his effort to restore Mr. Langmore to life.

"I thought there might be a spark there still, but I was mistaken," he
went on. "He looked so natural--and Mrs. Langmore looked natural, too,
for the matter of that. But both were stone dead."

"What was the cause of death?"

"Th