The evening world. Newspaper, April 29, 1905, Page 13

atten with one exception, The first officer, Mr, Jack Crocker, had been made a captain, and was to take charge of their new ship, The Bass Rock, sall- ine in two days’ time from Southampton, He lived in Sydenham, but he was likely to be in that morning for instructions, if we cared to walt for him, No; Mr, Holmos had no desire to see him, but would be glad to know more about his record and character. His record was magnificent. There was not an officer in the fleet to touch him, As to character, he was reliable on duty, but a wild, desper- ate fellow off the deck of the ship—hot-headed, excitable, but loyal, honest, and kind-hearted, That was the pith of the information with which Holmes left the office of the Adelaide-Southampton Company, ‘Thence he drove to Scotland Yard, but, instead of entering, he sat in his cab with his brows drawn down, lost {n profound thought. Finally he drove round to the Charing Cross telegraph office, sent off a message, and then, at last, we made fot Baker street once more. “No, 1 couldn't do it, Watson,” sald he, as we re-entered our room, “Once that warrant was made out, nothing on earth Would save him, Once or twice in my career I feel that I have done more real harm by my discovery of the criminal than ever he hed ‘one by his crime. I have learned caution now, and I had rather play tricks with the law of Bng- land Von with my own conscience. Let us know a little more before we act,” Before evening we had a visit from Inspector Stanley Hopkins. Things were not going very well with him, “T beMeve that you are a wizard, Mr, Holmes. ef that you have powers that are not human, cou I really do sometimes Now, how on earth yon know that the stolen silver was at the bottom of that pond?” didn’t know it.” “But you told me to examine. it.” “You got it, then?” “Yes, I got it.” am very glad if T have helped you." “But you haven't helped/me. You have made the affair far more diff{- cult, What sort of burglars are they who steal silver and then throw it into the nearest pond?” “It'was certainly rather eccentric behavior. I was merely going on the idea that if the silver had been taken by persons who did not want it— who merely took it for a blind, as it we then they would naturally be anxious to get rid of it.” “But why should such an idea cross your mind?" “Well, I thought it was poesible. When they came ont through the French window there was the pond, with one tempting little hole in the ice, right in front of their noses. Could there be a better hiding place?” “Ah, a hiding place—that {s better!” cried Stanley Hopkins. “Yes, yes, I see it all now! It was early, there were folk upon the rouds, they were afraid of being seen with the ailver, so they sank it in, the pond, im tending to return for It when the coast was clear, Excellent, Mr. Holmes— that is better than your idea of a blind.” ‘Quite so! You have got an admirable theory, 1 have no doubt that my own ideas were quite wild, but you must admit that they have ended, in discovering the silver,” “Yes, sir—yes, It was all your doing. “A setback?” "Yes, Mr. Holmes. The Randall gang were arrested in New York the morning,” “Dear me, Hopkins! That is certainly rather against your theory that they committed a murder in Kent last night.” “It is fatal, Mr, Holmes—absolutely fatal, Still, there are other gangs of three besides the Randalls, or {t may be some new gang of which the police have never heard.” ‘Quite so; it is perfectly possible. What! Are you off?” “Yes, Mr. Holmes, there is no rest for me until I have got to the bot- tom of the business, I suppose you have no hint to give me?" “I have given you one.” “Which?” “Well, I suggested a blind,” “But why, Mr. Holmes, why?” ‘Ah, that's the question, of course. Rut I commend the idea to your mind, You might possibly find that there was something in It You won't stop for dinner? Well, good-by, ind let us know how you get on,” Dinner was over, and the table cleared before Holmes alluded to the matter again. He had lit his pipe and held his slippered feet to the cheer- ful blaze of the fire. Suddenly he looked at his watch. “I expect developments, Watson.” “When?” “Now--within a few minutes, I dare say you thought | acted rather badly to Stanley Hopkins just now?" “T trust your judgment.” “A very sensible reply, Watson. You must look at it this way: what | Know is unofficial, what he knows is official, I have the right to private judgment, but he has none. He must disclose all, or he is a traitor to his service, In a doubtful case I would not put him in so painful a poal- tion, and so I reserve my information until my own mind is clear upon the matter.” “But when will that be?” “The time has come, You will now be present at the last scene of a remarkable little drama.” Thore was a sound upon the stairs, and our door was opened to admit. as fine @ speciman of manhood as ever passed through it. He was a very tall, young man, golden-mustached, blue-eyed, with