Five Thousand Dollars Reward | Page 6

cannot conceive of a heart wicked enough to take such an innocent life."
"It was done for plunder?"
"Do you think so?"
"I had two hundred dollars in the bureau. That was taken."
"Yes."
"That convinces me that my poor sister was murdered so that the villain could rob the house."
"I am not sure of that."
"No?"
"This robbery may be only a blind."
"Do you think so?"
"I will not say that. It will never do to jump at conclusions. My suspicions, if I have any, turn toward that man who just left us."
"August Bordine?"
"Yes. He evidently wrote that letter. In a fit of jealousy, he may have struck the blow."
Ransom Vane was silent.
He had thought of this himself, and yet it did not seem possible that his friend could be such a demon. The detective must be left to take his own course, however.
"They seemed always on friendly terms," said Ransom, at length, "but of course there may have been secrets kept from me."
"True, I will investigate thoroughly." The detective hastened away, and a little later the coroner appeared. A jury was summoned and an examination had. This was on the morning following the tragedy.
August Bordine had been summoned by telegraph, and was the most important witness in the case.
When he told the story of the tramp the silence was oppressive.
"Did you know the fellow?"
"I did not; I believe, however, that Miss Vane stated that he had called himself Perry Jounce."
At the mention of this name young Vane started.
He plucked at his blonde mustache and seemed exceedingly nervous.
Nothing of grave importance was elicited from Bordine, only some present thought he had neglected his duty in leaving the girl so soon after the departure of the tramp.
Ransom Vane was the next witness.
He testified to finding his sister dead, with August Bordine standing over her.
"He was in hunting costume?"
"Yes."
"How armed?"
"I saw no arms. He had placed his gun against the end of the porch I think."
"You saw no knife?"
"None whatever."
Evidently the coroner had sighted the suspicious circumstances connecting August Bordine with the case.
"Did you have a knife that day?" said the coroner, turning abruptly to young Bordine.
"Yes, sir, I had a small hunting knife, but not when I found Miss Vane."
"What do you mean?"
"I lost the knife in the woods."
"Yes."
A short silence fell.
Many suspicious glances were cast at the young engineer. He felt that he occupied a delicate position, but remained calm under it.
The jury decided, after due deliberation, that Victoria Vane came to her death at the hands of an unknown party, and so the inquest ended. Murder was fully established, but the murderer was not found.
In the mean time Detective Keene had made some discoveries that he kept to himself for the time.
No one in or about Ridgewood knew Sile Keene, and so he did not at the outset deem it necessary to assume a disguise.
The bereaved brother did not live at the cottage after the murder, but found a room at the village tavern. Oft times, however, he wandered to the lonely cottage, and in silence brooded over the scene of the murder. He stood thus one day when the sound of a step startled him. He raised his eyes to peer into the face of a ragged tramp.

CHAPTER IV
.
WAS IT A CONFESSION?
The city of Grandon was only a few miles distant from Ridgewood and connected by rail. It was a small city of mushroom growth, as is characteristic of many Western towns.
It was here that the engineer August Bordine resided.
He was well to-do, supporting a widowed mother, giving her a comfortable home from his earnings.
About a week after the tragedy at Ridgewood as Bordine was walking down the street his eyes was attracted by a poster on a dead wall near.
He paused and read:
$5,000 REWARD.
The above reward will be given for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who murdered Victoria Vane at her home in Ridgewood on the 10th of June.
"BUCK BRADY, Sheriff."
Other pedestrians paused, attracted as Bordine had been by the flaming poster.
"By gosh! that ought to fetch 'im," uttered a queer-looking Yankee, who had been studying the poster for some minutes.
Bordine regarded the speaker now for the first time.
He was lean and thin, with swallow-tailed coat, tall hat, battered and worn, a huge necktie and heavy boots--a veritable Yankee from way back the young engineer thought.
"They consider the girl pretty valuable," said another.
"That reward ought to fetch the villain," uttered Bordine. "I have a notion to try for it myself."
"S'pose you dew!"
The Yankee regarded him curiously.
"It is a tempting reward."
At this moment a carriage halted, and a bearded face peered out. Beside it was a pale, pretty woman's countenance. Evidently they had been attracted by the same thing that caused pedestrians to stop and stare.
"Drive on."
It was the woman in a pleading tone.
"But see, my dear, here's something worth