The Washington times., 1895-03-10
TIE STORY OF
BISHOP JOHNSON
cwith apologies to DR.. Conan Doyleo
Copyright, 1895, by Bacheller, Johnson
& Bacheller.)

purchase or the practice or DR.. BOncSet II
Mowbray 1 was sitting in my study pa
tiently awaiting the cholera, scarlet fever
or whatever other good fortune it nigh
please Providence to vouchsafe me when the
door opened and / saw to my surprise ant
delight the familiar form of my friend, Sher
lock Holmes standing on the threshold.
But although his appearance at such al
unexpected moment was a surprise to me
| L knew instinctively what business haC
brought him up from London at the very
! height of the season. Dearly as Sherlock
loved the town, criminal mystery to bt
| unsolved could always drag him from his
beloved pavements and brick walls to the
| most remote corner of the three Kingdoms
and, as / started forward to greet him,
could tell by the rapt and eager expression
| of his pale face that his brain was hard al
| work on some difficult problem. But the
| old trait of quick observation followed by
| almost instantaneous reasoning, always
one of the most striking characteristics
of this remarkable man, made itself ap
parent in almost the first words that ne
! uttered.
| 81 see." he remarked as he dropped into
| an easy chair, THAT you are falling into
sedentary habits, owing to the exigencies
| of your profession, which seems to confine
you to the house nearly all the time, but a
man with growing family should not find
| that iIksome 1 may add that while 1
| regard cold water as an excellent thing in
it's way it seems to me that your wife is an
| enthusiastic believer i'll its efficacy as q
| cleaning element"
| ''In the name of heaven!'' cried, amazed
| at the insight which lie had obtained in
| such short space OF time into my habits
| of life and the domestic economy of our
| house, ''who told you that / had growing
family, that my wife was believer in cold
| water, and that / was leading sedentary
| life?'
MY ears and my eyes" rejoined Holmes
! as he drew his pipe and tobacco from his
| pocket. THE screaming and splashing
| or water in your TUIsery are cutie aud Bile
| from the road, and as adults are never
| washed by main force, except in insttu-
| tons devoted TO the care of the criminal
| and insane classes, / felt justified IN the
| belief that / was listen Hg TO the ablutions
| OF an infant-one OF your own it. was rea-
| Sonah.e 10 infer Then | knew that you
| were confined to the house great deal of
| the time because / read on your shingle:
| However, these trifling matters have noth-
| ing TO 90 with the more serious business
| which brought me up from town in such q
| tremendous hurry. / suppose you have
| heard"
''Of the mystery at the palace? Yes, the
| whole town has talked OF nothing else for
| the past three days, and this morning they
| found that three more chickens had been
| takenduring the night, evidently by the same
| band OF criminals that accomplished the pre-
| vious robbery The entire detective force OF
| the country has been employed on the case
| from the very first, and as yet has made alb
| solntely no progress withit. Themysteryha has
| baffled them at every point
Good exclaimed Sherlock eagerly.
| Il had read of the case in the papers and
| it was one possessed OF such extraor-
| dinary features that was on the point OF Of
| fering my services when l received dis
| patch from bis lordship the bishop, begging
me to come up at once and probe the affair
to the bottom. Now wish you to putonyour
hat and coat and accompany me to the pal
ace. have fly waiting outside"
The bishop was aiting forus inhislibrary
when wearrived. andwe proceeded atonce to
the scene of the robbery i'll the rear of the
stables
Sherlock examined the premises with the
greatest care and listened attentively
while his lordship gave adetailed account of
the succession OF robberies which had in the
course of three consecutive nights deprived
him of no less than ten of his choicest birds,
leaving six sedate hens and one serious mind
ed rooster the only occupants OF the chicken
house.
On returning to the library we were
presented to Bishop johnson, of Alabama,
who had come to the palace week before
with letters of introduction to his lord
ShI dieti isfa Da a n
preiate, and had therefore been entertained
as an honored guest, in accordance W ith his
lordship's well known hospitable habit.
Sherlock, who has the wit of making
friends with all sorts of people. engaged
Bishop Johnson, of Alabama. i'll conver
sation about the watermelons of his native
State, a subject with which the American
displayed a wonderful familiarity, and
which soon changed to a discussion about
thedifferAnce between the ordinary barnyard
fowls of America and England, the
bishop telling us what had never known
before that in his own country, and espe-
cially in the Southern States, Of which his
native Alabama is one, the feathered
bpeds seek their nights rest in the tops OF
the loftiest trees, whereas in England he had
noticed that they usually roasted about
six feet from the ground. or. as he expressed
it in his soft. drawing voice, with their
legs just W thin easy reach"
"And now, ,"Nsaid Holmes. turning to
his lordship. who had been listening
rather impatiently to his utterly irrelevant
conversation with the American, II will
ask your lordship to escort us through the
kitchen garden, for / have an idea that
the chicken thief was simply fox or weasel
or some other animal of predatory habits
Oats what l done tole him all along"
cried his guest eagerly as we bade him
goodbye.
Once outside, Holmes led us to q sunny
spot under the southern wall, and pointed
upwards to the window of one of the guest
chambers.
"Listen!" he exclaimed peremptorily,
and as we strained our ears the faint sound
of a cock Growing reached us.
They're probably concealed in closet
or trunk said Sherlock, and then his
lordship's face turned so red with rnortifica
ton and anger that we both of US deemed 1t
prudent to depart at once.
How in the world" 1 began as he
passed through the gate.
MY dear Watson, nothing waseverea easier.
Did you not notice anything peculiar about
Bishop Johnson's face?"
II noticed that it was black as the ace of
spades, but are not all American clergy
men black?''
Certainly they are replied Sherlock,
every Englishman knows that, but did you
not remark also that Bishop johnson had
flat nose, kinky hair, enormous lips, and
shining teeth, and also that there were
marks of whitewash on his clothes?"
/ was obliged to confess that these details
had escaped my observation, nor could see
what reference they bore to the matter in
hand
Ibid you not hear him say" continued
Holmes, ''that he had already noticed in
England the fowls were in the habit of roost
ing near the ground? Well, why do you sup
pose the chickens perch on the tree tops and
on cathedral spires in Alabama, and how
long will it be before his lordship's poultry