The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-12-06
Warner stepped back. clutchins m,

Whruer steppeu pdch, CiutcniuB ny
arm.
tits the botanist," he stammered.
what is he doing here? Was 1t him
as killed my master. sir7"
"Yes." said the little detective; "he
killed Sir Andrew Cheyne."
For moment he stopped, busying
himself about the head. With a gen.
tie pull he lifted the heavy beard
away. 1t was face younger by a
score Of years that lay upon the pill
lows. face handsome, after its fash
ion. though deep lined with evil days
and ways.
"sir Andrew himself" cried Warner,
with sob Of terror.
THAT is also true" said Inspector
Addington Peace. revsrently rsplao-
ing the white sheet.
II was ap hour afterwards that
Peace gave me the details We we're
leaning against the stone baiustrads
o. the terrace looking over the lake
to the pleasant park land beyond.
| The breezs-swept PUSHES That marked
the line of the causeway. the gables
OF the island pavilion that peered
above the foliages flay to our right,
framed in the ripping blue of the
mere.
my first important discovery" he
said, was q strand Of paok-thread tied
to young sapiing at the spot where
tha h0dv ~ CT AcNrouy -o. found
On the other side of the path was q
narrow hole between the slabs Of
granite, where peg had lately been
driven In. The rushes about 1t we're
broken here and there. The conclu-
sion Of a spring gun was obvious.
and the reason suggested by the track
of foxes along the edge d the reeds.
Was the death an accident, after all?
II so, what business had the stranger
under arrest-Fenton, I now find. is
his name-upon the island at so late
an hour?
"My conversation with the keeper
gave me some interesting results. 1t
was plainly murder, and no accident.
Some one had raised the muzzle of
the gun so that 1t might kill a man
and not a fox. Some one had ex-
pected a visitor to the island that
night against whom he desired to re-
venge himself Was Fenton guilty?
The evidence against him seemed al
most conclusive. He had admitted,
you will remember, that he had an
appointment with Sir Andrew. Yet,
after he had set the trap, why had
he continued to risk discovery by
lettering about the causeway? How
had he known that the spring gun was
there at all? Why had he brought
loaded revolver? Why had he bor-
rowed the punt and reached the
island by so unexpected a manner?
Was he also afraid of some one or
some thing? My mind began to turn
from him to the second stranger, the
botanist with the collecting case. He
at least had information about the
setting Of the gun.
There was still a further point.
Sir Andrew had been shot full in the
chest. If he had been walking down
the causeway he would have been hit
In the side. How was that?
Yesterday morning after l sent
you away | walked into the village
to make inquiries. They have few
visitors, and the landlord Of the inn
remembered the bearded naturalist.
He had only once visited the place..
driving over from the station, and dis
appearing for several hours. A hot
tempered man, nervous and excitable
SO he described him. When the cab
was late he had broken out In for
eign tongue. That was all he knew
of him.
II caught the 3:15 to London and
found Scotland Yard In the possession
of some additional details. Sir An
drew had been In town for fortnight
living very quietly at small hotel
of Piccadilly. He had no servant
with him. He had been a wild, extrav-
agant lad, they told me, and when his
uncle had tired of paying his bills he
had tried the stage, got deeper into
debt, and finally fled to the Continent,
hC INCu Oh u dilOWdhSC
that the old man made him. All this
struck me as curious. The rake had
indeed reformed II he heralded his
accession to great wealth by dropping
a servant and living quietly in small
hotel. Had he other reasons than
economy?
Il visited the hotel that night. Sir
Andrew had received few visitors.
the porter told me. I described the
botanist, without success. Then l
tried Fenton. The porter recognized
my description at once. He had called
twice, the first time shortly after Sir
Andrews arrival, the second time on
Tuesday evening. The waiter who had
taken him up to the baronet's sitting
room told me that the first interview
had been long, and that they had quar-
relied violently on the stairs.
"'You shall never SO much as see
the place. II you eo there before set
thing with me communicate with the
police at once He remembered some