Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-06-22

Holmes map Of the nstghborhood of the
school.
school, and you see also that there is
no side road for a mile either way. II
these two folk passed away by road, ii
was this road"
Exactly"
by singular and happy chance we
are able to some extent to check what
passed along this road during the night
in question. At this point. whore my
pipe is now resting. a county constable
was on duty from IL toe It is. as YOU
perceive, the first crossroad on The east
side. This man declares that he was
not absent from his post for an in
slant, aud he is positive that neither
boy nor man could have gone that way
unseen. have spoken with this police
man tonight. and he appears to me to
be perfectly reliable person. That
blocks this end. We have now to deal
with the other. There is an inn here,
the Red Bull, the landadv of which
was i'll. She had sent to Mackleton for
n doctor, but he did not arrive until
morning. being absent at another case.
The people at the inn We're alert all
night, awaiting his coming. and one or
hther Of them seems to have continual
~ had an eye upon the road. They de-
clare that no one passed. II their evil
dcnce is good. then we are fortunate
enough to be able to block the west and
also to be able to say that the fugitives
did not use the road at ALL"
"Rut the bicycle?" l objected.
"Quite so. We will come to the bicy.
Gle presently. To continue our reason
Ing, II these people did not go by the
road they must have traverscd the
country TO the north Of the house or to
the south Of the house That is certain
Let us weigh the one against the other.
On the south of the house is. as YOU
perceive, large district Of arabic land
cut up into small fields. with stone
walls between them. There | admit
that a bicycle is impossible. We can
dismiss the idea. We turn to the coun-
try on the north Here there lies a
grove OF trees marked as the Ragged
Shaw and on the farther side stretch
es great rolling moor. Lower Gil
moor, extending for ton miles and slop-
Ing gradually upward. Here. ut one
side OF this wilderness. is Hodernesse
Hall. ten miles by road, but only six
across the moor. 1t is n peculiarly des-
olate plain. A few moor farmers have
small holdings where they rear sheep
and cattle. Except these, the plover and
the curlew are the only inhabitants un-
til you come to the Chesterfield high
road. There Is church there, you see,
as we'll as few cottages and an inn.
Beyond that the hills become precipi-
tous. Surely 1t is here to the north that
our quest must lie."
"But the bicycle" I persisted.
"Well, WELL" said Holmes inpatient
~. "A good cyclist does not need a
highrOad. The moor is intersected with
paths. and the moon was at the full.
Hello! What Is this?"
There was an agitated knock Mt the
door, and an instant afterward DR..
Huxtable was In the room. In his hand
he held blue cricket cap with q white
chevron on the peak.
AT last we have a cleww he cried.
"Thank heaven. at last we are on the
dear boys track! 1t Ia his CAPT."
"Where was It found?"
"ln the van Of the gypsies who camp.
ed on the moor. They left on Tuesday.
Today the police traced them down and
examined their caravan. This was
found"
How do they account for IT."
'"They shufled and lied-said that
they found It on the moor on Tuesday
morning. They know where he IL. the
rascals! Thank goodness. they are all
safe under lock and key. Either the
fear Of the law or the dukes purse
will certainly get out Of them all that
they know"
$50 far 90 good" said Holmes when