The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-09-12
CHAPTER VIII-Continued


Cap lodge and the Woodcock about
eight O'clock | strolled out TO meet
him. as soon as dinner was over al
Courthope's That would be about
ten minutes TO eight We met little
to the further sfde-the side nearest
the WOOdcOck-Of Reiver'S den. AS
far as | can recOllect, it would then
be just after eight O'Clock. We stood
a few minutes, talking. Then"
"A moment, if you please" inter
rupted MaythOrne. He produced a
memorandum book, anC laying it open
on the table before him, drew Ec-
cleshare's attention to a rough dia
gram penciled on one of the pages
Here's a sketch that | made the day
of my arrival at the Woodcock,," he
said. "A sketch of the paths across
the moor. Now there are two paths
that lead from the direction of High
Cap lodge and go towards the Wood.
cock. One leads directly across the
front of Reiver's den. at the very foot
of the rocks-we'll call that the higher
one The other is some fifteen or
twenty yards lower down-amongst
the heather; we'll call that the lower
one. Which path were you and Par,
slave on?"
EccleShare bent over the diagram
for a moment, twisting ii round so as
to get a clear idea OF its geography.
He put his finger on spot
I'VE were about there" lie said. ION
the lower one. Butt don't know If
you've made it quite plain-thOse two
paths tGne. the lower ones a mere
sheep track almost meet on the west
side, the High Cap lodge side OF
Reiver's den, near COwie's cottage.
They're only separated there by yard
or two. Then the lower one goes
away through the heather 70 the top
side of High Cap lodge; the other
one passes High Cap lodge on the
lower side at fifty or sixty yards dis
lance and breaks into the moorland
road to ClOughthwaite."
Well" said MaythOrne. Anyway
you and Parslave were on the lower
one?"
I'VE were on the lower One-per-
haps a hundred yards from Reiver's
den And" continued Eccleshare. las
] was saying, we stood there a few
minutes, talking. 1t was then quite
dark, but a clear, starlit night. We
were just moving away. in the High
Cap lodge direction. when we heard 4
shot fired. 1t seemed, as far as we
could make out, TO be in Reiver'S den.
or just beyond it think it must
have been in Reiver's den. because
there was a distinct echo from the
rocks. We heard nothing follow-no
cry, scream, anything of that sort.
Neither of US took any particular no.
tice-I think we each had the same
idea; that ii was gamekeeper who
was after something. In fact, we
needed it so little that we went on
talking about our own business for a
minute or two after the shot was fired
Then because it was time for Par
slave TO be getting on to catch his
train we moved-coming over to the
other path because il leads directly
to the moOrland road. We had just
got on il when we heard steps coming
along from the direction of Reiver's
den. There were some high, thick
bushes close by, and-I really don't
know why we did it, but we did =
we sort of instinctively moved into
their shadow. where II was quite dark
And tnen, a minute later, walking very
swiftly. woman passed u.s."
"A WOmant"
1t was Manners who let out this
sharp exclamation. Like all the rest
Of us he had been following Eccle-
share closely; now he showed signs of
excitement; clearly, some notion had
suddenly come to him.
"A woman" repeated Eccleshare,
quietly. "a woman-tall, slender.
walking very quickly lndeed-we
heard her breathing, sharply. She
was past and gone, like fash"
In which direction?" asked May
thOrne.
Towards Marrasdale," replied Ec-
cleshare.
''Anu then?" suggested Maythorne
after a brief pause.
Then Parslave and | went on again
he was getting pressed for time We
neither heard nor saw anything there
We passed Cowie's cottage. You say
Cowie saw US together. Probable =
but we never saw him. We walked
quickly across the moor, struck the
high road, and parted. | went into
High Cap lodge, and Parslave-but
let Parslave himself tell you what he
did"
We all turned to Parslave, who still
sat perched on the edge of a chair
near the door, twiddling his thumbs
Went straight along the road to
Petherby station, then," said Parslave
Caught the nine-fifteen train-ast
train thar is-to Newcastle. Got to
Newcastle at ten-tifty Put up at a
temperance, near the station, for the
night. Wet to see Mr.. Graham, the
lawyer as soon as I'd had my break.
fast next morning-'bout ten O'clock
that uu be. When I'd done with him.
got a bit of snack and then caught
the twelve-ten express to London. Got
TO Kings Cross at a quarter to seven
that evening. Came straight here
anG been here ever since"
Let me ask Parslave question
while think of It." said Crole. "Par-
slave do you mean TO say that since
you left Marrasdaie. you've never
heard of the murder there?-from the
newspapers?"
= Il can't read. SIR" answered Oar.