The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 7, 1905, Page 2

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. come at 13 o’clock. The professor de- clares that he heard the distant cry, but that he knows nothing more, He can give no explanation of the young was she,’ but imagines that they were the outcome of delirfum. He believes that Willoughby Smith had not an ene- my in the world, and can give no rea- son for the crime. His first action was to send Mortimer, the gardener, for the local police. A little later the chief copstable sent for me. Nothing was moved before I got there, and strict orders were given that no one should walk upon the paths leading to the house. It was a splendid chance of putting your theorles into practice, Mr. 'k Holmes. There ,was really hing wanting.” Except Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said n, with a somewhat bitter let us hear about it t ask you first, Mr. Holmes, glance at this rough plan, which will e you & general idea of the position of the professor’s study and the vari- ints of the case. It will help ¥ owing m igation.” He unfolded the rough chart, which e reproduce, and he laid it across I rose, and, standing it over his very rough, of course, and it y deals with the points W to me to be essential. will see later for of all, presuming ntered the house, how did he rdoubtedly by the he back door, from access to the study. Any other way would have been exceedingly c ated. The escape » made along that exits from Susan other ssor’s bed- y atten- garden path, which with recent rain, and how any footmarks. 1 me that I jus and ex- narks were to There could be line, for the room one ¥ n the path. n, however, that some one long the grass border he path, and that he had pid * leaving a passed. It could ave been the murderer, since the gardener nor any one else en there that morning and the d only begun during the night.” moment,” sald Holmes. ‘“Where does this path lead to?” . “To the road.” “How long is it?” “A hundred yards or s0.” “‘At the point where the path passes ugh the gate, you could surely p the tracks?” ortunately, the path was tiled hat point.” 1, on the road itself?” o, it was all trodden into mire.” ‘Tut-tut! Well, then, these tracks upon the grass, were they coming or was impossible to say. There was ver any outline.” A large foot or a small?” “You could not distinguish.” Holmes gave an ejaculation of im- patience. “It has been pouring rain and blow- ing a hurricane ever since,” said he. “It will be harder to read now than that palimpsest. Well, well, it can’t be helped. What did you do, Hopkins, after you had made certain that you had made certain of nothing?” “I think I made certain of a good deal, Mr. Holmes. I knew that some one had entered the house cautiously from without. I next examined the corridor. It is lined with cocoanut mat- ting, and had taken no impression of any kind. This brought me into the study itself. It is a scantily furnigshed 1. The main article is a large iting table with a fixed bureau. This bureau consists of a double column of drawers, with a central small cup- board between them. The drawers were open, the cupboard locked. The drawers, it seems, were always open, and nothing of value was kept in them. ‘There were some papers of importance in the cupboard, but there were no signs that this had been tampered with, and the professor assures me that nothing was missing. It is certain that no robbery has been committed. “I come now to the body of the young man. It was found near the bureau, and just to the left of it, as marked upon the chart. The stab was on the right side of the neck and from behind for- ward, so that it is almost impossible that it could have been self-inflicted.” “Unless he fell upon the knife,” said Holmes. “Exactly, The idea crossed my mind. But we found the knife some feet away from the body, so that seems impossi- ble. Then, of course, there are the man's own dying words. And, finally, there was this very important plece of evidence which was found clasped in the dead man's right hand.” From his pocket Stanley Hopkins drew a small paper packet. He un- nez, with two broken ends of black sik cord dangling from the end of it. “Willoughby Smith had excellent sight,” he added. ‘““There can be no question that this was snatched from the face or the person of the assassin.” Sherlock Holmes took the glasses into his hand, and examined them with the utmost attention and interest. He held them on his nose, endeavored to read through