Dr. Landreth reined in his horse to reply. “Yes, Mr. Squires, and I hope you will manage the affair as quietly as possible, as the old lady is quite ill, and excitement would be very injurious to her.”
“Certainly, we’ll do our best, doctor. The man will have to be got out of the chimney, and we’ll hold the inquest near by in the woods. But you and your wife will be wanted as witnesses.”
“Sure enough!” exclaimed Dr. Landreth. “I had not thought of that. And really my wife ought to go home and to bed at once.” And he turned to her with an anxious, questioning look.
“Yes, let us go back, Charlie,” she said in an undertone, though her heart sank at the very thought. “I can stand it if I have you with me.”
“And it may be well for me to be there in case the old lady grows worse,” he said, turning the buggy round as he spoke. “Can you spare me while I drive the children over to the nearest neighbor’s, Milly?”
“Oh, yes, for it will be a great relief to poor Mrs. Selby to have them out of the way,” she answered, thinking of every one before self, as was her wont.
Driving so rapidly as to arrive some time before the coroner and his men, who were on foot, the doctor explained all to Mrs. Selby, taking her aside out of hearing of the children, then quickly gathered them into his buggy and drove off by another road before the other party came in sight.
The men had brought ladders for climbing and implements suitable for breaking a hole in the chimney large enough for the corpse to be drawn through. They worked from the outside and with as little noise as possible. Doors were kept closed, and the old lady, still under the influence of opiates, slept quietly till all was over.
Mrs. Selby, Mrs. Lightcap, and Mildred were summoned in turn to tell all they knew about the case.
Mrs. Lightcap did not feel at all nervous or frightened, but the other two were much agitated and could hardly have passed through the ordeal without the support of Dr. Landreth’s presence and sympathy.