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

r.
up my pen to write these, the last
words in which I shall ever record
the singular gifts by which my friend,
Mr.. Sherlock Holmes, was distin-
guished. In an incoherent and, rs /
deeply feel, an entirely inadequate
fashion. | have ~endeayored to give
some account of my strange expert
ences In his company from the chance
which first brought US together at the
period of the STUDY in Scarlet up to
the time of his interference in the mat
ter of the Naval T~reaty"-an inter-
ference which had the unquestionable
effect of preventing a serious nterna-
tional complication. 1t was my inten-
ton to have stopped there and to have
said nothing of that event which has
created a void in my life which the
lapse of two years has done little to
fill. My hand has been forced, how
ever, by the recent letters in which
Colonel James Moriarty defends the
memory of his brother, and have no
choice but to lay the facts before the
public exactly as they occurred. |
alone know the absolute truth of the
matter. and / am satisfied that the
time has come when no good purpose
is to be served by its suppression. As
far as | know, there have been only
three accounts in the public press: that
in the Journal de Geneve on May 6,
1891, the Reuters dispatch in the Eng
fish papers on Man Z. and finally the
recent letters to which have alluded.
OF these the first and second were
extremely condensed, while the last is,
as l shall now show. an absolute per-
version of the facts. Ii lies with me
! a. Ill F.,. fl,a HVpF Inn an1anf fsanIlxF
took place between Professor Moriarty
and Mr.. Sherlock Holmes.
It may be remembered that after my
marriage. and my subsequent start in
private practise, the very intimate re-
lations which had existed between
Holmes and myself became to some eX-
tent modified. He still came to me
from time to time when he desired a
companion in his Investigations, but
these occasions grew more and more
seldom. until l find that in the year
1890 there were only three cases of
which | retain any record. During
the winter Of that year and the early
spring of 1891, l saw in the papers that
he had been engaged by the French
Government upon a matter of supreme
Importance, and | received two notes
from Holmes, dated from Narbonne and
from Mines, from which l gathered
that his stay in France was likely to
be a long one. 1t was with some sur
prise, therefore, that | saw him walk
into my consulting-room upon the
evening of April "a. 1t struck me that
he was looking even paler and thinner
than usual.
YES, l have been using myself up
rather too freely he remarked, in am
swer to my look rather than to my
words; Il rave been a little pressed
of late. Have you any objection to
my closing your shntters?"
The only light in the room came from
the lamp upon the table at which had
been reading. Holmes edged his way
round the wall, and ninging the shut
ters together, he bolted them securely.
"You are afraid of something" 1
asked.
"Well. l am"
"Of what?"
"Of ~air-guns."
my dear Holmes, what do you
mean?"
IT think that you know me well
enough, Watson. to understand that l
am by no means a ervou man. At
the same time. it is stupidity rather
than courage to refuse to recognize
danger when it is close upon you. Might
| trouble you for q match?" He drew
in the smoke of his cigarette as if the
soothing influence was grateful to him.
Il must apologize for calling so late"
said he, and / must further beg you
to be so unconventional as to allow me
to leave your house presently by scram-
bling over your back garden WALL
But what does it all mean?" 1
asked.
He held out his hand, and / saw in
the light of the lamp that two of his
knuckles were burst and bleeding.
IT'S not an airy nothing, you see"
said he. smiling. "On the contrary, it
is solid enough for a man to break his
hand over. Is Mrs. Watson IMP
"She is away upon a visit"
Indeed! You are aIone?"
Quite"
"Then it makes it the easier for me
to propose that you should come away
with me for a week to the Continent"
"Where?"
ooh. anywhere. It's all the same to
me-
There was something very strange in
all this. 1t was not Holiness nature
" tame all dlllltSS nOiludyf anu SUITE
thing about his pale, worn face told me
that his nerves were at their highest
tension. He saw the question in my
eyes, and. putting his finger-tips to-
gether and his elbows upon his knees,
he explained the situation.
You have probably never heard of
Professor Moriarty?" said he.
Never
AYE, there's the genius and the Won
der of the thingl' he cried. 1.-THE man
pervades London. and no one has heard
of him.. That's what puts him on a
pinnacle in the records of crime. l tell
you, Watson, in all seriousness, that
if I could beat that man. if 1 could free
society Of him, ! should feel that my
own career mad reached its summit,
and | should be prepared to turn to some
more placid line in life. Between our
selves, the recent cases in which l have
been of assistance to the royal family
of Scandinavia, and tofthe French re-
public. have left me in such a position
that ] could continue TO live in the
quiet fashion which is most congenial
TO me, and to concentrate my attention
upon my chemical researches. But l
could not rest, Watson, | could not sit
quiet in my chair If / thought that
such a man as Professor Moriarty were
walking the streets of London unchal-