I don't know how long I sat there, trying to think, with my face buried
in my hands. My mind had been kept on a strain during the last thirty
hours, and the succession of surprises to which I had been subjected
had temporarily paralyzed my faculties. For a few moments after Alice's
announcement I must have been in a sort of stupor. My imagination, I
remember, ran riot about everything in general, and nothing in
particular. My cousin's momentary impression was that I had met with an
accident of some kind, which had unhinged my brain. The first distinct
remembrance I have after this is, that I suddenly awoke from my stupor
to find Alice kneeling at my feet, and holding me by the hand. Then my
mental powers came back to me, and I recalled all the incidents of the
evening.

"When did uncle's death take place?" I asked.

"On the 3rd of November, about four o'clock in the afternoon. It was
quite unexpected, though he had not enjoyed his usual health for some
weeks before. He fell down in the hall, just as he was returning from a
walk, and died within two hours. He never spoke or recognised any one
after his seizure."

"What has become of his old overcoat?" I asked.

"His old overcoat, Willie--what a question?" replied Alice, evidently
thinking that I was again drifting back into insensibility.

"Did he continue to wear it up to the day of his death?" I asked.

"No. Cold weather set in very early this last fall, and he was
compelled to don his winter clothing earlier than usual. He had a new