a skin that the huge burned by tropical suns, and a spring step, which showed that the huge frame was as active as it was strong. He closed the door behind him, and then he jtood with clenched hands and heaving breast, choking down some overmastering emotion. “Sit down, Captain Crocker, You got my telegram?” Our visitor sank into an arm-chair and looked from one to the other of us with questioning eyes. “I got your telegram, und I came at the hour you said. I heard that you had been down to the office, There was no getting away from you. Let's heat the worst, What are you going to do with me? Arrest me? Speak outy man! You can’t sit there and play with me like a cat with a mouse,”” “Give him a cigar.” said Holmes, “Bite on that, Captain Crocker, and don't let your nerves run away with you. I should not sit here smoking But I have had a bad setbach,’” common criminal, you may be sure J+ with you if 1 thought chat you were Ma Play tricks with of that. Be frank with me and we may do some good. me, and I'l) crush you.” “What do you wish me to do?” “To give me a true_account of all that happened at the Abbey Grange last night—a true account, mind you, with nothing added and nothing taken He Stood with Clenched Hands and off, blow this pol hands forever. The sailor thought for a little. sun-burned hand, “I'll chance it,” he cried. “I believe you are a man of your word, and white man, and I'll tell you the whole story, But one thing I will say first. So far as I am concerned, | regret nothing and I fear nothing, and I would do it ell again, and be proud of the job, Dam the beast. If he had as many lives acat he would owe them all to me! But it's the lady, Mary—Mary Fraser—for never will I call her by that accursed name. ‘When I think of getting her into trouble I would give my life just to I know so much already that if you go one Inch off the straight ['ll whistle from my window and the affair goes out of my he struck his leg with his great WORLD» SATURDAY . v1 ‘RO A A BT eT (p42 20a A as, #94 Bae O09 MM) a RE Se AOR 2a RAE RO Pe ET AI Case of Identity BY SIR A. CONAN DOYLE. (COPYRIGHT, 1802, BY HARPER & BROTHERS.) 66 ¥ dear fellow,” said Sherlock Holmes, as we nat on either side of the fire in hie lodgings at Baker street, “lito ig infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent, We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence, If we could fy out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city. gently remove the roofs, and peep in at the queer things whieh are gotng on, the strange oeincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the Wonderful chains of events, working through g2n- erations, and loading to the most outm results, it Would mako all fiction with its conventicnalities and forenten conclusions most stale and unprofitable," “And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. “Phe cases which bome to Hight in the papers are, ag a rule, bald enoug? aud vulgar enough, We have In our police reports realism pushed to its extreme Metts, and yet the result Is, it must be confessed, nether fascinating ror artistic," > “A certain selection and discretion must be used ik-prodycing a realistic effect,” remarked Holmos, , "Thia is wanting {n the police report, where more stress is hid. perhaps, wpon the platitudes of the ‘Magistrate than upon tie details, which to an ob- server contain the vital easence of the wivle matter, Depend upon it, there is nething so uunatural as Ure commonplace,"" T smiled and ahook my head, “1 can quite under: mand you thinking I said, “OF course, in your position of unofficial adviser and holper to every: hody who is wbsolutely puxsied, throughout three continents, you are brought in contact witit all thit is ‘strange and bizarre, But here"—I picked up thi morning paper fromthe ground—"let us put it tou practical test, Here is the frst heading upon whic I come, ‘A Husbund's Crucity to Hts Wife.’ There Ja half a column of print, but I knew without read- ipg 4t that {t de all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of course, the other woman, the drink, the pusi, the blow, the bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudent of writers could invent noth- ing more crude." “Indeed, your example is un unfortunate one for your argument,” sald Holmes, taking the paper and Glansing his eye down it, "This is tho Dundee separation case, and, ae it huppons, I was engaged in clearing Wp soma small points in connection with wae a féetotaler, there waa. mi “and the Gomduet ‘conipined ot we ee (hat he had drifted into the habit of winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurl ng them at his wife, which, you will alloy, is not in action likely to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller, ‘Take a pincn of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge tut { have scored over you in your example,” He held out his enuff-hox of old gold with a great amethyst in the centre of the lid, Its splendor was In