The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1932-05-06
CHAPTER Continued

N14fAE L LIN Vx-(OA4|A4AnS0
ii
Eyes, but he may have thought that
Shad was wounded and losing blood
and going slowly or lying dead in the
trail. If he saw him topple out OF
the canoe it would have been his
natural inference that he had hit his
mark. l do not like this touch OF
mystery. Some one seems to see In
one or more of these three articles
source of danger for himself. They
were put away in the, rush and ex-
citement of the fleeing criminal and
as soon as it could be safely done.
some dark night, they were to be
gathered up and destroyed or perhaps
hidden somewhere near the shack
of Bumpy Brown. You know, the
thought has come to me more than
once that the revolver and cartridges
were planted on the old man."
"These are interesting speculations,
but they do not impress me-" said the
Judge. "The big man our young
friend saw may have got his bearings
and gone to his camp or he may be
coming here any minute and telling
of his adventure near Center pond"
In the moment Of silence that fol-
lowed the judges words Shad spoke
outs
! Hell never come here. He is the
murderer. He knows that / know it."
Shad told them Of that moment
near the abandoned camp when the
moonlight had shown him masked
face.
sand did he not call out when he
heard you running away?"
mo, SIR" Shad answered.
"That is rather strange business"
said the judge. "Why did he mask him.
selfT ."st.
ut was cunning bit of prudence"
the colonel answered. "Suppose he
had come upon the boy lying wounded
in the trail. The stranger could then
have robbed him Of his treasures
without being identified. Or, again,
after dark, light might be flashed
in his face any moment. That indeed
is what happened. A sudden light
out Of the heavens fell upon him.
Shad Is not much wiser because Of 1t.
That beam of moonlight showed us
only the blackness of the mans SOUL"
SIT is a reasonable theory" the
Judge agreed.
The colonel was examining the two
hats which Shad had brought In his
basket. Suddenly he whistled and
exclaimed: "Wen! What does this
mean? Look here, Judge"
Inside the sweat band of the light
colored SLOUGH hat some one had writ
ten with pen and ink those words:
ITO r. r.: It's a long head that
never turns"
"This is undoubtedly the hat worn
by the murderer" said the colonel.
"All who saw him agree as to the kind
of hat he wore, and it was found with
the handkerchief. This writing is that
of young woman accustomed to the
use Of a pen. She was playful per-
son Of some sort. Who is she and
who is r. R.?"
Robert Royce, maybe" Shad prompt
ly answered.
'Sure enoughl There are the two
RS" said the colonel. "TIe was son
of Mrs. Doolittle by her first husband.
He Is tall. / remember that he swore
at the examination that he closed his
shop at five o'clock and went up
stairs to read. He came downstairs
< and let Cyrus Doolittle out of his front
door soon after eight. He would have
had three hours in which to go to
Amity Dam, commit the crime and re-
turn to his shop"
He carefully wrapped the articles
which he had been examining, and
added: II shall take good care of
these things and go out of the woods
tomorrow"
He took Shad's hand and spoke these
words, which mark a turning point in
the career of Sheridan Morryson:
'Pard, I like you. I'm going to take
you into my Office if you don't mind,
and try to make a lawyer of you. /
guess we can get along together.
\ want you to go to bed now and get q
lgood rest. You must be tired"
He bolted the door and put braces
In the windows. The two men and
the boy went to their beds above stairs.
Shad observed that the colonel put the
package under his pillow. The boy
had been much elated by the coloners
words.
The morning was chilly and the
clouds were threatening. The party
set out with rifles and loaded packs