Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1902-10-25
CHAPTER ~.
THE KILLING OF THE HORSES.

cess NO one remembered to have seen
him Many people came to Windsor
and Slough during the season. II was
hardly possible that an ordinary man.
for such he would have appeared to
the casual observer, would have been
noticed. Be that as II may, no trace of
him was discovered. and as he did not
come forward OF hts own free will
soon abandoned all hope OF hearing Of
him.
What also added 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 jewelry and some f10 or ELS In
gold, stood on 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 II had no meaning, and they COO
seQuently dismissed 70 with scant cere-
mOny. 1t had been discovered that the
marks had been produced by the appII-
cation Of a powerful acid, but they had
no doubt that IL the brand meant any
thing at all it had simply been done TO
mystify the Investigators
And so In time the sensation lost fits
charm, and people began TO forget
The police were stu supposed to have
the matter in hand. and recollect well
that they advanced Some ingenious but
utterly erroneous theories concerning
the crime, and there their utility ended
My uncle and 1 were stiIl 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.
IL the police shared this conviction,
they made little Of It Murderers never
took the trouble TO mark their dead I'M
less 1t was specially designed to throw
the authorities of the scent My IA
Tiers waCIaHfg letter could not possibly
reiHre TO the crime. His reference to
enemies could only mean enemies In
business, such as any man was likely
to have. IL 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 them7 AS for the story
OF the gatepost and the sign-well,
was only boy, and Il 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.
I now went TO live with my uncle,
and many and many a 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
10 our original starting place. the man
with the strange eyes.
Il believe" said my uncle, IF we
could only lay our hands on him we
should soon solve the mystery. Your
father has led a strange life, Davie,
and l should not be surprised to hear
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 a Chinese, and from
what l have read OF those easterns
and their societies 1 know them to be
cruel and callous to a degree. There
fore, my lad, we must be very careful,
for II it is as believe we have a terri
bic enemy to grapple with"
And so for weeks at a time he never
let me out OF his sight / slept I'm a
room next to his, In the partition Of
which he had had a door constructed.
BE saw himself to the locking of the
house, going the rounds every night
after dark with a 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
an appearance. And yet, though he
said nothing. knew that he also fear
ed the coming, and with that end In
view he took me out In the fields every
day and gave me pistol practice until
became quite an adept. he was a cap
ftal shot himself. and he taught me to
use the rifle as well as the gun 'Tt
may be useful one day" he used to
say, and knew what was passing IN
his mind.
And so In this way the next six
months passed, and the winter had
come. with its short days and It's long,
cold nights. By this time the great
Windsor mystery" as 1t had been call
ed. had become thing OF the past and
my youth enabled me Co regard 1t with
eQuanimity. No further word had
come from my father. Had he been
living in any civilized city or town he
could hardly have failed to read of his
w1fe's murder. But nothing came
from him, and sometimes we suspected
that the same power that had struck
down my mother had wrought its
vengeance on him Be that as 1t may,
he was to all intents and purposes
dead. My uncle now regarded me as
his child. and had he been my father !
could not have loved him more.
The grief through which he had late
" passed had steadied him considera.
bly, The face was still kind, though
robbed Of much OF It's ruddlness, but
the reckless, devil may care expression
had entirely vanished. The man had
responsibilities now II he had never
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