The sheriff and I were equally puzzled. I should have suspected that Terry, in the rôle of detective, was playing a joke on them, had he not very evidently got something on his mind. He was of a sudden in a frenzy of impatience to reach the cave, and he kept well ahead of us most of the way. "I suppose," said Mattison as he climbed a fence with tantalizing deliberation--we were going by way of the fields as that was shorter--"I suppose that you are trying to prove that Radnor Gaylord had nothing to do with this murder?" "That will be easy enough," Terry threw back over his shoulder. "I dropped _him_ long ago. The one I'm after now is the real murderer." Mattison scowled slightly. "If you can explain what it was that happened in that cave that upset him so mightily, I'd come a little nearer to believing you." Terry laughed and fell back beside him. "It's a thing which I imagine may have happened to one or two other young men of this neighborhood--not inconceivably yourself included." Mattison, seeing no meaning in this sally, preserved a sulky silence and Terry added: "The thing for us to do now is to bend all our energies toward finding Cat-Eye Mose. I doubt if we can completely explain the mystery until he is discovered." "And that," said the sheriff, "will be never! You may mark my words; whoever killed the Colonel, killed Mose, too." "It's possible," said Terry with an air of sadness, "but I hope not. I came all the way down from New York on purpose to see Mose, and I should hate to miss him." CHAPTER XXII THE DISCOVERY OF CAT-EYE MOSE Having lighted our candles, we descended into the cave and set out along the path I now knew so well. When we reached the pool the guide lit a calcium light which threw a fierce white glare over the little body of water and the limestone cliffs, and even penetrated to the stalactite draped roof far above our heads. For a moment we stood blinking our eyes scarcely able to see, so sudden was the change from the semi-darkness of our four flickering candles. Then Terry stepped forward. "Show me where you found the body and point out the spot where the struggle took place." He spoke in quick, eager tones, so excited that he almost stuttered. It was not necessary for him to act the part of detective any longer. He had forgotten that he ever was a reporter--he had forgotten almost that he was a human being. From where we stood we pointed out the place above the pool where the struggle had occurred, the spot under the cliff where the body had lain, and the jagged piece of rock on which we had found the coat. Moser even laid down upon the ground and spread out his arms in the position in which we had discovered the Colonel's body. "Very well, I see," said Terry. "Now the rest of you stay back there on the boards; I don't want you to make a mark."