Mexico weekly ledger., 1894-01-04

eAzED vAcANTLY AT THE GROUND.
looked out with three tiers of vacant,
melancholy windows, which were
blank and dreary, save that here and
there a 'sTo Lett card had developed
like a cataract upon the bleared panes-
A small garden sprinkled over with a
scattered eruption of sickiy plants sep
arated each of these houses from the
street, and was trayersed by a narrow
pathway, yellowish in color, and con-
sisting apparently of a mixture of clay
and of gray ell. The whole place was
very sloppy from the rain which had
fallen through the night The garden
was bounded by a three-foot brick wall
with a fringe of wood rails upon the top,
and against this wall was leaning q
stalwart police constable, surrounded
by a small knot of loafers, who craned
their necks and strained their eyes in
the vain hope of catching some glimpse
of the proceedings within.
I had imagined that Sherlock Holmes
would at once have hurried into the
house and plunged into a study of the
mystery. Nothing appeared to be ar
ther from his intention. With an air
. of nonchalance which, under the cir
c~umstances, seemed t. me to border
upon afeetation, he lounged up and
down the pavement, and gazed va
cantiy at the ground, the sky, the OPP
posite houses, and the line of ratings.
Having finished his scrutiny, he pro-
eeeded slowly down the path, or rather
down the fringe of grass which 1anked
the path, keeping his eyes riveted upon
the ground. Twice he stopped, and
once | saw him smile and heard him
utter an exclamation of satisfaction.
There were many marks of footsteps
upon the wet, clayey soil. but since the
police had been coming and going over
it, 1 was unable to see how my COM
panion could hope to learn anything
from 1t. Still, I had such extraordi-
nary evidence of the quickness Of his
perceptive faculties that / had nodoubt
that he could see a great deal which
was hidden from me.
At the door of the house we were
met by a tall, white-faeed, fiaxen.
haired man, with a notebook in his
hand, who rushed forward and wrung
my companions hand with effusion.
sit is indeed kind of you to GOMEZ he
said; 81 have had everything left un-
touched"
Except that!' my friend answered,
pointing to the pathway. ''If a herd
of buffaloes had passed along there
could not be a greater mess No
doubt, however, you had drawn your
own conclusions, Gregson, before you
permitted this"
81 have had SO much to do inside
the house" the detective said, evasive-
~. My colleague, Mr.. Lestrade, is
here. l had relied upon him to look
after this"
Holmes glanced at me, and raised
his eyes sardonically. with two such
men as yourself and Lestrade upon the
ground, there will not be much for a
third party to find out" he said.
Gregson rubbed his hands in a self
satisfied way. Il think we have done
all that can be DONE" he answered;
Its a queer case, though, and 1 knew
your taste for such things"
"You did not come here in a cabP'
asked Sherlock Holmes.
mo, SIR"
"Nor Lestrade?"
"No, SIR
"Then let us go and look at the
room" With which inconsequent re-
mark he strobe on into the house, fol-
lowed by Gregson, whose features ex-
pressed his astonishment.
a short passage. bare planlsed and
dusty, led to the kitchen and offices.
| Two dnnrc noanaI ont ~ - 70 f1a Lea
and to the right. One of these had OBJ
,~viousIy been closed for many weeks.
The other belonged to the dining-room,
which was the apartment in which the
mysterious affair had occurred. Holmes
walked in, and / followed him with
-that subdued feeling atmy heart which
the presence of death inspires.
1t was a large, square room, looking
all the larger for the absence of all
furniture. A vulgar, iaring paper
adorned the walls, but it was blotched
in places with mildew, and here and
there great strips had become detached
and hung down, exposing the yellow
plaster beneath. Opposite the door
was a snowy fireplace, surmounted by
a mantle-pieee of imitation white mar
BILE. On one corner of this was stuck
the stump of a red wax candle. The
solitary window was SO dirty that the
light was hazy and uncertain, giving a
dull gray tinge to everything, which
was intensified by the thick layer of
dust which coated the whole apart
ment.
All these details I observed after
ward. At present my attention was
conferred upon the single grim, motion
less figure which lay stretched upon
the boards with vacant, sightless eyes
staring up at the discolored ceiling.
1t was that of a man about forty-three
Or forty-four years of age, middle
sized, broad-shouldered, with crisp,
curling black hair and a short, stub
bly, beard. He was dressed in a heavy
~broadcloth frock coat and waistcoat,
with light colored trousers and i'm
maeulate collar and cuffs. A top hat,
well brushed and trim, was placed
upon the floor beside him. His hands
were clinched and his arms thrown
abroad, while his lower limbs We're in
terlocked as though his death-struggle
had been a grievous one. On his rigid
face there stood an expression of hor-
ror and, as it seemed to me. of hatred,
such as l have never cen upon human
features. This malignant and terrible
-contortion, combined with the low
forehead, blunt nose and prognathous
jaw, gave the dead man a ~singular1y
simious and ape-like appearance, which
was increased by his writhing, unnat-
ural posture. I have seen death in
many forms, but never has it appeared
to me in a more fearsome aspect than
in that dark, grimy apartment, which
looked out upon one of the main arte-
ries of suburban London.
Lestrade, lean and ferret-like as
ever, was standing by the doorway,
and greeted my companion and myself.
ssThis case will make a stir, sir" he