Pagina 203 di 657

Square, too, quite unusual boots! They come, they go, they come

again-of course that was for the cloak. Now where did they come

from?" He ran up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding

the track until we were well within the edge of the wood and

under the shadow of a great beech, the largest tree in the

neighbourhood. Holmes traced his way to the farther side of this

and lay down once more upon his face with a little cry of

satisfaction. For a long time he remained there, turning over the

leaves and dried sticks, gathering up what seemed to me to be

dust into an envelope and examining with his lens not only the

ground but even the bark of the tree as far as he could reach. A

jagged stone was lying among the moss, and this also he carefully

examined and retained. Then he followed a pathway through the

wood until he came to the high road, where all traces were lost.