The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-03-26
1kk4aNve1zHre @P Peter Creve Tile
Nan uZzb lie Camera Der
C50 7Ia7OId Carter
C5I Ta1OIa Carter

10 move The strange black creature
e,iInnel higher and higher against the
and higher yet ii went. apparently walk
Z ilnG upon the perpendicular slope until
/ me topmost window was attained. Then
! saw saw The burglar, jerk the rope. The
ward and he WAS hauling himself up
! the wall hand over hand. with perfect
ease and apparently perfect security
Crewc crcpt forward and drew re-
/ Nolver from his pocket. Halt" he said
( quietly to the man in the air. Halt. or
! fire Come down"
saw struggle upon the perpendicular
wall. The clineing man grasped at the
rope. missed ii, seemed 10 lose his foot
hold. and suddenly fell some twenty feet
In the an The loose rope tghtened with
| instant, and then began to swing like a
pendulum from side 10 side along the
flank of the building. AZ every turn the
rope rose higher around him. 1t was
slipping inward from his waist. where
he had fastened it, toward his throat
ono arm having slipped through the
body assumed an attitude more and more
perpendicular; finally, with sudden
shock, the moose slipped round the neck
and the corpse swung evenly at the ropes
end. the vibrations gradually lessenine
until the body hung limp and loose and
lifcleSs. Its one free arm dangling the
other pinned by the rope to the neck,
the forearm waving weakly around the
head, Nothing that we could have done
could have saved him. Twenty feet al
least above our heads that dreadful
drama was enacted in the air.
"He has but anticipated his fate" said
Crewc. Poor devil! His ingenuity undld
him. Let us 20. Langton; there is no
purpose to be served by our remaining
here"
On the following morning all London
was aeapc over the latest mystery.
policeman, according TO tho account. had
found tho body OF a man suspended from
an upper window OF tenement house by
a rope OF "rodiglous length. He had cut
him down. but the suicide had evidently
been dead for several hours. The rope
was ingeniously knotted around the win
dow bars: yet ii had not been fastened
and the room having been unoccupied
for more than week previously.
Another item in the same newspaper
passed without notice; yet the two were
indtssolubly connected
Early this morning" it ran. while
going To work. John Jarvis. plumber,
noticed strange beast In the Strand.
1t was suspended from a window SILL
and at first seemed TO be dead but was
subsequently found TO be sleeping. The
beast was noosed and taken to the police
station. whore il was discovered. after
some investigation. 10 be a harmless sloth
OF the armadillo type. Its final destina-
ton will probably he the Geological Gar
dens"
Crewe looked up at me.
The greatest mystery" he said. 'is
how the creature contrived to knot the
rope round the window bars so that it
held up the body of the burglar after ii
had departed upon its nocturnal prowl-
ings In search OF food
"Crewe.' 7 said. you have not ex-
planned anything OF the mystery TO me
as yet: ! do not know how the burglar
him to be South American, nor the
meaning Of the hentracks."
Crewe started MY dear Iangton, for
give me-" he pleaded. Il will do so at
habits Of the sloth?'
II never heard Of such an animal be-
fore today l answered.
Just So" Crewe answered, smiling.
know nothing Of this animal. it Is safe
TO say that nobody else does. except, here
and there, some naturalist Is IL not
rea sonable. therefore. to assume that the
quainted with tin other words, that lie
was a denizen Of South America. the con-
tinent In which the sloth has It's habitat?
And If that deduction were not logical
we have the testimony OF the |
pawnbroker and his neighbors TO the eff
feet that the man was an ltalian-the |
generic, term In ENGLAND 70 for all souther-
Yes" I said, granted the sloth, | |
will admit that its owner was probably !
a South American But what gave you
the idea OF its being a sloth. and how !
does It come into the story?''
Why" said Crewe. II saw its marks
upon the brickwork OF the tower. and
also at Noting Hi. The sloth has only
three toes, and It's marks are as much
like hen tracks as anything in the world.
You have undoubtedly seen a sloth's feet
pt the Geological gardens when YOU were
a boy"
"Undoubtedly but they have entirely
escaped my recollection
THAT is the difference between us"
snid Crewe. smiling. But. To continue.
The sloth has acquired the remarkable
l,,, lN.,,,, .lf,sr i,Ns Itz hal
OF trees. With It's head down.
is heavy body suspended by its slender
paws. IL sleeps happily all through the
lay. awakening only at night. when II
lursucs its Insect prey. When suspended
N this manner nothing can dislodge it;
n fact, the soth seems able to defy the
avs of gravltation. 4 weight of a ton.
affixed TO its body. would not pull 1t
downward or disturb H. in It's ecstatic
;lumbers. On the other hand. by un-
clasping the paws and pulling upward
The soth can be easily and harmlessly