Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-05-21
CHAPTER w

(Peing reprint from the "reminiscences
of John II. Watson, II. d., late Of the
army medical Department.
CHAPTER "
lt was O'Clock when we left Lau.
.iston Gardens Sherlock Holmes led
me to the nearest telegraph office, whence
no dispatched long telegram. He then
hailed cab and ordered the driver TO
take us to the address given us by Le-
strade.
"There is nothing like first hand evi.
hcnce, he remarked. "As matter OF
fact. my mind is entirely made up OH
the case. but still we may as well learn
all that is to be learned.
"You amaze me, Holmes, said l.
Surely you are not as sure as you pre-
tend to be OF all those particulars which
you gave. +"
There's no room for mistake. no
answered. The very first thing which
observed on arriving there was that
cab had made two ruts with its wheels
close to the curb. Now up to last night
we had no rain for n week, so that those
wheels, which left such deep impress
sion. must have been there during the
night There were the marks Of the
horses hoofs, too. the outline Of one OF
which was far more clearly cut than
that of the other three, showing that
that was now shoe Since the cab was
there after the rain began and was not
there at any time during the morning
have Gregson's word for that-it fol
lows that il must have been thore dur
ing the night, and, therefore, that il
brought those two individuals TO the
house
That seems simple enough, said |,
but how about the other man S height"
why, the height OF man IN nine
cases ont Of ten can DO told from the
length~of his stride 1t is simple cal
culation enough. though there is no use
my boring you with figures. had this
fellows stride both on the clay outside
and on the dust within Then had
way Of checking my calculation When
q man writes on wall, his instinct
leads him TO write about the level OF his
own eyes Now that writing was just
over six feet from tho ground. Ii was
child's play.
And his age?' asked.
We'll. if q man can stride 4 4 feet
without the slightest effort, he can't be
quite in the sere and yellow. That was
the breadth of puddle on tho garden
walk which he had evidently walked
across. Patent leather boots had gone
around, and square toes had hoped
over There is no mystery about it at
all | am simply applying to ordinary
life few of those precepts OF observa-
ton and deduction which advocated in
that article Is there anything else that
puzzles you;'
THE finger nails and the Trichinop
oly." | suggested.
The writing on the wall was done
with man $ forofinger dipped in blood
Ny glass allowed me to observe that
the plaster was slightly scratched in
doing il, which would not have been
the case il the mans nail had been
trimmed gathered up some scattered
ash from the floor. II was dark in color
and flaky. such an ash as is only made
by Trichinopoly have made study
Of cigar ashes-in fact have written
a monograph upon the subject fiat
ter myself that can distinguish at
glance the ash Of any known brand
either of cigar or Of tobacco Ii is just
in such details that the skilled detective
differs from the Gregson and Lestrade
type.
And the florid face?" asked
"Ah, that was more daring shot,
though have no doubt that was right
You must not ak Inc that at the pres
ent state Of the affair.
| passed my band over my brow
my head is in whirl. remarked
the more one thinks Of it the more
mysterious il grows. How came these
two men-if there were two men-into
an empty house? What has become of
the cabman who drove them? How could
Olls iUdu ColUpti hIOtuti w sahN pcASN"s
Where did the blood come from? What
was the object Of the murderer. since
robbery had no part in 1t! How came
the woman's ring therey Above all. why
should the second man write up the
German word 'Rache before decamp-
ing: confess cannot see any possible
way Of reconciling all these facts
My companion smiled approvingly.
You sum up the difficulties Of the
situation surcinctly and well, " he said.
"There is much that Is still obscure,
though have quite made mp my mind
on the main facts As 10 poor Lcstrade's
discovery. it was simply blind intend
ed to put the police upon wrong track
by suggesting socialism and secret so
cieties II was not doue by German
The "A, if you noticed. was printed
somewhat after the German fashion
Now, real German invariably prints in
the Latin Character. so that We may
safely say that this was not written by
one but by a clumsy imitator, who
oyerdid his part IL was simply a ruse
to divert inquiry into wrong channel
I'm not going to tell You much more OF
the case, doctor You know a conjurer
gets no credit when once he has explain
ed his trick, and il show you too much
of my method Of working You will come
to the conclusion that | am very or
dinary individual, after all. "
81 shall never do that, answered.
You have brought detection as neal
An exact science as it will ever be
brought in This world.
My companion flushed up with pleas
ure at my words and the earnest way in
which uttered them. had already
observed that he was sensitive to fiattery
On the score Of his art as any girl could
be Of her beauty.
"I'll tell you one other thing, he
said. Patent feathers and square toes
came in the same cab, and they walked
down the pathway together as friendly
as possible-arm in arm in all probabil-
ity. When they got inside, they walked
up and down the room, or rather patent
feathers stood still while square toes
walked up and down. l could read all
that in the dust, and l could read that.
as he walked, he grew more and more
excited. That is shown by the increased
length of his strides. He was talking
all the while and working himself mp.
no doubt, into fury Then the tragedy
occurred I've told you all | know my
self now. for the rest is mere surmise
and conjecture We have good WORK
inc hasis however. ON which to start