Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-05-17
1.-THE ADVENTURE OF TIL
PRIORY SCHOOL.-ContInued.

ulcS- ms rs w" p'''''N'' - " "
Top. with Il ph,ch upon tne outer cover.
! ueidcggor's tires We're pailnrr's. leaV-
ing longitudinal stripes. ANoling. the
mathematical master. WIS sure upon
the point. Therefore,. ii is not lieidee-
gers track"
'"Thc boys. them
"Possibly, if we could prove n hi
cycle 10 have been IN his possession.
Iut this We have utterly failed To do.
This track, as you perceive. was made
by Il rider who was going from the di-
rection of the school,
cor towards IT."
40. no, ny der Watson. The more
] deeply sunk impression is. OF course.
the hind wheel, upon which the weight
rests. You perceive several places
where it has passed across and oblit-
GRATED the more shallow mark of the
front one. 1t was undoubtedly head
,ng away from the school. 1t may or
may not be connected with our inquiry.
but we win follow ii backwards before
we go any farther
We did 50, and ut the end of n few
hundred yards lost the tracks as we
emerged from the DOGGY portion of the
moor. Following the path backwards.
we picked out another spot. where II
spring t~riclled across it. Here. once
again. was the mark of the bicycle.
though nearly obli;erated by the ho"fs
Of cows. After that there was no sign.
but the path ran right ON into Ragged
Shaw. the wood which backed ON to the
school. From this wood the cycle must
nave emerged. Holmes sat down ON a
boulder, and rested his chin in his
lands. had smoked two cigarettes
before he moved.
We'll. WE'LL said he, at last. 1T is.
Of course. possible that Il cunning man
might change the tire of his bicycle
In order to leave unfamiliar tracks. a
criminal who was capable of such Il
thought is a man whom L should be
proud To do business with. We will
cave this question undecided and bark
back to our morasS again. for we have
left II good deal uncxplored."
We continued our systematic survey
Of the edge of the sodden portion of the
moor. and soon our perseverance was
g%loriously rewarded. Right across the
lower part of the bog lay a miry path.
Holmes gave a cry of delight ms he APP
preached 1t. An impression like Il; fine
bundle of telegraph wires ran down the
center of it. 1t was the Palmer tire.
Here is Herr Heidegger. sure
enough" cried Holmes. e%xultantly.
My reasoning seems to AVE been
pretty sound. Watson"
II congratulate you"
But we have Il long way still to go.
Kindly walk clear of the path. Now
let us follow the trail. fear that it
will not lead very far"
We found. however. as we advanced
that this portion of the moor is inter-
sected with soft patches. and, though
we frequently lost sight of the track.
We always succeeded in picking it w
once more.
do you observe said Holmes. that
the rider Is now undoubtedly forcing
the pace? Their can be no doubt of it.
Look at this impression, where You get
both tires clear. The one is as deep
the rider is throwing his weight on
10 the handlebar. as a man does when
he is sprinting. by Jove. he has had
a fall
There was a broad. irregular smudge
covering some yards of the track. Their
there were IL few footmarks, and The
tire reappeared once more.
"A side-slip." l suggested.
Holmes held up Il crumpled branch oI
towering gorse. To my horror. l per
ceived that the yellow blossoms were
all dabbled with crimson. On the path
too. and among the heather were darl
stains OF clothed blood.
Bad" said Holmes. Bad. Stant
clear. Watson. Not an upnecessar,
footstep! What do l read here? II,
fell wounded-he stood up-he re
m~Ounted-he proceeded. But there is II,
other track. Cattle on this side path
He was surely not gored by a bull? I'm
possible! But l see no traces of any
one else. We must push on. Watson
Surely, with stains as we'll as the tract
to guide us. he cannot escape us now.
Our search was not IA very long one
The tracks OF the tire began to curv
Enthusiastically upon the wet and shinin,
path. Suddenly, as 1 looked ahead. tn
CLEAN of metal caught my ey
from amid the thick gorse bushes
Out Of them we dragged a bicycle
Palmer tired. one pedal bent. and tn
whole front Of 1t horribly smeared an
with blood. On the other side OF tn
bushes a shoe was projecting. We ra
around, and there lay the unfortunat
rider. He was a tall man, full bearde,
with spectacles. one glass of which ha
been knocked out. The u of hi
death was q frightful blow upon tn
!, head. which had crushed in part of HI
skull. That he could have gone on al
!, ter receiving such an inquiry said muc
for the vitality and courage OF the ma
He wore shoes. but no socks. and h
open coat disclosed a night shirt b.
meath 1t. It was undoubtedly the Gel
maj master.
Holmes turned the body over revel
emily. md examined 1t with great a
tention. He then sat in deep though
!. for a time. and I could see by his ru
fled brow that this grim discovery HI