The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-07-26

Z
It was an hour g good drive.''
And you think that they brought
you back all that way when you were
unconscious?''
They must have done SO. I have
confused cn memory, too, of having been
lifted and conveyed somewhere.
What / cannot understand said
l., is why they should have spared you
when they found you lying fainting in
the garden. Perhaps the villain was
softened by a woman s entreaties.
81 hardly think that likely. never
ooh, we shall soon clear up all that, =
said Bradstreet. Well, I have drawn
my circle, and I only wish [ knew at
what point upon it the folk that we
are in search of are to be found"
= ., think < /. | could lay lay my finger on
Really, now!'' cried the. inspector.
"you have formed your opinion! Come,
now we shall see who agrees with you.
I say it is south, for the country is
more deserted there
And | say east,' said my patient.
81 am for west, remarked the plain
clothes man. "There are several quiet
little villages up there
"And l am for north" said /, "be-
cause there are no hills there, and our
friend says that he did not notice the
carriage go, up any"
ing; 1T s very pretty diversity of
opinion. We have boxed the compass
among us; Who do you give your cast
ing vote to9"
"You are all wrong
"But we can't all be. -
''Oh yes, you can. This is my
point; he placed his finger ir the cen
shall find them.''
"But the twelve-mile drive?'' gasped
Hatherley.
"six out and six back. Nothing SIM
was fresh and glossy when you got in.
How could it be that if it had gone
twelve miles over heavy roadse'
"Indeed, it is likely ruse enough.
observed Bradstreet, thoughtfully. OF
course there can be no doubt as to the
nature Of this gang
"None at all,' said Holmes. "They
| are cOinerS on a large scale, and have
used the machine to form the amalgam
which has taken the. place of silver
H,We have known for some time that
Inspector. EFThey have been turning
out half-crowns by the thousand. We
even traced them as far as Reading,
| but could get farther, for they had
| covered their traces in a way that
But now, thanks to this lucky chance,
L think that we have got them right
enough
But the inspector was mistaken, for
those criminals were not destined to fall
into the hands Of Justice. AS we rolled
column of smoke which streamed up
from behind small clump of trees in
the neighborhood, and hung like an inn
mense ostrich feather over the land
scape.
L., ~ e4o ogT .fx,a
Eyes, sir!' said the stationmaster.
"When did it break out?''
81 hear that it was during the night,
sir, but it has got worse, and the whole
place is IN blaze. !"
": w, gss house &c is it'''
uTell mel broke in the engineer,
lis DR.. Becher German, very thin,
with long, sharp nose?'
The stationmaster laughed heartily.
Ono, sir, DR.. Becher is an Englishman,
and there ism It man in the parish who
has better-lined ,waistcoat. But he
has. a gentleman staying with him. a
patient, as I understand, who is for
eigner, and he looks as if little good
Berkshire beef would do him no harm. -
The stationmaster had not finished his
the direction of the fire. The road
topped low hin, and there was a great
widespread whitewashed building in
front of us spouting fire at every chink
and window, while in the garden in
front three fire engines were vainly
stEyiRg to keep e the naese qRder
tense excitement. 'There is the gravel
drive, and there are the rose bushes
where I lay. That second window is
! the one that [ jumped from
"Well, at least, - said Holmes, styou
have had your revenge upon them.
There can be no question that it was
your oil lamp which, when it was
-. crushed in the press, set fire to the
wooden walls, though no doubt they
were too excited in the chase after you
to observe it at the time. Now keep
! your eyes open in this crowd for your
l friends of last night, though I very
; much fear that they are a good hun
! dred miles off by now
r And Holiness fears came to be real
!. lied, for from that day to this no word
) has ever been heard either of the beau
tiful woman, the sinister German or the
: morose Englishman. Early that morn
I ing peasant had met cart contain
: ing several people and some very bulky
! of Reading, but there all traces of the
n fugitives disappeared, and even
: Holmes ingenuity failed ever to dis
{ cover the least clew as to their where
abouts.
e The firemen had been much perturbed
J. at the strange arrangements which they
k had found within, and still more so by
e discovering newly severed human
n thumb upon window sill of the second
floor About sunset, however, their eff
h forts were at least successful, and they
= subdued the flames, but not before the
:, roof had fallen in, and the whole place
h been reduced to such absolute ruin that
: save some twisted cylinders and iron
- piping, not a trace renamed of the
. machinery which had cost our unfor-
a tunate acquaintance so dearly. Large
"a masses of nickel and of tin were dis
- covered stored in an clubhouse, but nc
n coins were to be found which may have
5 explained the presence of those. bulky
+ boxes which have been already referred
RI to.
How our hydraulic engineer had beer
,r conveyed from the garden to the spo'
r where he recovered his senses migh'
r have remained forever a mystery were
le it not for the soft mold which told u
t. very plain tale. He had evidently
r been carried down by two persons, on,
Il. Of whom had remarkably small feet ant
if the other unusually large ones. On TIT
ii whole, it was most probable that tn
n silent Englishman, being less bold O.
less murderous than his companion, hat
Is assisted the woman to bear the uncon
y scious man out of the way OF danger
X ftWen,,, said our engineer ruefully
,k as we took our seats TIC. return one