The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-08-24

under the glare of a gas lamp. stood To-
fore the Doctors door.
It's been out three hours" said Holmes:
started at half past six, and here It is
back again. hat gives a radius of ten or
twelve miles, and he does 1t once, or
sometimes twice. a day"
N unusual thing for a doctor in prac-
tice."
But Armstrong is not really a doctor
in practice. He Is a lecturer and a con-
suftant. but ne 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?"
His coachman-"
MY dear Watson, can you doubt that
1t was to him that I first applied? / d.
not know" whether it came from his own
innate d%epravity 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 1 have
learned 1 got from a friendly native in
the yard of our WI inn. 1t was he who
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 I rushed. engaged a bicycle, and
was able to get started before the car
riage was quite out of sight. I rapidly
overlook 1t, and then, keeping at a dis
erect distance of a hundred yards or so
l followed its lights until we were clear
OF the town. We had got we'll out on the
country road. when a somewhat mortify-
ing Incident occurred. The carriage
stopped, the doctor aiighted. walked swift
ly back to where l 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 moro admirable than his
way OF putting it: 1 at once rode PAST
the carriage, and, keeping to the main
road, l went on for a few miles, and then
halted IN a convenient place to see If the
carriage passed. There was no sign of 1t,
however, and so it became evident that 1t
mad turned down one of several side roads
which l had observed. 1 rode back, but
again saw nothing of the carriage. and
now. as you perceive, it has returned after
me. OF course, l had at the outset no
NuSOAA w AallSS JUL
neys with the disappearance Of Godfrey
%Staunton, and was only inclined to in
VeStlgate 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 1 shall not be satisfied
until l have made the matter clear"
w can follow him tomorrow"
Can we? 1t is not SO easy as you seem
to think. You are not familiar with
Ca~mbridgeshire scenery, are you? 1t does
not lend itself to concealment. All this
country that 1 passed over tonight is as
flat and clean as the palm of your hand,
and the man we are following is no fool,
as ne very clearly showed tonight. I
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 S%taunton's urgent mes
sage. He knows where the young man is
to that I'll swear, and il he knows, then
IT must be our own fault IL we cannot
manage to know also. AT present it 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. 1 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 Won eta rfo5 Won lnoI,a only, - fr1
low me. Meanwhile, I can inform you
that no spying upo me can in any way
help Mr.. Godfrey Stanton, and I am
convinced that the best service you can
do to that 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"
al ou%tspoken, honest antagonist is the
DOCTOR" said Holmes. We'll, we'll. he
%excites my curiosity, and 1 must really
know before I leave him."
His carriage is at his door now," said
!. he is stepping into it. l saw
him glance up at our window as he did
SO. Suppose l try my luck upon the
bicycle?"
mo, 10, my dear Watson! With all
respect for your natural acumen, / do not
think that you are quite a match for the
worthy doctor. l think that possibly I
can attain our end by some independent
explorations of my own. I am afraid that
I must leave o to your own 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
this venerable city, and 1 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 bach
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 COM
pairing notes with publicans and other To-
cal news agencies. I nave covered some
ground. Chesterton, Histon, Waterbeach
and Darlington nave each been explored,
and have 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 Elore. Is there a telegram for
me?"
Yes, I opened it. Here it is: Ask for
Pompey from Jeremy Dixon, Trinity Col
lege.' I don't understand it,"
'Oh. it 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 l
have no doubt that our luck will turn.