Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-04-11

60
CLAD IN RUDE SAILOR DRESS.
In the early dawn I woke with
start, and was surprised to find him
standing by my bedside clad in a rude
sailors dress, with peajacket, and
coarse red scarf round his neck.
81 am off down the river, Watson"
said he. Il have been turning it over
in nv mind, and can see only one way
out of it. 1t is worth trying, at all
events"
Surely can come with you, then"
said I.
mo; you can be much more useful If
you will remain here as my represent
ative. | am loath to go, for it is quite
on the cards that some message may
come during the day, though Virgins
was despondcnt about it last night.
want you to open all notes and tele-
grams, and to act on your own judg-
ment IL any news should come. Can /
rely upon youP"
"Most certainly"
81 am afraid that you will not be
able 10 wire to me, for can hardly tell
yet where may find myself. If | am
in luck, however, l may not be gone SO
very long. shall have news of some
sort or other before get back"
had heard nothing of him by break
fast time. On opening the Standard,
however, | found that there was
fresh allusion to the business. with
reference to the Upper Norwood trag-
edy," it remarked, 1--WE have reason to
believe that the matter promises to be
even more complex and mysterious
than was originally supposed. Fresh
evidence has shown that it is quite i'm
possible that Mr.. Thaddeus Sholto
could have been in any way concerned
in the matter. He and the house
keeper, Mrs Bernstone, were both re-
leased yesterday evening. 1t is be-
lieved, however, that the police have
clew to the real culprits, and that it is
being prosecuted by Mr.. Athelney
Jones, of Scotland Yard, with all his
well-known energy and sagacity. Fur
ther arrests may be expected at any
moment"
"That is satisfactory SO far as 1t
goes" thought I. Friend Sholto is
safe at any rate. ] wonder what the
fresh clew may be; though it seems to
be a stereotyped form whenever the
police have made a blunder."
tossed the paper down upon the ta-
BILE, but at that moment my eye caught
an advertisement in the agony column.
1t ran in this way:
"LosT. - Whereas Mordecai Smith,
boatman, and his son Jim left Smiths
.Ta IL Inst
Tuesday morning in the steam launch
Aurora, black with two red stripes,
funnel black with a white band, the
sum of five pounds will be paid to any
one who can give information to Mrs.
Smith, at Smiths wharf, or at 221 b
Baker street, as to the whereabouts of
the said Mordecai Smith and the
launch Aurora"
This was clearly Holmes doing. The
Baker street address was enough to
prove that. It struck me as rather in.
genious, because it might be read by
the fugitives without their seeing in it
more than the natural anxiety of a
wife for her missing husband.
1t was long day. Every time that
knock came to the door, or a sharp
step passed in the street, | imagined
that it was either Holmes returning or
an answer to his advertisement. /
tried to read, but my thoughts would
wander off TO our strange quest and to
the ill-assorted and villainous pair
whom we were pursuing. Could
there be, | wondered, some radi-
cal flaw in my companions reason
ing? Might he be suffering from
some huge self-deception? Was it not
possible that his nimble and specu-
lative mind had built up this wild
theory upon faulty premises? l had
never known him to be wrong; and yet
the keenest reasoner may occasionally
be deceived. He was likely, thought,
to fall into error through the over
refinement of his logic-his preference
for a subtle and bizarre explanation
when a palmer and more common
place one lay ready to his hand. Yet,
on the other hand, had myself seen
the evidence, and had heard the rea-
sons for his deductions. When | looked
back on the long chain Of curious cir
cumstances, many of them trivial in
themselves, but all tending in the same
direction, ! could not disguise from
myself that even II Holmes explana-
tion were incorrect the true theory
must be equally outre and startling.
At three o'clock in the afternoon
there was loud peal at the bell, an
authoritative voice in the hall, and, to
my surprise, no less a person than Mr..
Athelney Jones was shown up to me.
Very different was he, however, from
the brusque and masterful professor of
common sense who had taken over the
case so confidently at Upper Norwood.
His expression was downcast, and his
bearing meek and even apologetic.
Good day, sir; good day." said he.
''Mr. Sherlock Holmes Is out, under
stand"
Eyes, and cannot be sure when he
will be back. But perhaps you would
care to wait. Take that chair and try
one of these cigars"
THANK you; | don't mind if do"
said he, mopping his face with red
bandanna handkerchief
"And a whisky-aud-soda?"
"Well, half a glass. 1t is very hot
for the time of year: and have had a
good deal to worry and try me. You
know my theory about this Norwood
case?"
"I remember that you expressed
one"
"Well, have been obliged to recon
slider 1t. | had nv net drawn tightly
round Mr.. Sholto, sir, when pop he went
through a hole in the middle of it. He
was able to prove an alibi which could
not be shaken. From the time that he