The Argosy — page 324: what you’re looking at

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

252 The Mystery of Allan Grale. address, given. He complied with the request at once and sent off the box. Upon being asked by the coroner whether he could produce that letter, the witness replied that he was very sorry to say he could not. The letter had in some way disappeared ; he believed that he must, himself, have torn it up by mistake. That was all. The coroner, in curt words and tone, told the witness he might go. And as Edgar Vivian turned and faced the little assem- bly, he believed he knew how Cain had felt when he met the first eyes which saw the mysterious brand of murder on his brow. The next person called was the yellow woman, Jane West, very much to the surprise of the assemblage. She came forward, tim and self-possessed, and attired in deep and handsome mourning. The yellow cloak was folded across her arm: she had put it off to appear before the coroner. After all, she had not any evidence to give that was of much account, only that on the twentieth day of last October, in the evening, she had met Mr. Allan Grale, whom she knew well by sight, near the Black Pool. He appeared to be walking to it. She had noticed him par- ticularly. She thought at the time that he looked a little different from what he usually did look, and remarked to herself that it was because he was wearing a light great-coat, which she herself had not before seen him in. Yes, it was similar to that coat, now produced Could be quite certain of the date—the twentieth of October. Two or three more unimportant witnesses were examined, and then came the medical testimony ; that of Dr. Palmer and Mr. Holmes of Sladford. They said that the body had been in the water for some months, which prevented a very particular examination; but they testified that there was an injury to the head, sufficient to have caused death, inflicted by some small, heavy instrument. It must have been a rather peculiar instrument, Mr. Holmes said ; and he could imagine no possibility of such an injury having been received after the immer- sion of the body. It could not have been self inflicted. The audience listened breathlessly ; despite sundry sinister rumours, the opinion of many had constantly reverted to suicide. In answer to further inquiries, the Doctor said that after such 2 lapse of time it was almost impossible to speak positively on any point, but appearances did not indicate death by drowning. Thus it appeared, if the opinion of the two medical men was correct—and there could be no reason to doubt it—that poor Allan Grale had neither destroyed himself nor died by drowning. His life had been taken from him by the violent hand of some adversary. And in the heart of nearly everybody present, there arose one name—that of Edgar Vivian. The coroner summed up, and the jury retired to the infant school- room to consider their verdict—where chromos of elephants and lambs on the walls looked down upon them as they debated. Nothing but ECONMCOOOKS.CO