The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 16, 1905, Page 2

turning the front of his coat and ex- hibiting the butt of a large revolver, ¥ projected from the inside pocket. u to do some- been e has ever come ou that I am armed and I am perfectly. pre- N my weap knowing law will support me. Besides, supposition that I would bring in a2 note book is en- I would do nothing so , gentlemen, I have erviews this even- Hamp- g drivi t pped for his hand on o the door. I must fate Betweer ce station and let me share me.” tnow that? You can’t Anyway, my her people besides and even repu- annoyed, cla but his ed me on “Well, well, my dear fellow,.be it s0. We have shared this same room for some years, and it would be amus- ing if we ended by sharing the same cell. You know, Watson, I don't mind confessing to you that I have always had an fdea that I would have made a highly eflicient eriminal. chance pf my lifetime in that direc- tion, See here!” Hé took a neat lit- tle deather case out of a drawer, and opeping it he dxhibited a number of shining instruments. “““This 1§ a first- cl up-to-date burgling kit, with nickel-plated jimmy, diamond-tipped glass-cutter, adaptable keys and every modern improvement. which . .the march of civilization demands. Here, too, is my dark lantern. Everything is in order. Have you a pair of silent “I have rubber-soled tennis shoes.” “Excellent! .And a mask?” 1 can make a couple out of black 1 see that you have a strong, ral turn_ for this sort of thing. good, do you make the masks. We shall have some cold supper be- fore we start. It is now 9:30. At 11 drive as far as Church Row. uarter of an hour's walk from to Appledore Taowers. We shall work before midnight. Milver- heavy sleeper, and retires at 10:30., With any luck be back here by 2, with the a’s letters in my. pocket.” and I put ou. -our -dress that we might appear to r-goers homeward bound. Oxford street we picked up a hap- 1 and drove to an address in Hamp. Here we paid off our cab ,and r great coaté buttonsd up, for erly cold seemed to blow through us, we walked edge of the heath. usiness that needs delicate . olimes. “These doc- ntained in a safe in the and the study is the bed chamber. ,On ke all these stout, who do themselves well, he reper. Agatha—that's says it is a joke in the 1 ihat it's fmpossible to paster. He has a secretary oted to his ‘interests, and 1dges from the sjudy all day. why we are going at night. , heast of .a dog 'which »n. 1 met Agatha late two evenings, and she. locks 1 0 as to give me a clear the house, this big one in unds. Through the gate— he right-among the laurels. e might put on our masks here, 1 hink.” You see, there is not a glim- y of the windows, rking splendidly. e k silk face-coverings, ned us.into two of the most t figures in London, we stole » the silent, gloomy house. A sort 1 nda extended along one it, lined by several windows o doors. t's his bedroom,” Holmes whis- 1is door opens straight into dv. It would suit us best, but is bolted as well as locked, and we a k too much noise getting round here. There's a which opens into the vag locked, but Holmes ircle of and tyrnzd rom the in: An Instant he had closed the door be- had become felons The thick, warm f the conservatory and the rich, ng {ragrance of exotic plants us by the throat. seized my hand in the darkness and swiftly past banks of shrubs, against our faces, rkable powers, cafes of seeing in the dark. v hand in one of his, he nd I was vaguely con- ve had ehtered a a cigar had bee He felt his w: among loor, and s, Putting out my 1 coats hanging from t sever T understood that 1 was assage. We passed along it, and es very gently opened a door upon ide. Something rushed v heart sprang into my cpuld have laughed when at it was the cat. A fire in this new room, and was heavy with tobacco ntered on tiptoe, wail- -hand s but I ¢ me to follow, and then very gen- losed the doo We were in Mii- s study, and a portiere at the iec showed the entrance tp his d fire and the room was Near the door I saw ctric switch, but it even If it had been At one side of the heavy curtain, which y window we had seen On the other side was r which communicated with the da. A desk stood in the center, a turning chair of shining red er. Opposite was a large bookease, a marble bust of Athene on the 1 the corner between the book- wall thtre stood a tall, the firelight flashing back polished brass knobs upon its Holmes stole across and looked n he crept to the door of the om, and stood with slanting head ing intently. No sound came from Meanwhlile it