The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 85: what you’re looking at

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

68 REYNOLDS’ WORKS tram, and that on the evening preceding the night of the murder he had left his brother at an inn in the neighbouring village, in a terrible state of excitement in consequence of certain matters connected with the Duchess Eliza. It then appeared from the depositions that the landlord of the vil- lage inn was next examined as a witness. He deposed to the fact of Bertram having passed about three hours at the tavern in the afternoon and evening of the day preceding the night of the murder, that he was violently excited the whole time, and that he had rushed away in the frenzied state of which his brother had spoken. It next appeared from the depositions that two of the housemaids belonging to Oaklands were examined in succession, and their statement was to the effect that while arranging the chamber occupied by Bertram during his stay at the mansion, they had seen the dagger lying amongst a few other curiosities, which, as" they understood, Bertram had brought with him from the United States. The man servant who had specially attended upon Bertram during his visit appeared to have been the next witness, and he was represented as having deposed to the fact that Bertram had shown him the dagger, explaining at the same time that it had been long in the possession of some celebrated Indian chief who died a few months previous to Bertram’s departure from Washington. The dagger was described in the depositions and by the witnesses as being of very peculiar workmanship, and once seen, could not possibly have been mistaken. The depositions proceeded to ae that witnesses were next examined to relate the particulars in respect to the dog. It had been found that Pluto was mortally wounded by a pistol bullet, but the weapon itself had not been found, either in the pond or in the neighbourhood, so that it was tolerably evident the assassin had taken it away with him. ‘The cloth which the dog had brought in his mouth was a fragment evidently torn from the skirt of a surtout coat, and it was therefore supposed that the faithful animal had flown at the murderer of his master, in doing which he had received the fatal bullet. It was further shown at the coroner’s inquest that Bertram had on a black surtout coat when he left Oak- lands after the scene with the duke and Eliza. The deposi- tions went on to state that the evidence being complete, the coroner proceeded to sum up. In alluding to the circum- CORIICEOOOKS (E()