That was the end of his visit, as you can imagine. Mr. Carruthers
apologized to me next day, and assured me that I should never
be exposed to such an insult again. I have not seen Mr. Woodley
since.
"And now, Mr. Holmes, I come at last to the special thing
which has caused me to ask your advlce to-day. You must know
that every Saturday forenoon I ride on my bicycle to Farnham
Station, in order to get the 12:22 to town. The road from
Chiltern Grange is a lonely one, and at one spot it is particularly
so, for it lies for over a mile between Charlington Heath upon
one side and the woods which lie round Charlington Hall upon the
other. You could not find a more lonely tract of road anywhere,
and it is quite rare to meet so much as a cart, or a peasant, until
you reach the high road near Crooksbury Hill. Two weeks ago I
was passing this place, when I chanced to look back over my
shoulder, and about two hundred yards behind me I saw a man,
also on a bicycle. He seemed to be a middle-aged man, with a
short, dark beard. I looked back before I reached Farnham, but
the man was gone, so I thought no more about it.
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