The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-04-15
coPvRloHT, 1904, nv HARPER 4 snoTHaRa

s.stWhen my father took over the Hor-
a careful examination Of the attic, which
had been always locked up. We found !
the brass box there, altho its contents
had been destroyed. On the inside Of
the cover was q paper label, with the
initials of K. X Il. repeated upon it.
a register written beneath. These, we
presume, indicated: the nature Of the
papers which had been: destroyed by
Colonel .OpenshaW. For the rest, there
was nothing of much Importance in the
attic, save a great many scattered pa
pers and notebooks bearing upon my
uncle's life in America. Some Of them
were Of the war time, and showed that
he had done his duty well, and had
Others were Of a date during the re-
construction ofthe southern states, and
were mostly concerned with politics,
for he had evidently taken a strong
part in opposing the carpetbag poll
ticians who had been sent down from
the north.
'sWell, it was the beginning Of 's4
sham, and all went as well as possible
with us until the January of '85. On
the fourth day after the new year I
heard my father give "a sharp cry Of
surprise as we sat together at the break
fasti table. Thersshe was, sitting with 9
.newly-opened envelope in one hand and
five dried orange pips in the out
stretched palm ef the other one. He
had always laughed at. what he called
my cock and-a-bull story about the
Colonel, but he looked very scared and
puzzled now that the same thing had
come upon himself.
|, HsWhy, what, on earth does. this
mean, Johns he stammered.
my heart had turned to lead. It
is X. K. K, said l. : 81
NHe looked inside the envelope. $50
letters. But what is this written above
themq' 4: @>,:.
q Put hte papers on. the .sundial,' i
read, peeplng over his shoulder. sNE7
HWhat papersq What sundiala' he
q THE sundial in the garden. There
is no other,' said T. sbut the papers
must be those that are destroyed
bis co p1ee saa as gp9g 7 hafd an si
here, and we can t have tomfoolery Of
this kind. Where does the thing come
fremq' ~ =: Nss
q tFrom Dundee I answered, glanc-
ing at the postmark. -
q Some preposterous practical joke
said he. What have to do with sun
dials and paperss5I shall take no notice
! Of such nonsense
MsI should certainly speak to the
!" And be laughed at for my pains
Nothing of the sort
49, Then. let me do sos,
+ "'No, T forbid you. Iswon TT have q
fuss made about such nonsense
"It was in vain to argue with him,
for he was a very obstinate man. l
went about, however, with heart
which was full Of forebodings.
"On the third day after the coming
,, TO visit an old friend Of his. Major
Freebody, who is in command Of one
Of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. /
was glad that he should go, for it
seemed to me that he was farther from
danger when he was away from home.
In that, however, Z was in error. Upon
the second day Of his absence / received
telegram from the Major, imploring
me to come at once: Ny father had
which abound in the neighborhood, and
was lying senseless,:. with "a shattered
skull. I hurried to him, but he passed
away without having ever recovered his
CONSCIOUSNESS. He had, as it appears,
been returning from Fareham III the
twilight, and as the country was un-
known to him, and the chalkpit un-
fenced, the jury had no, Hesitation In
bringing in a verdict Of death; from
amined every fact connected with his
death, T was unable to find anything
which could suggest the idea of, murder
There were no signs Of violence, nc
}footmarks, no robbery, no record Of
strangers having been seen upon the
roads. And yet 7 need not tell you that
Fmy mind was far from at ease, and that
plot had been woven round him. i
I In this sinister way / came into my
inheritance. / You viii ask me: why Isdi6
not dispose Of it, I. answ or, because
!, was we'll convinced that our troubles
were in some way dependent upon ar
! incident in my uncle's life, and The
danger would be as pressing in one
} house as in another. 81
tsIt was IN January, '85, that my
poor father met his end, and two year!
and eight months have elapsed since
then. During that time I have LIVED
. happily at Horsham, and I had begun
from the family, and that it had ended
with the last generation. 1Iahad begun
to take comfort too soon, however; yes
terday morning the blow fell il" tn,
very. shape in which it had come upol
!, my father ~:
The young man took from his waist
coat a crumpled envelope, and, turning
to the table, he shook out upon it fvl
: little dried orange pips. I, s
"This is the envelope, /" he continued
HThe postmark is London-easter1
: division. Within are the very word
which were upon my fathers last mes
sage: XIX. X; and then Put tn
papers on the sundial:
nWhat have you donefV aske,
; Holmes. st II, +.
- No hing. = sa.
7 HlNothing II.
! u1sTos tell the truth he sank hi
9 face into his thin, white hands
) have felt helpless. I have felt lik
one Of. those poor rabbits when tn
! snake is writing towards it. / seer
: to be in the grasp Of some resistless
. inexorable evil, which no foresight an
7 no precautions can guard against. z
Z STutl tut! - cried Sherlock Holmes
al You must act, man, or you are lost
2 Nothing but energy can save you. Thi
q is no time for despair
9 :5 $ I have seen the police. = Il
But they listened to my story wit
: tor has formed the opinion that the le1
9 ters are all practical jokes, and that th
4 deaths Of my relat ions were really a,
d cidents, as the jury stated, and we're nc
j, to be.connected with the warnings.
i Holmes shook his elenched hands
q the air. Incredible imbecilityl0
. ta.~s