"Who was that man?" asked the coroner.
"I don't know," was the faint reply. "I am nearsighted."
"Did you look at him?"
"We peeped out, round the wall. At least, Miss Thornycroft did. I only looked for a moment."
"Proceed, witness, if you please."
"He had come quite close when I looked, and--then----"
"Then what?" said the coroner, looking searchingly at the witness, who seemed unable to continue. "You must speak up, young lady."
"Then I saw him with a pistol--and he fired it off--and I was so terrified that I fainted, and remembered no more. It all passed in a moment."
"A good thing if he had shot off your two figureheads!" burst forth Captain Copp, who was immediately silenced.
"Was he tall or short, this man?"