had struck me e To my amazement, it was T her locked nor bolted. I touched Holmes on the arm, and he turned his >d face in that direction. I saw him start, and he was evidentiy, as sur- pri TE T ‘I don't like it,” he whispered, put- ting his lips to my very ear. “I can't quite make it out. Anyhow, we have no time to lose.” “Can 1 do anything?"” stand by the door. If you hear any one come bolt it on the inside, and we can get away as we came, If they come the other way we can get through the door if our job is done, or hide be- hind these curtains if it is not. Do you understand ?” I nodded and stood by the door. My rst feeling of fear had passed aw: and ‘the wvind, THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. S ——————_—_———— e —_— and I thrilled now with a_keener zest’ deéd, my plans were somewhat vague than I had ever enjoyed when we were as to what I should do if we were in- the defenders qf the law instead of its terrupted. For half an hour Holmes defiers. The high object of our mission, worked with concentrated energy, lay- down one tool, picking up another, apd chivalrous, the/villainaus, character, -handling each with the strength and of our opponent, all added-to the’'sport-; ‘delicacy 'of -the trained - mechanic. click, the broad the consciousness.that it was unselfigh. ing interest of the adventure, Far from case of instruments and choosing his tool with the calm, scientific accuracy of a surgeon who performs e delicate operation. I knew that the opening of safes was a particular hobby with him, and I understood the joy which it gave him to be confronted with this green and gold monster, the .dragon. which held in its- maw - the reputations of many fair ladies. Turning up the cuffs of his dress coat—he had placed his overcoat on a chair—Holmes lald out two drills, 2 jimmy and several skeleton keys. 1 stood at the center doar with my eyes glancing at each of the others, ready for any emergency, though, in- 00000¥080000000000000000000000000000 ANNOUNCEMENT. For the purpose of encouraging California and Western writers, Finally I heard.a This is the Tfeeling guilfy,"Lrefoiced and exulted ifi; green door swung open, and inside 1 our dangers. With a glow of’admira-had a glimpse of a number of paper tion I watched “Holmes unrpll/l_nl his ‘packets. each tied. sealed and in- scribed. Holmes picked one out, but it was hard to read by the flickering fire, and, he drew out his little dark lantern, for it was too dangerous, with Milverton in the next room, to switch on the electric light. Suddenly I saw him halt, listen intently, and then in an instant he had swung the door of the safe to, picked up his coat, stuffed his tools into the pockets, and darted behind the window curtain, motioning me to do the same. It was only when I had joined him there that I heard what had alarmed hig quicker senses. There was a noise somewhere within the house. A door o ¢ EIGHT Y TN OF U3 00090000900000006900000000009 Edch Week for the Best=——— slammed in the distance. Then a con- fused, dull murmur broke itself into ‘the measured thud of heavy footsteps rapidly approaching. They were in ‘the passage outside the room. They paused at the door. “The door opened. ‘There was a sharp snick as the_ electric _light was turned on. The,doot closed once more,;and the pungent reek of a strong cigar was borne to our nostrils. Then the footsteps continued back- N P LOUMDED BACK (224 QF7HLWEETT wards and forwards, backwards and - forwards, within a few yards of us. Finally there was a creak from a chair, and the footsteps ceased. They 4 key clicked in a lock, and 1 heard the rustle of papers. So far I had not dared to look out, Eu now I gently pdrted the division of e curtains in front of me and peep- ed through. From the pressure of Holmes’ shoulder against mine, I knew that he was sharing my observations. Right in front of us, and almost with- in our reach, was the broad, rounded back of Milverton. It was evident *that we had entirely miscalculated his movements, that he had never been to his bedroom, but that he had been sitting up in some smoking or billiard room in the farther wing of the house, the windows of which we had not seen. His broad, grizzled head, with its shin- ing patch of baldness, was in the im- mediate foregroynd of our vision. He was leaning back in the red leather chair, his legs outstretched, a long, black cigar projecting at an angle from his mouth. He wore a semi- military smoking jacket, claret-color- ed, with a black velyet collar. In his hand he held a long, legal document which he was reading