The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1906-04-05

heard OF Miss Violet smith. Her visit
was remember. extremely unwelcome
to Holmes. for he was immersed at the
moment In a very abtruse and compli-
Gated problem concerning the peculiar
persecution TO which John Vincent
Harden. the well known tobacco mil
lional.c had been subjected. My friend.
who loved above all things precision
and concentration OF thought, resented
anything which distracted his atten-
ton from the matter In hand. And
yet. without n harshners which was
foreign To- his nature. IL was impossible
To refuse TO listen To the story OF the
young and beautiful woman. tall.
graceful and queenly, who presented
herself at Baker street late In the even
ing and impiored his assistance and
advice. IL was In vain To urge That
his time was already fully occupied. for
the young lady had come with the de-
termination To tell her story. and IL was
evident that nothing short OF force
could get her out az the room until she
had done so. With a resigned air and
somewhat weary smile. Holmes
begged the beautiful intruder to take
seat and tn inform us what IL was
that was troubling her.
AT least II cannot he your health"
said he. rs his keen eyes dnrted over
her; ''Ro ardent bicyclist must be full
OF energy"
she glanced down I'm surprise at her
own feet. and I observed the slight
caused by the friction OF the edge OF
the pedal.
"YcS. bicycle n good deal. Mr..
Holmes. and that has something TO do
with my visit To you today"
My friend took the lady's ungloved
hand and examined IL with ~ close
attention and as little sentiment as "A
scientist would show to specimen.
You will excuse me. l am sure. IL IL
my business" said he. as he dropped IL.
Il nearly fell into the error OF suppos-
ing that you were typewriting. OF
course. Il Is obvious that Il Is music.
You observe the spatulatc finger ends,
Watson, which is common To both pro-
fcSsionsr There is "A spirituality about
the face. however"--she gently turned
"a towards the llght--"which the type
writer does not generate. This lady Is
musician
Yes. Mr.. Holmes I teach music"
In the country. presume. from your
complexion"
Yes. SIR, near rarnham. on the Dor
dcrs OF Surrey
"A beautiful neIghborhood. and full,
of the most interesting associations.
You remember. Watson. that II was
near there that We took Archie Siam
ford. the forgcr. Now. Miss Violet.
what mas ndppfNeu gous near
ham. on the borders or Surrey
The young lady. with great cicarress
and composure. made the following
curious statement:
My father is dead. Mfr. Holmes. He
was James Smith. who conducted the
orchestra at the old Imperial thCater.
My mother and I were left without n
relation In the world except one uncle.
Ralph Smith. who went to Africa TWEEN
ty-lve years ago. and we have never
had word from him since. when
father died we were left very poor. but
one day we were told that there was
an advertisement In the Times. inquir-
Ing for our whereabouts. You can I'm
aginc how excited we were. for we
thought that someone had left us n
fortune. We went nj once to the law
yer whose name was given I'm the pa
per There we met two gentlemen.
Mr.. Carruthcrs and Mr.. woodley. who
were home on n visit from South Afri-
ca. They said that my uncle was
friend OF theirs. that he had died some
months before In great poverty I'm
johannesburg. and that he had asked
them with his last breath TO hunt up
his relations and see that they were I'm
no want. IL seemed strange to us that
Uncle Ralph, who took no notice Of us
when he was alive, should be so care
ful To look after us when nc was dead.
but Mr. Carruthers explained that the
reason was that my uncle had just
heard OF the death OF his brother, and
SO felt responsible for our fate"
Excuse me-" said Holmes. when
was this Interview"
Last December--four months ago"
Pray proceed"
most odious person. He was for ever
making eyes at me--a coarse. PUFFY
faced. red-mustached young man. with
| his hair plastered down on each side OF
his forehead. I thought that he was
perfectly hateful-and was sure that
Cyril would not wish me TO know such
| "a person"
"oh. Cyril Is his name!" said Holmes.
| smiling.
The young lady blushed and laughed.
Yes, Mr.. Holmes. Cyril Nor
| ton, an electrical engineer. and
| we hope To be married at the
end OF the summer Dear me. how
| did | get talking about him? What I
wished To say was that Mr.. woodiey
was perfectly odious, but that Mr.. Car
| ruthcrs, who was n much older man.
was more agreeable. He was n dark.
| Sallow. clean shaver. silent person. but
he had polite manners and n pleasant
smile. He inquired how We were left.
and on finding that We were very poor.
| nc suggested tnnt L should come and
| teach music TO his only daughter, aged
ten. l said that l did not like to leave
my mother on which he suggested that
] should go home 60 her every week
end. and he offered me n hundred "A
year. which Was certainly splendid pay.
So IL ended by my accepting and I
went down TO Chiltcrn Grange. about
six miles from Farnham. Mr. Car
ruthers was a widowcr. but he had en-
gagged "A lady housekeepcr a very re-
spectacle. elderly person, called Mrs.
Dixon. To look after his establishments.
The child was "a dear. and everything
promised well. Mr.. Carruthers was
very kind and very musical. and we
had most pleasant evenings together.
Every week end I went home TO my
mother ia town.
(Continued Next Wsekl