The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-03-27

him in the university town. and event
ually he was compelled to resign his
chair n to come down to London,
where he set up as an army coach.
So much is known to the world, but
what 1 am telling you now is what III
have myself discovered.
las you are aware, Watson, there is
no one who knows the higher criminal
world of London so well as l do. For
years past l nave continually been con-
scious of some power behind the male
factor, some deep organizing power
which forever stands in the way Of the
law. and throws its shield over the
w~rongdoer. Again and again in cases
of the most varying sorts-forgery
cases. robberies, murders-I have felt
the presence of this force, and / have
deduced it's action in many of those
undiscovered crimes in which l have
not been personally consulted. For
years l have ~endeavored to break
through the veil which shrouded it,
and at last the time came when / seized
my thread and followed it, until it led
me, after a thousand cunning windings,
to ex-Professor Morlarty of mathemat-
zeal celebrity.
HE is the Napoleon of crime, Wat
son. He is the organizer of half that is
evil and of nearly all that is unde-
tected in this great city. He is a genius,
a philosopher, an abstract thinker.
He has a brain of the first order. He
sits m~otionless, like a spider in the
centre of its web, but that web has n
thousand radiations. and he knows well
every CULVER of each of them. He does
little himself. He only plans. But his
agents are numerous and splendidly
organized. Is there a crime to be done.
a paper to be distracted, We will say,
a house to be riled, a man to be re-
moved-the word is passed to the pro-
%fessor. the natter is organized and car
ried out. The agent may be caught.
In that case money is found for his
bail or his defense. But the central
power which uses the agent is never
ca~ught-never SO much as suspected.
This was the organization which l de-
duced, Watson, and which L devoted
my whole energy to exposing and
breaking up.
but the professor was fenced round
with safeguards so cnnningly devised
that. do what / would, it seemed i'm
possible to get evidence which would
convict in a court of law. You know
my powers, my dear Watson, and yet
at the end of three months ] was forced
to confess that | had at last met an
antagonist who was my intellectual
equal. My horror at his crimes was
lost in my admiration at his skill. But
at last he made a trip-only a little, Its
tie trip-but it was more than he could
afford, when l was SO close upon him.
| had my chance, and, starting from
that point, 1 have woven my net round
him until now 1t is all ready to close.
In three ~days--that is to say, on Mon
day next-matters will be ripe, and the
professor, with all the principal MEM
bers of his gang, will be in the hands
of the police. Then will come the great
est criminal trial of the century, the
clearing up of over forty mysteries, and
the rope for all of them; but if we
move at all prematureiy, you under
stand. they may slip out of our hands
even at the last moment.
Now, if 1 could have done this with
out the knowledge of Professor Mo-
riarty. all would have been well. But
he was too willy for that. He saw every
step which l took to draw my tolls
round him. Again and again he strove
to break away, but l as often headed
him off. l tell you, my friend, that if
a detailed account of that silent con-
test could be written, 1t would take
its place as the most brilliant bit of
thrust-and-parry work in the history of
detection. Never have l risen to such
a height, and never have / been so
hard pressed by an opponent. q He cut
deep, and yet l just undercut him. This
morning the last steps were taken, and
three days only were wanted to COM
plete the business. l was sitting in
my room thinking the matter over,
when the door opened and Professor
Morlarty stood before me.
my nerves are fairly proof. Watson,
but / must confess to a start when [
saw the very man who had been so
much in my thoughts standing there
on my threshold. His appearance was
quite familiar to me. He is extremely
tall n thin, his forehead domes out
in a white curve, and his two eyes are
deeply sunken in his head. He is
clean-shaven, pale and ascetic-looking,
retaining something of the professor
in his features. His shoulders are
rounded from much study, and his face
protrudes forward, and is forever slow
" oscillating from side to side in a
curiously reptilian fashion. He peered
at me with great curiosity in his puck
cred eyes.
"'You have less frontal development
than | should have expected said he
at last. 1t is a dangerous habit to
finger loaded firearms in the pocket
of ones dressing gown
1.-THE fact is that Upon his entrance
I had instantly recognized the extreme
personal danger in which | lay. The
only conceivable escape for him lay in
sileneing my tongue. In an instant /
had slipped the revolver from the
drawer into my pocket. and was COW
ering him through the cloth. At his
remark / drew the weapon out and
laid It cooked upon the table. He still
smiled and blinked, but there was
something about his eyes which made
me feel very glad that ! had it there.
"'You evidently don't know me-
said he.
20 the contrary I answered, I
think it Is fairly evident that l do.
Pray take a chair. / can spare you
five minutes IL you have anything to
say,
"fAil that ! have TO say has already
crossed your mind said he.
Then possibly my answer has
crossed yours / replied.
You stand fast2