Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1905-08-14
The Adventure of
the Priory School
No. 5 of the Series
Continued from Saturday,,


We hud come Oh small black ribbon
Of pathway. In the middle Of 1t. clear.
ly marked on the sodden soil, was the
track Of bicycle.
'lIurrah.' cried. Eve have It."
But Holmes was shaking his head
and his face was puzzled and expectant
rather than Joyous.
"a bicycle, certainly. but not tho bi.
cycle" said he IL am familiar with
forty-two different impressions left by
tires. This, as you perceive, is a Dun.
lop, with patch upon the outer cover.
Icideggcr's tires were palmers, leav-
Ing longitudinal stripes. Aveling, the
mathematical master, was sure upon
the point Therefore 1t is not Heideg.
gers track"
THE boys, them
Possibly, II we could prove bicy-
Gle TO have been In his possession. But
this we have utterly failed to do. This
track, as you perceive. was made by n
rider who was going from the direction
Of the school,"
"Or toward itr
"No, no, my dear Watson. The more
deeply sunk impression is, of course,
the hind wheel, upon which the weight
rests. You perceive several places
where II has passed across and obliter-
ated the more shallow mark Of the
front one. 1t was undoubtedly head
ing away from the school. II may or
| may NOT ha conna,taJ ,.itb ,,r In
quiry, but we will follow II backward
before. we 60 any farther"
We did so. and at the end Of few
hundred yards lost the tracks as we
emerged from the boggy portion Of the
moor. Following the path backward,
we picked out another spot where
spring trickled across II. Here, once
again, was the mark Of the bicycle,
though nearly obliterated by the hoofs
| OF cows. After that there was no sign,
, but the path ran right on into Ragged
Shaw, the wood which backed on to
the school. From this wood the cycle
must have emerged. Holmes sat do . n
on bowlder and rested his chin In his
hands. had smoked two cigarettes
| DeIOTe he iHoNeu.
"Well, WELL" said he at last. ut Is
OF course possible that cunning man
might change the tire Of his bicycle In
order to leave unfamiliar tracks. A
criminal who was capable Of such
| thought Ia a man whom I should be
proud to do business with. We will
leave this question undecided and bark
back 10 our morass again. for we have
left good deal unexplored."
We continued our systematic survey
Of the edge Of the sodden portion OF the
moor. and soon our perseverance was
gloriously rewarded. Right across the
lower part Of the bog lay n miry path.
Holmes gave cry Of delight as he ap-
preached 1t. An impression like n fine
bundle OF telegraph wires ran down the
/ center Of II. 1t was the Palmer tire.
Here Ia Herr Heidegger, sure
enough" cried Holmes exultantly. "My
reasoning seems to have been pretty
sound, Watson"
IL congratulate you"
But we hive n long way still to go.
Kindly walk clear Of the path. Now let
US follow the trail fear that II will
not Dead very far"
We found. however. rs we advanced
that this portion Of the moor Is inter
sected with soft patches. and. though
We frequently lost sight Of the track.
we always succeeded In picking 1t up
once more.
"Do you observe" said Holmes, that
the rider Is now undoubtedly forcing
the pace? There can be no doubt Of It.
Look at this impression, where you get
both tires clear. The one is as deep NJ
the other That can only mean that the
rider Is throwing his weight Oh to the
handle bar, as man does when he Is
sprinting. BY Jove, lie has had fall''
There was broad, irregular smudge
covering some yards of the track. Then
there We're few footmarks, and the
tire reappeared once more.
"a side slip" suggested.
Holmes held up Il crumpled branch
Of towering gorse. To my horror l
perceived that the yellow blossoms
were all dabbled with crimson. On the
path, too, and among the heather were
dark stains OF clotted blood.
bad" said Holmes. bad! Stand
clear, Watson! Not an unnecessary
footstep! What do l read here? lie
fell wounded-he stood up-he remount'
ed--he proceeded. But there is no
other track. Cattle on this side path
He was surely not gored by u bull
Impossible! But l see no traces OF
any one else. We must push on, Wat
son. Surely, with stains rs well rs the
track to guide, he cannot escape us
now"
Our search was not very long one
The tracks Of the tire began to curve
Enthusiastically upon the wet and shining
path. Suddenly, rs l looked ahead
the CLEAN Of metal caught my eye from
amid the thick gorse bushes. Out Of
them we dragged bicycle, Palmer
tired. one pedal bent and the whole
front Of II horribly smeared and slob
bered with blood. On the other sid'
OF the bushes shoe was projecting