they'll tread out whatever marks of a struggle theremaybe there." In an instant a serious thought occurred to me. Had thedead man on him any letter of Sybil's or anything to connect her withhim?
"Well," I said a moment later in as unconcerned a tone as I could,"we're interested to see who the poor fellow is. Therefore we'll walkon up in the direction of the wood, and when Richards comes you'llovertake us."
"Very well, gentlemen," was the constable's reply. "But you won't tellanyone yet, will you? And you won't go into the wood and tread about?If there's been murder committed, as there seems to have been, then wemust find the guilty party," he added seriously, this no doubt being thefirst really grave case he had ever had in all his eighteen years'career.
"Of course not," answered Eric. "We shall wait for you, as we don'tknow where the body is."
"Ah! I never thought o' that," was Booth's reply. "All right,gentlemen, I'll be after you as soon as the doctor comes. He'll driveme on in his trap." And we said good-night to Mrs Booth, a ratherfrail, hard-working little woman, and went once more out into the broadhigh road.
"We must act quickly. Come, hurry along," I exclaimed, as soon as wewere beyond the village. "We haven't a second to spare."
"Why?" asked Domville in some surprise.
"Didn't you say that we must save Tibbie?" I asked. "Can't you see herserious peril? The fellow may have on him some letter or something thatmay incriminate her. We must get there and search him before Boothbrings the doctor. What fortune that the body has been leftunattended."
"But is it?" Eric queried. "Don't you think that Harris has spread thenews among the other keepers and one or other of them are lurking nearout of curiosity? Wouldn't it be infernally awkward for us if we werediscovered rifling the dead man's pockets?"
"We must risk everything--for Tibbie's sake--for the sake of thefamily," I declared decisively, and impelled by my words he hurriedalong at my side.
"You have given it as your opinion that they were once lovers," Icontinued. "Therefore, if he had come there to blackmail her, what morenatural than that he should carry with him something by which to impressher with his power over her? At all costs, therefore, we must try andsatisfy ourselves that there is nothing to incriminate her."
"Ah! my dear Wilfrid," he sighed. "It is really terrible--tooterrible."
"This is not the moment to discuss the affair. We must act," I urged,and together we got over a gate and turned into a grass field which wasa shorter cut to the wood.
"This way," my friend directed. "The spot is up at that corner,"pointing away up the hill, where the wood loomed darkly against the sky.
Truth to tell, I shared Eric's fear that Harris or one of his sons mightbe lurking in the neighbourhood, yet I said nothing. My only thoughtwas for the woman who had been my friend, my playmate, the dainty loveof my early youth. She might be all that her enemies said of her, yetfor her mother's sake, for Jack's sake, I meant--if possible--to saveher.
Keeping in the shadow of the hedgerows and walls, I allowed my companionto direct my footsteps. With his long practice in those boundlessforests of eternal night in Equatorial Africa, he had learnt how tocreep along with scarce a sound. He motioned to me to be silent, andpresently we crossed the big turnip field and entered the thicket at thepoint where he had entered it that afternoon.
"This will destroy my track," he whispered. "Tread always on yourtoes."
His example I followed, malting my way through the brambles andundergrowth until, of a sudden, we came out into a small open spacebeneath some big trees on the edge of the wood itself, and there uponthe ground I saw something lying. In the darkness I could notdistinguish what it was, but Eric advanced slowly, and bending, turnedto me, saying in a low whisper,--
"Here it is. But how can we search him without a light? If we strike amatch it can be seen by anyone coming up the hill."
I knelt at his side and ran my hands over the cold corpse. Ah! it was agruesome moment. My eager fingers unbuttoned his jacket that was wetand clammy with blood, and quickly I put my fingers in his inner pocket.Yes! there were papers there. Quick as thought I thrust them into myown pocket, and then in the darkness searched his clothes thoroughly.In his hip-pocket I felt a small leather wallet or card-case, and in hisleft-hand trousers pocket was a pen-knife, both of which I secured;while Eric, making another search of his waistcoat, discovered an innerpocket which contained some paper or other, which he handed to me.
To search a dead man in the darkness is not the easiest thing, and eventhough we had gone through his pockets, yet I was not satisfied.
My friend urged me to creep away and go back to meet Booth, but Ihesitated. I wanted a light in order to satisfy myself thoroughly thatI had overlooked nothing, and I told him so.
In a moment he threw off his jacket, and covering the prostrate figurewith it, said, "Strike a match underneath. This will hide the light."
I did so, and the fickle flame from the wax vesta fell upon the hardwhite face, a face that in death bore a wild, desperate look that wastruly horrifying.
The pockets were, however, my chief concern, and, striking match aftermatch, I made a methodical examination, finding a screwed-up piece ofpaper, the receipt for a registered letter. In feeling within his vestmy hand touched something hard beneath his shirt.
I felt again. Yes, there was something next his skin. Therefore Icarefully opened his saturated shirt, and placing my hand within, drewout something about the size of a penny, a kind of medallion that hewore suspended around his neck by a fine gold chain.
A quick twist broke the latter, and I secured both medallion and chain.
"Make haste!" cried my companion in quick alarm. "Lights are coming upthe hill! It's Richards's dog-cart with Booth. Let's fly. We must getback to the road, or they may suspect."
"A moment!" I cried. "Let me adjust his clothes," and with eager,nervous fingers I re-buttoned the dead man's clothing, and carefullyrearranged the body as we had found it.
Those moments were exciting ones, for already the trap was coming on ata brisk pace, the lights shining clear along the road, and we yet hadtwo large fields to cross before reaching the point where it wasnecessary to meet the doctor and constable.
Eric slipped on his coat, and we scrambled through the undergrowth bythe way we had come, and then under the shadow of the wall, tore on asquickly as our legs would carry us.
Just, however, as we got out of the turnip field, my companion turned tome, and gasped,--
"Look there--to the left! There's someone over in that clump of bushesthere. By Heaven! old fellow, we've been seen!"
"Are you sure?" I cried hoarsely, glancing at the same moment in thedirection he had indicated.
"Certain. I saw the figure draw back as we passed. My eyes don'tdeceive me in the dark--I'm used to it."
"Then we're betrayed!" I said breathlessly.
"Yes. That's quite certain," was his hard response. "We've beenwatched--just as I feared."
CHAPTER FOUR.
IS ASTOUNDING.
To halt would be to reveal our visit to the wood to the villageconstable, therefore we sprang across a stile, skirted the grass land,keeping beneath the high hawthorn hedge, and emerging into the roadwayjust as the lights of the gig came around the bend.
"Halloa! doctor!" I shouted, as he approached with the constable at hisside, and the groom behind.
"Who's that?" he inquired, peering into the darkness.
"Hughes--Wilfrid Hughes," I answered, and a moment later he pulled up,and both Eric and I greeted him.
"We can go across the fields from here," Booth remarked. Therefore theyall three descended, and leaving the groom with the horse, we allowedourselves to be guided by the constable to the spot where the body waslying.
"I hope, gentlemen, you haven't been waitin' long," said Booth,addressing us, as he lit the hurricane lamp he had brought.
"Not at all," declared Eric, quite unconcernedly, "but we're naturallyv
ery anxious to ascertain who the poor fellow is."
"From what Booth says, it seems a clear case of murder," remarkedRichards, the hard-working country practitioner.
"A mystery, evidently," said Domville. "Has no weapon been found?"
"We haven't searched yet, sir," the constable replied. "We'll have towait till daylight."
And so, our way lit by the officer's lantern, we went on past the dumpof bushes where my friend declared that some person was in hiding. Bothof us glanced across eagerly, but all was