them, went to the win- dow and stared up the: street with them, looked at them most minutely in the full light of the lamp, and finally, with a chuckle, seated himself at the table and wrote a few lines upon a sheet of paper, which he tossed across to Stanley Hopkins. “That's the best I can do for you,” saild he. “It may prove to be of some use.” “The astonished detective read the note aloud. It ran as follows: “‘Wanted—A woman of good address, attired like a lady. She has a remark- ably thick nose, with eyes which are set close upon either side of it. She has man's last words, ‘The Professor—it. folded it and disclosed a golden pince- a puckered forehead, a peering expres- sion, and probably rounded shoulders. There are indications that she has had recourse to an opticlan at least twice during the last few months. As her glasses are - of remarkable strength, and as opticians are not very numerous, there should be no difficulty in tracing her.” Holmes smiled at the astonishment of Hopkins, which must have been reflected upon my features. “Surely my deductions are sim- plicity itself,” said he. “It would-be difficult to name any articles which af- ford a finer field for inference than .a pair of glasses, especially so remark- able a pair as these, That they belong to a woman I infer from their deli- cacy, of course, from the ds of the dying man. As to a person of refinement and dressed, they are, as you per- ceive, handsomely mounted In solid gold, and it is inconceivable that any one who wore such glasses could be slatternly in other respects. You will find that the clips are too wide for your nose, showing that the lady's nose was very board at the base. This sort of nose usually a short and coarse one, but ere is a sufficient .number of excep ns to prevent me from be- ing dogmatic or from insisting upon this point in my description. -My own face is a narrow one, and yet I find that I cannot get my eyes into the center nor near the center of these glasses. Therefore the lady’'s eyes are set very near to the sides of the nose. You will perceive, Watson, that the glases are concave and of unusual strength. A lady whose vision has been so extremely contracted all her life is sure to have the physical character- istics of such vision, which are seen in the forehead, the eyelids and the should v “Yes,” 1 said, “I can follow each of your arguments. I confess, hcwever, that I am unable to understand how you arrive at the double yisit to the optician.” Holmes took the glasses in his hand. “You will perceive,” he said, “that the clips are lined with tiny bands of cork to soften the pressure upon ‘the nose. One of these is discolored and worn to some slight extent, but the other is new. Evidently one has fallen off and been replaced. I should judge that the older of them has not been there more than a few months. They exactly correspond, so I gather that the lady went back to the same estab- lishment for the second.” “By George, it's marvelous!” cried Hopkins, in an ecstasy «f admiration. “To think that I had all that evidence in my hand and never knew it! I had intended, however, to go the round of the Londoi opticians.” “Of course you would. Meanwhile have hing more to tell us Mr. Holmes. I think that vou know as much as I do now— probably more. We have had in- quiries made as to any stranger seen on the country roads or at the railway station. We have heard of none. What beats me is the utter want of all object in the crime. Not a ghost of a motive can any one suggest.” - “Ah! there I am not in a position to help you. But I suppose you want us to come out to-morrow ?” “If it is not asking too much, Mr. Holmes. There's a train from Char- ing Cross to Chatham at 6 in the morning and we should be at Yoxley 0Old Place between 8 and 9.” “Then we shall take it. our case has certainly some features' of great interest, and I shall be delighted to lJook intg it. Well, it's nearly 1, and we had best get a “hours’ sleep. I dare say you can manage all right on the sofa in front of the fire. I'll light my-spirit lJamp and give you a cup of coffee before we start.” - The gale had blown itself out next day, but it was a bitter morning when we started upon our journey. We saw the cold winter sun rise over the dreary marshes of the Thames and the long, sullen reaches of the river, which I shall ever associate with our pursuit of the Andaman Islander in the earlier a of our career. After a long and weary journey we alighted at a small station some miles from Chatham. While a horse was