Daily camera., 1897-07-21

ways. They usually let me alone; and
| forgot that you don't know my meth
DDS. | am great economist of time
when / am in- thinking trim, and, as
/ had already arrived at the only conclu-
sion possible in your case, at least at this
stage, l was working on the other mat
ter l mentioned"
Conclusion? What conclusion? p"
cried Welsh. 3
"Why, [ thought you were following
me step by step, up at the mayors;
though now l do recall that you made
one or two proposals that rather seemed
to indicate lack of proper caution"
"Why, I saw absolutely nothing" re
piled Welsh. "To be frank, thought
you were helplessiy stumped, and were
simply trying to kill time and make a
favorable impression on the ladies'"
81 was trying TO be agreeable, Welsh
confess it. That's my style. 1t makes
an unpleasant job pleasanter to ali
concerned. If you ever have to hand
cuff a woman, tell her she has pretty
wrists, and she won't mind it half so
much"
81 am at sea-" said Welsh, "and COM
pietely overheard"
Hendricks leaned back, threw his feet
or a desk and chewed the end of his
cigar. 81 did not expect to find what |
discovered up there" he said, musingly,
'but when | once got started the whole
chain of circumstances began to unroll,
and was so easy to follow that l felt
as if L were playing with toy. could
have kicked myself for having to ap-
pear to take it all so seriously. l was
tempted to make a joke of it. When |
was half through, 1 wanted to throw
down my hand and say: Look here, |
hold SO and so, and I'll bet my reputa-
ton you haven't Il thing!"
I'm still in deep water" said Welsh.
81 saw the bullet hole, her tracks, the
fellows tracks, and that was all. The
nervousness of the ladies and the may
or's anxiety absorbed me-
81 did not go there to sympathize
with anyone" answered the detective.
81 was looking for facts. But follow me
now, and draw your own conclusions
as we go. Well, what was the first in
congruous thing that happened after
we arrived? Why, if you remember,
Mrs. Walters said she was sure she
heard the report before she felt the ball
pass through her sleeve. The d S ance
was about 100 yards, and if the offer
ence were noticeable at all it would
have been, scientifically, you know, ex-
actly the reverse"
"Brt surely protested Welsh, you'd
hardly expect an excited woman to be
correct about such minor detail as
that"
"Mrss Walters was not excited"
Hendricks answered. You must have
noticed that. If she had been, l should
not have made point there. However,
that was only little thing to start
from, but it was sufficient, as | found
out later The next thing did was to
examine the hole in her sleeve. What
did do that for? To find out if 1t were
made by a bullet. 1t was rather too
dark in the house to see well, but out
in the sunlight J. got another look. l
saw that it really was bullet hole. l
noticed few black specks on the cloth,
but, without being openly impertinent,
could not decide whether they had been
caused by poYder or SCOT. for the gown
was gray
"At that distance? Who ever heard
Of"
''Holo onl not SO fast! All, see you
are not following me; but you'll catch
on in a moment, so let's continue. She
next showed us her tracks. Did you
notice how deep and distinct they were?
1t was the. first thing that struck me.
Her mother is twice as heavy as she is,
and stood in the same sort OF soil. but
her feet made hardly any impressions.
Don't forget that l marked the spot
where Mrs Walters stood with my
umbrella; after that, you know, we
went over to the fence. There is a
minor point here in Mrs. Walters
being the first to see the footprints be-
yond the fence. but we will pass that,
and come to the footprints themselves
Did you notice nothing remarkable
about them, captain? No? Well. in
all nv experience never saw such COM
ical footprints. l was tempted to laugh
outright, but it would have spoiled
everything, so l smothered my amuse-
lnent."
81 saw nothing remarkable about
them" said Capt. Welsh, impatiently
They were made, captain, by mems
slippers, number ten, with very thin
soles. The heels had been well pressed
down into the soft clay, and so were the
middle parts of the soles, but the thin
edges all round had turned up SO easily
that only faint impression OF the bot
tom was left"
what did you deduce from that"
asked Welsh, still perplexed.
"That they were worn by feet moi