The candles were now both held by Mr. Chillingworth, and they were so held as to cast a full and clear light upon the coffin. Now the lid slid off, and Henry eagerly gazed into the interior.
There lay something certainly there, and an audible "Thank God!" escaped his lips.
"The body is there!" exclaimed George.
"All right," said Marchdale, "here it is. There is something, and what else can it be?"
"Hold the lights," said Mr. Chillingworth; "hold the lights, some of you; let us be quite certain."
George took the lights, and Mr. Chillingworth, without any hesitation, dipped his hands at once into the coffin, and took up some fragments of rags which were there. They were so rotten, that they fell to pieces in his grasp, like so many pieces of tinder.
There was a death-like pause for some few moments, and then Mr. Chillingworth said, in a low voice,—
"There is not the least vestige of a dead body here."
Henry gave a deep groan, as he said,—
"Mr. Chillingworth, can you take upon yourself to say that no corpse has undergone the process of decomposition in this coffin?"