being put into & trap at the local inn we snatched a hur- ried breakfast, and so we were all ready for business when we arrived at Yoxley Old Place. A constable met us at the garden gate. “Well, Wilson, any news?” “No, sir—nothing.” No reports of any stranger seen?” o, sir. Down at the station they are certain that no stranger either came or went yesterday.” “Have you had inquiries made at inns and lodgings?” “Yes, sir: there is no one that we cannot account for.” “Well, it's only a reasonable walk to Chatham. Any one might stay there or take & train without being observed. This is the garden path of which I spoke, Mr. Holmes. I'll pledge my word there was no mark on it yester- day.” “On which side were the marks on the grass?” “This side, sir. This narrow margin of grass between the path and the flower-bed. I can't see the traces now, but they were clear to me then.” “Yes, yes; some one has passed along,” said Holmes, stooping over the grass border. ‘“Our lady must have picked her steps carefully, must she not, since on the one side she would leave a track on the path, and on the other an even clearer one on.the soft bed?” “Yes, sir; she must have been a cool hand.” I saw an Holmes' face. “You say that she must have come back this way?” “Yes, gir; there is no other.” ‘On this strip of grass?” “Certainly, Mr. Holmes.” “Hum! It was a very remarkable performance—very remarkable. Well, I think we have exhausted the path. Let us go farther. This garden door is usually kept open, I suppose? Then this visitor had nothing to do but to walk in. The idea of murder was not in her mind, or she would have provid- ed herself with some sort of weapon, instead of having to pick this knife off the writing table. She advanced along this corridor, leaving no traces upon the cocoanut matting. Then she found herself in this study. How long was she there? We have no means of judg- ing.” “Not more than a few minutes, sir. I forgot to tell you that Mrs. Marker, the housekeeper, had been in there tidying not very long before—about a quarter of an hour, she says.” “Well, that gives us a limit. Our lady enters this room, and what does she do? She goes over to the writing ta- ble. What for? Not for anything in the drawers. If there had been anything ‘worth her taking, it would surely have been locked up. No, it was for some- intent look pass over thing in thll t wooden bureau. Halloa! what is that scratch 1t? Just hold & mtuh“.’g N Why did you not tell me .of this, Hopkins?” he was examining began upon the bea egan o k on hand side of the m‘mm about . four inches, where it had scratched the varnish from | ac “I noticed it, Mr. Holmes, but you'll ;Lvlvays find scratches round a key- P %t “This is recent, quite recent. - See how the brass -shines where it is cut. An old scratch would be the lens. There's the varnish, too, -like earth on each side of a furrow. Is Mrs. Marker there?” 3 A sad faced, elderly woman came into the room. “Did you dust this bureau yesterday morning ?"’ “Yes, sir.” “Did you notice’this geratth?” “No, sir, I did not.” % P “I am sure you did not, for a duster would have swept away these shreds of varnish. Who has the key of this bureau?” ~ “The professor keeps it on his watch chain.” “Is it a simple key?” “No, sir, it is a Chubb's key.” “Very good. Mrs. Marker, you can go. Now we are making a little prog- rese. Our lady enters the room, ad- vances to the bureau, and either opefis it or tries to do so. Whilé shé is thus engaged, young Willoughby Smith en- ters the room. In her hurry to with- draw the key she makes this scratch upon the door. He selzes her, and she, snatching up the’nearest object, which happens to be this knife, strikes at him in order to make him let go his hold, The blow is a fatal one. ‘He falls and she escapes, either with or without the object for which she has come. Is Su- san, the maid, there? Could any one have got away through that door after the time that you heard the cry, Su- san?” “No, sir, it is impossible. Before I got down the stairs I'd have seen any one in the passage. Besides, the door never opened, or I would have heard e ‘““That settles his exit. Then no doubt the lady went out the way she came. 1 understand that this other . passage leads only to the professor’'s room.’ There is no exit that way?" “No, sir.” “We shall go down it'and make the acquaintance of the professor. Halloa, Hopkins! this is very important, very important, indeed. The professor's cor- ridor is also lined with cocoanut mat- ting.” “Well, sir, what of that?” “Don’t vou see any bearing upon the case? Well, well, I don't insist upon it. No doubt I am wrong. And yet it seems to me to be suggestive. Come with me and introduce me."” ‘We passed down the passage, which ‘was of the same length as that which led to the garden. At the end was a short flight of steps ending in a door. Our guide knocked, and then ushered us into the professor’s bedroom. It was a very large chamber, lined with innumerable volumes, which had overflowed from the shelves and lay in piles in the cornérs, or were stacked all round at the ‘base of the cases. The bed was in the center of the room, and in it, propped up with pillows. was the owner of the house. I have seldom seen a more remarkable looking person. It was a gaunt, aquiline face which was turned toward us, with plercing dark eyes, which lurked in deep hol- lows under overhung and tufted 3 brows. ‘His hair and bgard were white, sayé® that the latter was curioysly.. with yellow around his meuth. ci- garette glowed amid the tangle of wWhite hair, and the air of the room was fetid with stale tobacco-smoke, As he, held out his hand to Holmes, I perceived that it was also stained with yellow nicotine. 5 “A smoker, Mr. Holmes?” said he, speaking in well-chosen English, with a curious little mincing accent. “Pray take a cigarette. And you, sir? I can recommend them, for I have them es- pecially prepared by Ionides of Alex- andria. He sends me a thousand at a time, and I grieve to say that I have to arrange for a fresh supply every fortnight, Bad, sir, very bad, but an old man has few pleasures. Tobacco and my work—that is all that is left to me.” ¢ Holmes had lit a cigarette, shooting little darting glances the room. ‘“Tobacco and my work, but now only ‘tobacco,” the old man exclaimed. “Alas! what a -fatgl interruption! ‘Who could have foreseen such a terri- ble catastrophe? So estimable a young man! I assure you that, after a few months’ training he was an ad- mirable assistant. What do you think of the matter, Mr. Holmes?” “I have not yet made up my mind.” “I shall indeed be indebted to you if you can throw a light where all is so dark to us. To a poor bookworm and invalid like myself such a blow is paralyzing. I seem to have lost the faculty of thought. But you are a man of action—you are a man of af- fairs, It is part of the everyday rou- tine of your life. You can preserve your balance in every emergency. We are fortunate, indeed, in having you at our side.” Holmes was pacing up and/down one side of the room while the old pro- fessor was talking. I observed that he was smoking with extraordinary rap- idity. It was evident that he shared our host's liking for the fresh Alex- andrian cigarettes. “Yes, efr, it is crushing blow,” said the old man. “That is my mag- num opus—the pile of papers on the side table yonder. It is my analysis of the documents found in the Coptic monastery of Syria and Egypt, a work which will cut deep at the very foundation. of revealed religion. With my enfeebled health I do not know whether I shall ever be able to com- plete it, now that my assistant has been taken from me. Dear me! Mr, Holmes, why, you are even a quicker smoker than I am myself.” Holmes smiled. “I am a connoisseur;” said he, tak- ing another cigarette from the box— his fourth—and lighting it from the stub of that which he had finished. “I will not trouble you with any lengthy cross-examination, Professor Coram, since 1 gather that you were in bed and was all over .at the time of -the crime, and could know nothing about it. I would only ask this. o you imagine that this poor fellow meant. by his last words: ‘The prof r—it was she?' ” The professor sh his head. “Susan is a country girl,” sald he, . “and you know the incredible - ity of that class. lhwm- ow murmured some incoher- same color: as the surface. Look at it throm“my' haps, which w- Wh. It ho':r ‘more probable supposition than “But .the eye-glasses?”’ “Ah! I am only a student—a man of R Hcal things, ife. But still, we “aware, my friend, ~ that_ love-gages may take strange shapes. By all means take her cigarette. It is a pleasure. to see _one appreciate them so. A 3&:; glove, glasses—who knows what le may be carried as a token or treasured ‘a man puts an end to his life? . This gentleman speaks of foo in the grass, but, after all, it 1S easy to be mistaken on such R golnt. As to the knife, it mitght we! e thrown far from ‘the unfortunate as he fell. It is possible that I as a child, but to me it seems that Willoyghby Smith has met his - 1‘:.’