Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1905-09-05
The Adventure q
the Solitary
Cyclist
No. 4 of the Series

ROM the years 1894 to
1901, inclusive, Mr.. Sher-
lock Holmes was very
busy man. 1t Is safe to
EgR#A say that there was no
8sAy l@8l public case Of any diff
Guilty In which he was
not consulted during those eight years,
and there were hundreds of private
cases, some of them Of the most in
tricdte and extraordinary character,
in which he played a prominent part.
AS have preserved very full notes Of
all these cases and was myself person
ally engaged in many of them, 1t may
be imagined that it is no easy task to
know which 1 should select to lay be-
fore the public. shall, however, pre-
serve my former rule and give the pref
erence to those cases which derive their
interest not so much from the brutality
Of the crime as from the ingenuity and
dramatic quality of the solution. For
this reason will now lay before the
reader the facts connected with Miss
Violet Smith, the solitary cyclist of
Charlington, and the curious sequel of
our investigation, which eliminated in
unexpected tragedy.
On referring to my notebook for the
year 1895 find that 1t was upon Sat-
urday, the 23d Of April, that we first
heard of Miss Violet Smith. Her visit
was, I remember, extremely unwel-
come to Holmes, for he was immersed
at the moment in very abstruse and
complicated problem concerning the
peculiar persecution to which John Vim
cent Harden, the well known tobacco
millionaire, had been subjected. My
friend, who loved above all things pre-
cision and concentration Of thought, re-
scented anything which distracted his
attention from the matter in hand.
And yet, without q harshness which
possible to refuse to listen to the story
Of the young and beautiful woman, tall,
graceful and queenly, who presented
herself at Baker street late in the
evening and lmplored his assistance
and advice. It was vain to urge that
his time was already fully occupied,
for the young lady had come with the
determination to tell her story, and 1t
was evident that nothing short Of force
could get her out Of the room until she
had done SO. With resigned air and
a somewhat weary smile, Holmes beg
! ged the beautiful intruder to take a
seat and to inform us what it was that
was troubling her.
"At least it cannot be your health"
said he as his keen eyes darted over
her. $50 ardent bicyclist must be
full Of energy"
She glanced down in surprise at her
own feet, and I observed the slight
roughening Of the side Of the sole caus.
ed by the friction Of the edge Of the
| pedal
Eyes, I bicycle a good deal, Mr.
Holmes, and that has something to dc
with my visit to you today"
My friend took the lady's ungloved
hand and examined it with as close ar
attention and as little sentiment as 8
scientist would show to specimen.
You will excuse me. am sure. I,
is my business" said he as he dropped
it. II nearly fell into the error Of sup
posing that you were typewriting. OF
course it is obvious that 1t Is music
You observe the spatulate finger ends
Watson, which Is common to both pro
fe@ions? There Is spirituality about
the face, however"-she gently turned
it toward the light-'which the type
writer does not generate. This lady II
a musician"
eyes. Mr.. Holmes, teach music"
"In the country, presume, from
your complexion
Eyes, sir; near Farnham, on the Dor
ders Of Surrey"
"Now, Miss Violet, what has happen
ed to you near Farnham, on the Dor
ders Of Surreyf"
The young lady, with great clearnes,
and composure, made the following
curious statement:
my father is dead, Mr.. Holmes. 81,
was James Smith, who conducted tn,
orchestra at the old Imperial theater
My mother and were left without ,
relation in the world except one I'm
Gle, Ralph Smith, who went to Afric,
twenty-five years ago, and we hav,
never had word from him since
When father died we were left yer,
poor, but one day we were told tina
there was an advertisement in tn
Times inquiring for our whereabouts
You can imagine how excited we were
for we thought that some one had lef
us fortune. We went at once to tn
lawyer whose name was given in tn
paper. There we met two gentlemen
Mr.. Carruthers and Mr.. Woodley, VIII
were home on visit from South Afr
ca. They said that my uncle was
friend of theirs, that he had died som
months before in great poverty in Jc
hannesburg, and that he had aske
them with his last breath to hunt u
his relations and see that they were i
! no want. 1t seemed strange to us tina
Uncle Ralph, who took no notice Of u
when he was alive, should be SO care
full to look after US when he was deat
but Mr.. Carruthers explained that th
reason was that my uncle had jus
heard Of the death Of his brother an
SO felt responsible for our fate.'
"Excuse me-" said Eolmes. "Whe
was this interview
"Last December-four months ago.
"Pray proceed"
"Mr. Woodley seemed to me to be
most odious person. He was foreve
making eyes at me-a coarse. puff
faced, red mustached young man, wit
his hair plastered down on each sid
" ~ forshsad. I thought that be ~