The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1912-04-29
my 6rothers!" Cried Mortimer Tre
r. gennis, White to His Lips.

"My 9rothersl" Cried Mortimer Tre,
gennis, White to His Lips. p
Nov, let us calmly define our 20.
sition, Watson" he continued. az We
skirted the cliffs together. LET W
get firm grip Of the very little which
we dc know. SO that when fresh facts
arise we may be ready to fit them into
their places. take it, in the first
place, that neither of US is prepared
to admit diabolical intrusions into
the affairs of men. Let us begin by
ruling that entirely out Of our minds.
Very good. There remain three per-
sons who have been grievously strick.
en- by some conscious or unconscious
human agency. That Is firm ground.
Now, when did this occur? Evidently,
assuming his narrative to be true, it
was immediately after Mr.. Mortimer
Tregennis had left the room. That
is very important point. The pre-
sumption is that it was within a few
minutes afterwards. The cards still
lay upon the table. It was already
past their usual hour for bed. Yet
they had not changed their position.
I repeat, then, that the occurrence
was Immediately after his departure,
and not later than eleven o'clock last
night. -. =.
Our next obvious step is to check,
SO far as we can, the movements of
Mortimer Tregennis after he left the
room. In this there is no difficulty,
and they seem to be above suspicion.
Knowing my methods as you do, you
were, of course, conscious Of the some
what clumsy waterproof expedient by
which I obtained clearer impress Of
his foot than might otherwise have
been possible. The wet, sandy path
took it admirably. Last night was
also wet, you will remember, and it
was not difficult obtained a
sample print-to pick out his track
among others and to follow his move
ments. He appears to have walked
swiftly in the direction of the vicar
age.
t IF, then, Mortimer Tregennis disap-
peared from the scene, and yet some
outside person affected the card play
ers, how can we reconstruct that per-
son, and how was such an impression
Of horror conveyed? Mrs. Porter
may be eliminated. She is evidently
harmless. Is there any evidence that
some one crept up to the garden win
dow and in some manner produced so
terrific an effect that he drove those
who saw it out of their senses? The
only suggestion in this direction
comes from Mortimer Tregennis him
self, who says that his brother spoke
about some movement in the garden.
That is certainly remarkable, as tho
night was rainy, cloudy and dark.
Anyone who had the design to alarm
these people would be compelled to
place his very face against the glass
before he could be seen. There is q
three-foot flower border outside this
wssdow. but no indication Of foot
mark. 1t Is d1mcu1t to imagine. then.
how an outsider could have made 20
terrible an impression upon the COM
pany, nor have We found any motive
for so strange and elaborate an At
tempt. You perceive our difficulties,
Watson?"
'They are only too clear" I an
swered, with conviction.
And yet, with little more mate.
rial, we may prove that they are not
insurmountable," said Holmes. II
fancy that among your extensive ar
chives. Watson, you may ind some
which were nearly as obscure. Mean
while, we shall put the case aside nm
til moro accurate data are available,
and devote the morning to the purauit
Of neolithic man" I
may have commented upon my
friends power Of mental detachment.
but never have I wondered at 1t more
than upon that spring morning in
Cornwall when for two hours he dis
coursed upon celts, arrowheads and
shards as lightly as If no sinister mys.
terry was waiting for his solution. It
was not until We had returned In the
afternoon to our cottage that we found
q visitor awaiting US. who soon
brought our minds back to the matter
in hand. Neither Of us needed to be
told who that visitor was. The huge
body, the craggy and deeply scanned
face with the fierce eyes and hawk,
like nose, the grizzled hair which
nearly brushed our cottage ceiling,
the beard-golden at the fringes and
white near the lips. save for the nico.
tine stain from his perpetual cigar
all these were as well known In Lon.
don as in Africa, and could only be
associated with the personality OF
pr. Leon sterndale. the great lion
hunter and explorer.
We had heard Of his presence II the
district, and had once or twice caught
sight Of his tall figure upon the moor.
land paths. He made no advances to
US. however, nor would we have
dreamed Of doing SO to him, as it was
well known that 1t was his love Of sc,
clusinn which naurad him IN anond tho