Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-01

/ left foot of yours with its Inward twist
| is all over the place. A mole could trace
| it. and there it van.shes among the reeds
j Oh, how simple 1t would all have been had
been here before they came like herd
| of buffalo. and wallowed all over 1t. Here
| is where the party with the lodge keeper
came, and they have covered all tracks for
six or eight feet round the body But
| here are three separate tracks of the same
/ feet He drew out lens. and lay down
upon his waterproof to have better view.
talking all the time rather to himself than
| to us. These are young McCarthy's feet
Twice he was walking, and once he ran
swiftly so that the soles are deeply marked
and the heels hardly visible. That bears
out his story. He ran when he saw his
| father on the ground Then here are the
fathers feet as he paced up and down.
| What Is this, then? 1t Is the butt end of
the gun as the son stood listening. And
| this p Ha. hal What have here? Tip
| toes, tiptoes, Square, too. quite unusual
bootst They come, they go. they come
again--of course, that was for the cloak.
/ Now, where did they come FROM" He ran
/ up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes
hnding the track until we were well within
| the edge of the wood, and under the
shadow of great beech. the largest tree
In the neighborheod. Holmes traced his
way to the farther side of this. and lay
down once more upon his. face with a little
cry of satisfaction. For long time he re-
| mained there, turning over the leaves and
| dried sticks. gathering up what seemed to
me to be dust into envelope. and ex-
| but even the bark of the tree as far as
| he could reach. A jagged stone was lying
among the moss. and this also he carefully
| examined and retained. Then he followed
| a pathway through the wood until he came
to the high road, where all traces were
lost.
1T has been case of considerable in
terest," he remarked. returning to his
natural manner. II fancy that this gray
| house on the right must be the lodge. l
think that will go in and have word
| with Moran, and perhaps write little note.
| Having done that. may drive back to
our luncheon. You may walk to the cab
| and shall be with you presently"
| II was about ten minutes before we re-
gained our cab, and drove back into Ross,
| Holmes still carrying with him the stone
| which he had picked up in the wood.
This may interest you, Lestrade." he re-
marked, holding it out. The murder was
| done with it,"
| Il see no marks"
| There are none
| How do you know, then p"
The grass was growing under it. 1t had
only lain there a few days There was no
| sign OF place when it had been taken. 1t
corresponds with the injuries. There is no
| sign of any other weapon"
| And the murderer"
| rs a tall man, Iefthanded, limps with
the right leg, wears thick-soled shooting
| boots and a gray cloak. smokes Indian
| cigars, uses cigar-holder and carries il
blunt penknife in his pocket. There are
|
| be enough to aid US in our search"
| Lestrade laughed. 81 am afraid that L
am still a skeptic,' he said. Theories are
| all very well, but we have to deal with
| hard-headed British jury
| Nous verrons." answered Holmes calm
! ~ You work your own method, and
shall work mine. 1 shall be busy this af
ternoon' and shall probably return to Lon
| don by the evening train
| And leave your case unf1nshed?"
mo. finished
| But the mystery?"
| 'It Is solved"
| WHO was the criminal, then?'
| The gentleman describe"
| But who is hep
| Surely it would not be difficult to find
4 hood"
| Lestrade shrugged his shoulders 'I am
| a practical man., he said, land l really
cannot undertake to go about the country
| looking for left-handed gentleman with
| game leg. l should become the laughing
stock of Scotland Yard"
| "All right" said Holmes, quietly. al
| have given you the chance. Here are your
| lodgings. Goodbye. l shall drop you a
| line before I leave"
| Having left Lestrade at his rooms. We
| drove to our hotel, where found lunch
| upon, the table. Holmes was silent and
| buried in thought with panied expression
| upon his face. as one whoNfinds himself in
perplexing position.
| Look here, Watson" he said. when the
4
| chair and let me preach to you for a little
I ! don't quite know what to do and should
| value your advice. Light cigar, and let
| me expound.'
| Pray do So"
| We'll, now in considering this case there
are two points about young McCarthys
| narrative which struck US both instantly
| although they impressed me in his favor
| and you against him. One was the fact
| that his father should, according to his ac-
count cry 'Cooee! before seeing him. The
| n har uaS Tic ci lar lxri,
rat. He mumbled several words you I'M
| derstand, but that was all that caught the
sons ear Now from this double point our
| research must commence and we will be-
| gin 1t by presuming that what the lad says
is absolutely true
What of this .Cooeer then?"
well, obviously it could not have been
| meant for the son. The son. as far as he
knew, was in Bristol. 1t was mere chance
that he was within shot. The 'Cooee"
was meant to attract the attention of who
4 ever it was that he had the appointment
with. But 'Cooee| is a distinctly Aus
| tralian cry, and one which is used between
| Australians. There is a strong presumption
that the person whom Mccarthy expected
| to meet him at Boscombe Pool was some
| one who had been in Australia
| What of the rat, them
| Sherlock Holmes took folded paper
| from his pocket and fiattened it out on
| the table This is map of the Colony of
| Victoria" he said. II wired TO Bristol for
| it last night" He put his hand over part
| OF the map. w nat 90 you READ. ne
| asked
| "ARAT," read.
| And now?" He raised his hand
! "BALLARAT."
quite so. That was the word the man
| uttered, and of which his son only caught
the last two syllables. He was trying to
utter the name of his murderer. So-and-so
| of Ballarat."
| 1T is wonderful" ! exclaimed.
| TT is obvious And now, you see. had
narrowed the field down considerably The
/ possession of gray garment was a third
point which. granting the sons statement
| to be correct was certainty. We have
| come now out of mere vagueness to the
! definite conception of an Australian from
| Ballarat with a gray cloak"
Certainly"
And one who was at home in the dis
| trict. for the pool only be approached
| by the farm by the estate, where
| strangers could hardly wander"
Quite So:
Then comes our expedition of today.
| By an examination of the ground I gained
| the trif1ing details which l gave to that
| imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality
| of the criminal
but how did you gain them?"
you know my method 1t Is founded