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Here the cobbler stood up and raised an excessively dirty hand

"I rise, Mr Chairman," said he, "to a point of order" The other juryret to say, grinned "You have referred, sir," he continued, "to the body which we have just viewed I wish to point out that we have not viewed a body: we have viewed a collection of bones"

"We will refer to them as the remains, if you prefer it," said the coroner

"I do prefer it," was the reply, and the objector sat down

"Very well," rejoined the coroner, and he proceeded to call the witnesses, of whom the first was the labourer who had discovered the bones in the watercress-bed

"Do you happen to kno long it was since the beds had been cleaned out previously?" the coroner asked, when the witness had told the story of the discovery

"They was cleaned out by Mr Tapper's orders just before he gave theo In May it were I helped to clean 'em I worked on this very same place and there wasn't no bones there then"

The coroner glanced at the jury "Any questions, gentle scowl at the witness and de for bones when you came on these remains?"

"Me!" exclai for bones for?"

"Don't prevaricate," said the cobbler sternly; "answer the question: Yes or no"

"No; of course I wasn't"

The jury that he would let it pass this tiain; and the exa anything that was new to eant had described the finding of the right arm in the Cuckoo Pits

"Was this an accidental discovery?" the coroner asked

"No We had instructions frohbourhood"

The coroner discreetly forbore to press this matter any farther, but my friend the cobbler was evidently on the qui vive, and I anticipated a brisk cross-exaer when his turn came The inspector was apparently of the salance of the deepestdisciple of St Crispin In fact, his turn came next, and the cobbler's hair stood up with unholy joy

The finding of the lower half of the trunk in Staple's Pond at Loughton was the inspector's own achievement, but he was not boastful about it The discovery, he remarked, followed naturally on the previous one in the Cuckoo Pits