ife, turned against him. Not for a moment could he or would he compare himself with the man he now regarded as a successful rival; but accident had given Doria superb opportunities while denying t

oul as Giuseppe was more likely to satisfy Jenny than he, for Doria would have all his time to devote to her, while marriage and a home must be only a part of Brendon's future existence. There remained his work, and he well knew that, whatever Jenny's positi

otestations at Princetown; he perceived the deep mourning which she wore. She was indeed young, but her character had never appeared to him youthful or light-hearted. Against that fact, however, he had certainly only known her after her sorrow and loss, and he remembered how she had sung on the moor upon the evening she passed him in the sunset light. She had probably been cheerful and joyous before her husband's death. But she surely never possessed a frivolous nature. His knowledge of character told him that. And there was strength a

iftly homeward. Guessing that Bendigo Redmayne and his brother were now aboard, he prepared to retire until the following day

e had to tell soon altered the detective's plans. For Giuseppe w

was burning but I could see neither of them. I hailed twice and got no answer. All was still as the grave and I went near enough to

idn't

less, for the tide is now risen. The light shone upon emptiness. I beg yo

soon saw a solitary gleam of light, like a glowworm, at sea level in the solid darkness of the precipices, and Doria, slowing down, crept in toward it. Presently he shut off his engine and the launch grounded her prow on a little beach before the entrance of Robert Re

lained Doria. "It was used by smugglers in the ol

od on a ledge and flung a radius of light over the floor beneath. Here had been collected the food and drink supplied to Redmayne on the previous day, and it was clear that he had eaten and drunk heartily. But the arresting fact appeared on the beaten and broken surface of th

llen body a ridge ploughed through the shingle extending rearward, and he judged that one of the two men had certainly felled the other and then drawn him toward the chimney,

d; but for a time his companion appeared too dazed to answer him. Giuseppe showed a g

en his words his mouth hung open and his eyes rolle

n. "Every moment may make all the difference. It looks to me

man it might be. But

es this p

You are then on a plateau halfway up the cliff. It is a broad ledge and from it one only track, rough and steep, rises up zi

the same and make it po

her up into the cave. Then we can

ey had reached its summit and the subterranean path turned to the left, still in a tunnel of the solid rock, they marked on the ascending slope, slippery with percolations from the roof, a straight smear dragged over the muddy surface. Pursued for fifty yards the tunnel bega

ilent. He held up his hand to Doria and the two listened intently for some minutes, but only the subdued murmur of the water far beneath reached their ears. No sound broke the stillness round about. Un

he explained. "He uses

sted after his exertions. There were clots of blood on the grass near this spot, but no other sign visible in the present condition of darkness. Remembering the death of Michael Pendean, Brendon was already reconstructing, in theory, the events immediately under his notice. That Bendigo Redmayne's bro

tes he stood

eded by this way and Brendon directed the other to disturb nothing, so that careful examination might, if necessary, be made when daylight returned. The path elbowed to right and left sharply, ever ascending, and it was not too steep to prevent steady progress. It en

t and skilled in these deviltries. Is it true that my ma

s happened which I should have prevented and a life been lost which might have been saved. From th

wered the other. "Why should y

ttempts to deceive me; but I have accepted what sounded obvious and rational, as we all did, instead of exami

d everybody. Who was to know that

. My fault has been to as

d Madonna's husband, and only a very sane one would have escaped the sleuths afterward.

uted at dawn. Doria considered whether he might make best speed by road or water, and decid

," he said, "for there is no other rout

nd the cavern beneath. Extinguishing the lamp, which still burned steadily, they were soon afloat, and under a tremor of dawn the little v

nized Jenny Pendean. She made no signal, but the sight of her evidently

nst his own and those who are his best friends. There is a thing lunatics will do. It follows-while we are away-do

think

e possible," answered the other, his

in. There may be

as triu

but the other did not answer. On him lay a load

Doria how to

he said. "They had better come to Dartmouth, and they can return presentl

reat fear and full of words; but Brendon begged them to be quiet. He warned Jenny that the worst was to be dreaded for her uncle, and their awful news red

him to take the women back, Mark bade them all

ng to report," he directed, "but should the man app

her directions an

ch. Some food had been brought aboard and Mark made a meal as he described the incidents of the night. It was eight o'clock before they reached the cavern and began a methodical search

