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