The coach rumbled up to the piazza of the tavern followed by a thousand people ; for if any man had been minding his own business till then , he now left it at sixes and sevens to hear the news . The pedler , foremost in the race , discovered two passengers , both of whom had been startled from a comfortable nap to find themselves in the centre of a mob . Every man assailing them with separate questions , all propounded at once , the couple were struck speechless , though one was a lawyer and the other a young lady . `` Mr. Higginbotham ! Mr. Higginbotham ! Tell us the particulars about old Mr. Higginbotham ! '' bawled the mob . `` What is the coroner 's verdict ? Are the murderers apprehended ? Is Mr. Higginbotham 's niece come out of her fainting-fits ? Mr. Higginbotham ! Mr. Higginbotham ! '' The coachman said not a word except to swear awfully at the hostler for not bringing him a fresh team of horses . The lawyer inside had generally his wits about him even when asleep ; the first thing he did after learning the cause of the excitement was to produce a large red pocketbook . Meantime , Dominicus Pike , being an extremely polite young man , and also suspecting that a female tongue would tell the story as glibly as a lawyer 's , had handed the lady out of the coach . She was a fine , smart girl , now wide awake and bright as a button , and had such a sweet , pretty mouth that Dominicus would almost as lief have heard a love-tale from it as a tale of murder . `` Gentlemen and ladies , '' said the lawyer to the shopkeepers , the mill-men and the factory-girls , `` I can assure you that some unaccountable mistake -- or , more probably , a wilful falsehood maliciously contrived to injure Mr. Higginbotham 's credit -- has excited this singular uproar . We passed through Kimballton at three o'clock this morning , and most certainly should have been informed of the murder had any been perpetrated . But I have proof nearly as strong as Mr. Higginbotham 's own oral testimony in the negative . Here is a note relating to a suit of his in the Connecticut courts which was delivered me from that gentleman himself .
I find it dated XXXXX ten o'clock last evening . ''
about after at by from in inside of though with