| Show 1 41 V t 4 it was brace kenney s t u bed frd as he was an old detective bp tp P 9 e ir v ell and had been all over the f ri t er we 1001 ed for a good yarn 3 re r is his story I 1 was as a new one in san ant 0 dubbing bubbi ig it under 0 callahan d very anxious for a show bebau I 1 v as a young man then one day lie ie old man called mo up and askel aske I 1 L ii ow I 1 d like to spend a few weel in a baval a county adding that at five ir ders had been commit committed in Ls u n m p D beeks and that the authorities had a reward of 40 00 and would pay my salary and expenses I 1 was at on the case so I 1 started for el tiempo the town in which the murders had blo bit done by nutting all the evidence to getter I 1 v as able to satisfy myself of oceh h following facts each of the five bodies had been thrown into the riv at the sine same point a shelf of rock high above the deep and rocky chasm oo 00 liver bed the first two had been thus disposed of while hile the river mas wasa and so their bodies remained mangled but recognizable in the sand at th tha lase of this precipice two of the other bodies had been found lodged rocks or willows ower down having been carried along by the current one the latet batet 1 ichim had been discovered clinging with a death grip to a ing cactus the feet dangling in the water but fie vie head and trunk well ell out cf et the stream all of th victims had been strangers in town the bodies had all been tripped of their valuables and the slight evidence at hand convinced me cf f course that each had been murdered for money the town marshal aexie anddie sheriff both of whom I 1 was sure had expended their best efforts told me tha arft vi 1 1 1 5 A k KW in a double team buckboard in two out of five cases in which the corpses had been promptly found traces of hoof prints seemingly of two or more horses were plain in tae hard sara about the place there had bad been no of wagon or buggy wheels and the inference inre rence vas plain that the horses employed had been ridden and nor driven I 1 worked quite awhile about the town hoping for some more tore langil ie theory upon which to exert my ingenuity bi bt t was at last driven hopelessly bad upon the horseback clew assuming that the first thing to do was to find the horses I 1 naturally devoted my first attention atte attea tion to the only livery stable in town the sign over the door was dalley dailey bragg but I 1 soon found out that bragg was the sole owner and that dalley dailey had bad drowned himself in the river about two months before my arrival I 1 toll bragg that I 1 was an invalid from tro the states and that I 1 wanted to ride hornela a k e aery s ery day while I 1 was in el tao I 1 had an idea that the horse which had already visited that loi loneso q a jB k of d dach ah would it if ridden into the neighborhood and permitted to go zo 1 alle l 1111 11 revisit the familiar previous pr ertons journeys jo urness ft t Qs t at about every day ending my trips near the cliff aad and changing horses as oten olten as bragg braggs s forbidding temper would permit by lounging about the barn I 1 began to know most of the horses and one day a chance question directed at the halt half witted negro ne ro host er d the identity of the proprietor s favorite favorit 0 saddle horse that tha quickly suggested an inquiry as to which horse dalley dailey had used and the answer was as easily given but it was in vain I 1 tried to en ell gage either of the likely looking animals bragg insisted that he it hire jason to his own brother and a foi fol top gallant dalley dailey s horse I 1 was convincingly informed that nobody could ride that animal in day time except its late master in other words top gallant quite mannerly manner and gentle after dark was an outlaw a bucking plunging runaway broncho during the day at last bragg with a banker who was to advance the money went down to the auces valley in a double team b ick board to buy some stock I 1 bribed the negro hostler to let me have jason and end this time the experiment worl wort ed jason no sooner felt the slack rein than he pricked up his ears and trotted quite to the verge of the bloody shell sheh above the river this seemed like something significant and yet I 1 could hardly convince myself that there was any sensible way to apply it but when I 1 got up the next morning suddenly it dawned upon me that tile solution of the mystery it if there was one lay in riding top gallant to the same place I 1 resolved to test bragg braggs s y by neglecting to ride that day and demanding the forbidden animal for a moonlight gallop he looked interest interestedly ely at me that evening when I 1 told him what I 1 wanted said that I 1 d better wait till it was vas real dark and finally consented to ghe me top 0 0 4 took the B t in H s teeth and tore away into the night gallant he watched me mount too but I 1 had no time tor for him because the ketive beast under me took the bit in his teeth and tore away into the night like a scared ghost at first I 1 was strong enough to guide him but at last my muscles wearied and I 1 saw with horror that he was making with desperate determination for the lonely point of rocks aboe abo e the leona di vining my peril wilhoit realizing its relation to the murders I 1 was hinves ti gating I 1 got my feet franj from the stirrups and jumped to the ground just as he charged toward the precipice I 1 rolled headlong over the rocks cacti and sand but when I 1 scrambled to my feet and wiped the dust from my eyes the frantic horse was trotting away I 1 caught him by the bridle afraid to mount ond nd as I 1 led him back into the town met bragg riding jason he looked positively frightened the minute he saw re me but when be he came up I 1 arrested him that night I 1 searched his safe and found the watches natches papers and trini ets that had been tal en from five of the murdered men but the oddest find was nas dailey s jewelry and diamonds which had been missing up to that time without exciting any graver suspicion than that his corpse had been robbed after he had drowned himself about all bragg was as acquitted of murder but got ten years for robbery we never did ferret out the horse horses s share in the crime but I 1 BUS sus hect that daile s death may have happened accidentally will while le riding with bis his partner ane latter had robbed the body HIS success in avoiding sus dicion may have suggested using the horse for other victims I 1 always felt sure that bragg figured on getting me too of course the tame horse at night fl ft tion had a purpose darkness being the best time for murderers ard ghouls oh yes there waa was one other incident we tried to drive that villainous horse topgallant top gallant over the cliff but he wouldn t go we had to satt him john II 11 in jn chicago record herald imas |
