Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1905-07-08

1SUl, inclusive, NIL OAcA
nv lock Holmes was a very
on1 busy man. 1t is safe to
kaS8sssssaass say that there was nc
A@SSN9S public case Of any diff
"aRansassnzaS Guilty in which he was
not consulted during those eight years,
and there were hundreds Of private
cases. some of them Of the most In
tricate and extraordinary character,
in which he played a prominent part.
As have preserved very full notes OF
all these cases and was myself person
ally engaged in many Of them, it may
be imagined that it is no easy task to
know which l should select to lay be-
fore the public. l shall, however, pre-
serve my former rule and give the pref
erence to those cases which derive their
interest not SO much from the brutality
of the crime as from the ingenuity and
dramatic quality Of the solution. For
this reason ] will now lay before the
reader the facts connected with Miss
Violet Smith, the solitary cyclist Of
Charlington, and the curious sequel Of
our investigation, which eliminated in
unexpected tragedy.
On referring to my notebook for the
year 1895 l find that it was upon Sat
urday, the 23d of April, that we first
heard of Miss Violet Smith Her visit
was, | remember, extremely unWel-
come to Holmes, for he was Immersed
at the moment in very abstruse and
complicated problem concerning the
peculiar persecution to which John Vim
cent Harden, the we'll known tobacco
millionaire had been subjected. My
friend, who loved above all things pre-
cision and concentration Of thought re-
scented anything which distracted his
attention from the matter in hand.
And yet, without harShness which
was foreign to his nature, it was i'm
possible to refuse to listen to the story
of the young and beautiful woman, tall,
graceful and queenly, who presented
herself at Baker street late in the
evening and implored his assistance
and advice. 1t was vain to urge that
his time was already fully occupied,
for the young lady had come with the
was evident that nothing short Of force
could get her out of the room until she
had done so. With resigned air and
a somewhat weary smile, Holmes beg
ged the beautiful intruder to take
seat and to inform us what it was that
was troubling her.
'At least it cannot be your health"
said he as his keen eyes darted over
her $50 ardent a bicyclist must be
full of energy"
She glanced down in surprise at her
own feet, and I observed the slight
roughening of the side Of the sole caus-
ed by the friction of the edge Of the
pedal.
Eyes, I bicycle good deal, Mr..
Holmes, and that has something to do
with my visit to you today"
My friend took the lady's ungloved
hand and examined it with as close an
attention and as little sentiment as a
scientist would show to a specimen.
'fYou will excuse me, am sure. 1t
ds my business" said he as he dropped
1t. II nearly fell into the error Of sup
posing that you were typewriting. OF
course it is obvious that it is music.
You observe the spatulate finger ends,
watson, which is common to both pro-
8essions? There is spirituality about
the face, however'-she gently turned
At toward the Hght-"which the type
writer does not generate. This lady is
n musician"
''Yes, Mr.. Holmes, teach music
ain the country, I presume, from
your complexion"
Eyes, sir; near Farnham, on the Dor
derS of Surrey"
Nov, Miss Violet, what has happen
I'D to you near Farnham, on the Dor
hers of Surrey?'
The young lady, with great clearness
and composure, made the following
curious statement:
"My father is dead, Mr.. Holiness He
swas James Smith, who conducted the
orchestra at the old Imperial theater.
MY mother and I were left without a
ISOLATION in the world except one IN
cle, Ralph Smith, who went to Africa
%"EA&y yCdAo dSO, ouO we udVG
never had a word from him since.
when father died we were left very
poor, but one day we were told that
there was an advertisement in the
times 1nquiring for our whereabouts.
You can imagine how excited we were,
for we thought that some one had left
ms fortune. We went at once to the
Sawyer whose name was given in the
paper. There we met two gentlemen,
MIR. Carruthers and Mr.. Woodley, who
Were home on visit from South Afri-
Ca. They said that my uncle was a
friend Of theirs, that he had died some
months before in great poverty in Jo-
hannesburg, and that he had asked
them with his last breath to hunt up
his relations and see that ther were in