"Gone home," replied the man.
"What for?"
"I don't know."
"Call the numbers, Tony," said Frank.
Just as the oars were dipping, they were hailed from the shore.
"Boat ahoy," said a stranger on the bank.
Frank looked, and discovered the gentleman who had begun the applause in the court-room. He was well dressed, wore a massive gold chain, and appeared to be in affluent circumstances, if one might judge from appearances. His face—that portion of it which was not covered by his long black beard—was very dark, and apparently he had just returned from a tropical climate.
The coxswain backed the boat to the shore.
"Can you tell me how I shall get to the house of John Weston, up the lake?" inquired the stranger.
"John Weston is not living," replied Frank.