The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-03-12

strenuous day that awaited US.
And yet 4 opened in the blacklist
Disappointing nj With high hopes we
struck across The peaty. russell moor,
interseeted with Il thousand sheep
paths. until W came to the broad,
light-green belt which marked the
morass between MS and IIo1dernesse.
Certainly, If the lad had gone home-
wards, he must have passed this, and
he could not pass it without leaving
his traces. But no sign of him or the
German could be seen. With a dark
ened face my friend strobe along the
margin. eagerly observant of every
muddy stain upon the messy surface.
Sheep-marks there were in PROPULSION,
and at one place some miles down,
COWS had left their tracks. Nothing
MORE
''Check number one" said Holmes.
looking gloomily over the rolling ex-
panse of the moor There is another
morass down yonder and narrow
neck between. Halloal halloa! hal
Loaf what have we here?''
We had come on a small black rib
bon of pathway. In the middle of 1t.
clearly marked ON the sodden soil,
was the track of a bicycle.
'Hurrahl' I cried. I'VE have it,
But Holmes was shaking his head.
and his face was puzzled and expect
ant rather than joyour.
"A bicycle, certainly, but not the
bicycle said he. " lam familiar with
forty-two different impressions left by
tyres This, as you perceive, is a Dun
lop, with a patch upon the outer
cover. Heldegger's tyres were Palm
ers, leaving longitudinal stripes. Avel-
ing, the mathematical master, was
.fft. TIT Il
not Heidegger.s track"
''The boys them"
Possibly, If we could prove a BIZ
cycle to have been in his possession.
But this we have utterly failed to do.
This track, as you perceive, was made
by rider who was going from the di-
reetion of the school,"
"Or towards it,"
mo, 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 1t has passed across and oblit-
Grated the more shallow mark of the
front one. 1t was undoubtedly head
ing away from the school. It may or
may not be connected with our in
quiry, but we will follow it backwards
before we go any farther"
We olt Sbs anu a. lllO Ciiu VI d lew
hundred yards lost the tracks as we
emerged from the Doggy portion OF
the moor. Following the path back
wards. we picked out another spot,
where a spring tricl1led across it. Here,
once again, was the mark of the BIZ
cycle. 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 down on a boulder, and
rested his chin in his hands. 1 had
smoked two cigarettes before he
moved.
well. WELL" sale he, at last. 'It is,
of course. possible that a cunning man
might change the tyre of lis bicycle
in order to leave unfamiliar tracks.
A criminal who was capable of such
thought is a man whom l shouIu be
proud to do. business with. We will
leave this question undecided and bark
back to our morass- again, for we have
left a good deal unexplored."
We continued our systematic survey
of the edge of the sodGen portion of
the moor. and soon ourperseverance
was gloriously rewarded. Right across
the lower part of the bog lay a miry
path. Holmes gave a cry of delight as
he approached it. an impression like
a fine bundle of telegraph wires ran
down the center of 1t. 1t was the
Palmer tyre.
Here is Herr Heidegger, sure
enough!' cried Holmes, exultantly.
MY reasoning seems to have been
pretty sound, Watson"
Fl congratulate. you'
but we have a long way still to go.
Kindly walk clear of the path. Now
let US follow the rail. ar that it
will not lead very far"
We found, however, as we advanced