The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-02-09
The ADVENTURE OF THE
EMPTY HOUSE@CONTiNuED

NHEEN H
Il am glad to stretch myself, Wat
son. he said. 1T is no joke when a
tail man has to take a foot off his stat
ure for several hours on end. Now, my
dear fellow, in the matter of these eN-
plantations. we have, if I may ask fo-
your cooperation, a hard n danger
Gus nights work in front of Us. Per-
haps it would be better if ! gave YOU
All account of the whole situation when
that work is hrIiss.ad."
it am full of curiosity, I should much
prefer to hear now"
You'll come with me, tonight? %
VIII you like and where you like
This is, indeed. like the old days. We
shall have time for a mouthful Of dir
ner before we need go. Well, then,
about thai chasm. / had no serious
difficulty. in getting out of 1t, for the
in It"
you never were in it?"
mo, Watson. / never was in 1t. My
note to 0 was absolutely genuine.
I had little doubt that I had come
to the end OF my career when I per-
eeived the somewhat sinister figure of
the late Professor Moriarity standing
upon the narrow pathway which led
to safety. I read an inexorable pur-
pose in his grey eyes. / exchanged
some remarks with him, therefore, and
obtained his courteous permission to
write the short note which O after
wards received. I left 1t with my Gig
along the pathway, Moriarfty still at
my heels. When I reached the end I
stood at bay. He drew no weapon, but
iihe rushed at me and threw his long
arms around me. He knew that his
own game was up, and was only anxi-
sous:sto revenge himself upon me We
totte1ed together upon the brink of the
fall. I have some knowledge, however,
of baritsu, or the Japanese system OF
wrestling, which has more tina once
been very useful to me. / slipped
through his grip, and he with a horrible
scream kicked madly for a few Sec
onds, and clawed the air with both
his hands. But for all his efforts he
could not get his balance, and over he
went. with my face over the brink,
- saw him fall for a long way. Then
he struck a rock. bounded off, and
splaslled into the water"
I listened with amazement to this ex-
PLANTATION, which Holmes delived be-
tween the puffs of his cigarette.
But the tracks!r 1 cried. II saw,
with my W eyes that two went down
h path and zone returned"
IT came about in this way. The in
laitt Nv PIO1CSSOi Idd OlSdP-
peared. it struck me what a really ex-
traordinarily lucky chance fate had.
placed in my way. I knew that MORT
artty was not the only man who a
sworn my death. There were at least
three others whose desire for yenge-
ance p me would only be increased
by the death of their leader. They
We're all most dangerous men. One or
other would certainly get me. On the
hand, If all the world was con-
WINGED that l was dead they would take
liberties, these men, they would soon
lay themselves open, n soonor or
later ! could destroy them. Then 1t
would be time for me to announce that
i was still in the land of the living.
rapidly does the brain act that I be-
lieve i had thought this all put before
Professor Moriarity had reached the
bottom OF the Reichenbach fall.
II stood up and examined the rocky
wall behind me. In your picturesque
account of the matter, which I read
with great interest some months later,
assert that the wall was sheer.
That was not literally true. A few
small footholds presented themselves.
there was some indication OF a.
1eage. The cliff is SO high that to climb
1T at all was an obvious imp%ossibility.
and 1T was equally impossible to make
way along the wet path. without
leaving some tracks. I might, 1t is
true. have reversed my boots, as 1 have
-doneson similar occasions. but the sight
.of three sets OF tracks in n direction
would certainly have suggested a de-
caption. On the whole. then, 1t was
best that I should risk the climb. 1t
was not q pleasant business. Watson.
The fall roared beneath me. I am not
Ia fanciful person, but I give you my
word that / seemed to hear Moriarity's
Gnrau M In ~ uf mo ont nf tho ohx,cc
"A mistake would have been fatal. More
than once. as tufts of grass came out
iny hand or my foot slipped in the
wet rotches of the rock, / thought I
was gene. But I struggled upward,
and at last / reached a ledge several
feet deep and covered with soft green
moss, where / could lie unseen in the
most perfect comfort. There 1 was
stretched, when you, my dear Watson,
and all your following were investi-
In h most sympathetic and
dneflcient manner the circumstances of
my death.
"At last, when you all had formed
Inevitable and totally erroneous
conclusions, you departed for the hotel,
and ! was left alone. I had imagined
that I had reached the end of my adj
ventures, hut a very unexpected oc-
,,curence showed me that there were
surprises still in store for me. A huge
rock, falling from above, doomed past
me, struck the path. and bounded over
into the chasm. For an instant /
Thought that 1t was an accident, but
IA moment later, looking up. / saw a
mans head against the darkening sky,
and another stone struck the very
ledge upon which I was stretched,
witain a foot of my head. OF course,
the meaning of this was obvious. MORT
,aftty had not been alone. A conseder-
ate-and even that one glance had
told me how dangerous a man that
confederate Was-had kept guard while
the professor had attacked me. From
a distance, unseen by me, he had been
a Witness Of his friends death and of
my ESCAPE. He had waited, and then
making his way round to the top of the
cliff, he had ~endeavored to. succeed
where his comrade had failed.
sssIt did not take long to think about.
II, Watson. Again I saw that grim face
look over the cliff, III ] knew that it
wss the precursor Of another stone. 1
scrambled down the path. / don't
think I could have done 1t in cold blood.
1T was "a hundred times more difficult
than getling UP. hut I had no time to.
sffiiIkaof the danger, for another stone
sang rast me as / hung by my hands
from the edge Of the ledge. Half way
down slipped, but. by n blessing of