Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1894-03-02
rnis check which he had met.

pacing wildly up and down the room
''it Is impossible that it should be
mere coincidence. The very pills which
suspected in the case of Drebber are
actually found after the death Of Stan
gerson And yet they are inert. What
can it mean? Surely my whole chain OF
reasoning cannot have been false. II
is impossible, And yet this wretched
dog is none the worse. All, have it
have i'll" With a perfect shrek oi
delight he rushed to the box, cut the
other pill in two, dissolved it, added
milk and presented it to the terrier.
The unfortunate creatures tongue
seemed hardly to have been moistened
in it before it gave a convulsive shivei
in every limb. and lay as rigid and life.
less as if il had been struck by light
ming.
Sherlock Holmes drew 4 long breath
and wiped the perspiration from hi;
forehead. II should have more faith
he said. Il ought to know by this
time that when a fact appears to be
opposed to long train of deductions
it invariably proves to be capable OF
bearing some other Interpretation. Oh
the two pills in that box, one was The
most deadly poison and the other wat
entirely harmless. ought to have
known that before ever I saw the bon
at all"
This last statement appeared TO me
to be so startling that / could hardly
believe that he was in his sober
senses. There was the dead dog, how
ever, to prove that his conjecture had
been correct. Ii seemed to me thai
the mists in my own mind were grad
ually clearing away, and began to
have a dim, vague perception of the
truth.
"All this seems strange to you," con
tinued Holmes, because you failed al
the beginning of tho inquiry to grasE
the Importance of the single real clew
which was presented to you. / had
the good fortune to seize upon that
and everything which has oc
Cured since then has served
to confirm my original SUPPOSE
ton, and, indeed, was the logical Sc
quence of it. Hence things which
have perplexed you and made the case
more obscure have served to enlighten
me and to strengthen my conclusions.
1t is miJtake to confound strange.
ness with mystery. The most common
place crime is often the most mystic
rious because it presents no new on
special features from which deductions
can be drawn. This murder would
have been infinitely more difficult to
unravel had the body of the victim
Ix,.- ~ @Ia Il
way without any of those outre and
sensational accompaniments which
have rendered it remarkable. These
strange details, far from making the
case more difficult, have really had the
effect of making it less So"
Mr.. Gregson, who had listened to this
address with considerable impatience,
could contain himself no longer. Look
here, Mr.. Sherlock Holiness" he said
''we are all ready to acknowledge that
you are a smart man, and that you
have your own methods of working.
We want something more than
mere theory and preaching now.
though. 1t is a case of taking the man.
/ have made my case out, and it seems
was wrong. Young Charpentier could
not have been engaged in this second
affair. Lestrade went after his man,
Stangerson, and it appears that he
was wrong, too. You have thrown out
hints here, and hints there, and seem
to know more than we do, but the
time has come when we feel that we
have a right to ask you straight how
much you do know of the business.
Can you name the man who did it?"
II cannot help feeling that Gregson
is right, sir" remarked Lestrade. I'VE
have both tried, and we have both
failed. You have remarked more than
once since I have been in the room
that you had all the evidence which
you require. Surely you will not with
hold it any longer"
"And delay in arresting the assas-
sin," observed. might give him time
to perpetrate some fresh atrocity."
Thus pressed by us all. Holmes
showed signs of irresolution. He con-
tinued to walk up and down the room
with his head sunk on his chest and
his brows drawn down, as was his
habit when lost in thought.
There will be no more murders"
he said at last, stopping abruptly and
facing us. "You can put that consid-
Grafton out of the question. You have
asked me if I know the name of the
assassin. do. The mere knowing of
his name is a small thing, however,
compared with the power of laying our
hands upon him. This expect very
shortly to do. have good hopes OF
managing it through my own arrange
ments; but it is thing which needs
delicate handling, for we have
a shrewd and desperate man to
deal with, who is supported, as
l have had occasion to prove, by an
other who is as clever as himself. As
long as this man has no idea that any
one can have a clew there is some
chance of securing him; but if he had
the slightest suspicion he would
change his name and vanish in an in
slant among the four million inhabit-
ants of this great city. Without mean
ing to hurt any Of your feelings, ! am
bound to say that consider these men
to be more than a match for the official
force, and that is why have not asked
your assistance. If I fail | shall of
course incur all the blame due to tAii
omission; but that am prepared for.
At present am ready to promise that
the instant | can communicate with
you without endangering my own com
binations | shall do So"
Gregson and Lestrade seemed to be
far from satisfied by this assurance
or by the depreciating allusion to the
detective police. The former had
flushed up to the roots of his daxen
hair, while the others beady eyes
glistened with curiosity and resent
ment Neither of them had time to
speak, however, before there was tap
at the door and the spokesman of the
street Arabs. young Wiggins, intro
duced his Insignificant and unsavory
person.
"Please, SIR" he said, touching his
forelock, 81 have the cab downstairs"
Good boy" said Holmes, blandly.
"Why don't you introduce this pattern
at Scotland Yard?" he continued. TAX.
ing a pair Of steel handouts from q
drawer. "See how beautifully the
spring works. They fasten in an in.
stant.''
''The old pattern Is good enough"
remarked Lestrade, 'if we can find the
man to put them on"
Very good, very good" said Holmes.
smiling. THE cabman may as well
help me with my boxes. just ask him
to step up, Wiggins."
4 q