Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-05-13

handed back the volume. 1.-The mans
career is that of an honorable sol
der
sit 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 a 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. i have u 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"
1T is surely rather fanciful"
'WelI, l don't insist upon it. What
ever the cause, Colonel Moran began
to go wrong Without any open scan
dal 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
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 I'D we could not incriminate
him. You remember at that date. when
l called upon you in your rooms, how
l put up the shutters for fear of air
guns? No doubt you thought me fanci-
full / knew exactly what l was do
ing, for knew of the existence of this
remarkable gun, and l knew also that
one of the best shots in the world
would be behind it. When we were in
Switzerland he followed US with Mort
arty, and it was undoubtedly he who
gave me that evil five minutes on the
Reichenbach ledge.
You may think that / 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? | could not shoot him at
sight or | 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 l could do
nothing But l 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 a
doubt Of it. The bullets alone are
enough to put his head in a moose.
Il came over at once. l was seen by
the sentinel, who would, 1 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. l 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. 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
l 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 /. You have not made il
quite clear what was Colonel Moran's
motive in numbering the Hon. Ronald
Adair?"
An, my dear Watson, there we come
into those realms of conjecture where
the most logical mind may be at fault.
Each may form his own hypothesis up
on the present evidence, and yours is
as likely to be correct as mine"
You have formed one, them"
81 think that it is not difficult to ex-
plain the facts. 1t came out in evidence
that Colonel Moran and young Adair
had between them won a considerable
amount of money. Now, Moran IN
dOubtedly played foul. OF that have
long been aware. l believe that on the
day OF the murder Adair had discOv-
cred that Moran was cheating. Very
likely he had spoken 10 him privately
and had threatened TO expose him I'M
less he voluntarily resigned his men,
bership Of the club and promised not to
play cards again. 1t is unlikely that
youngster like Adair would at once
make hideous scandal by exposing a
well known man so much older than
himself. Probably he acted as 1 sug-
gest. The exclusion from his clubs
would mean ruin TO Moran, who lived
by his III gotten card gains. He there
fore murdered Adair, who at the time
was endeavOring to work out how
much money he should himself return,
since he could not profit by his part