The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-06-07
THE ADVENTURESO OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

More than one person tainted at the
mere sight of him, SO terrible was the
effect It was quite certain that he had ]
foreseen his fate, and that it had
caused him the utmost horror This, of {
course, fitted in we'll enough with the
police theory, if the colonel could &
have seen his wife making a
murderous attack upon him. Nor
was tho fact of the wound be-
ing on the back Of his head fatal OBJ,
to avoid the blow. No information
could be got from the lady herself, who
was temporarily insane from an acute
attack of brain-fever.
From the police | learned that Miss
that evening with Mrs. Barclay, denied
having any knowledge, of what it was
which had caused the ill-humor in which
her companion had returned.
Having gathered these facts, Watt
son, smoked several pipes over them,
cial from others which were merely in
cidental There could be no question
that the most distinctive and suggestive
point in the case was the singular dis
appearance of the door-key. A most
careful search had failed to discover it.
been taken from it. But neither the
colonel nor the colonel's wife could
have taken it. That was perfectly clear.
Therefore a third person must have
entered the room. And that third
person could only have come. in
thru the window. 1t seemed to
me that a careful examination of the
room and the lawn might possibly re-
veal some traces Of this mysterious in
dividual. You know my methods, Wat I
son. There was not one Of them which
I did not apply to the inquiry. And it
ended BY my e traces but
in the room, and he had crossed the |
lawn coming from the road. I was able [
to obtain five very clear impressions of |
his footmarks; one in the roadway it.
self, at the point where he had climbed |
the low wall, two onlthe lawn, and two
very faint ones upon the stained boards
| near the window where he had entered. !
He had apparently. rushed across the
| lawn, for his toemarks were much deep
| er than his heels. But it was not the
man who surprised me: It was his com
panion.'
ellis companion! -
Holmes pulled large sheet of tissue
unfolded it upon his knee.
"What do you make Of that?' he
asked.
The paper was covered with the trac-
ings Of the foot-marks of some small
animal It had five well-marked foot
the whole print might be nearly as large
as dessert spoon.
cit 8 a dog said I.
"Did you ever hear Of a dog running
up a curtain? I found distinct traces
that TINS men Great4 IRE nag done TO-"
"But it is not the print of a mon
kew -.
"What can it. be, then?'
! ''Nelther dog nor cat nor monkey nor
any creature that we are familiar with.
I have tried to reconstruct it from the
where the beast has been standing mo-
tionless. You see that it is no less than
fifteen inches from: fore foot to hind.
Add to that the length of neck and
head, and you get a creature not much
shsn IS sw0 fef It'll ongPr0babl 6yhsnr
: this other measurement. The animal
has been moving, and we have the
length Of it's stride. In each case it is
only about three inches. You have an
Indication, YOU see, Of a long body with
not been considerable enough to leave
| any Of it's hair behind it. But it's gener-
} al shape must be what I have indicated,
carnivorous.'
: tHow do you deduce that7'
; because it ran up the curtain. A
canary's cage was hanging in the win
) DOW, and It's sim seems to have been to
$ get at the bird. ''.:i ~
'"Then what was the beast91
An, II could give it a name it
| might go long way towards solving
, the case. On the whole, it was probably
tribe-,and yet it is larger than any of
these that have SEEM
"But what had it to do with the
crime?'
"That, also, is obscure. But we have
learn learned Ia a good deal, you, perceive. W.
looking at the. quarrel between the
Barclays-the blinds were up and the
room lighted. We know, also, that he
ran across the lawn, entered the room,
l accompanied by strange animal, and
that tn he either struck the colonel or,
fell down from sheer fright at the sight
:. Of him, and cut his head on the cor
n ner Of the fender. Finally, we have
the curious fact that the intruder car
RED away the key with him when he
d "Your discoveries seem to have left
g the business more obscure than it was
' 'eHFV Qaitc s So. They Ii undoubtedly showed
l. that the affair was much deeper than
y was at first cOnJectured. / thought the
e matter over, and [ came to the conclu
|, sion that / must approach the case
g from another aspect. But really, Wat
f son, ! am keeping you up, and might
It just as well tell you all this on oul
It way to Aldershot tomorrow
IS "T II you, you have gone rather
g, cit is quite certain that when Mrs
n Barclay left the house at half past sever
e she was on good terms with her hus
l. band. She was never, as think [ have
N said, ostentatiously affectionate, bu
It she was heard by the coachman chat
N ting with the colonel in a friendly
v fashion. Now, it was equally certain
y that, Immediately on her return, sh,
v had gone to the room in which she wa
/ least likely to see her husband, hae
; flown to tea as an agitated woman
+ will, and finally, on his coming in II
a. her, had broken into violent recrimina
3 tions. Therefore something had oc
= Cured between seven thirty and min
- o'clock which had completely altere,
~ her feelings towards him. But Mis-
- Morrison had been with her during tn
= whole of that hour and a half. It wa
-. - ,absolutelY certain, therefore, in spite o
y Eher denial, that she must know some
!, thing Of the matter.
- "My first conjecture was that pos
r sibly there had been some passages be
!: l tween this young lady and the old sol
III der, which the former had now cor
ne fessed to the wife. That would &C
e count for the angry return, and ais
OF for the girl IS denial that anything ha
9d occurred Nor would it be entirely il