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

perfectly HATEFUL ana ] was sure that
Cyril would not wish me to know such
person.
"Oh, Cyril is his name" said Holmes,
smiling.
The young lady blushcd and laughed.
Eyes, Mr.. Holmes, Cyril Morton, an
electrical engineer. and we hope to be
married at the end of the summer
Dear me. how did I get talking about
him? What I wished to say was that
| Mr.. Woodley wns perfectly odious but
| that Mr.. Carruthers, who was much
| older man, was more agreeable. He
| WINS n dark, sallow. clean shaven. silent
person, but he had polite manners and
| n pleasant smile. lie inquired how we
were left, and on finding that we were
| very poor he suggested that ! should
come and teach music to his only
| daughter, aged ten. l said that l did
not like to leave my mother, on which
| he suggested that / should go home to
| her every week end, and lie offered me
| n hundred year. which was certainly
| splendid pay. So ii ended by my &C
| cepting, and went down to Chiltern
| Grange, about six miles from Farm
| ham. Mr.. Carruthers was widOwer.
but he had engaged lady housekeep-
or. very respectable. elderly person,
called Mrs. Dixon, to look after his es
Establishment. The child was a dear, and
everything promised well. Mr.. Car
ruthers was very kind and very music
al. and we had most pleasant evenings
together. Every week end went home
to my mother in town.
1.-THE first flaw in my happiness was
the arrival Of the red mustached Mr..
Woodley. He came for a visit Of
week, and, OH II seemed three months
to me. He was a dreadful PERSONA
| bully to every one else. but to me some
| thing infinitely worse. He made odious
love to me. boosted Of his wealth. said
that if I married him I could have the
finest diamonds in London. and finally
when I would have nothing to do with
him he seized me in his arms one day
after dinner--be was hideously strong
and swore that he would not let me go
until had kissed him. Mr.. Carruthcrs
came in and tore him from me, on
which he turned upon his own host,
knocking him down and cutting his
face open. That was the end of his
visit. as you can imagine Mr.. Carruth-
ers apologized to me next day and as
sured me that I should never be ex-
posed to such an insult again. l have
not seen Mr.. Woodley since.
And now, Mr.. Holmes, come at
last to the special thing which has
caused me to ask your advice today.
You must know that every Saturday
forenoon l ride on my bicycle to Farm
ham station in order to get the 1922
to town. The road from Chiltern
Grange is lonely one. and at one spo;
it is particularly so. for 1t lies for over
mile between Charlngton heath up
on one side and the woods which lie
round CharlIngton Hall upon the other.
You could not find a more lonely tract
Of road anywhere, and it is quite rare
to meet So inucn as a cart or a peasant
until you reach the highroad near
Crooksbury hill. Two weeks ago
= was passing this place when l CHANGED
to look bS..k over my shoulder, and
about 200 yards behind me ] saw n
, man, also GA a bicycle. He seemed to
be middle aged man. with a short.
! dark beard. looked back before
/ reached Farnham, but the man was
4 gone, so I thought no more about it.
But you can imagine how surprised
was. Mr.. Holmes. when on my return on
] the Monday saw the same man OH the
same stretch Of road. My astOnishmen,
( was increased when the incident o.
. Cured again exactly as before. on the
. following Saturday and Monday. lie
j. always kepthis distance and did not mo
I lest me in any way, but still it certain
~ was very odd. l mentioned it to Mr.
). Carruthers. who seemed interested il
s what ! said ana told me that he ha,
ordered horse and trap, so that in fu
ture should not pass over these lonely
n roads without some companion.
THE horse and trap were to have
:. come this week. but for some reason
they were not delivered, and again
|. had to cycle to the station. That wa.
:. this morning You can think that
looked out when came to Charlingtol
8 heath, and there. sure enough, was th'
o man, exactly as he had been the tw,
weeks before. He always kept so IA
o from mo that could not clearly Sc,
q his face, but 1t was certainly some on,
,, whom did not know. He was drcsse,
a In dark suit with cloth cap. TIL,
\. only thing about his face that l cou!(
i. clearly see was his dark beard.
"a To-day I was not alarmed, but I wa
o filled with curiosity and determine,
" to find out who he was and what H.
# wanted. / slowed down my machine
10 but he slowed down his. Then ! STOP
6 ped altogether, but he stopped also
o Then laid trap for him. There Is
r. sharp turning OF the road. and ped
10 aled very quickly round this, and the
10 l stopped and waited. ! expected hil
n to shoot round and pass me before h
N could stop. But he never appeared
4. Then went back and looked round tn
n corner. ! could see Il mile Of road, bu
10 he was not on 1t. To make 1t the NOR
o. extraordinary. there was no side roa
ID Mt this point down which he could hav
IN gone"
In Holmes chuckled and rubbed hi
at hands. This case certainly present
Us some features of it's own" said b,
e. How much time elapsed between you
d. turning the corner and your discover