such contrast ( his homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting wpon it. “Ah!” said he, “I forgot that 1 not eeen you for some weeks, It is a tittle souventr from the King of Bohemia, in return for my assistance in the case of the Irene Adier papers.” “And the ring?" I asked, glaneing at a remark- brilliant which sparkled upon his finger. t was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in which I served them was of such delloacy Laat I cannot confide it even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or (w> of my little problems,” “And have you any on hand just now’ 1 asked with Interest, “Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of Interest, ‘Dhey are Important, you under- stand, without being interesting, Indeed, I have found that Jt 1s usually in unbmportant mottens that there is @ fleld for the observation aud for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the charm to an investigation. ‘The larger crimes ars apt to be the simpler, for the bigger tie orlme the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive, In these oases, save for one rather Intricate matter wivien has been referred to me from Marseilles, cnere is* nothing which presents any features of interest, it is possible, however, that 1 may have something better before very many minutes are dyer, for this {se one of my chents, of | am much mistaken,” He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted blinds, guzing down Into the doll, newtral-tinted London street, Looking over hls shoulder, I suw that on the pavement opposite there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa Around her neck and a large curling red feather in & broad-brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquet- toh Duchess-of-Devonshire fashion over her ear From under this groat panoply she pecped up in at nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, whily her body oaciliated backward and forward, and her fingers Hdgeted with her glove buttons, Suddenly, with a plunge, as of @ ewimmer who leaves the bank, ehe thurried aorons the road, and we |eard (he ‘Of the bell, e q A Yh til Pega Bae “L have seen those symptoms before,’ said Holmes, throwing his cigarette Into the fire, ‘Os- cfllation upon the pavement always means an af- faire de coeur, She would like advice, put is not sure that the matter is not too delicate for commu- nication, And yet, even here we may discriminate, When 2 woman has bean seriously wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symp- tom is a broken bell wire, Here we may take tt that there ls a love matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed or grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself loomed behind his small, black figure like a full-sailed merchant- man behind a tiny pilot-boat, Sherluck Holmes welcomed her with the casy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, having closed the door and bowed her into an arm-chair, he dooked her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was peoullar to him, . “Do you not find," he said, ‘that with your short Sight it is a little trying to do 90 much type- writing?” “I did at first,” ghe anwwered, “but now I know where the letters are w'thout looking.” ‘Then, sud- denly realizing the full purport of his words, she gave a violent start and looked wp with fear anJ astonishment upon her broad, good-humored face. “You've heard @bout me, Mr, Holmes," she cried, “else how could you know all thar?” “Never mind,” sald Holmes, laughing, “it is my business to know things Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others overlook, If not, why should you come to consult me?’ “I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs, Hbherege, whose husband you found so easy wien the police and every one had gtven him up for dead, Oh, Mr, Holmes, I wish you would do as much for mé. I'm not/rich, but still T have @ hun- dred a year in my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and I would give it all to know what has become of Mr, Hosmer Angel.” “Why dd you come away to consult me in such a hurry?” asked Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and ‘his eyes to the ceiling Again a startled look came over the somewiiit vacuous face of Miss Mary Suthemand, “Yes—1 did bang out o the house,’ she sald, “for tt made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr, Wondl- bank-—that is, my father—took it all, He would not go to the ‘police and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he would do nothing and kept on paying that there was no harm done, I made me mad, and T just on with my things and came Meht away to you,'’ “Your father,” say Holmes, “your surely, since the name is diferent.” “Yes, my stepfather. I oall him father, though it wounds funny, too, for he Is only five years and tw> montis older than myself,” “ANd youd mother js alive?” “Oh, yor, mother d# alive and well, I wasn't best pidteed, Mr Helmex, wien she marvied again