in an indolent fashion, blowing rings of tobacco smoke from his lips as he did so. There was no promise of a speedy departure in his composed bearing and his com- fortable attitude. , I felt Holmes' hand steal into mine and give me a reassuring shake, as if to say that the situation was within his powers, and that he was casy in his mind. 1 was not sure whether he had seen what was only too obvious from my pesition, that the door of the safe was imperfectly closed, and that Milverton might at any moment ob- serve it. In my own mind I had de- termined that if I were sure, from the rigidity of his gaze, that it had caught his eye, I would at once spring out, throw my great coat over his head, pinion him, and leave the rest to Holmes. But Milverton never looked up, He was languidly interested by the paper in his hand, and page after page was turned as he followed the argument. of the lawyer. At least, I thought, when he had finished the document and the cigar he will go to his room, but béfore he had reached the end of either, there came a remarkable development, which ‘turned ou‘r thoughts into quite anaother chan- nel. Several times I had observed that Milverton looked at his watch and once he had risen and sat down again, with a gesture of impatience. The idea, however, that he might have an appointment at so stranpge an hour .never occurred to:me .untfl ;a faint sound reached my. ears from:the wve- randa outside. A Milverton dropped His papers and sat rigid in his chair. The sound ‘was repeated and then there came a gentle tan at the door. Mil- verton rose and opeéned it. § . “Well,” said he curtly, nearly half an hour late.” H So this was the explanation of the unlocked door and of the nocturnal vigil of - Milverton. There was the gentle rustle of a woman's dress.- I had closed the slit between the cur- tains as Milverton’s face had turned in our direction. but mow I ventured very carefully to open it once more. “you are He had resumed his seat, the cigar still projecting at an insolent angle from the corner of his mouth. In front of him in the full glare - the electric light there stood a tall, slim, dark wo- man, a veil over her face, a mantle drawn round her chin. Her breath d came quick and fast and every inch of the lithe figure was quivering with strong emotion. “Well,” said Milverton, “you've made me lose a good night's rest, my dear. 1 hope you'll prove worth it. You couldn’t come ahy other time—eh?” The woman shook her head. “Well, if you couldn't you couldn’t. If the Countess is a hard mistress you have your chance to-get level with her now. Bless the girl, what are you ehivering about? That's right. Pull yourself tcgether. Now let us get down to business.” He took a note- book from the drawer of his desk. ou say that you have five letters which compromise the Countess d'Al- bert. You want to sell them. I want te buy them. So far so good. It only remaing to fix a price. I should want to inspeet the. letfers, of course. If they are really good specimens—Great heavens, is it you?” The woman, without a word, had raised her veil and dropped the man- tlé from her chin. It was a dark, handsome, clear-cut face which con- fronted Milverton—a face with a curved ncse, strong, dark eyebrows shading hard, glittering eyes, and a stralght, thin-lipped mouth set in a dangerous smile. “It is 1,” she said, life you have ruined Milverton laughed, but fear vibrated in ms volce. ““You were so very ob- stinate,” said he. “Why did you drive me to such extremities? I assure you I wouldn’t hurt a fly of my own ac- cord, but every man has his business, and what was I tc do? I put the price well within your means. You would not pay.” “So you sent the letters to my hus- band and he—the noblest gentleman that ever lived, a man whose boots 1 was never worthy to lace—he broke his gallant heart and died. You re- member that last night, when I came through that docr, I begged and prayed you for mercy, and you laughed in my face as you aye trying to laugh now, only your coward heart cannot keep your lips from twitching? Yes, you never thought to see me here again, byt it was that night which taught me how I could meet you face to face and alone. Well, Charles Milverton, what have you to say?” “Don't imagine that you can bully me,” sald he, rising to his feet. “I have only to raise my voice and I could call my servants and have you ar- rested. But I will make allowance for your natural-anger. Leave the room at cnce as you came and I will say no more.” The woman stood with her hand buried in her bosom and the same ceadly smile on her thin lips. “You will ruin fio more lives as you Lave ruined mine. You will wring no more hearts as you wrung mine. I will free the world of "a polsonous thing. Take that, you hound—and that! —and that!