"Did any of the clerks enter the office?"
"No, sir."
"Did you hear a shot fired, or any other peculiar sound?"
"I did not."
"Are you positive?"
"I hope I may die on the spot if it ain't so," the witness said fervently.
The coroner's eyes alternated between his two visitors. The smaller of the two devoted himself to a long scrutiny of the boy's countenance.
"Mr. Whitmore was absent for six weeks?" he suddenly asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Do you know where he was?"