The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-07-12
was a surh urnad ,-scl.tes.-a-od t.Il,,,-

| told OF a hard. Open-alr life. There
was a singular prominence about hi:
bearded chin which marked a mar
who was not to be easily turned from
his purpose. His age may have beer
| fifty or Whereabouts. for his black
curly hair was thicl1ly shot with gray.
His face in repose was not an I'm.
| pleasing one, though his heavy brows
and aggressive chin gave him. as had
lately seen, a terrible expression when
moved to anger. He sat now with his
handcuffed hands upon his lap and his
head sunk upon his breast. while he
! looked with his keen. twinkiing ewes
at the box which had been the cause
of his ill-doings. 1t seemed to me that
there was more sorrow than anger in
his rigid and contained countenance.
Once he looked up at me with a CLEAN
of something like humor in his eyes.
''Well, Jonathan Small, said Holmes.
lighting a cigar, 81 am sorry that it
has come to this"
"And so am l." he answered, frankly.
81 don't believe that ] can swing over
the job. l give you my word on the
book that I never raised my hand
against Mr.. Sholto. 1t was that little
hell-hound Tonga who shot one of his
cursed darts into him. l had no part
in it, sir. 1 was as grievcd as if it had
been my blood-relation. / welted the
little devil with the slack end of the
rope for it, but it was done, and could
not undo it again"
gg,-l
you had best take a pull out of my flask,
for you are very wet. How could you
expect so small and weak a man as this
black fellow to overpower Mr.. Sholto
and hold him while you We're climbing
the rope?
You seem to know as much about it
rs if you were there, sir. The truth is
that l hoped to find the room clear.
knew the habits OF the house pretty
well, and it was the time when Mr..
Sholto usually went down to his sup
per. | shall make no secret of the
business. The best defense that can
make is just the simple truth Now, if
it had been the old major would have
swung for him with a light heart.
would have thought no more of knit
ing him than of smoking this cigar
But it's cursed hard that | should be
Jagged over this young Sholto, with
whom had no quarrel whatever"
'You are under the charge of Mr..
Athelney Jones, of Scotland Yard. He
is going to bring you up to my rooms,
and l shall ask you for a true account
of the matter. You must make clean
breast of it, for if you do l hope that I
may be of use to you. / think | can
prove that the poison acts so quickly
that the man was dead before ever you
reached the room"
THAT he was, sir. never got such
a turn in my life as when I saw him
grinning at me with his head on his
shoulder as climbed through the win
dow. 1t fairly shook ne, sir. I'd have
half killed Tonga for it if he had not
of. That was how he
came to leave his club, and some
of his darts, too, as he tells me, |
which l dare say helped 10 put |
you on our track; though how
you kept on it is more than can tell. !
l don't feel no malice against you for |
it. But it does seem a queer thing" |
he added, with bitter smile, that 1, 1
who have fair claim to nigh upon |
half million Of money should spend (
the first half of my life building a |
breakwater in the Andamans, ard am I
like to spend the other half diggin' |
drains at Dartmoor. It was an evil |
day for me when first I clapped eyes |
upon the merchant Achmet and had TO |
do with the Agra treasure, which never |
brought anything but a curse yet upon /
the man who owned it. To him it /
brought murder. to Maj. Sholto it |
brought fear and guilt, to me it has |
slavery for life"
At this moment Athelney Jones 1
thrust his broad face and heavy shout
ders into the tiny cabin. ''Quite a fam
lily party" he remarked Il think !
shall have pull at that flask, Holmes
Well, l think we may all congratulate
each other. Pity we didn't take the
other alive; but there was no choice. 1
say, Holmes, you must confess that you
cut it rather fine. 1t was all that we
could do to overhaul her"
"All is well that ends WELL" said
Holmes. But I certainly did not
know that the Aurora was such a
clipper"
''Smit. says that she is one of the
fastest launches on the river, and that
f he had had another man to help him
with the engines we should never have
taught her. He swears he knows moth
ng of this Norwood business"
Neither he did" cried our prisoner
mot word. chose his launch be-
,ause heard that she was flyer. We
old him nothing, but we paid him
veil, and he was to get something
handsome if we reached our vessel, the
at Gravesend, outward
pound for the Brazils."
well, if he has done no wrong we
hall see that no wrong comes to him.
f we are pretty quick in catching our
men, we are not so quick in condemn
ng them" 1t was amusing to notice
low the consequential Jones was al
eady beginning to give himself airs on
he strength of the capture. From the
light smile which played over Sher-
ock Holmes face, could see that the
peech had not been lost upon him.
I'VE will be at Vauxhall bridge
said Jones, land shall land
'ou, DR.. Watson, with the treasure
'ox. 1 need hardly tell you that am
aking a very grave responsibility upon
myself in doing this 1t is most irreg-
lar; but of course an agreement is an
greement. must, however, as mat
er of duty, send an inspector with
on since rnr1 have 90 ral11a hla q |