Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1906-01-12
II you will treat me as friend and
trust me you may find that will JUS
tify yol1r tlr1StO

Wual uO you want me to dOW
ITO tell me the truth"
"Mr. Holmesw
mo, no, Lady Brackenstall; 1t is no
use. You may have heard of any little
reputation which / possess. I will
stake it all on the fact that your story
Is an absolute fabrication"
Mistress and maid were both staring
at Holmes with pale faces and fright
ened eyes.
"You are an impudent fellow!" cried
Theresa. "Do you mean to say that
my mistress has told lie?"
Holmes rose from his chair.
Have you nothing to tell me|
Il have told you everything"
Think once more, Lady Bracken-
stall. Would it not be better to be
frank?"
For an instant there was hesitation
In her beautiful face Then some new,
strong thought caused it to set like a
mask.
II have told you all know"
Holmes took his hat and shrugged
his shoulders. IT 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. 1t was frozen over, but a
single hole was left for the conyen-
fence of solitary swan. Holmes gazed
at it and then passed on to the lodge
gate. Then he scrubbed a short note
for Stanley Hopkins and left it with
the lodge keeper.
at may be hit or it may be 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. I
think our next scene Of operations
must be the shipping Office of the Ade-
laide- southampton line, which stands
at the end of Pail Mall, If remember
right. There is second line of steam
ers which connect South Australia
with England, but we will draw tho
larger cover first"
Holmes card sent in to the manager
insured instant attention, and he was
not long In acquiring all the informa-
ton he needed. In June Of '95 only one
Of their line had reached a home port.
It was the Rock of Gibraltar, their lar
gest and best boat. A reference to the
passenger list showed that Miss Fra
ser Of Adelaide, with her maid, had
made the voyage in her. The boat was
now on her way to Australia somewhere
In the south Of the Suez canal. Her off,
GERS were the same as In '05, with one
exception. The first officer, Mr.. Jack
Croker, had been made a captain and
was to 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
that 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 relia-
Bile on duty, but wild, desperate fell
low of the deck of his ship-hot head
ed, excitable, but loyal, honest and
kind hearted. That was the pith Of the
information with which Holmes left
the Office of THE Adelaide -Southampton
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 of message and
then, at last, we made for Baker street
once more.
mo; couldn't do 1t, Watson" said
he as we re-entered our room. "Once
that warrant was made out nothing on
earth would save him. Once 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, and
l had rather play tricks with the law Of
England than with my own conscience.
Let us know little more before we
act"
Before evening we had a visit from
Inspector Stanley Hopkins. Things
were not going very well with him.
Il believe that you are wizard, Mr..
Holmes. really do sometimes think
that you have powers that are not hui
man. Now, how on earth could you
know that the stolen silver was at the
bottom Of that pond2'
II didn't know it."
"But you told me to examine It,"
"You got It, then?"
"fes, got it"
II am very glad II have helped
you"
"But you haven't helped me. You
have made the affair far more difficult.
What sort Of burglars are they who
steal silver and then throw 1t into the
nearest pondT
1T was certainly rather eccentric be-
havior I was merely going on the
idea that IL the silver had been taken
by persons who did not want it-who
merely took it for blind, as 1t were
then they would naturally be anxious
to get rid Of It,"
"But why should such an idea cross
your mind7''
well, I thought it was possible.
When they came out through the
French window, there was the pond
with one tempting little hole in the
ice right in front Of their noses. Could
there be better hiding placer"
"Ah. a hiding place! That is betterl"
cried Stanley Hopkins. Eyes, yes; I
see 1t all nowl 1t was early, there
were folk unon the roads thew were