“Ah, of course—I forgot you haven’t heard.
“No. What is it?”
“A poor fellow has been found in the road in a dying condition.”
“Who is he?”
“No one seems to know. He is a stranger to these parts and is supposed to be a tramp.”
“Indeed!—is he in any way injured?”
“Most seriously, they say—skull’s fractured. They have taken him to the workhouse.”
“Is nothing known about him?”
“Well, it appears that he had been drinking heavily for some hours, and the last house he called at the landlord refused to serve him. He became so violent that he had to be ejected. After that he offered to fight everybody; at length he was persuaded to go away. The last time he was seen alive was in Bedhall’s-lane; and at the end of this, near the high road, he was found in a dying condition.”
“Dear me, how very terrible! Has he been subjected to violence? Has anyone attacked him?”