"I'm lookin' for somebody else. I'm goin'
to be a dee-tectiff, an' I'm shadderin' a murderer;" and
he gasped and stammered: "But not you. I'm lookin' for
another murderer."
For the first time the watchers saw a faint smile
touch the girl's lips.
"What other murderer?" she asked. "Who has been
murdered?"
"Two an' mebby three in Oakdale last night," said
Willie Case more glibly now that a chance for dissemi-
nating gossip momentarily outweighed his own fears.
"Reginald Paynter was murdered an' ol' man Baggs an'
Abigail Prim's missin'. Like es not she's been murdered
too, though they do say as she had a hand in it, bein'
seen with Paynter an' The Oskaloosie Kid jest afore the
murder."
As the boy's tale reached the ears of the three hidden
in the underbrush Bridge glanced quickly at his com-
panions. He saw the boy's horror-stricken expression fol-
low the announcement of the name of the murdered
Paynter, and he saw the girl flush crimson.
Without urging, Willie Case proceeded with his story.
He told of the coming of The Oskaloosa Kid to his
father's farm that morning and of seeing some of the
loot and hearing the confession of robbery and killing
in Oakdale the night before.
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