Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1899-05-05

had any notification Of 1t been received
from any other firm.
With these facts before him the off,
Ger went to work. But by the end OF
a month he had been able to unearth
nothing further. except that John Drift
had been seen talking to various bust
ness men in different parts OF the town
on the same morning as when he
squared accounts with the smelter peo-
pie
And now his daughter. Flora, became
imp tcnt at the seeming incompetence
1t u officer lie might have Eeen an
~eJFerl " the best in the West, and all
tndt; but in her eyes. he did not begin
10 know his business. So she made
up hel mind TO see what aid she could
lend in finding ont the mysterious mur-
deier She persuaded him not only TO
secure he services Of Barking Wolf
again. but also to send Off for a famous
Navajo trailer named Bloodhound.
And then sister and brother packed
horse with bedding and provisions,
gave the Indians as good mounts as
their own. aud started for the Mogoi-
Ions
The third sunset ont found them
making camp at the foot Of Deer Ridge.
by dawn the trai.ers had gorged them
selves to ruundness with white mans
grub, and were climbing the slope
aroot, closely followed by Flora and
her brother. Barking Wolf pointed
out the place where the body had been
found; and in his native tongue he ac-
curately described to Bloodhound the
position in which 1t lay. He pointed
out, also, the single trail made by the
cattleman. together with numerous
minor details too finely drawn for civil
| lied minds. And the search for signs
began.
Work at first was slow aud difficult
on account Of the ground having prev
| iously been trampled by the sheriff and
| his deputies. But as the bucks circled
wider and wider, they quckeucd their
steps into a shutting trot, and, finally.
| into a run Bloodhound led the way.
| working faster and faster until they
| had gone some distance beyond the
limit of Barking Wolrs former search
| All at once Flora saw the bucks stop
suddenly about 200 yards away on the
| north slope Of the ridge. bloodhound
stopped and picked up something from
| a clump of low brush. He and Bark
ing Wolf stood looking at it curlously.
Putting whip TO their horses, Flora
and Dick dashed eagerly forward.
Me find somethng!" exclaimed
Bloodhound, holding out red object
as they galloped up. Don't know
what him is; never saw before"
Flora took it from the buck with
trembling hand. 1t was a red silk cap
Of very peculiar style. made without a
visor and lined with white satin, and
on the inside band a blur OF gilt let
ters spelled Denver" A stain just
above was all that remained of what
had probably been the firms name
Flora and Dick locked at each other
In astonishment. A red silk cap ont
in those wilds! What could it mean
Was it a clew? II not, what was il
doing there?
oh" said Flora, III we could only
make out the name of the firm"
But in vain they held the cap up tC
the sun and looked at the blur from
different positions, and brought theil
mining glasses to bear The perspira-
tion from the wcarer's head had hope.
lessly erased everything except the one
word, Denver The strangest fact d
all, however, was that the Indian.
could even now, find no vestige OF {
track, either Of horse or man, though
they continued their search for two
whole days, and examined every foo
of ground, every rock within a radiu!
Of quarter Of mile.
Flora would have gladly remained al
long as the provisions held out, bu
the bucks positively refused to worl
another day They declared the ridp,
to be haunted. That why" explained
Bloodhound, we no find trail. Deaf
mems ghosts kill John Drift and brinl
him here for hide him. When ghos
walk it make no track" So the part
returned to the Drift mining canp
A letter from the officer in Denve
awaited them. lie had discovered moth
ing new; believed the case to be hope
less. Dick believed so himself Be
sides, his duties as foreman were press
ing. He could do nothing more a
present.
But Flora, far from being discouras
ed, was more determined than ever
; Only one idea filed her mind-to fin
the owner of that red silk cap-and 4
Denver she hied. taking care that n
one except her brother should kro,
what was in the wind. Even the ex
pert working on the case must not b
aware OF her presence in the city, 3
she engaged lodgings at prlvrt
hose and took the precaution neve
10 go out unless heavily veiled.
And now, taking the red silk ca
in her handbag she began with tn
principal streets and went from stor
to store, always asking about the sam
questions Of the proprietor Did yo
sell this cap? Have you ever seen
before ?"-but always receiving no 10
an answer, which was variously embeI
lished with slow shakes of the head q
that look of self-confidence Away
worn by the truthful.
For hours Flora fitted in and ou
until all the leading merchants ha
been visited. The milliners and dress
makers came next and were given
/, chance to say no with many a wuI
dering look. or TO come back at tn
visitor with questions intended to ira
her into telling the secret OF the re
silk cap The poor girl was growin