Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-02-14
CuApTER III

CIiA Fl Ek III
 It was half past . Before Holmes re. turned He was bright, eager and in ex- ccllrnt spirits-a mood which in his case altCrnated with fits of the hackcst deprcS sion.
 "ThCrC is no great mystery in this mat ter" he said, taking the cup of tea which had pouf, q out for him. The facts appear to admit of only ono explanation"
 What HuNC you solved it already"
 "WCu, that wilt he tno much to say I havc disco\, rrd suggestive fHct, that Is all IL iS, l,nw">,r, very suggestive The details are s.i,! tu he added haze just found on cul sttijlng the back files of Tho Times, that MHJrr Sh"itnc cf Uprcr Nor wood, late oi th" Thirty C,urih Bombay infantry. dIcd upun tho 2eth of April lSS2 "
 Ii may lc very ohtusc Ii'Imrs but fail 10 see wlHt this suggt Is
 Ne N,', surprise me L,uk Ut il in this way. tEvn Captain Mur>;un diSap- pears Thr olly person in London whom he could have visited is Major Shulto. Major Sho.iu ueHils having heard that ho was in Londoi. Tour years intcr Sholto dies Within weak of his dt Hth Captain MOrstan dIughtCr rrCCiVCs valuable present, which i> repeated from year to year nni now culminatvs in a letter N hich
 
 wrong can II refer Io except this dcpriva- ton u. her IYt..>.! And why shuu!l the presents beg!D iGl!acd:atcly after Sholto's death unless it is that Sholto : huir knows | something of the mystery and desires to make compensation? Have you any alter native theory which will meet the facts'" But what strange compensation! And how strangely made! Why. too, should be write a letter now rather than l of giving her justice. What justice can she have? IL is too much to suppose that her father Is still alive. There is no other | injustice in her case that you know of " | 'Thcrc are difficulties, there are cer tainly difficulties. " said Sherlock Holmes | pCnsivcly But our expedition of tonight will s,lve them all An, here is four | wheeler. and Miss Morstan Is inside Arc | you all ready Then we had better go down. for it Is a littlc past tho hour. "
 picked up my hat and my heaviest stick, but l observed that Holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped 1t into his pocket It was clear that ho thought that our nights work might be a | serious one
 Miss Morstan was untitled in dark cloak, and her sensitive facc was compos- ed, but pale She must havo been moro than woman if she did not feel some un- easincss at the strange enterprise upon which We were cmbarking, yet her self | control was perfect, and sho readily an 1 swercd tho few additional questions which Sherlock Holmes put to her.
 Major Sholto was a very particular | friend of papa's" she said. His letters were full of allusions to tho major. He and papa werc in command of the troops at the Andaman islands, so they were thrown a great deal together. By the way, a curious paper was found in papa's desk which no one could understand. don't suppose that il is of the slightest impor- tanCo but thought you might care to seo it, so brought it with mo, It is hero. :"
 Holmes unfoldcd the paper carefully and smoothcd it out upon his knee. He then very methodically examined it all over with his double lens
 | It is paper of native Indian manufac- ture." he remarked Tt has at some time hccn pinned to board. Tho dia- gram upon it appears to be plan of part of a large building with numerous halls corridors and passages At one point is a small cross dono in rcd ink, and above 1t is 37 from left in faded pencil writing In tho left hand corner is a curious hiero- glyphic liko four crosses in a line, with their arms touching. Beside 1t is written in very rough'and coarse characters, The | hammed Singh, Adbullah Khan, Dost Ak bar No, confess that do not sec how this bears upon tho matter Yet it Is evil dently document of importance It has been kept carefully in a pocketbook, for the one side is as clean as the other"
 Ut was in his pocketbook that wo found it.
 Preserve 1t carefully, then, Miss Nor. stan, for it may prove to be of use to us. begin to suspect that this matter may turn out to be much deeper and moro sub. tie than at first supposed. must TO. consider my ideas" He leaned back in the cab, and l could see by his drawn brow and his vacant eye that he was thinking intontly. Miss Morstan and chatted in an undertone about our pres ent expedition and its possible outcome, but our companion maintained his i'm penetrable reserve until the end of oul journey.
 It was a September evening and not yei . o'clock, but the day had beon a dreary ono. and a dense drizzling fog lay low upon the great city. Mud colored clouds dropped sadly over the muddy streets Down the Strand the lamps were but misty splotches of diffused light which threw a feeble circular glimmer upon th' slimy pavement, The yellow glare iron } the shop windows streamed out into thI steamy, vaporous air and threw a murky shifting radiance across the crowded thor : oughfare. There was to my mind some } thing eeric and ghostlike in the endless 1 procession of faces which fitted acros these narrow bars of light-sad faces ant glad, haggard and merry. Like all hu 3 mankind, they fitted from the gloom : Into the light, and so back into the gloom once moro am not sutj jcct to impres ! sions, but the dull, heavy evening, witt