Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1905-07-06
CONTINUED

room. The shadow of a man who was
seated in a chair within was thrown
in hard, black outline upon the lumi-
nous screen Of the window. There was
no mistaking the poise Of the head, the
sQuareness Of the shoulders, the sharp
ness of the features. The face was
turned half around, and the effect was
that of M Of those black silhouettes
which u grandparents loved to
frame. 1t was a perfect reproduction
Of Holmes. So amazed was 1 that I
threw out my hand to make sure that
the man himself was standing beside
me. He was quivering with silent
laughter.
"Well?" said he.
"Good h~eavens!" I cried. 'It is mar
velous!"
IT trust that age doth not wither nor
custom stale my infinite variety" said
he. And I recognized In his voice the
Joy and pride which the artist takes in
like me, is it not"
IT should be prepared to swear that
It was you"
1.-THE credit Of the execution is due
to NJ. Oscar Mennier Of Grenoble, who
spent some days in doing the molding.
It is q bust in wax. The rest I ar
ranged myself during my visit to Ba-
ker street this afternoon"
But why?"
Because, my dear Watson, 1 had the
strongest possible reason for wishing
certain people to think that I was there
when I was really elsewhere"
And you thought the rooms were
watched?"
II knew that they were watched"
by whom?'
"By my old enemies, Watson. By the
charming society whose leader lies in
the R%eichenbach fall. You must re-
member that they knew, and only they
knew, that I was still alive. Sooner Or
later they believed that I should come
back to my rooms. They watched them
continuously, and this morning they
saw me arrive"
"How do you know?'
Because I recognized their sentinel
when l glanced out of my window. He
is a harmless enough fellow, Parker by
name, a garroter by trade and a re-
markable performer upon the jews
harp. I cared nothing for him. But
] cared a great deal for the much more
formidable person who was behind him,
the bosom friend Of Moriarty, the man
who dropped the rocks over the cliff,
the most cunning and dangerous crimi-
nal in London. That is the man who is
after me tonight, Watson, and that is
the man who is quite unaware that we
are after him"
Ny friends plans were gradually re-
lvealing themselves. From this conven-
lent retreat the watchers were being
watched and the crackers tracked
That angular shadow up yonder was
the bait, and we were the hunters. In
silence we stood together in the dark
ness and watched the hurrying figures
who passed and repassed in front Of
us. Holmes was silent and m%otionless,
but I could tell that he was keenly
alert and that his Eyes were liked in
tently upon the stream of passersby.
1t was a bleak and boisterous night,
and the wind whistled shrilly down the
long street. Many people were moving
TO and fro, most Of them mufled in their
coats and cravats. Once or twice it
seemed to M that I had seen the same
figure before, and I especially noticed
two men who appeared to be sheltering
themselves from b wind in the door
way Of a house some distance up the
street. I tried to draw my companions
attention to them, but he gave a little
ejaculation Of Impotence and contin-
ued to stare into the street. More thar
once he fdgeted with his feet and
tapped rapidly with his fingers upon
the wall. 1t was evident to me that be
was becoming uneasy and that his
plans were not working out altogether
as he had hoped. At last as midnight
approached and the street gradually
cleared he paced up and down the
room in uncomfortable agitation. 1
was about to make some remark to
MIN when I raised my eyes to the light
ed window and again experienced al
most as great a surprise as before. 1
cfutched Holmes arm and pointed up
ward.
"sThe shadow has moved!" I cried.
It vas indeed no longer the profile,
but.the back, which was turned toward
ms.
Three years had certainly not smooth
ed the asperities of his temper or his
tmpatience with a less active intelli-
gence than his own.
LOT course 1t has moved" said he.
Sam I such a farcical bungler, Wat
son, that 1 should erect an obvious
dummy and expect that some of the
sbarpest men in Europe would be de-
cefved by it? We have been in this
room two hours, and Mrs. Hudson has
made some change in that figure eight
times, or once in every quarter Of an
hour. She works it from the front,
so that her shadow may never be seen.
Ali" He drew in his breath with a
shrtll, excited intake. In the dim
light I saw his head thrown forward,
his whole attitude rigid with attention.