The Bowbells tribune., 1900-03-02

very Dfleny 1 explained to Brad
shaw the reason Of my presence there
with Dirk, and of the tragic scene he
had arrived in time to witness. With
equal brevity he Informed me that,
having long shadowed Spratt, with no
particular result he had that evening
followed the man, who was himself
upon Blogg's track.
"When Blogg turned into the path
way leading to this house," he went
on. "Spratt seemed to hesitate about
following him. I'd made up my mind
that If he entered the house 1 would,
too, and gave the constable on duty
the o. .ce to follow me, seeing that
Blogg is an awkward customer to
tackle. Well. after bit, Spratt
passed through the gate, and me after
him, to the hall door. There just
quietly grabbed his arm, and. getting
no reply to our knocks. the constable
just sent the door in with his shoul-
der. l kept hold of my man. and l
mean to handcuff him before we leave
him. l don't want you to gi.e away
your case, sir for it's yours right
enough now, I suppose). but dareSay
I'm not far out in supposing that
Spratt had a hand in the Greek Street
huSiness?''
"Yes," I assented. chats certain;
hut to what extent I don't know my
self yet. eXcent that he stood in with
Rlogg to profit by the crime. 1t will
come out clearly enough. think. that
it was Rlogg who actually strangled
Luke Arnewood' (0r. rather. the man
that Philip bake bribed him to COM
1,7n In, for fvi
and I overheard Rlogg say as much,
before he was knocked on the head"
"Im afraid Inspector Trail won't
turned out" reioined Bradshaw,
gloomily. "But it amt my fault. I've
obeyed orders and done my best, as l
hone you'll bear out. sir'
'I'll say all can for YOU" assured
him. "You arrived at a most Oppor-
tune moment. and so forth. You'll get
your full share of the credit. never
fear. and Trail is very we'll able to
take his own part
Pilly was not the boy to bungle over
an errand. and when he returned. a
suh-inspector. surgeon. and four con-
stables provided with stretcher. came
with him. The surgeon looked very
tura of Rlogg's injuries.
"It is an even chance whether the
man ever speaks again." was the ver-
dict can operation must be per-
formed without delay. as I am salts
fed that a portion of the fractured
bone is pressing upon the brain. The
workhouse infirmary is nearest. He
must be carried with the utmost care.
inCnnNfnr
Raise him very gently. please"
The four constables went with the in
jured man. and we formed a process
sion to the police station. But Blake.
with a senseless obstinancy, rare in an
educated man. absolutely refused to
walk: and second stretcher would
have been necessary had not Dirk,
with scant ceremony. thrown him
across one of his herculean shoulders.
to the intense delight of Billy. 1t was
full half-mile to the station. but
Dirk made no more Of his burden than
a nurse-girl does of a baby. Forum
ately, Rodney avenue Is an out-of-the-
way road. but little used. and we
reached Gus destination without at
tracing much public attention.
At the police station the proceed
and easily enough settled. The in
spector on duty deemed it best to take
Philip Blake into custody upon the
James Blogg, in the sight of two wit
nesses, Dirk and myself. In reply to
the usual question, Blake maintained
dogged silence, but offered fierce re-
sistance to being contiden in a cell.
Of Of
to have suddenly transformed him
world into a sullen desperadO.
Spratt, Billy's especial aversion,
proved to be what the boy contemptu-
ously described as "sniveller.'
Bradshaw was rather hard-set to
frame a specific charge against him,
and had he faced the situation boldly
he might. perforce, been allowed to
depart. But he was not content to
leave we'll enough alone, and proceed
ed to justify himself at Blogg's eX-
bense.
Keep all that for the magistrate"
remarked the inspector. drily. Il shall
detain you as a suspected person and
an associate, by your own admission,
with the man Blcgg. ,Whereupon Mr..
Spratt was removed to cell, weeping
loudly
As for Blogg, he would. in the or
binary routine, be watched night and
day by Il constable in the infrmary.
The money was. of course, impounded
by the inspector.
I 1t was. perhaps. lucky for Dirk and
myself that Bradshaw was with us,
and was known to the Inspector. who
readily accepted his assurance as to
my profession and connection with
the case. 1t almost certainly saved us
the annoyance of a detention, even if
a brief one, pending inquiries.
The charges having eben duly en-
tered, but not till then, o. .cial routine
demanded that notice of the arrest
should be sent to headquarters.
"And now,'' remarked the inspector,
with grim smole, you'll find we
shan't be long!"
We certainly were not kept long in
suspense. Within five minutes of the
dispatch of the message, back came a
lengthy reply. This we were not priv
ileged to see in it's entirety, but we
were favored with such portions as
,,,o,,o ,,o rt io,,1 a r1v cOncorno6 Oyroo1voS