He denied it, however,
with the utmost earnestness, and I am convinced that he was
speaking the truth. The alternative was that someone passing had
observed the key in the door, had known that I was out, and had
entered to look at the papers. A large sum of money is at stake,
for the scholarship is a very valuable one, and an unscrupulous
man might very well run a risk in order to gain an advantage
over his fellows.
"Bannister was very much upset by the incident. He had
nearly fainted when we found that the papers had undoubtedly
been tampered with. I gave him a little brandy and left him
collapsed in a chair, while I made a most careful examination of
the room. I soon saw that the intruder had left other traces of his
presence besides the rumpled papers. On the table in the window
were several shreds from a pencil which had been sharpened. A
broken tip of lead was lying there also. Evidently the rascal had
copied the paper in a great hurry, had broken his pencil, and had
been compelled to put a fresh point to it."
"Excellent!" said Holmes, who was recovering his good-
humour as his attention became more engrossed by the case.
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