The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-03-12
Leads all North Carolina Daiies i'm News an Circulate

/ lying on the floor He had undoubteua.
i let himself down by the ivy, for we
! could see the marks of his feet where
4 he had landed on the lawn. His BIZ
cycle was kept in a small shed beside
1 this lawn, and it also was gone.
"He had been with me for two years,
and came with the best references,
/ but he was a silent, morose man, not
very popular either with masters or
7 BOYS. No trace could be found of the
| fugitives and now, on Thursday morn
j ing, we are as ignorant as we were on
Tuesday. Inquiry was, of course, maue
at once at Holdernesse Hall. 1t is
/ only a few miles away, and we imag-
1 ined that, in some sudden attack or
| homesickness, he had gone back to
his father. but nothing had been heard
| of him. The Duke is greatly agitated,
and. as to me, you have seen your
| selves the state of nervous prostration
/ to which the suspense and the re-
/ sponsibility have reduced me. Mr..
/ Holmes, if ever you put forward your
/ full powers, | implore you to do so
now, for never in your life could you
/ have a case which is more worthy OF
4 them"
| Sherlock Holmes had listened with
| the utmost intentness. to the statement
of the unhappy Schoolmaster. His
| drawn brows and the deep furrow be-
/ tween them showed that he needed no
| exhortation to concentrate all his at
| tention upon a problem which, apart
| from the tremendous interests In
volved. must appeal so directly to his
| love of the complex and the unusual.
He now drew out his notebook, and
| jotted down one or two memoranda.
You have been very remiss in not
coming to me sooner" said he, Sc
verely. "You start me on my investi-
CATION with a very serious handicap.
| It is inconceivable, for exaple, t2at
| this ivy and this lawn would have
yielded nothing to an expert observ-
err"
''I am not to blame, Mr.. Holmes.
| His Grace was extremely desirous to
avoid all public scandal. He was
afraid of his family unhappiness be-
| ing dragged before the world. He
has deep horror of anything of the
| kind
vestigation?"
"Yes, sir, and it has proved most
1 disappointing. An apparent clue was
at once obtained, since a boy and a
1 young man were reported to have been
seen leaving a neighbouring station by
an early train. Only last night we
/ had news that the couple had been
hunted down i'm Liverpool and they
| prove to have no connection what
ever with the matter in hand. Then
| it was that i'm my despair and disap-
pointment, after a sleepless night,
came straight to you by the early
| train"
Il suppose the local investigation
was relaxed while this false clue was
being followed up?"
ct was entirely dropped"
$50 that three days have been
| wasted The affair has been most de-
plorably handled"
81 feel it, and admit it"
'And yet the problem should be ca
pable of ultimate solution. 1 shall be
been able to trace any connection be-
| tween the missing boy and this Ger
man master?"
"None at ALL
"Was he in the masters class?"
/ "No, he never exchanged a word
| with him, so far as / know"
What is certainly very singular.
Had the boy bicycle?"
"No."
WAS any other bicycle missing?"
"No."
us that certain?"
"Quite."
"Wen, now, you do not mean seri-
ously to suggest that this German
| rode off upon bicycle in the dead
Certainly not
"Then what is the theory in your
mind?"
"1'he bicycle may have been blind.
| 1t may have been hidden somewhere,
and the pair gone off on foot"
"Quite so, but it seems rather an
absurd blind, does it not? Were there
other bicycles in this shed?"
Would he not have hidden a
couple, had he desired to give the idea
that they had gone off upon them ?"
II suppose he would"
"Of course he would. The blind
theory won't do But the incident is
an admirable starting-point for an in
vestigation. After all, a bicycle is not
an easy thing to conceal or to destroy.
One other question. Did any one call
to see the boy on the day before he
| disappeared" ?"
| NO
"Did he get any letters?"
Eyes. one letter"
From whom %
From his father"
do you open the boys letters?"
mo"
"How do you know it was from the
father?"
1.-The coat of arms was on the en-
| velope, and it was addressed in the
Dukes peculiar stiff hand. Besides,
| the Duke remembers having written. ;"
when had he a letter before that ?''
mot for several days
Had he ever one from France2"
mo, never"
you see the point of my questions
of course. Either the boy was carried
off by force or he went of his own
free-will In the latter case, you
! would expect that some prompting
from outside would be needed to make
so young a lad do such thing. If
he has had no visitors, that prompt
ing must have come in letters; hence
/ try to find out who were his corre-
'spondents. "
II fear cannot help you much. His
| only correspondent, so far as 1 know
was his own father
who wrote to him on the very day
of his disappearance. Were the rela-
/ ttons between father and son very
1 friendly?"
His Grace is never very friendly
with any one. He is completely inn
mersed in large public questions. and
| is rather inaccessible to all ordinary