“My colleague, Dr. Watson, could tell you that we are very busyat present. I am retained in this case of the Ferrers Documents,and the Abergavenny murder is coming up for trial. Only a veryimportant issue could call me from London at present.”
“Important!” Our visitor threw up his hands. “Have youheard nothing of the abduction of the only son of the Duke ofHoldernesse?”
“What! the late Cabinet Minister?”
“Exactly. We had tried to keep it out of the papers, but therewas some rumor in the Globe last night. I thought it might havereached your ears.”
Holmes shot out his long, thin arm and picked out Volume “H”
in his encyclopaedia of reference.
“ ‘Holdernesse, 6th Duke, K.G., P.C.’ —half the alphabet! ‘BaronBeverley, Earl of Carston’—dear me, what a list! ‘Lord Lieutenantof Hallamshire since 1900. Married Edith, daughter of Sir CharlesAppledore, 1888. Heir and only child, Lord Saltire. Owns abouttwo hundred and fifty thousand acres. Minerals in Lancashireand Wales. Address: Carlton House Terrace; Holdernesse Hall,Hallamshire; Carston Castle, Bangor, Wales. Lord of the Admiralty,1872; Chief Secretary of State for——’ Well, well, this man iscertainly one of the greatest subjects of the Crown!”
“The greatest and perhaps the wealthiest. I am aware, Mr.
Holmes, that you take a very high line in professional matters, andthat you are prepared to work for the work’s sake. I may tell you,however, that his Grace has already intimated that a check for fivethousand pounds will be handed over to the person who can tellhim where his son is, and another thousand to him who can namethe man or men who have taken him.”
“It is a princely offer,” said Holmes. “Watson, I think that weshall accompany Dr. Huxtable back to the north of England.
And now, Dr. Huxtable, when you have consumed that milk, youwill kindly tell me what has happened, when it happened, how ithappened, and, finally, what Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable, of thePriory School, near Mackleton, has to do with the matter, and whyhe comes three days after an event—the state of your chin givesthe date—to ask for my humble services.”
Our visitor had consumed his milk and biscuits. The light hadcome back to his eyes and the colour to his cheeks, as he sethimself with great vigour and lucidity to explain the situation.
“I must inform you, gentlemen, that the Priory is a preparatoryschool, of which I am the founder and principal. HUXTABLE’SSIDELIGHTS ON HORACE may possibly recall my name toyour memories. The Priory is, without exception, the best andmost select preparatory school in England. Lord Leverstoke, theEarl of Blackwater, Sir Cathcart Soames—they all have intrustedtheir sons to me. But I felt that my school had reached its zenithwhen, weeks ago, the Duke of Holdernesse sent Mr. James Wilder,his secretary, with intimation that young Lord Saltire, ten yearsold, his only son and heir, was about to be committed to mycharge. Little did I think that this would be the prelude to themost crushing misfortune of my life.
“On May 1st the boy arrived, that being the beginning of thesummer term. He was a charming youth, and he soon fell into ourways. I may tell you—I trust that I am not indiscreet, but halfconfidencesare absurd in such a case—that he was not entirelyhappy at home. It is an open secret that the Duke’s marriedlife had not been a peaceful one, and the matter had endedin a separation by mutual consent, the Duchess taking up herresidence in the south of France. This had occurred very shortlybefore, and the boy’s sympathies are known to have been stronglywith his mother. He moped after her departure from HoldernesseHall, and it was for this reason that the Duke desired to send himto my establishment. In a fortnight the boy was quite at homewith us and was apparently absolutely happy.
“He was last seen on the night of May 13th—that is, the nightof last Monday. His room was on the second floor and wasapproached through another larger room, in which two boys weresleeping. These boys saw and heard nothing, so that it is certain thatyoung Saltire did not pass out that way. His window was open, andthere is a stout ivy plant leading to the ground. We could trace nofootmarks below, but it is sure that this is the only possible exit.
“His absence was discovered at seven o’clock on Tuesdaymorning. His bed had been slept in. He had dressed himself fully,before going off, in his usual school suit of black Eton jacket anddark gray trousers. There were no signs that anyone had enteredthe room, and it is quite certain that anything in the nature ofcries or ones struggle would have been heard, since Caunter, theelder boy in the inner room, is a very light sleeper.
“When Lord Saltire’s disappearance was discovered, I at oncecalled a roll of the whole establishment—boys, masters, andservants. It was then that we ascertained that Lord Saltire hadnot been alone in his flight. Heidegger, the German master, wasmissing. His room was on the second floor, at the farther endof the building, facing the same way as Lord Saltire’s. His bedhad also been slept in, but he had apparently gone away partlydressed, since his shirt and socks were lying on the floor. He hadundoubtedly let himself down by the ivy, for we could see themarks of his feet where he had landed on the lawn. His bicyclewas kept in a small shed beside this lawn, and it also was gone.