gazed down to where I indicated, and then looked at
each other without exchanging a word.

As we stood there dumbfounded at the disappearance of the body, the
Highlander's quick glance caught something, and stooping he picked it up
and examined the little object by the aid of his lantern.

Within his palm I saw lying a tiny little gold cross, about an inch
long, enameled in red, while in the center was a circular miniature of a
kneeling saint, an elegant and beautifully executed little trinket which
might have adorned a lady's bracelet.

"This is a pretty little thing!" remarked the detective. "It may
possibly lead us to something. But, Mr. Gregg," he added, turning to me,
"are you quite certain you left the body here?"

"Certain?" I echoed. "Why, look at the hole I made. You don't think I
have any interest in leading you here on a fool's errand, do you?"

"Not at all," he said apologetically. "Only the whole affair seems so
very inconceivable--I mean that the men, having once got rid of the
evidence of their crime, would hardly return to the spot and re-obtain
possession of it."

"Unless they watched me exhume it, and feared the consequences if it
fell into your hands," I suggested.

"Of course they might have watched you from behind the trees, and when
you had gone they came and carried it away somewhere else," he remarked
dubiously; "but even if they did, it must be in this wood. They would
never risk carrying a body very far, and here is surely the best place
of concealment in the whole country."

"The only thing remaining is to search the wood at daylight," I
suggested. "If the two men came back here during my absence they may
still be on the watch in the vicinity."

"Most probably they are. We must take every precaution," he said
decisively. And then, with our lanterns lowered, we made an examination
of the vicinity, without, however, discovering anything else to furnish
us with a clew. While I had been absent the body of the unfortunate
Armida had disappeared--a fact which, knowing all that I did, was doubly
mysterious.

The pair had, without doubt, watched Muriel and myself, and as soon as
we had gone they had returned and carried off the ghastly remains of the
poor woman who had been so foully done to death.

But who were the men--the fellow with the broad shoulders whom Muriel
recognized, and the slim seafarer in his pilot-coat and peaked cap? The
enigma each hour became more and more inscrutable.