Pike was watching the little boat on the river when he got up to him; he
remarked to Pike that his lordship's arm seemed tired; and he and Pike
had walked back to Calne together.
Pike would have got away had he been able, but the coroner whispered to
an officer. For one single moment Mr. Pike seemed inclined to show fight;
he began struggling, not gently, to reach the door; the next he gave it
up, and resigned himself to his fate. There was a little hubbub, in the
midst of which a slip of paper with a pencilled line from Lord Hartledon,
was handed to the coroner.
"_Press this point, whether they returned to Calne at once and
together._"
"George Gorton," cried the coroner, as he crushed the paper in his hand,
"at what hour did you return to Calne?"
"I went at once. As soon as the little boat was out of sight."
"Went alone?"
"No, sir. I and the man Pike walked together. I've said so already."
"What made you go together?"
"Nothing in particular. We were both going back, I suppose, and strolled
along talking."
It appeared to be all that the witness had to tell, and Mr. Pike came
forward perforce. As he stood there, his elegant wide-awake bent in his
hand, he looked more like the wild man of the woods he had been compared
to, than a civilized being. Rough, rude, and abrupt were his tones as he
spoke, and he bent his face and eyes downwards whilst he answered.
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