Morris tribune., 1905-08-26
Ibid any one know that these proofs

would be there?"
mo one save the printer
"Did this man Bannister know?"
''No; certainly not. No one knew"
"Where is Bannister now?"
"He was very ill, poor fellow! ]
left him collapsed in the chair, l was
in such hurry to come to you"
"You left your door open"
81 locked up the papers first"
""Then it amounts to this, Mr.
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"
$50 it seems to me-
Holmes gave an enigmatic smile.
"Well," said he, 'let us go round.
Not one of your cases, Watson-men-
J tai, not physical All right; come if
you want to. Now, Mr.. Soames, at
your disposal"
The sitting room of our client opened
| by long, low, latticed window on to
| the ancient lichen tinted court of the
old college. A Gothic arched door led
| to a worn stone staircase. On the
ground floor was the tutors room.
Above were three students, one on
each story. 1t was already twilight
when we reached the scene of our
problem Holmes halted and looked
earnestly at the window; then he ap-
preached it, and, standing on tiptoe
inf
the room.
"He must have entered through the
door, There is no opening except the
one pane" said our learned guide.
Dear me.' said Holmes, and he
smiled in a singular way as he glanc-
ed at our companion. well, if there
is nothing to be learned here we had
best go 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 day. Your
servant seems to have quite recovered.
You left him in a chair, you say.
Which chair?''
by the window there
81 see. Near this little table. You
can come in now. l have finished
with the carpet. Let us take the lit
tie table first. Of course what has
happened is very clear The man en-
tered and took the papers, sheet by
sheet, from the central table. He car
ried them over to the window table,
because from there he could see if you
came across the courtyard and so
could effect an escape
GAS matter Of fact he could not"
said Soames, 'for l entered by the
side door,
''Ah, that's good! Well, anyhow, that
was in his mind. Let me see the three
strips. No finger impressions-no!
Well, he carried over this one first, and
he copied it. How long would it take
him to do that, using every possible
contraction? 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
very hurried retreat-very hurried,
since he had not time to replace the
papers which would tell you that he
had been there You were not aware
of any hurrying feet on the stair as
you entered the outer door?"
''No, can't say 1 was"
"Well, he wrote so furiously that he
broke his pencil, and had, as you OBJ
serve, to sharpen it again. This is Of
interest, Watson. The pencil was not
an ordinary one. 1t was above the
usual size, with soft lead, the
outer color was dark blue, the makers
name was printed in silver lettering
and the piece remaining is only about
an inch and half long. Look for such
a pencil, Mr.. Soames, and you have got
your man. When I add that he pos
sesses large and very blunt knife you
have an additional aid"
Mr. Soames was somewhat over
whelmed by this food Of information.
81 can follow the other points," said
he, "but, really, in this matter Of the
length
Holmes held out small chip with
the letters nm and a space of clear
wood after them.
''You see?"
''No, I fear that even now
watson. have always done you an
injustice. There are others. What
could this mn be? 1t is at the end of
word. You are aware that Johann
Faber is the most common makers
name. Is it not clear that there is just
as much Of the pencil left as usually
follows the JOHANNA" He held the
small table sideways to the electric
light. 81 was hoping that If the paper
on which he wrote. was thin some trace
Of it might come through upon this pol
ished surface. No, l see nothing. I |
don't think there is anything more to
be learned here. Now for the central
table. This small pellet is, presume,
the black, doughty mass you spoke of.
Roughly pyramidal in shape and hol-
lowed out, l perceive. AS you say, +
there appear to be grains Of sawd,lst in |