He was pressed on this important point; but he held to his declaration.

At half-past eight he had seen Mr.Dubourg hurriedly leave the field.

At half-past eight the watch of the murdered man had stopped.
Had any other person been observed in or near the field at that time?
No witness could be discovered who had seen anybody else near the place.
Had the weapon turned up, with which the blow had been struck?
It had not been found.

Was anyone known (robbery having plainly not been the motive of the crime) to have entertained a grudge against the murdered man?
It was no secret that he associated with doubtful characters, male and female; but suspicion failed to point to any one of them in particular.
In this state of things, there was no alternative but to request Mr.
Dubourg--well known in, and out of the town, as a young gentleman of independent fortune; bearing an excellent character--to give some account of himself.
He immediately admitted that he had passed through the field.

But in contradiction to the farm-bailiff, he declared that _he_ had looked at his watch at the moment before he crossed the stile, and that the time by it was exactly a quarter past eight.