The evening world. Newspaper, February 25, 1905, Page 12

ve yh a my word. r Nang Sod in ont thong. \ Gahitt shook his massive hend, | te a promise, Mr. Holmes, tf Wiste wiehed to tell ne ehe fe hot for me to force her confidence, But I dm juetified my own line—and 1 will.” a Fy thoughtful, and several hiekt few days I saw him ‘of paper from his note- tong and earnestly at ingeribed upon it, id@ fo Allusion to the affair, ) Wall one afternoon a fort- Or po tater, 1 was going out alied the back. ‘ had better wtay hero, Wat- cs <M this morning, You re- toh ubitt, of the danc- nt ‘He Was to reach Liverpool Ho may be here at any Pather, from his wire, | have been some new inci- nee," h Jong to wait, for our Maire Game straight from Tast’as a hansom could He was looking worrle’ @ with tired eyes and a ns fore ns ing on my nerves, this ; 4 Holmes,” said he, as k Hike @.wearled man, into an “It’s bad enough to fee! #PO Burrounded by unscen, folk, who liave some kind Wpon you; but when, In ad- to that, you know that it 1s & your wife by inches, then 3 &s mich as fleeh and ‘phe said anything yet?” THE WORLD: SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26, 1005. iy Ment ‘wae very straight about it, was Wisie. I can’t say that she did not p every chance of getting out of it if I wished to do so. ‘I have had @isagreeable associations in my life,’ said sho; ‘I wish to forget heth, I would rather never allude to the past, for it 1s very painful lyou take me, Hilton, you will take a woman who has notiing that i be personally ashamed of; but you will have to be content with Al for it, and to allow me to be silent as to all that passed up to the T decane yours. If these conditions are too hard, then go back Wk Gnd leave me to tho lonely life in which you found me.’ Il was ey before our wedding that she said those very words to me. I ‘that T wae content to take her on her own terms, and I havo been aie fell, we have been married now for a year, and very happy we have ‘about A month ago, at the end of June, I saw for the first time /OR trouble, One day my wite received a letter from America. I saw yAmerichn stamp. She Lurned deathly white, read the letter and threw it fire. She mate no allusion to it afterward, and I made none, for a Ye & promise; but she has never known an easy hour from that it, ‘Therd is always a look of fear upon her face—a look as if she Waiting arid expecting, She would do better to trust me, She would itt Wes her beet friend, But until she speaks I oan say nothing, oa ehe is a truthful woman, Mr, Holmes, and whatever trouble there ‘Pave Ween in her past Ife it has been no fault of hers. Iam only a ple Norfolk squire, but there is not a man in England who ranks his ‘honor tnore highly than I do. She knows it well, and she knew ft @he married me. She would hever bring any stain upon it—of , now I come to the queer part of my story. About a week ago—it te ‘Toeeday of last week—I found on one of the window-sills a number ANd Itttle dancing figures like these upon the paper, They were scrawled ' I thought that it was the stable-boy who had dfawn them, but ‘#Wort he knew nothing about it. Any how, they had come there ie night. 1 had them washed out, and I ohly mentioned the matter fe wfterward. To my surprise, she took it very seriously and p if any more came to lot her eee them. None did come for 4 Theh yesterday morning 1 found this paper lying on the sun-dial 1 showed it to Biste, and down she dropped in a dead fain’. \ th her eyes, It was then that 1 wrote and sent the ‘Yoo, Mr, Holines, It was not a thing that 1 could tate to the P Gor thay Wouls have lhughed at mo, but you will teil me What to do. jot & toh man; but if there is any danger threatening my little , ‘spend my Inst copper to shield her,” u ‘& fine creature, this man of the old English soll—stmple, ‘Potitle, With bis great, earnest blue eves and broad, comely © for his Wife und his trust in her shone tn to hie dtory with the utmost attention, jyoa think, Mr, Cubitt,” wait he at inet, “thut your best ptan re a Gitect appeal to your wife ahd to ack her to share her [ Will help you with wit my hour. tr the fist place, have you iehrangers being seen th the neighborhood?” Beth li ewiine that It is A Very Quiet place, Amy frevh fnoe Would enue “What do you make of these?” vory far away. And the tartivers take th lodgers,”. th hierostyphtes have eridentiy/a theaning, 't it te a purely abt. it thay be imponstbte tor ws to aolve tt. tt, on the other hnpd, have ho Mott that we shan get to the bottom of It, Bat . No, Mr. Holmes, she has not. And yet there have been times when en has wonted to speak, and yet could not quite bring herself to plunge. T have tried to help her; but I dare say I did it clumsily, her Of from it. She has spoken about my old family, and our 1h the connty, and our pride in our unsullied honor, and I always aed the point; but somehow it turned off before we got Out something for yourseltt” MH. 4 have several fresh dancing-men pictures Urely separate?” ‘ Wutetly marriod at a registry office, and we retiimed to Nor- tor you to examine, and, what {s more important, I have seen the fellow.” i Couple. You'll think it very mad. Mr, Holmes, that a man of family should marry a wife in this fashion, knowing nothing for Of her people; but if you saw her and knew her, It would help “What, the man who draws them?” “Yos, I saw him at his work. But