Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-10-17
BY SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS
Copyright. 1912. by the Bobbs-heriIi
Company

tended AROUND hSnlnu Nle eur. btppu
| had clotted thiclsly in the short close
/ curled hair. The left side was I'M
marked The eyes were closed and
/ the mouth was slightly open. showing
CLINT Of gold amid very white and
! regular teeth An expression of dead
/ " terror distorted the face. Professor
/ Kent bent closely over IL.
That's strange-very strange" he
murmured. lit should be peaceful"
But look ut the hand" cried Jar.
( Wis.
Here. indeed. was the astounding
/ feature OF the tragedy. the aspect that
/ brought Kent TO his knees. the more
! closely 10 observe. The body lay
/ twisted slightly to the right. with the
/ left arm extended The left wrist was
/ enclosed in light rusted handcuff to
/ which a chain was fastened. At the
/ end OF the chain was the companion
/ cuff. shattered. evidently by a power
! full blow. and half buried in the sand.
! As Kent leaned over the corpse n fat,
powerful. grizzled man with metal
I badge on his shirt front pushed for
| ward.
/ .-Them's cast iron cuffs" he an
/ nounced- THAT kind amt been used
+ these forty years"
! What kind of IA ship nd be carry
; in EN- nowadays:" asked some one
I IN the crowd.
An what kind OF a seaman'd be
putting Of 'em on a lady's wrist?"
a.rowled formidable voice, which
Kent. looking M. perceived TO have
come from amid a growth of heavy
white whiskers sprouting from
weather furrOwed face.
''Seafaring man. aren't you:' in.
quired Kent
No more. Fifty year of it. man
an boy. has put me in harhor-"
That's Sailor Smith" explained Jar
Wis
MIR. Smith. will You take look ut
those iashinGs and tell me whether
I'm your opinion they are the work of
saiIor:" asked Kent
The old hands funbIed expcrtiy.
The old face puckered. Judgment
came forth presently.
The kEots X we'll enough. The
lashiu's q I..ssable job. What gifts me
Is the rope"
We'll. what's wrong with the rope:"
''Noihiu' in pertic.ler only ! don't
know what just that style Of rope
would he doin' on shipboard unless
it was to hang the old mans wash
on
Suppose we lift this grating" Kent
suggested. to see whether a ships
name * stamped somewhere un il.
He heaved the woodwork up on edge
and held il 80. while eager eyes scan
ned THE under part. MurmurS of dis
appointment followed. In these Kent
dill not join He had inserted finger
in "a crevice Of the spiintered wood ana
had extracted some small object which
lie held in tile palm of his hand. eN-
amiuiuE it thouGhtfully.
'.Wot We got there demanded the
sheriff
Professor Kent stretched out his
hand. disclosing small grayish OBJ
ject.
Il should take it to he the cocoon of
ep.iestia kuehniells.'' he announced.
Its a species of grain moth
oh. grunted Schlagcr You're .
bug collector. chg
Exactly" answered the other. trans
ferring his trove TO his pocket
Thereafter he seemed TO lose inter
est in the center Of mystery. With
drawing TO some distance he paced up
and down the shore.
Nearer and nearer To high water
mark his pacing took him. Presently
he was scanning the tangled debris
that the highest tide OF the year had
heaped mp almost against the cliffs
foot When he rejoined the crowd it I.
had suffered the loss OF one Of its !
parts. the sheriff. Conjec- |
as 10 the officials sudden detection.
Whatever it was he got from the |
pocket" Kent heard one of the men /
say. 1t started him quick"
Looked to me like an envelope"
hazarded some one.
NO" contradicted Sailor Smith;
paper would have been all pulped up .
Dy the water
Marked handkerchief. maybe" sug
yested another.
Like as not" said Jarvis. you bet 4
hat Len Schlager figured il ont there
vas somethin' In it for him anyways.
could see the money CLEAN in his
we"
That's right too" confirmed the old
aIIor. HE looked just like that when
le brought in that half wit peddler.
hinkIn' be was the thousan' dollar re-
ward thief last year"
Professor Kent advanced and bent
yer the InanacIed corpse.
Have to ask you TO stand back. per
said Jarvis. Lens appointed
ne special dep'ty till he comes back
Wonder IL Len knowed the corpse:"
uGgested somebody in the crowd.
Tell you who did II he didn't" said
mother man.
"Who. them Il
elder Try bennett Didn't none OF
on hear about his meetin' up with a
TRANCE woman yesfiddy evening"
'Shucks. This couldn't he that wO-
lan." said Jarvis How'd she come 1
D be washed ashore from a wreck be
ween last night and this morning.
How'd she come To be washed
shore from a wreck anyway cqYR-