Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1908-04-11

Il was half past nine when at a bend
IN the road he came upon the over
turned carriage Here was tangible
evidence that he was on the right
track. He brought his horse 70 fun
stop and dismounted to examine into
the situation.
The cause OF the accident was obv.-
Gus 10 the simplest mind. He was not
content with determining that, how
ever So he Inspected the carriage
with the minutest care. He was not
long In discovering the hole made by
Ellen's pistol ball through the seat.
and he instantly OWNED that some
one in the carriage had tried 10 kill
the driver The track OF the bullet in
dicated that If the driver had occu-
pied the usual seat he would infalnbly
have been hit. In that case there
should be evidence Of the wound in
the shape OF blood on the seat or foot
board. Although he searched care
fully, he could End no blood stains.
There had been no rain To all in
tetnts and purposes the carriage had
been undisturbed and he could only
conclude that the driver had in some
way escaped a wound. He thought
hard for awhile and finally decided
that the driver must have had pre-
vious warning and must have crouched
down on the footboard. driving from
there
Then he examined the harness. The
traces had been cut and OF course
both horses had disappeared. There
was a broken spot I'm the earth at
the base OF the nearest tree as n
some object had been hurled violent
" TO the ground. The bark OF the
tree was slightly scaled. He knelt
down and examined IL closely. Yes.
there were blood stains on the white
edges What had happened was evil
dent The breaking wheel had so
abruptly checked the carriage that
the driver had been thrown violently
70 the ground and had been knocked
senseless by striking the tree. The
driver was Strathgate.
The ground was somewhat soft in
the shadow and footprints were dis
cernible in the low spot where the
carriage bad fallen. There were
marks OF a woman's shoe and a mans.
albeit a man OF small feet, by the
side OF the carriage door and other
marks around the horses. From the
trampling and hoof marks Seton con
cluded that the horses must have stood
quiet for some time. He surmised that
the inmates OF the carriage had taken
advantage OF the stop 20 get out and
go ahead while Strathgate lay stunned
He was puzzled TO account for the
prints OF the mans shoes by the side
OF the carriage door. They were too
small for Strathgates foot He d.
vined that the prints OF the woman's
shoes in the soft ground were made
by Debbie's feet. The other must have
been made by Lady Ellen's, although
what she was doing with a mans
shoe on he could by no means under
stand. He did not know in what
( guise she had escaped from the hall
He tried TO follow the trail Of the
separate footsteps but lost It in the
/ hard ground. After a few moments
he went back TO the carriage and stud
led the matter deeply, bat could come
| TO no conclusion. There were only
two thoughts that gave him any com
/ fort One was that he was evidently
on the right track: the second was
that some one was in a state OF en-
| NIFTY toward Strathgate, else how &C
count for the pistol bullet through the
I seat This thought nightly encour-
aged him. He was puzzled to know
why the traces had been cut, but at
last decided that Strathgate must have
mounted the two women on one OF the
horses and himself on the other one
and have gone on in the direction OF
the first flight. II he had turned back
! toward the hall Seton would have met
him. or would have heard from 1t in
some way. for the horses under such
conditions could make but slow time.
After a final search OF the interior
Of the carriage in which he was re-
warded by finding a tiny bowknot OF
scarlet ribbon which he thought he
recognized as one that had trimmed
Mistress Debbie's gown, for 1t was a
color she affected. and which he
tucked carefully away in his pocket,
he mounted his horse and started
westward once more. This time he
went more slowly. II should be NO
! trick TO overtake two tired coach
horses heavily burdened, and lest they
might have turned aside or stopped al
different places. he resolved to pass
no farmhouse OF no cross road with
out examining H. Wherever he could
he made inquiries. but learned moth
Ing. His mind began TO misgive him
He must have overlooked some pos
sibie hiding place. but he pressed on
An hour from the carriage ne came
upon q bay coach horse struggling BY
the wayside. with certain portions o.
harness dragging from him Here wa,
another mystery. ~ II there had beer
two horses. where was the other