Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-08-03


prepared to do that"
"I,ut II he is never found, Ell? An
swer me thatw
'1n that case no doubt his family
Nothing Of the sort, sr!' screamed
the little man. "Dont look to me for
penny-not penny! You under
stand that, Mr.. Detective! am all the
family that this young man has got,
and tell you that am not respon-
sble. If he has any expectations it is
due to the fact that nave never vast
cd money, and do not propose to be-
gin to do 80 now. As to those papers
with which you are making so free, I
may tell you that in case there should
be anything of any value among them
you will bc held strictly to account for
what You do with them"
Every good. SIR" said Sherlock
Holmes. MAY ask in the meanwhile
whether you have yourself any theory
to account for this young mans disap-
pearance?"
| mo, sir, have not. Hc Is big
enough and old enough TO look after
himself, and II he is so foolish as to
lose himself entirely refuse to accept
the responsibility Of hunting for him."
81 quite understand your position"
said Holmes, with n mischievOus twin
kle In his eyes. "Pcrhaps you don't
quite understand mine. Godfrey Stnun-
ton appears to have been poor man.
II he has been kidnapped it could not
have been for anything which he him
self possesses. The fame OF your
wealth has gone abroad Lord Mount
James, and 1t is certainly possible that
n gang Of thieves have secured your
nephew in order to gain from him some
Information as to your house. your
habits and your treasure"
The face Of our unpleasant little WIS.,
itor turned as white as his necktic
"Heavens, sir. what an idea. never
thought Of such villany! What nhu-
mar rogues tkSre are in the world!
But Godfrey is fine lad-a stanch lad.
Nothing would induce him to give his
old uncle away. I'll have the plate
moved over to the bank this evening.
In the meantime spare no pains, Mr..
Detective! l beg you to leave no stone
unturned to bring him safely back. AS
to money, well. SO far as flyer or even
a tenner goes. you can always look to
me-"
Even in his chastened frame of mind
the noble miser could give us no infor
nation which coold help us. for he
knew little of the private life of his
nephew. Our only ccw lay in the trun-
| to1 t0lo nj ,,.itl !, of 10
in his hand Holmes SGT forth to find n
second link for his chain. We had shak
on off Lord Mount-Jamcs. and Overton
had gone to consult with the other
members of his team over the misfOr-
tune which had befallen them.
There was telegraph Office at a
short distance from the hotel. We halt
ed outside 1t.
ITS worth trying, Watson" said
Holmes. "Of course with warrant we
could demand to see the countcrfolls,
but we have not reached that stage
yet. don't suppose they remember
faces in SO busy place. Let us ven
ture it,
II am sorry to trouble yo,l," said he
in his blandcst manner to the young
woman behind the grating: there Is
, some small mistake about Il telegram
sent yesterday. have had no answer
and very much fear that ! must have
omitted to put my name at the end.
, Could you tell me if this was sou
The young woman turned over O
sheaf Of counterfoils.
, "What o'clock was it, she asked.
"a little after c.
, "WhOm was it to-
Holmes put his finger to his lips and
glanced at me- THE last words in il
were for Gods sake" he whispered
confidentially. Il am very anxious al
getting no answer"
The young woman separated one OF
the forms.
"This is It. There IS no name" sale
she, smoothing it out upon the counter
"Thcn that, Of course, accounts fol
. my getting no answer" said Holmes
, Dear me, how very stupid of me, to BIZ
= sure. Good morning, miss. and man!
thanks for having relieved my mind.
! He chuckled and rubbed his hand.
when we found ourselves in the stree
u once more.
"Welly asked.
I'VE progress, my dear Watson. w
J. progress. had seven diffcren
= schemes for getting Il glimpse Of tina
J. telegram, but l could hardly hope t
l. succeed the very first time"
And what have You gained?"
s "a starting point for our investi
q CATION" He hailed cab. king
= Cross station" said he.
6 1--WE have Il journey, then"
"Ycs, l think we must run down t.
u Cambridge together. All the indica
6 tions seem to me to point in that diret
tion."
Tell mo-" asked. as we ratified III
Gray's Inn road. "have you any sus
p picion yet as to the cause of the dis
Is appearance? don't think that anon
all our cases l have known one wher
Is the motives are more obscure. Sure
y you don't really imagine that he ma
II be kidnapped in order to give informa
IL ton against his wealthy uncleT
'e II confess, my dear Watson. tina
a. that does not appeal to ME MS a YER
probable explanation. 1t struck mt
a however, as being the one which wa
lp most likely to interest that exceedingly
lg unpleasant old person.
[e 1T certainly did that, but what ar