The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-05-07
NUMBER
Is.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SECOND STAIN


of those exploits of my friend, Mr.
Sherlock Holmes. which 1 should ever
communicate to the public This res
olutiOn of mine was not due 10 any
lack of material, since / have notes
"t many hundreds Of cases TO which I
nave never alluded. nor was it caused
by any waning interest on the part
OF any readers in the siugularitv and
unique methods of this remarkable man.
The real reason lay in the reluctance
which Mr.. Holmes has shown To- the
continued publication of his expcrieu-
ces- SO long as he was in actual pro-
fessional practice the records of his
SucceSSeS were of some practical value
10 him, but since ne has definitely re-
Tired from London and betkeu himself
10 study and bee farming on the SuS-
sex Downs. notoriety has become hate
hui to him, and ne has pprpmutOrily
requested that his wishes in this mat
Ter should be strictly observed. 1t was
only upon my representing TO him that
had given promise that "Thc Ad-
venture uI the Second Stain" should
be published when the times were ripe.
ana pointing out TO him that ir is
only appropriate that this long series
of episodes should eliminate i'm the
most important International case
which he has ever been called upon To
handle. that I at last succeeded ion OBJ
tanning his consent that n carefully
guarded account of the incident should
at last be laid before the public. IF
IN telling the story ! seem 10 be some
what vague i'm certain details. the pub
lie VIII readily understand that there
Is an excellent reason for my reti-
Cencc.
u was. then. ia a wear. and even u
2 decade. that shall be uameIcss. that
upon one Tuesday morning i'm autumn
we found two visitors of European
lame within the walls Of our humble
room i'm Baker street. The one aU-
steTe. high-uoSed. eaEle-eyed. and dom
1uant- was none other than the Illus
tTlouS Lord HclIiUgeT. twice premier
OF Britain The other. dark. cIear-cut
and elegant. hardly Yet of middle age.
and endowed with every beauty of
body and of mind. was the Right Hon
orable Treiawuey Hope. secretary for
European affairs and the most rising
statesman In the country. They sat
side by side upon our paper-iittered
Sottec. and il was easy to see from
their worn and anxious faces that il
was business of the most pressing inn
p"Ttauce which had brought them. The
TremIeT'S thin, hiUe-veined hands We're
clasped tightly over the ivory head
Of his umbrella. and his EaUnt. asCetiC
lace looked EloomiIy from Holmes to
me The European secretary pulled
HerNOuSly at his muStache and fidgeted
with the seals of his watch chain.
When / discovered my loss Mr..
Holmes. which was at o'clock this
morning. I at once informed the prime
minister 1t was at his suggestion
that We have both come to you"
Have YOU Informed the police
No. sir" said the prime minister
with the quick decisive manner for
which he was famous. We have not
done so. nor is 1t possible that we
should o." SO r" inform the police
must. in the long run. mean to inform
the public. This Is what we particular
" desire To- avoid
And why. sir
Because the document I'm question
IS Of such immense Importance that its
publication might very easily might
almost say hly-Iead To- Euro
pcau complications II the utmost mo-
ment. Tt Is not too much to say that
peace or war may hang upon the is
sue Unless its recovery can be at
tended with the utmost secrecy. then
il may as we'll not he recovered AT all 4
for al that is aimed at by those who
have taken IT - that its contents
should be generally known"
II understand Now. MI TrclaWucy
Hope, ] should be much obliged if
You would tell mo exactly the cfrcum-
stances under which this document dis
appeared"
That can be done ia q very few
words Mr.. Holmes The IetteT-fou il !
was a letter from n foreign poteutate-
was received six DAYS ago. II was of
such importance that ! have never left
IL i'm my sale. but I have taken il
across each evening To my house i'm
Whitehall Terrace. and kept 10 in luv
bedroom i'm locked dispatch box. tt
was there last night Of that ! am
certain I actually opened the box
while ] was dressing for dinner and
saw the document inside This morn /
ing 1T was gone. The dispatch box had +
stood beside the glass upon my dress
ing table all night ] am light sleep
OF. and 50 Is my wife We are both /
prepared TO swear that no one could /
have entered the room during the /
night And yet repeat that the paper 4
IL gone"
What time did YOU dinee"
"Half-Dast q"
How long was it before You went 4
f. bed2'
My wife had gone to the theatre
7 waited for her. It was half-past /
II before we went To our room
Then for four hours the dispatch /
box had lain UnsUarjed2"
NO one is ever permitted To enter (
that room save the hpUSemaid i'm the
morning and my valet. or my wIfe-s .
maid. during the rest of the day. They
are both trUSty servants who have /
been with us for some time Besides
neither of them could possibly have
known that there was anything more
valuable than the ordinary department .
tai papers in my dispatch box" /
Who did know of the existence of /
that letter.
NO one i'm the house"
surely your wife knew"
No SIR. 1 had said nothing to my
wife until I missed the paper this
morning
The premier nodded apprDviugIy
I have long known. sir how high
IS your sense OF public duty" said he /
Il am convinced that iu the case of a .
secret uf this importance DC would F..
rise superior To the most intimate do
meStic ties
The European secretary bowed
You do me uo more than Justice.
sir Until this morning Z have never
breathed one word 60 my wife upon
this matter
Gould she have SueSSado"
No. Mr. Holmes. she could not have
Euessed-uor could anyone. have
guessed"
Have YOU lost any documents be-
fore"
NO. sir
who Is there I'm England who did
know Of the existence Of this letter.
Each member Of the cabinet
was informed Of il YESTERDAY
but the pledge Of secrecy which attends
every cabinet meeting was Increased by
the solemn warniugf which was given
nv h nrirup minister. Good heavens Z