Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-07-27

nature of distinct impression, but the
grass was trodden down and some one
had undoubtedly passed. 1t could only
have been the murderer, since neither
the gardener nor any one else had been
there that morning and the rain had
only begun during the night"
Zone moment" said Holmes. "Where
does this path lead to-"
ITO the road
"How long is it?'
"A hundred yards or co."
"At the point where the path passes
through the gate you could surely pick
up the tracks?"
UNFORTUNATELY the path was tiled
at that point"
"Well, on the road itself?"
mo, it was all trodden into mire."
"Tut tut. Well. then, these tracks
upon the grass. were they coming or
goingW
ut was impossible to say. There
was never any outline"
"A large foot or n small?"
"You could not distinguish"
Holmes gave an ejaculation Of i'm
patience.
1T has been pouring rain and blow
ing hurricane ever since" said he.
1t will be harder to read now than
that palimpsest. Well. well, it can't
be helped. What did you do, Hop
kins, after you had made certain that
you had made certain of nothing?"
Il think l made certain OF good
deal, Mr.. Holmes. knew that some
one had entered the house cautiously
from without. next examined the
corridor. 1t Is lined with cOcoanut
mating and had taken no impression
Of any kind. This brought me into
the study itself. 1t Is q scantily fur
nished room. The main article Is q
large writing table with fixed
bureau. This bureau consists of O
double column Of drawers, with a cen
trail small cupboard between them
The drawers were open. the cupboard
locked. The drawers. 1t seems. were
always open, and nothing Of value
was kept in them. There were some
papers Of importance in the cupboard
but there were no signs that this had
been tempered with. and the professor
assures me that nothing was missing
1t is certain that no robbery has been
committed.
II come now to the body of the young
man. 1t was found near the bureau
and just to the left of II, as marked
upon that chart. The stab was ON the
right side of the neck and from behind
forward. SO that it is almost impossi
BILE that 1t could have been self In
hicted."
"Unless he fell upon the knife" said
Holmes.
| Exactly. The idea crossed my
mind. But we found the knife som,
feet away from the body, 30 thai
seems impossible. Then. Of course
there are the mans own dying words
And, finally. there was this very i'm
portant piece of evidence which wal
found clasped in the dead mans righ
hand"
From his pocket Stanley Hopkinl
drew a small paper packet. He I'm
folded 1t and disclosed golden pince
neg. with two broken ends Of blacl
silk cord dangling from the end OF II
"Willoughby Smith had sxcellen
sight," he added. There can be n,
question that this was snatched fsou
the face or the person Of the assassin.
Sherlock Holmes took the glasses In
to bis hand and examined them witt
the utmost attention and interest. II
held them on his nose. endsavored Il
read through them. went to tho win
dow and stared up the street witt
them. looked at%hem most infinitely II
the full light Of the lamp and finally
with q chuckle. seated himself at tn
table and wrote Q few lines upon ,
sheet OF paper. which be tossed across
to Stanley Hopkins.
'That's the best I can do for you.
said he. 1T may prove to DO Of som