Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-02-15
THE SIGN OF THE FOUR.
By A. CONAN DOYLE.
CHAPTER "


 We followed tho 1ndiHn down the snr'ltd and common passage, Ill l!t and W"Gso furnished. until he c~,.4g - door upon the right. >iCh hc rhg,~ o..~, \ blaze of yellow lp.., >tNam,,i "tt Iiis ' uS and In the ccujrr uf thv s-lar. I!'.!-'.; la small man. with a very Etgh hos. ?. i1 tlo of rcd hair al! arouu,t H., tr.n; .',i v, and the bald. shining scalp. whi,I siot out from among 1t like a lnuLitain Is,%.k from fir tr,,s He wrilhCd his hanus tO- eether as he stood. and his tV;lIurcS were in a perpetual jerk, now smiling, now scolding, now scowling, but never for un instant in repose. Nature had given him a pendulous lip and a too visible line of yellow and irregular teeth, which he strOvc feebly to conceal by constantly passing his hand over the lower part of his face. In spite of his ohtrusivc badness, he gave the impression of youth. In point of fact he had just turned his thirtieth year.
 Your servant, Miss Morstan," be kept repeating in thin, high voice, Your servant gentlemen Pray step into my little sanctum. A small place, miss, but furnished to my liking. An oasis of art in the bowling desert of south London,
 We were all astonished by the appear. ance of the apartment into which he in vited us In that sorry house it looked as out of place as a diamond of the first wa ter in setting of brass. Tho richest and GloSSiest of curtains and tapestries drapod the walls. looped back here and there to expose some richly mounted painting or oriental vase The carpet was of amber and black, 50 soft and so thick that the foot sank pleasantly into it. as into bed of moss Two great tiger skins thrown athwart il increased the suggestion of eastern luxury, as did a huge hookah which stood upon mat in the corner A lamp in the fashion of silver dove was hung from an almost invisible golden wire in the center of the room. As 1t burned it filled the air with subtle and aromatic odor.
 Mir Thaddeus Sholto said the little man, still jerking and smiling. That is my name You are Miss Morstan of course And these gentlcmcn"- This is Mir Sherlock Holmes and this Dr Watson
 "A doctor, chf" cried he, much excited Have you your stcthoscopcS Might I ask you-would you have the kindness' l have grave doubts as 10 my mitral valve, if you would he so very good. The aortic may rely upou, but l should value your opinion upon the nitral." :"
 listened to his heart as requested, but was unable 10 find anything amiss, save indeed that he was in an ecstasy of fear for he shivcred from head to foot It ap- pears to hc normal, said You have no cause for unCasiness,
 You will excuse my anxiety, Miss Mcrstan he remarked airily. Il am a great sufferer, and have long had suspi- Cions as to that valve, l am delighted to hear that they are unwarranted Had your father, Miss Morstan, refrained from throwing a strain upon his heart he might have been alive DOW"
 could have struck the man across the face, so hot was l at this callous and of hand rcfernce to so delicate a matter. Miss Morstan sat down, and her face grew white to the lips II knew in my heart l that he was dead, said she
 II can give you every information, said he, and. what is moro, l can do you justice, and l will, too, whatever Brother Bartholomew may Say am so glad to have your friends here, not only as an escort to you, but also as witnesses To what l am about to do and say The three of Us can show a bold front | to Brother Bartholomew But let us have | Ia outsiders, no police CT officials. We l call settle everything satis islartuyily among ourselves without any iUttG.vrcuCc. Moth | ing would a:noy Brother Bartholomew 1 more than any publicity" He sat down | upon a low settcc and blinked at us in- quiringly with his weak, watcry blue eyes
 ! ever you may choose 10 say will go no l turth>r"
 nodded 70 show luy agreement. That is well. That is wcIl!'' said he. May offer you Elass of Chianti Miss | Nurstan' Or of Tokay? keep no other wines. Shall open flask Nos Well, ! then, l trust that yOu have no hjcction to | lonlcco smnkG-t0 tho mild, halSamic Odor of the eastern tOhacco. 1 am a little ncrv- | ol:s, and find my hookah an invaluable s,.!ativc." He applied taper to the great ! howl, and the smoke hubblcd mcrrily | through the roSCwatCr, We sat all three in scmicirclr with our heads advanced al.d olr chinS upon our hands, while the | strange, jvrky httlc fellow, with his high, | shining head. pufTcd unc@sily in the center. l When l first determined to mako this | communication Ia you. " said he, II might | have given out my aiirCsS. but feared l that yuu might disregard my request and 1 bring unpleasant people with you. took | t!e liberty, thCrrfOrC, of making m ap- l Vuutlucut in sGth a way that my man 1 Williams might IlC aEle Ia see you first. | Lave cumrIrtC confidence in his discretion, 1 | 10 proceed no further in the matter You | will excuse theSc precautions, hut l am a man of somewhat retiring, and l might . even sly refined, tastes, and there is noth- | ing more uncRsthct !C than a policeman.
 have a natural shrinking from all form of ! rough mat rialiSln. l sCldCm come in con- l tact with the rough crowd. I live, as you
 SIC. with some littlo atmosphere of ele-
 Eance around me. may call myself a
 patron of tho arts, It is my weakness. | Tho landscape Is a genuine Corot, and
 though a connoisscur might perhaps throw | a doubt upon that Salvador Rosa there | cannot be the loast question about the
 Bouguercau. am partial to tho modern l French school" ''You will excuse me, Mir Sholto, " said | Miss MOrstan, but am here at your re- 1 quest to learn something which you desire
 to tell me. It is very late, and l should l desire the interview to be as short as pos l sible.' '
 At the best it must take some time "
 he answered, for we shall certainly have
 to go to Norwood and sec Brother Bar
 tholomow. We shall all go and try if WIG
 can get the better of Brother Bartholomew.
 He is very angry with me for taking the
 course which has seemed right to me.
 had quite high words with him last night.
 You cannot imagine what a terrible fellow
 be is when he Is angry"
 If we arc to go to Norwood, it would
 perhaps be as we'll to start at once. :"
 ventured to remark.
 He laughed until his ears were quito
 rcd, That would hardly do, he cried
 T don't know what he would say if
 brought you in that sudden way. No.
 must prepare you by showing you how W,
 all stand to each other. In the first place ! I TDn h1F
 points in the story of which I am myself
 ignorant. I can only lay the facts befor'
 YOU as far as I know them myself