The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-03-12

cd bv his secretary, who broke in with
"His Grace is not in the habit of
hosting letters himself" said he. This
letter was laid with others upon the
study table, and l myself put them in
the post-bag.
them %
Eyes. I observed it,
"How many letters did your Grace
write that day?'
Twenty or thirty. / have a large
correspondence. But surely this is
somewhat Irrelevant
mot entirely" said Holmes.
For my own part" the Duke con-
| tinued. II have advised the police to
| turn their attention to the South of
France. | have already said that i
do not believe that the Duchess would
/ encourage so monstrous an action, but
| the lad had the most wrong-headed
| opinions, and it is possible that he may
| have fed to her aided and abetted by
| this German / think, DIR. Huxtable,
| that we will now return to the Hail. F"
i could see that there were other
| question which Holmes would have
| wished to put, but the nobleman's abb
rupt manner showed that the inter-
| view was at an end. 1t was evident
| that to his intensely aristocratic ma
| ture this discussion of his intimate
| family affairs with a stranger was
most abhorrent, and that he feared
| lest every fresh question would throw
a fiercer light into the discreetly
Swallowed corners of his ducal history.
When the nobleman and his secre-
/ tary had left, my friend flung himself
/ at once with characteristic eagerneess
| into the investigation.
/ The boys chamber was carefully
examined, and yielded nothing save
| the absolute conviction that it was
| only through the window that he could
have escaped. The German master S
room and effects gave no further clue.
/ In his case a trailer of ivy had given
! way under his weight, and we saw by
! the light of a lantern the mark on
| the lawn where his heels had come
| down. That one dint in the short,
| green grass was the only material wit
ness left of this inexplicable nocturnal
/ flight.
Sherlock Holmes left the house
| alone. and only returned after eleven.
| He had obtained a large ordnance map
! of the neighborhood, and this he
brought into my room. where he laid
| it out on the bed, and. having balanced
the lamp in the middle of it, he began
to smoke over it, and occasionally to
| point out objects of interest with the
reeking amber of his pipe.
This case grows upon me, Watson
| said he. There are decidedly some
points of interest in connection with
| it. In this early stage, l want you
| to realize those geographical features
which may have a good deal to do with
| our investigation.
Look at this map. This dark
square is the priory school I'll put a
| pin in it. Now, this line is the mair,
road. You see that it runs east and
west past the school, and you see also
| that there is no side road for mile
either way. If these two folk passed
away by road, it was this road"
Exactly
by a singular and happy chance,
we are able to some extent to check
what passed along this road during
the night in question. At this point,
where my pipe is now resting, coun-
| ty constable was on duty from twelve
| to six. 1t is, as you perceive. the first
cross-road on the east side. This man
| declares that he was not absoat from
| his post for an instant, and he is posi-
tive that neither boy nor man could
have gone that way unseen. / have
! spoken with this policeman tonight,
and he appears to me to be a perfectly
reliable person. That blocks this end.
/ We have now to deal with the other.
/ There is an inn here, the Red Bull the
landlady of which was i'll. She had
| sent to Mackleton for doctor. but
he did not arrive until morning, be-
ing absent at another case. The peo-
pie at the inn were alert all night,
| awaiting his coming, and one or other
of them seems to have continually had
i an eye upon the road. They declare
that no one passed. If their evidence
| is good, then we are fortunate enough
to be able to block the west and also
to be able to say that the fugitives did
| not use the road at ALL"
"But the bicycle?" 1 objected"
"Quite SO. We will come to the BIZ
cycle presently. To continue our rea-
soning: if these people did not go by
the road, they must have traversed the
| country to the north of the house OF
to the south of the house That is
certain. Let us weigh the one against
| the other. On the south of the house
is, as you perceive, a large district OF
| arabic land, cut up into small fields
with stone wall between them There,
| admit that a bicycle is impossible
We can dismiss the idea. We turn to
| the country on the north. Here there
| lies a grove of trees, marked as the
| Ragged Shaw and on the farther side
| stretches a great rolling moor, Lower
Gill Moor, extending for ten miles
and sloping gradually upwards. Here
| at one side of this wilderness, is Hol-
dernesse Hall ten miles by road, but
only six across the moor. 1t is a Pc
culiarly desolate plain. few moor
farmers have small holdings, where
they rear sheep and cattle. Except
| these, the pIover and the curlew are
| the only inhabitants until you come
to the Chesterfield high road. There
is church there, you see, few cot
tages, and an inn. Beyond that the
hills become precipitous Surely it is
here to the north that our quest must
lie."
But the bicycle?" / persisted.
! well, well!' said Holmes, impa-