“And how do we know it’s a man?” demanded Nancy.
“Because there’s not a trace of femininity in the whole room,” said Edward. “There are pipes and tobacco jars and a box of cigars. Here are some scientific magazines and books,—do you think any woman would read those?”
“There’s a boy here,” put in another student, holding up a rubber ball in one hand and a book of fairy tales in the other.
“Wouldn’t a girl play with a ball and read fairy tales?” asked Nancy, feeling that she must stand up for the rights of her sex even in the matter of games and books.
“Oh, of course. But she wouldn’t play with lead soldiers, would she?” asked Bixby, displaying a small toy soldier he had found on the floor.
“Marvelous! Marvelous!” said Bulger. “And now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, what other facts do you gather from this slight evidence?”
“I should say, my dear Watson,” answered Bixby, pulling a cap over his eyes and folding his arms, “that the owner of the villa was of small stature. I judge that from the size of his foot.” He held up a man’s bedroom slipper that he had drawn from under Nancy’s chair. It was indeed hardly larger than a boy’s slipper. “He is a widower with one son. He lives abroad most of the time and comes to Oxford in the spring because he loves nature; so much so that he goes out walking and forgets to notice what the weather is. He is a man of studious habits because he has a student’s lamp and slippers ready for comfort the instant night drops her sable curtain. He is a small, amiable character, hospitable, as we can testify, with refreshment ready for all chance guests from one to eight or nine. He is agreeable——”
“How do you know that?”
“His house—his house, my dear Watson. Can’t you see that only a person of an amiable, trusting nature would go out and leave every door and window stretched wide? We will picture to ourselves, then, the hospitable owner of this villa as a small, dapper, wholesome gentleman with an amiable heart and a gentle nature——”
A heavy step was heard in the hall; a shadow darkened the doorway and a shrill strident voice exclaimed: