The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-06-14

OsO0S-.es~-s.-o-s>s-s -@s-s-o-s-s>>->,-s
examined, until at last he professed
himself satisfied, and with my aid and
that of the inspector cut down the
wretched object and laid it reverently
under a sheet.
.l.HEow about this ropeap' he asked.
velyan, drawing large coil from undeH
the bed. "He was morbidly nervouS
of fire and always kept this beside
him, SO that he might escape by the
ing ;r,.+ ,r,,.+ h.1,. ..vaa +hon
trouble said Holmes, thoughtful.
ly. eyes, the actual facts arc
very plain, and I shall be sur
you the reasons for them as well. I viii
take this photograph of Blessingtca,
which | see upon the mantlepiece, as it
may help me in my inquiries. y ~
"But you have told us nothingl =
cried the doctor.
Oh, there can be no doubt az to the,
'There were three of them in 1t: the
young man, the old man, and third,
to whose identity I have no clue. The
first two, need hardly remark, are the
same who masaueraded as the Russian
count and his son, 50 we can give very
full description of them. They were ac.-
mitted by confederate inside tie
house. # I might offer you word c.
advice, Inspector, it would be to arrest
the page, who, as 1 understand, has onl =
recently come into your service, Dot,
tori
'1The young imp cannot be found,
said DR.. Treve1yan; "the maid and the,
cook have just been searching for him.'h
Holmes shrugged his shoulders.
| He has played not unimportant
part in this Drama" said he. "The,
three men having assembled the stairs,t
which they did on tiptoe, the elder MANI
first, the younger, man second, and thes
unknown man in the rear
| envy dear Holmes!'' I calculated. p,
"Oh, there could be no question as til
the superimposing of the footmarks.
| had the advantage Of learning which,,
was which last night. They ascende6.,
then, to Mr.. Blessington S room, the
With the help Of wire, however. they
forced round the key. Even without the
lens you will perceive, by the scratches
on this ward, where the pressure was app
piled.
CON entering the room their first pro-
ceeding must have been to gag Mr..
Blessington. He may have been asleep,
terror as to have been unable to cry
out. These walls are thick, and it is
} conceivable that his shrek, if he had
time to utter one, was unheard.
"Having secured him, it is evident
to me that consultation of some sort
was held. Probably it was something
in the nature of a judicial proceeding.
It must have lasted for some time, for
it was then that these cigars were
smoked. The older man sat in that
wicker chair; it was he who used the
cigar holder. The younger man sat over
yonder; he knocked his ash off against
the chest Of drawers. The third fellow
paced up and down. Blessington.
think, sat upright in the bed, but of that
[ cannot be absolutely certain.
} "Well, it ended by their taking Bless
ington and hanging him: The matter
was so prearranged that it is my belief
, that they brought with them some sort
of block or pulley which might serve as
a gallows. That screw-driver and those
screws were, as 1 conceive, for fixing it
up. Seeing the hook. however, they
naturally savee themselves the trouble.
Having finished their work they made
, off, and the. door was barred behind
, them by their confederate.
We had all listened with the deepest
, interest to thi, sketch of the night 8
: doings, which Holmes had deduced from
, signs so subtle and minute that, even
! when he had pointed them out to us,
: we could scarcely follow him in his
reasonings. The inspector hurried away
on the instant to make inquiries about
the page, while Holmes and l returned
to Baker street for breakfast.
"I'll be back by three said he,
when we had finished our meal. both
, the inspector and the doctor will meet
g me here at that hour, and hope by that
time to have cleared up any little OBJ
s security which the case may still pre-
l sent.'
L Our visitors arrived at the appointed
/ time. but it was quarter to four before
K my friend put in an appearance. From
IL his expression as he entered, however,
| haf oil had writ
q him.
n amy news, inspectorF'
e "We have got the boy, SIR
e nExcellent, and have, got the men. -
d "You have got them!' we cried, all
n three.
t. "Well, at least I have got their iden-
< tity. This so-called Blessington is, as
I expected, well known at headquarters,
l. and 50 are his assailants. Their
e. names are Biddle, Hayward and Mof-
d "The Worthingdon bank gang, -
q. cried the inspector.
y Precisely, - said Holmes.
Sutton
"Exactly,'' said Holmes
as "Why, that makes it as clear as cry.
t. stall, - said the inspector.
~ But Trevelyan and I looked at each
9p other in bewilderment.
ut "You must surelyremember the great
is Worthingdon bank business said
to Holmes Five men were in it-these
~ four and q fifth called Cartwright. To-
ID bir., the caretaker, was murdered, and
- the thieves got away with $4,000. This
was in 1875. They were all five arrest
nj ed, but the evidence against them was
by no means conclusive. This Blessing
ton or Sutton, who was the worst of
le the gang, turned informer. On his
US evidence Cartwright was hanged, and
ae the other three got fifteen years apiece
oe When they got out the other day, which
~ was some years before their full term
~ they set themselves, as you perceive, tt
hunt down the traitor and to avenge the
death Of their comrade upon him. Twice
they tried to get at him and failed; 8
ho third time, you see, it came off. Il
10 there anything further which I can ex
ga plain, DIR. Trevelyan9o
ut think you have made it all re
I'M markedly clear said the doctor. enc
70 doubt the day on which he was so per
w turbed was the day when he had seen O.
an their release in the newspapers
no "Quite so. His talk about bur
,is glary was the merest Blind
"But why could he not tell 70,
cd this9''
id HWell, my dear sir, knowing the vim
nv dictive character of his old associates
dis he was trying to hide his own identit,
th. from everybody as long as he could. Hi
is secret was shameful one and he coult
ed not bring himself to divulge it. How
ever, wretch as he was, he was still Iiy
4ho oh. al - L.