{.?" emed struck by the the * Hol med stru y the theory thus put 15:“3—«:, d he comtinued to walk up and down for some time, lost in thought and consuming cigarette after cigarette. v ““Tell me, Professor Coram,” he 'said, at last, “what is in that cupboard in the bureau?" “Nothing that would help a thief. Family papers, letters from my poor wife, diplomas of universities which have done me honor. Here is the key. You can look for yourself.” - Holmes picked up the key and looked at it for an instant, then he handed it back. £ .“No, I hardly think that it would Jelp me,” sdid jhe. ‘I sho&la prefer to go quletly down to your garden and turn .the whole matter over in my ‘head. There {s sométhing to be said for the theory of suiclde which you have put forward. We must apologize for having intruded upon you, Professor Coram, and I promise that ‘we won't disturb you until after. lunch. At. 2 o'clock we will come again and report te you anything which may have hap- pened in the interval” Holmes was curiously distrait, and we walked up and down the garden path for some time in silence. “Have you a clew?"” I asked, at last. “It depends upon those cigarettes that I smoked,” said he. “It is possi- bie that I am utterly mistaken. The cigarettes will show me.” “My dear Holmes,” I exclaimed, man 8] " “how on earth—" “‘Well, well, you may see for your- self. If not, there's no harm done. Of course, we always have the optician clew to fall back upon, but I take a short cut when I can get it. Ah, here is the good Mrs. Marker! Let us enjoy five minutes of instructive conversa- tion with her.” I may have remarked before that Holmes had, when he liked, a peculiarly ingratiating way with women, and that he very readily established terms of confidence with them. In half the time which he had named, he had captured the housekeeper's goodwill, and was chatting with her as if he had known her for years. “Yes, Mr. Holmes, it is as you say, sir. He-does smoke something terrible. All day and sometimes all -night, sir. T've seen that room of a morning— well, sir, you'd have thought it was a London fog. Poor young Mr. Smith, he was a smoker also, but not so bad as the professor. His health—well, I don’t know that It is better mor worse for the smoking.” “Ah!"” said Holmes, “but it kills the appetite.” “““Well, I don’t know about that, sir.” sl:rpole'the professor eats hardly g?" ; e HWell, for him.” y “T'll wager he took no breakfast this morning, and won’t face his lunch after all the cigarettes I saw him consume.” “Well, you're out there, sir, as it hap- pens, for he ate a remarkably big breakfast this morning. I don’t know when I'Ve known him make a better one, and he's ordered a good dish of cutlets for his lunch., I'm sur- prised myself, for since I came into that A room yesterday |and saw young Smith lying there on the floor, I couldn’t bear to look at food. Well, it takes all sorts to make a world, and the Professor hasn't let it take his appetite away.” We loitered the morning away in the garden. Stanley Hopkins had gone down to the village to look into some rumors of a strange woman who har been seen by some children’on the Chatham Road the previous morning. As to my friend, all his usual energy seemed to have deserted him. I had never known him handle a case in such a half-hearted fashion. Even the news brought back by Hopkins that he had found children, and that they had undoubtedly seen a woman exactly correspondting with Holmes’ description, and wearing, elther spec- tacles or eye-glasses, failed to rquse any sign of keen interest. He was- more attentive when Susan, who waited upon us at lunch, volynteered the information that she believed Mr. Smith had been out for a walk yes- terday morning, and that he had only returned half an hour before the trag- edy occurred. I could not myself see the bearing of this incident, but I clearly perceived that Holmes was ‘weavi! it_into the general scheme whlchn%lsrhad formed in his brain. he is variable. I'll say that ddenly he sp: from his chair -E:d l‘lynce(: at my watch. “Two o'clock, gentlemen,” said- he. “We must go up and have it out with our friend, the Professor.” The old man had just finished his lunch, and certainly his empty dish bore evidence to the good appetite which his housekeeper had credited him. ‘He was, indeed, a weird figure as he turned his white mane and his glowing eyes toward us. The eternal cigarette smoldéred 'in his mouth. He had been dressed, and was seated in an armchair by the fire. “Well, Mr. Holmes, have