s0 ares stepfather, GL INING AL sad, 29,/1905, bring one smile to th And yet—and yet—what less could I do? dear face—-it’s that that turns my soul into water, T'll tell you my story, gentlemen, and then I'f ask you, as man to man, what less couid I do. “T must go back a bit, You seem to know everything, so I expect that you know that Officer of the Rock of Gibraltar, Heaving Breast. the only woman to me. 1 met her when she was a passenger and I was first Krom the first day 1 met her she waa Every day of that voyage I loved her more, and many a time since have I kneeled down in the darkness of the night watch and kiesed the deck of that ship because I knew her dear feet had trod it, She wab never engaged to me, woman treated a man, She treated me as fairly as ever a I have no complaint to make. It was all love on my side, and all good comradeship and friendship on hers, Wher we parted “Next time | came back from sea I heard of her marriage. Title and money—who could carry She was born for all that fs beautiful and dainty, I was not such a selfish hound as that, shouldn’t she marry whom she liked? them better than she? I didn’t grieve over.her marriage, she was a free woman, but I could never again be a free man. Well, why I just rejoiced that good luck had come her way, and that she had not soon afler father's death, and a man who was nearly fifteen years younger vhin herself, Father was a plumber in the ‘Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. They got £4,700 for the good will and interest, which wasn't hear as much as father could have got sf he had been allve," TI had expected to soe Sherlock Holmes impatient under this rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he had listened with the greatest concentration of attention, “Your own little income,’’ he asked, ‘does it come out of the business?” “Ob, no, mr, It le quite separate me by my Uncle Ned, in Auckland, It is in New sCaland stock, paying 1!) per cent. ‘wo thousand five hundred pounds was the, amounc, but I can only touch the interest.” . “You Interest me extremely," said Holmes, "A: since you draw so large a eum as a hundred @ ye. with what you earn inte the bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in every w I belleve that a single lady can get on very n upon an Income of about £ ‘L could do with much less than that, Mr Holmes, byt you understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a burden to them, and #0 they have the use of the moncy just while I am staying with them, Of course, that Is only just for the time, Mr, Windibank draws ty interest every quarter and pays it over to mother, and I find that IT can do pretty well with what I earn at type- writing, It brings mo twopence a shee, and 1 can often do from fifteen to twenty sheets dn a day and was left “You have made your position very clear to me, said Holmes his Is my friend, Dr, Watson, before whom you can speak as freely a¥ before myself, Kirdly tell va now all wbout your connec thon with Mr. Hoamer Angel.” A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked nervously at the fringe of her Jacket, "1 mei him first at the gasfittters’ ball," she sald, ‘They used to send father thekets when he was alive, and then afterward they remembered us and sent them to mother, Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He never did wish va to go inywhere, He would get quite mad if L wanted so much as to join o Sunday-school treat, Bat tds time T was eet on Koing, und { would go; for what right had he to provent? Ho said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all father's friends were be there, And ne sald that I had nathing MM to wear, when I had my purple plush that 1 had never so much as taken ont of the drawer, At last, when nothing else wodd do, he went off to France upon the husness of the finn; but we went, mother and 1, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it wus thore I met Mr, Hosmer Angel.” ‘{ suppose,’ said Holes, “that when Mr, Windi- bank came back from France he was yery annoyed at your having gone to the ball? "Oh, well, he. was very good #bout It, He laughe.t, thrown herself away on a penniless sailor. That Fraser, “Well, I never thought to see her again, but last voyage Twas moted, and the new boat was not yet launched, so I hil to walt, couple of months with my people at Sydenham. One day out in a com jane I met Theresa Wright, her old maid. She told me all about her, him, about everything. I tell you, gentlemen, it nearly drove me ‘This drunken hound, that he should dare to raise his hand to’her: boots he was not worthy to lick! I met Theresa again. Then I met} hereelf—and met her again, Then she would meet me no more, But # other day I got a notice that I was to start on my voyage within @ ¥ and I determined that 1 would see her once before I left. ‘Therese ¥ always my friend, for she loved Mary and hated this villain a’most as mw as 1 did. From her I learned the ways of the house, Mary used to aii reading