Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-03-21
CHAPTER VI
SHERLOCK HOLMES GIVES A DEMoNsTRA-
TION.

Now, Watson" said Holmes, rub
bing his hands, 1--WE have half an hour
to ourselves. Let US make good use Of
it. My case is, as | have told you,
almost complete; but we must not err
ON the side of over-conGdence. Simple
as the case seems now, there may be
something deeper underlying it."
simpler | calculated.
Surely" said he, with something Of
the air of n clinical professor expound-
ing to his class. just sit in the cor
ner there, that your footprints may not
complicate matters. Now to work. In
the first place, how did these folks
come, and how did they go? The door
has not been opened since last night.
How Of the Window" He carried the
lamp across to il muttering his obser-
vations aloud the while. but address,
ing them to himself rather than to me.
Window is snibbed on the inner side.
Framework is solid. No hinges ut the
side. Let us open it. No water pipe
near. Roof quite out of reach. Yet a man
has mounted by the window. II rained
a little last night. Here is the print of
a mold upon the sill And here is a
circular muddy mark, and here again
upon the floor, and here again by the
table. See here, Watson! This is re-
ally very pretty demonstration"
! looked at the round, wcll-defined
muddy discs. THAT is not a foot
mark" ," said /.
1T is something much more valuable
to US. 1t is the impression of a wooden
stump. You see here on the sill is the
boot mark, a heavy boot with a broad
metal heel, and beside it is the mark of
the timber-toe."
1T is the woodcn-lcgged man"
Quite so. But there has been some
one clse-a very able and efficient ally.
Could you scale that wall, doctor?'
/ looked out Of The open window.
The moon still shouc brightly on that
angle of the house We were a good
sixty feet from the ground, and, look
where | would, could see no foothold,
nor as much as a crevice in the brick
work
1T is absolutely impossible" an
swered.
Without aid it is so. But suppose
you had friend up here who lowered
you this good, stout rope which ] see
in the corner, securing one end of it to
this great hook in the wall Then, I
think, if you were an active man, you
might swarm up, wooden leg and all.
You would depart, Of course, in the
same fashion, and Your ally would
draw up the rope, unite it from the
hook, shut the window. suib il on the
inside, and get away in the way that
he originally came As a min)rpoint, it
may be noted. he continued, lingering
the rope, that our wooden-lcggcd
friend, though fair climber, was not
a professional sailor His hands were
far from horny. My lens discloses
more than one b 0od mark, especially
toward the end Of the rope, from which
l gather that he slipped down with
such velocity that he took the skin off
his hands,
This is all very we'll" said L, but
the thing becomes more uniutcllirible
than ever. How about this mysterious
ally? How came he into the room?''
''Yes, the ally" repeated Holmes,
pcnsively. There are features Of in
terest about this ally He lifts the
case from the regions of the common
place. l fancy that this ally breaks
fresh ground in the annals of crime in
this country-though parallel cases
suggest themselves from India. and. If
my memory serves me, from Scuegdm-
bia."
How came he, them | reiterated.
''The door is locked the window IS in
accessible. Was Il through the Chin
ney?'
'The CRATE is much too small, he
answered. II had already considered
that possibility"
How thcn?' persisted
''You VIII not apply my prcccpt," he
said shaking his head. How often have
! said to you that when you have climi-
mated the impossiblc, whatever re-
mains, however improbable, must be
the TRUTH We know that he did not
come through the door, the window, or
the chimney. We also know that he
could not have been concealed In the
room, as there is no conccalmeut pos
sible Whence, then, did hc Gomez
lie came through the hole in the
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