I will tell you everything in order, When I got back after my visit to you, the very first thing I saw next miorn- ing was a fresh crop of dancing men. They. had been drawn In chalk upon the black wooden door of the tcol-house, which stands beside the lawn in full view of the front windows. J took an oxact copy, and here it ts.” He unfolded a paper and laid it npon the table, Here is a copy of the hieroglyphics: ' RY IARTYNH “Excellent!” said Holmes, “Excellent! Pray continue.” ‘When I had taken the copy, I rubbed out the marks; but, two morn- ings later a fresh inscription had appeared, I have a copy of it here”: STOXXASYX Holmes rubbed his hands and chuckled with delight. “Our material is rapidly accumulating,” said he, “Three days later a message Was left scrawled upon paper and placed under @ pebble upon the sun-dial, Here it fs. The characters are, as you see, exactly the same as the Inst one, After that ¥ determined to Ite in wait; 80 I got out my revolver and I #at wp In thy atidy, Which overlooks the lawn and warden. About 2 in the morning I was seated by the window, all being dark save for the’ moon- Night owtstde, when f heard steps behind me, and there was my wife in her dress ing-gown: She implored me to come to bed, I told her frankly that I wished to see who ft was who played such absurd, tricks upon us, 'Bhe answered that It was some senseless practioal joke, and that I should not take any notice of it. "Ft it really annoys you, Hilton, we might go and travel, you and I, and #0 avoid this nuisance.’ ‘Wheat, be driven out ot our own house by & practical joker?” satd I. ‘Why, we should have the whole county laughing at wb,’ “Well, come to bed,’ pald she, ‘and we can dit guas It in the morning,’ “Suddenly, a8 she spoke, T saw her White face grow whiter yet i the moon- Hight, ahd her hand tight- oe ered tpon iy shoulder. the shadow of the tool- hows, [AW a dork, creeping Agure which crawled round the corner and Sduatted In front of the door, Beteing thy pistol, I was rushing out, when thy wife threw her arts round me and held me with convuleive strength. I teted to throw her off, but she clung to me most desperately, At last T clear, but by te time I had opened the door fd reached the house the crodture. Was wone, He had left a trace of his prevents, however; for there on the doot was the very samme arrangement of dancing men which had alteady twice appeared, and which I have copted on that paper. Was ho Other sign of the fellow anywhere, thongh | ran all over the grounds. And yet the amazing thing in that he Mnat have been there all the titne, Our First Attention Was Given to the Body of the Unfortunate ‘Squire. @hdiire, She's woaving away under {t—just wearing away before for when I examined the door again in the morning he had scrawled some more of his pictures under the line which I had already seen.” “Have you that fresh drawing?” “Yes; it is very ghort, but I made a copy of It, and here it is." Again he produced a paper. The new dance was in this form; SIIXt “Tell me,” said Holmes—and I contd see by his eyes that he was much Bomething was moving in There “Tt was on a different panel of the door.” “xcellent! This is far the most important of all for our purpose. Tt fills me with hopes. Now, Mr, Hilton Cubitt, please contintie your most interesting statement.” "T have nothing more to say, Mr. Holmes, except that I was angry with my wife that night for having held me back when I might have caught the skulking rascal, She said that she fearéd that { might come to harm. For an Instat it had crossed my mind that perhaps what she really feared was that he might come to harm; for I could not doubt that she knew who this man was and what he meant by these strange signals, But there isa tone in my wife's voice, Mr, Holmes, and a look in her eyes which forbid doubt, and I am sure that it was indeed my own safety that was in her mind. There's the whole caso, ani now I want your advice as to what | ought to do, My own inclination is / to put half a dozen of my farm lads fn the shrubbery, and when tfils fellow comes again to give him such a hiding ‘hat he will leave us in peace for the future,” \“I fear it is too deep a case for such almple remediee,” said Holmes, “How long can you stay in Lon don?” “T must go back to-day. I would not leave my wife alone at night for anything, She ts very nervous and bemmed me to come back.” “T dare Bay you are right. But ff you could have stopped I might possibly have been able (0 return with you in & day or two. Mran- while you will leave me these papers, and 1 think that it is very likely that 1 shall be able to pay you a Visit shortly and to throw some light tipon your case,” ' Sherlock Holmes preserved his calm professional manner until our visitor had tert us; although it was easy for me, Who knéw hin so well, to see that he was profoundly ex- cited, The moment that Hilton Cubitt’s broad back had disappeared through the door my comrade rushed to the table, laid out all the slips of paper containing the dancing men fh front of him, and threw himse)f {nto an intricate ahti elaborate cal- culation. For two hours I watched him as he covered sheet after sheet of paper With figures and letters, so completely absorbed in his task that he had evidently forgotten my pres- ence, Sometimes he was making progress and whistled and sang at his work; sometimes he was puzzled and Would sit for long