Wichita eagle., 1886-09-28

After considerable hesitation, however, ne
turned slowly to the left, bent over some
thick brushwood and gradually stretced out
his hand. "It's that fox again to a certain
ty," whispered Harold to me; "the professors s
as mad as q March hare" No signs of the
fox, though, and the professor was well into
the bush; if the diamond was there, surely a
sudden flash of thought would assist him; but
it was not likely to lie there any more than
our friend the fox, who would certainly havc
made of long before now.
Ere my ideas were completed the fash
OF thought did come. A sudden dart down
ward on the part of the professor was instan-
tancous!y succeeded by frightful yell that
rang through the woods Mrs. Cargill's hand
was dropped in a second, and it seemed as
though the professor was engaging blindfold-
ed in some awful struggle with foe whom
none of us had yet seen.
1t was the fox after all. The professor had
tracked him down this time. if not to his den,
at least to the trap in which the animal was
struggling.
Certes, he was pretty severely punished for
his fox hunting propensities! Foxes don't
usually attack until driven to the last e1-
trerity, and the professor must have forced
tho animal to the furthest point it could go
with the trap on its fore paw ere he made
that sudden dive which was so disastrous for
him Had it not been that the learned mans
hand was most terribly bitten we should have
been struck with the absurdity of the scene
Mrs Cargill had had great fright; the pro-
fessor was in towering rage, not merely at
the injury done to his hand, but that he
CHI, hox o;,,f l-o1
fox; SO Harold and were alone in any con-
dition for action. The professor swore that
he must kill the fox that had SO bitten him,
and so great was his wrath and haste that he
would scarcely wait till he had stanched bis
wound with handkerchief.
took Mrs Cargill to some little distance,
and when l returned the fox was well-nigh
demolished by tho aid of stout stick, with
which the professor had promptly avenged
himself
He was calmer now, and as we were talking
over the little excitement of the moment he
gave it as his decided opinion that either Mrs.
Cargiil must, unknown to herself, have been
wearing the diamond all the time, or the fox
must have swallowed it. The last idea seemed
to have something in it, and he was SO i'm
pressed with it that the only course to con-
vince him for we had begun to doubt his
sanity seemed to be to dissect the animal
there and then. l left them to inform Mrs
Cargill of our last resolve when a shout Of
Joy from the professor and of surprise from
Harold made ME hastily turn to rejon them.
Mrs. Cargill, hearing the shout, was with us
in trice.
The diamond had been found! The fox had
not swallowed it, but tied tightly round its
neck, roughly sewed up in piece Of brown
leather, YVES the missing stone.
The professor was exultant; his wound was
forgotten; he had been right, after all
But who was tho theft Some one must
have committed the diamond to the fox's
care Was it true that the animal had
slipped it's cellar; or had the culprit freed 1t
for greater safety, in the belief that it would
return for It's mealsi Only the gardener
could tell us, and he would probably not miss
MS fox till the morning.
Excited as wc were, we talked 1t all over In
,he wood and wero considerable later than
usual in getting home, where We parted at
,nce silently, retiring to our several chambers
% take the rest we had SO well earned, after
putual compliments all around.
We had decided that the gardener alone
,ould be the thief, and that we would con-
,ront him with the charge in the morning
put we had reckoned without our host! When
VIC assembled for breakfast, the professor
With his hand wrapped up in most ungainlJ
fashion, llrs. Cargill met us with blank
face A note, which the servant had found
n the silver chest some minutes since, ex-
planned all. 1t was a filthy piece of work
nanship, but still legible, and the contents,
alas! too plainly spoke the truth. 1t ran as
follows:
MIssUs,-i seen you and the gintlenen too
lites waul1in about the woods iookin for mi
fox. You Kant find him c.y more than NE
90 ime Off. l hop you may ketch mi fox /
kant so nc and my pals TUX few spuneS in
sted. Your o5cdiant siTvent,
TO,I BIAE.
Ds-thenks; for levin the door opin.
The professor was the only one who made a
hearty breakfast He had proved the power
Of thought reading; it was our fault, not his,
that the gardener had been too sharp for us.
Now, of course, we had the detectives down;
but we never caught Mr.. Black. "Tuk a few
sprnes insted.' l should rather think he had;
there was not piece of plate left in the house.
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