The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1906-07-05
Vlll-THE ADVENTURE OF THE ST;
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.,

Will III URE or RI SD
Observation-Disclosures.
Holmes had taken several notes dur
ing Mr.. Harding's evidence, and
could see that he was thoroughly salts.
fled by the turn which affairs We're tax,
ing. He made no remark. however
save that, unless we hurried, we SHOULD
be late for u appointment with Les.
trade. Sure enough, when we reached
Baker street the detective was ALREADY
there, II we found him pacing up ant
down in a fever of impatience. Hi:
look Of Importance showed that hi:
days work had not becn in vain.
-"Well?' he asked. What luck, Mr.
Holmes"
1--WE have had a very busy day, anG
not entirely a wasted one my frienc
explained. eve nave seen both the re-
tailers and also the wholesale manu-
facturers. l can trace each Of tho
busts now from the beginning"
The busts!" cried Lestrade. "Well
well, you have your own methods, Mr.
Sherlock Holmes and it is not for me
TO say a word against them, but think
/ have done a better days work than
you. ] have identified the dead man.
You don't say SOP"
And found a cause for the crime"
"Splcndidi"
we have an inspector who makes a
specially of Saffron Hill and the Italian
quarter. Wen, this dead man had some
Catholic emblem round his neck, and that,
along with his color, made me think he
was from the south. Inspector Hill knew
him the moment he caught sight of him.
Els name Is Ptetro Venucci. from Naples,
and he is one Of the greatest cut-throats
In London. He is connected with the
Malta, which, as you know, is q secret
political society, enforcing its DEGREES by
murder. Now, you see how the affair be-
! t,- - 49,. VI. :.
probably an Italian also, and a member
Of the Malta. He has broken the rules
I'm some fashion. Pietro is set upon hi:
track. Probably the photograph we
found in his pocket is the man himself,
so that he may not knife the wrong per-
son. He docs the fellow. he sees him en-
ter a house, he waits outside for him, and
II the cufile he receives his own death
wound. How is that, Mr.. Sherlock
Holmes?"
Holmes clapped his hands approvingly.
Excellent, LcStrade, excellent" he
cried. But ] didn't quite follow your ex-
PLANTATION of the destruction of the busts."
The busts! You never can get those
busts out of your head. After all, that is
nothing; petty larceny, six months at the
most. 1t is the murder that we are really
Investigating, and l tell you that I am
gathering all the threads into MY hands"
And the next stage?"
us Il very simple one. ! shall go down
with Hill to the Italian quarter, find the
man whose photograph we have got, and
arrest him on the charge of murder. Win
you come with us?"
II think not. ] fancy we can attain our
end in a simpler way. I can't say for
certain. because it all depends-well, 1t
all depends upon a factor which is COM
pletely outside our control. But l have
great hopes-in fact, the betting is ex-
actly two to one-that if you will come
with us tonight l shall be able to help
you to lay him by the heels"
"In the italian quarter?"
mo, fancy Chiswick Is an address |
which is more likely to find him. If you
will come with me to Chiswick tonight,
Lestrade, III promise to go to the Italian
quarter with you tomorrow. and no harm
will be done by the delay. And now I
think that a few hours sleep would do
us all good, for I do not propose to leave
before II o'clock, and it is unlikely that we
shall be back before morning. You'll dine
with us, Lestrade, and then you are well
come to the sofa until 1t Is time for us to
start. In the meantime, Watson, 1 should
De glad If you would ring for an express
messenger for have a letter to send, and
It is important that it should go at once"
Holmes spent the evening in rummaging
among the files Of the old daily papers
80 y" ~. Sil- vi. ~ iIIp loOlllS DIS l.
packed. When at last he descended. it
was with triumph in his eyes, but ne said
nothing to either of us as to the result of
his researches. For my own part, I had
followed step by step the methods by
which he had traced the various windings
Of this complex case, and, though I could
not yet perceive the goal which we would
l understood clearly that Holmes
expected this grotesque criminal to make
an attempt upon the two remaining busts,
one OF which, | remembered, was at CHS
WICK. NO doubt the OBJECT of cur Journey
was to catch him in the very act. and
not but admire the cunning with
which my friend had inserted a wrong
clue In the evening paper, so as to give
the fellow the idea that he could con-
tinue his scheme with impunity. 1 was
not surprised when Holmes suggested that
| should take my revolver with me. He
had himself picked up the loaded hunting
crop, which was his favorite weapon.
A foursWheeler was at the door at II,
and In 1t we drove to a spot at the other
Size OF Hammersmith bridge. Here the
cabman was directed to wait. A short
walk brought us to a secluded road frirged
with pleasant houses, each standing In it's
own grounds. In the light OF a street
lamp we read "LaDurnum Villa" upon the
of one OF them. The occupants
had evidently retired to rest, for all was
dark. save for a fanlight over the hall
door, which shed a single blurred circle
on 10 the garden path. The wooden fence
which separated the grounds from the
road threw a dense black shadow pom the
inner side. and here 1t was hat we
crouched.
II fear that you'll have a long wait
Holmes whispered. We may thank our
that it is not raining. I don't think
can even venture to smoke to pass the
However, it's a two to one chance
that we get something to pay US for our
trouble"
1t proved, however, that our vigil was
not to be go long as Holmes had led us to
fear, and it ended in a very sudden and
singular fashion. In an instant, without
least sound to warn us of his coming,
the garden gate swung open, and a 1.-THE,
dark figure, as swift and active as an
rushed upon the garden path. We
saw 1t whisk past the light thrown from
over the door and disappear against the
shadow of the house. There was a
long pause. during which we held our
breath, and then a very gentle creakirlg
sound came to our ears, The window was
being opened. The noise ceased, and again
there was a long silence. TIL fellow was
making his way into the house, We saw
the sudden f3ash of a darlr fantarp iprtda5