"Nothing particular, sir; we were making some noise ourselves."
"Did you meet any one, either going or coming?"
"No, sir; but a man might easily have passed us in the dark on the other side of the road."
Five men confirm Rooney's statement, and every word weighs like lead against Clifford Heath.
John Burrill left the saloon to go to Doctor Heath's house; in drunken bravado, he would go at night to disturb and annoy the man who had, twice, in public, chastised him, and on both occasions uttered a threat and a warning; unheeding these, he had gone to brave the man who had warned him against an approach—and he has never been seen alive since; he has been found dead, murdered, hidden away near the house of the man who had said: "If he ever should cross my path, rest assured I shall know how to dispose of him."
These words distinctly remembered by all three of the women who witnessed the rescue in Nance Burrill's house, are repeated by each one in turn, and the entire scene is rehearsed.
Nance Burrill is called upon, and just as she comes forward, Mr. Lamotte beckons the coroner, and whispers a few words in his ear. The coroner nods, and returns to his place. Nance Burrill is sworn, and all listen eagerly, expecting to hear her rehearse the story of her life as connected with that of the dead man. But all are doomed to disappointment. She tells the story of the rescue in her cottage, much as did the others; she repeats the words of Clifford Heath, as did the others, and she turns back to her friends, leaving the case against the man who had been her champion, darker than before.
Raymond Vandyck is called; he does not stir from his position beside his friend, and his face wears a look of defiant stubbornness.
"Ray," says Clifford Heath, quietly, "your silence would be construed against me; go forward and tell the whole truth."
Then he obeys the summons; but the truth has to be drawn from him by hard labor; he will not help them to a single fact. For example: