The Delta independent., 1895-07-03

relapscd into my chair.
Briefly" she continued, 'the facts
are these: My father was an officer in
an Indian regiment who sent me homo
when was quite child. My mother
was dead, and had no relative in Eng
land. was placed, however, in
comfortable boarding establishment Mt
Edinburgh, and there remained until
/ was seventeen years of age. In the
year 1878 my father, who was senior
captain of his regiment, obtained
twelve months leave and came home.
He telegraphed to me from London
that he had arrived all safe, and d.
rectcd me to come down at once, giving
the Langham hotel as his address. His
message, as / remember, was full of
blindness and love. On reaching Lon
don l drove to the Langham, md was
informed that Capt. Morstan was stay
ing there, but that he had gone out the
night before and had not returned. /
waited all day without news of him
That night, on the advice of the man
agcr of the hotel communicated with
the police. and next morning we adver-
tiscd in all the papers. Our inquiries
led to no result; and from that day to
athis no word has ever been heard of
my unfortunate father. lie came home
with his heart full of hope, to find
some peace, some comfort, and in
stcad--r She put her hand to her
throat, and choking sob cut short the
sentence.
Tho datc?" asked Holmes, opening
his notebook.
'IIc disappeared upon the I'd of De-
cembcr. ls.s-nearly ten years ago"
Ills luggaSe?'
.Remaincd at the hotel. There was
nothing in it to suggest u clcw-some
books. and Il considerable number of
curiositics from the Andaman islands.
lie had been one of the officers in
charge of the convict guard there"
''Had he any friends in town.
''Cnly one thut we know of-Maj.
Shclto, of his own regiment, the Thir-
ty-fourth bombay infantry. The ma
jor had Ectircd some little time before,
and lived at Upper Norwood. We COM
mupicatcd with him. OF course, but he
did not even know that his brother Of
fccr was in England"
"a singular case" remarked Holmes.
II have not yet described to you the
most singular part. About hix years
ngo-to be exact, upon the i;h OF May,
1ssa-an advertisement appeared in the
Times asking for the address of Miss
Mary Morstnn, and stating that IL
would he to her advantage to come for
ward. There was no name or address
appended. had ut that time Just en-
tered the family of Mrs Cecil Forester
in the capacity of governcss. by her
advice / published my address in the
advertisement column. The same day
there arrived through the post IA small
cardboard box addressed to me, which
! found to contain n very large and lus-
trous pearl. No word of writing was
incloscd. Since then. every year. upon
the same date, there has always ap-
pcarcd u similar box, containing sim
liar pearl. without any clcw ~ TO the
sender. They have been pronounced
by IN expert to be Of n rare variety and
of considerable value. You can sec for
yourselves that they are very hand
some" She opened n fat box ms she
spoke. and showed me six of the finest
pearls that I had ever seen.
Your statement Is most interest
ing" said Sherlock Holmes. ''llas my
thing else occurred to your
"Ies. and no later than to-day. That
is why ! have come toyo This morn
ing i received this letter. which you
will perhaps read for yourself"
'Thank .you," snid Holmes. "Thc
envelope. too. please. Postmnrk. Lon
don, $. w; date, July7. Hum! Mans
thumbmarls on corncr-probably post
man. 1iest quality paper. Envelopes
Mt sixpcncc u packet. Particular man
in his stationery. No address. lie Mt
q, trl hn I.,ft ,txsI Ia.
the Lyceum thcatcr tonight ut seven
o'clock. II you are distrustful, bring
two friends. You nrc Il wrongcd wom-
bring police. If you do. all will be In
vain. Your unknown friend Well,
really. tliii. Ia very pretty little nys-
terry. What do you intend to do, Miss
Morstan?'
"Thnt is exactly what want TO ask
you"
"Thcn we shall most certainly 20.
You and nnd-yes, why, DIR. Watson
is the very man. Your correspondent
says two friends. lie and have
worked together before"
"But would lie Gomez" she asked.
with something appealing in her Toice
and expression.
~ should be proud md happy
said !, fcrvcntly, 'if can be Of any
service"
''You arc both very kind she an
swcrcd. ~ have led retired life, and
have no friends whom could appeal
to. IL 1 am here Mt six IL will do, sup
posc?"
you must not be later" said
Holmes. There is one other point.
Is this handwriting the same ns that
upon the pcarl-box addrcsses?"
~ have them here" she answered,
producing half II dozen pieces Of paper.
'.You ure certainly n model client.
You have the correct intuition. Let
us see. now" lie spread out the paper