“I rushed forward to the boy, but I could already hear the death-rattle. He passed away before the fire was extinguished, without having said a word.
“Cavalier, still in his shirt, his legs bare, was standing near us, motionless, dazed.
“When the people from the village arrived, my gamekeeper was taken away, like an insane man.
“I appeared at the trial as witness, and related the facts in detail, without changing a thing. Cavalier was acquitted. He disappeared that very day, leaving the country.
“I have never seen him since.
“There, gentlemen, that is my story.”