Mary was almost stunned by this blow, though Ross had already taught her to expect it. He told her that brothers and fathers, all over the county, would applaud rather than condemn the deed, and that she need have no fears for him. No jury would convict him. But the arrest had come sooner than even Ross expected, and she was not prepared to have him borne from her bedside so soon. All the rest of that day men were dragging the channel, and searching on the shores of the river, for the dead body of Eliot Buckstone. Nothing was talked of in Poppleton but the murder. It was known that Mary had been deserted by her husband as soon as she came home. Then it was whispered that she had never been a wife. Evil-minded persons laughed, but most of the people pitied Mary, and condemned the wretch who had deceived her. They were prepared, therefore, for the final act of the tragedy, and the voice that condemned Buckstone applauded Ross Kingman. Many stout-hearted men declared that they would have done the same in defence of a daughter’s or a sister’s honor, and that they would level the jail to the ground rather than permit Ross to suffer for what he had done. But they were law-abiding men, deeply as their feelings were stirred by the wrongs of Mary; and after all, the people, in the persons of the twelve jurymen, were to decide whether Ross was “guilty or not guilty.” CHAPTER XII. DICK BIRCH. If Ross Kingman was not the calmest man in Poppleton on the morning following the murder of Eliot Buckstone, it was only because Mary was a sufferer by his act of retribution. She seemed to be better as the morning advanced. She nerved herself to bear everything, though it was terrible to have her brother borne from her presence on such a grave charge, to spend weeks or months in a cell of the common jail. She suffered, but she endeavored to endure all her woes with patience and resignation; and when Ross left her, she had become the comforter, and spoke words of consolation and hope to him. For his sake she was calm and gentle. Though from the first Ross had not intended to conceal what he had done, yet in Mary’s feeble condition, he did not mean to proclaim his guilt. But in the morning, when she was able to come down stairs, he was better prepared for the arrest, than if she had lain helpless on her bed. He asked the sheriff who had given the information of the murder of Buckstone. The officer did not know; it had passed from mouth to mouth, and the author of the story could not be identified. Ross did not suspect Dr. Bilks, but concluded that the person who had been with the deceased had started the rumor. It did not yet appear who this person was; but the fact that Buckstone had a companion at the time of the murder was soon added to the sum total of the information concerning the event, and circulated through the Port. Ross freely told all he knew of the circumstances.