Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-05-24

 once he ndgeted with his feet and tapped rapidly with his 6ngers upon the wall It was evident to me that he was becoming uneasy and that hiB plans were not working out aitoeethef as he had hoped. At last n midnight apfroached and the street gradually ciearec he paced up and down tho room n uncomfortable agitation. ! was about 70 make some remark to him when l ra,sed my eyes to the light ed window and ,gain experienced al- most as great si~prise as before. clutched Holmes' arm and pointed up. { ward.
 -The; shadow has moved!. '. cried. It was. indeed no longer the profile. but the back, which was turned toward us.
 Three years had certainly not smooth ed the asperities of his temper or his impatience with less active intelli- gence than his own.
 "Of course it has moved" said he., Am such farcical bungler, Wat oOLs tildl ' bbOuAu CICit uH O0t iOuB- dummy and expect that some of the sharpest men in Europe would be de- ceiyed by. it? We have been in this room two hours, and Mrs. Hudson has made some change in that figure eight times, or once in every quarter of an hour. She works it from the front. so that her shadow may never be seen. An" He drew in his breath with a shrill, excited intake. Tn the dim light I saw his head thrown forward. his whole attitude rigid with attention. Outside, the street was absolutely de-. serted Those two men might still be- crouching in the doorway, but I could - no longer see them. All was still and dark save only that brilliant yellow screen in front of us with the black figure outlined upon it's center. Again in the utter silence I heard that thin, sibilant note which spoke of intense. suppressed excitement. An instant. later he pulled me back into the black. est corner of the room, and felt his warning hand upon my lips. The fin- gers which clutched me were quiver- ing. Never had I known my friend more moved. and yet the dark street still stretched lonely and motionless before us.
 But suddenly I was aware of that which his keener senses had already distinguished A low. stealthy sound came to my ears not from the direc- tion of Baker street, but from tho back of the very house in which we' lay concealed A door opened and ;. shut. An instant later steps crept... down the passage-steps which vera. meant to be silent. but which reverber-'. ated harshly through the empty house.. Holmes crouched back against tho wall. and l did the same. my hand closing upon the handle of my revolver. Peering through the gloom, I saw the vague outline of man, shade black CT than the blackness of the open door. He stood for an instant. and then he crept forward, crouching. men, acing. into the room. He was within three yards of us. this sinister figure, and I had braced myself to meet his spring. befora- L.realized that he had no idea .qf. pqr presence. He passed: close beside 'ds, stole over to the win- dow and very softly and noiselessly raised it for half foot. As he sank to the level of this opening the light of the street. no longer dimmed by the dusty glass, fell full upon his face.
 The man seemed to be beside himself with excitement. His two eyes shone 2 like stars. and his features were work ing convulsively. He was m elderly man, with thin. projecting nose. . high. bald forehead and a huge gris- .led mustache. An opera hat was push- :. ed to the back of his head, and an. evening dress shirt front gleamed out {. through his open overcoat. His fac0 :. was gaunt and swarthy. scored with :. deep. savage lines. Tn his hand he car ried what appeared to he . stick. but as he laid 1t down upon the floor it gave a metallic clang Then from the pocket of his overcoat he drew a bulky object, and he busted himself in some task which ended with a loud. sharp cIick. as if e spring or. bolt had fallen into its place. Still kneeling upon the floor. he bent forward and threw all his weight and strength upon some lever, with the result that there came long. whirling. grinding noise. ending once more in a powerful click. He straighf-s '. ened himself then. and I saw that what ( he held in his hand was a sort of . gun with a curiously misshapen butt He opened 1t at the breech. put some thing in and snapped the breechbIock- Then. crouching down. he rested the end of the barrel upon the ledge of the open window. and saw his long mus tache droop over the stock and his. 1, eyes gleam as it peered along the. sights. I heard a little sigh of safis-' faction as he cuddled the butt into his shoulder and saw that amazing target. the black man on the yellow ground. standing clear at the end of his fore sight. For an instant he was rigid and motionless. Then his finger tight encd ou the trigger. There was c strangc. loud whiz and a long. silvery-- tinkle of broken glass. At that insfsnt . Holmes sprang Ike a tiger on to the Z marksmsn'a hack and hurled him nat upon his fee He vss up again in c moment. and with convulsive etrenEfh he sefy>d Holmes bv fine throas hsyf