The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-10-31

! he babe me good-day, complimented
me upon the amount that had writ
ten. and locked the door OF the OF
fee after me.
This went on day after day, Mr..
Holmes. and on Saturday the man
ager came in and planked down four
| golden soyereigns for my weeks
work. 1t was the same next Week.
and the same the week after. EVER
morning / was there at ten, and every
afternoon l left at two. BY degrees
! Mr.. Duncan Ross took. to coming IN
| only once Of a morning, and then,
after a time, he did not come IN at
| all. Still, of course, | never dared to
leave the room for an instant, for |
was not sure when he might come,
and the billet was such a good one,
and suited me SO well, that L would
not risk the loss Of it.
Eight weeks passed away like
| this, and / had written about Ab-
bots and Archery and Armor and
Architecture and Attica, and hoped
with diligence that [ might get on
to the BIS before very long. 1t cost
me something in foolscap, and l had
pretty nearly filed a shelf with my
writings. And then suddenly the
whole business came to an end"
ITO an end?"
Eyes, sir. And no later than this
morning. I went to my work as
/ SUD dC~ kSl u SioSh Wv NA1 OooAr
was shut and locked, with a little
square of cardboard hammered on
to the middle of the panel with a
tack. Here it is, and You can read
for YOURSELF
He held up a piece of white card
board about the size of a sheet of
note-paper. 1t read in this ashton:
1.-The Red-headed League
Dissolved.
October 9, 1890"
Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed
this curt announcement and the rue
full face behind it. until the conf
cal side of the affair SO completely
~overtopped every other consideration
that we both burst out into a oar
of laughter.
Il cannot see that there is anything
very funny cried our client, flush
ing up to the roots of his flaming
head. eff you can do nothing bet
ter than laugh at me, / can go else
where"
mo, no." cried Holmes, showing
him back into the chair from which
he had half risen. Il really would
MT miss your ease for the world. It
is most r~efreshingly unusual. But
there is, if you will excuse my say
ing SO, something just a little funny
ABOUT II. FRAY what steps ulu you
take when you found the card upon
the door?"
II was staggered, sir. I did not
know what to do. Then I called at
the offices round, but none of them
seemed to know anything about it.
Finally, l went to the landlord, who
is an accountant living or the
ground-foor, and I asked him if he
could tell me what had become Of
the Red-headed League. He said
that he had never heard of any such
body. Their I asked him who Mr..
Duncan Ross was. He answered that
the name was new to him.
We'll said I, the gentleman at
What, the r~ed-headed man.
Ives.
"tOh,' said he, his name was Will
liam Morris. He was a solicitor. and
was using my room as a temporary
convenience until his new premises
were ready. He moved out yester-
day
"'Where could I find him?'
"'Oh, at his new Offices. He did
tell me the address. Yes, II King
Edward Street, near st. PauIs.'
Il started off, Mr.. Holmes, but
when I got to that address it was
a mandatory Of artificial knee
caps, and no one in it had ever heard
of either MIR. William Morris or Mr..
Duncan Ross"
And what did YOU do them
asked Holmes.
II went home to SaXe-Coburg
Square, and 1 took the advice of my
assistant. But he could not help me
n any way. He could only say that
if l waited [ should hear by post.
But that was not quite good enough,
Mr.. Holmes. / did not wish to lose
such a place without a struggle, so,
as | had heard that YOU were good
enough to give advice TO poor folk
who were in need OF it, [ came right
away to you."
And you did very wisely said
Holmes. Your case is an exceeding
ly remarkable one, and [ shall be
happy to look into 1t. From what
you have old me 1 think that it is
:. nor-ihla tbat IaJer iSS11cS hanu from,