The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1897-05-26

| house, when, without a second S warn
| ing, 1 received a severe blow on the
head 1 remember nothing more
"Were you quite sober?' I asked.
| Yes, sir; I had only had one pint of
beer
What seems strange TO me- I said,
| lis the fact of your footprints right
across the garden
MY footprints, sir? What do you
mean?'
! told him that he had been traced over
| the garden and he looked rather per-
| picked; then he looked down at his
| boots, and blurted out
Sir, some one has taken my boots off
| and put them on differently
"How?" I said
Il tied them in a bow-now they are in
a hurried knot. See!' and he held them
up for my inspection.
He was quite right; they were tied in
a knot, as he said.
Are you sure you tied them different
ly?" inquired.
POSITIVELY. I could swear it in a law
court
1 put that down in my notebook; it was
one point in his favor. Another thing
have put the stolen property if he had
fallen suddenly after partaking of the
drugged wine? The spoil ought to have
been in that room. 1t was not for I ex-
amined it.
All this time the man had been silently
engaged in thinking, now he said,-
Look here. sir. In front of the house
the grass is rather long. 1 was walking
on it at the time, and when 1 received
the blow I was right in front of the gate.
You examine that grass and see if there
are any signs of a fall on the grass or if
anyone has been dragged along it, for 1
feel sure that 1 was carried from that
spot into the house,
Il will go and examine it, 1 said,
much struck by his intelligence; land
now good-by for the present, and don't
get down-hearted.
"Good-by sir; God bless your he
cried and then I left him and wendell
my way toward the house.
On the way 1 met the inspector, who
inquired if 1 had learned anything.
Yes" l replied. "A good DEAL I
think l can almost prove the arrested
He looked rather disappointed, but did
not ask for any particulars. I believe he
thought I was mad. I reached the front
of the house, and carefully searched the
grass. Soon l found a place where it
looked disarranged, and, getting out my
lens L carefully examined it. Yes, there
was the mark Of the fallen man; little
farther back was the mark of another
man, who had evidently stood there some
time. But search as / would there were
no signs of any one being dragged along.
But, stay, l suddenly alighted on a deep
footprint, then another, and another
right up to the gate, then across the gar
| den, till they ended close by the forced
window. Suddenly the idea struck me:
| the footsteps seemed very deep. I made
| one or two beside them; mine were not
! nearly so deep. What did this point to
| The maker Of them had been heavily la
| den. 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 carrier him across the garden
and thrown him through the window un-
| conscious, pouring a glass of the drug
| ged wine down his throat; then he had
| robbed the dead man and departed
| First-How did he know the wine was
| drugged? -
| Second-How was it there were no
signs of his departure?
| Third-How could he carry the valua-
bles away, for I had been informed they
| Tn r bod