The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-06-21

| wheel-tracks going the other way. But
| the outward-bound ones were very
much, deeper-so much SO that we can
very considerable weight on the ear I
rls e aop oct tr;as h.vona =. +ner. J,
said the inspector, Struggling his shout
ders It will not be an easy door to
force, but we will Try if we cannot make
/ He hammered loudly at the knocker
and pulled at the. bell but without any
success. Holmes had slipped away, but
he came back in few minutes.
~ have window open, said he.
| = 1t is a mercy that you are on the
side Of the force, and not against it.
Mr.: Holmes remarked the inspector,
as he noted the clever way in which my
friend had forced back the catch.
! Well, | think that under the circum-
stances !, we may enter without an invi-
One after the other ew made our way
into a large apartment, which was evil /
IDENTIFY that in which Mr.. Melas had
found himself. The inspector had lit
his lantern, and by its light we could
see the two doors, the curtain, the
lamp and the suit Of Japanese mail
as he had described them. On the table
lay two glasses, an empty brandy -bot-
tie, and the remains of a meal
What is that?' asked Holmes, sud-
! denly.
We all stood still and listened. A
, low, moaning sound was coming from
somewhere over our heads. Holmes
rushed to the door and out into the hall.
The dismal noise came from upstairs.
He dashed up. the Inspector and I at
his heels, while his brother Mycroft
would permit.
Three doors faced us upon the sec
on ND h.
these that the sinister sounds were issu-
ing, sinking sometimes into dull num-
BILE and rising again into shrill WHINE
;, It was locked, but the key had been
left on the outside: Holmes flung open
/, the door and rushed in, but he was
;: to his throat.
cts charcoal" he cried. "Give it
e time. It will Clear
:: Peering in, we could see that the only
t blue fame which fickered from a small
a brass tripod in the center. It threw
Y a ivid, unnatural circle upon the floor,
while in the shadows beyond we saw
+ the vague loom of two figures which
). sonous exhalation which set us gasp
d ing and coughing. Holmes rushed to
d the top of the stairs to draw in the
j. fresh air, and then, dashing into the
o room, he threw up the, window and
l. hurled the brazen tripod out into the
n garden.
l. owe can enter in a minute he
"a gasped, darting out again. where is
a candle? I doubt if we could strike
d match in that atmosphere. Hold the
# light at the door and we shall get them
It out. Mycroft, now!'
With a rush we got to the poisoned
y men and dragged them out into the well
lit hall Both of them were bluelipped
le and insensible, with swollen, -congested
I faces and protruding- eyes. Indeed, so
le distorted were their features that save
for his black beard and stout figure,
- we might have failed to recognize in
one of them the Greek interpreter who
k had parted from us only few hours
before at the Diogenes club. His hands
and feet were securely strapped toget,h-
,of violent blow. The other, who was
secured in a similar fashion, was a tall
man in the last stage Of emaciation,
with several strips of stickingplaster
arranged in grotesque pattern over
his. He had ceased to moan as we laid
him down, and a glance showed me that
for him at least our aid had come too
late. Mr. Melas, however, still lived,
and in less than an hour, with the aid
of ammonia and brandy, l had 1,;d the the
and of knowing that my hand had
drawn him back from that dark valley
in which all paths meet.
1t was a simple story which he had
to tell, and one which did but confirm
our own deductions. His visitor, OF
entering his rooms, had drawn HE
impressed him with the fear of instant
and inevitable death that he had kid
mapped him for the second time. :. In
deed it was almost mesmerlc, the eHec'
which this giggling ruffi Ia had produce
could not speak of him save with trem
bling hands and blanched cheek. HI
had been taken swiftly to Beckenhan
and had acted as Interpreter IN sec
ond interview, even more dramatic thal
the first, in which the two Englishme1
had menaced their prisoner with lnstan
death if he did not comply with thel
demands. Finally, finding him proc
against every threat, they had hurle'
!. him back into his prison, and after re
which appeared from the newspaper ad
Vertisement, they had stunned him witt
blow from stick, and he remembered
nothing more until he found us bend
ing over him.
And this was the singular case of thu
Grecian Interpreter, the explanation
which is still involved in some mys
terry. We were able to find out, b,
communicating with the gentleman VIII
had answered the advertisement, tina
the unfortunate young lady came o
wealthy Grecian family, and That sn
had been on visit to some friends i
England While there she had met
voting man named Harold Latimer, VIII
had acquired an ascendency over ne
!, and had eventually persuaded her t
,le- ay with him. Her friends, shocked a
out the event, had contented themselvve
vas with informing her brother at Athens
TX and had then washed their hands Q
the matter The brother, on his arrlvs
ock in England, had imprudently place
eri- himself in the power OF Latlmer an
'ot- Of his associate, whose name was WI
old son Kemp-a man Of the foulest ante
no cedents. These two, finding that thr
are his Ignorance Of the language he wa
hit helpless in their hands, had kept hi
lin a prisoner, and had endeavored by crue
res ty and starvation to make him sign ava
fes- his own and his sister s property. The
i'm, had kept him in the house without u
for airl's knowledge, and the plaster ov'
CHI The face had been for. the purpose {
s making recognition difficult in case 81
), in should ever catch a glimpse OF him. H'
III IL feminine perceptions, however. had /
81 ae stantly seen thru the disguise when.
.en- the occasion of the interpreters vlsl
was s she had seen him for the first time. II
sg ee poor girl, however, was herself PR
tne oner, for there was no one about u
us house except the man who acted
TO coachman, and his wife, both OF who