The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-04-23

that i can hush up that Whlcn OtnerS
will be bound to publish, and you
would really be wiser to take me into
your complete confidence"
Il know nothing about it"
did you hear from Mr.. Staunton
IN London?"
Certainly not"
Dear me, dear me-the post-oftic
again" Holmes sighed YEARLY. "a
most urgent telegram was dispatched
to you from London by Godfrey Staun-
ton at six-fifteen yesterday evening
telegram which is undoubtedly as
ISOLATED with his apprenticeship
yet you have not had it. 1t is most
culpable. l shall certainly so down
to the office here and register a COM
plant"
DR.. Leslie Armstrong sprang up
from behind his desk, and his dark
face was crimson with fury.
I'll trouble you to walk out of my
house, SIR said he. you can tell your
employer, Lord Mount James that do
not wish to have anything to do
either with him or with his agents.
No, sr-not another world" He rang
gentlemen out" A pompous butler
ushered us severely to the door, and
we found ourselves in the street
Holmes burst out laughing.
DIR. Leslie Armstrong is certainly
a man of energy and character, said
he. Il have not seem man who, if he
turns his talents that way, was more
calculated to fill the gap left by the
illustrious Moriarity. And now, my
poor Watson, here we are. stranded
and friendlesS in the inhospitable
town, which we cannot leave without
abandoning our case. This little inn
just opposite Armstrong; house is
singularly adapted 40 our needs. If
you would engage q front room and
purchase the neceSsaries for the night.
may have time to make a few in
quiries."
These few inquiries proved, how
ever, to be q more lengthy proceeding
than Holmes had imagined, for he did
not return to the inn until nearly
nine O'Clock. He was pale and de-
jected stained with dust, and ex-
hausted with hunger and fatigue.
cold supper was ready upon the table,
and when his needs were satisfied
and his pipe alight he was ready to
take that half comic and wholly philo-
sophie view which was natural to him
when his affairs were going awry. The
sound of carriage wheels caused him
to rise and glance out of the window
A brougham and pair of greys, under
the doctors door.
Its been out three hours" said
Holmes; started at half-past six, and
here it is back again That gives
radius of ten or twelve miles, and he
does it Cnce, or sometimes twice, a
day."
mo unusual thing for a doctor in
practice"
But Armstrong is not really a doc
in q jc
a consultant, but he does not care
for general practice, which distracts
him from his literary work. Why,
then, does he make these long jour
neys, which must be exceedingly irk-
some to him, and who is it that he
visits?"
His coachman-"
my dear Watson, can you doubt
that it was to him that 1 first APP
it came from his own innate
depravity or from the promptings
of his master, but he was rude
enough to set dog at me. Neither
dog or man liked the look of my stick,
however, and the matter fell through.
were strained after that,
and further inquiries out of the ques-
ton. All that / have learned | got
from a friendly native in the yard of
our own inn. 1t was he who told me
of the doctors habits and of his daily
journey. At that instant, to give point
to his words, the carriage came round
to the door"
could you not follow it"
Excellent, Watson! You are scin-
tilating this evening. The idea did eros
my mind. There is, as you may have
observed. a bicycle shop next to our
inn. Into this / rushed, engaged a BIZ
cycle, and was able to get started be-
fore the carriage was quite out of
sight. l rapidly overlook it, and then,
keeping at q discreet distance OF
hundred yards or so | followed its
lights until we were clear out of town.
We had got well out on the country
road, when a somewhat notifying in
cident occurred. The carriage stop
ped, the doctor alighted, walked
swiftly back to where | had also halt
ed, and told me in an exceedingly sar-
donic fashion that he feared the road
was narrow, and that he hoped his
carriage did not impede the passage
Of my bicycle. Nothing could have
been more admirable than his way Of
putting it. I at once rode past the car
riage, and keeping to the main road,
| went on for a few miles, and then
halted ir a convenient place to see if
the carriage passed. There was no
sign of it, however, and so it became
evident that it had turned down one
Of several side roads which l had OBJ |
served. / rode back, but again saw
nothing of the carriage, and now. as
you perceive, it has returned after me.
Of course, | had at the outset no par |
ticular reason to connect these jour |
neys with the disappearance of God |
frey stanton, and was only inclined |
to Investigate them on the general |
grounds that everything which con-
Germs Dr. Armstrong is at present of
interest to us. but, now that | find he |
keeps so keen a look out upon any one
who may follow him on these excur- |
sions, the affair appears more i'm
portant, and l shall not be satisfied UNI |
i'll / have made the matter clear"
1--WE can follow him tomorrow"
Can we? 1t is not SO easy as you |
seem to think. You are not familiar
with Cambridgeshire scenery, are |
you? 1t does not lend itself to conceal |
ment. All this country that / passed |
over tonight is as fiat and clean as
the palm of your hand, and the man |
we are following is no fool, as he very |
clearly showed tonight. / have wired |
% Overton to let us know any fresh |
London developments at this address, |
md in the meantime we can only con- |