"Look!" I cried. "There's the spot!" And quickly we clambered down the
steep bank, lowering ourselves by the branches of the trees until we
came to the water into which I waded, being followed closely by my two
companions.
On gaining the opposite side I clambered up to the base of the boulder
and lowered my lantern to reveal to them the gruesome evidence of the
second crime, but the next instant I cried--
"Why! It's gone!"
"Gone!" gasped the two men.
"Yes. It was here. Look! this is the hole where they buried it! But they
evidently returned, and finding it exhumed, they've retaken possession
of it and carried it away!"
The two detectives gazed down to where I indicated, and then looked at
each other without exchanging a word.
As we stood there dumbfounded at the disappearance of the body, the
Highlander's quick glance caught something, and stooping he picked it up
and examined the little object by the aid of his lantern.
Within his palm I saw lying a tiny little gold cross, about an inch
long, enameled in red, while in the center was a circular miniature of a
kneeling saint, an elegant and beautifully executed little trinket which
might have adorned a lady's bracelet.
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