The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-10-03

WITH ali Cdi WtiS'i- I'M
ned then the other. and down came
the door with a crash. Rushing over
it. we found ourselves in the inner
room. 1t vas empty.
But il was only for a moment that
we were at fault AT one corner, the
corner nearest the room which Wehad
left. there was a second door. Holmes
sprans to it and pulled it open. A
coast and waistcoat were lying on
the floor. and from a hook behind the
door. with his own braces round MS
neck. was hanging the managing dl-
rector of the Franco Midland Hard
ware Company. His knees were drawn
up. his head hung at a an
gle to his body. and the clatter Of his
heels against the door made the noise
which had broken in upon our CONVEX
sation. In an instant / had caught
him round the waist, and held him up
while Holmes and Pycroft united the
elastic bands which had disappeared
between the livid creaseS Of skin.
Then we carried him into the other
room, where he lay With a clay-col-
ored face, putting his purple lips in
and out with every breath-a dread
full wreck of all that he had been but
five minutes before.
What do you think Of him, Wat
On? asked Holmes.
I stopped over hin and examined
him. His pulse was feeble and inter
mittent, but his breathing grew long
| er, and there was a little shivering Of
his eyelids, which showed a thin white
Slit Of ball beneath.
"It has been touch and go with
him. said 1, but he'll live now.
Just open that window, and hand me
the water carafe." l undid his col
lar poured the cold water over his
face, and raised and sank his arms
until he drew a long, natural breat
Its Only a question of time nOW,'
said I, as 1 turned away from him.
Holmes stood by the table, with his
hands deep in his trousers pockets
and his cAin upon his breast.
II suppose we ought to call the po-
lice in now, said he. And yet I
confess that I'd like to give them a
complete case when they come
Its a blessed mystery to me- cried
Pycroft, scratching his head. What
ever they wanted to bring me all the.
way up here for, then
"Pooh- All that is clear enough"
said Holmes, i1npatiently. 1t is this
last sudden move
You understand the rest, then?"
II think that it is fairly obvious.
What do o say, Watson?"
I shrugged my shoulders. 81 must
confess hat I am out Of my Depths"
sal l..
"Oh surely if you consider the
events at first they can only point to
one. conclusion.''
What do you make of them?"
We'll, the whole thing hinges upon
two points. The first is the making
Of Pycroft write a declaration by
which he entered the service of this
preposterous company. Do you not
see how very suggestive that is?"
Il am afraid / miss the point"
well, why did they want him to
DO it? Not as a business matter, for
these arrangements are usually verb
al, and there was no earthly business
reason why this should be an excep-
ton. Don't you see, my young friend,
that they were very anxious to obtain
a specimen Of your handwriting, and
had no other way Of doing it "
And why?"
quite so. Why? When we an
sWer that we have made some prog
resss with our little problem. Why?
There can be only one adequate rea-
son. Some one wanted to learn to i'm
itate your writing, and had to procure
a speciment Of it first. And now If
we pass on to the econd point we
find that each throws light upon the
other. That point is the request made
by Primer that you should not resign
your place, but should leave the man
ager Of this important business in the
full expectation that a Mr.. Hall Ply
croft, whom he had never seen, was
about to enter the office upon tho
Monday morning."
My God.' cried our client, what
a blind beetle I have BEEN"
Now you see the point about the
handwriting. Suppose that some one
turned up in your place who wrote a
completely different hand from that
in which you had applied for the va
cancy, of course the game would have
been up. But in the interval the
rogue had earned to initiate you, and
his position was therefore secure, as
l presume that nobody in the office
had ever set eyes upon you"
Not a SOUL" groaned Hall Pycroft.
Very good. OF course it was of
the utmost Importance to prevent you