s he plainly was, would not have
met so terrible a death. But in spite of every one's desire to find fire
to account for the smoke, nothing to Pine's disadvantage could be
learned. Even at the inquest, and when the matter was thoroughly
threshed out, the dead man's character proved to be honorable, and--save
in the innocent concealment of his real name and origin--his public and
private life was all that could be desired. The whole story was not
criminal, but truly romantic, and the final tragedy gave a grim touch to
what was regarded, even by the most censorious, as a picturesque
narrative.

In spite of all his efforts, Inspector Darby, of Wanbury, could produce
no evidence likely to show who had shot the deceased. Lord Garvington,
under the natural impression that Pine was a burglar, had certainly
wounded him in the right arm, but it was the second shot, fired by some
one outside the house, which had pierced the heart. This was positively
proved by the distinct evidence of Lady Agnes herself. She rose from her
sick-bed to depose how she had opened her window, and had seen the
actual death of the unfortunate man, whom she little guessed was her
husband. The burglar--as she reasonably took him to be--was running down
the path when she first caught sight of him, and after the first shot
had been fired. It was the second shot, which came from the
shrubbery--marked on the plan placed before the Coroner and jury--which
had laid the fugitive low. Also various guests and servants stated that
they had arrived in the passage in answer to Lord Garvington's outcries,
to find that he had closed the door pending their coming. Some had even
heard the second shot while descending the stairs. It was proved,
therefore, in a very positive manner, that the master of the house had
not murdered the supposed robber.

"I never intended to kill him," declared Garvington when his evidence
was taken. "All I intended to do, and all I did do, was to wing him, so
that he might be captured on the spot, or traced later. I closed the
door after firing the shot, as I fancied that he might have had some
accomplices with him, and I wished to make myself safe until assistance
arrived."

"You had no idea that the man was Sir Hubert Pine?" asked a juryman.

"Certainly not. I should not have fired had I recognized him. The moment
I opened the door he flung himself upon me. I fired and he ran away. It
was not until we all went out and found him dead by t