The Return of Sherlock Holmes Part 9 (1/2)
Again a swift change passed over the heavy, unshaven face His enial
”I've less reason to wish the Dook well than most men,” said he, ”for I was head coachman once, and cruel bad he treated me It was hi corn-chandler But I' lord was heard of in Liverpool, and I'll help you to take the news to the Hall”
”Thank you,” said Hol round the bicycle”
”I haven't got a bicycle”
Holn
”I tell you, ot one I'll let you have two horses as far as the Hall”
”Well, well,” said Hol to eat”
When ere left alone in the stone-flagged kitchen, it was astonishi+ng how rapidly that sprained ankle recovered It was nearly nightfall, and we had eaten nothing since early , so that we spent soht, and once or twice he walked over to theand stared earnestly out It opened on to a squalid courtyard In the far corner was a srimy lad was at work On the other side were the stables Holain after one of these excursions, when he suddenly sprang out of his chair with a loud exclaot it!” he cried ”Yes, yes, itany cow-tracks to-day?”
”Yes, several”
”Were?”
”Well, everywhere They were at the ain near where poor Heidegger met his death”
”Exactly Well, now, Watson, how many cows did you see on the e, Watson, that we should see tracks all along our line, but never a cow on the whole e”
”Now, Watson, make an effort, throw your mind back Can you see those tracks upon the path?”
”Yes, I can”
”Can you recall that the tracks were soed a number of bread-crumbs in this fashi+on-- : : : : :--”and sometimes like this”--:::: --”and occasionally like this”-- :::”Can you remember that?”
”No, I cannot”
”But I can I could swear to it However, ill go back at our leisure and verify it What a blind beetle I have been, not to draw my conclusion”
”And what is your conclusion?”
”Only that it is a ree! Watson, it was no brain of a country publican that thought out such a blind as that The coast seems to be clear, save for that lad in the smithy Let us slip out and see e can see”
There were two rough-haired, unkempt horses in the tu of one of thehed aloud
”Old shoes, but newly shod--old shoes, but new nails This case deserves to be a classic Let us go across to the s us I saw Hol the litter of iron and hich was scattered about the floor Suddenly, however, we heard a step behind us, and there was the landlord, his heavy eyebrows drawn over his savage eyes, his swarthy features convulsed with passion He held a short,a fashi+on that I was right glad to feel the revolver in my pocket
”You infernal spies!” thethere?”
”Why, Mr Reuben Hayes,” said Holht think that you were afraid of our finding so out”
The ri than his frown
”You're welcome to all you can find out in my smithy,” said he ”But look here,about my place without et out of this the better I shall be pleased”
”All right, Mr Hayes, no har a look at your horses, but I think I'll walk, after all It's not far, I believe”
”Not ates That's the road to the left” He watched us with sullen eyes until we had left his pre the road, for Holmes stopped the instant that the curve hid us from the landlord's view
”We arrow colder every step that I take away from it No, no, I can't possibly leave it”
”I am convinced,” said I, ”that this Reuben Hayes knows all about it A more self-evident villain I never saw”
”Oh! he impressed you in that way, did he? There are the horses, there is the s cock I think we shall have another look at it in an unobtrusive way”
A long, sloping hillside, dotted with gray limestone boulders, stretched behind us We had turned off the road, and werein the direction of Holdernesse Hall, I saw a cyclist co
”Get down, Watson!” cried Holmes, with a heavy hand upon my shoulder We had hardly sunk fro cloud of dust, I caught a gliitated face--a face with horror in every linea wildly in front It was like soe caricature of the dapper Jaht before
”The Duke's secretary!” cried Holmes ”Come, Watson, let us see what he does”
We scrambled from rock to rock, until in a few moments we had made our way to a point from which we could see the front door of the inn Wilder's bicycle was leaning against the wall beside it No one was liht crept down as the sun sank behind the high towers of Holdernesse Hall Then, in the glooht up in the stable-yard of the inn, and shortly afterwards heard the rattle of hoofs, as it wheeled out into the road and tore off at a furious pace in the direction of Chesterfield
”What do you make of that, Watson?” Holle -cart, so far as I could see Well, it certainly was not Mr James Wilder, for there he is at the door”
A red square of light had sprung out of the darkness In the ure of the secretary, his head advanced, peering out into the night It was evident that he was expecting soure was visible for an instant against the light, the door shut, and all was black once more Five minutes later a lamp was lit in a room upon the first floor
”It seehting cock,” said Holmes
”The bar is on the other side”
”Quite so These are what one uests Nohat in the world is Mr Jaht, and who is the companion who comes to meet him there? Coate this a little ether we stole down to the road and crept across to the door of the inn The bicycle still leaned against the wall Holmes struck a match and held it to the back wheel, and I heard hiht fell upon a patched Dunlop tire Up above us was the lighted
”I h that, Watson If you bend your back and support yourself upon the wall, I think that I can e”
An instant later, his feet were on ain
”Co enough I think that we have gathered all that we can It's a long walk to the school, and the sooner we get started the better”