“The evidence of the man who found the remains in the watercress-bed suggests that they could not have been there more than two years.  Do the appearances, in your opinion, agree with that view?”

“Yes; perfectly.”

“There is one more point, Doctor; a very important one.  Do you find anything in any of the bones, or all of them together, which would enable you to identify them as the bones of any particular individual?”

“No,” replied Dr. Summers; “I found no peculiarity that could furnish the means of personal identification.”

“The description of a missing individual has been given to us,” said the coroner; “a man, fifty-nine years of age, five feet eight inches in height, healthy, well preserved, rather broad in build, and having an old Pott’s fracture of the left ankle.  Do the remains that you have examined agree with that description?”

“Yes, in so far as agreement is possible.  There is no disagreement.”

“The remains might be those of that individual?”

“They might; but there is no positive evidence that they are.  The description would apply to a large proportion of elderly men, except as to the fracture.”

“You found no signs of such a fracture?”

“No.  Pott’s fracture affects the bone called the fibula.  That is one of the bones that has not yet been found, so there is no evidence on that point.  The left foot was quite normal, but then it would be in any case, unless the fracture had resulted in great deformity.”

“You estimated the height of the deceased as half an inch greater than that of the missing person.  Does that constitute a disagreement?”

“No; my estimate is only approximate.  As the arms are complete and the legs are not, I have based my calculations on the width across the two arms.  But measurement of the thigh-bones gives the same result.  The length of the thigh-bones is one foot seven inches and five-eighths.”

“So the deceased might not have been taller than five feet eight?”

“That is so:  from five feet eight to five feet nine.”

“Thank you.  I think that is all we want to ask you, Doctor; unless the jury wish to put any questions.”

He glanced uneasily at that august body, and instantly the irrepressible Pope rose to the occasion.

“About that finger that is missing,” said the cobbler.  “You say that it was cut off after death.”

“That is my opinion.”

“Now, can you tell us why it was cut off?”

“No, I cannot.”

“Oh, come now, Doctor Summers, you must have formed some opinion on the subject.”

Here the coroner interposed.  “The Doctor is only concerned with evidence arising out of the actual examination of the remains.  Any personal opinions or conjectures that he may have formed are not evidence, and he must not be asked about them.”

“But, sir,” objected Pope, “we want to know why that finger was cut off.  It couldn’t have been took off for no reason.  May I ask, sir, if the person who is missing had anything peculiar about that finger?”