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"Because I made a blunder, my dear Watson--which is, I am afraid, a morecommon occurrence than any one would think who only knew h yourmemoirs The fact is that I could not believe it possible that theremain concealed, especially inso sparsely inhabited a place as the north of Dartmoor From hour tohour yesterday I expected to hear that he had been found, and thathis abductor was thehad co FitzroySi had been done, I felt that it was time for me to takeaction Yet in some ways I feel that yesterday has not been wasted"

"You have formed a theory, then?"

"At least I have got a grip of the essential facts of the case I shallenu clears up a case so it to another person, and I can hardly expect your co-operation if I donot show you the position from which we start"

I lay back against the cushions, puffing at , thin forefinger checking off the pointsupon the palave me a sketch of the events which hadled to our journey

"Silver Blaze," said he, "is from the Somomy stock, and holds asbrilliant a record as his faht in turn each of the prizes of the turf to Colonel Ross,his fortunate owner Up to the time of the catastrophe he was the firstfavorite for the Wessex Cup, the betting being three to one on him Hehas always, however, been a pri public, andhas never yet disappointed them, so that even at those odds enormoussums of money have been laid upon him It is obvious, therefore, thatthere were Silver Blaze fro next Tuesday

"The fact was, of course, appreciated at King's Pyland, where theColonel's training-stable is situated Every precaution was taken toguard the favorite The trainer, John Straker, is a retired jockeywho rode in Colonel Ross's colors before he beca-chair He has served the Colonel for five years as jockey andfor seven as trainer, and has always shown himself to be a zealous andhonest servant Under him were three lads; for the establish only four horses in all One of these lads sat upeach night in the stable, while the others slept in the loft All threebore excellent characters John Straker, who is a married man, livedin a small villa about two hundred yards from the stables He has nochildren, keeps one maid-servant, and is comfortably off The countryround is very lonely, but about half a mile to the north there is asmall cluster of villas which have been built by a Tavistock contractorfor the use of invalids and others who may wish to enjoy the pureDartmoor air Tavistock itself lies two miles to the west, whileacross the established by Silas Brown In every other direction thegypsies Such was thegeneral situation last Monday night when the catastrophe occurred

"On that evening the horses had been exercised and watered as usual, andthe stables were locked up at nine o'clock Two of the lads walked upto the trainer's house, where they had supper in the kitchen, while thethird, Ned Hunter, reuard At a few minutes after ninethe maid, Edith Baxter, carried down to the stables his supper, whichconsisted of a dish of curried mutton She took no liquid, as there ater-tap in the stables, and it was the rule that the lad on dutyshould drink nothing else The maid carried a lantern with her, as itwas very dark and the path ran across the open moor

"Edith Baxter ithin thirty yards of the stables, when a manappeared out of the darkness and called to her to stop As he steppedinto the circle of yellow light thrown by the lantern she saw that hewas a person of gentleray suit of tweeds,with a cloth cap He wore gaiters, and carried a heavy stick with a knobto it She was most impressed, however, by the extreme pallor of hisface and by the nervousness of his ht, wouldbe rather over thirty than under it

"'Can you tell me where I am?' he asked 'I had alht of your lantern'

"'You are close to the King's Pyland training-stables,' said

she

"'Oh, indeed! What a stroke of luck!' he cried 'I understand that astable-boy sleeps there alone every night Perhaps that is his supperwhich you are carrying to him Now I am sure that you would not be tooproud to earn the price of a new dress, would you?' He took a piece ofwhite paper folded up out of his waistcoat pocket 'See that the boyhas this to-night, and you shall have the prettiest frock that money canbuy'

"She was frightened by the earnestness of his h which she was accustomed to hand the meals It wasalready opened, and Hunter was seated at the sun to tell hiain