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

upon the table. and gave little dnr;in,
glanccs from one to the other. "rhey
are disguised hands. except the letter"
he said, presently, but there can be no
question as to the authorship See how
the irrepressible Greek will break
out, and see the twirl on the final s.
They are undoubtedly by the same per.
son. should not like to suggest false
hopes, Miss Morstan, but is there anv
resemblance between this hand and
thai Of your father?'
Nothing could be more unlike"
u expected to hear you say so. We
shall look out for you, then, nc six.
Fray allow me TO keep the papers
may look into the matter before then.
IL is only half-past three. Au revoir,
then"
"Au revoir," said our visitor, and.
with bright, kindly glance from one
to the other of us. she replaced her
pearl box In her bosom and hurried
away. Standing at the window, l
watched her walking briskly down the
street, until the gray turban and white
feather were but specls in the somber
crowd.
what very attractive woman
exclaimed, turning to my companion.
lie had lit his pipe again, and was
leaning back with dropping eyelids.
as she?' he said, languidly. ~ did not
observe"
You really are an nutomaton-a cal
culating machine" cried. There is
something positively inhunnn in you
at times"
He smiled gently. at is Of the first
Importance, he said. mot TO allow
your Judgment to be biased by per.
sonal qualities. A client is to nc mere
unit-a factor in Il problem. The emo
tional qualities are antaPonistic to clear
reasoning. ! assure you that the most
winning woman I ever knew was
banged for poisoning three little chill
dren for their insurance money, and
the most repcllent man of my acquaint-
ance is phianthropist who has spent
nearly quarter of a million upon the
London poor"
sin this case. however,"
81 never make exceptions An ex-
ception disprovcs the rule. Have Won
ever had occasion TO study character in
handwriting? What do you make Of
this fellows scribble?"
at is legiblc and regular" an
swered. "a man Of business habits and
some force of character"
Holmes shook his head. "Look at
his long letters" he said. "Thcy hard
~ rise above the common herd. That
might be an n, and that ! Ian e. Men
of character always diffcrentiate their
long letters, however illegiblv they may
write. There is vacllation in his ks
and self-cstcen in his capitals. am
going out now. have some few refer
encos to make. Let me recommend
this bool>-onc of the most remarkable
ever penned. 1t is Winwood Rcade's
Martvrdom of Man | shall be back
in an hour
/ sat in the window with the volume
in my hand, but my thoughts were far
from the daring speculations of the
writer. My mind ran upon our late
visitor-her smiles. the deep rich tones
of her voice. the strange mystery which
overhung her life. II she were seven
teen at the time of her fathers disap-
pearance she must be sevcn-and-t venty
nova sweet age, when youth has
lost its self-consciousness and become
little sobered by experience. So | sat
and unused. until such dangerous
thoughts came into my head that
hurried away TO my desk and plunged
furiouslv into the latest treatise upon
pathology. What was !. an army sur
geon with a weak leg and a weaker
banking account. that | should dare to
think of such things? She was unit.
a factor, nothing more. If my future
were black, IT was better surely to face
it like man than to attempt to bright
en- it by mere 'the-wisps of the
imagination.