in her own little room downstairs, I crept around there last ni and scratched at the window. At first she would not mn to me, bu her heart I know that now she loves me, and she could not leaye, me the frosty night. She whispered to me to come round to the dig ff windgw, and I found it open before me, so as to let me into the din room, Again I heard from her own lips things that made my blood, and again I cursed this brute who mishandled the woman I loved. gentlemen, I was standing with ber just inside the window, In all {i cence, as God is my judge, when he rushed Itke a madman into the ro called her the vilest name that a man could use to a woman, and wel her across the face with the stick he had in his hand, [ had sprung) the poker, and it was a fair fight between us. See, here, on my @ where his first blow fell. Then it was my turn, and I went through fh as if he had been a rotten pumpkin, Do you think I was sorry? Not I!) was his life or mine, but far more than thet, it was his life or hers, fo how could I leave her in the power of this madman? That was how killed him, Was I wrong? Well, then, what would elther of you gentle men have done, if you had been in my position? “She had screamed when he struck her, and that brought old down from the room above. There was a bottle of wine on the i and I opened {t and poured a ilttle between Mary's lips, for ehe was hal dead with shock, Then I took a drop myself. Theresa wes as cool a ce and it was her plot as much as mine. We must make it appear that burglars had done the thing. Theresa kept on repeating our story to he mistress, while I swarmed up and cut the rope of the bell. Then I lashot her ‘in her chair, and frayed out the end of the rope to make {t loo) natural, else they would wonder how in the world a burglar could have go up there and cnt it. Then T gathered up o few plates and pots of silver, | earry out the idea of the robbery, and there [ left them, with orders toa the alarm when I had a quarter of an hour's start. I dropped the sllve into the pond, and made off for Sydenham, feeling that for once in my Il I had done a real good night's work, And that's the truth and the whol truth, Mr. Holmes, if {t costs me my neck.” Holmes smoked for some time fn silence, Then he crossed thé roo’ and shook our visitor by the hand, “That's what I think,” said he. “I know that every word is true, % you have hardly said a word which I dtd not know. No one but am acrobi or a sailor could have got up to that bellrope from the bracket, and no or but a sailor could have made the knots with which the cord was fasten to the chair. Only once had this lady been brought Into contact with gal ors, and thaé was on her voyage, and it was some one of her own class life, since she was trylng hard to shield him, and so showing that eb loved him. You see how easy it was for me to lay my hands upon y< when once J had started upon the right trail.” “T thought the police never could have seen through our dodge, “And the police haven't, nor will they, to the best of my belief. No. Jook here, Capt. Crocker, this is a very serious matter, though I am willin to admit that you acted ugder the most extreme provocation to which ai man could be subjected. J®am not sure that in defense of your own If! your action will not be pronounced legitimate. However, that is for’ British jury to decide, Meanwhile 1 have so much sympathy for you thet {f you choose to disappear in the next twenty-four hours, I will proms that no one will ‘hinder you.” “And then it will all come out?” “Certainly it will come out.” ‘The sailor flushed with anger. “What sort of proposal ig that to make a man? I know enough of’ to understand that Mary would be held as accomplice. Do you thir would leave her alone to face the music while I slunk away? No, sir them do their worst upon me, out, for heaven's sake, Mr. ‘Holmes, ! some way of keeping my poor Mary out of the courts.” Holmes for a second time held out his hand to the sailor. “I was only testing you, and you ring true every time. Well, it great responsibility that I take upon myself, but I have given Hopkins excellent hint, and if he can’t avail himself of it I can do no more, { here, Capt. Crocker, we'll do this in due form of law. You are the pr oner. Watson, you are a British jury, and I never met a man who ¥ more eminently fitted to represent one, I am the judge. Now, it man of the jury, you have heard the evidence. Do you find the prison guilty or not guilty?” “Not guilty, my lord," said I. a “Vox popull, vox Del. You are acquitted, Capt. Crocker. So long the law does not find some other victim you are safe from me. Cok back to this lady in a year, and may her future and yours justify us the judgment which we have pronounced this night,” (THE END.) " ranean This is the Twelfth Story of the Series entitle “The Return of Sherlock Holmes.”’ The Thirteen and last—‘‘The Adventure of the Second Stain’ will be published in a Special Color Supplenn with THE EVENING WORLD of next Saturd. May 6. t NING WORLD of Saturday, May 13. | remember, and shrugged hie shoulders. and sa! there was no ure denying anything to a woman, for she would have her way.” “T see, ‘Then at the gasfitters’ ball you met, as } \nderstand, a gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "Yes, sir, I met him that night, and he called next day to ask If we had got nome all safe, and after that we met him—that |s to eay, Mr, Holmes, T met him twice for walks, but ater that father came back again, and Mr, Hosmer Angel could not come to the house any more.'? “No? “Woll, you know, father didn’t lke anything of the sort. He wouldn't have any visitors If he could help It, and he used to say that a woman should be happy in her own family cirele, But then, as 1 used to sty to mother, a woman wants her own circle to begin with, and I had not got mine yet," “But how about Mr, Heamer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see you?" “Well, father was going off to France again in a weck, and Hosmer wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each other wntil he had wone. We could write in the mean time, and re nd to write every day, I took the letters in the ning, so there was no need for father to know,” "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?” “Oh, yes, Mr, Holmes, We were engaged after the first walk that we took, Hosmer—Mr. Angel— was a casiler in an office In Leadentutll stree:— and”. ‘What ofiee?” the worst of \t, Mr, Holmes, 1 dont did he lve, then?" Jopt on the premises, nd you don't know his address?” 'Nomeacept (hat it was Leadenhall street," Where did you address your betters, then?’ “To the denhall street post-oflice, to be left tll called for, He said that If they were sent to the office he would be ehaffed by all the other clerks sbout naving letters from a lady, so 1 offered to typewrite them, like he @id his, but he wouldn't have that, for he sald that when 1 wrote them they seemed tu come from me, bul when they were type written he always felt that the machine had come between us, ‘That will just show you how fond he was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he wouid tink of “Tt Was most suggestive, Vd Holmes, Lt has long been an axiom of inine that the Hitle things are infinitely the mo4t important, Can you remem: ber any obner little things about Mr, Hosmer Angel?" ee te or es eer econ The conclusion of this story will be published in to-morrow’s SUNDAY WORLD MAGAZINE, one on "He was a very shy man, Mr, Holmes, He wou rather walk with me in the evening than in t daylight, for he wid that he hated to be conspigi ous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Eye, hie yolce was gentle, He'd had the quinsy an swollen glands when he was young, he told and # had left him with a weak throat and a heal tating, whispering fashion of speech, He waa al ways well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just as mine are, and he wore Untog lasses ugainst the glare,” i “Well, and what happened when Mr, ‘Windibaaie, your stepfather, returned to France?’ ‘Mr, Hosmer Angel came to the house again proposed that we should marry before father ‘back, He was in dreadful earnest, and made } swear, with my hands on the Testament, that wit ‘ever happened I would always be true to ‘hitm) Mother said he was quite right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion, pape all in his favor from the first and was even id of hém than I was, Then, when they talked o marrying within the week, I began to ask abop father; but tney both sald never to mind abou. father, but just to toll him afterward, and mother said she would make it all right with him. I didn’t quite ke that, Mr, Holmes, It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as he wae only a few yeara older than me; but I didn't want to do anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordoaux, where the company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on the very morning of the wed- ding.” t missed him, then?” “Yes, sir; for he had started ta England just be- fore it arrived.” “Hat ‘Phat was unfortunate, Your wedding was arranged, then, for the Friday, Was it to be in church “Yos, sir; but very quietly, It was to be at St, Saviour's, near King's Cross, and we were to ha\ breakfast afterward at the St. Pancras Hotel, Hos- mer caine for us.in a hansom, but as there were two of us, he put us both dnto Ht, and stepped him- self Into a four-wheeler, which happened to be thé only other cab in the street, We got to the church first, und when the four-wheeler drove up we walted for him Lo step out, but he never did, and when tie baan got down from the box and looked there was 0 one there, The cabman sald that he could not imagine what had become of him, for he nad seen him get dn with his own eyes, That was layt Friday, Mr, Holmes, and I haye never scen or heard anything slice then to throw any light upon wha became of him." Y (Concluded in To-morrow''s Sunday World Magasine,) ee en Cee ee oe