"I ain't never been in this house, sir, except as I came here to buttle for you folks. Mr. Stebbins, he give the job to me and my wife, 'cause we're honest, hard-working people, and he knew he could trust us not to tattle or tell no tales of your goin's on. He says, 'Thorpe,' says he, 'they're a queer lot what's comin' up here, but they're my tenants, and I don't want 'em bothered none by gossip and tale-bearin' to the village.' Ain't that right, Mr. Stebbins?" "Just so," said Stebbins, calmly. "Them's just about my very words. You told me, Mr. Landon, that you were a crowd of spook-hunters, and so it was up to me to spare you all the annoyance I could. An' well I know how the villagers gossip about this here house, if they get a chance. So, with the Thorpes at the head of things and a couple of good close-mouthed girls for helpers, I 'llowed you'd not be troubled. And you ain't been,--up to now. But this thing can't be kept quiet no longer. Of course, a thing like this is more or less public property, and I can tell you, there'll be plenty of curious villagers up here to the inquest and all that." "Inquest!" cried Eve, "what do you mean?" "Jest that, ma'am. That dunder-headed coroner, or county physician as he really is, he's set on havin' an inquest,--says he's got to. Well, I don't know much about law, but if they can ketch and hang a ha'nt, let 'em do it, say I!" The arrival on the scene of the two doctors cut short further discussion. "There is a strange condition of things," Crawford began, addressing himself to Wynne Landon. "We find decisive, though very slight evidence that Mr. Bruce died from poison." A hush followed, as his stunned hearers thought over the grave significance of this statement. "Poison?" repeated Landon, dazedly. "What sort of poison? Who administered it?" "As I said," resumed the coroner, "it's a strange case. The poison found is the minutest quantity of a very powerful drug, known among the profession as strychnine hydrochlorate. This is so deadly that a half grain will kill a man instantly, or in a few seconds. But my colleague and I have agreed that since it is impossible for this to have been administered at the moment of Mr. Bruce's death, it must be that he had taken it in cumulative doses, and the result culminated in his sudden death." "Why would he take it?" cried Milly. "Where could he get it?" asked the Professor. "Such a drug is not available to the general public, is it?" "It is not, sir, but whoever gave it to him, must have procured it somehow. Those questions are for the future. We are just learning the facts. The results of our tests prove positively the presence of that particular poison. There is no doubt of that."