Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-08-24
BY A. CONAN DOYLE


sometimes twice, q day"
No unusual thing for a doctor in prac-
tice."
But Armstrong is not really a doctor
in practice. He is a lecturer n a con-
sultant, but he does not care for general
practice, which distracts him from his
literary work. Why, then, does he make
these long journeys, which must be ex-
ceed:ngly irksome to him. and who is 1t
that he visits
II coachman-''
My dear Watson, can you doubt that
1t was TO him that l first applied? l do
not know whether IL came from his own
innate ~depravity or from the promptings
of his master, but he was rude enough TO
set a dog at me. Neither dog nor man
liked the look Of my stick. however, and
the matter fell through. Relations were
strained after that, and further inquiries
out of the question. All that l 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"
Gould you not follow it?"
Excellent. Watson! You are scintillat-
Ing this evening. The idea did cross my
mind. There is, as you may have OBJ
served, a bicycle shop next TO our inn.
Into this / rushed, engaged a bicycle, and
was able TO get started before the car
riage was quite out of sight. / rapidly
overlook it, and then, keeping at a dis
erect distance of a hundred yards or so
l followed it's lights until we We're clear
Of the town. We had got well out on the
country road, when a somewhat mortify-
ing incident occurred. TIL carriage
stopped, the doctor aiighted, walke swift
ly back 10 where / had also halted, and
told me in an excellent sardonic fashion
that he feared the road was narrow, and
that he hoped his carriage did not i'm
pede the passage Of my bicycle. Nothing
could have been more admirable than his
way of putting IT. l at once rode cast
the carriage, and, keeping to the IEain
road, l went on for a few miles, and tLen
halted In a convenient place to see If the
carriage passed. There was no sign of IL,
however, and so it became evident that 1t
had turned down one of several side roads
which / had observed. / 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
particular reason to connect these jour
neys with the disappearance of Godfrey
stanton, and was only inclined to in
vestigate them on the general grounds
that everything which concerns DR.. Arm
strong Is at present of interest TO us, but.
now that 1 find he keeps so keen a look
out upon anyone who may follow him on
these excursions, the affair appears more
important, and / shall not be satisfied
until l have made the matter clear"
we can follow him tomorrow"
Can we? 1t is not so easy as you seem
to hin You are not familiar with
Cambridgeshire scenery, are you? 1t does
not lend itself TO concealment. 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 DOL,
as ne very clearly showed tonight. l
have wired to Overton to let us know any
fresh London developments at this adj
dress. and in the meantime we can only
concentrate our attention upon DR.. Arm
strong, whose name the obliging young
lady at the office allowed me to read upon
the counterfeit of Staunton's urgent mes
sage. He knows where the young man is
to that I'll swear, and If he knows, then
II must be our own fault II we cannot
manage to know also. At present 1t must
be admitted that the old trick is in his
possession, and, as you are aware, Wat
son. it is not my habit to leave the game
in that condition"
And yet the next day brought us no
nearer to the solution Of the mystery. A
note was handed in after breakfast, which
Holmes passed across TO me with a smile.
Sir" it ran, II can assure you that you
are wasting your time in logging my
movements. / have, as you discovered
last night, a window at the back of my
brougham, and If you desire a twenty-mile
ride which will lead you to the spot from
which you started, you have only to fol-
low me. Meanwhile, / can inform you
that no spying upon me can in any way
help Mr.. Godfrey Staunton, and / am
convinced that the best service you can
do to hat gentleman is TO return at once
to London and to report to your employer
that you are unable TO trace him. Your
time IN Cambridge will certainly be
wasted. Yours faithfully,
Leslie Armstrong"
A outspoken, honest antagonist is the
doctor" said Holmes. well, well, he
excites my curiosity, and / must really
know before l leave him.
His carriage is at his door now," said
I. There he is stepping into it. I saw
him glance w at our window as he did
so. Suppose I try my luck upon the
bicycle?"
mo, no, my lear Watson! With all
respect for your natural acImen, i do not
think that you are quite a match for the
worthy doctor. / think that possibly /
can attain our end by some independent
explorations Of my own. / am afraid that
/ must leave you to your w devices, as
the appearance of two inquiring strangers
upon a sleepy countryside might excite
more gossip than ] care for. No doubt
you will find some sights TO amuse you In
his venerable city, and i hope to bring
back a more favorable report to you be-
fore evening
Once more, however, my friend was des-
tined to be disappointed. He came back
at night weary and unsuccessful.
II a had a blank day, Watson. Hav-
ing got the doctors general direction. I
spent the day in visiting all the villages
upon that side Of Cambridge. and coln-
pairing notes with publicans and other To-
cal news agencies. / nave covered some
ground. Chesterton, Histon. Waterbeach
and Darlington have each been explored.
and nave each proved disappointing. The
daily appearance of a brougham and pair
could hardly have been overlooked In
such sleepy hollows. The doctor has
scored once more. Is there a telegram for
me?"
Eyes. I opened it, Here it is: Ask for
Pompey from Jeremy Dixon. Trinity Col
lege.' / don't understand It,"
'Oh, IL is clear enough. 1t is from our
friend Overton, and is in answer to a
question from me. I'll just send round
a note to Mr.. Jeremy Dixon, and then 1
ave no doubt hat our luck win turn.
BY the way, Is thSre any news OF the
match?"
yes, the local evening paper has an
excellent account IN its last edition. OK
ford won by a goal and two tries. The
last sentences of the description say:
The defeat Of the Light Blues may be en-
tirely Attributed TO the unfortunate oh.