Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-10-10
TODAY'S INSTALMENT.

And now, MIR. Holmes, l come AZ
last to the special thing which has caused
me TO ask your advice today. You must
know that every Saturday forenoon :
ride or my bicycle to Farnham Station,
in order to get the 1922 to Town.
The road from Chiltern Grange is
. lonely one, and at one spot it is par
ticularly so, for it lies for over a mile
between Charlington Heath upon one
side and the woods which lie around
Charlington Hall upon the other. You
could not find a more lonely tract of road
anywhere, and it Is quite rare to meet so
much as a cart, or a peasant, until you
reach the high road near Crooksbury Hill
Two weeks ago l was passing this
place, when | CHANGED to look back
over my shoulder, and about two
hundred yards behind me | saw q
man, also on q bicycle. He seemed
10 be a middle-aged man, with a short,
dark beard. | looked back before ]
reached Farnham, but the man was
gone, 20 l thought no more about 1t,
But you can imagine how surprised | was
MIR. Holmes when, on my return on the
Monday, / saw the same man IN the
same stretch of road. My establishment
was increased when the incident oc-
Cured again, exactly as before, on
the following Saturday and Monday
He always kept his distance and die
not modest me in any way, but still
il certainly was very odd. l mentioned
it 10 Mr.. Carruthers, who seemed in.
terested in what 1 said, and told mt
that he had ordered a horse and trap
so that in future / should not pass ovel
sk1ea 1N~ol, r1oIo ~,tha,t Soma nnp,
panion.
The horse and trap were to have
come this week, but for some reason
they were not delivered, and agar
j had to cycle to the station. That was
this morning. You can think that
looked out when l came to Charlingtor
Heath and there, sure enough, was the
man, exactly as he had been the two
weeks before. He always kept so far
from me that l could not clearly see his
face, but il was certainly someone whom
] did not know. He was dressed in a dark
suit with a cloth cap. The only thing
about his face that ! could clearly
see was his dark beard. Today ] wa,
not alarmed. but l was filed viii
curiosity, and l determined TO find out
who he was and what he wanted.
slowed down my machine, but he SLOWED
down his. Then l stopped altogether
but he stopped also. Then laid a tral
for him. There is n sharp turning o
the road, and l pedallcd very quick.
round this. and then | stopped an,
waited. ! expected him to shoot roun,
and pass me before he could STOP
But he Y appeared. Then | wen
back and looked round the corner.
could see a mile OF road, but he was no
on il. To make it the more eXtraordinar
there was no side road at this poin
down which he could have gone"
Holmes chuckled and rubbed hi
hands. This case certainly present
some features of its own" said he. "Ho,
much time elapsed Between your turn
ing the corner and your discovery Cha
the road was clear"
Two or three minutes"
Then he could not have retreate
down the road, and you say that ther
are no side roads?"
None"
Then he certainly took a footpat
on one side or the other"
ut could not have been on the sid
OF the heath, Or ] should have seen him.
pb' ny INC piOctSS VI tACiuoiOl
We arrive at the fact that he mad
his way toward Charlington Hal
which, as l understand, is situate
in its own grounds on one side OF tn
road. Anything else?"
Nothing, Mr.. Holmes, save that
was so perplexed that l felt l shout
not be happy until l had seen yo
and had your advice"
Holmes sat in silence for some lit
time.
Where Is the gentleman TO whol
you are engaged" be asked at last.
HE is In the Midland Electric,
Company, at Coventry"
he would not pay you q surpns
VISIT"
ooh, Mr.. Holmes! As If ! shout
not know hlmr'
Have you had any other admirers?
Several before / knew Cyrl."
"And since?"