"Natural causes?" echoed the doctor. "I don't catch your meaning, Mr. Senator. A man's natural state is living. It is unnatural for him to die."
Quickly Warren's hand traveled over the paper; then he tossed the slip to the judge advocate.
"I will amend my question," read the latter. "Do you think it possible that the captain died from one of the diseases of nature, such as heart failure, and so on?"
"No, Mr. Senator, I do not," declared Ward positively. "I am willing to go on oath that Captain Lloyd was killed by a person or persons unknown."
Warren reddened, and bit his lip. "I have no further questions to ask," he said abruptly.
"Does the court desire to examine this witness?" inquired the judge advocate. The president replied in the negative, and Ward was then excused. The next witness was Coroner Richards, who stated that, in his opinion, Captain Lloyd might have died from an attack of heart failure superinduced by the fatigue of five days in the saddle with insufficient food or sleep. His testimony was corroborated by Surgeon McBride. Warren refused to cross-examine the surgeon, and he was excused. He was followed on the stand by Mrs. Lane, a tall, raw-boned woman of middle age.
"How long have you kept your boarding house on F Street?" asked the judge advocate, after Mrs. Lane had been duly sworn and had answered the usual questions as to her full name, age, and length of residence in Washington.
"Six years," was the brief reply. Mrs. Lane never wasted words, if she could help it.
"For how long a time had Captain Lloyd boarded with you?"
"He took the rooms with me the middle of last December, but did not spend much of his time in Washington."