In Which The Value Of An Education Is Demonstrated

On observing Mr. Headstone’s precipitate departure from the bank, the light porter had decided to follow the stranger under the vague suspicion that he might be an accomplice in the lately discovered crime. Bitzer maintained a prudent distance between himself and the object of his pursuit as he followed him out of the town. Once in open country he was obliged on occasion to throw himself bodily to the ground to avoid detection and make use of such natural cover (such as stinging nettles and bramble bushes) that availed itself to him. His determination to keep his quarry always in his view was unexpectedly thwarted by the sudden disappearance of the gentleman in question, as if he had been swallowed up by the very bowels of the earth. Coming up to the spot, Bitzer discovered a hat lying on the grass and found the words ‘Bradley Headstone’ written on the inside. He recognised the ground and approached the lip of the shaft cautiously, crawling forward on his belly to peer over the edge into the darkness. He called out the name he had read on the inside of the hat and was gratified to receive an echoing groan by way of response. Having had the benefit of an education in which facts were the constant prevailing theme, Bitzer recalled that it was possible to determine the depth of any depression within the earth by tossing into it a solid object and waiting for the sound of its impact. He therefore took a clod from the broken ground and threw it into the gloom. Some moments afterwards there came a sharp report and then a coughing and spluttering such as an individual might make if he had accidentally ingested some foreign matter not entirely pleasing to the taste. Young Bitzer’s experiment left him none the wiser and he determined to return to the town for assistance, which he did with as much expedition as his short legs and the necessity of relieving his hunger with a visit  to the pastry shop would allow.