The cat was taken off, amid shrieks of laughter, and proved to be Mr.
Pawkins' rolled up wet trousers and vest, the water from which was the
blood imagined by Sylvanus. The owner of the garments entered
immediately behind his victim, and from his banter the elder Pilgrim
gladly escaped to resume his stable duties, feeling that he had been
demeaned in the eyes of the laughing Tryphena.
Timotheus and Ben were busy cleaning out the coach house, putting tables
and seats into it, and generally preparing for the inquest. Mr. Bangs,
at the coroner's request, empanelled the jury, consisting of the Squire,
the captain, and the two clergymen, the three Richards, the three cited
jurors, with old Styles from the post office, and Ben Toner. The charred
masses of humanity, pervaded by a sickening smell of spirits, were taken
from the waggon, and placed in rough board shells, decently covered over
with white cloths. The woman called Flower was brought from the post
office, and kept in custody, till she gave her evidence; and Bangs
himself, with Messrs. Terry, Coristine, and Bigglethorpe, Sylvanus,
Rufus, and Timotheus were cited as witnesses.
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