Neither, beyond the blowing out of the candle,--which stood on a table between the door and my sister, and was behind her when she stood facing the fire and was struck,--was there any disarrangement of the kitchen, excepting such as she herself had made, in falling and bleeding.

But, there was one remarkable piece of evidence on the spot.

She had been struck with something blunt and heavy, on the head and spine; after the blows were dealt, something heavy had been thrown down at her with considerable violence, as she lay on her face.

And on the ground beside her, when Joe picked her up, was a convict's leg-iron which had been filed asunder.
Now, Joe, examining this iron with a smith's eye, declared it to have been filed asunder some time ago.

The hue and cry going off to the Hulks, and people coming thence to examine the iron, Joe's opinion was corroborated.