Mexico weekly ledger., 1894-01-11
be, when suddenly a CLINT of a light

bdhiC AN
two houses in Lauriston gardens was
empty on account of him that owns
them, who won't have the drains seed
to. though the very last tenant what
lived in one of them died o. typhoid
fever. I was knocked all in a heap,
therefore. at seeing a light in the win
dow, and I suspected as something was
wrong. When l got to the door"
"You stopped, and then walked back
to the garden gate" my companion in
terrupted. What did you do that for?"
Rance gave a violent jump, and
stared at Sherlock Holmes with the ut
most amazement upon his features.
why, that's true, sir" he said;
Though how You came to know 1t,
Heaven only knows! Ye see, when !
got up to the door, it was so still and
SO lonesome that I thought I'd be none
the worse for some one with me. !
amt afeared Of anything on this side
of the grave; but I thought that maybe
it was him that died O. the typhoid in
specting the drains what killed him
The thought gave me a kind o turn,
and I walked back to the gate to see if
/ could see Murcher's lantern, but there
wasn't no sign of him nor of anyone
else.'
"There was no one in the street,"
Not a fivin' soul, sir, or as much as
a dog. Then I pulled myself together
and went back and pushed the door
open. All was quiet inside, SO I went
into the room where the light was
Albumin. There was a candle fiickerin'
on the mantle-piece-a red wax one
and by its light / saw
Eyes, 1 know all that you saw. You
walked round the room several times,
and you knelt down by the body, and
then you walked through and tried the
kitchen door, and then
John Rance sprang to his feet with a
frightened face and suspicion in his
eyes. "Where was you hid to see all
that?' he cried. 1T seems to me that
you knows a deal more than you
should" :
Holmes laughed, and threw his card
across the table to the constable.
Don't get arresting me for the muir
der" he said. Il am one of the hounds
and not the wolf; Mr.. Gregson or Mr..
Lestrade will answer for that. Go on,
though. What did you do next?"
Rance resumed his seat, without,
however, losing his mystified express
sion. 81 went back to the gate and
sounded my whistle. That brought
Murcher and two to the spot"
WAS the street empty then?"
well, it was, as far as anybody that
could be of any good goes"
What do you meant"
The constable's features broadened
into a grin. I've seen many d drunk
chap in my time he said, s'but never
anyone so cryin' drunk as that cove.
He was at the gate when / came out.
~a-leanin' up ag'n the railin's and
a-singin' at the pitch of his lungs
about Columbine's new-fangled ban
ner, or some such stuff. He couldn't
stand, far less help
What sort of a man was hep asked
Sherlock Holmes.
John Rance appeared to be some
what rritated at this DEPRESSION. HE
was an uncommon drunk sort o man."
he said. "He'd ha' found hisself in the
station if we hadn't been SO took up"
His faee-his dress-didn't YOU no.
tiee them?" Holmes broke in, impa-
tiently. .
81 should think I did notice them,
seeing that | had to prop him up-me
and Murcher between us. He was a
long chap, with a red face, the lower
part muffied round
THAT will do" cried Holmes. what
became of him?!"
WED enough to do without lookin,
after him." the policeman said, in an
aggrieved voice. "Ill wager he found
his way home all right
How wa he dressed?'
"a brown o~vereoat."
"Had he a whip in his hand?"
ga whip-no."
ale must have left it behind" NUT
tered my companion. "You didn't hap
pen to see or hear a cab after that??"
mo"
There's a half sovereign for YOU"
my companion said, standing up and
taking his hat. Il am afraid, Rance,
that You will never rise in the force.
That head of yours should be for use
as well as ornament. You might have
gained your ~sergeant's stripes last
Light Ia man "IIoil YOU Delu LII
your hands is the maj who holds the
clew of this mystery, and whom we
are seeking. There is no use of argu-
ing about it now; | tell you that it is
so. Come along, doctor"
We started off for the cab together.
leaving our informant incredulous, but
obviously uncomfortable.
THE laundering fool!' Holmes said,
bitterly, as we drove back to our lodg-
ings. Just to think of his having
such an Incompatible bit of good luck,
and not taking advantage of it"
81 am rather in the dark still. 1t is
true that the description of this man
tallies with your idea of the second
party in this mystery. But why
should he come back to the house after
leaving it? This is not the way OF
criminals
The ring, a the ring: that was
what he came back for. If we have
no other way of catching him we can
| always bait our line with the ring. ]
shall have him, doctor, I'll lay you two
to one that have him. must thank
| you foritall. might not have gone but
for you, and SC, have missed the finest
study | ever anne across; a study in
scarlet, eh? Why shouldn't we use a
little art jargon? There's the scarlet
thread of murder running through the
%colorless skein of life, and our duty
is to unravel it, and isolate it, and ex
pose every inch of it. And now TO,
lunch, and then for Norman Neruda
Her attack and her bowling are splen
did. What's that little thing of Chopin's
she plays SO magniicently: Tra-la-la
l~ira-lira-lay."
Leaning back in the cab, this anna
teur bloodhound caroled away like {
lark, while meditated upon the many
sidedness of the human mind.
Continued Next We :.