The Washington herald., 1912-02-18

was III. one ndu sent 10 MaCkIetOn Tor
a doctor, but he did not arrive until
morning, being absent at another case.
The people of the inn were alert all
night, Awaiting his coming, and one or
other Of them seems to have continu-
ally had an eye upon the road They
declare that no one passed. II their
enough TO be able TO block the west,
and also to be able to say that the
fugitives did not use the road at all"
But the bieyclel' / objected.
Quite so. We will come to the BIZ
cycle presently. To continue our rea-
soning; il these people did not 20 by
the road, they must have traversed the
country TO the north of the house or
TO the south of the house. That is
certain. Let US weigh the one against
the other. On the south of the house
is, as you perceive, large district of
arabic land, cut up into small fields,
with stone walls between them. There,
] admit that a bicycle is impossible.
We can dismiss the idea. We turn to
the country on the north. Here there
lies a grove of trees, marked as the
Ragged Shaw and on the farther side
stretches a great rolling moor. Lower
Gill Moor, extending for ten miles and
sloping gradually upward Here, at
one side Of this wilderness, Is Holder
nesse Hall, ten miles by road, but only
six across the moor. II is a peculiarly
desolate plain. A few moor farmers
have small holdings, where they rear
sheep and cattle. Except these, the
plover and the curlew are the only in
habitants until you come to the Ches-
terfeld high road. There is a church
there, you see, few cottages, and an
inn. Beyond that the hills become pre-
cipitous. Surely il is here to the north
that our quest must lie."
But the bicyele?" l persisted.
well, wellp said Holmes, impa-
tiently. "A good eyclist does not need
a highroad. The moor is intersected
with paths, and the moon was at the
full. Hulloa what is thisi"
Thee was an agitated knock at the
door, and an instant. afterWard DIR.
Huxtable was in the room. In his
hand he held blue cricl<et-eap, with
a white chevron on the peak.
AT last we have a ,clewP he cried.
Thank heaven at last we are on the
dear boys track II is his cap
Where was II found"
In the van OF the gypsies who
camped on the moor. They left on
Tuesday. To-day the police traced
them down and examined their cara
van. This was found"
How do they account for III"
They Shuffled and lied-said that
they found il on the moor on Tues
day morning. They know where he
Is, the rascals Thank goodness, they
are all safe under lock and key. Either
aN Nt.. la... Il. LII.
they know"
so far, so good" said Holmes,
when the doctor had at last left the
room. 1T at least bears out the theory
that II is on the side of the Lower Gin
Moor that we must hope for results.
The police have really done nothing
locally save the arrest of these gyp-
sizes. Look here, Watsonl There is a
watercourse across the moor. You see
il marked here in the map. In some
parts II widens into a morass. This is
particularly so in the region between
Holdenesse Hall and the school, Il
is vain to look elsewhere for tracks in
this dry weather, but at that point
there IS certainly a chance of some
record being left will call you early
tomorrow morning, and you and will
try if we can throw some little light
upon the mystery"
The day was just breaking when I
woke to find the long, thin form of
Holmes by my bedside He was fully
dressed, and had apparently already
been out
Il have done the lawn and the bicycle
she'd" said he have also had n
ramble through the Ragged Shaw.
Now, Watson, there is cocoa ready in
the next room. / must beg YOU TO
hurry, for we have a great day before
us"
His eyes shone, and his cheek was
flushed with the exhilaration OF the
master workman who sees his work
lie ready before him. A very different
Holmes, this active, alert man, from
the introspective and pallid dreamer OF
Baker street felt, as ] looked UPON
that supple figure, alive with nervous
energy, that il was indeed a strenuous