Radnor's face flushed and a quick light sprang into his eyes. "What do you mean?" I repeated what Polly had said and I added my own interpretation. The effect was electrical. He straightened his shoulders with an air of trying to throw off his despondency. "I'll do my best," he promised. "Heaven knows I'd like to know the truth as well as you--this doubt is simply hell!" A knock sounded on the door and a sheriff's officer informed us that the hearing was about to begin. "You haven't explained your actions on the day of the murder," I said hurriedly. "I must have a reason." "That's all right--it will come out. If you just keep 'em off the ha'nt, I'll clear everything else." "If you do that," said I, immeasurably relieved, "there'll be no danger of your being held for trial." I rose and held out my hand. "Courage, my boy; remember that you are going to prove your innocence, not only for your own, but for Polly's sake." CHAPTER XIII THE INQUEST The coroner's court was packed; and though here and there I caught a face that I knew to be friendly to Radnor, the crowd was made up for the most part of morbid sensation seekers, eager to hear and believe the worst. The District Attorney was present; indeed he and the coroner and Jim Mattison were holding a whispered consultation when I entered the room, and I did not doubt but that the three had been working up the case together. The thought was not reassuring; a coroner, with every appearance of fairness, may still bias a jury by the form his questions take. And I myself was scarcely in a position to turn the trend of the inquiry; I doubt if a lawyer ever went to an inquisition with less command of the facts than I had. The first witness called was the doctor who made the autopsy. After his testimony had been dwelt upon with what seemed to me needless detail, the facts relating to the finding of the body were brought forward. From this, the investigation veered to the subject of Radnor's strange behavior on the afternoon of the murder. The landlord, stable boy and several hangers-on of the Luray Hotel were called to the stand; their testimony was practically identical, and I did not attempt to question its truth. "What time did Radnor Gaylord come back to the hotel?" the coroner asked of "old man Tompkins," the landlord. "I reckon it must 'a' been 'long about three in the afternoon." "Please describe exactly what occurred." "Well, we was sittin' on the veranda talkin' about one thing and another when we see young Gaylord comin' across the lot, his head down and his hands in his pockets walkin' fast. He yelled to Jake, who was washin' off a buggy at the pump, to saddle his horse and be quick about it. Then he come up the steps and into the bar-room and called for brandy. He drunk two glasses straight off without blinkin'." "Had he ordered anything to drink in the morning when they left their horses?" the coroner interrupted at this point.