Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-05-03
once at Holdernesse hall. 1t is only A

NV ~ Iol'l' liCSSt nail. IN ulIt a
few miles away. and we imagined that.
in some sudden attack of h~omesickness,
he had gone back to his father, but
nothing had been heard of him. The
duke is greatly agitated. and. as to me,
YOU have seen yourselves the state of
nervous prostration to which the sus-
pense a'! the responsibility have re-
duced ne. Mr.. Holmes. If ever YOU put
forward your full powers. i implore YOU
to do so NOW. for never in your life
could you have a case which is more
worthy of them
Sherlock Holmes had listened with
the utmost intenincss to the statement
Of the unhappy sciloolmaeter. His
drawn brows and the deep furrow be-
tween them showed that he needed no
eXhortation To all his at
tentlpn upon "a problem which, apart
from the tremendous interests involved.
must appeal 50 directly to his loye of
the complex and the unusual. He now
drew out MS not" book and .5ottcd down
on" or TWO Memoranda.
You l;tNe been worry remiss IN not
coming 10 RE sooner" said he. severe
y You st9rt me on my Investigation
with a Very serious handicap. II is in
coneeiNahle, for example. that this ivy
an! This lawn would have yielded moth
ing TO an expert Observer
Il am not to blame. Mr.. Holmes. His
grace wes extremely DESTROYS to avoid
ali public scandal. He WAS afraid of his
family unhappiness being dragged be-
fore the world. He has a deep horror
OF anything OF the kind"
'Rut there has been some Official in
Vestigation?"
Yes. sir. and 1t has proved most dig.
appointing. An apparent clue was at
ON" obtained. ince n boy and q young
man We're reported to have been seen
leaving n n~eighboring station by AN
carry train. only last night we had
news that the couple had been hunted
DOWN IN Liverpool, and they prove to
nave no connection whatever with the
matter in hand. Then it was that in
my despair and disappointment. after
a sle"pless night. | came straight to
you by the early train
II suppose the local Investigation was
relaxed while this false clue was being
ollowcd up?"
1T was entirely dropped"
So that three days have been wasted.
handled"
II feel 1t, and admit It,"
And yet the problem should be cap
aple or ultimate solution. l shall be
very happy to look into it. Have you
peen able to trace any connection be-
tween the missing boy and this Ger
man master?"
None at all"
Was he IN the masters class"
NO. he never exchanged Il word with
him. so far as l know"
~Ihat is certainly very singular. Hat
tn" boy a bicycle?"
Was any other bicycle missinge"
is that ce%rtain?"
Quite
Well. now. you do not mean to serI-
ousiy suggest that this German rode Off
upon n bicyle in the dead of the night.
"Certainly not"
mind" ~
The bicycle may have peer a blind.
IL may have been hidden somewhere.
ana the pair gone off on foot"
quite so, but il seems rather an alb
surd blind. does it notc Were there
other bicycles in this shed?"
Several"
ou!d he not have hidden n cou-
PIE. had he desired to give the idea that
'hey mad gone off upon them"
u suppose he would
or course he would. The blind theory
Won do. But the incident is an ad-
mlfaoie starting point for an inyesticn-
lioA. After all, II bicycle is not an easy
'hilg to conceal or to DESTROY. Onn
other question. Did anyone call 10 So,
the boy on the day before he dis,n.
pealed?" ~
No."
Did he ret any letters?"
Yes. one letter"
From whom"
From his father"
You open the boys letters,"
How do YOU know +, v.,s
father" ' '"t
The coat of arms was on tho 49,
Ie:ope. ana 1t was addressed in the
duke.,s peculiar stiff hand. Resides ,ha
duke remembers having written
.Mhen had he a letter before that,
Not for several days"
Had he ever one from Froncep,
No. never"
You see the point of NV questions
OF course. Either the boy was tarriad
OH ny forc. or he went of his own froa
WIN. IN the latter case. you would ey-
peot that some prompting from ont sida
would be needed to make so young n
iad Il" such "A thing. If he had no Wis
ltorS. that prompting must have conc
in letters: hence l try To find out Who
We're his correspondence
lear i cannot help You much Iy,s
only correspondent. SO far as / know
vas his own father"
Who wrote To him on Tho Very
day of his appearance. Were the rein
lions W. father and son very
;riendly?" 80
His grace is never very friendly
with anyone. He is compIetely i,,,.
mersed in large public questions. and i.
rather inaccessible to all ordinary
emotions. Eut he was always kind to-
the boy in his owr way"
Continued Next Weekj
The Worlds Richest Men.
Kansas ('if. Inp,p,J. "