—and that!—and. that!"” She had drawn a little gleaming re- velver and emptied barrel after barrel into Milverton's body, the muzzle with- in two feet of his shirt front. He shrank away and them fell forward upon the table, coughing furiously and clawing among the- papers. Then he staggered to hisg feet, received another shot and rolled upon the floor. “You've done me,” he cried, and lay still. The woman looked at him intently and “the woman whose — ground her heel into his upturned faee. She looked again, but there was mo sound or movement. I heard a sharp rustle, the night air blew into the heated room and. the ayenger was gone No jnterference upén our part could ‘hdye saved the man from his fate, but, as: the woman noured bullet after bullet into Milverton's shrinRing body I was -about to' spring.out, when I felt Holmes' cold stroug grasp upon my wrist. F understood the whole ar- gament of that flrm, restraining grip— that it was no affair of ours, that jus- “lice .had overtaken a villain, that we had olir own dufies and our own ob- Jjects, which were not to be lost sight ;3(. But hardly had the woman rushed rom M the room when Holmes, with swift, silent steps, was over at the other door. He turned the key in the lock. At the same heard instant he house and the voices in the hurrying feet. The re rcused the household ccolness Holmes slip safe, filled his two of letters and poured th 1 into the fire. Asgaln and again he did it, until the safe was empty. turned ot the handle 2 outside of- the door es ed swiftly around. The letter which had been the . messanger .of death. for M rton lay, all mottled with. his b upon the table. Holmes tossed the blazing papers. Then he drew the key from the outer door, passed through aftsr me and locked. it on the outside. “This way, Watson “we can scale the garden direction.” I could not have believed alarm could have spread so wal that swiftly. Leoking back, the huge house was an one blaze of light. The front door was open and figures were rushing down the drive. The whole garden was alive with people, and one -fel ralsed a view-halloa as we emerg > the veranda and followed hard at o heels. Ho!mes seemed to know the grounds perfectly, and he wreaded his way swiftly among a plantation of small tre 1 close at his heels, and our fore- most pursuer panting behind ds ° It was a six-foot wall which barred:our path, but he sprang to the top -and over. As I did the same I felt the hand of the man DBehind me grab at my ankle, but I kicked myself free and scrambled over a grass-strewn coping. I fell upon my face among some bushes, but Holmes had me on miy feet il an instant. and together we dashed away across the huge expanse of Hampstead Heath. We had run twoe miles, 1 suppose, before Holmes at last baited and lstened intently. All was absolute silence behind us. We RHad thaken off our pursuers and were saf2. We had breakfasted and were smok- ing our morning pipe on the day after the remarkable experience which I have recorded, when Mr. Lestrade of Scotland Yard, very solemn and im- pressive, was ushered into our modest sitting-room. ““Good morning, -Mr. Holmes,” said he; “good morning. May I ask if you are very busy just now " “Nat too busy to listen to you.™ “I thought that, perhaps, if you had nothing particular on hand, you might care to assist us in a most remarkable case, which occurred only last night at Hampateac “Dear me!"” said Holmes. “What was that?” “A murder—a most dramatic and re- markable murder. I know how keen you are upon th uld take it as a great fa step down to Appledore give us the benefit of your advice. is no ordinary We have fad eyes upon thi; ir. Milverto time, and, between ourselv bit of a lain. He is know held papers which h mailing purposes. all been burned by article of value was ta the able that good i prevent se “Criminals? “Yes, there were as neal erimin: posure.” said Holmes. re two of th as possible captured red-handled. We have their fodtmarks, we have their description, s ten to one that we trace them. The first fel low was a bit too active, but the second was caught by the under gardener, ana only got away after a strugzle. He was a middle-sized, strongly built man —square jaw, thick neck, mustache, a mask over his eyes.” “That's rather vague,” said Sherlock Holmes. . “Why, it might be a descrip- tion of Watsen'" “It's true,” said