Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-07-29

J. II
S%WWf public case CT any diff
Guilty ia which be was
not consulted during those eight years.
and there were hundreds of private
cases, some of them OF the most In
tricate and extraordinary character.
IN which he played a prominent part
AS I have preserved very full notes OF
ali these cases and was myself person
ally engaged IN many OF them. II may
be Imagined that II is no easy task 20
know which ! should select 10 lay be
fore The public. shall. however. pre-
serve my former rule and give the pref
erence 10 those cases which derive their
interest not 50 much from the brutality
Of the crime as from the ingenuity and
dramatic quality Of the solution. For
this reason I viii now lay before the
reader the facts connected with Miss
Violet Smith. the solitary cycliSt OF
CharlingtOn. and the curious sequel OF
our investigation. which eliminated IN
unexpected tragedy.
on referring To my notebook for the
year 1895 I find that II was upon Sat
urday. the sd OF April. that we first
heard OF Miss Violet Smith. Her visit
was. remember. extremely unwel-
come 20 Holmes. FOR he was Immersed
ut the moment in very abStruse and
complicated problem concerning the
peculiar persecution 60 which John Vim
cent Harden. the well known tobacco
millionaire. had been subjected. Ny
friend. who loved above all things pre-
cision and concentration OF thought. re-
scented anything which distracted bis
attention from the matter Ia hand
And yet. without a harshneSs which
was foreign TO his nature. IL was i'm
possible 20 refuse 20 listen 10 the story
OF the young and beautiful woman. tail.
graceful and quecnly. who presented
herself at Baker street late IN the
evening and implored his assistance
and advice. TX was vain TO urge that
his time was already fully occupied.
for the young lady had come with the
determination 20 tell her story. and Il
was evidcEt that nothing short OF force
could get her out OF the room until she
had done 50. With n resigned air and
a somewhat weary smile Holmes beg
ged the beautiful Intruder to take a
seat and 10 inform US what II was that
was troubling her.
AT least IL cannot be your health"
said he as his keen eyes darted over
her. so ardent blcycIist must De
full OF energy"
She glanced down Ina surprise az her
own feet. and I observed the slight
roughening OF the side OF the sole caus-
ed by the friction OF the edge OF the
pedal
''Yes. bicycle a good deal. Mr..
Holmes. and that has something TO do
with my visit 10 you today"
MY friend took the ladys ungloved
hand and examined IL with as close an
attention and as little sentiment as a
scientist would show 10 a specimen
You viii excuse me- am sure. IL
Is my business" said he as he dropped
A. II nearly fell into the error OF sup
posing that you were typewriting. or
course IL IL obvious that IL Is music
You observe the spatulate finger ends.
Watson. which Is common TO both pro
fessionsl There Is spirituality about
the face, however" gently turned
II toward the light-"which the type
writer does not generate This lady IS
a musician"
Yes, Mr.. Holmes. teach music
in the country. / presume. from
your complexion
yes. sir; near Farnham. on the Dor
ders OF Surrey
Nov. Miss Violet, what has happen
ed 20 you near Farnhsm. on the Dor
ders OF SurreyT'
The young lady. with great clearness
and composure. made the following
curious statement:
my father Is dead. Mr.. Holmes. He
was James SIXTH. who conducted the
orchestra at the old Imperial theater.
MY mother and were left without
relation IN the world except one I'M
Gle. Ralph Smith. who went to Africa
twenty five years ago. and we have
never had a word from him since.
When father died we were left very
poor, bat one day We were told that
there was an advertisement IN the
Times fnquiring for our whereabouts.
You can imagine how excited we were.
for we thought that some one had left
us fortune. We went at once TO the
- ~ q o4kOrt hd4nC WIS klNc1 Ia Tie
paper. There we met two gentlemen.
Mr.. Carruthers and Mr.. Woodley, who
were home on a visit from South Afri-
Ca They said thet my uncle was
friend OF theirs. that he had died some
months before IN great poverty In Jo-
Harrisburg, and that he had asked
them with his last breath 10 hunt up
bis rcla tfOns and see that they were IN
no went 1t seemed strange 10 us that
Uncle Ralph. who took no notice of Us
when he was alive, should be so care
ful to look after NJ when he was dead,
but Mr.. Carruthers explained that the
reason was that my uncle had Just
heard Of the death Of his brother and
% felt responsible for our fate"
excuse me-" said Holmes. when
was this interview
Last December--four months ago"
pray proceed"
MI Koodlex seemed to me to be 9