The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 12, 1905, Page 1

Gflgx/a/a/emenf o) D . mxzxm: OSSNSO O $ This is the eleventh of n séries § $ of stories by . Conan Doyle, ¥ dealing with the adventures of Z the famous detective, Sherlock 2 Holmes, up to the time of bl J £ memorable struggle for life 3 upon the Switzeriand moun- tain path with the redoubtable 22 Moriarity. These are the orig- & tnal Sherlock Holmes stories, o4 and the omes which made Dr. & Doyle's fam 'hey are entire- < Iy apart from the series which g recently appeared in the Sum- day Oall entitled “The Retura 3 of Sherlock Holmes.” $ bd (0 A O] The suppiy of game for Londen is poing -stead ur t ran. “Hewd Keeper Hu eve, has been rders fiy- n o ed up from ng this n message, I saw Holmes at the expression upon my face - ittle bewildered,” message t seems ue than remains fine, ro- n down butt end osity,” sald I. st now that r reasons why the first in which vored to elicit from d first turned n of criminal caught bim nicative humor. Now his armchalr snd sat ad out the documents pon This ees. Then } b d sat for me time sm g urning them 1 me talk of Victor He was the only ing the two years I ever a very so- s rather fond »d working out s of thought, so with the men fre after me. s chat, but before the bse friends. tellow, full ry opposite but we had some d it was a bond that he was as he invited me Donnithorpe, spitality ation. a man of month of t Trevor was s an old-fashioned, red brick building, t me ed avenue leading up to it 1t There was excellent wild-duck shooting in the rkably good fishing, a small library, taken ove s [ un- n a former occupant, and e cook, so that he would be a s men who could not put in a th there. or was a widower, and my been a daughter, T heard, aied of diphtheria while on Birmingham. The father in- e extremely. He was a man of but a considerable amount th, both mentaky and phys- ew bardly any books, but 1 far, and seen much of had remembered all that In person he was 2 y man with a shock of a brown, weather-beaten s, which wcre keen to of fierceness. Yet he bad a for kindness 'and charity on s 1d was noted for the rtences from the bench. hortly after my arrivi yver a glass of port after Trevor began to »out those habits of observation feremce which I had aiready into a system, although I had t appreciated the part which n when young the ere to play in my life. The old n y thought ¢hat his son was exaggerating In his description of one or two trivial feats which I performed. Come, now, Mr. Holfies’ said he, good-humoredly, ‘Tm &an ex- subject, if you can deduce any- ing from me.’ “‘I fear there is mot very much’ I answered. ‘I might suggest that you had th o Y5 ot O THEXM BEFORE 5 THEY COULD J.OAD ? & <& have gone about in fear of some per- sonal attack within the last twelve- month.” “The laugh faded from his lips, gnd he stared at me in great surprise. ““Well, that's true enough,’ said he. ‘You know, Victor,’ turning to his son, ‘when we broke up that poaching gang they swore to knife us, and Sir Ed- ward Holly has actually been attacked. I've always been on my guard since then, though I have no idea how you know it " “*You have a very handsome stick,’ I answered. ‘By the inscription I ob- served that you had not had it more than a year. But you have taken some pains to bore the head of it and pour melted lead into the hole so as to make a formidable weapon. I argued that you would not take such precautions N € unless you had some danger to fear.' “*Anything else? he asked, smiling. “‘You have boxed a good deal in your youth.” “‘Right, again. How did you know it? Is my nose knocked a little out of the straight? i . “‘No, said L ‘It is youR ears. They have the peculiar flattening and thick- ening which mark the boxing man.’ * ‘Anything ‘else? “‘You have done a good deal of dig- ging by your -callosities.” s ““Made all my money at the gold “‘Quite true.” “‘And you have been most intimately associated with some one whore in- S = A.CONAN P POYLE itials were J. A., and whom you after- your line of life, sir, and you may take . * ‘It is simplicity itself,’ said I ‘When ward were eager to-entirely forget." “Mr. Trevor stood slowly up, fixed his thing of the world.” large blue eyes upon me with a strange thé word of 2 man who has seen some- you bared your arm to draw that fish into the boat I saw that J. A. had been tat- “And that recommendation, with the tooed in the bend of the elbow. The let- wild stare, and then pitched ‘forward, exaggerated estimate of my ability with ters were still legible, but it was per- with his face among the nutshells which which he prefaced it, was, if you will be- fectly clear from their blurred appear- strewed the cloth, in a dead faint. “Yon can’ imagine, lleve mg, Watson, the very first thing ance and from the staining of the skin Watson, how which ever made me feel that a profes- around them that efforts had been made ‘shocked both his son and I were. His at- slon might be made out of what had'up 'to obliterate them. It was obvious, then, tack did not last long, however, for when to that time been the merest hobby. At “that those initials had once been very fa- we undid his coller and sprinkled the wa- .the momefit, howeyer, "1 was too much miliar to you, and that you had afterward ter from one of the finger glasses mmn‘nvennin;orthmAut;w host to 0 S “Ah, boys, sald he, forcing a smile, “‘I hope -that I have said nothing “I hope I haven't frightened you. Strong pain you? said I. as I look, there is a weak place in my heart, and it does not take much to me over. I doh't know how you this, Mr. Holmes, but it seems to me that spoke now in a half-jesting fashion, but ‘all the detectives of fact ‘would be children in your over /concerned ‘at the sudden jliness of MY ywighed to forget them.' of ‘ay (hing: Aise: ‘.o “What an éye you have!' he cried, ‘It is just as you . you ‘know, and how much you know? He ~ the Worst. Come into the billlard-room ot 1 and have a quiet cigar.’ “From that day. amid all his cordial- ity, there was always a touch of sus- “of terror still lurked at the back plclon in Mr. Trevor's manner toward me. Even his son remarked it. ‘You've given the governor such a turm,’ sald he, ‘that he’ll never be sure again of what you know and what you don’t kgow." He dld not mean to show It, 1 am sure, but it was so strongly In his mind that it peeped.out at every action. At last I became 3o convinced that I was causing him uneasiness that I drew my visit to a elose. On the very day, however, before I left, an incident occurred which proved In the sequel to be of importance. “We were sitting out upon the lawn on garden chairs, the thres of us, basking in the sun and admiring the view across the Broads, when a maid came out to say that thers was a man at the door who wanted to see Mr. Trevor. “‘What is his name?" asked my host. “‘He would not give any." “‘What does he want, then? “‘He says that you know him, and that he only wants a moment's con- versation.” *‘Show him round here.’ An instant afterward there appeared a Ittle wiz- emed fellow with a cringing mannéer and a shambling style of walking. He wore an open jacket, with a splotch of tar - on the sieeve, a red-and-black check shirt, dungares trousers, and heavy boots badly worn. KHis face was thin and brown and crafty, with a perpetual smile upon it, which showed an irregular line of yellow teeth, and his crinkled hands were half closed in a way that is distinctive of sallors. As he came slouching across the,lawn I heard Mr. Trevor make a sort of hic- coughing noise In his throat, and, jumping out of Lis chalir, he ran into the house. He was back in a moment, and I smelt a strong reek of brandy as he passed me. “‘Well, my man,’ sald he, ‘what can I do for you? “The sailor stood looking at him with puckered eyes, and with the same loose-lipped smile upon his face. ““You don'ti know me? heé asked. “ “Why, dear me. it is surely Hudson,’ saild Mr. Trevor in a tone of surprise. ‘Hudson it is, sir,’ said the seaman. ‘Why, it's thirty years and more since I~ saw you last. Here you are in your house, and me still picking my salt meat out of the harness cask.” * “Tut, you will find that I have net for- gotten old times,’ cried Mr. Trevor, and, walking toward the saflor, he said some- thing in 8 Jow voige. ‘Go Inte the kitch- Joud, “and you will I have no doubt that 1 shall find you a situdtiom™ * ““Thank you, sir, said the seaman, touching his foftlock. ‘T'm just off a two- yearer in an eight-knot tramp, short- handed at that, and I wants a rest. I thought I'd get it either with Mr. Beddoes or with you.' 5 “‘Ah!” cried Mr. Trevor. You know where Mr. Beddoes is” “ ‘Bless you, sir, I know where all my old friends are,” said the fellow with a sinister smile, and he slouched oft after the maid to the Kkitchen. Mr. Trevor mumbled something to us about having been shipmate with the man when he was golng back to the digsings, and them, leav- ing us on the lawn. he went indedrs. An hour later, when we entered the house, we found him stretched dead drunk upon the dining-room sofa. The whole incident left a most ugly impression upon my mind, and I was not sorry next day -to leave Donnithorpe behind me, for I felt that my presence must be a source of em- barrassment to my friend. “All this occurred during the first month of the long vacation. I went up to my London rooms, where I spent seven weeks Working out a few experiments in organic chemistry. One day, however, when the autumn was far advanced and the vaca- tion drawing to a close, I received a tele- gram from my friend imploring me to re- turn to Donnithorpe, and saying that he was in great need of my advice and as- sistance. Of course I dropped everything and set out for the north once more. “He met me with the dog-cart at the station, and I saw at a glance that the two last months had been very trying ones for him. He had grown thin and careworn, and had lost the loud, cheery manner for which he had been remari> able. « “The Governor is dying,” wers the frst words he said. « Impossible!” matter? « +Apoplexy. Nervous shock. He's been on the verge all day. I doubt if we shall find him alive.” “Y was, as you may think, Watson, hor- rifled at this unexpected news. “ “What has caused it? I asked. «Ah, that is the point. Jump in and we can talk it over while we drive. You remember that fellow who came upon the evening before you left us? “ *Pertectly.’ “ ‘Do you know who it was that we let into the house that day?” “ I have no ide: « It was the devil, Holmes,’ he cried. «] stared at him in astonishment. weyes, it was the devil himself. We have not had a peaceful hour since—not one. The Governor has never held up his head from that evening, and now the life has been crushed out of him and - his heart brok all through this accursed Hudson.” . « “What power had he, then? «isp, that is what I would give so much to know. The kindly, charitable, good old Governor—how could he have fallen into the clutches of such a ruf- fian! But I am so glad that you have come, Holmes. I trust very miich to your judgment and discretion, and I know that yoy will advise me for the best.” “We were dashing along the smooth white country road, with the long stretch of the Broads in front of us glimmering in the red light of the setting sun. From a grove upon our lef: I could already see the -igh chimneys ans the flag-staff which marked the squire’s dwelling. « My father made the fellow gar- I cried. ‘What is the