St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1895-08-10

'sWindow is snibbed on the inner side.
Framework is solid. No hinges at the
side. Let us open it. No water pipe
near. Roof quite out of reach. Yeta man
has mounted by the window. Itrained
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, well-defned
muddy discs. ssThat is not foot
mark" said [.
''It is something much more Valua BILE
to us. It is the impression of a wooden
stump You see here on the sill is the
boot mark, a heavy boot with broad
metal heel, and beside it is the mark of
the timber-toe.o
sit is the wooden-legged man"
'sQuite so. But there has been some
one else-a very able and efficient ally.
Could you scale that wall, doetor2''
/ looked out of the open window.
The moon still shone brightly on that
angle of the house. we were good
sixty feet from the ground, and, look
where I would, could see no foothold,
nor as much as crevice in the brick
work.
'It is absolutely impossible" an
swered.
"Without aid it is so But suppose
you had a 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, snib it on the
inside, and get away in the way that
he originally came. As minor point, it
may be noted" he continued, lingering
the rope, 'sthat our wooden-legged
friend, though fair climber, was not
professional sailor. His hands were
far from horny. My lens discloses
more than one blood mark, especially
toward the end of the rope, from which
T gather that he slipped down with
such velocity that he took the skin off
his hands,"
sThis is all very WELL" said I, ssbut
the thing becomes more unintelligible
than ever. How about this mysterious
ally? How came he into the room?"
"Yes, the ally!" repeated Holmes,
pensively. 'sThere are features of in
terest about this ally. He lifts the
case from the regions of the common
place. I fancy that this ally breaks
fresh ground in the annals of crime in
this country though parallel cases sug-
gest themselves from India, and, if my
memory serves me, from Senegam bia. z
How came he, then?n reiterated.
The door is locked, the window is in
aceessi Bile rs II throfgh the chita-
ney ~
he graft IS much too small q
answered. ST had already considered
that possibility =
ssHow then?' I persisted
'You will not apply my precept." he
said, shaking his head. How of..en have
Isaid to you that when you have elimi-
mated the impossible, 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 concealment pos
sible. Whence, then, did he come?'
ssHe came through the hole in the.
roof" cried.
s'Of course he did. He must have
done so. If you will have the kindness
to hold the lamp for me, we shall now
extend our researches to the room
above-the secret room in which the
treasure was found.
He mounted the steps, and, selling a
rafter with either hand, he swung him
self up into the garret. Then, lying on
his face, he reached down for the lamp
and held it while followed him.
The chamber in which we found our
selves was about ten feet one way by
six the other. The floor was formed by
the rafters, with thin lath-and-plaster
between, SO that in walking one had
to step from beam to beam. The roof
ran up to an apex, and was evidently
the inner shell of the true roof of the
house. There was no furniture of any
sort, and the accumulated dust of
years lay thick upon the floor.
''Here you are, you see" said Sher-
lock Holmes, putting his hand against
the sloping wall This is trap-door
which leads out onto the roof. I can
press it back, and here is the roof it,
self, sloping at gentle angle. This,
then, is the way by which Number One
entered. Let us see if we can find
some other traces of his individuality.
He held down the lamp to the floor,
and as he did so / saw for the second
time that night a startled, surprised
look come over his face. For myself,
as I followed his gaze my skin was cold
under my clothes. The floor was
covered thick1y with the prints of a
naked foot-clear, well defined, per-
fectly formed, but scarce half the size
of those of an ordinary man.
Holiness I said, in whisper. "a
child has done this horrid thing
He had recovered his self-possession
in an instant. 81 was staggered for
the moment, " he said, but the thing
is quite natural. My memory failed
me, or should have been able to fore
tell it. There is nothing more to be
learned here. Let us go down"
What is your theory, then, as to
those footmarks?" / asked, eagerly,
when we had regained the lower room
once more
"My dear Watson, try little analy-