Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-07-20

earnestly at the window; then he ap.
preached It, and, standing on tiptoe
| with his neck GRAINED, he looked into
| the room.
"He must have entered through the
door. There IA no opening except the
one pane" said our learned guide.
dear mew said Holmes. and lie
smiled IN a singular way as he glanc
| ed at our companion. well, II there
10 nothing to be learned here we had
best 10 inside"
The lecturer unlocked the outer door
and ushered 10 into his room. We
stood at the entrance while Holmes
made an examina ton Of the carpet.
Il an afraid there are no signs
here" said he. zone could hardly
hope for any upon 10 dry q day. Your
servant seems to have quite recovered
You left him In a chair. you say
Which chair"
by the window there"
II see. Near this little table. YOU
can come in now. I have finished
with the carpet. Let us take the lit.
tie table f1rst. or course what has
happened Ia very clear. The man en-.
tered and took the papers, sheet by
| sheet, from the central table. He car.
ried them over to the window table,
| because from there he could see n you
came across the courtyard and SO
could effect an escape"
80 o. lxn
said Sonmes, for l entered by the
side door,
"Ah, that's good! We'll. anyhow. that
was in his mind. Let me see the three
strips. No finger impressions no.
Well, he carried over this one first and
he copied II. How long would it take
him to do that using every possible
contraction? a quarter of an hour not
less. Then he tossed 1t down and seiz-
ed the next. He was In the midst of that
when your return caused him to make
IA very hurried retreat very hurried,
since he had not time to replace the
papers which would tell you that he
had been there. You were not aware
Of any hurrying feet on the stair as
mo. I can't say was"
"Well, he wrote so furiously that he
broke bis pencil. and had. as you OBJ
serve. to sharpen 1t again. This is Of
interest. Watson. The pencil was not
an ordinary one. 1t was above the
usua! size, with soft lead. the
outer color was dark blue. the maker
name was printed in silver lettering
and the piece remaining IL only about
an inch and a half long. Look for such
Q pencil. Mr.. Soames, and you have got
your man. When add that he pos
sesses large and very blunt knife you
have an additional aid"
Mr.. Soames was somewhat over
whelmed by this food Of information
II can follow the other points," said
he. "but, really, in this matter Of the
| length
Holmes held out a small chip with
the letters nm and a space Of clear
wood after them.
| you seer
mo. I fear that even now
watson. I have always done you an
injustice. There are others. What
could this mn be? 1t Is at the end Of @
word. You are aware that Johann
Faber is the most common makers
name. 10 1t not clear that there is just
as much Of the pencil left as usually
follows the Johann" He held thu
small table sideways to the electric
light. II was hoping that IL the paper
on which he wrote was thin some trace
Of 1t might come through upon this pol
ished surface. No. see nothing.
don't think there Is anything more te
be learned here Now for the centra
table. This small pellet is. l presume
the black. doughty mass you spoke Of
Roughly pyramidal in shape and hol
lowed ont, perceive. AS you say
there appear to be grains OF sawdust ir
1t. Dear me, this ia very interesting
And the cut-a positive tear. I see. II
began with n thin scratch and ended
with jagged hole. I am much in
debted to you for directing my atten
tion to this case. Mr.. Soames. Where
does that door lead tor
"To my bedroom"
"Have you been in 1t since your ad
venture?"
mo. came straight away for you.
II should like to have glance
round What charming. old fashion
ed room! Perhaps you will kindly
wait a minute until have examined
the floor. No, l see nothing. What
about this curtain? You hang your
clothes behind it. If any one were
forced to conceal himself in this room
he must do 1t there. since the bed II
too low and the wardrobe too shallow
No one there, l suppose?"
AS Holmes drew the curtain ! wat
aware from some little rigidity and
alertness Of his attitude that he was
prepared for an emergency. AS 4 mat
ter Of fact, the drawn curtain disclOs
~