The Irish standard., 1895-04-27

/, ], I picked up my hat and my heaviest
stick, but I.observad that Holuaas toais
l1is revolver from his drawer and
slipped f. into his, pocket. 1t wssclests
that he thought that our nights wt5rik
might be serious enc. .4H
Miss Morstsn was mnfHed Ia q dark
cloak, and her sensitive face was cora
posed, bnt pale. She must hayr bten
more than woman IL she did not feel
some uncasiness at the strange enter
prise upon which we were embSEkinE,
vet her self-control was perfect. and
she readily answered the few aadttion-
al questions which Sherlock Holme4
put to her. d q, If 9sS I.
! maj. Sholto was very particulars
friend Of papa's,' she said. He iaxr
ters were full of allusioas to the rnajar,
He and papa were in co1nmand of the
troops at the Andaman islands, .sp they;
were thrown great deal together BY
the way, curious paper was foynd irs
.papa's desk which no one could t,ndeK-
stand. Idon't suppose that it is es the.
slightest importance, but ] thcsaxht
you might care to see it, SO brtughb
It with me. It is here" II as,
Holmes unfosded the paper careful.
1y and smoothed it out upun his asse.
He then very rnethodically exanaihed
ii all over with his 6o1ble lers.
s'Itis paper of native Indian rnauu-
facture," he remarked. s'I ssxasat senae
time been pinned to board. Ts,s, d,a-
gram upon it appears to be: q riaiaa of
part OF large building with n&,zser
GUS halls, corridors, End paaagas. III
one point is small cross dvne in Fcd
ink, and above it is 1887 fssana isfM' In
faded pencil-writing. In the .kana
corner is curious hieroglypaic ARs
four crosses in q line with thsie ssysssss
touching. Beside it is written, In xsr.y
rough and coarse characters, The siEn
of the four, ID oEataan Sn14ll, Mshonaht
Singh, Abdu3leh Khan, Dost Akbnr.'
No, i confess that I do not see hrw
this bears upon the matter. Yet it is
evidently document Of ortsnces
It has been kept carefully in a poclsstt.
book; for the one side is as clean esHhD
other" q .4f5s
sIt was in his pocketbook that vse
found it,
Preserve it carefully, then. hiss
Morstan, for it may prove to be OF use
to US. begin to suspect that this INST.
ter may turn out to be mueh deeper
and more subtle than at frst all2,-
posed. must reconsider my ideas. !"
He leaned back in the cab, and could
see by his drawn brow and his vacant
eye that he was thinking intently.
Miss Morstan and chatted in IN pn-
dertone about our present expedition
and it's possible outcome, bnt CUR cDna-
panion maintained his inpenetrahae re
serve until the end Of our Journey. 4.
It was a September evening, and MT
yet seven O'clock, but the Gay had bsea'
dreary one, and g. dense drizzlirsg e, fnss,
lay low upon the great city. Mud.
colored clouds dropped sadly over tha
muddy streets. Down the Strand tho
lamps were but misty splotches Ct dif-
fused light which threw Q feeble cir
cular glirnnlcr upon the Shiny rsg',s:-r
ment. The yellow glare from t1leehel-
windows streaned out intothe steanay, .
vaporous air, and threw q murhy,
shifting radiance across the crowded
thoroughfare. There was to my mind
something eerie and ghost~like in tina
endless procession Of faces which Gitteb
across these narrow bars OF Eght---sad (
faces and glad, haggard and l,,esry,
Like all human kind, they fitted frsfn.
the gloom into the light, npd s., BACK i
into the gloom once more. am not
subject to impressions, but the drll,
heavy evening, with the. strange ht.ss-s
ness upon which we were erRngel,:'
combined to make me nervous 5faGE ea.a
pressed. could see from Misy NH.
stans manner. that she was suffering
from the same feeling. Holmes eloae
could rise superior to petty Influences \ .
He held his open notebook upon his 1
knee, and from time to time he jottedj
down figures and memorands Ii tn
light OF his pocket lantern. ss.;;.sS
At the Lyceum theater the crowds.
were already thick IT. the side; ,,,z,-s.
frances. In front g continuous sSreA1n
of hansoms and four-uheelers we're;
rattling up, dischsrging their cargceas
of shirt-fronted men and beshawled,g2 \
bediamonded women. We had hardlys
reached the third pillar, which wsscur (
rendezvous, before small, dark, brisk
man in the dress Of coachuan ~
costed us IL ]t2a asssf: q:
Are you the parties who come With
Miss Morstap?''s he asked. .ss I, ss53 3sss
II am Miss Morstan, and theso twa 4
gentlemen are my friends" said she. q
He bent pair of wonderfully penas5 !:
trating and questioning eyes upon u.s.
You will 'excuse me, miss" he sajdy3ss
with certain dogged manner, Hbut MI
was to ask you to give me your word
that neither of your companions 70 }a
police oficer.'' ssS a,.s's BY y
Il give you my word On thai, : 4 4
answered. @ .' $s.g sss s;s.1
He gave a shrill whistle, On hichl lA.s
street Arab led across q four.wheeler er ss
and opened the door. The man l,o,s33 NE
had addressed us mounted to the T
while we took our places; inside .s VeSs'
had hardly done so1-before- the driver 4
whipped: up his horse, and we plunged
sway aata furious pace through the
foggy streets rs rs 81 h: 4. &
The situation was = curious one. h.
were driving TO an unknown place, al. II
an unknown errand. !. 81 a Yet our il Vi
ton was either q complete hoax
which was an Uncomfortable hypot thesis
---cr = y, selse We had good reason to think
that that mpcrtant issues might hang upon II
our 10nrne Miss Morstan's & denneAh