The Delta independent., 1895-07-24

Is it likely that would have brought
you here if it We're I? Oh, dear! oh,
dear! ! know tlrat I shall go mad!"
He jerked his arms and stamped his
feet in kind of convulsivc frenzy.
"You have no reason for fear, Mr..
Sholto," said Holmes. kindly. putting
his hand upon his shoulder. ''Tase my
advice and drive down to the station to
report the matter to the police. Offer
to assist them in every way. We shall
wait here until your return"
The little man obeyed in half
stupefied fashion, and we heard him
stumbling down the stairs in the dark.
CHAPTER VI
SHERLOCK HOLMES GIVES DEMoNsTRA-
TON.
"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 l have told you,
almost completes; but we must not err
on the side of over-confidencc. 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 cxpound-
ing to his class. "Just sit in the cor
ner there, that your footprints may not
complicatc 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" lie carried the
lamp across to it, muttering his obser-
sations aloud the while, but address
t,,, =, Ia, hnr 10,
Window 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. Yet "A man
has mounted by the window. 1t rained
little last night. Here is the print Of
mold upon the sill. And here is q
circular muddy mark, and here again
upon the floor, and here again by the
table. See here, Watson This is re-
ally q very pretty demonstration"
l looked at the round, well-defned
muddy discs. THAT is not foot
mark" said 1.
ut is something much more valua BILE
to us. 1t is the impression of n 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 timbcr-toe."
1T is the wooden-legged man"
Quite SO. But there has been some
one elsa very able and efficient ally.
Could you scale that wall, doctor?"
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 would, could see no foothold,
nor as much Us crevicc in the brick
work.
at 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,
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, that our woodcn-legged
AiiChtf tlouRh q ldh CiihDSI, "do NV
professional sailor. His hands were
far from horny. My Ions discloses
more than one blood mark, especially
toward the end Of the rope, from which
l gather that he slipped down with
such velocity that he took the skin of
his hands"
This is all very we'll" said I, 'but
the thing becomes more unintelligible
than ever. How about this mysterious
ally? How came he into the room?"
'Yes, the ally" repeated Holmes,
pensively. 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 Scnegam-
bia.''
"How came he, them" ! reiterated.
"Thc door is locked, the window is in
accessible. Was it through the Chin
ney?" =
"The CRATE is much too small" he
answered. ~ had already considered
that possibility"
''Iow them" persisted
You will not apply my precept," he
said shaking his head. ''How often have
said 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 conccalment pos
sible. Whence, then, did he Gomez"
''IIc came through the hole in the
roof" cried.
''Of course he did. He must have
done SO. II 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, seiziIg q