"Yes. Do you know him, sir?"
"Not I; but I've heard of his mother. What inducement could he have to commit so dreadful a crime?"
"Revenge, sir! The General, some two or three weeks since, seized his gun, and, poor gentleman, abused Tom fearfully, for he was in one of his terrifics; and Tom told him the next time he was on his grounds he would do for him—at least so it is said."
"Dreadful! And what was this Tom Vallance, as I think you call him?"
"Nothing, sir. His mother is an industrious woman; and the lad was not that bad fellow neither—but dreadfully idle. He had a good education; but his father dying two years since, Tom left school; and his mother, in place of sending him back, kept him at home. She was so fond of him that she let him do whatever he liked."
"How can she afford to maintain him?"
"She is very industrious, sir; and, as she was daft fond of him, every penny she could scrape together went into his pockets."
"Where is the accused?"
"Tom, sir, do you mean? Why, before the sheriff, making his declaration."
"Who succeeds the late baronet?"