Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-05-13
new that thew were watched. )"

the Reichenbach fall. You must re-
member that they knew. and only they.
knew. that 1 was still alive. Sooner or
later they believed that l should come
back to my rooms They watched them
continuously. and this morning they.
saw me arrive"
How do you know?"
Because l recognized their sentinel
when 1 glanced out OF my window. He
IS harmless enough fellow. Parker by
name. a garroter by trade and a re-
markable performer upon the Jews
harp. l cared nothing for him. But
cared n 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 cr;mi-
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."
My friends plans were gradually re-
vealing themselves. From this conven-
/ lent retreat the watchers were being
watched and the crackers tracked
| Inat 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 or
US. Holmes was silent and motionless,
but l could tell that he WAS keenly
/ alert and that his eyes were fixed in
| tently upon the stream of passersby.
1t was a bleak and boisterous night,
and the wind whistled shriIIy down the
| long street. Many people were moving
coats and cravats. Once or twice Ii
seemed TO me that l had seen the same
| figure before, and l especially noticed
two men who appeared to be sheltering
themselves from the wind in the door
way OF a house some distance up the
street l tried TO draw my companions
attention to them, but he gave little
| ejaculation of Impotence and cOntin-
ued TO stare into the street. More than
| once he fidgcted with his feet and
tapped rapidly with his fingers upon
the wall 1t was evident to me that he
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.
| was about TO make some remark to
him when l raised my eyes to the light
ed window and again experienced al
most as great a surprise as before.
clutched Holmes arm and pointed up
ward ~,
The shadow has movedr' | cried
1t was indeed no longer the profile.
but the back, which was turned toward
| us. ~
Three years had certainly not smooth
ed the asperities OF his temper or his
| impatience with less active intelli-
gence than his own.
cor course it has moved" said he
Am / such n farcical bungler, Wat
son. that l should erect an obvious
dummy and expect that some OF the
sharpest men in Europe would be de
ceived by It? We have been I'm 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 il from the front.
so that her shadow may never be seen.
All" He drew In his breath with a
shrill, excited intake. In the dim
light | saw his head thrown forward,
his whole attitude rigid with attention.
Outside, the street was absolutely de-
serted. Those two men might still be
crOuching in the doorway, but / could
no longer see them. All was still and
dark save only that brilliant yellow
screen in front OF us with the black
figure outlined upon its center. Again
In the utter silence / heard that thin.
sibllant note which spoke OF intense
suppressed excitement. An instant
later he pulled me back into the black
est corner OF the room, and felt his
warning hand upon my lips. The I'm
gers which clutched me were culver
ing. Never had / known my friend
more moved. and yet the dark street
stlll stretched lonely and motiOnless
before us.
But suddenly / was aware of that
which his keener senses had already
distinguished. A low, stealthy sound
came TO my ears not from the dIrec-
ton OF Baker street. but from the
back of the very house I'm which we
lay concealed. A door opened and
shut An instant later steps crept
down the passage-steps which were
meant TO be silent, but which reverber-
ated harshly through the empty house.
Holmes cTouched back against the
wall, and I did the same my hand
closing upon the handle OF my revolver.
Peering through the gloom, 1 saw the
vague outline OF a man, a shade black
er than the blackness OF the open
door lie stood for an instant, and
then he cTept forward, crouching men
acing. into the room. He was within
three yards OF us, this sinister figure.
and / had braced myself TO meet his
spring before 1 realized that he had
no idea OF our presence. He passed
close beside US, stole over to the win
dow and very softly and nOiselessiy
raised IL for half a foot AS he sank
10 the level OF this opening the light or
the street, NO longer dImmed by the
dusty glass, fell full upon his face.
The man seemed to be beside himself
with excitement. His two eyes shone