The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-09-17

of the sons, though not the pair which
he had then had. Having measured
these very carefully from seven or
eight different points, Holmes desired
to be led to the courtyard, from which
we all followed the winding track
which led to the Boscombe Pool.
Sherlock Holmes was transformed
when he was hot upon such scent
as this. Men who had only known
the quiet thinker and logician of
Baker Street would have failed to re-
cognize him. His face flushed and
darkened. His brows were drawn into
two hard, black lines, while his eyes
shone out from beneath them with a
steely glitter. His face was bent down
ward, his shoulders bowed his lips
compressed, and the veins stood out
like whip-cord in his long, sinewy
neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate
With a purely animal lust for the
chase, and his mind was so absolutely
concentrated upon the matter before
him, that a question or remark fell
unheeded upon his ears, or, at the
most, only provoked a quick, impatient
snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he
made his way along the track which
ran through the meadows. and so by
way of the woods to the BoScombe
Pool 1t was damp, marshy ground,
as is all that district and there were
lIiciIhS VI manly I6SlB OOlli uPOiA lily
path and amid the short grass which
bounded it on either side. Sometimes
Holmes would hurry on, sometimes
stop dead, and once he made quite
little detour into the meadow Les
trade and I walked behind him, the
detective Indifferent and contemptu-
ous while | watched my friend with
the interest which sprang from the
conviction that every one of his ac-
tions was directed toward a definite
end.
The Boscombe Pool, which is a
| little reed-girt sheet of water some
fifty yards across is situated at the
boundary between the Hatherley Farm
and the private park of the wealthy
Mr.. Turner. Above the woods which
! lined 1t upon the farther side we
could see the red, jutting pinnacles
which marked the site of the rich
landowners dwelling. On the Hath
erley side of the Pool the woods grew
very thick and there was a narrow
belt of Sodden grass twenty PAGES
across between the edge of the trees
and the reeds which lined the lake.
Lestrade showed us the exact spot at
which the body had been found. and,
indeed, SO moist was the ground, that
IL could plainly see the traces which
had been left by the fall of the strick-
en- man. To Holmes, as / could see
ny I1iS eager lace anu pGGIiflB eyes
very many other things were to be
read upon the trampled grass. He
ran round. like a dog who is picking
up scent, and then turned upon my
companion.
What did you go into the Pool
for?' he asked.
Il fished about with a rake.
thought there might be some weapon
or other trace. But how on earth
"Oh, tut, tut! L have no time! That
left foot of yours with its inward twist
is all over the place. A mole could
trace it, and there it vanishes among
the reeds. oh, how simple 1T would
all have been had / been here before
they came like a herd of buffalo, and
wallowed all over it. Here is where
the party with the lodge-keeper came.
and they have covered all tracks for
six or eight feet round the body. But
here are three separate tracks of the
same feet" He drew out a lens and
lay down upon his waterproof to have
a better view, talking all the time rath-
Continued on page five.)