The sun., 1896-06-21

| He has certainly gone through tho win
islns have. enticed him out by, some doyilisb
device Of their own. Hold the lamp. nephewi
upon mS tho SnSoarE ioWeT BED ed ontsde!" & H'0 ms On
| The landlord and one or two Of the ,Corin-
tho back Of the house. Some one had opened the
side door, and We found ourselves in the kitch.
pa patti, we were able to hold the lamp over the
soft newly-turned earth which lay between US
That's his footmark!". cried Belcher. "He
wore his running boots this evening, ana you
| else has been here"
| "A wpman!" cried.
by heaven, you arc right. Rodney" said
Beicher gave hearty curse.
IN io ,hS ,,Sis MEYER had word to say TO- any girl
And An , to think think Of them coming in like this at
It's clear as possible. lrcscllis." said the
Hon BGrkGGy ,rn Traysn who was one of the
toes to the house, wRilc The others are ali iesd.'
inE away; She came to summon him and he
..Tm,ThsS Is perfectly certain said my uncle; !;
| divide and search in different irections, un.
less, less we sM ean get some clue as to whore they
"Thcre's only thfs ono path out Of the gar
dem cried the landlord leading the way. 1T
be n he Ofk o OF tSS
out into the side road
| The bright yellow glare from q stable lans
| tern cut a ring suddenly from the darkness,
and an cstler came lopnglng out Of the yard.
Who's 'that?" cried the landlord. ..
'"IIow' long have you been there, Bill7"
Hor rye been in an out Of the
%TSy CIV sISs IT. sRs% % Ssr fSs d. for they was 70
See here. ere 'Bii! Be careful how you answer.
for a mistake may cost you YOU, place, Have
There was u fellow in rabbit. skin cap
some time ago. u Mas loiterin about until
asked I'm what is business was, for didn,B
| care about the looks of i'm, or the way that %
| was pecpin' In at the Windows turned tho
an could only swear TO is red cad"
cast quick gla64cs g6 at my uncle an ana saw
'n 'be"% nj" Of G%pS' "Rod ia'e
,E slouched away, str, an saw the last OF
"You've seen no one else? You didn't. for
example. see u woman and man pass down the
lane together"
Why, now that YOU mention It, sir, did
ali t9Tss LndGn blades are II the ySEei
Well, sir. it was kind OF cry ont .yon-
der a. S, II some one %d got msCf rn Into tTGT-
and took no partic'lar notice.
Where did 4 come from"
..woI ..EwTom j. ths d,y,nn,!. side I9"d yonder'"
No. sir. l should say it didn't come from
more n 700 yards.
"A single cryi"
.,Wsl.it was kind Of a screech. sir: and then
] card somebody driyin' very ard down tho
road | remember thinkin' that 1t was strange
that any one should be driyin away from Craw-
ley on great night like this"
hand. and we all trooped behind him down tho
lane. AT the. further end the, road cut 10
Hastened but his % Search vas was not t' long Ion n one
for the GlarinE light fell suddenly upon some
E o tse q Be6er As the
white surface OF the dusty highway there was
this omlnols stain there lay murderous little
pocket bludgeon. such as War; had described
In the morning.
CHAPTER XVI.
cRAwLEY DOWNS.
All through that weary night my uncle and
l. with Belcher. Berkeley Craven. and a dozen
of the Corinthians. searched the countryside
for some trace OF our missing man. but, save
for that ill,bodinE splash uPon, the road. not
had hefallen him. No one had seen or heard
ANYTHING Of him; and the single cry of the
| only indication OF the tragedy which had taken
place In small parties we secured the Soun- >
and the sun had been long over the horizon be-
fore we found ourselves back at Crawley once
uncle, who had driven to Reigate in the hops
OF gaining some intelligence. did not return un-
til past O'Clock. and glance at his face gave
We held a council round our dismal break.
invited ns a man OF sound wisdom and largo ex:
PereHce in matters Of sport Belfhsr m wa was half
which he had taken in the trainlng. and could
only rave out threats at B,rks and his com
panions. with terrible menaces as to what he
would do when lie met them. My uncle sat
ggra,e and thouEhtfu. eating nothing l,id and and
my heart was heavy, within me. and could
have sunk my. face into my hands and burst
TO aid my friend. Mir. Craven. q fresh faced,
alert man OF the world, was the only one OF
Us who seemed TO preserve both his wits and
"iet me sce. The fight was to be at TO- was
II not:'' he asked.
1T was to be-
Il dnresay it will he. too, Never say die
which To come back"
My uncle shook his head.
for ,hS,. 'in's onr % said pH0 hs 'ne'f "'fA 100 well
We'll. now let us reason 1t out" said Ber-
cSaxes SSy s oune man MSn n of his roe S Do
You know any young woman who had an In
tucncc over him him,
No.. said he. Il know OF nome"
well. we know that she came" said Ber-
TO that. She brought some piteous tale, no
doubt. such as a gallant young man could
trap. and allowed himself to be decoyed to the
place where these rasGHls % Ns We're waiting Ting. for
II see no better explanation" said my uncle.
C. u ,sc men To kill him. War; heard them say
as much. They could not make sure. perhaps,
of doing so tough young fellow an injury
which would certainly prevent him from
fighting. Even with broken arm he might
pull the fight off. as men have done before.
There too much money on for them to run
any risks. They gave him "A tap on the head.
therefore, to prevent his making too much re-
sistanCc. and then they drove hi n of TO some
farmhouse ur stable. where they will hold him
a prisoner until tho time for the fight Is over.
warrant that you sec him before tonight as
well as ever lie was"
T.is theory sounded reasonable that 10
second To lift little OF the load or my heart,
but could ses that from my unClo's point OF
view II was poor consolation.
-! dare say you arc right. Craven" said he.
~ am sure that am"
But 1t won't help us TO win tho fight"
THAT'S the point, sir" cried Belcher. by
the Lord. wish they'd let me take his place,
even with my left arm strapped behind me.
II should advise you. In any case. 70 go 70 tho
ringsidc," said Craven. "lou should hold on
until the last moment, IN the hope OF your man
turning up"
- sPall certainly do so. And shall protest