d. "But nobody got caught, or they'd
have been missed," he added comfortingly. "Nobody in the
neighborhood's disappeared, has there?"

"Not that I've heard of," Stone replied. "But it's luck, not my
deserts, if no harm's been done."

"I'll go along with you," Brant offered. "We'll have that trouble off
your mind in a jiffy."

So, the two men turned, and took the trail past the Higgins' clearing
and on until they came to Thunder Branch, where Plutina had made her
discovery. They followed the course of the stream upward, the marshal
in the lead. As he came to the bend, where the rocky cliffs began,
Stone turned and called over his shoulder:

"They're just beyond." Then, he went forward, with quick, nervous
strides, and disappeared beyond the bend. A moment later, a great cry
brought Brant running.

It was, in truth, a ghastly scene that showed there, lighted
brilliantly by the noontide sun. In the midst of the little space of
dry ground bordering the stream, where the lush grass grew thick and
high, the body of a man was lying. It was contorted grotesquely,
sprawling at length on its face, in absolute stillness--the stillness
of death. Brant, himself horrified, looked pityingly at the white,
stricken face of the marshal, and turned away, helplessly. He could
find no words to lessen the hideousness of this discovery for the man
through whose fault the tragedy had come.

Then, presently, as Stone seemed paralyzed by the disaster, Brant went
closer to examine the gruesome thing.

The victim had been caught by both traps. Evidently, he had stepped
fairly into the first. Then, as the great jaws snapped shut on his
leg, he had lurched forward and fallen. His arms were outspread wide.
But his head was within the second trap. The jaws of it had clamped on
the neck. The steel fangs were sunk deep into the flesh. Blood from
the wounds was caked black on the skin.

"He didn't suffer any to speak of," Brant remarked, at last. He
observed, with some surprise, that his voice was very thin. He was
not a squeamish man, and he had seen many evil sights. But this--

With repugnance, he set himself to the task of releasing the trap that
held the dead man's head. He had the delicacy not to call on his
distressed companion for aid. The task was very difficult, and very
gruesome, for it required harsh handling of the head, which was in the
way. Finally, however, the thing was accomplished. The savage jaws
were freed from the flesh