this stone together with
some gold and silver ornaments which had been stolen; we found them in
the exact spot where we were told to look for them. The man says he is
innocent, and that they were placed where we found them unknown to him.
Now you know the whole case," said the police-officer.

"And the man you have arrested, do you think he is connected with the
men who were fighting in the Museum?" asked Tom.

"He says not. He certainly is not one of the fighters. He does not bear
the best of characters, however," was the reply.

Tom related what had happened to him in the train; several theories were
advanced to account for the keen interest taken in the stones, and the
police began exerting themselves to fathom the mystery.

The morning after Tom Ellison had left the camp a shikari went to Mark
with the information that some oorial (wild sheep) were feeding about
half a mile away, and Mark, who was a keen sportsman, promptly got his
rifle and went with the shikari.

Mark was able to get a long shot, but missed, so sat down while the
shikari climbed the peaks around to try and find the oorial again. In
about ten minutes Mark heard a slight rustling in the bushes some twenty
yards away, and he got a glimpse of a porcupine. He did not wish to fire
at it lest he should startle the oorial if they had halted anywhere
near, so he picked up a stone and threw it at the animal when next he
saw it.

"I have hit it," he muttered, as he heard a peculiar cry, and he hurried
forward, but he could find no sign of the porcupine, and he concluded it
had entered a small cave he discovered.

Mark struck a match and went in a few feet, but it appeared to be very
low, and when his match went out he decided to go no farther, for he had
no desire to stumble on the top of a porcupine.

In a short time the shikari returned, and Mark thought no more about the
animal until he had been back at the camp some time.

While Mark had been away on his shooting expedition, Harry Burton, the
Superintendent of Police, had called, and during the afternoon Mark
casually mentioned the incident of the porcupine.

"I think you are mistaken about it being a porcupine, my boy," said
Burton.

"I don't think so. I saw it twice and hit it with the stone, for I
distinctly heard it make a peculiar noise as though hurt," persisted
Mark.

"That is exactly what makes me certain it was not a porcupine, for it
is one of the animals without vocal cords, th