sell square,

because parker, the vicar of our parish, was staying in it.

there was an american young lady there -- patrick was the

name -- elsie patrick. in some way we became friends,

until before my month was up i was as much in love as a man

could be. we were quietly married at a registry office,

and we returned to norfolk a wedded couple. you'll think

it very mad, mr. holmes, that a man of a good old family

should marry a wife in this fashion, knowing nothing of her

past or of her people; but if you saw her and knew her it

would help you to understand.

"she was very straight about it, was elsie. i can't say

that she did not give me every chance of getting out of it

if i wished to do so. 'i have had some very disagreeable

associations in my life,' said she; 'i wish to forget all

about them. i would rather never allude to the past, for

it is very painful to me. if you take me, hilton, you will

take a woman who has nothing that she need be personally

ashamed of; but you will have to be content with my word

for it, and to allow me to be silent as to all that passed

up to the time when i became yours. if these conditions

are too hard, then go back to norfolk and leave me to the

lonely life in which you found me.' it was only the day

before our wedding that she said those very words to me. i

told her that i was content to take her on her own terms,

and i have been as good as my word.

"well, we have been married now for a year, and very happy

we have been. but about a month ago, at the end of june, i

saw for the first time signs of trouble. one day my wife

received a letter from america. i saw the american stamp.

she turned deadly white, read the letter, and threw it into

the fire. she made no allusion to it afterwards, and i

made none, for a promise is a promise; but she has never

known an easy hour from that moment. there is always a

look of fear upon her face -- a look as if she were waiting

and expecting. she would do better to trust me. she would

find that i was her best friend. but until she speaks i

can say nothing. mind you, she is a truthful woman, mr.

holmes, and whatever trouble there may have been in her

past life it has been no fault of hers. i am only a simple

norfolk squire, but there is not a man in england who ranks

his family honour more highly than i do. she knows it

well, and she knew it well before she married me. she

would never bring any stain upon it -- of that i am sure.

"well, now i come to the queer part of my story. about a

week ago -- it was the tuesday of last week -- i found on

one of the window-sills a number of absurd little dancing

figures, like these upon the paper. they were scrawled

with chalk. i thought that it was the stable-boy who had

drawn them, but the lad swore he knew nothing about it.

anyhow, they had come there during the night. i had them

washed out, and i only mentioned the matter to my wife

afterwards. to my surprise she took it very seriously, and

begged me if any more came to let her see them. none did

come for a week, and then yesterday morning i found this

paper lying on the sun-dial in the garden. i showed it to

elsie, and down she dropped in a dead faint. since then

she has looked like a woman in a dream, half dazed, and

with terror always lurking in her eyes. it was then that i

wrote and sent the paper to you, mr. holmes. it was not a

thing that i could take to the police, for they would have

laughed at me, but you will tell me what to do. i am not a

rich man; but if there is any danger threatening my little

woman i would spend my last copper to shield her."

he was a fine creature, this man of the old english soil,

simple, straight, and gentle, with his great, earnest blue

eyes and broad, comely face. his love for his wife and his

trust in her shone in his features. holmes had listened to

his story with the utmost attention, and now he sat for

some time in silent thought.

"don't you think, mr. cubitt," said he, at last, "that your

best plan would be to make a direct appeal to your wife,

and to ask her to share her secret with you?"

hilton cubitt shook his massive head.

"a promise is a promise, mr. holmes. if elsie wished to

tell me she would. if not, it is not for me to force her

confidence. but i am justified in taking my own line --

and i will."

"then i will help you with all my heart. in the first

place, have you heard of any strangers being seen in your

neighbourhood?"

"no."

"i presume that it is a very quiet place. any fresh face

would cause comment?"

"in the immediate neighbourhood, yes. but we have several

small watering-places not very far away. and the farmers

take in lodgers."

"these hieroglyphics have evidently a meaning. if it is a

purely arbitrary one it may be impossible for us to solve

it. if, on the other