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___ . wail of water came. In that case he ~**~~<is SHM! to be found in the thick junâ€" depth of six feet now, it was perfectly clear that the isthmus was still above the surface of the water at the moâ€" ment of the murder. It was not covered until the final wreckage of the levee, several minutes afterwurd. It would have been possible for the murâ€" derer to have raced across the isthmus to the opposite high lands before the coroner came; and I thought that any cbvious clews should be collected and preserved at once. Such things have mysterious ways of disappearing. We had no difficulty in locating the exact spot where the body had been. Evem the rain had not washed away all the evidence. My first work was to look about for footprints. There were none to be seep. The place was covered with a rich growth of grass, amd rootâ€"filled turf as a rule does not receive a very clear imprint. Besides, the rains would have washed away «hy imprint that had been made. 'o-m-â€"amu-f:.hhl- tng a wespon with which crime could have been committed. We searched the hillside with the greatest possible care; and even waded a short distance into the swamp. Of course it seemed likely that any blunt instruâ€" ment that could have infllcted the wound could have been casity tossed inito the swamp water, from which it After breakfast Ernest and I went down to the scene of the murder. It *The storm decided that matter for me, I‘m afraid. But there may be a chance yet." morning hours drew on, and the mist ,‘,h" was the twilight of dawn faded One of the negroes had built a little fire in the library, and Southley joined me here. And in a moment Ahmad Das opened the door from the eyes of man could read on his impasâ€" sive face as he called us in to breakâ€" "Thank you for your watchfuiness," she called to me. "And I‘m sorry I spoke so rudely when you first spoke to meâ€"and I don‘t expect any otherâ€" but professional interest â€" now. If there was anything that I could sayâ€" about last nightâ€"I‘d say it, too. But I know it wouldn‘t help any." and Dr. Long see a prowling creature in the hall of Southiey Downs. This frightens the elder Hayward, who also sees it. Ernest begins to feel that "It is even an intruder‘s business to be watchful, at a time like this. I believe you‘d better try to get some the door of her own room. "Still the doctorâ€"but there are no personal wishes involved this time:" She even had the spirit to smile at me. But 1 couldn‘t answer that smile. The scene in the den had struck home Maybe it was just the effect of the dawn that her eyes seemed to lose their luster before my gaze. She burried on ub the hall, turning at dead, his neck broken as if by a giznt‘s blow. Now read onâ€" Southley Downs and its ghost, which is not the ghost of a human being but of a tiger. Dr. Long has a quarrel with Vilas Hayward over Josephine, and finds Mthw&wl‘?: authority over the Southleys. erdered to :‘leave Southley Downs. The rain prevents him leaving at once. Dr. Long and Ernest go out on the road in the rain looking for the tracks of a tiger that Ernest says are there. ‘They find the tracks. Later Ernest whom he had seen faint on the train. told him to watch, and his son Ernest Southley, Mr. Hayward and his son Downs, which is conducted by Ahâ€" The door shut behind ber. The early He stood straight and calm and unâ€" "Professional interest alone," I The elder Hayward is later found WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE at it sound that could not be heard above the roar of the storm." * ‘I agreed to this, too. "It‘s no ordinary crime, Long. The murderer had no ordinary motives. mmuwâ€"uâ€".:_l may. use the word, must have just as tertific an emotion as Hayâ€" ward‘s fear~an emotion that inspired him to run fast enough down that alope to overtake his prey within ten "What is that ?"* "That terrible, rending vioclence of the blow. A coldâ€"blooded murderer wouldn‘t have struck like this. The slayer would have waited in the darkâ€" Iwmmhmthlh turf where the body had It was singularly deep and distinet. "Doees it mean‘ anything to you‘?" 1 asked. re so violent w'-w knocked into the earth when he fell billy or knife or pistol. Now look st been committed by a criminal actuâ€" ally overtaking a fleeing victim when they were both on foot. The victim‘s fear makes him the fieetest; and the criminal has only the strength of his purpose to make him fieet. Yet Hayâ€" ward was overtaken in ten yards." until he is in terror. Some reserve power and strength comes to his aid. You remember that from your own boyhoodâ€"the way you could get away from a watermelon patch when the owner got out his shotgun. He ran somewhat downhill, so every condition was with him for a fast fight. And "Men in such terror as he must have been are not particularly careâ€" ful which way they run. They only want to get away in any direction." "But the most frightened man won‘t run in the face of the danger. It is perfectly evident then that his foe came behind himâ€"between his own position and the house." "That seems to be indisputable." * "The murderer must have chased him." "Of course." "And he must have been unbelievâ€" ably feet. It was true that Hayward was a large man physically, and would not ordinarily have been able to run very fast. But in such terror as he was, he would have run faster than any expert track man. You know, "It is an important fact, Ernest." "It certainly is. Police records show that in very few cases have crimes within ten yards!" "The levee was already breaking then. He seemed likely he must have known that retreat by way of the roadway to the city was already cut off. Then why"â€"and the eyes bored mineâ€""did he run in the opposite direction from the house, rather than toward it" We found the body ten yards farther down the slope." "He certainly could not have seen well in the darkness. He might have heard, though, or felt.