They took with them several large torches, and then, one having descended into the pit, fastened a rope under the arms of the dead man, and so he was hauled out, and placed in the shell that was ready to receive him.

They were all surprised at the fresh and almost healthful appearance of the countenance, and it was quite evident to everybody that if any one had known him in life, they could not have the least possible difficulty in recognising him now that he was no more.

And the only appearance of injury which he exhibited was in that dreadful wound which had certainly proved his death, and which was observable in his throat the moment they looked upon him.

[Illustration]

The crush to obtain a sight of the body was tremendous at the moment it was brought out, and a vast concourse of persons followed it in procession to the town, where the greatest excitement prevailed.  It was easily discovered that no known person was missing, and some who had caught a sight of the body, went so far as to assert that it must have been in the ice-well for years, and that the extreme cold had preserved it in all its original freshness.

The news, of course, came round, although not through the baron, for he did not condescend to say one word about it at the inn, and it was the landlord who first started the suggestion of—­“What suppose it is the gentleman who left his horse here?”

This idea had no sooner got possession of his brain, than it each moment seemed to him to assume a more reasonable and tangible form, and without saying any more to any one else about it, he at once started off to where the body lay awaiting an inquest, to see if his suspicions were correct.

When he arrived at the public-house and asked to see the body, he was at once permitted to do so; for the landlord knew him, and was as curious as he could be upon the subject by any possibility.  One glance, of course, was sufficient, and the landlord at once said,—­

“Yes, I have seen him before, though I don’t know his name.  He came to my house last night, and left his horse there; and, although I only saw him for a moment as he passed through the hall, I am certain I am not mistaken.  I dare say all my waiters will recognise him, as well as the Baron Stolmuyer of Saltzburgh, who is staying with me, and who no doubt knows very well who he is, for he went out with him late and came home alone, and I ordered one of my men to wait up all night in order to let in this very person who is now lying dead before us.”

“The deuce you did!  But you don’t suppose the baron murdered him, do you?”

“It’s a mystery to me altogether—­quite a profound mystery.  It’s very unlikely, certainly; and what’s the most extraordinary part of the whole affair is, how the deuce could he come into one of the ice-wells belonging to Anderbury House.  That’s what puzzles me altogether.”

“Well, it will all come out, I hope, at the inquest, which is to be held at four o’clock to day.  There must have been foul play somewhere, but the mystery is where, and that Heaven only knows, perhaps.”