Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-06-04
4 STUDY IN SCARLET.
By A. CONAN DOYLE.
PART ONE

|
PART ONE.
Being reprint from the "reminiscences
of John II. Watson, M. d., late Of the
army medical Department.
[coNTlNUEp.l
glanced ut Holmes on hearing the
description Of the murderer, which tai
lied so exactly with his own. There was,
however, no trace Of exultation or salts.
faction upon his face.
"Did you find nothing in the room
which could furnish q clew to the mur.
derer?" he ASKED.
Nothing. Stangerson had Drebber's s
purse in his pocket, but it seems that
this was usual, as he did all the paying
There was eighty odd pounds in 1t, bu:
nothing had been taken. Whatever the
motives Of these extraordinary crimes,
robbery Is certainly not one Of them.
There were no papers or memoranda in
the murdered man pocket, except Sin.
gle telegram, dated from Cleveland
about month ago and containing the
words, j. II. ia in Europe There was
no name appended TO this message"
"And there was nothing else!'
Holmes asked.
Nothing Of any Importance. The
mans novel, with which he had read
himself to sleep, was lying upon the bed.
and his pipe was on chair beside him.
There was a glass Of water on the table,
and Oh the window sill small chip
ointment box containing o couple OF
pills.
Sherlock Holmes sprang from bis
chair with an exclamation OF delight.
"The last link" he cried exultantly.
my case is complete.
The two detectives stared at him In
amazement
Il have now in my hands, my com.
panion said confidently, "all the threads
which have formed such tangle. There
are, of course, details to be- filled IN, but
| am as certain Of all the main facts.
from the time that Drebber parted from
Stangerson at the station up to the dis
covery Of the body Of the latter, as II |
had seen them with my own eyes. l
will give you proof Of my knowledge.
Could you lay your hand upon those
pills."
Il have them" said Lestrade, pro-
ducing q small white box. 81 took them,
and the purse, and the telegram, in
tending to have them put in place OF
safety ut the police station. IL was the
mcrest chance, my taking these pills, for
I am bound to say that do not attach
any Importance to them.
Give them here" said Holmes.
"Now, DOCTOR" turning to me, ARE
those ordinary pills."
They certainly were not They We're
Of a pearly gray color. small, round and
almost transparent against the light.
From their lightness aud transparency
/ should imagine that they are soluble
in water" remarked
Precisely so," answered Holmes.
"Now. would you mind going down and
fetching that poor little devil Of a ter
| rier which has been bad so long. and
which the landlady wanted you to put
out of its pain yesterday"
| went down stairs and carried the
dog up stairs in my arms. Its labored
breathing and glazing eye showed that
il was not far from its end. Indeed its
snow white muzzle proclaimed that 1t
had already exceeded the usual term OF
canine existence. l placed it upon q
cushion on the rug
Il will now cut one Of these pills IN
two," said Holmes, and drawing his
penknife he suited the action TO the
word. Zone half we return into the box
for the future purposes. The other half
| will place in this wineglass, i'll which
is teaspoonful Of water. You perceive
that our friend, the doctor, Is right, and
that il readily dissdlves.
This may be very interesting, said
Lestrade in the injured tone OF one
who suspects that he is being laughed
at. Il cannot see, however, what it has
TO do with the death Of Mr.. Joseph
Stangerson.
Patience, my friend. patience! You
will find in time that il has everything
TO do with it. shall now add little
milk to make the mixture palatable, and
ON presenting it to the dog we find that
he laps it up readily enough.
As he spoke he turned the contents OF
the wineglass into saucer and placed
it in front Of the terrier, who speedily
licked it dry. Sherlock Holmes earnest
demeanor had so far convinced US that
we all sat in silence, watching the ami
NAL intently and expecting some star
Ting effect None such appeared, how
ever. The dog continued to lie stretched
upon the cushion, breathing in q labored
cay, but apparently neither the better
nor the worse for its draft.
Holmes had taken out his watch, and
as minute followed minute without re-
suit an expression Of the utmost cha
grin and disappointment appeared upon
his features. He gnawed his lip, drum
med his fingers upon the table and
showed every other symptom OF acute
| impatience So great was his emotion
that felt sincerely sorry for him, while
the two detectives smiled derisively, by
no means displeased at this check which
he had met.
ut can't be coincidence, " he cried,
at last springing from his chair and
pacing wildly up and down the room.
"It is impossible that it should be
mere coincidence. The very pills which
suspected in the case Of Drebber are
actually found after the death Of Stan
gerson. And yet they are inert. What
can it mean? Surely my whole chain OF
reasoning cannot have been false. lt Ii
impossible! And yet this wretched dog
Is none the worse. Ah, Ibave it! have
itr' With perfect shrek Of delight be
rushed to the box, cut the other pill IN
two, dissolved it, added milk and pre-.
sented II to the terrier. The unfortunate
creatures tongue seemed hardly to have
been moistened in it before it gave
convulsive shiver in every limb and lay
as rigid and lifeless as If it had been
struck by lightning.
Sherlock Holmes drew long breath
and wiped the perspiration from hit
forehead. II should have more faith, y
he said. II ought to know by this time
that when q fact appears to be opposed
to o long train Of deductions it invari.
ably proves to be capable OF bearing
some other Interpretation. Of the two
pills in that box one was the most dead