From the way in which the crime was committed and the body found, there is no reason to suppose that it had been planned beforehand.

The mode in which death was inflicted showed, on the other hand, that it was not the result of a hasty or chance blow--but really a murder, though unpremeditated.

Quite near to the place where the body lay, a man was found hidden among the bushes.

His hands and clothes were marked with blood; he had by him a hatchet which had all the appearance of having been used to inflict the wounds on the murdered man, and a heavy stick which might well have given the first blow.

His being but clumsily hidden is accounted for easily, for he was evidently intoxicated; and lastly, he is known to have been connected with a party of smugglers who used to land their goods on Beaver Creek, and who had reason to dislike Doctor Morton." A deeper breath, a slight relaxing of the closed lips, were the only signs from either mother or daughter how this brief and clear account, riveting as it did upon their minds the certainty of guilt, had been endured as people endure the necessary torture of the surgeon's knife.
Neither spoke, but waited for what was to follow.
Mr.Strafford's tone changed.