The Illegal Marriage — page 125: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE ILLEGAL MARRIAGE, 117 CHAPTER XI. GUILTY OF MURDER, The coroner had formed his jury of five citizens when Stannard entered the room where the dead body lay. Upon the table at which Simmons was sitting, with his thumb inserted between the leaves of the “Revised Statutes,” lay the knife which Ogletree had taken from Miss Morgan’s hand. The spots of blood were fast drying upon the polished blade; but there could be no doubt that this was the instrument with which the deed had been done. A juror took it up and drew his thumb across the sharp edge, but dropped it quickly, at a glance from the coroner. But once before, during his official career, had Simmons been called upon to hold an inquest ina case of murder, and he now fully realized the importance of the case in hand. If this was his first serious experience, Simmons thought, it did not follow that the jury was aware of the fact; and he seemed to feel it incumbent upon him to act as if such scenes were of common occurrence with him. But, as usual in such cases, the coroner greatly overacted his part. Stannard could scarcely refuse a smile at this, despite the seriousness of the oc- casion; yet this pompous manner became very seri- ous in itself, a few minutes later, when it was found that Simmons was deaf to all suggestions, and even to reason, Eomicboo cS co Ly