In the centre of the room stood the dining-table, reduced to its smallest dimensions. On this were spread the remains of a simple supper. Close by the table stood a couch, and on the couch appeared the figure of a man.
The figure was sitting up in the arm of the couch, the legs rested on the couch, the head drooped forward; the chin and lower part of the face were buried in the thick, long, grizzled beard that flowed down over the chest.
Dr. Santley stepped up to the couch on which the figure lay, and having placed the lamp upon the table close at hand, began his examination. It did not take long. After a few minutes he turned to Paulton, and, pointing to the figure, shook his head.
"Well?" asked the young man below his breath.
The doctor went up to him and whispered in his ear:
"Dead some time."
Paulton looked round apprehensively at the door, and whispered back:
"How will she take it?"
The doctor shook his head.
Both men stood staring at one another.