Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-04
The Return of *
Sherlock Holmes
BY A. CONAN DOYLE.
~.
The Adventure Of the Solitary Cyclist.
Copyright by A. Conan
Copyright, Phillips

Yes. sir. near Farnham, on the borders
of Surrey"
"A beautiful neighborhood. and full of the
most interesting associations You remem-
Der. Watson. that it was near there that
we took Archie Stamford. the forger Now
Miss Violet, what has happened to you
near Farnham the borders of Surrey
The young lady. with great clearness and
composure. made the following curious
statement:
My father is dead. Mr. Holmes. He was
James Smith. who conducted the orchestra
at the old Imperial Theater. My mother
and | were left without a relation in the
world except one uncle. Ralph Smith, who
went to Africa twenty-five years ago, and
we have never had a word from him since.
When father died. were left very poor,
but day we We're told that there was
an advertisement in the Times inquiring
for our whereabouts. You can imagine how
excited were for we thought that some
one had left fortune. We went at once
to the lawyer whose name was given in
the paper. There we met two gentlemen,
Mr.. Carruthers and Mr.. Woodley, who were
home on n visit from South Africa. They
said that my uncle was friend of theirs,
that he had died some months before in
great poverty in Johannesburg, and that
he had asked them with his last breath
to hunt UP his relations and see that they
We're in want. 1t seemed strange to us
that Uncle Ralph, who took no notice of
us when he was alive. should be so careful
to look after us when he was dead. but Mr..
that my uncle had just heard of the death
of his brother, and so felt responsible for
our fate.
Excuse me-" said Holmes. when was
Last December-four months ago"
Pray proceed"
Mr.. Woodley seemed to me to be a
| most odious person. He was forever max
ing eyes at me-a coarse, puffy-faced, red
muStached young man, with his hair plaS-
tered down on each side of his forehead.
| thought that he was perfectly hateful
and | was sure that CyrIl would not wish
| me to know such a person
oh, Cyril is his name! said Holmes,
smiling.
The young lady blushed and laughed.
Yes. Mr.. Holmes, Cyril Morton, an cleo
trical engineer. and we hope to be mar
ried at the end of the summer. Dear me,
how did / get talking about him? What !
wished to say was that Mr.. Woodley was
perfectly odious, but that Mr.. Carruthers
who was a much older man. more
agreeable. He was dark, sallow, clean
shaven. silent person. but he had polite
manners and a pleasant smile. He inquired
how we were left, and on finding that we
were very poor, he suggested that l should
come and teach music to his only daugh-
ter, aged ten. / said that l did not like
to leave my mother, on which he sug-
gested that l should go home to her every
weekend. and he offered me hundred a
year, which was certainly splendid pay. So
II eHutu by my accepting, ana went DOWN
to Chiltern Grange, about six miles from
Farnham. Mr.. Carruthers was widower,
but he had engaged a lady housekeeper, a
very respectable, elderly person, called Mrs
Dixon, to look after his establishment.
The child was a dear, and everything
promised well. Mr.. Carruthers was very
kind and very musical and we had most
pleasant evenings together. Every week
end l went home to my mother infown.
THE first flaw in my happiness was the
arrival of the red-mustached Mr.. Woodley.
He came for visit of a week, and OH it
seemed three months to me. He was a
dreadful persona bully to every one
else. but to me something infinitely worse.
He made odious love to me. boosted of his
wealth. said that if L married him l could
have the finest diamonds In London, and