spélls with a ‘tutrowed brow and a vacant eye, Finally he sprang from hie chair with a crt of satisfaction and walked th and down the room rubbing his hands together: Then he wrote a long telegram upon @ cable form. “It my answer to this is as I hope, you Will ‘have a very ‘pretty case to add to your collection, Watson,” sald he, “I expect that we shall be Abie to go down to Norfolk to-mor- tow and to take our friend some very definite news as to the secret of his annoyance.” I confess that I was filled with curlosity, bit I was aware that Holines liked to make his disclosures @ his own time and in his own way; fo T Walted until it should suit him to take the into his confidence, But there was a delay in that answering telegram, and two days of impatience followed, during which Holmes pricked up his ears at cvery ring of the bell, On the evening of the second there came a letter from Hilton Cubitt, All was quiet with him, fave that & long Inscription had appeared that morning upon the pedestal of the sun-iial, He inclosed a copy of tt, which is here reproduced: KA STK EXIT BEX YREXIXLTS SY Holmes bent over this grotesque frieze for some minutes, and then suddenly sprang to his feet with an exclamation of surprise and dismay, His face was haggard with anxiety. “We have let this affair go far enough,” sald he. “Is there a train to North Walsham to-night?” I turned up the time-table, The last had just gone. i “Then we shall breakfast early and take the very first in the morning,” sald Holmes, “Our presence is most urgently needed, Ah! here is our expected cablegram. One moment, Mrs. Hudson; there may be an answer, No, that is quite as I expected, This message makes it even more essential that we should not lose an hour In letting Hilton Cubitt know how matters stand, for it is a singular and a dangerous web in which our simple Nor- folk squire is entangled.” So, indeed, it proved; and as I come to the dark conclusion of a story which had seemed to me to be only childish and bizarre, I experience once again the dismay and horror with which I was filled, Would that I had some) brighter ending to communicate to my readers; but these are the chronicles of fact, and { must follow to their dark crises the strange chain of events which for some days made Ridling Thorpe Manor a household word through the length and breadth of Hngland, We had hardly alighted at North Walsham and mentioned the name of our destination, when the station-master hurried toward us. "I suppose that you are the detectives from London,” said he, A look of annoyance passed over Holmes's face. “What makes you think such a thing?” ‘Because Inspector Martin, from Norwich, has just passed through, But maybe you are the surgoons, She's not dead—or wasn’t by last ac- counts, You may be in time to save her yet—though it be for the gallows,” Holmes's brow was dark with anxiety. “We are going to Ridling Thorpe Manor,” said he, “but we have heard nothing of what has passed there,” “It's a terrible business,” gaid the station-master. “They are shot, both Mr, Hilton Cubitt and his wife. She shot him and then herself—so the servants say. He's dead and her life's despaired of. Dear, dear, one of the oldest families {n the County of Norfolk, and one of the most honored,” Withou! a word Holmes hurried to a carriage, and during the long soven miles’ drive he never opened his mouth, Seldom have | seen him so utterly despondent. He had been uneasy during all our journey from town, and I had observed that he had turned over the morning papers with anx- lous attention; but now this sudden realization of his worst fears left him in a blank melancholy, He leaned back in his seat, lost in gloomy spect- lation, Yet there was much around us to interest us, for we were passing through as singular a countryside as any in England, where a few scattered oxcited—"was this @ mere addition to the first, or did it appear to be en- cottages represented the population of to-day, while on every hand enor- wanadlitic's Di ed od alt mous square-towered churches bristled up from the flat, green landscape RARANNLoa elma rt emer A Reply Written by the Lady, Ve deus visita la ‘ond told of the glory and prosperity of old Hast Anglia. At last the violet rim of the German Ocean appeared over the green edge of the Norfolk coast, and the driver pointed with his whip to two old brick, and timber gables which projected from @ grove of trees. “That's Ridling Thorpe Manor,” said he, As we drove up to the portiooed frott door I observed in front of it, beside the tennis lawn, the black tool-house and the pedestalled sun-iial with which we had such strange associations, A dapper little man, with f quick, alert manner and a waxed mustache, had just descended from a high dog-cart. He introduced himself as Inspeator Martin, of the Norfolk Constabulary, and he was considerably astonished when he heard the name of my companion. “Why, Mr. Holmes, the crime was only committed at 3 this morning, How could you hear of it in London and get to the apot as soon as I?” “I anticipated it. I came in the hope of preventing it.” “Then you must have fmportant evidence, of which we are ignorant, for they were said to be a most united couple,” “T have oniy the evidence of the dancing men,” sald Holmes, “I will explain the matter to you later, Meanwhile, since it is too late to pre- vent this tragedy, I am very anxious that I should