Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1903-11-26

novel as yet, even in his reportorial
life, to leave his nerves entirely
steady.
At length they came to the object
of their search-the thing that had
once been John T. Wright, "the Cot
ton King" The dead man lay on his
back, his face turned up to the sky
and his staring eyes fixed upon the
black branches of tree overhead.
There was frozen blood in his hair,
and his head rested in n dark red
pool that stained the snow. The Off
Ger made as minute IN examination as
possible without touching the body of
the dead man. Several blows had
been dealt upon the head with blud-
geon. There was no evidence any
where of the use of q pistol, though
it was possible that an examination
Of the body by the coroner might re-
veal pistol wounds that could not now
be seen on account of the position of
the corpse. The face Of the dead
man had upon IL look Of CHASTITY
surprise, which was presumptive evil
dence that the attack had come with
out any warning whatever.
Everything would indicate" said
the officer, "that the attack had come
from behind. and that Wright fell for
ward, and that the murderer beat
him about the head until he killed
him. His gun, you see, is at some
distance beyond his head; his hat
fell in the same direction"
at is also evident, / should say"
declared Warde, that some one be-
sides the old mans son has touched
the body. Judging from the disturb
ances of the snow. which seems to be
recent, the body has been turned COM
pletely over. ! wonder il the foot
prints can throw any light upon the
subject?"
Young Wright's footprints told
clear story. He had evidently come
straight along the path, brushed the
snow away from the corpse, discov-
cred who it was, and then hurried on
to the city. 1t was certain that he
had quickened his steps after max
ing the discovery, for the tracks were
wider apart than they had been be-
fore. and there could be no doubt that
he had not loitered about the corpse,
and that he had not tempered with it,
as very few of his tracks could be
seen there. These facts told that
much in his favor.
The unknown person, however,
seemed to take deep interest in
the corpse. His tracks made almost
q circle around it, and as his foot
had slipped. here and there in the
snow it was evident that he had
tagged at the body and turned 1t
over. There was also reason to be-
lieve that he had examined the peck
cts o. the clothing. as the coat was
thrown open in such a way as to
suggest that the inside pocket had
been rifled, or at least searched. This,
however, could be dismissed as q mere
surmise, for the contents of the peck
cts must have been extracted at the
time of the murder.
ST am afraid this clew will not
amount to much," said the chief.
"Why?"
"For the reason that I can imagine
a very clear explanation of the last
comer's action. He stumbled by acct
dent upon this dead body, with it's
face down. Naturally he would turn
it over the better to see who it was.
Failing to recognize the dead man. he
would probably search the pockets
to see if there were any papers that
would lead to his identification"
"If that be the case" said Warde,
"and this is an honest man, would
not his first impulse be to notify the
police?"
"Yes, or else some of the neigh
bors."
"If he has notified any of the
neighbors it is reasonable TO suppose
that their curiosity would have
brought them hither by this time.
People, as you know, will walk miles
to see n dead body, specially where
the death involves some horror, but
there is as yet no evidence that any
curiosity exists in this neighborhood.
1t is also certain that the stranger is
in no hurry to notify the police, for
he has continued on his way instead
of returning to town. If this man
is square he will some time to-day
reveal his identity by notifying the
authorities"
But he may not be square. He may
be man with bad reputation, one
who knows that his discovery of such
q crime would direct suspicion on
himself. Or he may have noticed that
the crime had already been found out
by some one, Wright's tracks being
conclusive evidence of that"