"How did you hear of it?"
"Through the newspapers."
"And you were surprised?"
"I was astounded; I felt as if I had received a blow myself, and could not rest till I had come back where I could learn the full particulars."
"So, then, it was curiosity that brought you to the inquest to-day?"
"It was."
The juryman looked at him astonished; so did all the rest. His manner was so changed, his answers so prompt and ringing.
"And what was it," broke in the coroner, "that led you to register yourself at the hotel under a false name?"
"I scarcely know," was the answer, given with less fire and some show of embarrassment. "Perhaps I thought that, under the circumstances, it would be better for me not to use my own."
"In other words, you were afraid?" exclaimed the coroner, with the full impressiveness of his somewhat weighty voice and manner.