Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-05-05

| nc ana papa were IN command OF the
troops at the Andaman islands. SO they
were thrown great deal together. BY
the way, curious paper WINS found in
papa's desk which no one could under
stand. don't suppose that Il IL of the
slightest importance, but 7 thought
you might care TO see IL, so brought
IL with me. II is here"
Holmes unfolded the paper CAREFUL
| " and smoothcd IL ont upon his knee.
lie then very mcthodicallv examined
IL all over with his double lens.
ut is paper Of native Indian manu-.
facture." he remarked. at has at some
time been pinned TO board. The dia-
gram upon IL appears to be plan of
part OF n large building with numer-
GUS halls. corridors. and passages. At
one point is a small cross done in red
ink, and above il Is 1897 from left. in
faded pencil-writing. In the lefthand
corner is a curious hieroglvphc like
four crosses in line with their arms
touching. Beside IL is written. in very
rough and coarse characters. 'The sign
OF the four, Jonathan Small, Mahoinet
Singh, Abdullah Khan, Dost Alsbar.'
No, confess that do not see how
this bears upon the matter. Yet it is
evidently document of importance.
II has been kept carefully in pocket
book for the one side is as clean as the
other"
at was in his poclsetbools that we
| found it,"
"Prcscrve it carefully, then, Miss
Morstan, for il may prove TO he of use
/ to us. begin to suspect that this mat
ter may turn out to be much deeper
and more subtle than I at first sup
! posed. ] must reconsider my ideas"
| lie leaned back in the cab. and could
see ny his drawn brow and his vacant
eve that he was thinking intentlv
Miss Morstan and chatted in an I'M
dcrtonc about our present expedition
ana Its possible outcome, but our com
| panion maintained his impenetra BILE re-
serve until the end of our Journey.
1t was September evening and not
yet seven o'clock, but the day had been
dreary one, and dense drizzlinr fog
lay low upon the great city. Mud
colorcd clouds dropped sadly over the
muddy streets Down the Strand the
lamps were but misty splotches Of diff
fused light which threw feeble cir
cular Flinmcr upon the Shiny pave
ment. The yellow glare from the shop
windows strcamcd out into the stealny,
vaporous air. and threw murkv.
shifting radiance across the crowded
thoroughfarc. There was to nv mind
something eerie and ghostlilie in the
endless procession of faces which fitted
across these narrow bars of lght-sad
faces and glad, hageard and merry.
Like all human kind. they fitted from
the gloom into the light. and so back
into the gloom once more. am not
subject to impressions. but the dull,
heavy evening, with the strange busi-
ness upon which we were engaged,
combined to make me nervous and de-
pressed. | could see from Miss Nor
STAINS manner that she was suffering
from the same feeling. Holmes alone
could rise superior to petty Influences.
He held his open notebook upon his
knee, and from time to time he jotted
down figures and memoranda in the
light of his pocket lantern.
At the Lyceum thcater the crowds
were already thick at the side en-
frances. In front continuous stream
of hansoms ard four-wheclers were
rattling up. discharging their cargoes
Of shirt-fronted men and beshawled,
bediamonded women. We had hardly
reached the third pillar, which was our
rendezvous. before Il small. dark, brisk
man in the dress Of coachman ac-
costed us.
Are you the parties who come with
Miss Morstan?" he asked.
~ am Miss Morstan, and these two
gentlemen are my friends" said she.
He bent pair of wonderfully pene-
trating and questioning eyes upon u.s.
you will excuse me, miss" he said,
with a certain logged manner, but I
was to ask You to give me your word
that neither Of your companions is a
police officer"
81 give you my word on that" the
answered.
He gave shrill whistle, on which a
street Arab led across a four-wheeler
and opened the door. The man who
had addressed us mounted to the box.
while we took our places inside. We
had hardly done SO before the driver
whipped up his horse, and we plunged
away alta furious pace through the
ioggy streets
The situation was a curious one. We
were driving to an unk!Iyu place, on
an unknown errand. Vet our invita-
ton was either complete hoax
which was an inconceivable hypothesis |
Or else we had good reason to think
that important issues might hang upon
our journey, Miss Morstan's demeanor
was is resolute and collected as ever.
I endeavored to cheer and amuse her |
by "reminiscences Of my adventures in |
Afghanistan; but, to tell the truth, | |
was myself so excited at our situation |
and so curious as to our destination |
that my stories were slightly involved. !
To this day she declares that told her !
one moving auecdote as TO how a mus
ket looked into my tent at the dead of |
night, and how fired double bar
relied tiger cub at il. At first | had |
some idea As To the direction in which !
we were driving; but soOr, what with |
our pace, the fog and my own limited |
knowledge Of London, lost my bear
ingS, and knew nothing, save that we /
seemed 10 be going a very long way.
Sherlock Holmes was nevor at fault, |
however, and lie muttered the names
as the cab ratified through squares and |
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