Arizona republican., 1898-02-01
From Clue to Climax
By Will N. Harben.
(Continued From Yesterday.)

(Continued From Yesterday)
 At that distance? Who ever heard s.f-''
 Hold on! not so fast! An, see you are 1,ut following me; but you'll catch on in d moment, so let's continue. She next showed us her tracks. Did you notice how deep and distinct they were? It 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 1 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, -s-ld come to the footprints themselves. Dld you notice nothing remarkable about them, captain? No? We'll, in al1 my experience never saw such com ital footprints. l was tempted to laugh outright, but it would have spoiled everything, SO 1 smothered my amuse- \, ,Alent~
 '-l saw nothing remarkable about tlienl,' said Capt Welsh, i1npatiently.
 They were made, captain, by men s slippers, a number ten, with very thin soIes- Fhc heels lad been well pressed auwu into the so:i clay, and su were the nisiile parts ot i..e sUics, but the thin edges ail round i.ld turned up SD easily that only a faint :lnpresslon of the bot 1Cui as left.
 w hat did you deduce from that? asked Welsh. st:lI perriexed.
 That they were worn by feet not half large enouEh for them, though they had doubtless bei.n drawn on over pair of boots | saw by the shape oi the track that the right one had come off once as the weGrer drew it from the nlud."
 -Ah, curious,' exclaimed the cap tain, but 1 don't yet see what you are driving at. though | think you suspect but how could you? Why"
 Hut that is not all,' the detective went on. smiling. You remember, per haps, that I asked If it had rained out there recently. Well, 1 was trying tc account, since there has not been any rain lately, for tl:at naturally dry spo1 Of clay being scft enough to have re eejved such distinct footprints. Ol close examination, 1 detected the fam semicircular mark of a vessel ill the edge of the grass, and, at exactly tht right distance from it, a spot where 2 little water had trickled down from tho spout on the clay"
 ''Ah, the watering potl" cried Welsh Wonderful! wonderful. Now 1 know what all that ri9marole to the garden CT meant"
 ''Yes. and I found a little water in it too. and learned that It had last nigh been left on the floor when Robert de clared hat he usually hung It up, and or the bottom of it the stupid rainmake had left a trace Of the very clay il which we found the footprints. But am too fast; foryou remembers as stoo' at the big tracks. l sighted along ove the fence at my umbrella on the lawn.
 T remember said Welsh. with laugh. And 1 own ] thought yol were making DiooHllnS dSS oI Soui self, and simply pretending to mak Investigations when you knew yo were wholly at sea. But :" hat were yo' doing it for?''
 When I got my bearings in tha way, l calculated that the handle O my umbrella was just about where he sleeve must have been when she wa bending over. As l sighted along a T. saw that if a bullet were fired fror where I stood and passed through he sleeve it must--as it would natural go in a straight line-strike a certai portion of the wall of the conservator beyond her. l found. on examining tn wall, that tt had not"
 80 you knew no shot had been fired ? ejaculated the captain.