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"I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which

shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from

insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of

the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to

explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of

by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an

entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly

reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me

that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not

come either from the window or the door. My attention was

speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this

ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The

discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to

the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was

there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and

coming to the bed.