Bailie Duke then told how during that morning a party of men had been sent up from the town to the moor to search for the lost Thora Kinlay.  They did not find the girl.  But Jack Paterson and another fisherman, while crossing a very lonely part of the moor, had discovered a poor dog, whose pitiful whining had drawn them to the spot.  The animal was at once recognized as the dog that had always been seen at the heels of the wandering beggar, and it stood shivering in the cold snow that had gathered there in a deep wreath.  The dog refused to move from the spot, and the men cleared away some of the snow, when they came upon the stiff and lifeless body of Colin Lothian.

At first they thought the man was merely asleep, for his woollen plaid was spread over him like a blanket.  But on raising the garment they saw marks of blood that had trickled upon the snow and sunk down into the underlying heather.  Paterson at once despatched his companion to Stromness for Dr. Linklater, whilst he himself went up to a small cottage which stood about two hundred yards away.  Nobody was in the cottage, but there were signs of some one having been there very recently, for the peats were yet smouldering on the hearthstone, and on a little table lay a towel stained with blood.

Dr. Linklater arrived sooner than Paterson expected him, and after a careful examination of the body he stated that Lothian had been dead several hours, and that his death was the result of foul play.  The man had, in fact, been murdered.

“I’m real sorry to hear this, sir,” said Flett to the bailie.  “It was only yestreen I was speakin’ wi’ poor Colin at the inn.  He’ll be sorely missed in the countryside.  But tell me, Mr. Duke, what for d’ye say that young Ericson has anything to do wi’ it?”

“Because,” the magistrate replied, “simply because the gun that the man was shot with was found near the spot where he died.  That gun, captain, is identified as Halcro Ericson’s.”

“But surely ye canna convict the lad on such slight evidence, sir.  He’s innocent, I’ll swear!”

“I trust he may prove so, captain.  But you must allow that the evidence is against him.  Colin has been shot dead, and with Ericson’s gun.  Ericson is not to be found; no one knows where he is.  That is clearly against him; and as a magistrate I am bound to arrest him on suspicion.  In fact, I have already issued a warrant for his arrest, and if you know anything of his whereabouts, just say so, Davie; for the lad’s not at his home, and his mother knows nothing.  They say he is out seeking for young Thora Kinlay; but it seems clear to me that he has fled from the consequences of his foul crime.”

“Well,” said Flett, “I have told you all I know, that the lad left the schooner here before the snow came on so heavy.  I have been expecting him aboard all the day.  I know no more, Mr. Duke, and that’s the truth.”

At this point of my skipper’s account we were interrupted by Macfarlane, who put his head in at the door and said: