had then dragged the half-lifeless body to the bed, where, having
substituted the knife, which he had probably brought to the room in the
same pocket from which the boy afterwards saw him take the dagger, he
dispatched him; and either hearing some alarm--perhaps the movement of
the valet in the adjoining room, or from some other cause--he dropped
the knife in the bed, and was not able to find it again. The wounds upon
the hand of the dead man indicated his having caught and struggled to
hold the blade of the weapon with which he was assailed. The impression
of a bloody hand thrust under the bolster, where it was Sir Wynston's
habit to place his purse and watch, when making his arrangements for the
night, supplied the motive of this otherwise unaccountable atrocity.

After some brief consultation, the jury agreed upon a verdict of willful
murder against John Merton, a finding of which the coroner expressed his
entire approbation.

Marston, as a justice of the peace, had informations, embodying the
principal part of the evidence given before the coroner, sworn against
Merton, and transmitted a copy of them to the Home Office. A reward for
the apprehension of the culprit was forthwith offered, but for some
months without effect.

Marston had, in the interval, written to several of Sir Wynston's many
relations, announcing the catastrophe, and requesting that steps might
immediately be taken to have the body removed. Meanwhile undertakers were
busy in the chamber of death. The corpse was enclosed in lead, and that
again in cedar, and a great oak shell, covered with crimson cloth and
goldheaded nails, and with a gilt plate, recording the age, title, &c.
&c., of the deceased, was screwed down firmly over all.