"well, i did what she said, mr. holmes, and i carried the bird all the way to kilburn. i told my pal what i had done, for he was a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. he laughed until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. my heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and i knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. i left the bird, rushed back to my sister’s, and hurried into the back yard. there was not a bird to be seen there.