the inspector, with amusemen “It might be a description of Watson. “Well, I'm afraid I can't help you, Lestrade,” said Holmes. “The fact is that I knew this fellow Milverton, that I considered him one of the most dan- gerous men in London, and that I think there are certain crimes which the law cannot touch, and which therefore, to some -extent. justify private revenge. No, it's no use arguing. I have made up my mind. My sympathies are with the criminals rather than with the vie- tim, and I will not handle this case.” Holmes had not said one word to me about the tragedy which we had wit- nessed, but I observed all the morning that he was in his most thoughtful mood, and he gave me the impression, from his vacant eyes and his abstracted manner, of a man who is striving to re- call something to his memory. We were in the middle of our lunch when he suddenly sprang to his feet. “By Jove, Watson, I've got it!" he cried. “Take your hat! Come with me!" Hs hurried at his top speed down Baker street and along Oxford street, until we had almost reached Regent Circus. Here, on the left hana, there stands a shop window filled with photographs of the celebrities and beauties of the day. Holmes’ eyes fixed themselves upon one of them, and following his gaze I saw the plcture of a regal and stately lady in court dress, with a high diamond tiara upon her noble head. I looked at that delicately curved nose, at the marked eyebrows. at the straight mouth and the strong little chin be- neath it. Then I caught my breath as I read the time-homored title of the great nobleman and statesman whose Wite she had been. My eyes met those of Holmes and he put his finger to his lips as we turned away from the win- dow. (The End.) by offering a consideration for short stories equal to that paid by the best magazines, and for the purpose of bringing young and unknown writers to the front, the Sunday Call announces a weekly fiction con- test in which a cash prize of $50 will be paid each week for the best story submmgd, There is no section of America more fertile in ma- terial for fiction or more prolific in pens gifted to give spirit to the material at hand than is California :ndpcthe West. Therefore the Sun. day Call offers Sgn for the best story submitted each week by a West- ern writer. Stories of Western life 2nd Western characters will. as a rule, be given the preference, but all strong stories, and especially strong stories by new writers, will receive careful consideration. _ Each story will be iudged strictly upon its literary merit. Type- written copy is the casiest to read and will receive the first consider- ation from the editor. but do not hesitate to send a story in hand- writing if you cannot afford to- have it typewritten. Fiity dollars in cash for a story of not less than 2500 words and not more than 3500 words is approximately $17 per thousand words, or 1.7 cents per word. The. highest price paid by the leading magazines for the work of any but the very best writers is rarely more than two cents a word, more often one cent and a half, and generally ons cent. With the majority of magazines the writer, after his story is ac- cepted, is compelled to wait until the publication of his story before he is paid, a period of seldom less than six months. and usually from nire months to a year. The stories accepted in this contest will be paid for immediately upon publication, cad will be published on tis first Sunday following the judring of the mam G 26066006020 9020060000306000000000000000000000 SHORT STORY 50 § 'SUNDAY CALL No ‘story will be considered that is less than 2500 mor more than smxmdn in length. The length of the story must be marked in : A L n . ., In the selection of stories names will not count. The unknown writer will have the same stcnding as the popular author. Il As one of the obiects of the Sunday Call is to develop a new corns af Western writers no stories under noms de plume will be considered. 1f a story earns publication it will be well worth the writer's name. % v Stories not accepted will be returned at once. Those selectsd will be published one each week. This fiction contest will be =:Inldnn=.' indefinitely. An author may submit as man manmd;;u as he desires, but no cne writer ::'ll be permiut:d to winymors than three prizes during the sontest. e Always inclose return postage. No manuscripts will be returnsd unless accompanied by return postage. Wit Write on on of only; name and l.uduu‘ld.:a zoufsugbfl EDITOR ANCISCO, CAL. address legibly on OF THE CALL. Prices Each Week for Origi- ' nal Fiction <