The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-12-04

the spot where the body lay st be-
tween twenty and fve-and-twenty
minutes past"
"And the body had, in your opinion,
been lying there about an hour?"
"Or considerably less"
"You would suppose, then, that
death had taken place IT about what
time? Or is it impossible to get
closer estimate than that?"
ut is difficult to say exactly, Of
course. But I should be strongly in
clined to put the time of death at eight
o'clock, or even later"
"At, in fact, n few minutes before
the body was first discovered by the
boy"
"a very few minutes"
There was another sensation among
the listening throng.
II should even have expected" went
on the doctor, "to hear that the boy
had heard the report Of a firearm."
Every one looked toward the un-
happy boy, Charles Wallet, who. hav-
ing given his evidence, was now sit
ting in court. On the suggestion OF
one Of the jurymen he was called and
questioned again. But he maintained,
with hot bushes of confusion at the
notice thus directed to him, that he
had noticed no noise; that he had seen
or heard nothing to attract his atten-
ton until he came upon the man lying
on his face at the side of the road.
"At least" He stopped short,
and from crimson became very pale.
Then he heard a mvrmur in the
court behind, and he began to look
scared and to tremble.
That's right. my boy" said the cor
oner, encouragingly. think we'll be-
fore you answer, and then tell US
everything, even the slightest thing
that came under your notice"
"Sir," said the boy, turning red and
white alternately, 81 did hear some
thing. 1t was just before turned the
bend and saw the man, but l never
thought of it before this minute"
1T was what I took for Mr.. Wells
shooting at the birds, sir. He's al
ways about there with his gun, and SO
1 never give it thought"
There was truth on the face Of this
statement. drawn forth so tardily and
so unwillingly. Hearing, as he said,
the firing at the birds so often, the
sound had no significance for him, and
it h:d not even struck him as singular
that the farmer should have been out
shooting SO late.
There was a shade Of disappoint-
ment in the court at the idea that Jem
Stickels might have been shot by acci.
dent, after all, in mistake for a spar
row. But this notion was quickly put
to fight by the calling Of Mr.. Wells
himself, who was in court, as Wit
ness. He was never out shooting af-
ter dark, and on the previous day he
had been at Canterbury, and had not
returned home until past nine o'clock.
This new link in the chain Of evil
dence, forming as it did an important
clue to the exact time of Jem's death,
resulted in a little conversation be-
tween the coroner and the superintend'
ent of police, and in the calling OF Mrs.
Mann as a witness.
"Your husband has told US, Mrs.
Mann, that the deceased passed you
on his way to the back door. And we
have heard that he said he was going
to have his pipe and his glass Of beer.
Now did you notice in which direction
he went?"
Eyes, sir, I did," answered Mrs.
Mann, a nervous woman, who could
not be persuaded to give her evidence
except in q whisper.
"And did he so in the direction OF
the Blue Lion?".
"No, sir"
There was another murmur, quickly
suppressed.
(Which way did he 60, then"
"He went into the wash.house and
had a wash, and then he went up to
his room, which he went up by the
wooden steps as is in the wash-house
And I watched him for fear he should
leave his candle a-burnin'. Which he
did, so 1 goes up and puts 1T out so
as it shouldn't burn to waste like
"And how long was he there"
But to this the witness could not un-
dertake to give a straight answer.
"She couldn't 'ardly say" "she didn't
rightly know" 1T might be 'alf-
hour" it might be. more. She eVentu"
ally admitted that it could scarcely be
less.
So that it seemed now possible to
fix the time Of Jem's death at a time
between ten minutes to eight, which
was about the earliest moment by
which he could have reached the spot
where he was found, and ten minutes
past, which was the time at which the
bow, Charles Wallet, had discovered
the body.
To be Continued.
p.,1 Eooa In Gold Water.