2. FROM NOVEMBER THE TWENTY-NINTH TO
DECEMBER THE SECONDThe smouldering remnants of the Three Tranters Inn seemed to
promise that, even when the searchers should light upon the remains
of the unfortunate Mrs. Manston, very little would be
discoverable.
Consisting so largely of the charcoal and ashes of hard dry oak
and chestnut, intermingled with thatch, the interior of the heap
was one glowing mass of embers, which, on being stirred about,
emitted sparks and flame long after it was dead and black on the
outside. It was persistently hoped, however, that some traces of
the body would survive the effect of the hot coals, and after a
search pursued uninterruptedly for thirty hours, under the
direction of Manston himself, enough was found to set at rest any
doubts of her fate.
Th
