Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1906-07-26

4 I: !. 3 J
LyN I'D most conducive
h to display of
VIII those peculiar
1D " powers for which
- ~ my friend was
~ famous. AS l
fl turn over the
|H NJ pages, l see my
" E1 ~ notes upon the
~ repulsive story of
Es49zzs4s@s the red leech and
The terrible death of Crosby the bank
ar. Here also ! find an account of the
Addiction tragedy, and the singular
contents of the ancient British bar
row. The famous Smith Mortimer
succession case comes also within TINS
period, and so does the tracking and
arrest of Huret, the boulevard assas-
sin--an exploit which won for Holmes
an autograph letter of thanks from the
French president and the Order of the
Legion of Honor Each of these would
furnish a narrative. but ON the whole
[ am CT opinion that none of them
mites so many singular points OF M
crest as the episode of IoNl"y Old
Place, which includes not only me
.amentable death of young Willoushby
Smith, but also those subsequent de-
relopments which threw so curious a
light upon the causes of the crime.
1t was Wild. tempestuous night.
towards the close of November. Holmes
and sat together In silence all the
evening, he engaged with powerful
ems deciphering the remains of the or
iginal inscription upon a palimpsest.
deep in recent treatise upon surg
cry. Outside the wind howled down
Baker street, while the rain beat fierce
" against the windows. 1t was strange
here, In the very depths of the town.
with ten miles of mans handiwork on
every side of US. to feel the iron grip of
nature, and to be conscious that to the
huge elemental forces all London was
40 more than the molehills that dot the
fields. I walked to the window and
looked out on the deserted street The
occasional lamps CLEANED on the eX-
panse of muddy road and shining
pavement. A single cab was splash
ing its way from the Oxford street end.
Well. Watson, it's as we'll we have
not to turn out tonight" said Holmes.
aging aside his lens and rolling up
the palimpsest "I've done enough Tor
one sitting. 1t is trying work for the
eyes. So far as can make out. 1T is
nc1l,ssing more exciting than an abbeys
acNints dating from the second half
Of the fifteenth century. Halloa: hall
Ioa. halloa! What's this"
Amid the droning of the wind there
had come the stamping of a horses
hoofs, and the long grind of n wheel
as it rasped against the curb. The
cab which l had seen had pulled up at
our door.
"what can he WANT" I CALCULATED
as a man stepped out of 1T.
Want? He wants us. And we. my
poor Watson, want overcoats and
cravats and galoshes. and every aid
that man ever invented to fight the
weather. Wait a bit, though! There's
the cab off again. There's hope yet.
He'd have kept 1t If he had wanted us
to come. Run down. my dear follow,
and open the door, for all Nirtuous folk
have been long in bed
When the light OF the hall lamp feh
upon our midnight visitor had no
difficulty in recognizing him. 1t was
young Stanley Hopkins. a promising
detective, in whose career Holmes had
several times shown a very practical
interest.
rs he in?' he asked, eagerly.
"Come up, my dear sir" said Holmes
voice from above. 81 hope you have
no designs upon us such a night as
this"
The detective mounted the stairs,
and our lamp cleaned upon his shin
ing waterproof. / helped him out of
it. while Holmes knocked blaze out
of the logs in the CRATE.
Now my dear Hopkins, draw up
and warm your toes" said he. Here's
a cigar, and the doctor has a prescrip-
tion containing hot water and a lemon,
which is good medicine on Il night
like this II must be something inn
portant which has brought you out In
such n gale"
1T is indeed. MIR. Holmes. I've had
bustling afternoon, | promise you.
Did you see anything of the YoNlcy
case in the latest editions ."
i've sesn nothing later than the
fifteenth century today
We'll, it was only a paragraph, and
all wrong at that. so you have not
grass grow under my feet. It's down in
Kent, seven miles from Chatham and
three from the railway line / was
wired for at 3:15, reached Yoxley Old
Place at 5, conducted my investigation,
was back at Charing Cross by the last
train, and straight to you by cab
(Which means, | suppose, that you
are not quite clear about your case"
1t means that l can make neither
head nor tail of it. So far as | can
see, it is just as tangled Il business as
ever l handled. and yet at first it
seemed so simple that one couldn't go
wrong. There's no motive. Mr.. Holmes.
That's what bothers mel can't put
my hand on a motive. Here's n man
dead-there's no denying that-but. so
far as | can see, no reason on earth
why any one should wish him harm"
Holmes lit his cigar and leaned back
in his chair.
Let us hear about it, said he.
I've got my facts pretty clear" said
Stanley Hopkins. IAN / want now is
to know what they all mean. The
story, so far as / can make it out. is
like this: Some years ago this coun-
try house, Yoxley Old Place. was taxi
en- by an elderly man. who gave the
name of Professor Coram. He was
an invalid. keeping his bed half the
time and the other half hobbling round
the house with stick or being pushed
about the grounds by the gardener
in bath chair. He was we'll liked by
the few neighbors who called upon him,
and he has the reputation down there
of being a very learned man. His
household used to consist of an elderly
housekeeper. Mrs. Marker. and of a
maid, Susan Tarlton. These have both
been with him since his arrival, and
they seem to be women of excellent
character. The professor is writing a
learned book. and he found it neces-
sary, about year ago, to engage a
secretary. The first two that he tried
We're not successes, but the third, Mr..
Willoughby Smith. a very young man
straight from the university, seems to
have been just what his employer
wanted. His work consisted in writ
ing all the morning to the professors
dictation. and he usually spent the
evening in hunting up references and
passages which bore upon the next
days work. This Willoughby Smith
has nothing against him. either as a
boy ut Uppingham or as a young man
at Cambridge. have seen his testi-
monials. and from the first he was a
decent. quiet, hardworking fellow, with
no weak spot in him at all. And yet
this Is the lad who has met his death
fhia morning In the nrOfoouorsu at,,d~ .,