“No, sir.”

Further questions failing to elicit any facts bearing upon the situation, the butler was dismissed, and Brown, the coachman, took his place.  The latter was far less taciturn than the butler, seeming rather eager to impart some piece of information which he evidently considered of special importance.

After a few preliminary questions, the coroner said,-

“At what time, and from whom, did you first hear of Mr. Mainwaring’s death?”

“About half-past seven, yesterday morning, sir.  I was a-taking care of the horses, sir, when Uncle Mose — he’s the gardener, sir — he comes past the stable on his way to the tool-house, and he tells me that Mr. Mainwaring had been murdered in the night, right in his own rooms, and then he tells me-”

“How long had you been up and at work in the stables?”

“Before I heard of the murder?  Well, about an hour, I should say.  I generally gets up at six.”

“Had you been to the house that morning?”

“No, sir; but I went right up there after seeing Uncle Mose, and I was in the kitchen telling what I had seen the night before, when the butler he comes down and said as how Mr. Ralph Mainwaring wanted me, and that I had better keep my mouth shut till I was asked to tell what I knew.”

“Where were you last Wednesday night?” asked the coroner, rather abruptly.

Brown looked surprised, but answered readily, “I was out with some friends of mine.  We all went down to the city together that night and stayed out pretty late, and it seems a mighty good thing we did, too.”

“Why so?” asked the coroner.

“Well, sir,” said Brown, deliberately, glad of an opportunity to tell his story and evidently determined to make the most of it, “as I said, we stayed out that night later than we meant to, and I didn’t waste no time getting home after I left the depot.  So, when I got to Fair Oaks, I thought I’d take the shortest cut, and so I come in by the south gate, off from the side street, and took the path around the lake to get to the stables.”

“What lake do you mean?” interrupted the coroner.

“The small lake back of the grove in the south part of the grounds.  Well, I was hurrying along through that grove, and all of a sudden I seen a man standing on the edge of the lake with his back towards me.  He was very tall, and wore an ulster that came nearly to his feet, and he looked so queer that I stepped out of the path and behind some big trees to watch him.  I hadn’t no more than done so, when he stooped and picked up something, and come right up the path towards me.  The moon was shining, had been up about two hours, I should say, but his back was to the light and I couldn’t see his face, nor I didn’t want him to see me.  After he’d got by I stepped out to watch him and see if he went towards the house, but he didn’t; he took the path I had just left and walked very fast to the south gate and went out onto the side street.”