Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1903-04-21

brush thickened and the ground be-
came more irregular the trail strag-
gled about considerably. Now it en-
tered snowdrifts foot or two deep,
then it ran over the tops of small
hillocks and now it slsirted piles of
tangled growth. YYarde did not find
the task an easy one, but this rather
stimulated his purpose and he plod-
ded stubbornly on.
Fifteen minutes more of tramp
ing and he was wondering whittier
this apparently aimless route of the
unknown would lead him, when he
found himself in the path which made
a direct cut thIough the woods. Here
the strangers footprints merged
with those made by another person,
and took the direction of the city.
1t required but moment to see
that young Wright had made the
tracks leading from the city.
What strange fatality was this
which caused these two men to con-
tinually cross each others trail?
Could there be any collision between.
them and could they have met where
their footprints crossed? These
were idle questions to ask and the
newspaper man did not undertake to
answer them, but followed the trail
back to the city. On he went until
he came to the edge of the Bayou
Woods, and looking to his left he be-
held the Devils Den. What was his
surprise now to find the trail sud-
denly diverted toward that locality.
After all, the unknown might have
been one of the habitues of the
place. When Warde reached the Den
there We're so many footprints
around it that he found it difficult to
keep up with the arctics and at last
he was completely batfled.
There was no use trying to follow
the trail any further, for everything
was in hopeless confusion; so, kcenly
disappointed, Warde started for the
roundabout path which would take
him back TO the scene OF the murder.
He now noticed that the original
trail over which he and the chief of
police had gone had been obliterated
by number of footprints, evidently
made by the coroner and his jury.
As he was casually looking at these
he suddenly uttered an exclamation
of the utmost establishment; for
there on the snow he again detected
the imprint of the mysterious arctics,
and he soon satisfied himself that the
unknown had Joined the coroners
jury and the few stragglers who had
gone with them to view the body of
the murdered man. There could be
no doubt of this, for he found traces
of the arctics frequently, some little
distance from the regular path, as if
the unknown had been pushed out
there by the jostling crowd. A wild
excitement took possession of Warde,
and lie fairly ran toward the spot
where Wright had been killed, all
eagerness to look at the man who
wore the arctics, and decide whether
there was any probability that he had
any connection with the crime. Great
was his disappointment to find that
the body had been removed and that
the inquest had been adjourned, for
not q human being was in sight, On
his way back he detected more evil
dences of the unknown in the shape
OF footprints pointing toward the
city.
AS fast as he could go he sought
the headquarters, where he found
his friend, the chief of police.
What did the coroner's jury do?'
he asked.
'rhey simply examined the body
and took in the bearings, as it We're
ordered the corpse to be taken to
the home Of the deceased, and nd