CHAPTER XXI
THE CLUE OF YELLOW WORSTED
"Sheila--shot dead!" cried Kiddie, staring blankly in front of him.
Rube Carter nodded his head gravely. He saw that Kiddie was deeplymoved.
"Come an' have a look at her," he said. "I've not touched her. Say,it ain't any wonder she never answered your whistle last night. Mustsure have happened 'fore we come ashore, else we should have heard theshot."
He led the way in among the trees beyond the outhouses. But before hehad gone very far he came to an abrupt halt, and pointed.
"The far side of that clump of sage grass," he indicated. "I'mfigurin' as the man that shot her stood about here. She was runnin'towards him. His bullet went in at her chest."
"Scout around an' see if you c'n find any footprints," said Kiddie,going forward to examine the dead hound.
Rube and Isa Blagg both searched, but there was no likelihood of theirfinding any bootmarks on the grass. Rube went back to the path leadingup from the landing-place. There had been heavy rain on the previousafternoon, and the ground was still moist enough to show the faintimpressions of his own and Kiddie's moccasins, and yet more distinctlythe marks of Isa Blagg's heavy boots.
At sight of these he turned sharply round.
"Show me the soles of your boots, Sheriff," he asked; "both of 'em?Ah," he added, on seeing them, "you've got horseshoe heels an' toecaps,too; but only one row of hob-nails. I'm lookin' for the marks of bootswith two rows, an' with a nail missin' from the inside row of the leftboot. You'd best not walk about more'n you c'n help."
"Rube," said Kiddie, now coming up. "We landed from the canoe lastevenin' at a quarter to seven. At what time would Abe Harum be downhere?"
"'Bout four o'clock, I guess," Rube answered. "That's his usual timefor lockin' up the stables an' givin' Sheila her feed. Abe told us heleft the hound in her kennel. But, of course, she c'd get out if shewanted. She'd soon be out if she heard a stranger prowlin' around."
"As no doubt she did," agreed Kiddie.
"Heard him gettin' outer the canoe," Rube conjectured.
"You believe he came along in the canoe, then?" Kiddie interrogated.
"Well," returned Rube, "what about the tobacco pipe an' the footprint?You haven't spotted any more footprints like that one, have you,Kiddie?"
"Only one," Kiddie answered, "close beside the dog."
"H'm!" nodded Rube; "went up to her ter make sure she was dead, eh?"
"And, havin' got the watchdog outer his path," interposed the sheriff,"he went round t' th' side of your cabin, an' broke in by the winder."
"The easiest way," explained Kiddie; "you see the front door waslocked, and I had the key. But it's sure he came out by the frontdoor, leavin' it ajar."
"Seems t' have made a big scoop," said the sheriff. "Must have knownwhere you kept all that money an' jewellery. What was it all worth,Kiddie?"
"I don't know yet," returned Kiddie. "I haven't had time to see justwhat he's taken an' what he has left. It's the dog that I'm troubledabout most."
"Well, the first thing to do is ter get on the scoundrel's track,"advised Isa Blagg. "An' he's liable to have left some traces roundabout that broken winder. Let's get there right now an' have a search."
Their nearest way to the cabin was past the front of the stables. RubeCarter limped forward in advance of his two companions, searching theground as he went. Suddenly he came to a halt.
"Hallo!" he cried. "Come an' look here, Kiddie. What d'you make ofthis?"
He was staring down at the marks of a horse's shoes, mingled with theimpressions of a man's hob-nailed boots.
"Looks like the tracks of your big horse Regent, don't it?" hequestioned. "An' the bootmarks are the same's the one near the canoe."
Kiddie did not wait to make conjectures. He strode quickly towards thestables. Before he reached the building he saw that the stable doorwas open. He went within. His favourite English hunter, Regent, wasnot there. Its stall was empty.
"Stolen!" he exclaimed. "Rube--Isa, d'ye see? Regent's been stolen!"
"Then we'll sure catch him, whoever he is," said Rube. "He won't ridemany miles without Regent bein' seen an' recognized by somebody thatknows that hoss is yours."
"Any suspicion who it is?" asked the sheriff.
"What's your own idea, Isa?" Kiddie inquired.
"Well," returned Isa, "seems ter me thar was more'n one of 'em at thisyer job. I'm tryin' t' identify th' owner of them boots. I've got anotion; but I ain't goin' ter jump at no rash conclusions this time.Come an' have a look at that broken winder."
Rube had gone back to the footprints, and was intently examining themwhen Kiddie went up to him.
"Well," queried Kiddie, always interested in Rube's investigations,whatever they happened to be.
"This is where he mounted," said Rube. "Here's where he stood when hewas fastening the cinch of the saddle. Nick ain't such a clevercriminal as I thought. I wonder at him leavin' his bootprintsscattered about like this. Why didn't he mount from the grass?"
"He was certainly careless," agreed Kiddie. "Looks as if he'd been ina precious hurry to get away with the boodle. You're sure, I suppose,that it was Nick Undrell who wore boots like those that made thesemarks?"
"What makes me certain," said Rube, "is the missin' nail. I noticed itthat day when we were bringin' along your outfit from Laramie. You'vegot to remember, too, that Nick's bin seen prowlin' around on yourproperty here."
"Go ahead, then, Rube," urged Kiddie. "Follow up your clues, and don'twaste time."
