The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1895-11-02


empty windows and high. bare walls.
lowered up. sad and forlor1. behind
us. Our course led right across the
Rrounds, i'm and out among the trenches
/ and pits With which they were Scared
| and intersected. The whole place,
with its scattered dirt heaps and i'll
grown shrubs, had blighted, ILL
omened look which harmonizod with
the black tragedy which hung over IT,
On reaching the boundary wall. Toby
ran along. whining eagerly, underneath
its shadow, aud stopped finally In
corner screen by a young beech.
Where the two walls joined, several
| bricks had been loosened, and the crew
Ices left were worn down and rounded
upon the lower side, as though they
had frequently been used as ladder
Holmes clambercd up, and, taking the
dog from me, he dropped 1t over upon
the other side.
There's the print of wooden-leg's
hand" he remarked, as / mounted up
beside him. lyon see the slight
smudgc OF blood upon the white
plaster. What a lucky thing II Is that
we have had no very heavy rain since
yesterday! The scent will lie upon the
road in spite Of their eight-and-twenty
hours start"
confess that / had my doubts my
self when / reflected upon the great
traffic which had passed along the Lon
don road in the interval My fears
were soon appeased, however. Toby
never hesitated or swerved, but
waddled on in his peculiar rolling
fashion. Clearly the pungent smell
of the creosote rose high above all
other contending scents.
''Do not imagine" said Holmes, shat
depend for my success in this case
upon the mere chance OF one OF these
fellows having put his foot In the chemi-
cal. ! have knowledge now which
would enable me 20 trace them in many
different ways. This, however, is the
readiest, ard, since fortune has put IL
into our hands, should be culpable II
neglected 1t. IL has, however, pre-
vented the case from becoming the
pretty little intellectual problem
which II at one time promised 20 be.
There might have been some credit TO
be gained out Of II, but for this too
palpable clew."
There is credit, and TO spare said
I. II assure you, Holmes, that mar
vel at the means by which you obtain
your results In this case, even more
than did in the jefferson Hope muir
der. The thing seems TO me 10 be
deeper and more inexplicable. How,
for example. could you describe with
such confidence the wooden-legged
man?"
''Pshaw. my dear boyi IL was SIM
plicity itself. i don't wish TO be
theatrical. II Is all patent and above
board. Two officers who arc in com
mand Of convict guard learn an Inn
portant secret as TO buried treasure. A
map Is drawn for them by an English
man named Jonathan Small. Yon re-
member that we saw the name upon
the chart in Capt. Morstan's possession.
He had signed ID In behalf of himself
and his nssociates-the sign OF the
four, as he somewhat dramatically
called il. Aided by this chart, the
oiiiccrs--or one of them gets the
treasure and brings it TO England,
leaving. we win suppose, some condi-
tion under which he received IL unful-
filed. Now, then, why did not
Jonathan Small get the treasure him
self? The answer is obvious. The
chart is dated at time when Morstan
was brought into close association
with convicts. Jonathan Small did
not get the treasure because he and his
associates wcro themselves convicts
and could not get away"
But this Is mere speculation, said /.
ut Is more than that II Is the only
hypothesis which covers the facts. Let
us sec how IL fits in with the sequel.
Maj. Sholto remains at peace for some
years, happy in the possession OF his
treasure. Then he receives letter
from India which gives him great
fright. What was that?"
"A letter 10 say that the men whom
he had wronged had been set free"
''Or had escaped. That is much more
likely. for he would have known what
their term of imprisonment was. 1t
would not have been surprise to him.
What does he do then? lie guards him
self against wooden-lcggcd mana
white man, mark You. for he mistakes
n white tradesman for him, and actual
ly fires a pistol at him. Now. only one
white mans name is on the chart.
The others are Hindoos or Moham-
medans. There is no other white man.
Therefore we may say with confidence
that the wovden-leggcd man Is identi-
cal with Jonathan Small Does the
reasoning strike you as being faulty?"
mo: IL Is clear and concise
the place OF Jonathan Small. Let us
look at II from his point Of view. lie
comes 20 England with tho double idea
OF rcgaining what he would consider 10
be his rights and OF having his revenge
upon the man who had wronged him.
He found out where Sholto lived, and
very possibly ne established communi-
cations with some one inside the house.
There Is this butler, Lal Rao. whom we
have not seen. Mrs. Bernstonc gives