The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-24

mense stream of commerce flowing in double tide inward and outward, while the footpaths were black with the hur- rying swarm of pedestrians. It was dif- fieult to realize as we looked at the line of fine shops and stately business prem ises that they really abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square which we had Just quilted.
 ..Let me see." said Holmes, standing at the corner, and glancing along the line, q should like just to remember the order of the houses here. It is hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge or London. There is Mortimer's, the to- bacconist, the little newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Subur- ban Bank. the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage building depot. That carries us right on the other plock. And now, doctor, we've done our work, so It's time we had some play A sand wich and a cup of coffee, and then off to vlolin-land. where all Is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no red-headed clients to vex us with their eonundrums."
 My friend was an enthusiastic musi- elan, being himself not only very ca- pablo performer. but composer or no ordinary merit. All the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness gently waving his long. thin fingers in time to the music, while ms gently smiling face and his languld. dreamy eyes were as unlike those or Holmes, the sleuth-hound, Holmes, the relentless keen-witted, ready-hanueo criminal agent, as it was possible to con ceive. In his singular character the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and ms extreme exnctnesS and astuteness repre- sented as I have often thought, the re- action against the poetic and contempla- tive mood which occasionally predomi- lii, GTpi took him from extreme languor to de- vouring energy; and. as l knew well, ne was never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been lounglng in his armchair amid his improVlsatlons and his black-letter editions. Then IL was that the lust of the chase Wouia certainly come upon him, and that ms brilliant reasoning power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were unacouainted with his methods would look askance at him as on man whose knowledge was not that or other mortals When I saw him that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James Hall I felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set him self to hunt down.
 "You want to go home, no doubt, doc tor" he remarked, as we emerged.
 "Yes, it would be as we'll
 And have some business to do which  Coburg Square is serious.
 Why serious?"
 "A considerable crime Is in contempla- ton. I have every reason to believe that we shall be in time to stop It. But today ! being Saturday rather complicates mat ters. l shall want your help tohlshr
 "At what time?'
 ''rTen will be early enough"
 q shall be at Baker street at ten.
 every well. And, l say, doctor, there may be some little danger, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket He waved his hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the crowd.
 [ trust that I am not more dense than my neighbors but I was always op- pressed with a sense of my stupidity Tn my dealings with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, had seen what he had seen, and yet rom ms words it was evident that he saw clearly 1 not only what had happened, but what t. was about to happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and l grotesuue As I drove home to my house 1 in Kensington I thought over 1t all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed copier of the Encyclopedias" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg Square and the omnibus words with which he had parted ] from me. What was this nocturnal expe- dition, and why should I go armed? l Where were we going. and what were we l to do? l had the hint from Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was formidable mana man who might play a deep game. l tried to puzzle It l out, but gave it up in despair, and set the matter aside until night should bring an explanation.
 | It was a quarter past nine when ] started from home and made my way across the park, and so through oxford i street to Baker street. Two handsoms were standing at the door, and, as l en-
 tered the passage 1 heard the sound of voices from above. On entering his room l l found Holmes in animated converse tion with two men, one of whom l rec ognized as Peter Jones, the official police agent, while the other was a long, thin, l sad-faced man, with a very shiny hat and l progressively respectable frock-coat.
 Hal our party is complete,' said Holmes, buttoning up his pea-jacket, and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack Watson, 1 think you know MT. Jones of Scotland Yard? Let me intro- duce you to Mir Merriweather, wno Is to
 be our companion in tonights adven- ture."
 Were hunting in couples again, doc l tor, you see," said Jones, in his conse- l quential way. "Our friend here Is a won ! derful man for starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do 1 the running down.
 q hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase,' observed MT. Merrweather gloomily.
 "You may place considerable confidence 1 in MT. Holmes, sir" said the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical and fan ] tastic, but he has the makings of de- 1 tective in him. It is not too much to say ! that once twice, as in that business of the Sholto murder and the Agra treas- i ure, he has been more nearly correct than the official force"
 "Oh, if you say so, MT. Jones, it is all right" said the stranger with defer ence. Still. I confess that I miss my rubber. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that have not
 had my rubber.'
 'I think you will find" said Sherlock 1 Holmes, that you will play for a higher stake tonight than you have ever done yet, and that the play will be more ex- stake will be some 930,000; and for you, Jones. it will be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands"
 l John Clay, the murderer thief, smash CT and forger. He's a young man. MT. 1 Merriweather, but he is at the head of | his profession and l would rather have my bracelets on him than on any crim- l inal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John Clay. His grandfather
 was a royal duke. and he himself has been to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to find the man him. self. Hell crack a crib in Scotland one | .,I l< t.f..