? ? ? ? I saw Holmes put his hand to his forehead like a man distracted. He stamped his feet upon the ground.
? ? ? ? "He has beaten us, Watson. We are too late."
? ? ? ? "No, no, surely not!"
? ? ? ? "Fool that I was to hold my hand. And you, Watson, see what comes of abandoning your charge! But, by Heaven, if the worst has happened we'll avenge him!"
? ? ? ? Blindly we ran through the gloom, blundering against boulders, forcing our way through gorse bushes, panting up hills and rushing down slopes, heading always in the direction whence those dreadful sounds had come. At every rise Holmes looked eagerly round him, but the shadows were thick upon the moor, and nothing moved upon its dreary face.
? ? ? ? "Can you see anything?"
? ? ? ? "Nothing."
? ? ? ? "But, hark, what is that?"
? ? ? ? A low moan had fallen upon our ears. There it was again upon our left! On that side a ridge of rocks ended in a sheer cliff which overlooked a stone-strewn slope.
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