The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-05-19


if l remember right You had not beard
the name Of Professor James Moriartv.
who had one of the great brains of the
century Just give me down ny index
of biographies from the shelf
He turned over the pages lazily. lean.
ing back in his chair and blowing great
clouds from his cigar.
My collection of Ms is fine one.
said he. "Moriarty himself is enough
to make any letter illustrious and here
is Morgan. the poiSoner. ana MerriG -
of aDominable memory. and Mathews.
who knocked out my left canine in t.
waiting room at Charing Cross, and
finally here is our friend of tonight"
He handed over the book and l read.
Moran, Sebastian. colonel Unem-
ployed. Formerly First Benga,ore Pc
neers. Born London, 1870. Son of
Sir Augustus Moran, c. b., once Brit
ish minister to Persia. Educated Elton
and oxford. Served in Jowaki cam
paign, Afghan campaign, Charasiab
dispatches, Sherpur and Cabul. Au-
thor of Heavy Game of the Western
Himalayas GSSn; Three Months IN
the Jungle CASA. Address: Conduit
street Clubs The Anglo-Indian, the
Tankerville the Bagatelle Card club"
On the margin was written in Holmes
precise hand. The second most dan
gerous man in London"
This is astonishing" said l as /
handed back the volume. The mans
career is that of an honorable sol
der"
1T is true" Holmes answered. up
to a certain point he did well. He was
always a man of iron nerve, and the
story is still told in India how he
crawled down a drain after wound
ed man-eating tiger. There are some
| trees. Watson, which grow to a GER
tain height and then suddenly develop
some unsightly eccentricity. You will
/ see it often in humans. | have the
DRY that the individual represents in
| his development the whole procession
/ of his ancestors, and that such a sud
den turn to good or evil stands for
/ some strong influence which came into
the line of his pedigree. The person
becomes, as it were, the epitome of the
history of his own family"
ut is surely rather fanciful."
well, l don't insist upon it. What
ever the cause, Colonel Moran began
! to go wrong. Without any open scan
dial he still made India too hot to hold
| him. He retired, came to London and
again acquired an evil name. 1t was
at this time that he was sought out by
Professor Moriarty, to whom for a
time he was chief of the staff. Mortar
| ty supplied him literally with money
and used him only in one or two very
/ high class jobs which no ordinary GRIM
! inal could have undertaken. You may
! have some recollection of the death of
/ Mrs. Stewart of Lauder in 1887. Not?
! Well, am sure Moran was at the bot
! tom of it, but nothing could be proved.
So cleverly was the colonel concealed
| that even when the Moriarty gang was
! broken up we could not incriminate
( him. You remember at that date, when
| l called upon you in your rooms, how
| | put up the shutters for fear of air
guns? No doubt you thought me fanci-
full. l knew exactly what l was do
| ing, for knew of the existence of this
remarkable gum and l knew also that
one of the best shots in the world
would be behind it, When we were in
] G l. foI
arty, and it was undoubtedly he who
gave me that evil five minutes on the
! Reichenbach ledge.
You may think that l read the pa
pers with some attention during my So
journ in France, on the lookout for any
chance of laying him by the heels. So
long as he was free in London my life
would really not have been worth liv-
ing. Night and day the shadow would
have been over me and sooner or later
his chance must have come. What
could l do? l could not shoot him at
sight or l should myself be in the dock.
There was no use appealing to magis-
trate. They cannot interfere on the
strength of what would appear to them
to be a wild suspicion. So / could do
nothing. But watched the criminal
news, knowing that sooner or later
should get him. Then came the death
of this Ronald Adair. My chance had
come at last. Knowing what l did,
was it not certain that Colonel Moran
had done it? He had played cards with
the lad; he had followed him home
from the club; he had shot him through
the open window. There was not
doubt of it. The bullets alone are
enough to put his head in moose.
81 came over at once was seen by
the sentinel, who would, | knew, direct
the coloners attention to my presence
He could not fail to connect my sudden
return with his crime and to be terribly
alarmed. | was sure he would make
an attempt to get me out of the way
at once and would bring round his muir
derous weapon for that purpose l left
him an excellent mark in the window.
and. having warned the police that
they might be needed-by the way,
Watson, you spotted their presence in
/ that doorway with unerring accuracy
took up what seemed to me to be
judicious post for observation, never
dreaming that he would choose the
same spot for his attack Now my
dear Watson, does anything remain for
me to explain?"
yes" said l. you have not made it
quite clear what was Colonel Moran's