 "the adventure of the priory school", one of the 56 sherlock holmes short stories written by british author sir arthur conan doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as the return of sherlock holmes. doyle ranked "the adventure of the priory school" tenth in his list of his twelve favorite holmes stories. ==synopsis== thumb|holmes discovers heidegger's body. holmes receives a visit from dr. thorneycroft huxtable, the founder and principal of a preparatory school called priory school in northern england. he beseeches holmes to come back to mackleton with him to look into the kidnapping of one of his pupils. the boy's father, the duke of holdernesse, has offered a reward of Â£5000 to anyone who can tell him where his son, the ten-year-old lord saltire, is, and a further Â£1000 to anyone who can tell him who his kidnappers are. james wilder, the duke's personal secretary, has also been indiscreet enough to mention something to huxtable about the young lord's unhappy home life. his parents no longer live together, his mother having moved to southern france. wilder has said that lord saltire's sympathies were with his mother in these matters. upon arrival at the school, though, lord saltire seemed to be quite happy, and in his element. less than a fortnight later, however, he suddenly disappeared from the school. he could only have left by climbing out of his window at night and down the thick ivy to the ground. curiously, the german master, heidegger, is also missing, along with his bicycle. lord saltire had received a letter that very day from his father, but huxtable has no idea of the contents. the boy has taken it with him. he was fully dressed, too. however, heidegger left his shirt and socks behind. holmes decides to accompany huxtable back to mackleton, even though he is quite busy with business in london. he tells huxtable first that if he is going to telegraph home, it would be wise to let the rumour of progress in liverpool persist. once in the north, holmes asks the duke a few questions. his grace does not think that his estranged wife has anything to do with his son's disappearance, nor has there been a ransom demand. he can also think of nothing in the letter that he wrote, posted by james wilder along with dozens of others, that could have upset lord saltire. holmes establishes that the boy and his kidnappers could not have used the nearby road without being seen, suggesting that they went cross-country. as if to confirm this, the police find the boy's school cap in some gypsies' possession. they swear that they simply found it on the moor, but the p
1903_short_stories Novels_about_cycling Sherlock_Holmes_short_stories_by_Arthur_Conan_Doyle