Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-03-08

Brett, carried swiftly along the
level road. kept his eyes fixed on
Beechcroft and its contiguous hamlet
until they vanished in the middle dis
lance.
This is the most curious inquiry
I was ever engaged in" he com.
muned winter. Of course, will fas-
ten on to Capela like horse leech
when he knows the facts. Yet Ca
pella Ia neither a coward nor an ordi-
nary villain. For some ridiculous
reason. ! have a sneaking sympathy
with him. Had he stormed and blus-
tered when pitched into him to-day
I would have thought less OF him.
And his wife, r. What mysterious
workings Of Fate brought those two
together and then disunited them?
They become fascinated one with the
other whilst the brothers corpse Ia
still FACILITATING beneath that terrible
stroke. They get married. with not
unreasonable haste, but no sooner do
they reach Beechcroft, a house OF
evil import If ever bricks and mortar
had such character. than they are
driven asunder by some malign in
fuence.
And now, after eighteen months,
L am asked to take up the tangled
clues, II such may be said to exist
It Is difficult. perhaps, an Impossible
undertaking Yet, II have done so
much in a day, what may not happen
in a fortnight"
Long afterwards. recalling that so.
liloquy. he wondered whether or not.
were he suddenly endowed with the
gift of prophecy. he would. neverthe-
less. have pursued his quest; He new
err could tell
Once securely entrenched in a pri-
vate sitting room of the Stowmarket
Hotel, the three men began TO dis
cuss crime and tobacco.
Mr. Winter commenced hy being
confidential and professional
: Now. Mr.. Hume" he said, as
MISUNDERSTANDING have been cleared,
to some extent, by Mr.. Brett's re-
marks. will, with your permission,
ask you few questions.
Fire away"
In the first place, your counsel
tried TO prove-did prove. in fact
that YOU walked straight from the
ball room to the Hail. sat down In
the library, and did not move from
your chair until FERGUSON, the but
Ter, told YOU how he had found Sir
Alan's body on the lawn"
Exactly"
So if a man comes forward now
and swears that he watched You for
nearly ten minutes standing in the
shadow of the yews on the left Of
he house, he will not be telling the
truth"
THAT is putting It lildly."
Yet there Is such a witness In ex-
ietence, and 7 am certain he is not a
liar in this matter"
What"
Brett and Hume calculated the
word simultaneously: the one sur
prised, because he knew how careful
Winter was in matters OF fact. the
other indignant at the seeming dis
belief in his statement.
Please, gentlemen" appealed the
detective. secretly gratifled by the
sensation he caused. wait until
have finished. If did not fully ac-
cept Mr.. Brett's views on this re-
markable case. I would not he sit
ting here this minute. Ny conscience
would not permit it
BE virtuous, Winter, but not too
virtuous," broke in Brett drily.
There you go again. sir, question
ing my motives. But I am OF for
giving disposition. Now. there can
not be the slightest doubt that
poacher named John Wise better
known as RABBIT Jack who resides
In this town, chose that New Years
Eve as an excellent time TO net the
meadows behind the Hall. He had
heard about Mrs. Eastham's dance,
estate keepers would have more lik-
ing for fun with the coachmen and
maids than for game keeping. He
entered the park soon after mid
night. and saw n gentleman walk up
the avenue towards the house. He
waited few minutes, and Crept
quietly along the side of the hedge
in the park, of course. Being winter
time. the trees and bushes were bare.
and he was startled TO see the same
gentleman, with his coat buttoned
up. standing in the shade OF the yews
close to the Hall. Rabbit Jack nat
urally thought he had been spotted.
He gripped his lurcher's collar and
stood still for nearly ten minutes.
Then It occurred TO him that he was
mistaken. He had not been seen, so
he stole Off towards the plantation
and started operations. He is a FIRST
rate poacher. and always works
alone About three O'Clock he was
alarmed by policeman's lantern
the search OF the grounds after the
murder, you see and made off He
entered Stowmarket on the far side
Of the town. and ran into police
mans arms They fought for TWEEN
ty minutes. The p. c. won. and 'Rsb-
bit Jack got six months hard labor
for being in unlawful possession of
game and assanlting the police. Con-
sequently, he never heard syllable
about the 'Stowmarket Mystery as
this affair was called by the Press,
until long after Mr.. Humes second
trial and acquittal Yet the first thing
Rabbit Jack did after his release
was to go straight to the police and