The Huttig news., 1907-08-03

| led too directly through the open, and sinking along in the shadow of the hedges until l could again take it up with safety.
 About half way up the incline l turned and looked down toward the Bruce cottage. from the chimney of which black column of smoke was pouring and whose windows were i brightly lighted as if something of importance was going on within.
 As l looked, and l had taken the precaution to bring my binoculars with me, man emerged from the house and | had no difficulty in mak- ing him ont to be JenAs, the stage driver. He was followed in a mo- ment by Mrs Bruce and the two stood for some time in earnest con- yersation, after which the man strode rapidly down the road and the woman reentefed the house.
 It had seemed to me that the widow and Jenks were quarreling, for, dur ing their talk, he had gesticulated violently and shown every evidence of
 
 anger; but they must have come to some sort Of an agreement at last, for he waved his hand pleasantly as he left her and she returned his sal utation by throwing him kiss as coyly as a schoolgirl.
 The first thing the woman did after entering the house was to extinguish 4l,r 1ioIa ho rays of the sun began to touch the hill tops, and l was just lowering my glass when caught feeting glimpse of another man, darting around the cor aelafir .aa ,hAlllhris bel1lns, he 4ru5dpile. rSoney cont. vain for him to show himsNs-sain, but he did not, and finally, l turned and followed the trail once more mak- ing all possible haste, lest l should lose it when the frost disappeared.
 The foot prints led me up on the hill and around to the side away from the house and, at length, be- came lost in a grove of hemlocks un der which there was no tell-tale frost For d time it seemed that my eff forts were to prove of no avail, and that I might as well return home, but the more thought of the mat ter the more l was convinced that these people had been out for no good purpose, and that it was my duty to learn, if possible, what mis- 1 chief they had been contriying at this early hour and where they had been.
 In fact, I suddenly realized that l had not taken proper interest in the mysterious happenings at Carney Croft and that while it had seemed quite enough to bring them to a stand still, as far as outward appearances were concerned, they were, in reality, of far too great importance to let pass so easily.
 l Miss Westons connection with the affair gave new aspect to it. of course, and while l was bound by nay word to respect her secret there was nothing in my promise to her to pre- vent me from using eyeiy legitimate means to find out all that l could on my own account and make use of such knowledge as 1 might ac- quire in any way that would best serve my purposes without reacting on her
 Since l had come to a correct un- derstanding of my position in regard to Miss Carney, it seemed imperative that should probe this whole affair to the bottom if for no other reason nan to show my devotion to her @pd her intereata
 wandered about more or less aim lessly in the grove until, as was on the point CT leaving in chagrin again discovered the tracks ln the frost lead ing across 9 little open space from an other and denser grove near by. plunged at once into this and had no trouble in directing my steps through the underbrush, which was broken and bent in many places and showed plainly the course taken by the man and woman tut short time be- fore.
 After going on in this way fer some little distance l suddenly found my self in a small clearing under the branches Of tue oyertoWering trees, and saw, to my horror, an oblong space of newly turned earth which bore every resemblance in size and general appearance to a grave.
 For several minutes I stood spell bound with fear and dread and then, summoning up all my courage and with cold sweat standing out on my body, I began to dig down in the