The Raymer enterprise., 1911-10-05

i "Crewe." said. you have not ex.
piained anything Of the mystery to
me as yet do not know how the
burglar entered the tower. nor how
you knew him to be South Ameri-
can. nor the meaning Of the hen
tracks"
Crewe started. "My dear Langton.
forgive me-" he pleaded. IT win do
so at once. Do you know anything
about the habits of the slotb?' \
II never heard Of such an animal
before today" answered.
Just So" Crewe answered. smiling.
Now II you, an educated American.
know nothing Of this animal. 1t Is
safe to say that nobody else does, ex-
cept. here and there. some natural
list. Is It not reasonable. therefore.
to assume that the man who owned
It was intimately acquainted with tt
in other words that he was a deni.
zen of South America, tie continent
in which the sloth has it, habitat!
And II that deduction were not log.
ical enough. we have the testimony
Of the pawnbroker and his neighborg
to the effect that the man was an
Italian-the generic term in England
for all southerners Of swarthy com.
plexion."
YES" / said. granted the sloth,
win admit that Its owner was prob.
ably South American. But what
gave you the Idea Of It's being a
sloth, and how does 1t come into the
story?
why" said Crewe; ~ saw its
marks upon the brick work Of the
tower. and also at Noting Hill. The
sIoth has only three toes. and its
marks are as much like hen.tracks
as anything In the world. You have
undoubtedly seen sloth's feet ct the
Geological Gardens when you were q
boy
Undoubtedly: but they have en-
tirely escaped my recollection
That is the difference between
u.s." said Crewe. smiling. "But, to-
continue, the sloth has acquired the
remarkable habit Of hanging b. its
toes from the branches Of trees.
With its head down. its heavy body
suspended by It's slender paws, 1t
sleeps happily all through the day..
awakening only at night. when 1t pur-
sues 1t insect prey. When suspended
In this manner nothing can dislodge
It; In fact. the sloth seems able to,
defy the laws Of gravitation. A
weight Of ton. affixed to its body,
would not pull it downward or dis
turb 1t in its ecstatic slumbers On
the other hand, by unclasping the
paws and pulling upward. the s;oth
can be easily and harmlessly re-
moved from Its resting place. And so
our organ-grinder had sloth in
place Of monkey. The plan of dis.
playing 1t in the streets openly, under
the guise Of sick monkey, was a
brilliant conception, and shows US
that our criminal was man of a high
degree Of mentality.
THE rest Of the picture, Langton,
you can fill In for yourself. Having
discovered the most convenient hour
for his enterprise. the burglar at.
taches long rope around the crea.
ture. coiling the other end around
his body. aud places 1t upon the wall.
Our sloth. feeling the smooth surface
beneath him, and being unable to
sleep perpendicularly conceives the
Idea that he Is upon the stem of a
peculiarly high and smooth palm
tree, at whose summit he may hope
to find a comfortable branch from
which It is his delight to- feed. He
ascends as long as the rope holds out.
When he reaches the level of the
window. his master maneuvers him
against the bars. feeling which, and
imagining them to be branches. the
sloth promptly fastens himself by the
feet. lets his head fall. and passes
Into delicious slumber.
I'VE now have our sioth firmly AZ.
hxed to the bars. No weight, pulling
from below. can dislodge him. In
other words, the burglar has an.
chored his rope outside the window
OF the room to which he desires to
gain admittance. Now, aided by
darkness Of one Of these perpetual
London fogs, he ascends the rope.
oracing himself against the brick
walls. reaches his destination. effects
MS haul. and then descends in the
same way. afterward pulling down
the animal. probably through some
slip-knot arrangement. 1t was most
ingenious contrivance. Langton, and n
our robber had nos wrongly adjusted
his rope. SO that It slipped round MI.
throat and stransled him, he might
have scrambled mp out of reach and
managed to elude u.s.