The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1894-06-21

BY CONAN DOYLE.

Is as well. So you actually were not
able to see that the man was ser
geant of marinesT
"No, indeed"
| 1T was easier to know 1t than to ex-
plain why know it. If you were ask
| ed to prove that two and two made
! four, you might find some difficulty,
and yet you are quite sure OF the fact.
| Even across the street / could see q
| great blue anchor tattooed on the back
of the fellows hand. That smacked of
| the sea. He had military carriage,
however, and regulation side whiskers.
There we have the marine. He was q
man with some amount of Self-impor-
/ lance and a certain air of command.
You must have observed the way in
which he held his head and swung his
cane. A steady, respectable, middle
aged man, too, on the face of him-all
facts which led me to believe that he
had been a sergeant"
WONDERFUL / calculated.
| Commonplace" said Holmes, though
| ] thought from his expression that he
/ was pleased at my evident surprise and
admiration. 81 said just now that
there were no criminals. 1t appears
| that am wrong-look at thisw He
threw me over the note which the COM
missionaire had brought
| why" / cried, as / cast my eyes
over it, 'this is terrible.
/ 1T does seem to be little out of the
common" he remarked calmly would
you mind reading it to me aloud?'
| This is the letter which read to him:
MY dear Mr.. Sherlock Holmes:
| There has been bad business during
/ the night at Lauriston Gardens off
| the BriXton Road Our man on the
beat saw a light there about two in the
/ morning, and as the house was an emp
| ty one, suspected that something was
amiss He found the door open, and in
| the front room, which is bare of furni
ture, discovered the body of a gentle
man, well dressed, and having cards in
his pocket bearing the name of 'Enoch
J. Drebber, Cleveland, Ohio, U. S. A
There had been no robbery, nor is there
any evidence as to how the man met
his death. There are marks of blood in
the room, but there is no wound upon
the person. We are at a loss as to haw
he came into the empty house; indeed,
! the whole thing is a puzzler. If you
can come round to the house any time
before twelve, you will find me there. /
| have left everything in statu quo until
l hear from you If you are unable to
come shall give you fuller details, and
! would esteem it great kindness if you
would favor me with your opinion.
Yours faithfully,
TOBIAS ERICSSON"
"Gregson is the smartest of the Scot
land Yarders," my friend remarked;
''he and Lestrade are the pick of bad
| lot. They are both quick and energetic,
but notwithstanding so. They
| have their knives into one another, too.
They are as jealous as a pair of pro-
fessional beauties. There will be some
fun over the case if they both put upon
the scent F"
/ [ was amazed at the calm way in
which ne rippled on. Surely there is
not moment to be lost" / cried;
shall / go and order you a cab?"
Il am not sure about whether / shall
CO. am the most incurably lazy devil,
that ever stood in shoe leather-that is,
| when the fit is on me, for can be spry
enough at times"
why, it is just such chance as you
have been longing for"
"My dear fellow, what does it matter
to me? Supposing / unravel the whole
matter, you may be sure that Gregson,
Lestrade & Co., will pocket all the cred
| it. That comes Of being an unofficial
parsonage"
But he begs you to help him.
yes. He knows that | am his SUI
perior, and acknowledges it before me;
but he would cut his tongue out before
he would own it to any third person.
However, we may as well go and have
L n nn1 T 1,nr 1,,,r
If / have nothing else Come onr'
He hustled on his overcoat and bus
tied about in way that showed that
an energetic fit had superseded the apa-
thetic Qna
Get your hat" he said.
You wish me to comeY
Eyes, if you have nothing better to
do" A minute later we were both in
a hanson, driving furiously for the
Brixton Road.
1t was foggy, cloudy morning, and
q dun colored veil hung over the house.
tops, looking like the reflections of the
mud-colored streets beneath. My COM
panion was in the best of spirits, and
prattled away about Cremona iddles,
and the difference between q Stradi-
yarius and an Amati. AS for myself, /
was silent, for the dull weather and the
melancholy business upon which we
were engaged depressed my spirits"
You don't seem to give some thought
to the matter in hand" ! said at last,
interrupting Holiness musical disquisi-
mo data yet" he answered. at is
a capital mistake to theoriZe before
you have all the evidence 1t bases
the judgment"
| You will have your data Soon" |
remarked, pointing with my finger;
| this is the BriXton Road, and that is
the house, If | am not very much mis-
| taken"
80 it is. Stop, driver, stopw We
were still hundred yards or so from it,
| but he insisted upon our -alighting, and
we finished our journey an foot.
| Number 3 I4auIistoh Gardens wore
an ill-omened and minatory look. 1t
was one of our four which stood back
some little way from the street, two be-
ing occupied and two being empty.
The latter looked out with three tiers
of vacant, melancholy windows, which
were blank and dreary, save that here
and there a ITO Let card had develop
ed like cataract upon the bleared
panes A small garden sprinkled over
with q scattered efqntion of sickly
plants separated each OF these houses
from the street, and was traversed by a
narrow pathway, yellowish in color,
and consisting apparently of a mixture
of clay and of gravel The whole place
was very sloppy from the rain which
had fallen through the night. The gar
den was bounded by a three-foot brick
wall with fringe of wood rails upon
the top, and against this wall was lean
ing q stalwaft police constable, sur
rounded by small knot of loafers,
who craned their necks and strained
their eyes In the vain hope of catching
some glimpse of the proceedings with
in.
had imagined that Sherlock Holmes
would ut once have hurried into the
house and plunged into q study of the
mystery. Nothing appeared to be fur
thap from his Intention With an air of