the other the shot no doubt proceeded. You were at a distance, you say,
Richard; Bethel, also, could not have been--"

"It was not Bethel who did it," interrupted Richard; "it was an
impossibility. I saw him, as I tell you, in the same moment that the gun
was fired."

"But now, where was Locksley?"

"It is equally impossible that it could have been Locksley. He was
within my view at the same time, at right angles from me, deep in the
wood, away from the paths altogether. It was Thorn did the deed, beyond
all doubt, and the verdict ought to have been willful murder against
him. Carlyle, I see you don't believe my story."

"What you say has startled me, and I must take time to consider whether
I believe it or not," said Mr. Carlyle, in his straightforward manner.
"The most singular thing is, if you witnessed this, Thorn's running from
the cottage in the manner you describe, that you did not come forward
and denounce him."

"I didn't do it, because I was a fool, a weak coward, as I have been all
my life," rejoined Richard. "I can't help it; it was born with me, and
will go with me to my grave. What would my word have availed that it was
Thorn, when there was nobody to corroborate it? And the discharged gun,
mine, was a damnatory proof against me."

"Another thing strikes me as curious," cried Mr. Carlyle. "If this man,
Thorn, was in the habit of coming to West Lynne, evening after evening,
how was it that he never was observed? This is the first time I have