s mind on what he read for
much thinking of the diamond cross mystery, that his eye chanced on
page 170, where he saw the passage:

"There be also three or four other little fish that I had almost
forgot, that are all without scales--"

The book dropped from the detective's hand.

"Gad!" he exclaimed. "That's what I've been forgetting--the _little_
fish. I must get after some of them. They may turn the scale in our
favor. Little fish! That's it. Small fry, when you can't get big
ones! I wonder--"

There was a knock at the door and Shag entered, bowing and saluting
military style at the same time.

"Scuse me, Colonel, sah," he began, "but does yo' want t' heah any
news?"

"Any news, Shag? What sort? Come, speak up, you rascal!"

"Well, sah, Colonel, yo' done tell me, when we come heah, not t'
trouble yo' wif any detective news, but--"

"Oh, that was before I got mixed up in this Darcy case, Shag. The
prohibition is off, so to speak. If you have any news--"

"No, sah, Colonel, 'tisn't 'bout po' ole Miss Darcy--leastways not
_much_ about her. But dere's been annudder murder in town."

"Another murder?"

"Yes, Colonel. Boys on de streets yellin' extry papers now, all 'bout
de murder."

"Who is it? Where? When did it happen?"

"Jest 'bout a hour ago. It's a man--a Indian man whut kept a curiosity
shop--de same place where yo' an' me was lookin' at dem funny snake
candlesticks las' week."

"Singa Phut's place? Great Scott, Shag! You don't mean to tell me,
_he's_ killed, do you?"

"No, sah, Colonel! Dat Mr. Phut ain't killed. It's his partner. He's
got a funny name, too. Heah, I done brought yo' a paper," and Shag
pulled out an extra from under his vest, where he had carefully kept it
concealed until he had made sure of his master's frame of mind.

The colonel scanned the front page with its black type eagerly. Surely
enough, there had been a murder. Shere Ali, Singa Phut's partner, had
been found lying on the floor of the little curiosity shop with his
head crushed in.

"And in the dead man's hand was a ticking watch," read the colonel.

For a moment he stared at the words. Then a light seemed to come over
his face. He crushed the paper in his hand, and then spread it out to
read again the startling news, while he murmured:

"The watch of death!"

CHAPTER XI

NO ALIMONY

"Shag!" exclaimed the colonel.

"Yes, sah!"

"We're going fishing tomorrow!"

"Is we, Col