"How could she," growled Ward, "when she was drugged."
"Silence there," said the Coroner sharply. "What time did you fall under the influence of the opiate, Miss Huxham?"
"Shortly after eight, so far as I can recollect."
"Did you know that the tea was drugged?"
"If I had I should not have drunk it," retorted the witness. "It was only next morning that I guessed the truth, and then I kept the dregs for Dr. Ward to examine. He says——"
"He can give his evidence himself," interrupted the Coroner. "Why did your father drug you?"
"I can't say, sir, unless he feared lest I should elope with Mr. Lister."
"Had you any such intention?"
"No, I had not."
The Coroner looked at her earnestly and pinched his lip, apparently nonplussed. The whole affair struck him as strange, and he cross-examined the girl carefully. When he examined Mrs. Coppersley and Ward, both of them bore out the improbable story—in the Coroner's opinion—told by the girl. Finally the old doctor accepted the testimony and dismissed the witnesses.