what he declares to be true is this: That instead of going back
diagonally through the woods to the lone chestnut where he had
left his stick, he crossed the bridge and took the path running
along the edge of the ravine: That in doing this he came upon the
body of a man in the black recesses of the Hollow, a man so
evidently beyond all help that he would have hurried by without a
second look if it had not been for the watch he saw lying on the
ground close to the dead man's side. It was a very fine watch, and
it seemed like tempting Providence to leave it lying there exposed
to the view of any chance tramp who might come along. It seemed
better for him to take it into his own charge till he found some
responsible person willing to carry it to Police Headquarters. So,
without stopping to consider what the consequences might be to
himself, he tore it away by the chain from the hold it had on the
dead man's coat and put it in his pocket. He also took some other
little things; after which he fled away into town, where the sight
of a saloon was too much for him and he went in to have a drink to
take the horrors out of him. Since then, the detectives have
followed all his movements and know just how much liquor he drank
and to whom, in tipsy bravado, he showed the contents of his
pockets. But he wasn't so far gone as not to have moments of
apprehension when he thought of the dead man lying with his feet
in Dark Hollow, and of the hue and cry which would soon be raised,
and what folks might think if that accursed watch he had taken so
innocently should be found in his pocket. Finally his fears
overcame his scruples, and, starting for home, he stopped at the
bluff, meaning to run down over the bridge and drop the watch as
near as possible to the spot where he had found it. But as he
turned to descend, he heard a team approaching from the other side
and, terrified still more, he dashed into the woods, and, tearing