ndow that he could have escaped.
the german master's room and effects gave no further clue.
in his case a trailer of ivy had given way under his weight,
and we saw by the light of a lantern the mark on the lawn
where his heels had come down. that one dint in the short
green grass was the only material witness left of this
inexplicable nocturnal flight.
sherlock holmes left the house alone, and only returned
after eleven. he had obtained a large ordnance map of the
neighbourhood, and this he brought into my room, where he
laid it out on the bed, and, having balanced the lamp in
the middle of it, he began to smoke over it, and
occasionally to point out objects of interest with the
reeking amber of his pipe.
"this case grows upon me, watson," said he. "there are
decidedly some points of interest in connection with it.
in this early stage i want you to realize those
geographical features which may have a good deal to do with
our investigation.
{graphic}
"look at this map. this dark square is the priory school.
i'll put a pin in it. now, this line is the main road.
you see that it runs east and west past the school, and you
see also that there is no side road for a mile either way.
if these two folk passed away by road it was _this_ road."
"exactly."
"by a singular and happy chance we are able to some extent
to check what passed along this road during the night in
question. at this point, where my pipe is now resting, a
country constable was on duty from twelve to six. it is,
as you perceive, the first cross road on the east side.
this man declares that he was not absent from his post for
an instant, and he is positive that neither boy nor man
could have gone that way unseen. i have spoken with this
policeman to-night, and he appears to me to be a perfectly
reliable person. that blocks this end. we have now to
deal with the other. there is an inn here, the red bull,
the landlady of which was ill. she had sent to mackleton
for a doctor, but he did not arrive until morning, being
absent at another case. the people at the inn were alert
all night, awaiting his coming, and one or other of them
seems to have continually had an eye upon the road. they
declare that no one passed. if their evidence is good,
then we are fortunate 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 bicycle?" i objected.
"quite so. we will come to the bicycle presently.
to continue our reasoning: if these people did not go 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, a large district of arable
land, cut up into small fields, with stone walls between
them. there, i 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 upwards. here, at one side of this wilderness,
is holdernesse hall, ten miles by road, but only six across
the moor. it 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
inhabitants until you come to the chesterfield high road.
there is a church there, you see, a few cottages, and an inn.
beyond that the hills become precipitous.
surely it is here to the north that our quest must lie."
"but the bicycle?" i persisted.
"well, well!" said holmes, impatiently. "a good cyclist
does not need a high road. the moor is intersected with
paths and the moon was at the full. halloa! what is this?"
there was an agitated knock at the door, and an instant
afterwards dr. huxtable was in the room. in his hand he
held a blue cricket-cap, with a white chevron on the peak.
"at last we have a clue!" he cried. "thank heaven! at last
we are on the dear boy's track! it is his cap."
"where was it found?"
"in the van of the gipsies who camped on the moor.
they left on tuesday. to-day the police traced them down
and examined their caravan. this was found."
"how do they account for it?"
"they shuffled and lied -- said that they found it on the
moor on tuesday morning. they know where he is, the
rascals! thank goodness, they are all safe under lock and
key. either the fear of the law or the duke's purse will
certainly get out of them all that they know."
"so far, so good," said holmes, when the doctor had at last
left the room. "it at least bears out the theory that it
is on the side of the lower gill moor that we must hope for
results. the police hav
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