"Therefore I did not. And the apron I had got muffled over my ears made the sound appear further off than it really was. But close upon the noise came an awful cry; and that was followed by a shrill scream, as if from a woman. That startled me, if you like, and I jumped up, and threw off my apron, and looked on to the plateau. I could not see anything; neither the man nor the young ladies; so I thought it time to go and search after them. I had got nearly up to the Round Tower, that ruined wall, breast high, which is on the plateau----" "You need not explain," said the coroner, "we know the place." "When a man darted out from the shade of it," continued the witness. "He cut across to the side of the plateau next the village, and disappeared down that dangerous steep path in the cliffs, which nobody afore, I guess, ever ventured down but in broad daylight." "Was it the same man you saw just before running on to the plateau?" "Of course it was." "By what marks did you know him again?" "By no marks at all. I should not know the man from Adam. My own senses told me it was the same, because there was no other man on the plateau." "Your own senses will not do to speak from. Remember, witness, you are on your oath." "Whether I am on my oath or off it, I should speak the truth," was the response of the imperturbable witness. "What next?" "I stood looking at the man; that is, at where he had disappeared; expecting he was pitching down head foremost and getting half killed, at the pace he was going, when Miss Thornycroft laid hold of me, shaking and crying, almost beside herself with terror. Then I found that Miss Chester had fainted away, and was lying like one dead on the frosty grass inside the Round Tower." "What account did they give of this?" "They gave none to me. Miss Chester, when she came to herself, was too much shook to do it, and Miss Thornycroft was no better. I thought they had been startled by the man; I never thought worse; and I did not hear of the murder till the next morning. They told me not to say anything about it at home, or it would be known they had been on the plateau. So Miss Thornycroft ran back to the Red Court, and I went home with Miss Chester." "What else do you know about the matter?" "I don't know any more myself. I have heard plenty." The witness's "hearing" was dispensed with, and Captain Copp was requested to stand up and answer a question. The captain's face, as he listened to the foregoing evidence, was something ludicrous to look upon. "What account did Miss Chester and your servant give you of this transaction?" demanded the coroner.