Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-05-20

unknown person was not out hunt ing, because there was no hunter in the crowd that went to see the body. Now on a bitterly cold day no one would be apt to go rambling around in the Bayou Woods for pleasure: so this man must have had some clear ly defined object in view. Coming upon the corpse, he either realizes goes back toward town by another route. If an innocent man should stumble on a corpse in the woods he would either go on his way or turn back immediately by the route he came and notify the authorities. But our unknown did neither. Take the hypothesis that he shot your father and left him for dead. The next day, drawn by some horrible fascination that frequently assails murderers, he revisits the scene of his crime, perhaps to assure himself that his victim is really dead. Possi- bly it was important that he should know this beyond the shadow of 8 doubt. Having satisfied himself and not wishing to be seen on that path way, he crosses to the short cut and returns to the Devils Den. There he falls in with the crowd going to the scene of the murder, and to throw suspicion completely off the track, he goes back with them to witness the proceedings"
 Miriam's interest deepened visibly as Warde developed his hypothetical case.
 ''But," she said breathlessly, ''my fathers watch, knife and cuff but tons traced to Herbert-how can that be explained?"
 "I can offer no solution as yet, but there is one thing in connection with that which requires explanation. The same afternoon that your brother pawned your fathers watch he also pawned another watch at another shop. It could not have been his own, for in his destitute circumstances he would have pawned or sold that long ago. Whose watch, then, was it, and what part does it play in the trag- edy2 When that question is an- swered perhaps we shall have the key to unlock the mystery"
 Miriam Wright was easily imbued with some of Warde's own belief in his theories, imperfect as they were. They went over the whole ground carefully together, and when at last he arose to take his departure she begged him earnestly to continue his task and help her brother. She had an idea that the police were in league against him, and Warde seemed to be the only friend they had.
 When Irving Warde returned to the city he began to realize that he had shouldered big job. Here was case so plain as to stagger almost any one. The hand of fate seemed to be in it. By having in his possession those pawn tickets calling for the murdered mans articles, Wright's doom had apparently been sealed. How could they have come into the young mans hands unless he had taken them from his father? The old man had been murdered and robbed, and the articles of which he had been robbed and for which he had apparently been murdered had been traced to Herbert Wright.
 As an offset to this he had as pegs on which to hang theory:
 1. The arctics.
 2. The unidentified watch.
 If he could find out who wore the arctics, it would enable him to deter mine what part the wearer played in the tragedy, if any; but he had little hope that he would be able to make any progress in this line of inquiry.
 And the watch? Even suppose an owner were found for it, he might be some one who had been robbed, and another crime would be laid up to Wright's account without helping his case at all.
 That afternoon Warde called at the jail and sought an interview with Wright. The latter was evidently very much bewildered over the drift of affairs, and he showed it in his face as we'll as his speech. Warde assured him that he believed in his innocence and that he would try to establish the fact; but Wright de- clined to say anything regarding the rease that could help the reporter in hYM researches.
 "SN am entirely innocent of this crirne My father was killed with nistoI> A2d have not had such a weanon iA my hand for months.