The Argosy, Vol. VII, January 1, 1869

This issue of The Argosy (January 1, 1869) contains the opening installment of Roland Yorke, a sequel to The Channings by the author of East Lynne. The prologue, titled "In the Moonlight," depicts a midnight burial in a cathedral town churchyard. A crowd gathers to witness the interment of John Ollivera, a 28-year-old barrister who died by apparent suicide—shot himself with his own pistol at the home of Mr. Richard Jones. The jury ruled it self-murder, so Ollivera receives no burial service, interred in a hastily-dug grave at a crossroads. A plainclothes police detective, Mr. Butterby, observes the proceedings. Miss Alletha Rye, a composed young woman in mourning, dramatically addresses the assembled crowd, solemnly asserting that Ollivera did not die by his own hand and that his memory has suffered a dreadful injustice.