"In examining the sear, you may remember, I brushed the hair away from the temple. As I ran my fingers through it, I touched--that." They look from one to the other silently for a moment, and then Joe Blakesly says: "Has he been robbed?" "Let us see;" Menard says, "he wore a money-belt, I know. Look for it, Parks." Parks examines the body, and shakes his head. "It's gone; has been cut away. The belt was worn next the flesh; the print of it is here plainly visible. The belt has been taken, and the clothing replaced!" "What coolness! what cunning! Shall we ever run the fellow down, Parks?" "_Yes!_ Boys, you know why I am leaving the mountains. I am going home to England, to be near my father who must die soon. I am not a poor man; I shall some day be richer still. If _we_ fail to find this murderer, I shall put the matter in the hands of the detectives, _and I will never give it up_. Arthur Pearson met his death while traveling for safety with a party which calls me its leader, and _I will be his avenger_! It may be in one year, or two, or twenty; it may take a fortune, and a lifetime; _but Arthur Pearson shall be avenged_!" [Illustration: "Hold the lantern closer, Joe. Look both of you; do you see _that_?"--page 19.] CHAPTER I. "STARS OF THE FORCE." "Yes, sir," said Policeman No. 46, with an air of condescending courtesy, "this _is_ the office." It is characteristic of the metropolitan policeman; he is not a man to occupy middle ground. If he is not gruffly discourteous, he is pretty certain to be found patronizingly polite. Number 46 had just breakfasted heartily, and had swallowed a large schooner of beer at the expense of the bar keeper, so he beamed benignly upon the tall, brown-faced, grey-bearded stranger who had just asked, "Is this the office of the City Detective Agency?" "This _is_ the office, sir; up two flights and turn to your left." [Illustration: "Is this the office of the City Detective Agency?"--page 22.] The stranger shifted his position slightly, glanced up and down the street, drew a step nearer the policeman, and asked: "Is it a large force?" "Well, I should say!" "I suppose you know some of them pretty well?" "Yes, _sir_; I know some of the best men of the lot." The stranger jingled some loose coin in his pocket, and seemed to have forgotten his interest in the detective force. "Officer, where does a man go to get a good brandy cocktail?" Policemen are not over bashful, and No. 46 smiled anew as he replied. "Just wait a few minutes, and I'll show you. I must stop that con--" The last syllable was lost to the stranger as 46 dashed off to wave his club before the eyes of an express-man, who was occupying too much space on the wrong side of the street. In a moment he was back again, and, as he approached, the stranger said: