The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 30, 1905, Page 1

by A er's Weel Me Conan Doyle Phillips that a com- ich I ock 1 some versity > that 1, since those state- would partic to the peo- the time in fur- a library where pursuing in early which restless in his ular occa- of uncon- as cle a loss what to y busy just now and I de- ctions,” my friend an- d much prefer that you of the police.” dear sir; such ossib "hen ol course ce the stayed those jon'is as well known powers and you are the one the world who can‘help me. I Mr. Holmes, to do what you s temper had not improyed had been deprived of the con- genial swrroundings of Baker street. Without his rapbooks, his chemicals and his homely untidiness, he was such uncomfortable man. He shrugged his shoulders in ungracious acquiesc- while our vi h much tor in hurried words citable gesticulation u, Mr. Holmes, first 'day of the the Fortescue schol- I am omne of the examiners. bject is Greek s pers consists the can- Dbassage is n paper, and an immense andidate could pre- nce "or this reason paper o'clock, th ed from the proofs desk. an an hour. Mr. Holmes, e double that A green oak one looked after my room v nd whose honesty is ab- y above suspicic I found that have of my about ed littie t on this other 3 oce 3 it has produced th. conseque es 3 le 1 rum- proot el d left Y 1 togethe: w I found that one of them w ving on the floor, ne was on the side table near the dow a third was where I had lef Holmes d for the first time. The ge on the floor, the second in the window, the third where Jeft it,” said he. ¥, Mr. Holmes. You amaze How could you possibly know continve your interesting instant I imagined that ad taken the unpardonable mining my papers. Heo however, with the utmost stness, and I am convinced that he was speaking the truth. The al- rnative was that some one passing had observed the key in the door, had nown that I was out and had en- tered to look at the papers. A large of money is-at stake,’ for the olarship is a very valuable one, and unscrupulous man nright yvery weil a risk in order to gain an advan- e over his fellows. nnister was very much upset e incident. He had hearly faint- hen we found that the ‘papers lbe: - denied by t ed had undoubtedly bgen tampered with. I gave him a little brandy and,left him collapse in a chair, whilé I.made most_careful" examination of ° the room. T soon saw -that the intrudér had left other traces of his presence Scsides the rumpled papers. . On.the table in the window were several shreds from a pencil which had been tharpened. A broken tiy of Jead was lving there also. Evidently the rascal had copigd the paper in a great hurry, had broken his pencil and had been elled to put a fresh point on it.” Excellent!” said Holmes, who was recovering his good humor as his. at- tention became more engrossed by the case, ortune has been your friend.” “This* was not all. I have a new writ table ‘with a fine surface of red leather. I am prepared to swear, and so is Bannister, that it was smooth and unstained. Now I found a clean cut in it about three inches long—not a mere scratch, but a positive cut. Not only this but on the table I found a small ball of black dough or clay, with specks of something which looks like sawdust in it. I ‘am - convinced that these marks were left by the man who rifled the papers. There were no footmarks and no other evidence as to his identity. I was at my wits’ ends, when suddenly the happy thought ec- curred to' me that you were in the town, and I came straight round to put the matter into your hands. Do help me, Mr. Holmes. You see my dilem- ma. Either I must find the man or else the examination must be post- puned until fresh papers are prepared, and since this cannot be done without explanation, there will ensue a hideous scandal, which will'throw a cloud not only on the ccllege, but on the uni- versity. Above all things, I desire to settle the matter = quietly and dis- creetly.” “I shall be happy to look into it and to give you such advice as I can,” said Holmes, rising and putting on his overcoat. “The case §s not entire- ly devoid of interest. Had any one visited you In ‘your room . after the papers came to you?” ““Yes, young Daulat Ras, an Indian student, who lives on the same stair, came in to ask me some particulars, . about the cxamination.” “For which he was entered?” s N And the papers were on’ your ‘ta- ble s “To the best of my belief, they .were, rolied ‘up.” “‘But might be recognized as proofs?” “Possibly.” “No one else in your room?” “Did any one know that these proofs would be there?” “No one save the printer.” “Did this man Bannister know?"” “No, certainly not. No one knew.” “Where is Bannistet now? “He was very ill, poor fellow. I left him collapsed in the chair. I was in such a hurry to come to you.” “You left- your door open?” “1 jocked up the papers first.” “Then it amounts to this, . Mr. oames, that, unless the Indian stu- dent recognized the roll as being proofs, the man who tampered with them came upcn them accidentally without know- ing that they were there.” S ms to me.” gave an enigmatic smile, said he, “let us go round. ot one of your cases, Watson—men- not phys . All right; come if you want to. Now, Mr. Soames—at your disposal! The sitting-room of our client opened by a long, low, latticed window on to the ancient lichen-tinted court of the old college. A Gothic arched door led to a worn stone staircase. On thé ground floor was the tutcr's room. Above were three students, one on each story. It was already twilight when we reached the scene of our problem. Holmes halted and looked earnestly at the window. Then he approdached it and, standing on tip-toe with his neck craned, he looked into the room. ““He must have entered through the door. There is no opening except the one pane,” ‘said our learned gulde, “Dear me!” .sald Holmes, and he emiled in a singular way as he glanced at our companion. “Well, if there is nothing to be learned here we had best g0 1inside.” ‘The lecturer unlocked the outer door and ushered us into his room. We stood at the entrance while Holmes made an examination of the carpet. “1 am afraid there-are no signs here,” said he. “One could hardly hope for any upon so dry a day. Your servant seems to haye quite recovered. You left him in a chair, you say.* Which chair?” { “By the window there.” “I see. Near this little table. - You can come in now. I have finished with the carpet. Let us take the little table first. Of course, what has happened is very clear. The man’ entered and took the papers, sheet by sheetf, ‘from the central table. He carried them over to the window table, because from there he could see i’ you came’across the courtyard, and so could effect an es- cape.” . “As a matter of fact, he could not,” said Soames, “for I entered by the side door.” " “Ah, that's good! Well, anyhow, that wag in his mind. Let me see the three strips. No finger impressions—no! Well, he carried over thjs one first and he copled it. How lorg would it take him to- do. that, using every, possible con- traction? A quarter. of an hour, nat ‘less. Then he tossed it down and selzed ,the pext. He was in the midst of that wheh your return caused him- to make a ‘very “hufried -retreat—very hurried, since he had not time to repldce the papers, . which would tell.you that he had been there. You were not aware .of any hurrying feet on the stair as you entered the outer door?'” ' Yo, I can’t say 1 was.” _ : ‘Well, He wrote’so furiously that he broke his pencil and had, as you ob- serve,. to. sharpen it again. This is of interest, Watson. ,The pencil was nat an ordinary ome. It was above the usual size, with a soft lead, the outer color was dark blue, the makeér's name Was printed in silver lettering and the piece remaining is only about an inch and a half long. Look for such a pencil, Mr. Soames, and you have got your man. When I add that he possesses a large and very blunt knife, you have an additional ald.” Mr. Soames was somewhat over- Whelmed Dby this flood. of information. “I can follow the other points,” said he, “but really, in this matter of the length—" Holmes held out a small chip with the letters NN and a space of clear wood between. them. “You see?” “No, I fear that even now—" ““Watson, 1 have always done you an injustice. There are others. What could this NN be? It is the end of a. word. You are aware that Johann Faber is the most common maker's name. Is it not clear that there is just as much of the pencil left as usually follows the Johann?” He held the small table side- ways to the electric-light. “I was hop- ing that if the paper on which he wrote was thin some trace of it might come through upon this polished surface. No, I see nothing. I don’t think there is anything more to be learned here. Now for the central table. This small pellet is,’I presume, the black, doughy mass you spoke of. Roughly pyramidal in shape and hollowed out, I perceive. As you say, there appear to be grains of sawdust in it. Dear me, this is very in- teresting. And the cut—a positive tear, I see. It began with a thin scratch and ended In a jagged hole. T am much in- debted to you for directing my atteg- tion to this case, Mr. Soames. Where does that door lead t0?” * *“To my bedroom.” “Have you been in it since your ad- venture?” 7 “No, I came straight away for you.” “I should“like to have = a ' glance round. What a charming, old-fash- ioned room! Perhaps you will kindly wait a minute, until I have examined the floor. ' No, ‘I see nothing. What about this curtain? - You hang your clothés behind it. _If any on were forced to conceal himself in th?s room he must do it there, since the bed is too low and the wardrobe too shallow, No one there, I suppose?” 3 As Holmes drew the curtain I ‘was aware, from some little rigidity and alertness of his attitude, that he was prepared for an emergency. As a mat- ter. of fact,,the .drawn.curtain dis- closed .nothing but three or:four suits of clothgs hanging from a line of pegs, Holmes turned away and stooped sud- denly.to the floor. . c g5y g * “Hallod! "What's this?” 'said he. It was a small pyramid of black, . putty-like stuff, exactly like the one upon the table of the study. Holmes WIS THARE LD LIV T ED BT T e T - held it out on his cpen palm in ths glare of the electric light. “Ydur visitor seems to have left traces in your bedroom as well as in your sitting-room, Mr. Soames."” ““What could he have wanted there?” “I think it is clear enough.. . You came back by an unexpected _way, and s he had no warning until you were at the very door. What could he do? He caught up everything which would betray him and hé rusned into your bedroom to cenceal ‘himself.” “Good gracious, Mr. Holmes, do you mean to tell me that all the time T was talking to- Bannister in this rcom" we had the man prisoner if we had only known it?” - “So 1 read it."” “‘Surely there is another alternative, Mr. Holmes. I don't-know = whether you observed my bedroom window 2" “Lattice-paned, lead framework, three separate windows, one swinging on hinge and large enough tc admit a man.” s S “Exactly. ‘And it looks out on an angle of the courtyard so as to- be partly invisible. The man might have effected his entrance there, left traces as he passed through the bedroom, and finally, finding the door open, have es- caped that way.” -, ot - Holmes shook -his head impatiently. “Let us be practical,” said he. *“ understand you to say that there are three students who-use this stair, and are in the hapit of passing your door?” “Yes, there are.” * B “And they are all in for this exam- ination?” | 5 / “Yes,” “Have you any reason to suspect any one’ of them more.than the -others?” Soames hesitatéd. L “It is a very dellcate question,”. sald he. “One hardly likes to ‘throw sus- picion where there ‘are no ‘proof; “Let us'hear the suspiclons, ‘I will look after, the proofs.”. " “I will tell you then in a few words the character of the three men who in-! habit these rooms. The lower of' the three 'is Gilchrist, & fine scholar ‘and athlete, plays in the Rugby team.and the cricket team Mor got” his’ blue for the hurdles“and the long jump. < He'is a fine, manly fellow. His father was the notorious Sir Jabez Gilchrist,” Who ‘ruined himself on the turf. ;My scholar has been left very ‘poor, ‘but he" is hardworking. and/ in- dustrious. . He will do_well. e S “The seéond floor is, inhabited by Daulat Ras,. the Indian. He. {._.,qm, inscrutable - fellow, &s. most .of. ' those :t[;g‘llaal i‘x:.éfle-ls‘:u up ilfihl:‘,wfl'k.. e “The top floor bel : es # Laren. He is a brilliant fellow when- 7 Y T T ONEONE 72E) A the. college, and | s . ~*“So I understan: S ke DF_/TERLOCK HOLME/, he chooses to work—one of the bright~ est intellects of the university; but he is wayward, dissipated and unprin- cipled. He was nearly expelled over a card scandal in his first year. He has been idling all this term, and he loekk firward with dread to the But, “I dare not ge.as far as that. > three, he 1s perhaps the least “Exactly. have a lock nister.” He was a little white-faced, clean- shaven, grizzly haired feliow of nfty. He was still suffering from this sud-’ den disturbance of the quiet routine of ‘his'life.. His . plump face was twitching with his nervousness and his fingers eoufd not keep still. s “We are investigating this unhappy businéss,” Bannister,” sald: his master. €s,.-Sir."" understand,” said Holmes, “that your key in the docxr 2 Hipr” ¥ v "Was it nct extraordinary that you sheuld -do this en the very day when there wera these. papers inside?" < “Jt was most unfortunate, sir. But I have : occzsionally done the same thing at other times.” © “Wheii did youv enter the room?” That Now, Mr. Soames, let us at your servant, an- t was about half-past four, N3 Mr. Soames’ tea -time.” ow long.d:d you stay?”, +When 1 saw that he was absent I withdrew at once.” s y “Did vcu:look at these papers on tr hle N‘: »; sir-—certainly not.” jow came you to leave tha key in the door?” . “T Lpa a tea tray in my hand. I thought T.would come back fc¢ir the key. TLen I forgot.” - *“Has the euter door a spring lock?"” g ANO SP2) R, i hen il was,open all the time?"” €, a1 3 i “Any one in the room could get “Yes, sig.” i i wxm‘pv ‘i{r Soames returned and cailed for you, you were very much rhed?’ -, 2H RS S “Yes, sitn Such a thing fl_u,nevep ‘happened during the many, years that . I have been here. I nearly fainted, d. when you began to f a7 3 %ofi was’l, sir? , here, near the'door.” “That is singular hecansa von sat Vthere were you down in that chair over yonder near the corner. Why did you pass these other chairs?"” “I don’t-know, sir, it didn’t matter to me where. I sat.” “I really don’t think he knew much about it, Mr. Holmes. - He was look= ing very bad—quite ghastl “You stayed here when your mas- ters left2” “Only for a few minutes or so. Then I locked the door and went to my room.” “Whom do-you suspect?” “Oh, I would not venture to say, “sir. 1 don’t believe there is any gentle- man in this university who is capable of profiting by such-an action. No, sir, I'll not helieve it.” ‘“Thank you, that will do” said Holmes, “Oh, one more word. You have not mentioned to any of the three gentlemen whom you attend that any- thing is amiss?” “No, sir—not a word.” “You haven't seen any of them?” + “Very good. .Now, Mr. Soames, we will take a walk in the quadrangle, if you please.” > Three yellow squares of light shone above us in the gathering gloom. . “Your three birds are all in_. their nests,” sald Holmes, looking up. "“Hal- loa!. What's.that? One of them seems restless enough.” .It.'was the Indian, whose dark sil-: houette appeared suddenly upon. his blind. He was pacing swiftly up_and down his room. “I should like.to have a peep at.each of :them,” said Holmes. “Is’ it pos- sible?” ‘ “No difficulty in the world,” Soames answered. “This set of rooms is quite the oldest in the college, and it is not unusual for visitors to go over them. Come along and I will . duet you.” “No names, please!” said Holmes, as we knocked at Gilchrist’s door. A tall, flaxen-haired, slim young felléw.opened it and.-made us weicome. when he un- derstood our errand. There were some really curious pieces of medieval do- mestic mhllecm‘g * within. Holmes was so charmed' with one of them that he ‘insisted on. drawing it'in his note- had " to borrow ur host and finally borrowed a knife to sharpen his own. The same curlous accident happened ‘to him in the rooms of ‘the Indian—a silent, lit- tle, - hooknosed fellow, “who eyed us askance and was glad when Holmes' architectural studies had come to an end. I could not see that in ) either case Holmes had come upon the clew for which he was searching. Ounly at the third did our visit prove abeor- tive. The outer dcor would not opem to our knock and nothing more sub- stantial than a torrent of bad language came from behind it. “I don't care who you are. You can go to blazes! roared the an “voice." “To-morrow’'s the exam, and§l won't be drawn by any one.” “A rude fellow,” said our gulde, flushing with anger as we withdrew down the stair. “Of course, he did not realize that it was I who was knock- ing, but none the less his conduct was very uncourteous, and indeed, under the circumstances rather suspicious.” Holmes' response was a curious one. “Can you tell me his exact height?™ he asked. “Really, Mr. Holmes, I cannot under- take to say. He is taller than the In- dian, not so tall as Gilchrist. I sup- pose five foot six would be about it.” “That is very important,” sald Holmes. “And now, Mr. Soames; I wish you good-nigh - Our guide cried aloud in his aston- ishment and dismay. “Good graclous, Mr. Holmes, you are surely not going to leave me in this abrupt fashion! You don’t seem to realize the position. To-morrow is the examination. I must take some definite action to-night. I cannot allow the examination to be held If one of the papers has been tam- pered with. The situation must be faced.” “You must leave it as it is. I shall drop round early to-morrow morging and chat the matter over. It is pos- sible that I may be in a posjtion then to indicate some course of action. Meanwhile you change nothing—noth- ing at all.” “Very