The Washington herald., 1912-02-04
Continued from Page 3.

-toW DO you knowg
"To fly would be a confession Of
guilt"
"Ther let us 60 to arrest him."
II expect him here every instant"
But why should he GOMEZ"
Because. i have written and asked
him"
"But this is incredible. Mr.. Holmes
Why should he come because you have
asked him1 Would.n not such a request
rather rouse his suspicious and cause
him TO fyi"
Il think have known how to frame
the letter" said Sherlock Holmes. 'In
fact, il ] am not very much mistaken,
here is the gentleman himself coming
up the drive.
A man was striding up the path
which led to the door. He was a tall,
handsome, swarthy fellow, clad in a
suit Of gray flannel, with a Panama
hat, a bristling black beard, and a
great, aggressive hooked nose, and
fiourishing a cane as he walked. He
staggered up the path as il the place
belonged TO him, and we heard this
loud, confident peal at the bell.
Il think, gentlemen" said Holmes,
quietly, that we had best take up our
position behind the door. Every pre-
caution is necessary when dealing with
such fellow You will need your
handouts, inspector. You can leave
the talking to me."
We waited in silence for minute
one of those minutes which one can
never forget Then the door opened
and the man stepped in In an instant
Holmes clapped pistol to his head,
and Martin slipped the handouts over
his wrists. II was all done so swiftly
and deftly that the fellow was helpless
before he knew he was attacked. He
glared from one to the other of US
with a pair OF blazing black eyes. Then
he burst into bitter laugh.
well, gentleman, you have the drop
on me this time. seem to have
knocked up aaginst something hard
But | came here in answer TO a letter
from Mrs Hilton Cubitt Don't tell
me that she is in this. Don't tell me
that she helped to set trap for mei"
MRS. Hilton Cubitt was seriously in
jured, and is at deaths door"
The man gave hoarse cry Of grief,
which rang through the house.
You're crazyl" he cried, fercely. 1T
was he that was hurt, not she Who
would have hurt little Elsie? / may
have threatened her-God forgive me
but would not have touched a hair
of her pretty head. Take il back
youl Say that she is not hurt -
''She was found, badly wounded, by
the side of her dead husband"
He sank with deep groan on TO
the settee, and buried his face in his
manacled hands. For FIVE minutes he
was silent Then he raised his face
once more, and spoke with the cold
composure Of despair.
II have nothing to hide from you,
gentlemen" said he. IF | shot the
man he had Nhis shot at me, and there's
no murder IN that But il YOU think
could have hurt that woman, then
you don't know either me or her.
tell you, there was never man in this
world loved woman more than
loved her. ] had a right to her. She
was pledged TO me years ago. Who
was this Englishman that he should
come between us2 / tell you that /
had the first right to her, and that |
was only claiming my own
"She broke away from your influence
when she found the man that YOU are"
said Holmes, sternly. "She fled from
America to avoid you, and she mar
ried an honorable gentleman in Eng
land. You dogged her and followed
her and made her life a misery to
her, in order to induce her to aban-
don the husband whom she loved and
respected in order to fly with you,
whom she feared and hated. You have
ended by bringing about the death of
a noble man and driving his wife to
suicide. That is your record in this
business, Mr.. Abe Slaney, and you will
answer for il to the law"
"If Elsie dies, ! care nothing what
becomes of me" said the American.
He opened one OF his hands, and looked
at a note crumpled up in his palm.
See here, mister" he cried with a
CLEAN OF suspicion in his eyes, you're
not trying to scare ME over this, are
your II the lady is hurt as bad as
you say who was il that wrote this
note?" He tossed it forward on to
the table.
"I wrote IT, 10 bring Won hero"