The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-09-24
BY SIR A. CONAN
DOYLE.

L
We'll, Watson" said Holmes, when
our visitor had left US, what do you
make of it ALL"
I make nothing of it." I answered
frankly 1T is a most mysterious
business"
AS a rule" said Holmes. THE more
bizarre a thing IS the less mysterious it
/ proves to be. It is your commonplace,
featureless crimes which are really
puZzling, just as a commonplace face is
the most difficult to identify. But l
must be prompt over this matter
What are you going to do, them" I
asked.
ITO smoke" he answered. at is
quite three-pipe problem. and I beg
! that you won't speak to me for fifty
minutes" He curled himself up in his
chair, with his thin knees drawn up to
his hawk-like nose. and there he sat
with his eyes closed and his black clay
pipe thrusting out like the bill of some
/ strange bird. / had come TO the con-
clusion that he had dropped asleep, and
/ indeed was nOdding myself, when he
suddenly sprang out of his chair with
/ the gesture of man who has made up
his mind, and put his pipe down upon
/ the mantel-piece.
''Sarasate plays at the St. Jamess
/ hall this afternoon" he remarked.
/ What do you think, Watson? Could
your patents spare you for few
| hOurs?"
4 have nothing to do today My
practice is never very absorbing
I Then put on your hat and come. I
am going through the city first, and
we can have some lunch on the way.
! l observe that there is a good deal of
/ German music on the programme.
which is rather more to my taste than
/ Italian or French. 1t is retrospective,
and | want to introspect. Come
] along!
! We travelled by the Underground as
! far as Aldersgate; and short walk
| took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the
/ scene of the singular story which we
/ had listened to in the morning. 1t was
a pokey, little, shabby-genteel place,
where four lines of dingy two-storied
brick houses looked out onto a small
Tailed-in enclosure, where a lawn Of
weedy grass and few clumps of faded
laurel bushes made hard fight against
| a smOke-laden and uncOngenial atmOs-
| phere. Three silt balls and a brown
board with ''JabeZ Wilson" in white
/ letters. upon d corner house, announced
the place where our red-headed client
carried on his business. Sherlock
Holmes stopped in front Of il with Lis
head on one side and looked it ali over,
with his eyes shining brightly betWeI n
puckered lips. Then he walked slowly
up the street, and then down again TO
the corner still looking keenly AZ the
houses. Finally he returned 10 the
paWnbFoker's, and, having thumped
vigorously upon the pavement with his
stick two or three times, he wen- UP
to the door and knocked. 1t vas in
stantly opened by a bright looking,
clean shaver young fellow, who asked
him to step in.
Thank you" said Holmes. 4 only
wished to ask you would go from here
to the Strand"
Third right, fourth left" answered
the assistant, promptly closing the
door
smart fellow, that observed
Holmes, as we walked away. He Is, IN
my judgment, the fourth smartest nan
/ in London. and for daring am nos sure
/ that he has not claim to be third L
have known something Of him be-
/ fore"
Evidently" said I, Mr.. Wilson's as
/ sistant counts for good deal in this
mystery of the Red-headed League. l
/ am sure that you inquired your way
merely in order that you might see
/ him
Not him."
What then?"
The knees of his trousers"
! And what did you see?"
What | expected TO see"
/ why did YOU beat the pavement?
MY dear doctor this is time for
| observation, not for talk. We are spies
/ in an enemy's country. We know some
/ thing of Saxe-COburg square. Let us
now explore the parts which lie behind
! it,"
The road in which we found our
!
/ from SaXe-Coburg square present.
ed as great a contrast to il as the front
of a picture does to the back. 1t was
! one of the main arteries which convey
! the traffic of the city to the north and
| west. The roadway was blocked with
/ the immense stream of commerce flow
ing in a double tide inward and out
! ward, while the footpaths were blocked
] with the huTrying swarm of pedes-
| tTians. 1t was difficult to realize as
| We looked DIT the line of fine shops and
| stately business premises 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, I should like just to remember
the order of the houses here. 1t is a
hobby of mine TO have an exact knoWl-
edge of London. There is MortimeT's
the tobacconist the little newspaper
shop, the COburg branch of the City &
Suburban bank, the Vegetarian restau-
rant, and McFarlane's carriage build
ing depot. That carries US right on the
other block. And now, doctor. we've
done our work, so it's time we hao
| some play. A sandwich and cup OF
coffee, and then off to violin land
where all is sweetness and delicacy
| and harmony, and there are no red
headed clients to VeX us with theil
cOnundrums."
My friend was an enthusiastic must
clan, being himself nos only a very ca
pable performer, but a composer of NJ
ordinary merit. All the afternoon h,
sat in the stalls wrapped in the mos
perfect happiness, gently swaying hi
. long, thin fingers in time to the music
While his gently smiling face and hi
languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike
, those of Holmes, the sleuth-hOund
Holmes the relentless, keen Witted
ready-handed criminal agent, as it wa
possible to conceive. In his singula
character the dual nature alternatel!
asserted itself, and his extreme exact
ness and astuteness represented, as
have often thought, the reaction
against the poetic and contemplativ
mood which occasionally predominant
ed in him. The swing of his natur
took him from extreme langour TO de
VOuring energy; and, as 1 knew well
he was never so truly formidable a
| when, for days on end, he had bee
lOunging in his armchair amid his i'm
provisations and his blac-letter edi
tions. Then il was that the lust of tn
chase would suddenly come upon hin
and that his brilliant reasoning powe
would rise to the level of intuition, un
! til those who We're unacquainted wit
] his methods would look askance at hiT
as on a man whose knowledge was no