Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1905-10-05

n 1 nad come IN mere as n JournaTrst i
should have interviewed myself and
had two columns in every evening pa.
per. AS it is, 1 am giving away val
liable copy by telling my story over
and over to a string Of different people,
and l can make no use of it myself.
However, I've heard your name. Mr..
Sherlock Holmes, and if You'll only ex-
plain this queer business l shall be
paid for my trouble in telling YOU the
story"
Holmes sat down and listened.
1T all seems to center round that
bust of Napoleon which l bought for
this very room about four months ago.
picked it up cheap from Harding
Bros, two doors from the High Street
station. y great deal Of my journal
lstic work is done at night, and l of
ten write until the early morning. So
1t was today. l was sitting in my den.
which is at the back Of the top of the
house. about 3 o'clock when l was
convinced that 1 heard some sounds
downstairs. l listened. but they were
not repeated, and I concluded that
they came from outside. Then sud
denly. about five minutes later. there
came a most horrible yell-the most
dreadful sound, Mr.. Holmes. that ever
l heard. 1t will ring in my ears as
long as l live. l sat frozen with hor-
VA II . minute o. srv. al.. v~.-vN
the poker and Went downstairs. When
l entered this room l found the Win
dow wide open, INK at once observed
that the bust was gone from the
telpiece. Why any burglar should take
such a thing passes my understand
ing, for it was only 4 plaster cast and
Of no real value whatever.
you a see for yourself that any
one going out through that open Win
dow could reach the front doorstep by
taking a long stride. This was clearly
what the burglar had done, so l went
round and opened the door. Stepping
out into the dark, l nearly fell over a
dead man who was lying there. l ran
back for a light, and there was the
poor fellow, i great cash in his throat
oAo LIN NdOlS pI1AS SN iAllll1S III
blood. He lay on his back, his knees
drawn up and his mouth horribly open.
l shall see him in my dreams. 1 had
just time to blow on my police whistle,
and then l must have tainted, for I
knew nothing more until l found the
policeman standing over me in the
hall"
WELL, who was the murdered man?'
asked Holmes.
There's nothing to show who he
was" said Lestrade. You shall see
the body at the mortuary, but we have
made nothing Of it up to now. He is
a tall man, sunburned, very powerful,
not more than thirty. He is poorly
dressed, and vet does not appear to
be a laborer. A horn handled clasp
knife was lying in a pool of blood be-
side him. Whether it was the weapon
which did the deed or whether it be-
longed to the dead man l do not know.
There was no name on his clothing
and nothing in his pockets save an
apple, some string, a shilling ma Of
London and a photograph. Here it is
1t was evidently taken by a snapshot
from a small camera. 1t represented
an alert, sharp featured simian man,
with thick eyebrows and a very pc
ulia projection Of he lower part of
the face, like the muzzle of a baboon.
"And what became of the bust?" ask
ed Holmes after a careful study of this
picture.
eve had news Of it just before you
came. 1t has been found in the front
garden Of an empty house in Camp
den House road. 1t was broken into
fragments. l am going round now to
see it. Will you Gomez"
certainly. l must just take one look
round He examined the carpet and
the window. The fellow had either
very long legs or was a most active
man. said he. with an area beneath.
it was no mean feat to reach that win
dow ledge and open that window. Get
ting back was comparatively simple.
Are you coming with US to see the re-
mains of your bust, Mr.. Harker?"
The ~disconsolate journalist had seat
ed himself at a writing table.
81 must try and make something Of
It," said he, though l have no doubt
that the first editions of the evening
papers are out already with full de-
tails. It's like my luck. You remember
when the stand fell at Doncaster? Well,
l was the only journalist in the stand
and my journal the only one that had
no account Of it, for I was too shaken
to write it. And now I'll be too late
with a murder done on my own door
step"
AS we left the room we heard his pen
travelling shrilly over the fOolscap.
The spot where the fragments Of the
bust had been found was only a few
hundred yards away. For the first time
u eyes rested upon this prescntment
of the great emperor, which seemed to
raise such frantic and destructive ha-
tired in the mind of the unknown. 1t
lay scattered in splintered shards upon
The grass. Holmes picked up several of
them and examined them carefully. I
was convinced from his intent face
n his p%urposeful manner that at last
he was upon 4 cloW.