o talk upon the subject of
his nephew's murder, and Mr. Bannatine willingly took up the thread of
the story. He had practiced at the bar so long that his style resembled
that of a witness under examination, and he was always careful to give
his authority whenever he stated facts outside of his own observation.
His testimony was of the greatest importance to me, and I took very full
notes as he went along.

_CHAPTER II._

I received the intelligence of George Gordon's murder about noon, by a
messenger from Mr. Gordon. I immediately rode into town and went to the
bank, where I arrived about two o'clock. The inquest was not completed,
but at the sheriff's suggestion the jury adjourned until the next
morning. The cause of death, according to the testimony of Dr. Hartman
and Dr. Larimore, was concussion of the brain, produced by three
separate blows on the back of the head; the blows might have been dealt
with the canceling hammer, which, Mr. Gordon said, had been found close
by the body. The latter was removed to the hotel preparatory to the
funeral.

"Mr. Gordon, Mr. McGregor, and myself then proceeded to open the bank,
taking the sheriff to assist us in searching for clues to aid in the
detection of the criminals. We first opened all the shutters to give as
much light as possible. We then examined the interior of the bank;
outside of the counter nothing whatever was found, but inside we
discovered several important traces of the murderer. The fireplace
showed that something had recently been burned in it. The grate had been
perfectly clean all summer, and Mr. Gordon tells me such was the case
when he left the bank at four o'clock. The character of the ashes--as I
am assured by expert chemists--denoted that clothing had been burned,
and while examining them I found several buttons; here they are," he
added, producing four or five iron buttons, and the charred remains of
two or three horn buttons.

"While feeling around in the light ashes beneath the grate," continued
Mr. Bannatine, "I found a piece of paper twisted up and charred at one
end; its appearance indicated that it had been used to light the fire in
the grate. On unrolling it carefully, it proved to be a fragment of a
note for $927.78; the signature, part of the date, and the amount of the
note were left uncharred, but most of the upper portion was wholly
burned. The signature was that of Alexander P. Drysdale, our esteemed
county clerk."

Mr. Banna