Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-03-14
CHAPTER III.


/ in excellent spirits-a mood which IL
/ his case alternated with fits of the
/ blackest depression.
There is no great mystery in this
matter" he said, taking the cup OF tea
which mad poured ont for him. The
facts appear to admit Of only one ex-
PLANTATION"
'Whatl you have solved it already
Well, that viii be too much to say.
I have discovered a suggestive fact,
that is all. 1t is, however. very sug-
gestive. The details are still to be add
ed. l have just found, on consulting
the back files of the Times, that Maj,
Sholto, of Upper Norwood, late of the
Thirty-fourth Bombay infantry, died
upon the 2Sth of April, lss2."
Il may be very obtuse, Holmes, but
fail to see what this suggests"
''No? You surprise me. Look at il
in this way, then. Capt. Morstan dis
appears. The only person in London
whom he could have visited is Maj.
Sholto. Maj. Sholto denies having
heard that he was in London. -Four
years later Sholto dies. Within week
of his death Capt. Morstan's daughter
receives a valuable present, which is re-
peated from year to year, and now cul-
inmates in a letter which describes her
as a wronged woman. What wrong
can it refer to except this deprivation
of her father? And why should the
presents begin Immediately after
Sholto's death, unless it is that Sholto's
heir knows something of the mystery,
and desires to make compensation?
Have you any alternative theory which
will meet the facts?"
But what a strange compensation,
And how strangely made! Why, too
should he write a letter now, rather
than six years ago? Again, the letter
speaks of giving her justice. What
justice can she have? 1t is too much
to suppose that her father is still alive.
There IS no other injustice in her case
that you know Of
There are difficulties; there are
certainly difficulties" said Sherlock
Holmes, pensively. But our expedi-
tion of tonight will solve them all.
All, here is four-wheeler, and Miss
Morstan is inside. Are you all ready?
Then we had better go down, for it is
little past the hour"
picked up my hat and my heaviest
stick, but observed that Holmes took
his revolver from his drawer and
slipped it into his pocket. 1t was clear
that he thought that our nights work
might be n serious one.
Miss Morstan was muffled in a dark
cloak, and her sensitive face was com
posed. but pale She must have been
more than woman if she did not feel
some uneasiness at the strange enter
prise upon which we were embarking,
yet her self-control was perfect. and
she readily answered the few addition
al questions which Sherlock Holmes
put to her
Mai Sholto was n very particular
friend OF papa's,- z-irf-4.Ffis let
ters were full of illusions to the ma jor.
He and papa were in command of the
troops at the Andaman islands, so they
were thrown n great deal together. By
the way, curious paper was found in
papas desk which no one could under
stand don't suppose that it is of the
you might care to see it, so | brought
il with me 1t is here"
Holmes unfolded the paper careful
ly and smoothed it out upon his knee.
lie then very methodically examined
it all over with his double lens.
at is paper of native Indian manu-
facture," he remarked. 'It has at some
time been pinned to board The dla-
gram upon it appears to be a plan of
part of large building with numer-
ous halls, corridors. and passages. At
one point is a small cross done in red
ink. and above it is '3.37 from left, in
faded pencil-writing. In the left-hand
corner is a curious hieroglyphic like
four crosses in a line with their arms
touching Beside it is written, in very
rough and coarse characters The sign
of the four,-Jonathan Small, Mahomet
Singh, Abdullah Khan, Dost Albar.
No, confess that | do not see how
this bears upon the matter. Yet it is
evidently n document of Importance.
1t has been kept carefully in pocket
book; for the one side is as clean as the
other"
''ft was in his poclletbook that we
found it,"
Preserve it carefully, then, Miss
Morstan, for it may prove to be of use
to US. | begin to suspect that this mat
ter may turn out to be much deeper
and more subtle than / at first sup
posed. must reconsider my ideas"
He leaned back in the cab. and could
see by his drawn brow and his vacant
eye that he was thinking intently.
Miss Morstan and | chatted in an un-
dertone about our present expedition
and its possible outcome, but our COM
panion maintained his impenetrable re-
serve until the end of our journey.
1t was a September evening, and not
yet seven o'clock, but the day had been
a dreary one, and dense drizzling fog
lay low upon the great city. Mud
colored clouds dropped sadly over the
muddy streets. Down the Strand the
lamps were but misty splotches Of diff
fused light which threw n feeble cir
cular glimmer upon the Shiny pave
ment. The yellow glare from the shop
windows streamed out into the steamy,
vaporous air, and threw a murlSy,
shifting radiance across the crowded
thoroughfare. There was to my mind
something eerie and ghost-lilIe in the
endless procession Of faces which Fitted
across these narrow bars of light-sad
faces and glad, haggard and merry.
Like all human kind, they fitted from
the gloom into the light, and so back
into the gloom once more. | am not
subject to impressions, but the dull,
heavy evening, with the strange busi-
ness upon which we were engaged,
combined to make me nervous and de-
pressed. | could see from Miss Nor
stan's manner that she was suffering
from the same feeling. Holmes alone
could rise superior to petty influences.
He held his open notebook upon his
knee, and from time to time he jotted
down figures and memoranda in the
light of his pocket lantern
At the Lyceum theater the crowds
were already thick at the side en-
frances. In front continuous stream
of hansoms and four-wheelers were
rafting up, diseharging their cargoes
Of shirt-fronted men and beshawled,
bediamonded women. We had hardly
reached the third pillar, which was our
rendezvous, before a small, dark, brisk
man in the dress Of coachman ac-
costed us.
Are you the parties who come with
Miss Morstan?" he asked.
81 am Miss Morstan, and these two
gentlemen are my txicnds," said she.
He bent pair OF wonderfully pene-
trating and questioning eyes upon us.