found it
to be a lump of mud, which rolled out on the straw-littered floor of
the stall, broke into pieces, and then disclosed to our wondering eyes
one of the mysteriously stolen diamond cuff-buttons!

"Great Caesar's ghost!" yelled Holmes at the top of his voice; "here's
one of them, anyhow!"

And he grabbed up the glittering jewel from the floor, and confronted
the astounded and frightened Yensen.

"So the horse was born with a diamond on his hoof, eh? That beats a
baby's being born with a golden spoon in its mouth, as they say some
of them are. But hold on a minute, O faithful confidant of the
Australian crook. My name isn't really Dick Henderson. It's," and
Holmes suddenly jerked off the false lump on his nose and resumed his
natural tone of voice, "Hemlock Holmes, at your service! Now you,
march!"

As he uttered these words, Holmes pulled out his revolver, covered the
shrinking coachman, and motioned him toward the castle.

I now came out of my hiding-place in the next stall, and accompanied
the strange procession into the castle: Yensen, holding his hands up,
his face almost green with fright, in front; Holmes, with his drawn
revolver pointed at him, immediately behind, and yours truly bringing
up the rear, while the bulldog barked loudly at us from his kennel
next to the stalls. As we marched along the garden-paths, Holmes
demanded of his victim:

"Say, wasn't Thorneycroft out here at the stable to see you along with
Billie Budd, Olaf?"

"Yes, he was, Mr. Holmes," answered the cowering Olaf.

"And they both made it up with you to hide the cuff-button, eh? Now
tell me how you came to put it in such an outlandish place! Talk
quick, now!" said Holmes.

"Ay had it hidden up in the hay-loft first, und Ay yust vas taking it
out to admire it vile Ay curried das horse, ven Ay heard you coming
along, und Ay got scared, und put some mud over it und shoved it under
das horse's pastern as das nearest place Ay could tink of! Please
don't hurt me now, Mr. Holmes. Ay never sviped anyt'ing before!"
pleaded Olaf, as he cringed along toward the castle, every other
moment looking around nervously behind him at Holmes's revolver.

"Except that you tried to steal Linescu's boots, according to his
testimony," returned Holmes dryly just as we entered the rear door of
the castle, and proceeded along the corridor toward the library. "But
don't be afraid. We'll talk about the proper retribution for your
crime after all the