‘‘ "He must have been on his way down to the driveway then." "Perhaps he could make out a shaâ€" dow. Likely he started to run, and his hat fell off at the first leap." "It means that either part of the struggle occurred higher up the slope, or else some violent action at that point knocked the hat from his head. It seems to me there would be signsâ€" deeper imprintsâ€"if the first was the case; and more likely that he saw or heard his enemy for the first time when he was on this point of the path." But the place it lay was somewhat significant. It was ten full paces farâ€" ther up the slope than the place where we had found the body. "Could we have dropped it off when we carried the body to the house"? Ernest asked. "When I lifted the head the hat was already off," 1 replied. "Then you see what it means?" He looked at me darkly. deep to wade. He would cither have to construct a raft, or else risk his life in a long, desperate swim. The watch was kept like the guard of an army camp. It was continuous. When the negro was obliged to leave his post another took his place. We picked up a few surface clues. We found a man‘s hat; but it was perfectly evident that it was the hat Hayward had worn. I had not parâ€" ticularly noticed it as he went out the door; yet Ernest recognized it as the same expensive felt that he had seen the elder Hayward wearing on many previous occasions. It contained no intials or any other sign of ownerâ€" ship, and it had a trademark of a hatâ€" ter in the State capital. ever amailer craft, evidently aâ€"large rowâ€" ‘boat, in tow. And within a halfâ€"hour mare we could distinguish its cccuâ€" Most of the maule occupants of the house were ‘down at the «dge of the a'l'lilu.. They constantly ““N‘&fln-‘fl the motor bout. Ernest called to them, and showed how they might make a landing in the deep water be~ one of them was a negro I had sent, one was evidently the skipper or ownâ€" er of the craft, and two of the others were the coromer and his assistant. My hope lay in the fifth. If my teleâ€" gram had gone true to its destinaâ€" forces to cope with this problem of "If it is the murderer, and he‘s getâ€" ting away, there‘s no chance to stop him," Southley said. "We can‘t get word to the other side in time." There_were so many tree clumps and thickets that hid it. But slowly it beâ€" It was ‘dark, and the two of them were in mad flight down the hill. Then think what wonderful accuracy, what perfect muscle control, was necâ€" essary for the pursuer to swing his weapon and strike the fleeing figure in front of him in the darknessâ€"a blow as accurate as that with which a butcher fells a steer. It doesn‘t seem hardly human." He started up the steps, and turned with a little laugh that was somehow very grim. "You might as well quit looking for things to be humanâ€" around this house," he told me. At first the boat was just a black speck so far distant that we could not tell whether it was some one escaping from the plateau or a boat from the "There‘s one other thing to rememâ€" ber," I told him. "What is that ?" "Another thing to wonder at. As you say, only a powerful man, or something very powerful, could have dealt this blow. A man could not have done it, except with some great, heavy weapon that by its own weight would gather tremendous momentum. "Abandon such hopeâ€"ye who enter watchman, bellowing down the stairs. His glass had revealed the shadow of a boat upon the far reaches of the "Yes, all of them will be investiâ€" gated." "Vilas won‘t be accusedâ€"very natâ€" urallyâ€"and of course my sister won‘t. It would take more than a woman‘s strength of any other than a large, powerful man, to administer such a blow as killed Hayward." "Next after Ahmad, the negroes will be suspected, chmged with beâ€" ing in the pay of either my father or me, or possibly you." "Who knows! There might be such a thing as missing his first blow, and knowing that only by silencing the man‘s lips could he be saved from an attempted murder charge. At least, Ahmad Das will be suspected. And the crowning point is that he hated Hayward." that‘s‘ what the coroner and the deâ€" tectives will suggest." "But why didn‘t he strike him as he went past, instead of chasing the screaming man down the hill?" "Good Heavens, man! Don‘t you think I have eyes? No one can help but see the way things pointâ€" and there‘s nothing in this world to do but cover our eyes and yell coincidence! But the detectives that come in the boat todayâ€"they‘ll be fresh and have clear eyes. And they‘ll suspect Ahmad Das. He was the one man that was out on the hillside with Hayward at the moment of the murder." "You remember that he took a long time to get down to the garage. He might have waited for Hayward on the trailâ€"then circled back to the garage and only pretended to look "Of course. Although it is true he started in another direction." for him. I don‘t say it‘s true, but had smote him. ‘The neck was broken â€"a clean, viclent break. I knew it when I examined the body." _ _ _ oneâ€"half of a cuftâ€"link, broken sharply off. It was a rich thing, of gold and a single ruby. Then we walked back toward the house. "I suppose you‘ll know where susâ€" picion will point," Ernest said, just before we reached the steps. We found one other clew that for a little while made us hopeful. It was The large craftâ€"a long, low motor Just then we heard the voice of the We had now halted below the verâ€" "And â€" Hayward hated him," JUGSErIi00L$ 5y PMM PE \ & crcmacm HORSESHOE HAAK AUTO SUPPLY CO. "I waited an hour for an answer, sir, and none came," Sam told me. "I could not wait no more. The deâ€" tective gen‘man said we had to go without himâ€"and like as not he wouldn‘t be no good, nohow." (Continued next week) Dear Editor: I read in a western newspaper that a mau threw a lion in a fight. Could it be possible? In all probability what you read is true, as we once heard of an aucâ€" tioneer knocking down an elephant. to the Clegy The mission had evidently not afâ€" fected him at all. He called us a cheery greeting as the boat drew up. When he rose to make the motor boat fast, all of us saw that his garb fitted the rest of him. He wore an old, mudâ€" bespattered suit, and queer little rubâ€" ber boots that were tied with strings and came just to his ankles, making a ludicrous bag of each of his trouser Sam, the colored man, was in the back of the boat, and next to him sat a lean, thinâ€"faced man I had never seen before. But he had an official air, and I guessed him right as an inspector from a nearâ€"by cityâ€"a man on the plainâ€"clothes force. He was an alert, determined man with a disâ€" tinet air of authority. My first words were with Sam. He swore that he had sent my telegram to the address I had indicated. But when at last they drew close it was with the sense of the deepest disappointment to me. I looked in wain for the face I had hoped to see. No one could mistake the coroner. 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