Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-07-01
The Adventure OIL
the Golden
Pince-Nez
No. 10 of the Series
(c.,yirh, 1909, BY 4 Conan DOYLE and Collier,
H'r,Ii }

H'esiii)
(Coeyr,rb, 1906 BY NtCiur> Phillip, q Coz
Sherlock Holmes took the glasses III
to his hand and c%alnincd them with
the utmost attention and interest. He
ncld them on his nose, endcav0fed to
read through them, Went to the win
dow and stared M tho street with
them, looked at them most ninutely i'll
the fu!l light OF The lamp and finally
with chuck!e, seated him elf ut the
table ana wrote q few lines upon d
sheet OF paper. witch he tossed across
to Stanley Hopkins.
That's the best can do for you. =
said he. 1T may prove to be of some
use"
The astonishcd detective read the
note aloud II ran MS follows:
Wanted. n woman of good address. at
tired like lady. She has Il remarkably
thick nose. with eyes which arc set close
upon either side OF II. She has a puciscr-
ed forehead a pccrlnG expression and
probably rounded shoulder. There arc
indications that she las had recourse to
an optician ut least twice durin; the last
few months, As her glasses are of re-
markablc strength and opticians are
not very numerous. there should be no
difficulty In tracing her.
Holmes smiled at the establishment
of Hopkins, which must have been
reflected upon my features.
Surely my deductions are simplicity
itself" said be. ut would be difficult
to name any articles which afford n
finer field for Inference than pair of
glasses, especially so remarkable a pair
as these. Tint they belong to a woman
infer from their delicacy and also Of
course from the last words of the dying
man. AS to her being q person of re-
f1nement and we'll dressed they are. as
you perceive, handsomely mounted in
solid gold, and 1t is inconceivable that
any one who wore such glasses could
be slatternly in other respects. You
will find that the clips are too wide for
your nose, showing that the ladys nose
was very broad at the base. This sort
Of nose is usually a short and coarse
one, but there is 81 sufficient number Of
exceptions to prevent me from being
dogmatic or from insisting upon this
point in my description. My own face
is narrow one. and yet l find that |
cannot get my eyes into the center nor
near the center of these glasses.
Therefore the lady's eyes are set very
near to the sides of the nose. You will
concave and Of unusual strength. A
lady whose vision has been so extreme
ly contracted all her life is sure to have
the physical characteristics of such
vision, which are seen in the forehead,
the eyelids and the shoulders"
your arguments l confess, however,
that am unable to understand how
you arrive Mt the double visit to the
optician."
Holmes took the glasses in his hand.
you will perceive" he said, that
the clips are lined with tiny bands Of
cork to soften the pressure upon the
nose. One Of these Is discolored and
worn to some slight extent, but the
other is new. Evidently one has fallen
off and been replaced. l should Judge
that the older of them has not been
there more than few months. They
exactly correspond, so I gather that the
lady went back to the same establish
ment for the second"
by George, it's marvelous!" cried
Hopkins. in an ecstasy of admiration.
ITO think that had all that evidence
in my hand and never knew it! l had
intended, however, to go the round OF
the London opticians"
"Of course you would. Meanwhile
have you any thing more to tell us about
the caSe?"
Nothing, Mr.. Holmes. l think that
you know as much as l do now-prob-
ably more. We have had inquiries
made as to any stranger seen on the
country roads or at the railway sta
ton. We have heard of none. What
beats me is the utter want Of all object
in the crime. Not a ghost of motive
can any one suggest"
''Ah, there l am not in a position to
help you But suppose you want US
W COlAlc Oul lCAAOIlOW:
'.If it is not asking too much, Mr..
Holmes. There's train from Charing
Cross to Chatham at in the morning,
and we should be at Yoxley Old Place
between and o."
''Then we shall take 1t. Your case
has certainly some features OF great
interest, and l shall be delighted to
look into it. Well, it's nearly i, and
we had best get few hours sleep.
dare say y0u can manage all right on
the sofa in front of the fire. I'll light
my spirit lamp and give you cup OF
coffee before we start"
The gale had blown itself out next
day, but it was bitter morning when
we started upon our journey. We saw
the cold winter sun rise over the dreary
marshes of the Thames and the long.
sullen reaches of the river, which
shall ever associate With our pursuit of
the Andaman islander in the earlier
days of our career. After q long and
weary journey we alighted at a small
station some miles from Chatham.
While horse was being put into
trap at the local inn we snatched a hur-
ried breakfast, and SO we were all
ready for business when we at last ar
rived at Yoxley Old Place. A constable
met us at the garden gate:
"Well. Wilson, any news?"