Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-12-07

he have gone to? The horse is very
grcgarious creature. II left TO himself
his instincts would have been g. 81
return TO Kings Pyland or G.
Mapleton. Why should he lid
upon the moor? He would b 9
been seen 10y now. And v uld
gypsics kidnap him? The,
always clear out when they l.,
trouble, for they do not wish To "a
pestered by the police. They could
not hope to sell such horse. They
would run n great risk and gain nothing
by taking him. Surely that is clear"
Where is he, thcn?'
II have already said that he must
have gone 10 Kings Pyland or TO
Maplcton. lie is not nj Kings Pyland.
| Therefore he is at Maplcton. let us take
that as a working hypothesis and sec
what IL leads us to. This part of the
moor, as the Inspector remarked, is very
/ hard and dry. But IL falls away toward
Mapleton, and YOU can see from here
that there is . long hollow over yonder,
which must have been very wet on
Monday night. II our supposition is cor
rect, then the horse must have crossed
that, and there is the point where, we
should look for his tracks"
We had been walking briskly during
| this conversation. and few more min
utcS brought us TO the hollow in qucsT
ton. At Holmes request ! walked
down the bank to the right. and he TO the
left. but had not taken fifty PAGES before
| heard him give n shout, and saw him
waving his hand to me. The track
of horse was plainly outlined in the soft
earth in front OF him. and the shoe which
he took from his pocket exactly fitted
the impressions.
Sec the value Of imagination"
said Holmes. 1T is the one quality
which Gregory lacks. We imagined
what might have happened, acted
upon the slipposition, and find ourselves
justified Let us proceed"
We crossed the marshy bottom and
passed over n quarter of a mile of dry,
hard turf Again the ground slopcd, and
again We came on the tracks. Then we
lost them for half mile. but only TO
pick them up once moro quite close to
Maplcton. 1t was Holmes who saw
them first and he stood pointing with a
look of triumph upon his face. \ mans
track was visible beside the horses.
The horse was alone before"
cried.
Quite so. II was alone before
Ilullo, what is this?'
The double track turned sharp on
and took the direction of Kings Py--
land. Holmes whistlcd and we both
: followed along after il. His eyes wcrJ
on the trail, but ! happened 10 lool
: a little TO one side. and saw to my sur
prise the same tracks coming back agar
in the opposite direction.
'Onc for YOU. Watson. said Holmes
when ! pointed IT out. You hav,
, saved us n long walk. which would hav,
! brought us back on our own traces
, Let us follow the return track
We had not "a go far. IL cndc'
: at the paving Of asphalt which lc,
{ up TO the gates Of the Mapleto,
stables. As we approached, a groom
o ran out from them.
b We don't want any loiterers abou
here" said he.
!. Il only wished 10 ask a question,
E said Holmes, with his finger and thum'
in his waistcoat pocket. should | b
too carly To sec your master, Mr.. Sila
Brown. IL | were to call at five o'cloc
, tomorrow morning.
b Bless YOU. sir, II snv one is abou
!. he will be. for he is always the frs
n stirring. But here he is sir, 20 answe
g Your questions for himself. No, sir, n
It is as much as my place is worth 10 lc
c him see me touch your money. After
e wards, Il YOU like
" As Sherlock Holmes replaced III
half-crown which he had drawn frol
his pocket. herce-looking elderly ma
o strobe ont from the gate with q huntin!
II crop swinging in his hand.
T whats this, Dawson he erie,
Il NO gossipingl Go about your bus
d ness, And you, what the devil do yo
'e want here"
"Ten minutes talk with lou, N
e good SIR" said Holmes IN the swee
: est Of voices.
<, 1--WE no time to talk TO every ga'