Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-05-13

! tween the puffS of his cigarette.
But the tracks" 1 cried 4 saw
with my own eyes that two went down
the path and none returned"
1T came about in this way. The in
slant that the professor had disap-
peared it struck me what really ex-
traordinarily lucky chance fate had
| placed in my way. / knew that Mori-
| arty was not the only man who had
| sworn my death. There were at least
| three others whose desire for venge-
| ance upon me would only be increased
| by the death of their leader. They were
| all most dangerous men. One or other
would certainly get me. On the other
| hand, if all the world was convinced
that l was dead they would take liber-
| ties. these men; they would soon lay
themselves open. and sooner or later l
could destroy them. Then it would be
| time for me to announce that l was
| still in the land of the living. So rapid
| ly does the brain act that | believe l
| had thought this all out before Profess
| or MOriarty had reached the bottom OF
| the Reichenbach fall.
81 stood up and examined the rocky
| wall behind me- In your picturesque
account of the matter, which l read
! with great interest some months later,
you assert that the wall was sheer
That was not literally true. A few
small fOotholds presented themselves
and there was some indication OF a
ledge. The cliff is SO high that to climb
ii all was an obvious impOSsibility,
and it was equally impossible to make
my way along the wet path without
leaving some tracks. / might, il is frye,
have reversed my boots, as | have done
on similar occasions, but the sight of
three sets of tracks in one direction
would certainly have suggested a de-
ception. On the whole, then, it was
best that l should risk the climb. 1t
was not a pleasant business, Watson.
The fall roared beneath me. l am not a
fanciful person, but l give you my
word that l seemed to hear Moriarty's
voice screaming ut me out of the abyss.
A mistake would have been fatal.
More than once as tufts of grass came
out in my hand or my foot slipped in
the wet nOtches OF the rock / thought
that / was gone But struggled up
ward. and at last / reached ledge
several feet deep and covered with
soft green moss, where could lie I'M
seen in the most perfect comfort There
was stretched when you, my dear
Watson, and all your following were
investigating in the most sympathetic
and inefficient manner the sclrcum-
stances of my death.
''At last. when you had all formed
your inevitable and totally erroneous
conclusions. you departed for the hotel,
and | was left alone. 1 had imagined
that / had reached the end OF my ad-
ventures, but a very unexpected occur
renee showed me that there were sur
prises still in store for me- A huge
rock, falling from above, doomed past
me, struck the path and bounded over
into the chasm. For an instant |
thought that it was an accident, but a
moment later, looking up, 1 saw a
mans head against the darkening sky,
and another stone struck the very
ledge upon which / was stretched
within a foot of my head. OF course
the meaning of this was obvious. Mo-
riarty had not been alone A confeder-
ate-and even that one glance had told
me how dangerous u man that cOnfed-
crate was-had kept guard while the
plOlNoHOI hd0 dAldOhCu EEOil u
distance, unseen by me, he had been a
witness OF his friends death and of
my escape. He had waited, and then,
making his way around to the top of
the cliff. he had endeavOred to succeed
where his comrade had failed
Il did not take long 10 think about II.
Watson. Again | saw that grim face
look over the cliff, and l knew that II
was the precursor of another stone.
I scrambled down on to the path
don't think could have done Ii in cold
blood. 1t was "a hundred times more
difficult than getting UP. But had no
time TO think of the danger, for an
other stone sang past me as ! hung by
my hands from the edge Of the ledge.
Halfway down | slipped; but, by the
blessing of God, | landed. torn and
bleeding. upon the path. / took to my
heels, did ten miles over the noun
tains in the darkness, and a week later
| found myself in Florence, With the
certainty that no one in the world
knew what had become of me.
Il had only one confidant-my broth |
er Mycroft. | owe you many apologies, |
my dear Watson, but it was all impor-
tant that il should be thought | was
dead. and il is quite certain that you
would not have written so convincing
an account of my unhappy end had you |
not yourself thought that 1t was true. |
Several times during the last three |
years l have taken up my pen TO write |
to you. but always | feared lest your |
affectiOnate regard for me should tempt |
you to some indiscretiOn which would |
betray my secret. For that reason l |
turned away from You this evening |
when you upset my books. for I was in |
danger at the time. and any show OF |
surprise and emotion upon your part |
might have drawn attention 10 nv |
identity and led to the most deplorabIe !
and irreparable results. AS to Afycroft. |
bad 10 conhde in him in order to OBJ |
tain the money which / needed The |
course OF events in London did not run |
so we'll as had hoped, for the trial OF !,
the MOriarty gang left two OF its most I