you solved this mystery yet?” He shoved the large tin of cigarettes which stood on a table beside him toward my com- panion. Holmes stretched out his hand at the same moment, and be- tween them they tipped the box over the edge. For a minute or two we were all on our knees retrieving stray [2 ttes :from impossible places. V%i‘;: we rose again, I observed Holmes' eyes were shining and his cheeks tinged with col¢r. Only at a risis have 1 seen those battle-signals “eas saia hen T Have salved it am :.E loma:mn' like a sneer q& v"‘f over the gaunt features of the 9 '}?i"mx In the gaxdent” Rl : motives are, or .what exact part you play in this strange business I am not Yet able to say. In a few minutes I shall probably hear it from your own lips. Meanwhile I will reconstruct what is past for your benefit, so that you may know the information which I “A lady yesterday study. She came with the possessing herself of certain documents which were in your bureau. She had a key of her own. I have had an op- portunity of examining yours, and I do not find that slight discoloration which the scratch made upon the var- nish would have produced. You ‘were not an accessory therefore and she came, 50 far as I can read the evi- dence, without your knowledge to rob you.” g The professor blew a cloud from his lips. “This is most interesting and in- structive,” said he. “Have you no more to-add Surely, having traced this lady 80 far, you can also say what has be- come of her.” “I-will endeaver to do-so. In the first place she was seized by your sec- retary and stabbed him in order to escape. This catastrophe I am in- clined to regard as an unhappy acci- dent, for 1 am convinced that the lady had no intention of inflicting so griev- ous an injury. An assassin does not come unarmed. Horrifled by what she had done, she rushed wildly away from the scene of the tragedy. Un- fortunately for her, she had lost her glasses in the scuffle, and as she was extremely short-sighted she was really ;helpless without them. She ran down a corridor, which she imagined to be that by which she had come—both were lined with cocoanut matting— and it was only when it was too late that she understood that she had taken the wrong passage and that her retreat was cut &ff behind her. She could not remain where she was. She entered ~must go on. She went on. She mounted a stair, pushed open a door, and found herself in your room.” The old man sat with his mouth open, staring wildly at Holmes. Amazement and fear were stamped upon his expressive features. Now, with an effort, he shrugged his shoul- ders and burst into insincere laughter. “AHl very fine, Mr. Holmes,” said he. “But there is one little flaw in vour splendid theory. I was myself in my room, and I never left it dur- ing the day.” “I am aware of that, Coram.” “And you mean to say that I could lie upon that bed and not be aware that a woman had entered my room?” “I never said so. You were aware of it. You spoke with her. You recog- nized her. You aided her to escape.” Again the professor burst into high- keyed laughter. He had risen to his feet and his eyes glowed like embers. ‘“You are mad!” he cried. “You are talking insanely. I helped her to es- cape? Where is she now?” “She is there,” said Holmes, and he pointed to a high bookcase in the cor- ner of the room. I saw the old man throw up his arms, a terrible convulsion passed over his grim face, and he fell back In his chair. At the same instant the bookcase at which Holmes pointed swung round upon a hinge, and a woman rushed out into the room. ‘“You are right!” she cried, in a strange, foreign ~voice. “You are right! I am here.” She was brown with the dust, and draped with the cobwebs, which had come from the walls of her hiding- place. Her face, too, was streaked with grime, and at the best she could never have been handsome, for she-had the exact physical characteristics which Holmes had divined, with, in addition, a long and obstinate chin. What with her natural blindness, and what with the change from dark to light, she stood as one dazed, blinking about her to see where and who we were. And yet, in spite of all these disadvantages, there was a certain nobility in the wo- man's bearing—a gallantry in the de- flant chin and in the upraised head, which compelled something of respect and admiration. Stanley Hopkins had laid his hand upon her arm and claimed her as his prisoner, but she waved him aside gent- ly, and yet with an overmaster- ing dignity which compelled obedience. The old man lay back