Leslie made a motion of assent; and the other went on, his voice gradually gaining in strength and fulness, and his whole manner by degrees assuming the characteristic of the lawyer. “To the few questions to which I will ask your answers, now, I have to request all your attention. They are of great importance; they may, very probably, be re-asked of you under more solemn circumstances; and I have to bespeak, not alone all your accuracy for the replies, but that you may be able, if asked, to state the manner and even the words in which I now address you.--You have been the incumbent of this parish for a length of time,--what number of years?” “Sixty-three. I was appointed to the vicarage on my ordination, and never held any other charge.” “You knew the late Darcy Martin, father of the last proprietor of this estate?” “Intimately.” “You baptized his two children, born at the same birth. State what you remember of the circumstance.” “I was sent for to the castle to give a private baptism to the two infants, and requested that I would bring the vestry-book along with me for the registration. I did so. The children were accordingly christened, and their births duly registered and witnessed.” “Can you remember the names by which they were called?” “Not from the incident in question, though I know the names from subsequent knowledge of them, as they grew up to manhood.” “What means, if any, were adopted at the time to distinguish the priority of birth?” “The eldest was first baptized, and his birth specially entered in the vestry-book as such; all the witnesses who signed the entry corroborating the fact by special mention of it under their signature. We also heard that the child wore a gold bracelet on one arm; but I did not remark it.” “You have this vestry-book in your keeping?” “No; Mr. Martin retained it, with some object of more formal registration. I repeatedly asked for it, but never could obtain it. At length some coolness grew up between us, and I could not, or did not wish to press my demand; and at last it lapsed entirely from my memory, so that from that day I never saw it.” “You could, however, recognize it, and be able to verify your signature?” “Certainly.” “Was there, so far as you could see, any marked distinction made between the children while yet young?” “I can remember that at the age of three or four the eldest boy wore a piece of red or blue ribbon on his sleeve; but any other mark I never observed. They were treated, so far as I could perceive, precisely alike; and their resemblance to each other was then so striking, it would have been a matter of great nicety to distinguish them. Even at school, I am told, mistakes constantly occurred, and one boy once received the punishment incurred by the other.” “As they grew up, you came to recognize the eldest by his name?”