Evening star., 1905-10-08


| English provincial town. His extreme love
| of solitude in England suggests the Idea
| that he was In fear Of some one or some
i thing. so we may assume as q working hy-
pothesis that it was fear of some one OF
| something which drove him from America
| As to what 1t was he feared, we can only
deduce that by considering the formidable
letters which we're received by himself and
his successors. Did you remark the post.
marks of those letters?"
1.-THE first was from Pondicherry. the Sec
don."
From East London. What do you de-
duce from that?'
| They are all seaports. That the writer
| was on board of a ship"
| Excellent. We have already a elew.
There can be no doubt that the probability
| the strong probabilities that the writer
| was on board of a ship. And now let us
| consider another point. In the case OF
| Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between
the threat and It's fulfillment, In Dundee il
/ was only some three or four days Does
I that suggest nythingf
| "a greater distance to travel
but the letter had also greater distance
| to come
| Then do not see the point
| There is at least presumption that the
vessel in which the man or men are Is a
sailing ship. It looks as IL they always
| sent their singular warning or token before
| them when starting upon their mission. You
| see how quickly the deed followed the sign
| when it came from Dundee. If they bed
come from Pondicherry in steamer they
| would have arrived almost as soon az their
letter. But as a matter of fact seven weeks
elapsed. I think that those seven weeks
represented the difference between the mail
boat which brought the letter and the sail
| ing vessel which brought the writer"
| 1T is possible"
More than that 1t is probable. And
now you see the deadly urgency of this new
case. and why urged young openshaw to
| caution. The blow has always fallen at the
end of the time which 1t would take the
| senders to travel the distance. But this
| one comes from London, and therefore we
| cannot count upon delay"
Good Godr' / cried, what can it mean,
| this relentless perseeution?"
THE papers which Openshaw carried are
| obviously of vital Importance to the person
! or persons in the sailing ship. / think that
| 1t Is quite clear that there must be more
| than one of them. A single man could not
| have carried out two deaths in such a way
as to deceive coroner's jury There must
have been several in it, and they must have
| been men of resource and determine ton.
| Their papers they mean to have, be the
| holder of them who 1t may. In this way.
| you see, K. K. K. ceases to be the Initials
! of an individual, and becomes the badge of
a society"
But of what society?"
Have you never" said Sherlock
| Holmes, bending forward and sinking his
voiee-.have you never heard of the Ku
| Klux Klan2"
/ II never have"
| f1OiIneS turned over the IeaVeS or the BOOK
| upon his knee. Here it is,' said he. pres
| emily. Ku Klux Klan. name derived
| from the fanciful resemblance to the sound
| produced by cooking a rife This terrible
| secret society was formed by some ex-con-
| federate soldiers in the southern states
| after the civil war, and it rapidly formed
| local branches in different parts of the
| country, notably In Tennessee, Louisiana,
| the Caroinas, Georgia and Florida. Its
| power was used for political purposes, prin-
| cipally for the terrorizing of the negro vot-
ers, and the numbering and driving from
| the country of those who were opposed
| to it's views. Its outrages were usually pre-
ceded by a warning sent to the marked
man in some fanstastic but generally recog
| nized shape-a sprfg of oak leaves in some
parts, melon seeds or orange pips in 9TH
| ers. On receiving this the victim might
| either openly abjure his former ways, or
| might fly from the country. If he braved
the matter out, death would unfailingly
come upon him, and usually in some
| strange and unforeseen manner. So per-
| feet was the organization of the society,
and SO systematic its methods. that there
| Is hardly case upon record where any
/ man succeeded in Drawing 1t with fmpunity,
| or in which any Of its outrages were traced
| home to the perpetrators. For some years
| the organization fourished in spite of the
| efforts of the United States government and
/ Of the better classes of the community in
| the south. Eventually, in the year 1869, the
movement rather suddenly collapsed, al
| though there have been sporadic outbreaks
/ of the same sort since that date
You will observe" said Holmes, laying
down the volume, that the sudden break
ing up of the society was eoincident with
| the disappearance of Openshaw from
| America with their papers. 1t may well
| have been cause and effect. II is no won-
| der that he and his family have some of
| the more implaeable spirits upon their
! track. You can understand that this reg
| lister and diary may implicate some OF
| the first men in the south, and that there
may be many who will not sleep easy at
night until it is recovered
Then the page we have seen?'
rs such as we might expect. 1t ran, if
! remember right, sent the pips to A. B. and
C-that is sent the society's warning to
| that a and B cleared, or left the coun-
| try, and finally that c was visited WITH l.
fear. sinister result for C. Well. 1 think
doctor, that we may let some light into
! this dark place. and I believe that the
| only chance young Qpenshaw has in the
| meantime Is to do what I have told him.
| There is nothing more to be said or to be
| done tonight, so hand me over my violin,
| and let US try to forget for half an hour
| the miserable weather and the still more
miserable ways of our fellowmen.'
1t had cleared in the morning, and the
| sun was shining with a subdued brightness
! through the dim veil which hangs over
| the great city. Sherlock Holmes was al
| ready at breakfast when I came down.
You viii excuse me for not waiting for
| busy day before me in looking into this
| case of young Openshaw's."
| What steps will you take?" asked
| 1T will very much depend upon the re-
| suits of my first inquiries. I may have
| to go down to Horsham after ALL
You will not go there frst?''
mo. l shall commence with the city
Just ring the bell. and the maid will bring
| up your coffee
| AS I waited I lifted the unopened news
paper from the table and glanced my eye
| over it.. 1t rested upon heading which
sent chill to my heart.
Holmes I cried, you are too late"
"Ah!' said he. laying down his cup 'I
| feared as much. How was it done?" He
| spoke calmly, but I could see that he was
| deeply moved.
MY eye caught the name of Openshaw,
| and the heading, Tragedy Near Waterloo
| Bridge Here Is the account: Between 3
and 10 last night Police Constable Cook of
| the H division, on duty near Waterloo
| bridge, heard a cry for help and splash
| in the water The night, however, was ex-
tremely dark and stormy. SO that in spite
| of the help of several passersby, it was
quite impossible to effect rescue The
alarm, however. was given and by the
aid of the water police the body was