The daily morning Alaskan., 1902-05-08
THE MARKS
 4 OF CRIME
torIglnall

hls hands When be had finished. he took out his handkerchief to wipe them. but. discovering that it, too, was bloody. threw 1t on the ground. scraped earth over it cast a glance over his shoulder. shuddered and hurried away.
 What was that purring behind himi He turned and in the road saw white kltton. It stood stlll. but when no went on it hoped along behind him. He could not bear that even this hv' Ing thing should follow him and, turr' ing again. tried to frighten it away. It sat down on It's hind legs and looked up at hlm stupldly. Again he went on and. again hearing the purring, knew that the kitten was close behind him' Selzlng stone. he threw it; but though his missile struck within hairs breadth of the kitten, it did not move. Sitting quietly on It's hind legs and lifting one paw. it began to lick it'
 Without trying to frighten it again the man hurried on. hoping by walking fast to leave the thing behind. Surely such tiny legs could not travel as fast as his! His strides were long ones ond followed one another in such
 oulek succession that hls gait was almost a run When he was quite
 exhausted and bis heart was beating
 SO fast that be feared it would burst be turned once more. expecting to have lost the kitten. He was disappointed
 It was jumping along. each Jump the length Of one of his strides.
 Then he determined. since De could uot,distnnce lt. be would Kill it Draw Ing a\reyolver. be took deliberate am and fired. The kitten sprang aside, avoNilng the bullet. and sat looking at him meekly out of It's little soft eyes, apparpntly unconscious that be had fried to injure it. He fired again. this rime wonndlng hisNtormentor in the toe n sIlg4nt scratch. but sufficient to draw blood. the sight of which drove him on again witlNa curse. In the be recoV- cred himself and. turning. frC;l again. wouniing the kitten seriously. Shis time. when be went on. lt limped aftes him with difficulty. Nevertheless it kept pace with him. and. though he emptied hls revolver. he failed Co kill it
 Then he determined to catch it He chased it. pauslng now and again to coax it. but it was stlll fleet enough to distance him and wary enough to elude him. He sat down on rock and called. "Klt. kit. kitv whereupon the kitten. as if it bore no malice for its
 woundlng. resumed It's favorlte posi- lion on It's launches and began licking its bloody spots standing out crimson fgfinst lis white coat He got up and walked slowly toward it, holding out hs, hand as lf to stroke it. The kitten
 waited until be came within reach,
 then drew back and before be could
 get bis hrnd on lt was a dozen yards .nway. Meanwhile he was getting back ko his starting point
 Then be pOtieed something that filled
 Irn with still greater terror-a bloody
 Nsck left by the kitten on the road. i looked farther on and discovered n uhcr. These tracks would oetray i'm , .ue must catch the lit,'e beast or Q ScOyered.
 m, 'ikitteD ran Into the trunk 0. . olloN ,Jtree that stood beside the road. nd h, x was sure be had corncred it. 'uttlnr F.ln his hand. he was groplng pr it. Ef,en. hearing a purring above. e look cd. and there 1t was emerging rom a hole near the lower branches. n dcsp; tr be turned away and started D the nd. bet Ro sooner had he left be tree tlan theNkitteD ran down the -unk an. ! came after him. Making a ash for gf, with almost superhuman lhei chased le till he came to be spot khere awhile before he had merged froI the wood. He stopped nd wrnrg is hands. Then his ormentor went and sat on ! be hohp ot earth he had scraped over l Is bloody handkerchief. Therc, W .rc sounds in the woods. the ! ounds oe coming men. The fugitive | card and 4knew his doom.
 'SIshls aI the nearest point from the l louse.' s dd e voice. "He must have l truck lths road right here"
 Look S)nt for marks of blood" said l .nother,S "Murderers never succeed in l ,ettlng erki of all the traces. Like l .noughi youI find one on Q leaf or a l wig. 6t t if it's no bigger than a pin lead ths microscope will tell if it's hu- man." The nd urderer stood motionless. Had | le given up to the inevitable or did be | ear tn Acknowledge by flight that be | ,ad eormitted the crimeI When he l ,eard to e,words' of the last speaker, be | 'est n fray of relief that the bloody l raeksVof the kitten were not human
 Sudd,uly he gave a moan. The beast l stood on it's feet. its back arched, its l tall pointed to the sky, and with It's | claws was scratching away the dirt
 A .inan emerged from the road leap | cd the creek and stood face to face 1 with the fugitive.
 'sTake me" said the murderer. Tt Is | useless to try to conceal the marks Of | my crime. There they are. Go and get l them"
 "whereY'\
 "Under that cat"