The Washington times., 1906-02-11

any carved. 1t had been fashioned for
eat tern ceremony. and not for battle
That was plain enough
Grey returned to the window and
examined it with the closest attention
Presently he slipped cut a. magnffyins
glass. staring eagerly at a spot on the
longer portion OF the shaft.
Do / understand You. sereeant
Hales, tina. you found Boyne endeay-
oring to puI I.out the spearg~
Yes, sir
who else touched it.'
No one that know ofssave the
doctor"
And yourself?"
''Of course. sir"
let me see your hands"
The sergeant thrust them out with
smile. They had plainly not been
washed that afternoon.
Thank you. Have yow discovered
the owner OF this spear2''
mo. sir; l wish / could
4Have you tried Cullen or Miss Sher-
rick?"
mo. sir. said the sergeant. looking
blankly at the INSPECTOR.
The little man walked 10 the fireplace
and touched the electric bell. In a
few moments the door opened and a
fat, red-faced man walked in. There
is no mistaking the attitude and cos
tune % British butler.
Colonel Bulstrode was p collector
of jade?" said the inspector. in his most
Innocent manner
Yes. sir"
Il noticed the specimens in the hall.
We'll. Cullen. have you ever seen this
spear among his trophies ?"
The man glanced at II, ami then
shrank back with shiver.
ITS the thing that killed him" he
siammered.
Exactly But you do not answer
my question.
There may have been one like II.
but ! couldn't swear to il. sir The
colonel would never have his collection
touched. He or Miss SherTick busted
'em. and arranged 'em themselves. He
was always buying some new things "
Would Miss Sherrick know"
Very likely. sir"
THANK you. That is an
As the butler closed the door, the
sergeant stepped up TO the inspector
and saluted.
Il should have noticed those collec-
tons" he said Il have made fool
OF myself sir
"a man who can make such an ad-
mission is never a fool, Sergeant HaIes.
And now kindly take me upstairs TO
the col0ners room. You can wait here.
Mr.. Phillips"
1t was close upon the haif-hour be
fore they came back TO me. and 1 had
leisure enough for considering the
IL. s,,e,
my rooms at lunch time. mentioning
that he had n case with possibilities
at Richmond. If I cared to come with
him. had never expected so strange
a development Nor. I fancy. had he
This Colonel Bulstrode had served
many years in India Had the mys-
teries Of the East followed him home
to a London suburb? The gigantic
force with which this spear had been
thTown-there was something abnorm-
81 there a something difficult to ex-
plain. Yet. after all. il might be a
simple matter. Boyne YVES presum-
ably a strong man. and The deadly
fury that induces murder in a law
abiding citizen is akin to madness, Civ
ing almost a madmsn's strength. I
was still puzzling over it when the
door opened and the little inspector
walked in
The story of Sergent Hales?' [ ask
ed him. rs he exa ggerating-wa the
spear thrown with unusua; violence?''
Very unusual. II is the crime Of
a giant Or
He did not finish his sentence, but
stood tapping the table and staring
out at the gold and green OF summer
sunset, At last he turned to me with
a slow inclination of the head
"HaIes is waiting he said, "and we
must get TO work. The ugnt will not
last forever"
The sergeant led US over the lawn
TO the Wilderness and through its
paths 10 the wicket gate Showers in
the early morning had turned the dust
OF the road into n gray mud that had
dried under the afternoon sunshine
The surface was scored into q puzzle
Of diverging lines by the wheels OF
carts and carriages. cycles. and mo
tors Yet, Grey hunted fl over even
more closely than he had hunted the
paths in the grounds. He was partic-
uiarIy anxious TO know the position In
which the body had lain, and finally
the sergeant got down in the drying
mud TO show him.
Apparently the colonel had walked
about ten yards from the gate when
the spear struck him. He had fallen
almost in the center Of the road. which
at that point was broad. with stretches
of grass bordering it on either side.
His revolver had not been fired though
he had been found with it in his hand
We walked on down the road Ad-
dington Grey leading. his eyes fixed on
its surface and the sergeant and | fol-
lowing behind. For myself. / had not
the remotest idea of what he hoped 10
effect by this promenade. nor do / be-
lieve had the sergeant. We circled the
outside OF the gardens the road final
" curving to the left. and bringing US
to the entrance gates. Here we stop
ped at a word from the inspector. The
little man himself walked on. and final
ly dropped on his knees close to the
hedge. When ne Joined US again. it
was with an expression of satisfaction.
He beamed through the gates al the
old elm avenue. that rustled sleepsIy in
the gathering dusk.
What pretty place it is he said
Thank heaven that these old houses