They closed be-
hind him. Three minutes later he emerged, shaking his
head.
"There is no one here," he announced.
Willie Case was crestfallen. "But they must be," he
pleaded. "They must be. I saw 'em here just a leetle
while back."
Burton turned and eyed the boy sternly. Willie
quailed. "I seen 'em," he cried. "Hones' I seen 'em. They
was here just a few minutes ago. Here's where they bur-
rit the dead man," and he pointed to the little mound of
earth near the center of the clearing.
"We'll see," commented Burton, tersely, and he sent
two of his men back to the Case farm for spades. When
they returned a few minutes' labor revealed that so
much of Willie's story was true, for a quilt wrapped
corpse was presently unearthed and lying upon the
ground beside its violated grave. Willie's stock rose once
more to par.
In an improvised litter they carried the dead man
back to Case's farm where they left him after notifying
the coroner by telephone. Half of Burton's men were
sent to the north side of the woods and half to the road
upon the south of the Squibbs' farm. There they sep-
arated and formed a thin line of outposts about the
entire area north of the road.
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