holes." Beckley pulled at the edge
of one and the burnt leather parted easily. "Murky--of course it was
he--must have seen that this bag would no longer safely hold his plunder."

"Then he's taken it out and put it into something else," said Way.
"Perhaps his coat, if he had one left."

"No; here's what looks like it had once been a coat."

Further search under the moon revealed only that certain foot tracks,
found by Paul Jones, led off to the left through the wet ashes, as if
the party who made them was in a great hurry. But, search as they might,
only one pair of foot tracks could be seen.

"Evidently Grandall did not survive," said Beckley. "No wonder! He must
have been all in when that scoundrel dragged him back inside the burning
building. But how could Murky have gotten out alive? Probably Grandall,
in his frantic haste, must have caught up the wrong bag, for it was the
money he was after. When Grandall was finished his companion would, of
course, try to make sure of the loot which both had schemed so hard to
get and keep."

Reasoning thus, they all went on to Staretta, for nothing could be done
that night, or without bloodhounds, which the county sheriff was known
to have at his home at the county seat.

CHAPTER XII

WAS THIS THE END OF MURKY?

When the still struggling Grandall was dragged inside by Murky and hurled
through the burning bedroom door into the flames beyond, the latter had
one resource left, though it is doubtful if he would have thought of that
but for one fact. In the brief struggle they had stumbled over another
suit-case than the one Grandall had heaved to the water's edge.

Murky recalled that when he had at first entered he had seen two bags. One
was the bag containing the money. Another, a trifle smaller, was the
one brought by Grandall containing articles for his personal use while
in the woods. In the fight Grandall had grabbed the smaller, whether
by mistake or not will never be known. But in such a death-and-life
struggle as went on, with Murky indisputably the best man, such a mistake
was likely, more than likely, to have been made by the despairing,
frightened thief then being overpowered by a more ferocious, desperate
rogue.

In less than a second Murky knew that there lay the treasure for which
he had run such a terrible risk, and also that his only competitor was
gone. Little would the fire leave of Grandall for after-recognition, when
the ruins were searched. T