in his chair with a twitching face, and stared at her with brooding eyes. i “Yes, sir, I am your prisoner,” she said. “From where I stood I could hear everyvthing, and I know that you have learned the truth. I confess it all. It was I who killed the young man. But you are right—you who say it was an accident. I did not even Kknow that it was a knife which I held in my hand, for in my despair I snatched anything from the table and struck at him to make him let me go. It is the truth that I tell.” “Madam,” said Holmes, “I am sure that it is the truth. I fear that you are far from well.” a She had turned a dreadful color, the more ghastly under the dark dust streaks upon her face. She seated her- self on the side of the bed; then she re- sumed. “I have only a little time here,” she said, “but I would have you to know the whole truth. I am this man’s wife. He is not an Englishman. He is & Russian. His name I will not tell.” For the first time the old man stirred. “God bless you, Anna!” he cried. “God bless you!™ She cast a look of the deepest disdain in his direction. “Why should you cling so hard ta that wretched life of yours, Sergius?” she sald. “It has done harm to many, and gooed to none—not even to yourself. However, it is not for me to cause the frail thread to be snapped before God's time. I have enough already upon my soul since. I crossed the threshold of this eursed house. Put I must speak or I shall be too late. “I have sald, genttemen, that I am this man's wife,’ He was fifty and I a foolish girl cf twenty when we mar- ried. It was in a city of Russia, a uni- versity—I will not name the place.” “God bless you, Anna!” murmured the old man again. “We were reformers—revolutionists— Nihilists, you understand. He and I and many more. Then there came a tie of trouble, a police officer was killed, many were arrested, evidence was wanted, and in order to save his own life and to earn a great reward my husband betrayed his own wife and his compnnions. Yes, we were all ar- vested upon his confession. Some of us found our way to the gallows, and some to Siberia. I was among these last, but my term was not for life. My husband came to !n‘lfiul with his il gotten gains, and has lived in quiet ever knowing well that if the Brotherh knew where he was not a week '?‘nld pass before justice would be done. The o wp;! m..‘.‘i:?‘i‘ 4 c!llrct!: nd, and . to & e < Anna,” said he- Professor your intention of his villainy,” said she. “Among our comrades of the order there was one, who was the friend of my heart. He was noble, unselfish, loving—all that my husband was not. He hated vio- lence. We were all guilty—if that is gullt—but he was not. He wrote for ever dissuading us from such a course. These letters would have saved him. So would my dlary, in which, from day to day, I had entered both my feelings toward him and the view which each of us had taken. My husband found and kept both diary and letters. He hid them, and he tried hard to swear away the young man's life. In this he failed, but Alexis was sent a convict to Siberia, where now, at this moment, he works in a salt mine. Think of that, you villain, you villain!—now, now, .at, this very mqment, Alexis, a man whose name you are not worthy to speak, works and lives like a slave, and yet I have your life In my hands, and I let you go." “You were always a noble woman, Anna,” 'said the old man, puffing at his cigarette. She had risen, but she fell back again with a little cry of pamn. “I must finish,” she said. “When my term was over I set myself to get the diary and letters which. if sent to the Russian Government, would oro- cure my friend’s release. I knew that my husband had come to England. After months of searching I discover- ed where he was. I knew that he still had the diary, for when I was in Si- beria I had a letter from him once. re- proaching me and quoting some pas- sages from its pages. Yet I was sure that with his revengeful nature, he would never give it to me of his own free will. I must get it for myself, ‘With this object I engaged an agent from a private detective firm. who en- tered my husband’'s house as a secre- tary—it was your second secretary., Sergius, the one who left you so hur- riedly. He found that papers were kept in the cupboard, and he got an impres- sion of the key. He would not o far- ther. He furnished me with a plan of the house, and he told me that in the forenoon the study was always embty, as the secretary was employed up here. So at last I took ‘my courage in both hands, and I