The jurymen sympathized with the banker.
The coroner looked rather puzzled.
"If the deceased had no claim upon you, why did you promise him an annuity?" he asked, after a pause.
"I made that promise for the sake of 'auld lang syne,'" answered Mr. Dunbar. "Joseph Wilmot was a favourite servant of mine five-and-thirty years ago. We were young men together. I believe that he had, at one time, a very sincere affection for me. I know that I always liked him."
"How long were you in the grove with the deceased?"
"Not more than ten minutes."
"And you cannot describe the spot where you left him?"
"Not very easily; I could point it out, perhaps, if I were taken there."
"What time elapsed between your leaving the cathedral yard with the deceased and your returning to it without him?"
"Perhaps half an hour."