Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1905-09-14

been torn from the book 1t was at that
moment I found myself a prisoner in
your hands,
"Is that ALP asked Hopkins.
Eyes, that is ALL" His eyes shifted as
he said it.
You have nothing else to tell u.s."
He heSitated.
NO, there is nothing"
You have not been here before last
night?"
NO.
Then how do you account for that?'
cried Hopkins, as he held up the damn
ing notebook, With the initials of our
prisoner on the first leaf and the blood
stain on the cover.
The wretched man collapsed. He
sank his face in his hands and trem-
bled all over.
Where did you get it," he groaned.
II did not know. 1 thought had lost
it at the hotel"
THAT is enough" said Hopkins stern
~. "Whatever else you have to say.
you must say in court. You will walk
down with me now to the police sta
ton. Well, Mr.. Holmes, l am very
much obliged to you and to your friend
for coming down to help me. AS it
turns out, your presence was unnec-
Sary, and l would have brought the
case to this successful issue without
you; but, none the less, l am grateful.
Rooms have been reserved for you at
the Brambletye hotel. so we can all
walk down to the village together"
well. Watson, what do you think of
it?' asked Holmes as we travelled back
next morning.
II can see that you are not salts
fed"
"Oh, yes. my dear Watson; 1 am per-
fectly satisfied. At the same time,
Stanley Hopkins methods do not COM
mend themselves to me. l am disap-
pointed in Stanley Hopkins. I had
hoped for better things from him. One
should always look for a possible al
tentative and provide against it. 1t is
the first rule of criminal investiga-
ton"
what, then, is the alternative?"
THE line Of investigation which I
have myself been pursuing. 1t may
give US nothing. I cannot tell. But at
least I shall follow it to the end"
Several letters We're waiting for
| Holmes at Baker street. He snatched
n of them up, opened it and burst
out into a triumphant chuckle Of laugh
ter.
Excellent, Watson! The alternative
develops. Have you telegraph forms?
Just write a couple Of messages for
me: Sumner, shipping agent, Ratclif
highway. Send three men on to arrive
10 tomorrow morning. Basil That's
my name in those parts. The other is:
Inspector Stanley Hopkins, 46 Lord
street, Brixton. Come breakfast to-
morrow at $50. Important. Wire if
unable to come. Sherlock Holiness
There, Watson, this Internal case has
haunted me for ten days. I hereby
Danish it completely from my presence.
Tomorrow l trust that we shall hear
the last of it forever"
Sharp at the hour named Inspector
Stanley Hopkins appeared, and we sat
down together to the excellent break
fast which Mrs. Hudson had prepared.
The young detective was in high spir-
it's at his success.
you really think that your solution
must be correct?" asked Holmes.
Il could not imagine a more complete
case"
sit did not seem to me conclusive"
you astonish me, Mr.. Holmes.
What more could one ask forY
docs your explanation cover every
point?'
Undoubtedly. I find that young Nell
gan arrived at the Brambletye hotel on
the very day of the crime. He came on
the pretense Of playing golf. His room
was on the ground floor, and he could
get out when he liked. That very night
he went down to Woodman's Lee, saw
Peter Carey at the hut, quarreled with
him and killed him with the harpoon.
Then, Mortified by what he had done,
be fled out of the hut, dropping the
notebook which he had brought with
him in order to question Peter Carey
about these different securities. You
may have observed that some Of them
were marked with ticks and the others
the great ma~jority-were not. Those
which are licked have been traced on
the London market, but the others pre-.
sunab!y were still in the possession Of
Carey, and young Neligan, according t.
his W account, was anxious to recov-
err them in order to do the right thing
by his fathers creditors. After his
flight he did not dare to approach the
hut again for some time, but at last he
forced himself to do SO in order to OBJ
tain the information which he needed.
Surely that Is all simple and obvious?"
Holmes smiled and shook his head.
at seems to Inc to have only one
drawback, Hopkins, and that is that it
Is intrinsically impossible. Have you
tried to drive a Aarpoon through a
body? No? Tut, tut, my dear sir. you
must really pay attention to these de-
tails. My friend Watson could tell you
that 1 spent a whole morning in this!
exercise. 1t is no easy matter and re-
CURES a strong and practiced arm. But
this blow was delivered with such VIC