good, Mr. Holmes." “You can be perfectly easy jn your mind. We shall certainly find . some way out of your difficulties. I will take the black clay with me, also the pencil cuttings. Good-by.” ‘When we were out in the darkness of the quadrangle we again looked up at the windows. The Indian still paced his room. The others were invisible. “Well, Watson, what do you think of 1t?"” Holmes asked as we came out into the main street. “Quite a little parlor game—sort of three-card trick, is it not? There are your three men. It must be one of them. You take your choice. ‘Which is yours?” “The foul-mouthed fellow at the top. He is the one with the worst record. And yet that Indlan was a sly fellow also. Why should he be pacing his room all the time?” “There is nothing in that. Many men do it when they are trying to learn any- thing by heart.” “He looked at us in a queer way."™ “So would you if a flock of strangers came in on you when you were pre- paring for an examination next day" and every moment was of valye. No, ; see nothing in_that. Pencils, toe; knives—all was satisfactory. But that fellow does puzzle me.” “Whe?"” “Why, Bannister, the servant. What's his game in the matter?” “He impressed me as being & per- fectly honest man.” - “So he did me. That’s fhe puzsling part. Why should a perfectly honest- man—well, well, here’s a large station- er's. We shall begin our researches here.” There were only four stationers of any consequence in the town, and at each Holmes produced his penecil chips and bid high for a duplicate. All were agreed that one could be ordered, but that it was not a usual size of pencil and that it was seldom kept in stock. My friend did not appear to be de~ pressed by his failure, but shrugged his shoulders in half-humorous resignation. “No good, my dear Watson. This, the, best and only final clew, has run to nothing. But, indeed, I have little doubt that we can build up a sufficient case without it. By Jove! my dear fel- low, it is nearly 9, and the landlady babbled of green peas at 7:30. What with your eternal tdbacco, Watson, and your irregularity at meals I expect that you will get notice to quit, and that& shall share your downfall-not, how- ever, before we have solved the proB- lem of the nervous tutor, the careless servant and the three enterprising stu- dents.” Holmes made no further allusion te the matter that day, though he sat lost in thought for a long time after our be- lated dinner. At 8 in the morning he came into my room just as I finished my _tollet. ““Well, Watson,” said he, “it is time we went down to St. Luke’s. Can you do without breakfast?” “Certainly.” “Soames will be in a dreadful fidget until we are able to tell him something positive.” “Have you anything positive to tell him?* “I think so.” “You have formed a conclusion?” “Yes, my dear Watson, I have solved the mystery.” “But what fresh evidence could you have got?” “Aha! It is not for nothin, turned myself out of bed at the untime- 1y hour of 6. I have put in two hours’ hard work and covered at least five miles, with something to show for it. Look at that!™ He held out his hand. On the valm were three little pyramids of black. doughy clay. “Why, Holmeés, you had only two yesterday.” “And one more this morning. It isa fair argument that wherever No. 3 came from is also thie source of Nos. 1and 2. Ebh, Watson? Well, come along and put friend Soames out of his pain.” The unfortunate tutor was certainly in a state-of pitiable agitation when we found him in his chambers. In a few hours the examination would com- mence, and he was still in the dilemma between making the facts public and allowing the culprit to compete for the valuable schelarship. He could hardly stand still, so great was his mental agitation, and he ran toward Holmes with two eager hands outstretched. “Thank heaven, that you have come! 1 feared that you had:given it in despair. What am I to do? the examination™ proeeed?” . - “Yes, let it- proceed, by all means.”* “But this rascal— ) “He shall not compete.” . “¥gu know him>” £1¥hink so. If this matter is not te pecome public, we must give ourselves certain powers, and resolve ourselves tato a small private court-martial. You there, if you please, Soames! Watson. you here! . I'll the armchair In the middle.” I think t we are now suf- ficlently imposing to strike terror into a ty. breast. Kindly ring the bell!™ Ba) er entered, and shrank in”evident surprise and fear 'at -judicial appearance. A S “You will kindly close the door. sald Holmes. “Now, Bannister, will that I have