Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-06-15


ting into deep waters" said Holmes
thoughtfully az he finished the letter.
1.-THE case certainly presents more fea
lures Of interest and more possibility
Of development than I had originally
thought I should be none the worse
for quiet. peaceful day In the COM
try, and I am inclined to run down this
afternoon and test one or two theories
which have formed"
Holmes quiet day in the country had
n singular termination. for he arrived
Mt Baker street late in the evening with
n cut lip and discolored lump upon
his forehead. besides n general air of
dissipation which would have made his
own person the fitting object Of Scot
land Yard investigation. He was i'm
mensely tickled by his own adventures
and laughed heartily as he recounted
them.
II get so little active exercise that it
Ia always treat" said he "You are
aware that have some proficiency in
the good old British sport Of boxing.
Occasionally It is Of service: today, for
example. should have come to very
ignominious grief without IT,"
begged him to tell me what had &C.
Cured.
~ found that country pub which I
had already recommended to your no
tce. and there I made my discreet in
quirios. / was In the bar. and n garru-
lOus landlord was giving me all that I
wanted. Williamson is a white bearded
man. and he lives alone with n small
staff of servants at the hall. There il
some rumor that he is or has been n
clergyman. but one or two incidents Of
his short residence at the hail struck
me as peculiarly unecclesiastical.
have already made some inquiries Mt
clerical agency. and they tell me that
there was a man Of that name in or
ders whose career has been a singu-
larly dark one.
1.-The landlord further informed me
that there are usually week end Wis.,
itors-'a warm lot. sir'-at the hall,
and especially one gentleman with a
red mustache, Mr.. Woodley by name.
who was always there. We had got
as far as this when who should walk in
but the gentleman himself who had
been drinking his beer in the taproom
and had heard the whole conversation.
Who was I? What did wantl What
did mean by asking questions? He
had fine flow Of language, and his
adjectives were very vigorous. He
ended n string of abuse by vicious
back handler, which failed to entirely
avoid. The next few minutes were de-
licious. 1t was n straight left against
a slogging rufi1an. I emerged as you
see me. Mr.. Woodley went home in Il
cart. So ended my country trip, and
it must be confessed that. however en-.
joyable, my day on the Surrey border
has not been much more profitable
than your own"
The Thursday brought us another let.
ter from our client.
You will not be surprised, Mr.
Holiness" said she. ito hear that l am
leaving Mr.. Carruthers' employment
Even the high pay cannot reconcile me
to the discomforts Of my situation. On
Saturday come up to town, and / dc
not intend to return. Mr.. Carruthers
has got trap. and so the dangers OF
the lonely road. if there ever were any
dangers, are now over.
''As to the special cause of my leav
ing it Is not merely the strained situa
ton with Mr.. CarrutherS, but it is the
temperance Of that odious man. Mr.
Woodlcy. He was always hideous. bu
he looks more awful than ever now
for he appears TO have had an acct
dent, and he Is much distigured. l saw
him out of the window. but l am glat
to say l did not meet him. He had i;
long talk with Mr.. Carruthers. wht
seemed much excited afterward. Wood
ley must be staying in the neighbor
hood, for he did not sleep here an(
, yet ] caught a glimpse Of him agar
7 this morning sinking about in thu
= shrubbery would sooner have n say
, age wild animal loose about the place
, l loathe and fear him more than | car
a say. How can Mr.. Carruthcrs endure
, such creature for n moment? How
:. ever, all my troubles will be over OF
Saturday"
}, 80 I trust. Watson; so trust" sai(
= Holmes gravely. There Is some deeI
:. intrigue going on round that little won
:, an. and it is our duty to see that no on
molcsts her upon that last journey.
think, Watson, that we must spare tim
to run down together on Saturda.
morning and make sure that this curl
- Gus and inclusive investigation has n
;, untowarl ending"
l confess that had not up to nov
. taken very serious view OF the case
!, which had seemed to me rather gre
a tesque and bizarre than dangerous
That man should lie in wait for an,
y follow very handsome woman is n
unheard of thing. and If he has so Ii,
= tie audacity that he not only dared no
=. address her, but even fed from her az
IN prOach, he was not very formidabl
NJ assailant. The rufiian WOodley was
10 very different person. but except on OF
10 occasion he had not molested our ellen
n and now he visited the house of Ca
ruthers without intruding upon HI
4. presence. The man on the bicycle WI
doubtless n member of those week er
n parties Mt the hall OF which the pu
n lican had spoken, but who he was
70 what he wanted was as obscure {
Il ever. 1t was the severity of Home
" manner and the fact that he slipped
IL revolver into his pocket before leavir
is our rooms which impressed me wi,