use the knowledge which I possess tn order to {naure that justice 62 done. Will you asso- ciate me ih yout investigation,’ or will you prefer that 1 should act in- dependently?” “T should be proud to feel that wo were acting together, Mr. Holmes,’ eald the Inspector carnestly, “In that case I should be glad to hear the evidence and to examine the premises without an instant of un- necessary delay.” Inspector Martin had the good sense to allow my friend to do things in his own fashion, and contented himself with carefully noting the re- suits, ‘The local surgeon, an’ old, white-hnited tan, had just come down from Mts, Hilton Cubitt’s room, and he reported that her injuries were serious, but not necessarfly fatal, The bullet had passed through the tront of het brain, and it would probably be some time before she could regain consciousness, On the question of whether she had been shot or had shot herself, he would not venture to express any decided opinion, Certainly the bullet had been discharged at very close quar- ters. There was only the one pisto) found in the room, two barrels of which had been @tmptied. Mr, Hilton Cubitt had been shot through the heart. It was equally conceivable that he had shot her and then him- self, or that she had been the erlm- inal, for the revolver lay upon the floor midway between them. “Flas he been moved?” asked Holmes. “We have moved nothing except the lady. We could not leave her lying wounded upon the floor,” “How long have you been here, Doctor.” “Pince 4 o'clock.” “Any one else?” “Yes, the constable here,” “And you have touched nothitg?’’ “Nothing,” “You have acted with great discretion, Who sent for yout” “The house-niaid, Saunders,” “Was it she who gave the alarm?” “She and Mrs. King, the cook.” “Where are they now?” “In the kitchen, I believe.” “Then I think we had better hear their story at once,” The old hall, onk-panelled and high-windowed, had been turned into court of investfgation. Holmes sat in @ great, old-fashioned chair, hic inexorable eyes gleaming out of his haggard face. I could read in thom 1 set purpose to devote his life to this quest wntil the client whom he had failed to save should at last be avenged. The trim Inspector Martin, the old, gray-headed country doctor, myself and a stolid village policeman thade up the rest of that strange company. \ The two women told their story clearly enough. They had been aroused from their sleep by the sound of an explosion, which had been followed a minute later by a second one. They slept in adjoining rooms, and Mrs. 1 el had rushed in to Saunders, Togother they had descended the stairs, ‘The door of the study was open, and a candle was burning on the table. Their master lay upon his face in the centre of the room, He was quite dead, Near the window his wife was crouching, her head leaning againat the wall, She was horribly wounded, and the side of her face was red with blood, She breathed heavily, but was incapable of saying anything, The passage as well as the room was full of smoke and the sméll of powder. The window was certainly shut and fastened upon the inside, Both women were positive upon the point. They had at once sent for the doctor and for the constable. Then, with the aid of the groom and the stable-boy, they had conveyed their injured mistress to her room, Both she and her husband had occupied the bed, She was clad in her dress—he in his dress: ing-gown, over his nightclothes, Nothing had been moved in the study, So far as they knew there had never been any quarrel between husband «nd wife, They had always looked upon them as a very united couple, These were the main points of the servants’ evidence. In answer to Inspector Martin, they were clear that every door was fastened upon the inside and that no one could have escaped from the house. ‘In answer to Holmes, they both remembered that they were conscious of the smell of powder from the moment that they ran out of thelr rooms upon the top floor. “I commend that fact very carefully to your attention,” sald Holmeg to his professional colleague, “And now I think that we are in a position to undertake a thorough examination of the room,” ‘The study proved to be a small chamber, lined on three sides with books, and with a writing-table facing an ordinary window, which looked cut upon the garden, Our first attention was given to the body of the un- fortunate squire, whose huge frame lay stretched across the room, His disordered dress showed that he had been hastily aroused from sleep, The Lilet had been fired at him from the front, and had remained in his body after penetrating’ the heart. His death had certainly been Instantaneous and painless, There was no powder-marking either upon his dressing» gown or on his hands, According to the country surgeon, the lady had stains upon her face, but none upon her hand, “The absence of the latter means nothing, though its presence may mean everything,” said Holmes, “Unless the powder from a badly-ftting cartridge happens to spurt backward, one may fire many shots without leaving a sign, I would suggest that Mr. Cubitt's body ‘may now be ree moved, I suppose, Doctor, you have not recovered the bullet which wounded the lady?” "A serious operation will be necessary before that can be done, Bub there are still four cartridges in the revolver, Two have been fired and two wounds inflicted, so that each bullet can be accounted for.” ot