ealed little more than Brendon had already found for himself in the darkness. There was nothing but the trampled sand, the partially eaten store of food, the lamp on its stone bracket, the black blot of blood, and the shallow trench left b

out car to the top of Hawk Beak Hill; and let 'em fetch along some sandwiche

y up the cliff were all examined with patient scrutiny. The police went at a foot's pace, yet nothing appeared

nsider if you or I had to pull a soli

Head in the summer. We shall hunt the cliffs, like a pack of hounds, and presently find some place hanging over

hod boot, which he recognized. They occurred in a soft place just outside the mouth of t

Inspecto

ou'll find it's the same boot," he said. "That's no surprise, of co

re was under the last. It's very easy to say, because we can't find a motive, the man's mad. That's the line of least resistance; but it don't follow by a long sight that it's the right line. Here's a chap has lured his bro

s above suspicion. She hid nothing; she behaved like a Christian woman, wept at the spectacle of his awful misery, and brought his message to his brother. Then sudden, panic fear over

safe to nab him. You were in command and we obeyed, but whatever the murderer had to say would as well have been said to us as to his brother-and better; because in any case he might have tempted a brother to break the law for him.

h. He was vexed, yet knew that he h

ed their sight beneath; and yet from this standpoint no sign of the vanished man or his burden appeared. But the zigzag path to the cliff top revealed neither any evidence of a weight being dragged upward nor the impression of the iron-shod foot. Fresh footprints there were, but they had been made by Brendon and Doria on the previous night. Now the police as

and flung himself panting on the cl

aving made a careful examination of the ground around

elf and covered it deep with stones. It's surely there-for the simple reason that it can't be anywhere else. We should have found out if he'd brought it to the top. And in my judgment, even if he wanted to do so, he would

he highroad, where a car already waited for them, they made a meal. The constable who drove the car had no news, but Brendon expected that

who had driven it joined them when they descended

ep you take must hang upon a fact that you can't verify except by circumstantial evidence. Every step may in reality be a false one-and the nearer you appear to be to the truth,

was not difficult to reach. A dozen rough-and-ready ways presented themselves to a climber; but neith

nce to show that the spot had been trodden or touched could be discovered. Brendon sought first immediately below the plateau, where the sack and its contents must have fallen, but nothing indicated such an event. The stones were naked and no stain of blood or indication of any intrusion upon the lonely

e, by the main road, they met one or two civilians who had devoted the day to assi

layed the car and descended alone down the coomb to the house that had so suddenly lost its master. The place seeme

shes to God it was her that was dead and not poor master. Mr. Doria tried to comfort her a bit; but h

Mrs. Pendean," he answered. "Wh

t he must look after new work pretty quick, because no

. But Brendon was disappointed. Jenny sent word that she could not see him to-day and hoped

the car. Giuseppe overtook him from the house; but he could on

Brendon, "and we have been careful to leave

ed Mark; then he rejoined the insp

ed no result whatever. Not a trace of Robert Redmayne was reported from anywhere and Insp

disguise, or concealment, that utterly defeats the ordinary methods of a man hunt. We must try bl

ymouth again as he did befor

who occasionally fails and retires for a "duck," knowing that his second innings may still be told in three figures; but what concerned him was the double failure on the same case. He felt

as was his wont, he could see no ray of light thrown by the candle of his own inspiration. Inspiration, in fact, he wholly la

not been surprised to learn of her collapse. For she was sensitive; she had lately been through a terrible personal trial; and to find herself suddenl

em for the day. At nine o'clock a large party had set out, for another morning brought

of any great support under present circumstances. Doria was essentially a fair-weather friend. Many were the things that Jenny would be called to do and, so far as Mark knew, there was none to

now we know that he is not dead but that poor Uncle Bendigo is. Yet the law will not recognize his death, either perhaps, seeing that he has not been found. Uncle Robert's papers and affairs were gone into and he left no will; so his property, when the law sanctions it, woul

very nervous, desiring to leave the lonely habitation on the cliffs as q

aid. "He is now the last of 'the red Redmayn

he adj

ren had red hair, and so had he. His wife was also red-and the o

air is a most wonderful

ppreciation of

n be grey,"