Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1905-08-31
tCoTTIEUED,1

might change tho tire of his bicycle In
order to leave unfamiliar tracks. A
criminal who was capable Of such a
thought Is a man whom | should be
proud to DO business with. We will
leave his question undecided and bark
back to our morass again, for we have
left II good dca! uncXplored."
We continued our systematic survey
Of the edge Of the goddcn portion Of the
moor, and soon our perseverance, was
gloriously rewarded. Right across the
lower part Of the bog lay a Inirv path.
Holmes gave 81 cry Of delight as he ap-
preached 1t. An impression like q fine
bundle Of telegraph wires ran down the
center Of It. 1t was the Palmer tire.
Here Is Herr Hcidcgger, sure
enough" CRIED Holmes cxultantly. my
reasoning seems to have been pretty
sound, Watson"
~ congratulate you"
But we have q long way still to 90.
Kindly walk clear Of the path. Now let
us follow he trail. fear that 1t will
not lead very far"
We found, however, as We advanced
that this portion Of the moor is inter
sectcd with soft patches, and, though
we frequently lost sight Of the track,
We always succeeded In picking it up
once more.
d. you observe" said Holmes, that
III" rider is now undoubtedly forcing
the pacci There can be no doubt Of it.
Look At this impression, whore YOU get
both tires clear. The one is as deep as
the other. That can only mean lhAt the
rider Is throwing his weight on TO the
handle bar, as a man does when he Is
sprinting. BY Jovc, he has had a fall
There was a broad, irregular sluucge
covering some yards Of the track. Then
there were a few foot,narks, and the
tire %rcappcare1 once more.
"a side Slip" I suggested.
Holmes hcld up a crumplcd branch
OF Towering gorsc. To my horror /
perceived that the yellow blossoms
were all dabblrd 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 | read here! He
fell wounded he TODD up~-hc remount-
ed-Ae proceeded. But there is no
other track. Cattle on this side path.
he was surely not yorcd by q bull!
Impossible. Eut | see no traces Of
any one else. We must push on, Wat
son. Surely, with stains az well as the
track to guide, he cannot cscape US
now"
Our search was not Il very long one.
The tracks Of the tire began to curve
Enthusiastically upon the wet and shining
path. Suddenly, as ! looked ahead,
the CLEAN OF metal caught my eye from
amid he thick gorsc bushes. Out Of
them we dragged a bicycle, Palmer
tired, II pedal bent and the who'll
front Of 1t horribly slneared and slob-
bcrcd with blood. On the other side
Of the bushes Il shoe was projecting.
We ran round and there lay the uIl-
fortunate rider. He was Il tall man.
full bearded, with spectacles, one glass
OF which had been knocked out. The
cause Of his death was a frightful
blow upon the head, which had crush
ed in part Of his skull. That he cou!l
have gone on after receiving such an
injury said much for the vitality and
courage Of the man. lie wore shoes.
closed a nightshirt beneath It. 1t was
undoubtedly the German master.
Holmes turned the body over revcr-
emily and examined 1t with grcH, at
tention. He then sat in deep thought
for II time, and | could see by his ruff
fled brow that this grim discovery had
not. In his opinion, advanced us much
In our inquiry.
ut Is Il little difficult to know wat
to do, Watson" said he ut last. my
own lnrlinations are to push this in
quiry on, for we have already lost so
much time that "" cannot afford to
waste another hour. On the other hand,
we are bound to inform the police of
the discovery and to see that this poor
fellows body Is looked after"
II could take a note back
But need your company and as
sistance. Wait Il bit. There is II fcl-
low cutting peat up yonder, Bring him
over here, md he will guide the po-
lice"
! brought the peasant across, and
Holmes dispatched the frightened man
with II note to DIR. HuXtublc.
Now, Watson" said he, I'VE have
picked up two clcws this morning. One
is the bicycle with the Palmer tire,
and we see what hat has led to. The
other is the bicycle with the patched
Dunlop. Before we start to investi-
gate that let us try to realize what we
90 know, so rs to make the most of 1t
and to separate the essential from the
accidental"
"HIrst Of all, l wish to impress upon
you that the boy certainly left of his
W free Will. He got down from his
window, n he went Off either alone
OF with some one. That Is sure"
assentcd.
"Well, now let us turn to this I'M
fortunate German master. The boy
was fully dressed when he fled. There
fore he foresuw what he would do.
But the German went without his
socks. He certainly acted on very
rhort nnfica"