Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-05-26


might change the tire of his bicycle in
order to leave unfamiliar tracks A
criminal who was capable Of such a
thought is~ a man whom / should he
proud to do business with. We will
back to our morass again. for we have
aeft a good deal unexpIored.'
We continued our systematic survey
Of the edge of the sodden portion Of the
moor, and soon our perseverance was
Vloriously rewarded. Right across the
3osver part Of the bog lay a miry path
Holmes gave cry Of delight as he ap-
preached II. An impression like fine
bundle of telegraph wires ran down the
center of II. 1t was the Palmer tire.
Here is Herr HeideggeF. sure
enough" cried Holmes exultanfly. My
reasoning seems TO have been pretty
sound, Watson
81 congratulate YOU"
''Bnt we have long way still TO go.
Kindly walk clear Of the path. Now let
us follow the trail. / fear that ii will
not lead very far"
We found. however. as we advanced
that this portion Of the moor is inter
sected with soft patches. and. though
we frequently lost sight of the track.
Ne always succeeded in picking IL up
once more.
do you observe" said Holmes, that
the rider il now undoubtedly forcing
the pace There can be no doubt of il.
Look at this impression. where you get
10th tires clear. The one il as deep as
the other. That can only mean that the
rider is throwing his weight on to the
handle bar, as a man does when he il
sprlnting. BY JOve. he has had fall
There was a broad. irregular smudge
covering some yards OF the track. Then
there We're u few footmarks. and the
tire reappeored once more.
"A side slip" / suggested.
Holmes held up a crumpled branch
Of towering gorse To my horror I
perceived that the yellow blossoms
were all dabbled 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 stood up-he remount-
ed-he proceeded But there is no
other track. Cattle on this side path
He was surely not gOrcd 10y Il bull:
Impossible! But / see no traces of
any one else. We must push Oh. Wat
son. Surely. with stains as well as the
track TO guide, he cannot escape us
now"
Our search was not 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 the thick gorSe bushes out OF
them we dragged "A bicycle. Palmer
tired. one pedal bent and the whole
front of il horribly smeared and slob-
bered with blood. ON the other side
OF the bushes a shoe was projecting.
We ran round and there lay the UNI
fortunate rider He was tall man.
full bearded, with Spectacles. one glass
OF which had been Knocked out. The
cause OF his death was frightful
blow upon the head. which had crush
ed in part OF his skull. That he could
have gone on after receiving such an
injury said much for the vitality and
courage of the man. He wore shoes.
but no socks, and his open coat dis
ClOSeu n niGntSnlTt btHthlu IL. II WIS
undoubtedly the German master.
Holmes turned the body over rever-
emily and examined il with great AT
tention. He then sat In deep thought
for a time. and / could see 10y his ruff
fed brow that this grim discovery had
not. I'm his opinion, advanced US much
in our inquiry.
ut is n little difficult TO know what
TO do, Watson" said he at last. My
own inClinationS are to push this in
QuIry on, for we have already lost so
much time that we 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"
Il could take a note back"
But l need your company and as
sistance Wait a bit, There Is a fel
low cutting peat up yonder. Bring him
over here, and he will guide the po-
lice
brought the peasant across. and
Holmes dispatched the frightened man
with note TO DIR. HuXtable.
Now, Watson" said he. we have
picked up two cIews this morning One
is InP UlGNtlN VIII INV ltAt.
and we see what that has led 10. The
other is the bicycle with the patched
Dunlop. Before we start 10 investi-
gate that let us try to realize what we
do know. so as to make the most OF IL
and To separate the essential from the
accidental"
First OF all. I wish TO impress upon
you that the boy certainly left of his
own free viii. He got down from his
window, and he went of either atone
or with some one. That IL sure
i asSented.
We'll now. let us turn TO this I'M
fortunate German master. The boy
was fully dressed when he fed. There
fore he foreSaw Whist he would do. !
But the German went without his |
socks. He certainly scted on very |
short notice"
Undoubtedly.
why did he co. Because from his |
bedroom window he saw the HI aFJf Of /