The Portland daily press., 1898-03-30
Chapter VII.

LII lila . " OI ASA0ANN
The formula OF the oath fell upon my
ears in dull monotone, as mechani-
cally / raised the Bible to my lips, after
wards replying to the Coronsr's formal
questions regarding my name, address.
and occupation. The discovery / had
made filled me with fierce bitter hstred
against my dead companion, land. dazed
by the startling suddenness of the reve-
Iation. I stood like man in dream.
DR.. Diplock the Coroner. noticed it,
and his sharp injunction to answer his
question brought ME back to know
ledge of my surroundings was stand
ing in full view of an assembly of some
three hundred persons SO filled BY Curl
osity and eager to hear my story that the
silence was complete.
II aheg your pardon. but did not
1.-THE deceased was your friend, 1 be-
lieves"
Eyes" 1 answered. 'fHe shared fur
nished cottage with me at Shepperton.
have. known him for sometime. -
"Were you with him on the day Of his
death?"
II left him at snepperton in the morn,
ing, when went to town. and he called
upon me at the Foreign Office about one
O'Clock. We lunched together and then,
returning to Downing street, parted. We
met again at Shepperton later and came
here, to Staines in response to an invita-
ton to dinner at the Nook. L"
A woman's low despairing cry broke
the silence, and as l turned to the assem-
bly, saw, straight before me, Ella sitting
rigid, almost statuesque Her terror
stricken gaze met mine; her eyes seemed
rivetted upon me.
KINDLY proceed with your evidence,
exclaimed the Coroner lmpatlently.
'sWs dined at the Nook" went on.
turning again to face him. Then we
went for q row. and on our return Mr.
Ogle left us to walk back to Shepperton. +"
s'Alone?'
"Yes.''
"Why did you not accompany himS''
because l had, during the evening,
received telegram summoning me
away"
"Who was the message from?"
"The Earl of Wsrnharn,' replied.
Then, obeying his request to continue, !
explained how, on leaving the NOOK NOOK
about an hour later}to' catch my last train
T had stumbled upon the body of my
friend
Then, when I had concluded, the Coro-
ner commenced his cross-examlnation.
Many of his questions were purely formal
in character, but presently, when ne Dc.
gan to take me through the events that
occurred at the Foreign Ofice, expert
enced very uncomfortable feeling, fear
ing lest 1 should divulge the suspicious
that had, during the last half-hour, been
aroused within me. 1t was, Il recognized,
absolutely necessary that | should Keep
nv discoveryRa strict secret, for upon my
ability to do SO everything depended.
WAS there any reason why he should
call for you at the Foreign Office and ask
Won to lunch with him? Was he in the
.3o;,,-r inr11irp6 tha COrO-
ner.
ssNo, there seemed no reason, beyond
the fact that he was compelled to come to
town, and merely wanted to pass an hour
away said.
"Why did he go to London?"
"I have no idea what business took
him there"
'sHe never told you that he had any
enemy. suppose?'' the official asked,
with an air of mystery.
''Neyer. He was, on the contrary, most
popular .,o. ,o,sor+ than wh.+ vor
have related occurred at the Foreign
Office? You are quite certain of this?
For moment | hesitated. half inclined
to relate the whole story of the mysterious
theft of the secret convention, sbutfrisk1ne
perjury rather than an exposure of facts
that | saw must remain hidden, an
swcred as calmly as l could:
''No other incident occurred"
"Have you any reason to suspect that
he was q victim of foul play?' the
Coroner continued, looking at me ather
suspiciously, thought.
At that moment glanced at Ella, and
was astounded to see how intensely excit.
ed she appeared, with her white face up-
turned, her mouth half open. her eyes
staring, eagerly drinking in every word
that fell from my lips. Her whole atti
tude was of one who dreaded that SOME
terrible truth might be brought to light
81 have no reason to suspect he was
murdered, 1 answered in low tone
and as l surreptitiously watched the fsct
of the woman l loved | saw an instant
transformation. Her breast teaved with
heavy sigh of relief as across her ooun
tenance there passed q look of satisfaction
she was unable to disguise. She was II
deadly fear of something, the nature ol
which l could not conjecture.
"You have no suspicion whatever thai