oolish as to
lose himself i entirely refuse to accept the
responsibility of hunting for him."
"i quite understand your position," said holmes, with
a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "perhaps you don't
quite understand mine. godfrey staunton appears to
have been a poor man. if he has been kidnapped it
could not have been for anything which he himself
possesses. the fame of your wealth has gone abroad,
lord mount-james, and it is entirely possible that a
gang of thieves have secured your nephew in order to
gain from him some information as to your house, your
habits, and your treasure."
the face of our unpleasant little visitor turned as
white as his neckcloth.
"heavens, sir, what an idea! i never thought of such
villainy! what inhuman rogues there are in the world!
but godfrey is a fine lad -- a staunch lad. nothing
would induce him to give his old uncle away. i'll
have the plate moved over to the bank this evening.
in the meantime spare no pains, mr. detective! i beg
you to leave no stone unturned to bring him safely
back. as to money, well, so far as a fiver, or even a
tenner, goes, you can always look to me."
even in his chastened frame of mind the noble miser
could give us no information which could help us, for
he knew little of the private life of his nephew. our
only clue lay in the truncated telegram, and with a
copy of this in his hand holmes set forth to find a
second link for his chain. we had shaken off lord
mount-james, and overton had gone to consult with the
other members of his team over the misfortune which
had befallen them.
there was a telegraph-office at a short distance from
the hotel. we halted outside it.
"it's worth trying, watson," said holmes. "of course,
with a warrant we could demand to see the
counterfoils, but we have not reached that stage yet.
i don't suppose they remember faces in so busy a
place. let us venture it."
"i am sorry to trouble you," said he, in his blandest
manner, to the young woman behind the grating; "there
is some small mistake about a telegram i sent
yesterday. i have had no answer, and i very much fear
that i must have omitted to put my name at the end.
could you tell me if this was so?"
the young woman turned over a sheaf of counterfoils.
"what o'clock was it?" she asked.
"a little after six."
"whom was it to?"
holmes put his finger to his lips and glanced at me.
"the last words in it were 'for god's sake,'" he
whispered, confidentially; "i am very anxious at
getting no answer."
the young woman separated one of the forms.
"this is it. there is no name," said she, smoothing
it out upon the counter.
"then that, of course, accounts for my getting no
answer," said holmes. "dear me, how very stupid of
me, to be sure! good morning, miss, and many thanks
for having relieved my mind." he chuckled and rubbed
his hands when we found ourselves in the street once
more.
"well?" i asked.
"we progress, my dear watson, we progress. i had
seven different schemes for getting a glimpse of that
telegram, but i could hardly hope to succeed the very
first time."
"and what have you gained?"
"a starting-point for our investigation." he hailed a
cab. "king's cross station," said he.
"we have a journey, then?"
"yes; i think we must run down to cambridge together.
all the indications seem to me to point in that
direction."
"tell me," i asked, as we rattled up gray's inn road,
"have you any suspicion yet as to the cause of the
disappearance? i don't think that among all our cases
i have known one where the motives are more obscure.
surely you don't really imagine that he may be
kidnapped in order to give information against his
wealthy uncle?"
"i confess, my dear watson, that that does not appeal
to me as a very probable explanation. it struck me,
however, as being the one which was most likely to
interest that exceedingly unpleasant old person."
"it certainly did that. but what are your alternatives?"
"i could mention several. you must admit that it is
curious and suggestive that this incident should occur
on the eve of this important match, and should involve
the only man whose presence seems essential to the
success of the side. it may, of course, be
coincidence, but it is interesting. amateur sport is
free from betting, but a good deal of outside betting
goes on among the public, and it is possible that it
might be worth someone's while to get at a player as
the ruffians of the turf get at a race-horse. there
is one explanation. a second very obvious one is that
this young man really is the heir of a great property,
however modest his means may at present be, and it is
not impossible that a plot to hold him for ransom
might be concocted."
"these theories take no account of the telegram."
"quite true, watson. the
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