he most suspicious circumstance against him."

"You've got me," Terry laughed. "I give up when it comes to finding out
why women do things. If you had _asked_ her, you know, she would have
told you; but you never said a word about it."

"How could I ask her when I didn't know anything about it?"

"I managed to ask her," said Terry, "and what's more," he added
gloomily, "I promised it shouldn't go any further--that is, than is
necessary to get Rad off. Now don't you call that pretty tough luck,
after coming 'way down here just to find out the truth, not to be
allowed to print it when I've got it? How in the deuce am I to account
for Rad's behavior without mentioning her?"

"You needn't have promised," I suggested.

"Oh, well," Terry grinned, "I'm human!"

I let this pass and he added hastily, "We've disposed of Jeff; we've
disposed of Radnor, but the real murderer is still to be found."

"And that," I declared, "is Cat-Eye Mose."

"It's possible," agreed Terry with a shrug. "But I have just the
tiniest little entering wedge of a suspicion that the real murderer is
not Cat-Eye Mose."

CHAPTER XXI

MR. TERENCE KIRKWOOD PATTEN OF NEW YORK

"There is Luray," I said, pointing with my whip to the scattered houses
of the village as they lay in the valley at our feet.

Terry stretched out a hand and pulled the horses to a standstill.

"Whoa, just a minute till I get my bearings. Now, in which direction is
the cave?"

"It extends all along underneath us. The entrance is over there in the
undergrowth about a mile to the east."

"And the woods extend straight across the mountain in an unbroken line?"

"Pretty much so. There are a few farms scattered in."

"How about the farmers? Are they well-to-do around here?"

"I think on the whole they are."

"Which do they employ mostly to work in the fields, negroes or white
men?"

"As to that I can't say. It depends largely on circumstances. I think
the smaller farms are more likely to employ white men."

"Let me see," said Terry, "this is just about planting time. Are the
farmers likely to take on extra men at this season?"

"No, I don't think so; harvest time is when they are more likely to need
help."

"Farming is new to me," laughed Terry. "East Side problems don't involve
it. A man of Mose's habits could hide pretty effectually in those woods
if he chose." He scanned the hills again and then brought his eyes back
to the village. "I suppose we might a