came down to gzet the papers for myself. I succeeded: but at what a cost! T had just taken the papers and was locking the cupboard, when the young man seized me. I had seen him already that morning. He had met me on the road, and I had asked him to tell me where Professor Coram lived, not knowing that he was in his employ.” “Exactly! exactly!” sald Holmes. “The secretary came back and told his employer of the -weman he had met. Then in his last breath he tried to send a message that it was she—the ;P‘:e whom he had just discussed with m." “You must let me speak,” sald the woman, in an imperative voice and her face contracted as if in pain. “When he had fallen I rushed from the room, chose the wrong door and found my- self in my husband’'s room. He spoke of giving me up. I showed him that if he did so his life was in my hands. If he gave me to the law, I could give him to the Brotherhood. It was not that I wished to live for my own sake, but it was that I desired to ac- complish my purpose. He knew that I would do what I said—that his own fate was involved in mine. For that reason and for no other he shielded me. He thrust me into that dark hiding- place—a relic of old days, known only to himself. He took his meals. in his own room and so was able to give me part of his food. Tt was agreed that when the police left the house .l should slip away by night and come back no more. ~ Bit in some way you have read our plans.” ' She tore from the bosom of her dress a small packet. “These are my last words,” said she; “here is the packet which will save Alexis. I confide 1t to your honor and to your love of justice. Take it! You will de- liver it at the Russian Embassy. Now I bave done my duty and—" “Stop_ber!” cried Holmes. He had bounded across the room and had wrenched a small phial from her hand. “Too late!™ she sald, sinking back op the bed. “Too late! I took the poison before I left my hiding place. My head swims! I am going! I charge you, sir, to remember the packet.” “A simple case, and yet, in some ways, an instructive one,” Holmes re- marked, as we traveled back to town. “It hinged from the outset upon the pince-nez. But for the fortunate chance of the dying man having seized these, I am not sure that we could ever have reached our so- lution, It was clear to me, from the strength of the glasses, that the wearer must have beén very blind and helpless when deprived of them. When you asked me to be- lieve that she walked along a narrow strip of grass without once making a false step, I remarked, as you may remember, that it was a note performance. In my mind I set it down as an impossible performance, save In the unlikely case that she had a second pair of glasses. I was forced, therefore, to seriously consider the hypothesis that she had remained within the house. On perceiving the similarity of the two corridors, it be- came clear that she might very easily have made such a mistake, and, In that case, it was evident that she must have entered the professor's room. I was keenly on the alert, therefore, for ‘:ihmd vlvonu bear out this supposition, an examined ly for anything in the shape of a hiding place. The carpet seemed continuous and firmly nailed, so I dismissed the idea of a trap door. There might well be a recess behind the books. As you are aware, such devices are common In old libraries. I observed that books were piled on the floor at all other points, but that one bookcase was left clear. This, then, might be the door. I could see no marks to guide me, but the earpet was of a dun color, which lends itself very well to exam- ination, I therefore smoked a great number of those excellent cigarettes, and 1 dropped the ash all over the space in front of the suspected book- case. It was a simple trick, but ex- ceedingly effective. I then went down- stairs, and I ascertained, in your pres- ence, Watson, without your the drift of my remarks, that Pro- fessor Coram’'s consumption of food had one would expect when he is mpxb‘iu a second person. ‘We then ascended to the room when, by upsetting the cigarette I obtained a very excellent view of the floor, and was able to see quite clearly, from the traces upon the cigaretts ash, that the prisoner had in our ab- sence come out from her retreat. Well, Hopkins, here we are at Charing Cross, and I congratulate you on having brought your case to a suc- cessful conclusion. You are going to headquarters, no doubt. I think, Wat- son, you and I will drive together to the Russian Embassy.” 2\ 0> VMM‘\\X U 7, N\ /A 15 V. /D