Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-11-15

Ih1y we hhau nnI TIA out nv
opening that side door which he indi-
~stei' And he called me doctor. All
= COX Ike a real mystery. DENIM.
shall we follow it upy'
| I'm with you" said DENIM, starting
toward the side door.
! l caught him by the arm.
10 slow. my boy. Remember hts
Wafnlpg about the walls having ears
and not going 10 work until the house
was quiet Let's wait and ask no Dues
tons lest we betray ourselves. The
more think OF ii the more | am con-
vlnced that he has In some u~naccounta-
bic way mistaken us for other people.
VINO! What sort? OF course | cannot
conjecture. But certain IL Is. we are
not supposed to he here for any good
purpose. Didn't you notice how fright
ened he loked when he spoke Of it?'
Yes said DENIM, and that leads
me TO believe we are on the point of
making some important d~iscovery-I
cannot imagine what-but which will
bring that villain. and perhaps the
landlord himself into trouble"
Having delivered himself OF this
sage conclusion. DENIM washed him
self and after / had done likewise we
went below TO see about supper. exert
ing ourselves TO the utmost to appear
as unconcerned as possible.
Ike was not visible. and the land
lord, who was waiting OH some new
customers. directed US 10 the dining
slyly handing me. as he did So,
something wrapped in paper, which
like a key.
On sitting down to supper I opened
the paper, and. sure enough. / found it
contained a door key. while on the pa
per were scrawled sewers. lines. which
l made ont 10 read as follows:
This Key fits the Dore between the
rooms-don't kun u the Bar agin IL
mite, and lux Il for people in Room
on t'other side OF Partition-you will
find Bags in Closet OF Room"
Aha" said DENIM, when he had de-
ciphered the scrawl in his turn. the
mystery decpens. What on earth are
the bags for? Really, Joe. I'm beginning
10 think We'll get u fingers burnt if
we attempt TO handle this thing. Let's
get out Of this Internal hole before it
Ii too late"
What. you are not going TO back
outF' l said. my curiosity being SO
fully reused by the strange note. so |
was determined 10 fathOm the mys-
terry.
Not. II you are determined to stick
to ii, my old chum."
After supper we went directly to our
room. taking with us n large lamp
which had been lighted for our use.
1t was then eleven o'clock.
Through the partition on the right,
opposite the door opening into the 9th
or room, we heard voices. and listened.
1t was some miners, judging from their
talk, discussing business matters.
These were doubtless the people
against whom the note had warned us.
They did not separate till midnight,
and l can assure the reader it was a
long wait for us-for DENIM aud me.
Soon after we heard them 90 out;
the house became as still as death.
Then, with 4 strange feeling creeping
over me, | babe DENIM take up the
camp, and, going on tiptoe to the side
door, ! unlocked 1t, very carefully. so
as not to make the slightest noise, and
slowly opened 1t.
A damp, chilly air struck our faces.
and the light fiarcd up. Tie windows
Of the o were raised, but the shut
| tiers were closed tight.
We entered. There was no carpet on
the floor, and no furniture save 4 long
deal table in the middle of the room.
To the right, in the farther corner, was
a cot. with q blanket thrown over il;
10 the left a closet.
Well" / was on the point OF say
Ing, Il see no mystery in this Wien
DENIM, who was between me and the
farther corner, holding The lamp, sEart-
ed back, suddenly and clutched my
arm.
Heavens. Joe!' he said, ia q hOalse
whisper, there's something covered mp
on the colt"
The hand with which he held he
lamp shook so thar. fearing he would
drop ii, / tool II from him. and, IN
tFeathless usp,usn, we wenr on tiptoe
TO tie CIT.
Yes; there was certainty something
under the blanket. Something that
looked like the top IF a nurna head
peeped out.
l pulled down the blanket a little,
and a CHASTITY face, framed by long,
brown hair, stared up at us with CLASSY
eyes.
Mortified, I recoiled and set the lamp
upon the table. while DENIM staggered
back against the wall, ~murmuring:
For Gods sake, Joe, what does this
mean?'
ut MEANS" j replied, mastering my
emotion, 1T means that we stand face
TO face with the victim Of n crime
q murdered woman Clicked TO death"
"Choked! gasped DENIM. How do
you know that?"
1T is very evident" I made answer,
approaching the cot again. See for
yourself" and / showed DENIM, at
the throat. several dark marks, like the
imprints of fingers. There" / said,
gravely, ''are the irrefutable proofs.
To the medical eye they are crying
witnesses"
Cover 1t up again. Joe. The sight Is
too horrible!' moaned DENIM. We
must not disturb tit must be left as
we found it," and Selling the blanket
with a shudder he pulled it over the
staring face.
And now what's 10 be doneI" he
continued. "Our first step Is undoubt-
eddy to go and lodge n complaint
against this Ike and Pete Burroughs,
the landlords We must do so at