Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-04-12
[CoNTINuED.]
CHAPTER ".
THE KILLING OF TIE HORSES.

THE KILLING OF THE HORSES.
Many theories were set afoat con
corning this dreadful crime. and the
law searched high and low for the man
with the strange eyes, but without sue
cess No one remembered to have seen
him. Many people came to Windsor
and Slough during the season. 1t was
hardly possible that an ordinary man.
for such he would have appeared to
the caSna! observer. would have been
noticed Re that as it may, no trace of
him was discovered. and as he did not
come forward of his own free will
soon abandoned all hope of hearing Of
him.
What also added a deeper mystery to
the crime was the fact that nothing
had been stolen from the house. though
my mothers cash box. which contain
ed her jevelry and some E1O or Els in
gold, stood on a chair by the dressing
table, absolutely beneath the eyes Of
the assassins. The egg shaped mark on
the forehead was thing to which the
police attached no importance. To
them it had ~ meaning. and they con-
seuuently dismissed it with scant cere-
mony. 1t E,I been discovered that the
marks had been produced by the appli-
cation Of powerful acid. but they had
no doubt that If the brand meant any
thing at all it had simply been done to
mystfy the Investigators.
And SO iii time the sensation lost it's
charm, and people began to forget.
The police were still supposed to have
the matter in hand, and recollect we'll
that they advanced some ingenious but
utterly erroneous theories concerning
the crime, and there their utility ended.
My uncle and l were still convinced
that the man with the strange eyes
was at the bottom Of the mystery and
that he could likewise explain the
meaning of the sign, for that the two
were associated implicitly believed.
If the police shared this conviction,
they made little Of it. Murderers never
took the trouble to mark their dead un-
less it was specially designed to throw
the authorities off the scent. My ia.
theirs warning letter could not possibly
relate to the crime. His reference to
enemies could only mean enemies in
business, such as any man was likely
to have. If there had been a man or
any particular number of men to dread
would he not have said who they were
and to what extent their hatred was
likely to carry them? AS for the story
Of the gatepost and the sign-well.
was only boy, and it is so easy for a
boy to imagine things. The mere fact
of the disappearance of the sign show
ed how little my evidence was to be
trusted.
l now went to live with my uncle.
and many and many time we discuss
ed the pros and cons of the case, trying
to build up some satisfactory clew to
work upon. But we always came back
to our original starting place, the man
with the strange eyes.
II believe" said my uncle, ''if we
could only lay our hands on him we
should soon solve the mystery. Your
father has leo strange life, Davie,
and l should not be surprised to bear
that he had mixed himself up with the
secret societies of the far east. That
man with the strange eyes. whose ma
tionality neither you nor your poor
mother could guess. must have been
either Jap or Chinese. and from
what have read of those easterns
and their societies know them to be
cruel and callous to degree. There
fore. my lad, we must be very careful,
for it it is as believe we have terri
BILE enemy to grapple with"
And so for weeks at a time he never
let me out of his sight. slept in a
room next to his, in the partition Of
which he had had door constructed.
He saw himself to- the locking of the
house, going the rounds every night
after dark with revolver in his hand
/ know he inwardly prayed for a meet.
ing with the man with the strange
eyes, but that gentleman never put in
IN appearance. And yet, though he
said nothing, knew that he also fear
ed the coming. and with that end in
view ho took me out in the fields every
day and gave me pistol practice until
became quite an adept. He was cap
ftal shot himself. and he taught me to
use the rifle rs well as the gun. .sIt
may be useful one day." he used to
say. and I knew what was passing In
Als mind. =.
And 10 in this way the next six
months passed, and the; winter had
come, with its short days and it's long,
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