The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1906-04-26

once at Holderncsse hall. IL In only q
| few miles away. and we imagined that.
| IN some sudden attack OF inconsistencies.
he had gone back To his father. but
nothing had been heard OF him. The
duke IL greatly agitated. and. as tn me.
you have seen yourselves the state OF
nervous prostration 10 which the sus-
pense and the responsibility have re-
duced me. Mr. Holmes. II ever you put
forward your full powers. implore you
tn do 80 now. for never In your life
! could you have case which In more
worthy OF them"
Sherlock Holmes had listened with
the utmost intentness To the statement
OF the unhappy schoolmaster. His
drawn brows and the deep furrow be-
tween them showed that he needed no
exhortatlon TO concentrate all his at
tention upon n problem which, apart
from the tremendous interests involved.
must appeal 20 directly to his love of
the complex and the unusual. He now
drew out his note book and jotted down
one or two memoranda.
You have been very remiss In not
coming to me sooner" said he. severe
~. You start me on my investigation
with n very serious handicap. IL In In
conceivable. for example. that this Ivy
and this lawn would have yielded moth
Ing To an expert observer"
Il am not to blame. Mr.. Holmes. His
grace was extremely DESTROYS to avoid
all public scandal. He was afraid OF. his
family unhappiness being dragged be-
fore the world. He has q deep horror
OF anything OF the kind"
but there has been some Official In
vestigation?"
Yes. sir. and Il has proved most dis
appointing. An apparent clue was ut
fNaNs Nh gnle
man were reported TO have been seen
leaving neighboring station by an
early train. Only last night we had
news that the couple had been hunted
down In Liverpool. and they prove to
have no connection whatever with the
matter In hand. Then Il was that I'm
my despair and disappointment. after
sleepless night. l came straight to
you by the early train"
II suppose the local investigation was
relaxed while this false clue was being
followed up."
IT was entirely dropped"
so that three days have been wasted.
The AFFAIR has been most deplorably
handled"
II feel n, and admit H."
And yet the problem should be cap
able OF ultimate solution. I shall be
very happy tn look into Il. Have you
been able To trace any connection be-
tween the missing boy and this Ger
man master?"
None mt ALL"
Was he IN the masters Glass;"
No. he never exchanged n word with
him. 80 far as I know"
That II certainly very singular. Had
the boy a bicycle?"
Was any other bicycle missingg"
lis that certain"
quite"
We'll. now. you do no, mean 70 serI-
ously suggest that this German rode or
upon a bicycle In the dead OF the night,
bearing the boy In his arms?"
Certainly not"
Then what II the theory I'm your
mind
The bicycle may have been n blind.
IL may have been hidden somewhere,
ana the pair gone or on foot"
Quite 81. but Il seems rather an alb
Surd blind. does IL not? Were there
other bicycles In this she'd"
Several"
Would he not have hidden n cou-
pie. had he desired To give the idea that
they had gone OF upon them?"
II suppose he would
"Of course he would. The blind theory
won't do But the incident In an nd
mtrable starting point for an investIga-
ton. After all. "A bicycle iS not an eas,-
thing In conceal or to destroy. One
other question. Did anyone cali 10 see
the boy on the day before he disap
pcared."
No"
Did he get any lctters?'
Yes. one letter"
From whom
From his father"
do you open the boys lettersr'
No"
How do you know q was from IN.
father" '''0
The coat OF arms was on tho nm
yeiope. and Il was addressed in the
dukes peculiar s,iff hand. Besides. the
duke remembers having written
when had he "A letter before that 80
Not for several days"
Had he ever one from France
No. never"
You see the point OF my questions.
or course. Either the boy wns carried
on by force or he went OF his own ,rca
Etll. In the latter case. you would ex-
pect that some prompting from outside
would BE- needed To make SO Young a
lad do such thing. II he had no yis
ltors. that prompting must have come
Ia letters. hence try To ind out who
were his correspondents"
fear I cannot help you much. His
Was his own father"
Who wrote To him on IN. VERY,
day or his appearance. Were the rela-
lions between father and son very
friendly
His grace II never very friendly
with anyone. He In completely i'm
mersed IN large public questions, and is |
rather inaccessible To all ordinary
emotions. but he wns always kind To |
the boy Ia his own way"
(continued Next wsekj