Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1905-08-18
Keeper Of his, whom I should lose M

Keeper Of his, whom I should lose nc
time IN adding to your bag, Lestrade."
I'll take your advice. But how die
you know of this place, Mr.. Holmes?"
Il made up my mind that the fellow
was IN hiding in the house. When ]
paced one corridor and found it SIX
feet shorter than the correspondents
one below it was pretty clear where
he was. I thought he had not the nerve
to lie quiet before an alarm of fire. We
could, OF course, have gone In and tax.
en- him, but 1t amused me to make him
reveal himself. Besides, owed you q
little modification, Lestrade, for your
chan in the morning."
well. Sir, you certainly got equal
with me on that. But how in the world
did you know that he was in the house
at allT
The thumb mark, Lestrade. You
said 1t was fnal, and SO 1t was In a
very different sense. knew It had
not been there the day before. 1 pay
good deal Of attention to matters of
detail, as you may have observed, and
had examined the hall and was sure
that the wall was clear. Therefore 1t
had been put on during the night"
"But how"
VERY simply. When those packets
were sealed up Jonas Oldacre got Nc
Farlane to secure one of the seals by
putting his thumb upon the soft wax.
1t would be done SO quickly and so
naturally that I dare say the young
man himself has no recollection Of it.
Very likely 1t just SO happened, and
Oldacre had himself no notion of the
use he would put it to. Brooding over
the case in that den Of his, it suddenly
struck him what absolutely damning
evidence he could make against Nc.
Farlane by using that thumb mark.
It was the simplest thing in the world
for him to take wax impression from
the seal. to moisten It in as much
blood as he could get from pin prick
and to put the mark upon the wall dur
ing the night either with his own hand
or with that Of his housekeeper. If
you examine among those documents
which he took with him into his re-
treat ! will lay you wager that you
find the seal with the thumb mark
upon it."
Wonderful" said Lestrade. won
derful! It's all as clear as crystal as
you put it. But what is the object Of
this deep deception, Mr.. Holmes?"
1t was amusing to me to see how the
detectives overbearing manner had
changed suddenly to that of a child
asking questions Of It's teacher.
"Well, I don't think that Is very hard
to explain. A very deep, malicious,
vindictive person q the gentleman who
Is now waiting US downstairs. You
know that he was once refused by Nc
Farlane's mother7 You don't! told
you that you should 80 to Blackheath
first and Norwood afterward. Well,
this injury, as he would consider 1t,
has ranked in his wicked, scheming
brain, and all bis life he has longed for
vengeance, but never seen his chance.
During the last year or two things have
gone against him-secret speculation, I
think-and he finds himself In bad
way. He determines to swindle his
creditors. and for this purpose he pays
large checks to certain Mr.. Cornelius,
who Is, imagine, himself under an
other name. have not traced these
checks yet but have no doubt that
they were banked under that name at
some provincial town, where Oldacre
from time to time led double exist
ence. BE intended to change his name
altogether, draw his money and van
ish, starting life again elsewhere"
"Well, that's likely enough"
1T would strike him that in disap-
psaring he might throw all pursuit of
his track and at the same time have an
ample and crushing revenge upon his
old sweetheart II he could give the i'm
preston that he had been murdered by
her only child. It was a masterpiece Of
villainy. and he carried It out like a
master. The idea Of the will, which
would give an obvious motive for the
crime. the secret visit unknown to his
own parents, the retention Of the stick,
the blood and the animal remains and
buttons in the wood pile-all were ad-
mirable. It was a net from which 1t
seemed to me, few hours ago, that
there was no possible escape. But he
had not that supreme gift Of the artist,
the knowledge Of when to stop. He
wished to improve that which was al
ready perfect-to draw the rope tighter
yet round the neck Of his unfortunate
victim-and 20 he ruined all. Let us
descend. Lestrade. There are Just one
or two questions that I would ask
him."
The malignant creature was seated
In his own parlor with policeman
upon each side Of him.
ut was Joke, my good SRA prac-
teal joke, nothing more" he whined
necessarily. u assure you, sir, that I
simply concealed myself In order to
see the effect Of my disappearance, and
I am sure that you would not be so
unjust as to imagine that would have
allowed any harm to befall poor young
Mr.. McFarlane."
That's for jury to decide" said
Lestrade. Anyhow, we shall have
you ou cudrSe VI conspiracy, II not
for attempted murder"
"And you'll probably find that your
creditors will impound the banking ac-
count Of Mr.. Cornelius" said Holmes.
The little man started and turned his
malignant eyes upon my friend.
II have to thank you for good
DEAL. said he. Perhaps I'll pay my
debt some day"
Holmes smiled indulgently.
II fancy that for some few years
you will find your time very fully oc-
cupied." said he. "By the way, what
was It you put into the wood pile be-