The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1902-11-07
CHAPTER VII.

we Udu dl Ue6H WdTu6u 10 appear
before the magistrates upon the
| Thursday; but when the Thursday
came there was no occasion for our
| testimony.
A higher judge had taken the mat,
ter in hand, and Jefferson Hope had
been summoned before a tribunal
where strict justice would be meted
out to him.
On the very night after his capture
the aneurism burst, and he was found
in the morning stretched upon the
| floor of the cell, with placid smile
upon his face, as though he had been
able In his dying moments to look
back upon useful life, and on work
well done.
"Gregson and Lestrade will be wild
about his DEATH" Holmes remarked,
as we chatted it over next morning.
Where will their grand advertise
ment be now?"
II dc1't see that they had very
much to do with his capture" l an
| swered
What you do in this world is a
matter of no consequence" returned
my companion, bitterly. "The ques-
tion is, what can you make people
believe that you have done? Never
mind" he continued, more brightly,
after a pause, 81 would not have
missed the investigation for anything
There has been no better case with
in my recollection. Simple as it was
there were several most instructive
points about It"
"Simple?" I calculated.
well, really, it can hardly be de-
scribed as otherwise" said Sherlock
Holmes, smiling at my surprise. ''The
proof of its intrinsic simplicity is that
without any help, save few very or
binary deductions, | was able to lay
my hand upon the criminal within
three days"
THAT is true" said I.
81 have already explained to you
that what is out of the common is u.s.
ually a guide rather than a hindrance.
In solving a problem of this sort, the
grand thing is to be able to reason
backward. That is a very useful ac-
complishment and a very easy one,
but people do not practice it much.
IT. the every day affairs Of life it is
more useful to reason forward, and
so the other comes to be neglected.
There are fifty who can reason syn
thetically for one who can reason an
alytically."
81 confess" said l, that l do not
quite follow you"
81 hardly expected that you would.
Let me see If l can make it clear.
Most people, If you describe a train
of events to them, will tell you what
the result would be. They can put
those events together In their minds,
and argue from them that something
will come to pass. There are few peo-
pie, however, who, If you told them a
result, would be able to evolve from
their inner consciousness what the
steps were which led up to that re-
suit. This power Is what l mean
when l talk of reasoning backward,
or analytically."
81 understand" said I.
Nov, this was case in which you
were given the result and had to find
everything else for yourself. Now,
let me endeavor to show you the diff
ferent steps in my reasoning. To be-
gin at the beginning. | approached
the house, as you know, on foot, and
with my mind entirely free from all
impressions. | naturally begun by
examining the roadway, and there, as
have already explained to you, |
saw clearly the marks Of a cab, which,
ascertained by inquiry, must have
been made there during the night. l
satisfied myself that 1t was a cab and
not a private carriage by the narrow
gauge Of the wheels. The ordinary
London growler is considerably less
wide than a gentleman's brougham.
THAT was the first point gained. |
then walked slowly down the garden
path, which happened to be composed
Of clay soil, peculiarly suitable for
taking impressions. No doubt it ap-
peared to you to be a mere trampled
every mark upon its surface had a
meaning.
There is no branch of detective
science which Is so important and so
much neglected as the art of tracing
footsteps. Happily, have always laid
great stress upon 1t, and much prac-
tice has made 1t second nature to me.
Il saw the heavy footmarks of the
constables, but | saw also the tracks
Of the two men who had first passed
through the garden. It was easy to
tell that they had been before the
others, because in places their marks
had been entirely obliterated by the
others coming upon the top of them.
"On entering the house this last in
ference was confirmed. My well-boot-
ed man lay before me. The tall one.
then, had done the murder, II murder
there was.
There was no wound upon the
dead mans person. but the agitated
expression upon his face assured me
that he had foreseen his fate before
Il came upon him. Men who die from
heart disease or any sudden natural