orth. About twenty feet north of the fire plug was a
catch-basin into which the water from the ditch was supposed to flow,
just as it flows into them in sections of the city that are paved. At
this point, however, the sand had rolled down from the roadway into the
open ditch, damming up the water so that it could not escape into the
basin. One glance at the ditch convinced Foreman Rosch that this was
the source of the trouble, and procuring their shovels, the three men
went to work with a will to throw out the moist sand. It was a slow and
laborious job, and it was well on towards four o'clock when they reached
the immediate vicinity of the catch-basin. The latter, as will be seen
in the illustration, was circular in form, built of brick, and with a
heavy wooden top on a level with the street. About two feet below the
top was an opening in the side of the brick wall to the southwest. In
this a barred iron grating was set, through which the water from the
ditch was supposed to flow. With the exception of this side, which was
open to the bottom of the grating, the circular brick basin was
surrounded by dirt almost to the street level. The locality was
precisely one mile north of the spot where the bloody trunk had been
found, the same roadway leading directly to the catch-basin and almost
directly to the neighborhood of O'Sullivan's ice-house whither Dr.
Cronin had been summoned by the mysterious messenger.

[Illustration: THE CATCH-BASIN, SHOWING FIRE-PLUG AND DITCH.]

"MURDER WILL OUT."

The laborers wondered, as they shoveled the sand out of the ditch, what
it was that caused the terrible stench that pervaded the atmosphere. It
was indescribably strong and noisome, and more than once they were
almost compelled to cease their work. Yet, although they searched around
and examined the ground for a square block, they could find nothing to
which it could be attributed. At last the ditch was cleaned out, and the
foreman concluded to take a look into the catch-basin before quitting
for the night. Accordingly, getting down on his hands and knees, he
peered through the iron grating. In the darkness he could discern
something white apparently floating in the water.

"There's a dog in here" he called out "and that's what has been making
this stench."

"That's strange" replied Finegan, coming up "how the deuce could a dog
get in there?"

Finegan pressed his face close to the bars for a moment.

"Great heavens," he ejacul