Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1905-08-17
lcoSTrNuEnJ

aware mat l nave SuIH pTOlnR1EN Ill
the good Old British sport of boxing.
Occasionally 1t is Of service; to-day. for
example, l should have come to very
ignominious grief without it"
/ begged him to tell me what had &C.
cured.
81 found that country pub which I
had already recommended to your no.
tice, and there l made my discreet In
quiries. I vas in the bar, and o garTu-
lous landlord was giving me all that l
wanted. Williamson sawfdte bearded
man, and be lives alone with q small
staff of servants at the hall. There is
some rumor that be Is or has been a
clergyman. but one or two incidents of
his short residence at the hall struck
me as peculiarly unecclesiastral 1
have already made some Inquiries at q
clerical agency, and they tell me that
there was a man Of that name in or
ders whose career has been a Singh
larry dark one.
The landlord further Informed HE
that there are usually week end Wis
WALL lO1 ~ "dl Ut Itll
and especially n gentleman with q
red mustache, Mr.. Woodley by lame.
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 I want? What
did l mean by asking questions: He
had a fine flow of language, and his
adjectives were very vigorous. He
ended a string Of abuse by a vicious
back handler, which I failed to entirely
avoid. The next few minutes were de-
licious. 1t was a straight left against
a slogging rufhan. l emerged as you
sec me. Mr.. Woodley went homesin a
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..
Holmes" 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 l do
not intend to return. Mr.. Carruthers
has got a trap, and so the dangers of
the lonely road, if there ever were any
dangers, are now over.
Gas to the special cause Of my leav-
ing, it is not merely the strained situa-
ton with Mr.. C%arruthers, but it is the
temperance of that odious man, Mr..
Woodley. He was always hideous, but
he looks more awful than ever now,
for he appears to have had an acct
dent, and he is much disfgured. saw
him out Of the window, but l am glad
to say l did not meet him. He had q
long talk with Mr.. C%arruthers, who
seemed much excited afterward. Wood
ley must be staying in the neighbor-
hood, for he did not sleep here, and
yet l caught a glimpse of him again
this morning sinking about in the
%shrubbery. l would sooner hayz a saw
age wild animal loose about the place.
/ loathe and fear him more than l can
say. How can Mr.. Carruthers endure
such a creature for a moment? How
ever, all my troubles will be over on
Saturday"
$50 l trust, Watson; SO I trust" said
Holmes gravely. There is some deep
intrigue going IN round that little wom-
an, and it is our duty to see that no one
molests her upon that last journey. I
think. Watson. that we must spare time
to run down together on Saturday
morning, n make sure that this curl
GUS and inclusive investigation has no
untOward ending
| confess that | had not W to now
taken a very serious view Of the case.
which had seemed to me rather gro
tesque and bizarre than dangerous.
That a man should lie in wait for and
follow q very handsome woman is no
unheard Of thing, and if he has 50 lit
Ge-audacity that he not only dared not
address her, but ven fed from her ap.
proach. he was not q very formidable
assailant. The ruft1an Woodley was q
very different person. nut except on on
occasion he had not molestcd our client
and now he visited the house Of Car
rutllers without %intr7lding upon he
presence. The man on the bicycle wa
doubtless q member of those week en-
parties at the hall of which the pull
hcan had spoken, but who he was O
what he wanted was as obscure a
ever. 1t was the severity Of Holme:
manner and the fact that he slipped
revolver into his pocket before leavin
to1r rooms which impressed me wit
the feeling that tragedy might prov
to lurk behind this curious train @
events.
A.rainy night had been followed By
gtoEfo1g morning, and the heath co,
eged countryside, with the CLOWN
,cNIups Of Towering gorse, seemed a
b more beautiful to eyes which wer
;H9Sefry Of the duns and drabs and sla,
,grEys Of London. Holmes and I wall
ed along the broad, sandy road, inha
ingithe'fresh morning arr and retoicin
dn'the music Of the binds and the fres
REe9th OF the spring. From a rise {
the'road on the shoulder Of Cyooksbur
hill we could see the grim hall bristlin
~oFtfronl amid the ancient oaks, whicl
49, 49, tN