The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-07-30
Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes.
Continued from first page.)

than the opium den in which you
found me to-night-and, running
through the front room, she attempted
to ascend the stairs which led to the
first floor. At the foot of the stairs,
however, she met this Lascar scoun-
drel of whom / have spoken, who
thrust her back, and. aided by Dane,
who acts as assistant there, pushed
her out into the street Filled with
the most maddening doubts and fears,
she rushed down the lane, and, by
rare good fortune, met in Fresno
Street number of conStables with an
inspector, ali on their way to their
beat The Inspector and two men
accompanied her back, and, in spire
of the continued resistance of the pro-
prietor, they made their way to the
room in which Mr.. st. Clair had last
been seen. There was no sign of him
there In fact in the whole of that
floor there was no one to be found.
save a crippled wretch of hideous
aspect who, it seems, made his home
there. Both he and the Lascar stout
ly swore that no one else had been In
the front room during the afternoon.
So determined was their denial that
the inspector was staggered, and had
almost come to believe that Mrs. St.
Clair had been deluded, when, with a
cry she sprang at a small deal box
which lay upon the table. and tore the
lid from it. Out there fell cascade
of children's bricks. 1t was the toy
which he had promised to bring nome.
This discovery, and the evident
confusion which the cripple showed.
made the inspector realize that the
matter was serious. The rooms were
carefully examined and results all
pointed to an abominable crime The
front room was plainly furnished as d
sitting-room, and led into small
bedroom, which looked out upon the
back of one of the wharves. Between
the wharf and the bedroom window is
a narrow strip, which is dry at low
tide, but is covered at high tide with
at least four and a half feet of water.
The bedroom window was a broad one,
and opened from below. On exami-
nation traces of blood were to be seen
upon the window-sill, and several
scattered drops were visible upon the
wooden floor of the bedroom. Thrust
away behind a curtain in the front
room were all the clothes OF Mr.
Neville st. Clair with the exception OIL
his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat,
and his warch-all were there. Ihere
were no signs of violence upon any OF
these garments, and there were no
other traces of Mr.. Neville st. Clair.
Out of the window he must
apparently have gone. for no other
exit could be discovered, and the
ominous blood-stains upon the Sill
gave little promise that he could save
himself by swimming, for the tide was
at it's very highest at the moment Oh
the tragedy.
And now as to the villains who
seemed to be Immediately implicated
in the matter. The Lascar was known
to be a man of the vilest antecedents,
but as, by Mrs. ST. Clair's story, ne
was known to have been at the foot
of the stair within a very few 1conds
of her husbands appearance at the
window, he could hardly have been
more than an accessory to the crime.
His defense was one of absolute lg-
norance, and he protested that he had
no knowledge as to the doings OF
Hugh Boone, his ledger, and that ne
could not account in any way for the
presence of the missing gentleman
clothes.
so much for the Lascar manager