Story Teller.

Wairoa Bell, Volume IV, Issue 154, 15 July 1892, Page 6

Story Teller.

THE ADVENTURE OP THE ENGINEER’S THUMB.

(Concluded.) ‘ A house on fire ? ’ aslccd Bradstreet, as the train steamed off again on its way. ‘ Yes, sir,’ said the station-master. ‘ When did it break out ? ’ ‘ I bear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, and the whole place is in a blaze.’ ‘ Whose house it ? * 1 Dr. Becher’s.’ ‘ Tell me,’ broke in the engineer, ‘ is Dr. Becher a German, very"thin, with a long sharp nose'? ’ The station-master laughed heartily, ‘ No, sir, Dr. Becher is an Englishman, and there isn’t a man in the parish who has a hotter.!h>ed waistcoat, But he has a ■ '•' .'si;,;; with him, a patient, as .. . is a foreigner, and he fooks as it a iittle good Berkshire beef would do him no harm.’ The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low hill, and there was a great wide-spread white- washed building in front of us, spout- ; sr fire at every think and window, while ii. garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to keep the flames under ‘ That’s it! ’ cried Heatherly, in intense excitement. ‘ There is the gravel drive, and there are the rose bushes where I lay. That second window is the one that I jumped from.’ ‘ Well, at least,,’ said Holmes, you have at least had your revenge upon them. There can be no question that it was your oil lamp which, when it wa3 crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are a good hundred rnile3 away by now.’ And Holmes’ fears came to be realised, for from that day to this no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but there all traces of the fugitives’ disappeared, and even Holxne’singenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to tneir whereabouts. The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements which they had found within, and still more so on discovering a newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor About sunset however, their efforts were at last successful, and they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, and the whole place reduced to such absolute ruin that, save some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of the «)> <•• inery which had cost our unfortunate ■ • ~o dear y. Large masses of • wer discovered stored in ... use, ..ui no coins were to be found, iw.ic.i may have explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been already referred to. How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained for ever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two persons, one of whom had remarkably Bmall feet and the other unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out of the way of danger. ‘Well/ said the engineer ruefully, as we took our seats to return once more to London, ‘ it has been a pretty business for me ! I have lost my thumb, and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what have I gained ? ’ ‘Experience/ said Holmes, laughing., 4 Indirectly it may be of value, you know ; you have orly to put it into words to gain the reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your existence/