The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-01-06

gratory birds had departed. and even
the squirrels were in hiding.
The scene didn't offer much IN the
way Of clues. OF the body itself only
q white heap of bones remained. for
at work upon them. The Clothes. how
ever, particularly the coat. were prac-
tically intact. Gripping himself. Dan
thrust his fingers into its pockets. then
into the pockets of the shirt and trous-
ers. All paper that would in any
way serve to identify the murdered
man, or tell what hfs purpose had been
In journeying down the trail the night
Of the murder had been removed. Only
one explanation presented itself.
Cranston had come before him and
searched the body himself.
Dan looked about for tracks. and he
vas considerably surprised to find the
blurred. indistinct imprint of shoe
other than his own. He hadn't the
least hope that the tracks themselves
would offer clue to a detective
They were too dim. for that. The sur
prising fact was that since the muir
Ger had been committed Immediately
before the fall rains, the water had
not completely washed them out The
only possibility remaining was that
Cranston had returned to the body
after the weeks rainfall. The track
had been dimmed by the lighter rains
that had fallen since.
But yet it was entirely to be ex-
pected that the examination of the
body would be an afterthought on
Cranston's part. Possibly at first his
only thought was to kill and. follow
Ing the prompting that has sent so
many murderers to the gallows. he
had afterward returned to the scene
of the crime to destroy any clues he
might have left and to search the
body for any evidence against the
arson ring.
Dams next thought was to follow
along the trail and find Cranston's
direction of the settlement from the
body. as the bullet had entered from
the front. He found 1t hard to believe
that Hildreth had fallen in the exact
spot where the body lay. Men jour
neying at night keep TO the trail, and
the white heap itself was fully forty
feet back from the trail in the thick
cts. Perhaps Cranston had dragged II
there to hide.it from the sight of any
one who might pass along the lonely
trail again; and IL was remote pos
sibilty that Whisperfoot. coming IN
the night. had tugged 1t into the thick
cts for dreadful purposes of his own.
Likely the shot was fired when Hill
dreth was in an open place on the
trail; and Dan searched for the am
bush with this conclusion in mind. He
walked back. looking for thicket
from which such spot would he Wis
ible. Something over fifty yards down
he found it; and he knew it by the
empty brass rifle cartridge that lay
half buried in the wet leaves.
The shell was of the same caliber
as Cranston's rife. Dams hand shook
as he put it in his pocket.
Encouraged by this amazing find.
he turned up the trail toward Hill
dreth's cabin. 1t might he possible,
he thought. that Hildreth had left
some of his testimony-perhaps such
rudely scrawled letters as Cranston
had written HMM some forgotten
drawer in his hut. 1t was but short
walk for Dams hardened legs. and he
made II before midafternoon.
The search itself was wholly with
out result. But because he had time
to think as he climbed the ridge. be-
cause as he strobe along beneath that
wintry sky he had chance TO con-
slider every detail of the case, he was
able to start out on new tack when,
Just before sunset. he returned to the
body. This new train of thought had
as its basis that Cranston's shot had
not been deadly at once; that, wound
ed, Hildreth had himself crawled into
the thickets where Whisperfoot had
found him. And that meant that he
had to enlarge his search for such
documents as Hildreth had carried to
include all the territory between the
trail and the location of the body.
1t was possibly distance of forty
feet, and getting down on his hands
and knees. Dan looked for any break
in the shrubbery that would indicate
the path that the wounded Hildreth
had taken. And II was ten minutes
well rewarded, as far as clearing up
certain details of the crime His
senses had been trained and sharp
ened by his months in the wilderness
and he was able to back-track the
wounded man from the skeleton clear
to the clearing on the trail where he
had first fallen. But as no clues pre-
sented themselves. he started to turn
home.
He walked twelve feet. then turned
back Out of the corner of his eye 1t
seemed to him that he had caught a
flash of white. near the end of great
dead log beside the path that the
wounded Hildreth had taken. For n
moment he searched in vain. Evident
ly yellow leaf had deceived him