r of
a mile from the ditch in which the trunk with its rolls of blood-stained
cotton had been thrown. Three men, Michael Gilbert, foreman of the
cleaning gang, Michael Reese, and W. W. McMillan, the foreman of the
flushing gang, were sent to the place with orders to move the
obstruction without delay. The three men raised the cover of the
catch-basin and Reese was lowered into it. He had barely reached the
bottom when he shouted out that he had found a wooden box that contained
something that sounded like iron or tin. He was quickly hauled up,
bringing the box with him. It was an oblong affair, about a foot in
length, seven or eight inches deep and nearly as broad. In spots it
evidenced that it had once been highly varnished and polished. The
brass handle in the centre of the cover indicated that it had been
carried as a satchel is carried. Gilbert forced open the case while his
associates looked on with eager eyes. A single glance at the contents,
covered though they were with the filth that had leaked in through the
opening, was sufficient, and the three men exclaimed almost with one
breath,

"THAT IS DR. CRONIN'S BOX."

The contents were an assortment of extension splints with which the
Doctor had provided himself in anticipation of having to treat a
fractured leg when he had reached Iceman O'Sullivan's house in Lake
View.

[Illustration: THE BOX AND ITS CONTENTS.]

Reese was again lowered into the catch-basin and after a few moments
exclaimed that he had made a further find. This time he passed up the
broken frame of a satchel, its coverings entirely consumed by the foul
waters of the sewer, a second satchel and a bundle of clothes covered
with black, slimy refuse. After a hurried consultation the men decided
to notify the police, and a call was sent to the Lake View station.
Within a few moments the patrol wagon--the same one which had driven Dr.
Cronin's naked body to the morgue--was on the scene. Very quickly the
instrument box, the leather satchel, the bundle of clothes and the
rotted satchel were loaded on a stretcher and carried to the Sheffield
avenue station.

[Illustration: THE LOAD ON THE STRETCHER.]

Information of the discovery was telephoned to the Central Police
Department, and Chief Hubbard responded with an order that the things
should be brought down at once. One hour later the filthy packages were
spread out on a rubber tarpaulin in the Chief's private office, and the
leather satch