Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-04-11
CHAPTER TX.
A BREAK IN THE CHAIN.

he says IndJ no Trace Cdh NC AOuAu VI
the launch. 1t is a provoking check,
for every hour is Of importance"
'Can l do anything? am perfectly
fresh now, and quite ready for another
nights outing"
mo; we can do nothing. We can
only wait. If we 90 ourselves, the mes
sage might come in our absence, and
DELAY be caused. You can do what you
will, but l must remain on guard"
'Then l shall run over to Gambler
well and call upon Mrs. Cecil Forester.
She asked me TO, yesterday"
ION Mrs Cecil Forester" asked
Holmes, with the twinkle of a smile in
his eyes.
well, of course, on Miss Morstan
too. They were anxious to hear what
happened" =.
81 would not tell them too much, p"
said Holmes. Women are never to be
entirely trusted-not the best of them" F"
1 did not pause to argue over this
atrocious sentiment. 81 shall be back
in an hour or two," l remarked.
''All right! Good luck! But. | say,
If you are crossing the river you may
as well return Toby, for l don't think
10 is at all likely that we shall have
any use for him now"
took our mongrel accordingly, and
left him, together with half sovereign
at the old naturalist's in Pirchin lane.
At Camberwell found Miss Morstan a
little weary after her nights adyen-
lures, but very eager to hear the news.
Mrs. Forester, too, was full of curios-
ity. told them all that we had done,
suppressing, however, the more dread
full parts of the tragedy. Thus, al
though l spoke of Mr.. Sholto's death, |
said nothing of the exact manner and
method of it. With all my omissions,
and amaze them.
'It is romancep' cried Mrs. Forres-
ter. IAN injured lady, half million
in treasure, a black cannibal and a
wooden-legged rufian. They take the
place of the conventional dragon or
wicked earl"
"And two knight-errants to the res
cue," added Miss Morstan, with
bright glance at me.
"Why, Mary, your fortune depends
upon the issue of this search. / don't
think that you are nearly excited
enough. Just imagine what it must
be to be so rich and to have the world
at your feet!"
1t sent a thrill of joy to my heart to
notice that she showed no sign of ella
tion at the prospect. On the contrary,
she gave toss Of her proud head, as
though the matter were one In which
she took small interest.
"It is for Mr.. Thaddeus Sholto that I
am anxious" she said. Nothing else
is of any consequence; but I think
that he has behaved most kindly and
honorably throughout. 1t is our duty
to clear him of this dreadful and un-
founded charge"
1t was evening before left Gambler
well, and quite dark by the time
reached home. My companions book
and pipe lay by his chair, but he had
disappeared. | looked about in the
hope of seeing a note, but there was
none.
81 suppose that Mr.. Sherlock Holmes
has gone out" said to Mrs. Hudson as
she came up to lower the blinds.
mo, sir. He has gone to his room,
sir. Do you know, SIR" sinking her
voice into an impressive whisper, II am
afraid for his health?"
''Why so, Mrs. Hudson?'
"Well, he's that strange, sir. After
you was gone he walked and he
walked, up and down, and up and
down, until was weary of the sound
Of his footstep. Then | heard him
talking to himself and muttering, and
every time the bell rang out he came
on the stair-head with: What is that,
Mrs. Hudson?' And now he has
slammed off to his room, but can hear
him walking away the same as ever.
hope he's not going to be i'll, sir.
ventured to say something to him about
cooling medicine, but he turned on me,
sir, with such look that don't know
how / ever got out of the room"
81 don't think that you have any
cause to be uneasy, Mrs. Hudson" I
answered. 81 have seen him like this
before. He has some small matter up
on his mind which makes hlm restless"
tried to speak lightly to our worthy
landlady, but l was myself somewhat
uneasy when, through the long night,
! still from time to time heard the dull
sound Of his tread, and knew how his
keen spirit was chatting against this
involuntary inaction.
At breakfast time he looked worn
and haggard, with little heck of
feverish color upon either cheek.
"You are knocking yourself up, old
man." 1 remarked. 81 heard you march
ing about in the night"
mo, could not sleep" he answered.
"This internal problem Is consuming
me. 1t Is too much to be balked by so
petty an obstacle, when all else had
been overcome. l know the men, the
launch, everything; and yet can get
no news. have set other agencies at
work, and used every means at my dis
posal The whole river has been
searched on either side, but there is no
news, nor has Mrs. Smith heard Of her
husband. 1 shall come to the conclu-
sion soon that they have scuttled the
craft. But there are objections to that. "
'Or that Mrs. Smith has put us on a
wrong scent"
mo, think that may be dismissed.
had inquiries made, and there is a
launch Of that description"
Gould it have gone up the river?"
81 have considered that possibility
too, and there is a search party who
will work up as far as Richmond. II
no news comes to-day, shall start off
myself tomorrow, and go for the men
rather than the boat. But surely,
surely, we shall hear something"
We did not, however. Not word
came to us either from Wiggins or
from the other agencies. There were
articles in most of the papers upon the
Norwood tragedy. They all appeared
to be rather hostile to- the unfortunate
Thaddeus Sholto. No fresh details
were TO be found, however, in any OF
them, save that an inquest was held
upon the following day l walked
over to Camberwen in the evening to
TO report our i'll success to the ladies,
and on my return found Holmes de-
jected and somewhat morose. He