The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-01-12
THE MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL.

IHE N
life, when he almost stumbled against
a curious object which he had not seen
before. 400 ..sss4 *. ,S
twas large iron cage; and the spot
where it stood on deck had been in deep
shadow when he and Sir Peter first come
on board the derelict.. Not only had it
been shrouded in darkness SO that. In a
3hasty look around, they had failed to 4
notice 1t, but the uneasy motion of the i
yacht had caused an ella borate chatse
Tongue to slide: against the cage while
rug of crimson wool which had covered
the chair had blown over the roof. 1t
still hung there, twisted around an orna
mental ball in the center, but a change in
the direction OF the breeze had sent. one
+ fringed end Tapping over another, and
half the cage was now exposed. .5
Dick knight grew suddenly from the
lonely little boy Of 5 into the equally lonely
young man of five-and- twenty, and
pulled the crimson rug down from the
roof Of the iron cage. Here, he felt with
a shock. of the nerves, was the strangest
thing of all. Was the; cage empty or.
was there some dark, shape crouching in
the far corner? knight asked himself
quickly. ,r 6:$S, sts5.ff -. -. E.. 4
No, there was nothing. The cage, was
empty. and the young man stood staring
down at it, silently and .expectantly, as if
lG WdlIcu lOT d VOICE 10 SpeSdh duu oA-I
plain the relation of this strange object
to the mystery Of the derelict r.
The door. of the cage was shut, but as
knight had bent to look in and make sure
it was empty, he saw that the bars of the
door were bent and strained out of shape,
while a large paddock, with which 1t had
once been fastened, was broken Either.
some person not in possession of the key
had ,wrenched the paddock open, and freed
the reature i'm prisoned inside, or the crea-
ture itself had succeeded in forcing it's
way out, and esca ping. s.
But what had been the inmate of the
cage? Something not human had evident
ly made its home behind those iron bars,
and lately, too, for a Slightly pungent, ami
| NAL odour still hung about the cage. The
beast could not have been as large as a:
lion or a tiger, for its iron house was not
more than tensf feet in length by five in
height, and scarcely half as long as broad.
Still, judging by the size of the bars, the
prisoner must have been respected; for it's
strength: and. judging. by the: elaborate
ornamentatiof at the top Of the cage "a
carved Wreat tn, of gold -tWined round a
large, polished ball of silver). it had been
highly valued by it's owners. B.. ~ i.
Knight told himself that possibly his
! imagina ton. was running away with his
| reason, but he could not throw; off the
impression that here, in this broke cage,
and in the store with the great
empty packing-caSe, lay the chief clues
| to the mystery of the yachts desertion.
And yet there, seemed to be no q actual
I""clues' at all. He tried again and again
standing there alone on the nIoonlit deck,
| in front Of the cage, to construct a work
| able theory with these two stage prop
critics as the basis But. invariably he
came up against blank wall at last -
| The packing-cas was large enough to
| hold the body of a very tall man; but there
must have been (if one accepted the the
/ DRY OF wholesale murder) many bodies to
| dispose Of and for these Inc huge box
! would have been useless as a place of con-
! cealment But perhaps the murderer him
| self might have come on board in it, with
the aid of: a confederate. So far, so good;
yet what was there to prove that there
| had been morders and a murderer? And
what connection could the broken cage
! possibly have with the packing7case,, its
| bed-ticking. and it's queer, grating?
Knight had invented and demolished
half dozen theories, and was laboriously
building up seventh, when, he heard Sir
Peters voice. $500 :,
''You there, Knjght?' asked. the mil
lionaire: "Ah, yes, + see Well, I trust
you've been more fortunate than have.
I've discovered, nothing: The only paDers
| on board this yacht are the Journals and
magazines we saw in the saloon There $
notn,ng private and there's no name on
anything What luck have you had?''
! IN Nothing much said Dick, Cautiously.
Tor 1T was not his policy now to- show lack
oI commence In the detective powers
winch were to buy, him a. chance of ha ~
piness. But what do you make of tina t.
sir! And he pointed to- the broken cage.
SIR Peter stared, as Dick had stared
- can't make anything Of it." he said.
after a reflective pause, except thai the
people on board this yacht had a queer
pet OF some sort, and that it got loose,
or was let loose into the. very middle OF
the mystery. But instead OF. clearing the
mystery up, this only thickens 1t, if one
is to suppose that the cage could have
had anything to do with it at ali Do YOU
a think it ilad?'t ~ =. S@i - - : =
ing it had . r.. y ~ 80 -
.'Well. aren't you going to telf me why,
Or am | to have nothing more from vol
gain?'' T {; r.=E. - - ~, s'3.ssa< 4
. Dick laughed and hesitated. Should he
let Sir Peter believe that he really die
think himself on the right track, or SHOULD
he frankly confess that he was still az
tar astray as ever? While he hesitatee
between the natural desire to begin prov.
ing the possession of genius to the mar
who had offered to buy it, and the i'm
pulse to be perfectly open at all costs. ar
,, extraordinary sensation took hold of him
', 1t was exactly as if that voice for which
, tAo AleAo OCeL -WdlIlllS IdQ spoken IN hi:
ear. 1t said little; no more than hal
: a dozen words;- but Knight felt as though
a key had been thrust into his hand, AMI
, by and by he should find that it fttet
: somewhere. So vivid was the effect 1Ipel
his mind and his somewhat overstrainet
a nerves that he started slightly. S'.'5'
4 What Is the ma tter?'' sharply INQUIRE,
n Sir Peter Markham, for his neryes.zWter
overstrained, too " S
Ell Nothing" said Knight, recovering him
: self. A passing thought wave perhaps
e Let me see, what was it you asked me
sir? Whether I was ready to go on civ
Q ing away theories or whether I meant t
Keep them to MYSELF? I'm inclined t
think that I should do better to kee
d the one, l have, and use it as a corner
It stone for that building I'm going to &pu
If up for YOU ~, - ~ 80: -
: Do you mean to tell me- then. tina
q you've already hewn as much as a corner
# stone out Of this confused mass of heter
=: ogeneous material?"r 4 Up @
# That is my impression at present 81,
d look here, Sir. Peter, I don't want any
= body else to be turned on to this siol
r unless confess myself a failure and Civ
t, it up. That's part of our bargain, ism
n The captain Of the Port of Glib wi
O have to be allowed a finger in the pie,
. suppose said Sir Peter
q *s"Oh, I'm not afraid of him But I don
). want to be interfered with by outsider
e You say you must get on to Tangie
Il Wen, will you use your influence with I'll