ocate either of the two men named by the prisoner,
or to corroborate any other portion of the story. But Woodruff, when
confronted with these contradictions, held his ground well, even in the
face of a vigorous cross-examination. His description of the mysterious
"Doc" tallied with that of Dr. Cronin to the life. He was positive,
moreover, that the corpse was that of a woman, not only because the men
had referred to "Alice," or "Allie," but also because the hand that was
exposed was soft and white and slender. This afforded ground for the
theory that the remains might have been those of a woman who had fallen
a victim to a criminal operation, but a little reasoning showed that
this was untenable. It was hardly likely that King would have arranged
with Woodruff to haul the trunk three days before the nefarious job was
to be done, for he could not very well have known that the operation
would result in the death of the victim and that, consequently, there
would be a corpse to dispose of. Nor could the crime have been committed
on the Wednesday, the day upon which Woodruff claimed to have been first
approached, without the decomposing body attracting suspicion. The only
effect, therefore, of Woodruff's first confession--for several more were
to follow at later stages of the case--was to deepen the mystery and,
incidentally, to start the authorities and friends of Dr. Cronin on
another wild goose chase. The ponds and river were dragged a second
time, sand hills and prairie trudged over for miles, until the weary and
dispirited men were ready to drop the work as well as the idea that any
connection existed between the blood-stained trunk and the disappearance
of the physician. Twenty-four hours later, as an outcome of sinister
influences that emanated from Canada, and which are dealt with at length
in another chapter, the search was practically abandoned by almost every
one concerned.

CHAPTER IV.

"IT IS A CONSPIRACY"--DR. CRONIN'S FRIENDS CLAIM THE MURDER WAS A
POLITICAL ASSASSINATION--THE PUBLIC SCEPTICAL UNTIL STARTLING
DEVELOPMENTS ARE MADE--THE PHYSICIAN IN DANGER OF HIS LIFE FOR
YEARS--PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO "REMOVE" HIM--THE TROUBLE IN THE
CLAN-NA-GAEL--CHARGES AND COUNTER CHARGES--THE BUFFALO CONVENTION--WHY
HIS "REMOVAL" BECAME A NECESSITY TO CERTAIN PEOPLE.

"He is dead I feel sure of it." So said Mrs. Conklin, when the news of
the finding of the bloody trunk, the cotton batting, and the locks of