and I
noticed that, as the stick struck the horn, the beast drew back in
evident alarm, and that when the blow was repeated, it became manifestly
uneasy.

"He don't seem to like that," said the butcher. "Seems as if--Hullo,
that's queer!"

Thorndyke had just brought his stick up against the left horn, and
immediately the beast had winced and started back, shaking his head and
moaning. There was not, however, room for him to back out of reach, and
Thorndyke, by leaning into the pen, was able to inspect the sensitive
horn, which he did with the closest attention, while the butcher looked
on with obvious perturbation.

"You don't think there's anything wrong with this beast, sir, I hope,"
said he.

"I can't say without a further examination," replied Thorndyke. "It may
be the horn only that is affected. If you will have it sawn off close to
the head, and sent up to me at the hotel, I will look at it and tell
you. And, by way of preventing any mistakes, I will mark it and cover it
up, to protect it from injury in the slaughter-house."

He opened his parcel and produced from it a wide-mouthed bottle labelled
"Ox-gall," a sheet of gutta-percha tissue, a roller bandage, and a stick
of sealing-wax. Handing the bottle to Mr. Felton, he encased the distal
half of the horn in a covering by means of the tissue and the bandage,
which he fixed securely with the sealing-wax.

"I'll saw the horn off and bring it up to the hotel myself, with the
ox-gall," said Mr. Felton. "You shall have them in half an hour."

He was as good as his word, for in half an hour Thorndyke was seated at
a small table by the window of our private sitting-room in the Black
Bull Hotel. The table was covered with newspaper, and on it lay the long
grey horn and Thorndyke's travelling-case, now open and displaying a
small microscope and its accessories. The butcher was seated solidly in
an armchair waiting, with a half-suspicious eye on Thorndyke for the
report; and I was endeavouring by cheerful talk to keep Mr. Stopford
from sinking into utter despondency, though I, too, kept a furtive
watch on my colleague's rather mysterious proceedings.

I saw him unwind the bandage and apply the horn to his ear, bending it
slightly to and fro. I watched him, as he scanned the surface closely
through a lens, and observed him as he scraped some substance from the
pointed end on to a glass slide, and, having applied a drop of some
reagent, began to tease out the scra