The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-08-09

week after. Every morning / was there at
l0, and every afternoon / left at .. By de-
grees Mr.. Dune an Ross took to coming in
only once of morning, and then, after a
time, he did not come in at ALL Still, of
course, / never dared to leave the room for
an instant, for / was not sure when be
might come, and the billet was such a
good one, and suited me so we'll, that I
would not risk the loss of il.
Eight weeks passed away like this. and
had written about Abbots, and Archery,
and Armor. and Architecture, and Attica.
and hoped with diligence that might get
on to the BIS before long 1t cost me
nearly filled shelf with my writings.
And then suddenly the whole business
came to an end"
ITO an end ?"
Yes, SIR And no later than this morn
ing, | went to my work as usual at 10
o'clock, but the door was shut and locked,
with little square of cardboard ham,
mered on to the middle of the panel with
a tack. Here it is, and you can read it for
yourself
He held up piece of cardboard about
the size of sheet of note paper. 1t read
in this fashion:
"THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE
DISSOLVED. Oct 8, 1890"
Sherlock Holmes and | survived this curt
announcement and the rueful face behind
1t, until the comical side OF the affair so
completely overtopped every other consid-
Grafton that we both burst out into a roar
of laughter
Pray what steps did you take when
you found the card upon the door," at last
inquired Holmes.
II was staggered, sir | did not know
what to do Then I called at the offices
round. but none of them seemed to know
anything about it, Finally | went to the
landlord, who is an accountant living on
the ground floor, and | asked him if he
could tell me what had become of the Red
Headed League. He said that he had
never heard of any such body. Then l asked
him who Mr.. Duncan Ross was. He an
swered that the name was new to him."
"'Well, said |, the gentleman at No. 4. ;
"'Oh,' said he, the red-headed man
His name was William Morris. He was q
solicitor, and was using my room as a
temporary convenience until his new
premises were ready. He moved out yes
terday to his new offices, No. IL King Ed
ward street, near St. Paul'S.
81 started Oft, Mr.. Holmes. but when |
got to that address it was mandatory
of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it
had ever heard of either Mr.. William
Morris or Mr.. Duncan Ross, so l went
home to Saxe-Coburg square, and took
the advice of my assistant. But he could
not help me i'll any way. He could only
saw that, if | waited. | should hear by
post. But that was not quite good enough,
Mr. Holmes. did not wish to lose such
a place without struggle, so as | had
heard that you were good enough to give
advice to poor folk who were in need of it,
l came right away to YOU"
"And you did very wisely" said
Holmes.
"Your case is an exceedingly remarkable
one, and l shall be happy to look into it.
From what you have told me | think that
it is possible that graver issues hang from
it than might at first sight appear"
Grave enough ~ said Mr.. Jabez Wilson.
"Why, | have lost four pounds week"
"As far as you are personally con-
cerned," remarked Holmes, II do not see
that you have any grievance against this
extraordinary league. On the contrary,
you are, as | understand, richer by some
thirty pounds, to say nothing of the
minute knowledge which you have gained
on every subject which comes under the
letter A. You have lost nothing by them"
"No, sir. But | want to find out about
them, and who they are, and what their
object was in playing this prank-if it was
prank-upon me. 1t was a pretty expen-
sive joke for them, for it cost them and
30 pounds"
1--WE shall endeavcr to clear up these
points for you. And, first, one or two
questions, Mr.. Wilson. This assistant of
yours who first called your attention to
the advertisement-how long had he been
with you?"
about month them
What is he like, this Vincent Spauld-
ing?"
ho; ;o e., = ~, III.
short of 30. Has a white splash of acid
upon his forehead"
Holmes sat up in his chair in con-
siderable excitement. 81 thought as
much" said he. s"Have you ever observed
that his ears are pierced for earrings?"
Yes, sir. He told me that gypsy had
done it for him, when he was lad
"Hum!' said Holmes, sinking back IN
deep thought. "That will do, Mr. Wilson.
upon the subject in the course of day or
two. Today is Saturday, and L hope that
by Monday we may come to conclusion"
"Well, Watson" said Homes, when our
visitor had left US, what do you make of
it all?"
Il make nothing of it," I answed
frankly. sit is a most mysterious bust
ness
las a rule" said Holmes, 'sthe more
bizarre thing is the less mysterious it
proves to be. 1t is your commonplace,
featurless crimes which are real puzzling,
just as n commonplace face is the most
difficult TO identify. But l must be prompt
over this matter"
What are you going to do then?" l
asked.
ITO smoke" he answered. at is quite
three-pipe problem. and l beg that you
won't speak to me for fifty minutes" He
curled himself up in his chair, with his thin
knees drawn up TO his hawk-like nose, and
there he sat with his eyes closed and his
black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill
of some strange bird. l had come to the
conclusion that he had fallen asleep, and
indeed, was nodding myself, when he sud-
denly sprang out of his chair with the
gesture OF man who has made I'D his
mind, and put his pipe down upon the
mantelplece.
''Sarasate plays at the ST. James hall
this afternoon" he remarked What do
you think, Watson? Could your patients
spare Won for few hours?"
Il have nothing to do today. My prac-
tlce Is never very absorbing"
Then put on your hat and come. l am
going through the city first, and we can
have some lunch on the way
We travelled by the underground as far
as Aldersgate; and a short walk took us to
SaXe-Coburg square, the scene of the sing
uiar story which We had listened to in
the morning. twas pokey, little, shabby
genteel place, where four lines of
dingy two-storied brick houses looked
out into small railed-in en-
closure, where lawn of weedy grass and
a few clumps of faded laurel bushes made
hard fight against smoke-laden and I'M
congenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls
and brown board with "Jabez Wilson,
in white letters. upon corner house. an
nounced the place where our red-headed
Holrnes staDpad in. front Of it ,.-;tb -: