The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1894-07-19


ish in his ways. The very night of
his arrival he became very much the
worse for drink, and, indeed, after II
o'clock in the day he could hardly ever
be said to be sober. His manner to-
ward the maid servants was disgusting
ly free and familiar. Worst of all, he
speedily assumed the same attitude to-
ward my daughter, Alice, and spoke to
her more than once in n way which,
fortunately, she is too innocent
to understand. On one occasion he &c
trally seized her in his arms and EN-
braeed her-an outrage which caused
his owa secretary to reproach him for
his unmanly conduct
But why did you stand all thisT
/ asked. i suppose that you can get
rid of your boardcrs when you wish
Mrs. Charpenticr bllshed ut my
pertinent question. Would to God that
l had given him notice on the very
day that he came she said. But 1T
was a sore temptation. They were
paying Il a day each-f14 week,
and this Is the slack season. / am
widow and my boy in the navy has
cost me much, l grudged to lose the
money. ] acted for the best, This last
was too much. however, and / gave
him notice to leave on account of it.
That was the reason of his going
" My heart grew light when / saw
him drive away. My son is on leave
Just now, but i did not tell him any
thing of this, for his temper is violent,
and he is passionately fond of his sis
| ter. When ! closed the door behind
them load seemed to be lifted from
my mind. ALIAS. in less than an hour,
there was ring at the bell, and
| learned that Mr. Drebbor had return
| ed. He was much excited and evil
IDENTITY the worse for drink. He fore
ed his way into the room, where
was sitting with my daughter, and
made some incoherent remark about
having missed his train He then turn
ed to Alice and, before my very face,
proposed to her that she should fly
with him. You are of age" he said,
land there is no law to stop you.
have money enough and to spare. New
or mind the old girl here, but come
along with me now straight away.
| You shall live like princess" Poor
Alice was so frightened that she
shrunk away from him, but he caught
| her by the wrist and endeavored to
draw her toward the door, l screamed,
and at that moment my son Arthur
came into the room. What happened
then I do not know | heard oaths
and the confused sounds of scutflc
! was too terrified to raise my head
| When looked up / saw Arthur stand
ing in the doorway laughing. with a
stick in his hand. II don't think that
fellow will trouble us again." he said.
'I will Just go after him and see what
he does with HIMSELF With those
words he took his hat and started off
down the street. The next morning
we heard of Mr.. Drebber's mysterious
| death"
'"rhis statement came from Mrs
Charpentiers lips with many gasps
and pauses At times she spoke so
low that 1 could hardly catch the
words. / made short hand notes of all
that she said, however, so that there
would be no possibility of a mistake"
Its quite exciting said Sherlock
Holmes with yawn. what happen
when Mrs Charpentier paused" the
detective continued, II saw that the
whole case hung upon one point Fix
ing her with my eye in way which
always found effective with women, I
asked her at what hour her son re-
turned"
'' I do not know she answered.
g Not known
No; he has Q LATCH key, aud he let
himself in
" After you went to bed"
:" Yes
i" When did you go to bed?
" About eleven
| 1t lnACt
two hoursT
=" Yes
Possibly four or five"
Yes
/" What was he doing during that
timer
I do not know" she answered,
turning white to her very lips.
"Of course after that there was
nothing more to be done. / found out
where Lieutenant Charpentier was,
took two officers with me, and arrest
ed him. When 1 touched him on the
shoulder and warned him to come
quietly with us, he answered us as
bold as brass, i suppose you are ar
resting me for being concerned in the
death of that scoundrel Drebber,' he
said. we bad said nothing to him
about it, SO that his abiding to it had
a most suspicious aspect"
! Very" said Holmes.
HE still carried heavy stick which
the mother described him as having
with him when he followed Drebber
1t was stout oak cudgel.'
what is your theory, them"
"Well, my theory is that he followed
Drebber as far as the Brixton Road.
When there, a fresh alteration arose
between them, in the course Of which
DrebbeF receiyed blow from the
stick, in the pit Of the stomach, per-
haps, which killed him without leaving
any mark. The night was SO wet that
no one was about SO Charpentier drag
ged the body of his victim into the
empty house. AS to the candle, and
the blood, and the writing on the wall
and the ring, they may all be so many
tricks to throw the police on the wrong
scent"
We'll, doner' said Holmes, in an en-
couragfng voice Really, Gregson,
you are getting along. We shall make
something out Of you yet
II fatter myself that I have man
aged 1t rather neatly" the detective
answered proudly. ''The young man
volunteered statement, in which he
said that after following Drebber some
time, the latter perceived him, and
took cab in order to get away from
him. On being asked where this old
shipmate lived he was unable to give
any satisfactory reply. / think the
whole case fits together uncommonly
well. What amuses me is to think Of
Lestpade, who had started off upon
| I1O xxTfsO eafu 1,,Nx
make much of It, Why, by JoYe, here's
the man himselfi'
1t was indeed Lestrade, who had
assembled the stairs while we were talk
ing, and who now entered the room.
The assurance and jauntiness which
generally marked his demeanor and
dres2 were, however, wanting. His
face was disturbed and troubled, while
his clothes were disarranged and I'M
tidy. He had evidently come with the
aptention of consulting with Sherlock