The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-09-21

reeds and lush, Shiny water-plants sent
an odor of decay and heavy miasmauc
vapor into our faces. while
false step plunged us more than
once thighdeep into the dark, qulverins
mlre, which shook for yards in soft I'M
dulations around our feet. Its tenacious
grip plucked at our heels as we walked
and when we sank into it. 1t was as II
some malignant hand was Juggling US
down into those obnesce depths. so GRIM
allG rurposeful was the clutch in which
..eId us once only we saw trace
that someone had passed that perilous
way before us. From amid tuft of
cotton-grass which bore it up out of the
slime. some dark thing was projecting.
Holmes sank to his waist as he stepped
from the path to eize it, and had we not
been there to drag hi mout, he could
never had set his foot upon firm land
again. He held an old black boot in the
air. Meyers Toronto, was printed on
the leather side.
1T is worth a mud bath, said he II
is our friend Sir Henry's missing boot. .
Thrown here by Stapleton in his
flight
Exactly. He retained it in his hand
after using it to set the hound upon the
track He fled when he knew the game
was up, still clutching it. And he hurled
it away at this point of his flight. We
know at least that he came so far IN
safety.
But more than that we were never des-
tined to know, though there was much
which we might surmise There was no
chance of finding footsteps in the mire.
for the mud oozed swiftly in upon them.
but as we at last reached firmer ground
beyond the marras we looked eagerly
for them
But no slightest sign of them met our
eyes. If the earth told a true story. then
Stapleton never reached that Island of
reluge toward which he struggled through
the fog upon that night. Somewhere in
the heart of the great Grimpen Mire,
down in the foul slime of the huge NOR
ass which hal sucked him in, this cold
and cruel-hearted man is forever buried.
Many traces we found of him in the
bcg-girt island where he had hid his
savage ally. A hugh driving-wheel and
shaft half-flled with rubbish showed the
position of an abandoned mine. Beside
it were the crumbling remains OF the cot
tages of the miners, driven away. no
doubt by the foul reek of the surround
ing swamp In one fthes. staple and
chain with a quantity Of gnawed bones
showed where the animal had been con-
fined Y skeeton with a tangle of brown
hair adhering to it lay among the debris.
"a dog!" said Holmes. by jove. a
curly.haired spaniel. Poor Mortimer will
never see his pet again. Well. do not
know that this place contains any secret
which we have not already fathomed.
He could hide his hound but he could
not hush his voice, and hence came those
cries which, even in daylight, were not
pleasant to hear On emergency. he
could keep the hound in the clubhouse at
Merripit but it was always a risk, and 1t
was only on the supreme day, which he
regarded as tie end of all his efforts,
that he dared do it.
The paste in the tin is no doubt the
luminous mixture with which the crea-
ture was daubed. It was suggested. of
course, by the story of the family hell
hound, and by the desire to frighten old
Sir Charles to death. No wonder the
poor devil of a convict ran and screamed
even as our friend did. and as we our
seves might have done, when we saw such
a creature bounding through the dark
ness Of the moor upon his track. 1t was
a cunning device. for. apart from the
chance of driving your victim to his death
what peasant would venture to inquire
| too closely into such a creature should
| he get sight of it, as many have done
upon the moor? I said it in London
Watcon and / say it again now, that
| never vet have we helped to hunt down
! a more dangerous man than he who Is
living yonder''-he swept his long arm
! towards the huge mottled expanse CT
| green splotched bog which stretched
| away until it merged into the russet
slopes of the moor.