. But--I don't know.
I must have another look around the jewelry store."

A day or so after his return from the West, the colonel made a close
examination of the shop. Just what he was looking for he hardly knew,
but he was quite surprised when he discovered, connected with the main
lighting wires of the store, other wires which ran to various places in
the shelves and the show windows, where many of the clocks stood.

"I wonder if that's a new kind of burglar alarm," thought the colonel.
"If it is, it's the first time I've ever seen one hooked up to the
electric light circuit. A bad thing in case of a short circuit. A
person might get a shock that would knock him down and--"

Something seemed to give the colonel a new idea. He made a hurried
examination of the wires and then left the store, to be seen a little
later at the establishment of an electrician, where he stayed some time.

It was late that afternoon, when the papers, in extra editions,
announced the indictment of James Darcy for the murder of his cousin.

When Colonel Ashley returned to his hotel from the electrician's, he
found Amy Mason waiting for him.

"Oh, Colonel! isn't this dreadful?" she exclaimed, holding out a paper.
"It's so--so--"

"Tut, tut! my dear young lady, this is nothing! It is only a little
shoot on the main stem. Don't let it distress you. It was to be
expected."

"I know! But it sounds so dreadful! Before, he was only suspected,
even though formally charged. Now it seems as if he were found
_guilty_!"

"Far from it. The only evidence against him, just as it has been all
along, is circumstantial. They have yet to prove anything, and I don't
believe they can. Cheer up! I'll get him off yet!"

"Are you sure, Colonel?" and her eyes were bright with unshed tears.

"Sure? Why, of course I am!"

And yet the colonel had to force himself a bit to make that sound
natural. Perhaps it was because he had said it so often and was tired.

Or did it have anything to do with the strange wires that led to the
work table of James Darcy?

CHAPTER X

THE DEATH WATCH

Doctor Warren, the county physician, stopping in at police
headquarters, as he often did on returning from his round of private
visits, to see if there were any official calls for him, encountered
Detective Carroll.

"Hello, Doc!" was the genial greeting, for Doctor Warren was more than
a physician. He was a politician, and politics and the police we