The Mena weekly star., 1896-09-16

..f tied tl1ern in a how-now they are in a for my Inspection. He was quite. right; they were tied in a knot as he sasa.
 Are you sure you tied them differently?"
 ''pesstiTe. could swear it in law court"
 I put that down in my note book; 1t was one point in his favor. Another thing that impressed me was where could he have put the stolen property if he had fallen suddenly after partaking of the dhrugged h that room. 1t was not, for l had exam ined 1t engaged thinking. Now he said Look here sir: in front of the house the grass is rather long. l was walking on It at the time, and when l received the blow l was that grass and see if there are any signs of q fall on, the grass or II anyone .ha. has I was carried from that spot into the | house." .,. | struck bv his intelligence; land now good | by for the present. and don't get down.
 "Good-by. siri God bless youF' he cried. | and then I left him and wended my way
 On the way I met the inspector who in- uuired if I had learned anything.
 | "Yes," I replied "a good deal. thlnk I can almost prove the arrested mans ih- l nocence." - , l thought I was mad I reached the front or 9rsss sse soon sSuSe ahI found place where it l locked disarranged, and getting out my l glass I carefully examined it. Yes, there | was the mark of the fallen man: little | further back was the mark of another
 man, who had evidently stood there some | time But search as would, there were l But. stayi I suddenly lighted on a deep 1 footprint; then another and another. right
 un to the gate. then across the garden, l ill they ended close by the front window. 1 Suddenly an idea struck me; the footprints
 seemed very deep. l made one or two be-
 h a tSi hne pU to nGf The maker them had been heavily laden. There
 could be no doubt of it. the villain had
 taken off his own shoes and put on those | of the arrested man; then he had carried
 him across the garden and thrown hin
 through the window unconscious, pourin,e
 a glass of the drugged wine down his
 throat Then he had robbed the dead mar
 and departed. But there were few quer-
 ies unanswered;
 1 FirSt-HoW dld ne Know lhe WiHe was
 drugged? .,....
 Third-How could he carry the vaiu | ables away, for had been informed they | were very heavy? Tn my mind nae | proved one mans innocence; but hardel
 task lay before me; to prove another
 search as might. I could find no more l traces and the matter became more pug | zling The burglar seemed either to have
 flown away. or to be still in the house
 This feeling was augmented later on
 when I went to the nearest station and in
 ouired if any strangers had been about
 To my surprise they positively affirmed | that I was the only stranger that hat
 come or gone for the last few days. Tn | next station was some ten miles on; } was not likely they would have carried their spells that distance. When 1 reache' my lodging and thought the matter owe there was only one possible conclusion. Th' | murderer must be still in the village anC
 some of the stolen property must be stil l hidden in the house or grounds, and Tn tn
 evening I determined to watch the house for there I was convinced lay the key t the mystery.
 About 10 o'clock I cautiously crept int : the garden and scaled a tree which stoo 1 in a direct line with the old mans bed room have been in a few strange posi- : tions, but never in such a one as that, be 1 fore or since. For there I sat perched | that tree for two mortal hours, in tn most uncomfortable of positions, and noth | ing occurred.
 i Presently I saw the light in one of tn 7 bottom rooms go out and soon after tn 5 | old man came up to bed. First he yer l carefully drew his window curtain togeth CT which shut me out from all view. But l meant to sec somehow, and, notic l ing that the ends were left uncovered, | cautiously descended from my perch anC l after taking off my boots began to clim up the creeper which covered the hous, r l and was as thick a mans wrist in som , | places My heart beat violently as l neare ] 1 his window; the stem of the creepef wa l getting thinner and enc false step migh