48036    It will give him the clue for which he has been seeking.

48037    I am much mistaken if it does not bring him down.'

48038    I went at once to my room and drew up my report of the morning's conversation for Holmes.

48039    It was evident to me that he had been very busy of late, for the notes which I had from Baker Street were few and short, with no comments upon the information which I had supplied, and hardly any reference to my mission.

48040    No doubt his blackmailing case is absorbing all his faculties.

48041    And yet this new factor must surely arrest his attention and renew his interest.

48042    I wish that he were here.

48043    October 17th - All day to-day the rain poured down, rustling on the ivy and dripping from the eaves.

48044    I thought of the convict out upon the bleak, cold, shelterless moor.

48045    Poor fellow!

48046    Whatever his crimes, he has suffered something to atone for them.

48047    And then I thought of that other one - the face in the cab, the figure against the moon.

48048    Was he also out in that deluge - the unseen watcher, the man of darkness?

48049    In the evening I put on my waterproof and I walked far upon the sodden moor, full of dark imaginings, the rain beating upon my face and the wind whistling about my ears.

48050    God help those who wander into the Great Mire now, for even the firm uplands are becoming a morass.