Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-01

the peculiar dying reference to a rat what
| could that mean? 1t could not be deirtum-
/ A man dying from a sudden blow does net
commonly become delirious. No, 1t was
more likely to be an attempt to explain
| how he met his fate. But what could it
indicate? I cudgeled my brains to find
| some possible explanation. And then the
1 incident of the gray cloth. seen by young
! Mccarthy? If that were true. the muir
derer must have dropped some part of his
/ dress, presumably his oyercoat. in his
| fight. and must have had the hardihood
/ to return and to carry 1t away at the in
stant when the son was kneeling with his
/ back turned not a dozen PAGES off. What
/ O tissue of mysteries and improbabilities
| the whole thing was! did not wonder at
| Lestrade's opinion. and yet had so much
] faith in Sherlock Holmes insight that l
could not lose hope as long as every fresh
i fact seemed to strengthen his conviction
i of young McCarthys innocence.
1t was late before Sherlock Holmes re-
turned. He came back alone, for Lestrade
| was staying in lodgings in town.
The glass still keeps very high. he re-
marked, as he sat down. 1T is OF imports
ance that it should not rain before We are
4 able to go over the ground. On the other
hand a man should be at his very best and
| keenest for such nice work as that, and /
1 did not wish to do it when tagged by a
4 long journey. l have seen young McCar-
| thy
And what did you learn from him?'
Nothing.
| Gould he throw no IightT'
/ None at all I was inclined to think at
| one time that he knew who had done 1t,
and was screening him or her, but l am
convinced now that he is as puzzled as
every one else. He Is not very quick
1 witted youth, though comedy to look at,
and should think sound at heart.
II cannot admire his taste, l remarked,
/ 'if 1t is indeed fact that he was averse
] to a marriage with charming young
| lady as this Miss Turner
"Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale.
| This fellow is madly, insanely in love with
| l. 700 VI
| only lad, and before he really knew her,
| for she had been away five years at a
| boarding school, what does the idiot Go
| but get into the clutches of BARNARD IN
| Bristol and marry her at registry office?
No one knows a word of the matter, but
you can imagine how maddenng 1t must
| be to him TO be upbrafded for not doing
! what he would give his very eyes 10 DO,
| but what he knows to be absolutely i'm
possible 1t was sheer frenzy of this sort
which made him throw his hands up into
| the air when his father, at their last inter-
| view, was goading him on TO propose 10
/ Miss Turner On the other hand, he had
| no means of supporting himself, and his
| father, who was by all accounts very
hard man. would have thrown him over
| utterly had he known the truth. 1t was
! with his barmaid wife that he had spent
the last three days in Bristol, and his
father did not know where he was. Mark
that point. 1t is of importance. Good has
come out of evil, however, for the barmaid,
| finding from the papers that he is in seri-
| Gus trouble, and likely to be hanged has
thrown him over utterly, and has written
TO him to say that she has husband al
ready in the Bermuda dockyard, so that
| there is really tie between them
think that that bit of news has consoled
young Mccarthy for all that he has suf-
| tered
| But if he is innocent, who has done it?"
'Ah, who? l would call your attention
very particularly to two points One Is
that the murdered man had appoint
ms with at the Pool. and that
the some one could not have been his
son, for his son was away, and he did not
know when he would return The second
is that the murdered man was heard to
cry 'Cooeep before he knew that his son
| had returned. Those are the crucial points
upon which the case depends. And now
let US talk about George Meredith, If you
please, and we shall leave all minor mat
tiers until tomorrow.
There was no rain, as Holmes had fore
told and the morning broke bright and
cloudless. At o'clock Lestrade called for
us with the carriage, and we set off for
Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe Pool.
There is serious news this morning"
Lestrade observed. 1T is said that Mr.
Turner of the Hall is so Ill that his life is
deSpaired of"
AN elderly man. 1 presumed" said
Holmes
About sixty; but his constitution has
been. shattered by his life abroad. and he
This business has had very bad effect
upon him He an old friend of Nc
Carthys. and, l may add. a great bene-
factor to him. for | have learned that he
Indeed! That is interesting" said
Holmes.
"oh. yes In a hundred other ways he
has helped him. Everybody about here
speaks of his kindness to him."
Really. Does it not strike you as little
singular that this Mccarthy. who appears
to have had little of his own, and to have
been under such obligations to Turner
should still talk of marrying his son to
Turner's daughter, who is, presumably,
heiress to the estate, and that in such a
very coeksure manner, as If 1t were merely
case of proposal and all else would fol-
low? 1t is the more strange since we
know that Turner himself was averse to
the idea. The daughter told us as much
Do you not deduce something from that?'
We have got to the deductions and the
differences" said Lestrade, winking at me-
II find it hard enough to tackle facts,
Holmes. without flying away after theories
and fancies."
You are right" said Holmes, demurely;
you do find 1t very hard to tackle the
facts
Anyhow, have grasped one fact which
you seem to find it difficult to get hold OF, -
| replied Lestrade, with some warmth.
And that is
THAT Mccarthy, senior met his death
from Mccarthy, junior and that all theo-
iico " lllC SOHlid lic interest HlOOU-
shine
We'll. moonshine is brighter thing than
fog. said Holmes, laughing. But I am
very much mistaken If this is not Hather-
ley Farm upon the left
Yes. that is it," 1t was a widespread
comfortable-looking building, two-storied
slate rooted, with great yellow blotches of
lichen upon the gray walls. The drawn
blinds and the smokeless chimneys, how
ever, gave it a stricken look, as though
the weight of this horror still lay heavy
upon it. We called at the door, when the
maid, at Holmes request, showed us the
boots which her master wore at the time
of his death, and also pair of the sons
| though not the pair which he had then
had. Having measured these very carefully
from seven or eight different points, Holmes
desired to be led to the courtyard from
which we all followed the winding track
| which led to Bosconibe Pool
Sherlock Holmes was transformed when
he was hot upon such scent as this Men
who had only known the quiet thinker and
logician of Baker street would have failed
to recognize him. His face flushed and
darkened. His brows were drawn into two
hard black lines. while his eyes shone out
from beneath them with a steely glitter
His face was bent downward, his shoulders
hoyUpd his Inns