The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-10-01
A Case O. Identity

result. Let the weight of the matter rest
 upon me now, and do not let your mind
 swell upon 1t furtheh Above all, try to
 let MT. Hosmer Angel vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life"
 again?'
 q fear not"
 "Then what has happened to him?"
 You will leave that question in my
 hands. I should like an accurate descrip-
 ton Of him, and any letters of his which
 you can spare"
 T advertised for him in last Saturdays Chronicle" said she. Here Is the slip and here are four letters from him."
 Thank you. And your address?"
 No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwel" MT. Angels address you never had,
 understand. Where Is your fathers place of business?'
 "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers of Fenchurch street"
 Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will leave
 the papers here, and remember the ad vice which I have given you. Let the
 whole incident be sealed book. and do
 not allow 1t to affect your life" You are very kind, MT. Holmes, but l cannot do that. I shall be true to Hos
 mer. He shall find me ready when he . comes back"
 For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was something noble
 in the simple faith of our visitor which
 compelled respect. She laid her little
 bundle upon the table, and went her way,
 with promise to come again whenever she might be summoned. Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a counsellor. and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair with the thick blue cloud -wreaths spinning up from him. and a look of infinite languor in his face
 "Quite an interesting study that maid en-" he observed. 'I found her more in teresting than her little problem, which, by the way is rather trite one You
 will find parallel cases If you consult my index, in Andover in ", and there was something of the sort at The Hague last year. Old as Is the idea, however, there were one or two details which were new to me. But the maiden herself was most i instructive"
 You appeared to read gold deal upon I her which was quite invisible to me-. I
 remarked
 :, Not invisible, but unnotfced, Watson. I You did not know where to look, and so
 you missed all that was important. I can never bring you to realize the importance | of sleeves, the suggestveness of thumb nails, or the great issues that may hang l from a boot-lace. Now, what did you
 gather from that womans appearance? !? l Describe it''
 Well, she had slate-colored broad
 brimmed straw hat, with a feather of a l brckish red Her jacket was black, with black beads sewn upon 1t, and fringe | of little black jet ornaments. Her dress 1 was brown, rather darker than coffee color with a little purple plush at the
 neck and sleeves Her gloves were gray
 ish, and were worn through at the right | forefinger Her boots l dfn.t observe She had small. round. hanging gold ear rings, and a general air of being fairly l easy-going way"
 Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands soft l ly together and chuckled. l "Pon my word. Watson, you are coming | along wonderfully. You have really done | very well indeed It is true that you have l missed everything of importance, but | you have hit-upon the method, and you 1 have quick eye for color. Never trust 1 to general impressions, my boy, but con
 centrate yourself upon details. My first l glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In | a man 1t Is perhaps better first to take 1 the knee of the trouser. As you obs | serve, this woman had plush upon her 1 sleeves, which is a most useful material | for showing traces. The double line a (Continued On Next Page)