Kiddie himself did not appear to take much active interest in trackingthe criminal. He knew that a large quantity of his most valuablepossessions had been stolen, but he still considered the killing of hisdog the most serious injury that had been done to him, and while Isaand Rube made their way towards the cabin, he again went back to whereSheila lay dead.
When he rejoined his two companions they were still searching fortracks outside the cabin.
"Thar wasn't more'n one of 'em at it," Rube told him. "If there'd bina second, he'd sure have left some sort of clue; but we've found onlythe one set of bootprints."
"Have you looked near the window?" Kiddie asked.
"Not yet; I'm goin' there right now," replied Rube. "Keep Isa Blaggback, or he'll only get trampin' out the signs with them heavy boots ofhis. Just let me go alone--see?"
"Right," said Kiddie; "go ahead."
Rube found an empty packing-case against the boards under the window.He mounted on top of it, and examined the window sash and the brokenpane of glass, by means of which the catch of the window had beenopened. There were finger-marks on the glass, but these did not helphim, since he did not yet know what kind of marks Nick Undrell'sfingers might have left. What engaged his especial attention was oneof the sharp points of splintered glass. He jumped down, and went backto where Kiddie and the sheriff waited.
"Either of you happen ter recollect what kind of a vest or shirt NickUndrell wears?" he inquired. "Red, ain't it?"
Kiddie shook his head.
"Never saw Nick with red shirt-sleeves," he responded.
"Nor I," added the sheriff. "If you'd said yaller now----"
"Yes," resumed Kiddie; "yellow with black stripes, like a wasp, or anEnglish football player."
"Come along o' me," said Rube.
And he led them both to the window, and pointed up at the broken glass.
"Yes," began Kiddie, "he broke that pane, shoved in his hand, and movedthe hasp, then opened the lower sash, and went bodily in."
"All that's as plain as sunlight," said Rube. "But look at that sharppoint of glass. Thar's a thread of wool caught on it--yellow wool."
"Ah!" exclaimed Isa Blagg. "Nick Undrell for a certainty!"
"That's how I figure it out," Rube agreed.
"Queer!" mused Kiddie, thrusting a finger and thumb into one of hissmaller pockets. "I found a thread of the same yellow wool caught inone of p
oor Sheila's claws--the middle claw of the left fore foot."
"Dog got at him pretty close," conjectured Isa. "Guess Nick was rightup agin her when he fired."
"The hair ain't singed any round about the bullet hole," added Rube.
"That's an important point," nodded Kiddie, turning and leading the wayround to the front door of the cabin.
Rube Carter, following close behind him, sniffed, as Kiddie had done,on entering the living-room.
"Ugh," grunted Rube, "somebody bin havin' a smoke in here lately.Smells like a cigar, don't it, Kiddie? 'Tain't pipe tobacco smoke--eh?"
"No," said Kiddie, sniffing like a spaniel after partridge. "It's morelike the aroma of one of my Egyptian cigarettes." He glanced up at ashelf. "They're gone, I see."
Rube also looked up at the shelf. He knew where Kiddie kept his stockof cigarettes. He knew also that besides the cigarettes there had beenseveral parcels of pipe tobacco. He observed now that while thecigarettes had been taken, the tobacco remained on the shelf untouched.This fact puzzled him.
Kiddie had already gone into the farther room--his workroom--with IsaBlagg. Isa had taken out his pocket-book and pencil.
"If you'll sing out the things that are missin', Kiddie, I'll make alist of 'em," he said.
"But I can't tell you right off," objected Kiddie. "There's my goldwatch and chain, worth fifty guineas, a gold cigarette-case studdedwith brilliants, five diamond rings, three diamond scarfpins, aboutfive hundred pounds in English and American bank-notes--a whole heap ofthings are missin', but I'm not goin' ter worry about 'em now. Thelist can wait."
"But you want t' catch an' punish the thief, don't you?" urged Isa.
"I want to catch and punish the low-down skunk who murdered mydeerhound," declared Kiddie, his eyes flashing in the vehemence of hisanger.
"Kiddie," said Rube, now entering the room, "I'm some puzzled."
"What about, Rube?" asked Kiddie. "What's your problem?"
"It's this," answered Rube, scratching the back of his ear. "Allowin'that Nick Undrell entered by the broken winder an' carried off thevaluables you've just bin figurin' up, why, when he went into th' otherroom, did he take the cigarettes an' leave the tobacco?"
"That's a very interestin' proposition which has already occurred tome," said Kiddie.
"You see," pursued Rube, "Nick ain't a cigarette smoker. He looks on acigarette as a childish plaything. He smokes strong tobacco, the sameas we found in his pipe. Then why did he take the cigarettes an' leavethe tobacco?"
"Dunno," said Kiddie, "unless it was with the idea of leavin' a falseclue--a blind. If he had taken the tobacco, I, who know his contemptfor cigarettes, might the more readily have identified him."
"Thar's a lot in that notion," Rube acknowledged; "but it's just a bittoo cute fer a man like Nick. The galoot that would scatter hisfootprints around an' leave his pipe in the canoe ain't clever enoughter lay a false trail. Seems to me it's more likely Nick didn't seethe tobacco. He was hustlin' to get away with the loot."
"Everything else clear?" Kiddie asked.
"Yes," answered Rube. "I've got the whole thing straightened out."
"Good," nodded Kiddie; "then sit down an' give me your theory, frombeginnin' to end."
Isa Blagg appeared to consider it preposterous to appeal for anexplanation to a mere boy. Nevertheless, when Rube stated his case thesheriff was constrained to agree with it in every particular.