The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-01-24

at last, springing from his chair ana
pacing wildly up and down the room;
lit is impossible that it should be a
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. 1t
is impossible And yet this wretched
dog is none the worse. All, | have it!
have it!" With perfect Shrek of
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 shiver
in every limb, and lay as rigid and life
less as if it had been struclpby light
ming.
Sherlock Holmes drew long breath
and wiped the perspiration from his
forehead. 81 should have more faith"
he said. II ought to know by this
time that when fact appears to be
opposed TO long train of deductions
it invariably proves to be capable of
bearing some other Interpretation. OF
the two pills in that box, one was the
most deadly poison and the other was
entirely harmless. l ought to have
known that before ever saw the box
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. 1t seemed to me that
the mists in my own mind were grad
ually clearing away, and l began to
have dim, vague perception of the
truth.
"All this seems strange to you," con-
tinued Holmes, because you failed at
the beginning of the inquiry to grasp
the Importance of the single real clew
which was presented to you. l had
the good fortune to seize upon that,
and everything which has oc-
cured since then has served
to confirm my original supposi-
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 mistake to confound stranre-
ness with mystery. The most common
| place crime is often the most mystic
rious because it presents no new or
special features from which deductions
can be drawn. This murder would
have been infinitely more difficult to
unravel had the body Of the victim
been simply found lying in the road
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,
I'VE are all ready to acknowledge that
you are smart man, and that you
have your own methods of working.
We want something more than
mere theory and preaching now,
though. 1t is 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 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. 1--WE
have both tried, and we have both
failed. You have remarked more than
once since l 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
SIM" 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 l know the name of the
assassin. l do. The mere knowing OF
his name is q small thing, however
compared with the power oflaying oul
hands upon him. This l expect very
shortly to do. l 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 &c
deal with, who is supported, as
/ have had occasion to prove, by an
other who is as clever as himself A.
long as this man has no idea tina, any
one can have clew there is somt
chance Of securing him; but il he hat
the slightest suspicion he would
change his name and vanish in an in
stant among the four million inhabit
ants of this great city, Without mean
ing to hurt any of your feelings an
bound to say that | consider these mel
to be more than n match for the officia
force, and that is why have not asket
your assistance. If | fail shall o
q .,..4<1eEi