Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-09-14
BY A. N Y
XII.-THE ADVENTURE OF THE
ABBEY GRANGE-Continued.

Eyes, sir, it rs true that he threw the
decanter at me. | heard him call my
mistress a name, and l told him that
he would not dare TO speak so If her
brother had been there. Then it vas
that he threw it at me. He might have
thrown a dozen if he had but left my
bonny bird alone. He vas forever i'll
treating her, and she too proud to COM
plain. She will not even tell me all
that he has lone to her. She never
old me of those marks on her arm that
you saw this morning, but | know very
well that they come from q stab with
a hatpin. The sly devil-God forgive
me that / should speak of him SO, now
that he is dead. But a devil he was. if
ever one walked the earth. He was all
honey when we first met him-only
eighteen months ago, and we both feel
as il It were eighteen years. She had
only just arrived in London Yes, il
was her first voyage-she Id never
been from home before. He won her
with his title and his money and his
false london ways. If she made a mis-
take she was paid for it. if ever a wom-
an did. What month did we meet him?
Well, / tell you it was just after we
arrived. We arrived i'm June, and it was
July. They were married in January
of last ear. Yes, she is down in the
morning room again. n | have no
touDl she VIII STE you, bul yOu IluSJ
not ask too much of her, for she has
gone through all that flesh and blood
will stand"
Lady Brackenstall was reclining on
the same couch. but rocked brighter
than before. The maid had en-
tered with us, end began cnce more to
fomeEt rhe bruise upon her mistress
brow.
Il hope" said the lady, that you
ho 70 mot nnp,a r., GRACE ayan M ( az
again."
NO" Holmes answered, in his
gentleSt voice, IT will not cause you
any unnecessary trouble, Lady Brack-
enstall, and my whole desire is to make
things easy for you, for l am con
vlnced that you are II much tried wom-
an. If you will treat me as a friend
and ftust me-, o may find hat l will
justify your trust"
What do you want me to do?"
"To tell me the truth"
Mr.. Holmes!"
mo, no, Lady Brackenstall- 1t is no
use. You may have heard of any lit
tie reputation which l possess. / will
stake it all on the fact hat your story
is an absolute fabrication"
Mistress n maid were both staring
at Holmes with pale faces and fright
ened eyes.
You are an impudent fellow" cried
Theresa. d you mean to say that
my mistress has told a lie?"
Holmes rose from his chair.
Have you nothing to tell?"
II have told you everything"
Think once more Lady BraCkenstall.
Would it not be better TO be frank?"
For an instant there was hesitation
I'm her beautiful face. Then some new
strong thought caused it to set like a
mask.
II nave told you all I know"
Holmes took his hat and shrugged
his shoulders. II am sorry" he said,
and without another word we left the
room and the house. There was a pond
In the park. and to this my friend led
the way. It was frozen over, but a
single hole was left for the convenience
of a solitary swan. Holmes gaZed at
It, and then passed on to the lodge
gat. Then he scrubbed a short note
for Stanley Hopkins, and left it with
the lodgekeeper.
TT may be a hit. or II may be a miss,
but we are bound TO do something for
friend Hopkins, just to justify this sec
ond visit" said he. II will not quite take
him into my confidence yet. / think
our next scene of operations must be
the shipping office of the Adelaide
Southampton line, which stands at the
end of Pail Mall. il L remember right.
1utIc II d SSNollu iHiC VI NcaiilC
which connect South Australia with
England. but w viii draw the larger
cover first"
Holmes card sent in to the manager
ensured instant attention, and he was
not long in acquiring all the informa-
ton needed. In Tune of '95, only one
OF their line had reached q nome port.
1t was the Rock of Gibraltar. their
largest and best boat. A reference to
- ItaA ehAnFA hnf az
Fraser, of Adelaide, with her maid had
made the voyage In her. The a was
now on her way to Australia somewhere
In the south of the Suez canal. Her
officers were the same as in '95, with
one exception. The first officer. Mr..
Jack Croker, had been made a cap
tain, and was 10 take charge of their
, new ship, The Bass Rock. sailing in two
days time from Southampton. He
lived at Sydenham, but he was likely to
be IN rnaI morning for instructions, if
we cared to wait for him.
No: Mr.. Holmes had no desire to see
him, but would be glad to know more
about his record and character.
His record was magnificent. There
was not an officer in the fleet to touch
him. AS to his character, he was re-
liable on duty, but a wild, desperate
fellow off the deck of his ship-hot
headed, excitable, but loyal, honest and
kline hearted. That was the pith OF the
information with which Holmes left
the office of the Observation-Disclosures
company. Thence he drove to Scotland
Yard. but. instead of entering he sat
in his cab with his brows drawn down,
lost in profound thought. Finally he
drove round TO the Charing Cross tele-
graph office, sent off a message. and
then, at last, we made for Baker street
once more.
mo, i couldn't do ii. Watson" said
he, as we re-entered our room. Once
that warrant vas made out. nothing on
earth could save him. or twice
in my career / feel that ] have done
more real harm by my discovery of
the criminal than ever he had done by
his crime. / have learned caution now,
end / had rather play tricks with the
law of England han with my own con-
science. Let US know a little more
before we act"
Before evening, we had a visit from
Inspector Stanley Hopkins. Things
were not going we'll with him.
Il believe you are a wizard, Mr..
Holmes. / really do sometimes think
that you have powers that are no HUI
man. Now, how On earth could you
know that the stolen silver was at the
bottom of that pond?'
Il didn't know it,"
But you told me TO examine It,"
You got IL, them"
Yes, 1 got it,"
II am very glad II l nave helped YOU