The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-02-28

49, AfA1 - ~ 1s AtAAa tRAAA tNtlAtA
away from him, and Holmes staggered
to his feet. very pale and evidently
greatly exhausted.
ARREST these men, Inspector" he
gasped.
"On what charge"
THAT of numbering their %coachman,
| William Kirwan."
The inspector stared about him in
bewilderment. "Oh, come now. Mr..
Holmes" said he at last. I'm sure you
don't really mean To-
Never certainly AVE I seen a palmer
confession of guilt upon human coun-
tenances. The older man seemed
numbed and dazed, with a heavy. sul-
Tut, man, look at their faces." cried
Holmes. curly.
len expression upon his strongly
marked face. The son. on the other
hand, had dropped all that jaunty.
dashing style which had characterized
him, and the ferocity of a dangerous
wild beast cleaned in his dark eyes
and distorted his handsome features.
The inspector said nothing, but, step
ping to the door, he blew his whistle.
Two of his constables came at the call.
II have no alternative. Mr.. Cunning
ham, said he. II trust that this may
all prove to be an absurd mistake,
but you can see that All, would yous
Drop it, He struck out with his hand,
and a revolver which the younger man
was in the act of cooking ciattered
down upon the floor.
Keep that said Holmes, quietly
putting his foot upon it; you will find
it useful at the trial. But this is what
we really wanted" He held up a lit
tie crumpled piece of paper.
The remainder of the sheet.'' cried
the inspector.
Precisely
"And where was ito"
"Where / was sure ii must be. I'll
make the whole matter clear to you
presently. / think, colonel, that you
and Watson might return now, and I
will be with you again in an hour at
the furthest. The inspector and I must
have a word with the prisoners. but
you will certainly see me back at
luncheon time
Sherlock Holmes vas as good as his
word, for about / o'clock he rejoined
us in the colonel's s-moking-room. He
was accompanied by n little elderly
gentleman, who was introduced TO mo
as the Mr.. Acton whose house had
been the scene of the original burglary.
II wished Mr.. Acton to be present
while l demonstrated this small mat
ter to you" said Holmes, for it is nat
ural that he should take a keen inter-
est in the details. l am afraid, my
dear colonel, that you must regret the
hour that you took in such a stormy
petrol as ! am"
o the contrary" answered the
colonel, warmly, IT consider 1T the
greatest privilege TO have been per-
mitted to study your methods of work
ing. | confess that they quite surpass
my expectations, and that | am utterly
unable TO account for your result. /
have not yet seen the vestige of a
clue"
Il am afraid that my explanation
may disillusion you, but it has always
been my habit to hide non of my
methods, either from my friend Wat
son or from any one who might take
an intelligent interest in them. But,
first, as | am rather shaken by the
knocking about which l had in the
dr~essing-room. l think that / shall
help myself to a dash of your brandy,
colonel. My strength has been rather
tried of late"
'T trust you had no more of those
nervous attacks
Sherlock Holmes laughed heartily,
we will come to that In its turn said
he. 81 will lay an account of the casa
before you in its due order, showing
you the various points which guided
me in my decision. Pray interrupt ma
il there is any inference which is NOT
perfectly clear to you.
ut is of the highest Importance in
the art of detection TO be able to recog-
nize, out of a number of facts, which
are incidental and which vital. other
wise your energy and attention must
be dissipated instead of being concen-
trated. Now, in this case there was
not the slightest doubt in my mind
from the first that the key of the
whole matter must be looked for in
the scrap of paper in the dead mans
hand.
Before going into this, [ would draw
your attention to the fact that, if Alec
Cunningham's narrative was correct.
and II the assailant, after shooting
William Kirwan, had instantly fled,
then II obviously could not be he who
tore the paper from the dead mans
hand. But if 1t was not he, it must
have been Alec Cunningham himself
for by the time that the old man had
descended several servants were upon
the scene. The point is a simple one,
nut the Inspector mad overlooked il be-
cause he had started with the suppo-
sitiOn that these county magnates hal
had nothing to do with the matter.
Now, make a point of never having
any prejudices, and Of following docile-
ly wherever fact may lead me. and so,
in the very first stage Of the investi-
gation, ] found myself looking a little
askance at the part which had been
played by Mr.. Alec Cunningham.
And now l made a very careful ex-
animation of the corner Of paper which
the inspector had submitted to us. 1t
was at once clear to me that it formed
part of n very remarkable document.
Here it is. Do you not now observe
something very suggestive about it,"
at has a very irregular look" said
the colonel.
my dear sir cried Holmes. there
cannot be the least doubt in the world
that it has been written by two per-
sons doing alternate words. When |
draw our attention to the strong IS
of at and to- and ask you to COM