e had attempted.

His shirt had been saturated with blood, and he had been compelled to
destroy it to prevent detection.

Sommers lectured him roundly upon this exhibition of weakness, and,
after a time spent in friendly advice, he succeeded in reassuring
him.

Bucholz related to him at this interview a dream which he said he had
the evening before. He had seen the court assembled--the room was
filled with people and his trial was going on. Then, stopping
suddenly in his narration, he gazed wildly at his companion, and
exclaimed:

"If you are a detective, you have made a nice catch this time. But,
you see I have a steady hand yet, and if you were to take the stand
against me, I would rise in my place and denounce you to the court.
Then I would plunge a knife into my heart."

The detective looked unflinchingly and scornfully into the glaring
eyes of the man before him, and laughed lightly at his ravings. He
resolved, however, in order to prevent accidents, that every
precaution should be taken against the occurrence of such a scene.

He had no fear that Bucholz would do what he threatened. At heart he
knew the man to be a coward. No one who could stealthily creep behind
his unsuspecting victim and deal the deadly blow of an assassin
could, in his opinion, possess the moral courage to face a death by
his own hands, and particularly after the failure of this first
attempt.

He did not communicate this opinion to the prisoner, but he treated
the subject in a jesting manner, and told him that if he heard any
more of such nonsense he would inform the prison authorities and his
liberty would be curtailed.

He then proceeded to unfold a plan which he had concocted for the
relief of his friend, and to manufacture evidence that would bear an
important part in the coming trial.

He would procure an old shirt and a pair of pantaloons, which he
would first stain with blood, and would then bury them in the ground
near to the scene of the murder, and would then write an anonymous
letter to the State's attorney and to the counsel for Bucholz,
informing them of the place where they could be found.

The prisoner eagerly accepted this suggestion. He seemed to forget
his pain, his fears and his suspicions as he listened, and when
Sommers had concluded he laughed heartily, then he added, hurriedly:

"You must get an axe also, and bury that with the clothes; that
was----"

He stopped abruptly, as though afraid of saying too