The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1906-07-12

NO. Il cant say u WIZ.
Well. he wrote so furiously that ne
broke his pencil. and had. AZ you OBJ
serve. TO sharpen u again. This In or
interest. Watson. The pencil was o
an ordinary one. IL was above the
usual size. with n soft lead. the outer
color was dark blue. the makers name
was printed In silver lettering. and the
piece remaining In only about an inch
and a half Ions. Look for such n pen
ell. Mr.. Soames. and you have got your
man. When ] add that he possessed
n largesand very blunt knife. you have
an additional aid"
Mi. Soames was somewhat over
wheimed by this God OF information.
Il N follow the other points" said he.
but really. In this matter of the
Holmes held out n small chip with
the letters Mn n n space of clear
wood after them.
You see?"
mo. I fear that even now"
Watson. I have always done you
an injustice. There are others. What
could this Nm be7 II is Mt the end
OF n word. You are aware that Johann
Fabcr In the most common makers
name. In IL not clear that there In
just as much OF the pencil left an usu-
ally follows h Johann" He held the
small table sideways 20 the electric
lAkhNs NaH NoHttk hHhh ~ NV BaptN
on which he wrote was thin. some trace
OF Il might come through upon this
polished surface. No. I see nothing.
I don't think there In anything more TO
be learned here. Now for the central
table. This small pellet ia. I presume.
the black, doughty mass you spoke OF.
Roughly pyramidal In shape and hol-
there appear TO be grains OF sawdust
In Il. Dear me. this IL very interest
Ing. And the cut-a positive ear. I
see. IL began with n thin scratch and
ended In n Jagged hole. I am much
Indebted to you for directing my at
tcntion TO this case. Mr.. Soames.
Where does tina door lead to?'
ITO my bedroom"
Have you been In Il since your ad-
ventureg'
mo, I came straight away for YOU
II should like TO have n glance round.
what n charming. old fashioned room!
Perhaps you will kindly wait n MIN
ute. until i have examined the floor.
No. I see nothing. What o this
curtain? You hang your clothes be-
hind u. II anyone were forced to con-
ceal himself In this room he must do 10
there. since the bed In too low and the
wardrobe too shallow. No n there.
! SUPPOSE"
AS Holmes drew the curtain I was
aware. from some little rigidity and
alertness OF his attitude. that he was
prepared for AN emergency. As n mat
ter OF fact. the drawn curt2.r DISCLOSED
nothing but three OF four suits OF
clothes hanging from n line OF pegs.
Holmes turned away. and stopped sud-
denly To the floor.
"Halloa. What's thIs?" said lie.
II was a small pyramid OF black. put
ty-like stun. exactly ~ e the one upon
a.. NuNl. ~ sha agnlg IInlNnaa hold ~
out on his open palm In the glare OF
the electric light.
Your visitor seems TO have left
traces In YOU bedroom as well as In
your sitting room. Mr.. Soames."
What could he have wanted there"
II think Il In clear enough. You came
back by an unexpected way, and 30 he
had no warning until you were ut the
very door. What could he do? He
caught up everything which would be-
tray him. and he rushed into your bed
room TO conceal himself"
Good gracious. Mr.. Holmes. do you
NEAR TO tell me that. all the time / was
talking TO Bannister In this ROOFS. we
had the man prisoner IL We had only
known IT."
so I read It,"
surely there is another alternative.
! Mr.. Holmes. I don't know whether you
observed my bedroom window"
"Lattice-pancd. lead framework. three
separate windows. one swinging on
hinge. and large enough to admit q
man,"
angle OF the courtyard SO as TO be
partly invisible. The man might have
effected his entrance there, left traces
as he passed through the bedroom. and
finally. finding the door open have es-
capped that way"
Holmes shook his head lmpatiently.
Let us be practical" said he. II
understand you To say that there are
three students who use this STAIR. and
Yes. there are"
And they are all In for this examl.
nation?"
Yes"
Have yo;: any cason to suspect airy
one OF them more than the others?"
1t Is a very delicate question" said
Soames. "One hardly likes TO throw
suspicion where there are no proofs"
Let US ear the suspicious. ] will
look after the proofs"
II Will tell you, In n few words tho
character OF the three men who In
habit these rooms. The lower OF the
three is Gilchrist. n n scholar and
athlete. plays In the Rugby team and
the cricket team for the college. and
| MI hNH pAu' " h"N "aAN Wv
long jump. He IL a fine. manly fellow.
His father was the notorious Sir Jabez
Gilchrist, who ruined himself on the
turf. My scholar has been left very
poor. but he IN hard working and indus
vrious. He Will do well.
THE second floor In inhabited by
Daulat Ras. the Indian. He In "A quiet.
i~nscrutaSle fellow. as most OF those
Indians are. He is well up In his
work. though his Greek is his weak
subject. He IN steady ana methodIcal.
The top 1oor belongs TO Miles Nc
Laren. lie IL a brilliant fellow when
he chooses to work-one OF the bright
est intellects OF the university: but he
Is hayward. d~issipated. and unprin-
cipled. He was nearly expelled over
n card scandal I'm his first year. He
has been idling all this term. and he
must look forward with dread TO the
examination"
Then II IL he whom you suspect?"
II dare not 20 80 far as that. But.
OF the three. he is perhaps the least
unlikely"
Exactly. Now. Mr.. Soames. ie, us
have "A look ut your servant. Bannis-
ter"
He was n little. white-faced. cIean-
shaven. grizzly haired fellow OF 60. He
was still suffering frcm this sudden
disturbance OF the quiet routine OF his