Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-09-16

box for future purposes. The other half
will place in this wine glass, in which
is a teaspoonful of water. You per
ceive that our friend, the doctor, is
right, and that it readily dissolves."
'"This may be very interesting" said
Lestrade, in the injured tone of one
who suspects that he is being laughed
at. 81 can not see, however, what it
has to do with the death of Mr.. Joseph
Stangerson."
Patience, my friend, patience. You
will find in time that is has everything
to do with it. / shall now add a little
milk to make the mixture palatable.
and on presenting it to the dog you will
find that he laps it up readily enough" !"
AS he spoke he turned the contents
of the wine glass into a saucer and
placed it in front of the TERROR, who
speedily licked it dry.
Sherlock Holmes earnest demeanor
had so far convinced us that we all sat
in silence, watching the animal intent
ly and expecting some startling effect.
None such appeared, however. The
dog continued to lie stretched upon the
cushion, breathing in labored way,
but apparently neither the better nor
the worse for its draught
Holmes had taken out his watch, and
as minute followed minute without re-
suit, an expression of the utmost cha
grin and disappointment appeared up
on his features.
He gnawed his lip, drummed his f1n-
gers upon the table and showed every
other symptom of acute impatience.
So great was his emotion that felt
sincerely sorry for him, while the two
detectives smiled derisively, by no
means displeased at this check which
he had met.
'It can't be coincidence" he cried
at last, springing from his chair and
pacing wildly up and down the room:
'it is impossible that is should be a
mere coincidence. The very pills
which I suspected in the case of Drub-
ber are actually found after the death
Of Stangerson. And yet they are inert.
What can it mean? Surely my whole
chain Or reasoning cannot have been
false 1t is impossible! And yet this
wretched dog is none the worse. Ah,
I have it, I have it,"
With a perfect shrek of delight
he rushed to the box, cut the other pill
in two dissolved it, added milk, and
presented it to the terrier.
The unfortunate creatures tongue
hardly seemed to have been moistened
in it before it gave convulsive shiver
in every limb, and lay as rigid and life
less as If it had been struck by light
ming.
Sherlock Holmes drew long breath
and wiped the perspiration from his
forehead.
"I should have more faith" he said;
.I ought to know by this time that
when a fact appears to be opposed to
a long train of deductions it invariably
proves to be capable of bearing some
other Interpretation. OF the two pills
in that box one was the most deadly
poison and the other was entirely
harmless. ought to have known that
before ever [ saw the box at all"
This last statement appeared to me
to be so startling that I could hardly
believe that he was in his sober senses.
There was the dead dog, however, to
prove that his conjecture had been cor
rect.
It seemed to me that the mists in
my own mind were gradually clearing
away, and I began to have dim,
vague perception of the truth.
Cali this seems strange to you" con-
tinued Holmes, because you failed at
the beginning of the inquiry to grasp
the importance VI IlC oihSiO iSe@i Wv"
which was presented to you. I had
the good fortune to seize upon that
and everything which has occurred
since then has served to confirm my
original supposition, and, indeed was
the logical sequence of it, Hence,
things which have perp1exed you and
made the case more obscure have
served to enlighten me and to strength
en- my conclusions. 1t is mistake to
confound strangeness with mystery
The most commonplace crime is often
the most mysterious, because it pre-
sents no new or special features from
which deductions may be drawn. This
murder would have been Infinitely
more difficult to unravel had the body
of the victim been simply found lying
In the roadway without any of those
outer and sensational accompaniments
which have rendered it remarkable.
These strange details. far from max
ing the case more difficult. have really
had the effect of making it less So"
Ito be Contlnued)