Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-07-23
CHI APTER VI

TO ourselves. Let us make good use of
IL Ny case is, as / have told you,
almost complete; but we must not err
On the side of over-confidence Simple
as the case seems now, there NAV be
something deeper underlying it."
"Simple!" / CALCULATED.
surely" said he, with something of
the air of a clinical professor expound-
Ing to his class Just sit in the cor
ner there, that your footprints may not
compGcate 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-
vations aloud the while, but address
6g them to himself rather than to me.
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 of reach. Yeta man
has mounted by the window. 1t rained
little last night. Here is the print of
a mold upon the sill. And here is a
circular muddy mark, and here again
Hpon the floor, and here again by the
table. See here, WatSonl This is re-
1 looked at the round, well-defined
muddy discs. THAT is not a foot
mark" said l.
1T is something much more valuable
to us 1t is the impression of wooden
stump. You see here on the sill is the
boot mark, heavy boot with broad
mvlh heel, and beside it is the mark of
the tinber-toe."
&c tho ,,-,>c,lo-,
Quite so. But there has been some
one elsa very able and efficient ally.
Could you scale that wall, doctorP"
looked out of the open window.
The moon still shone brightly on that
angie OF the house. We were a good
sixty feet from the ground and, look
where would, could see no foothold.
nor as much as crevice in the brick
work.
1T is absolutely impossible" l an
swered.
Without aid it is so. But suppose
you had friend up here who lowered
you this good, stout rope which see
IN the corner, securing one end of it to
this great hook in the wall. Then.
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
dr~v up the rope, unite IL 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. IL
may be noted" he continued, lingering
the rope, that our wooden-lepred
frieu, though fair climber, was not
professional sailor. His hands were
far from horny. My lens discloses
more than one blood mark, especially
toward the end Of the rope, from which
l gather that he slipped down with
such velocity that he took the skin off
his hands,"
This is all very WE'LL" said I. ''but
the thing becomes more unintelligible
than ever. How about this mysterious
ally? How came he into the roomp"
Eyes, the allyl" repeated Holmes.
pensively. There are features of in
terest about this ally. lie lifts the
case from the regions of the common
place. / 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."
How came he, then?" ! reiterated.
The door is locked, the window is in
accessible. Was it through the Chin
ney2"
The CRATE is much too small" he
answered. 81 had already considered
that possibility"
How then?" / persisted
You Will not apply my precept," he
SAID shaking his head. Glow often have
SAID to you that when yon 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
slbie Whence, then, did he come?'
He came through the hole in the
roof" cried
"N course he did. He must have
done SO. If you will have the kindness
to hold the lamp FOR me, we shall now
extend our researches to the room
above-the secret room in which the
treasure was found"
lie mounted the steps, and. seizir,p a
rafter with either hand, he swung him
~ VIC linen, lVlnp on
has face, he reached down for the lamn
and held it while followed him.
The chamber in which we found our
selves was. about ten feet one wav by
SIX the other. The floor was formed by
the rafters, with thin lath-and-plaster !!
between, so that in walking one had |
TO step from beam to beam. The roof |
ran up 10 an apex, and was evidently j
the inner shell of the true roof of the |
house There was no furniture of any
sort and the accumulated dust of |
years lay thick upon the floor.
Here you are, you see" said Sher- |
lock Holmes, putting his hand against |
me sloping wall. This is a trap-door |
winch leads ont onto the roof / can |
press II back, and here is the roof it. |
se4f' sloping at gentle angle. This. |
then, IS the way by which Number One |
entered. Let us see if we can find |
Some other traces of his individualitv