Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-05-30

u w lock Holmes was YER,
.--A busy man. 1t is safe t.
BaasSsSrssAT say that there was III
ESsW 8sSA public case Of any diff
Guilty In which he wa!
not consulted. during those eight years
ar.l there were hundreds Of private
cases, some of them Of the most In
tricate and extraordinary character
in which he played prominent part
AS have preserved very full notes o.
all these cases and was myself person
ally engaged in many Of them, it ma,
be imagined that it is no easy task tt
know which | should select to lay be
fore the public shall. however, pre-
serve my former rule and give the pref
erence to those cases which derive theil
interest not SO much from the brutality
Of the crime DIS from the ingenuity and
dramatic quality Of the solution. Fol
this reason | will now lay before the
reader the facts connected with Miss
Violet Smith, the solitary cyclist OF
Charlington, and the curious sequel OF
our investigation. which eliminated IN
unexpected tragedy.
On referring to my notebook for the
year 1896 I find that il, was upon Sat
urday, the 23d Of April, that we first
Near0 of Miss Violet Smith. Her visit
was, | remember, extremely uDwel-
come to Holmes, for he was immersed
at the moment in a very abstruse and
complicated problem concerning the
peculiar persecution to which Johr Vim
cent Harden, the well knowl< tobacco
millionaire, had been subjected. My
fl end, '. no loved above all things pre-
cision and concentration OF thought, re-
sented s1ythtng which diytracted his
attention from the matter in hand.
And &c, Wi hodt a harshness which
was foreign TO his nature, i. was i'm
possible to refuse to listcL to the story
o. the youn:. nd beautiful woman, tall,
graceful and quCenly, who presented
herself at Baker street late in the
evening and implored hi assistance
and advice. 1t was vain to urge that
lis time was already full. occupied.
for the young lady had come with the
determination to tell her story, and it
was evidsnc that nothing shor- of force
could get her out of the room until she
had done so. With resigned air and
somewhat weary smile, Holmes beg
ged the beautiful intruder to take n
seat and to inform us what it was that
was troubling her.
In, ST hn Hoo1f1, -
said he as his ,reen eyes d--tti over
her. $50 ardent bicyclist must be
full of ene4gv."
She glanced down In surprise at her
own feet, and I observed the slight
roughening Of the side Of the sole caus-
ed by the friction of the edge Of tie
pedal.
Eyes, l bicycle a gooe. deal, Mr..
Holmes, and that has some hing to do
with my visit to you today"
My friend took the lady's ungloved
hand and examined it with as close an
attention ard as little sentiment as
scientist would show TO specimen.
you will excuse me, am sure. 1t
40 LILY tONiotAOSS, S,tdlA LIZ &tS LIZ Sl1OppOu
1t. 81 nearly fell into the error of sup
posing that lou were typewriting. OF
course it is obvious that it is music.
You observe the spat,llate finger ends,
Watson. which is common to both pro-
fessions? THERE'S spirituality about
the face. however, gently turned
it toward the light--"which the type
writer does not generate. This lady is
q musician"
Eyes, MIR. Holmes, teach music"
"In the country, l presume, from
your complexion"
Eyes, sir; near Farnham, on the bor-
ders of Surrey
"Now, Miss Violet, what has happen
ed to you near Farnham, on the bor>
ders of Surrey?'
The young lady, with great clearness
and conaposure, made the following
curious sta ment:
My father is dead, Mr.. Holmes. He
was James Smith, who conducted the
orchestra at the old Imperial theater.
My mother and I were left without
relation in the world except one I'M
Gle, Ralph Smith, who went to Africa
twenty-five years ago, and we have
never had word from him since
When father died we were left very
poor, but one day we were, told that
there was an advertisement in the
Times inquiring for our whereabouts.
You can ina CINE how excited we were,
for we thought that some one had left
US a fortune. We went at once to the
lawyer whose name was given in the
paper. There we met two. gentlemen,
Mr.. Carruthers and MI. Woodley, who
were home on visit from South Afri
ca. They said that my uncle was a
friend of theirs, that he had died some
months before in great poverty in Jo
and that he had asked
them with his last breath to hunt up
lis relations and see that they were in
no want. 1t seemed strange to us that
Uncle Ralph, who took no notice of us
when he was alive should be SO care
,ul to look after us when he was dead, |
put Mr.. Carrutkers explained that the
'eason was that my uncle had just |
heard Of the death o. his brother and |
20 felt responsible fol- our fate
Excuse ma" said Holmes. When