The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1905-12-10

va ft----H-
yes"
"And the papers were on yOur ia
bleT"
ITO the best Of my belief they were
rolled up"
"But might be recognized as proOfsT
Possibly"
"No one else in your room?"
"No."
did any one know that these proofs
would be there?"
"No one save the printer"
"Did this man Bannister known
''No: certainly not No one knew"
Where is Bannister nOwf
"He was very III, poor fellow!
left him collapsed in the chair, was
in such a hurry to come to you"
'You left your door openT
i locked up the papers first"
a'Then It amounts to this, AIr.
Soames. that. unless the Indian student
recognized the roll as being proofs, the
man who tempered with them came
upon them accidentally without know
ing that they were there"
so II seems to me"
Holmes gave an enigmatlc smile.
"WeH." said he, "let us go round.
Not one Of your cases, WatsOn-men-
tai, not physical All right; come IL
you want to. Now. Mr.. Soames, at
your disposal"
The sitting room Of our client opened
by a long. low, latticed window on to
the ancient llchen tinted court Of the
( old college. A Gothic arched door led
to a worn stone staircase. On the
ground loor was the tutors room.
Above were three students, one on
each story. It was already twilight
when we reached the scene Of our
+ problem. Holmes halted and looked
+ earnestly at the window: then he APP
4 preached it, and. standing on tiptOe
with his neck craned, he looked into
the room.
'He must have entered through the
door There is no opening except the
one pane" said our learned guide.
Dear mew said Holmes, and be
smiled in a singular way as be glanc-
Ell at our companion. well. If there
is nothing TO be learned here we had
best 90 inside"
The lecturer unlocked the outer door
and ushered US into his room. We
stood at the entrance while Holmes
made an examination Of the carpet
Il am afraid there are no signs
here" said he Zone could hardly
hope for any upon so dry a day. Your
( servant seems to have quite recovered.
You left him in chair, you say
Which chair?"
"By the window there"
Il see. Near this little table You
can come in now. I have finished
with the carpet Let US take the lit
tie table FIRST. or course what has
happened is very clear. The man en-
tered and took the papers, sheet by
sheet, from the central table. He car
rled them over to the window table,
because from there he could see II you
came across the courtyard and so
could effect an escape"
"As a matter Of fact be could not. "
said Soames, for / entered by the
side door"
"Ah, that's good! Well. anyhow, that
was in his mind. Let me see the three
strips. No finger fmpressions-no
Well. he carried over this one first, and
/ nc copied il. How long would It take
him TO do that. using every possible
4 contraction2 A quarter of an hour, not
less. Then he tossed it down and seiz-
ed the next He was in the midst Of that
when your return caused him TO make
a very hurried reueat-very hurried
since he had not time to replace the
papers which would tel you that be
had been there. You were not aware
Of any huTying feet on the stair as
you entered the outer door,"
''No. I can't say was"
''Well. he wrote so furiously that hS
broke his pencil. and had. as you OBJ
serve. to sharpen It again. This IS Of
interest Watson. The pencil was no
an ordinary one. It was above tn,
usual size. with q soft lead, tn,
outer color was dark blue. the maker
name was printed in silver lettering
and the piece remaining IS only abou
an inch and a half long. Look for sucl
a pencil. Mr.. Soames. and you have 60
. your man. When I add that be pos
sesses a large and very blunt knife yol
have an additional aid"
Mr.. S0ames was somewhat over
whelmed by this food Of information
Il can follow the other points" sai
/ he "but really. in this matter Of tn
/ length
Holmes held out a small chip wit
! the letters w and a space Of clea
J wood after them.
You seq
] ''No. / fear that even now
Watson. I have always done you a
! Injustice There are others. Wha
J could this ny bes 1t is at the end Of
] word You are aware that J0han
D Faber IS the most common msker'
name Is II not clear that there is jus
B as much OF the pencil LEFT as usuau
!. follows the Johanng be held II