The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1895-05-15
CHAPTER VI

CHAPTER VI
SHERLOCK HOLMES GIVES A D~EMoNsrRA-
TON.
Now, Watson" said Holmes, rub
bing his hands, I'VE have half an hour
to ourselves. Let us make good use OF
it. My case is. as | have told you,
almost complete; but we must not err
on the side Of oyer-confdence. Simple
as the case seems now, there may be
something deeper underlying it
"Simple!" / CALCULATED.
Surely" said he, with something OF
the air of a clinical professor expound-
ing Co his class Just sit in the cor
ner there, that your footprints may not
complicate 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" He carried the
lamp across to it, muttering his obser-
yations aloud the while. but address
ing them to himself rather than to ne.
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 ofreach. ieta man
has mounted by the window. 1t trained
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 a very pretty demonstration"
I looked at the round, we1-defned
muddy discs. s'That is not a foot
mark" said /.
sit is something much more valuable
to Us. It is the ~impressionof a wooden
stump. You see here on the sill is the
boot mark, a heavy boot with a broad
metal heel, and beside it is the mark Of
the timber-toe."
sit is the wooden-legged man."
AQuite so. But there has been some
n elsa very able and efficient ally.
Could you scale that wall, doctor?"
I looked out Of the open window.
The moon still shone brightly on that
angle of the house. We a good
sixty feet from the ground, and, look
where / would, I could see no foothold,
nor as much as a crevice in the brick
work.
at is absolutely impossible" / an
swered.
without aid it is 50. But suppose
you had a friend up here wholowered
you this good, stout rope which I see
in.the corner, securing n 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 a minor point, it
may be noted" he continued, lingering
the rope, that our wooden-legged
friend, though a fair climber, was not
a professional sailor. His hands were
far from horny. Ny lens discloses
more than one blood mark, especially
toward the end Of the rope, from which
I gather that he slipped down with
such velocity that he took the skin of
his hands"
"This IS all very WELL" said 1, 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. I 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 Senegam-
bia."
Glow came he, then?" I reiterated.
NThe door is locked. the window is i in
accessible. Was it through the chin
ney?"
The CRATE is much too small" he
answered. Il had already considered
that possibility"
How then?" l persisted
"You will not apply my p~recept," he
said. shaking his head. How often have
I 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 concealment pos
sible- Whence. then, did he Gomez"
HE came through the hole in the
roof" 1 cried
'Of course he did. He must have
done so. II you will have the kindness
to kold the lamp FOR me, we shall now
extend our researches to the room
above-the secret room N which the
treasure was found"
he mounted the steps, and, selling a
rafter with either hand, he swung him
self up into the garnet. Then, lying on
his face, he reached down for the lamp
and held it while I 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