The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-04-05
PART TWO.

PART TWO.
When came to examine the treaty
l saw at once that it was of such i'm
portance that my uncle had been gull
ty of no exaggeration in what he had
said. Without going into details,
may say that it defined the position
Of great Britain towards the riple AL
lance and forshadowed the policy
which this country would pursue in
the event of the French fleet gaining
a complete ascendency over that of
Italy in the Mediterranean. The ques-
tions treated in it were purely naval
At the end were the signatures of the
high dignitaries who had signed it.
glanced by eyes over it, and then
settled down to my task of copying
1T was long document, written in
the French language, and containing
twenty-six separate articles. / copied
as quickly as l could, but at nine
o'clock I had only nine articles, and 1T
seemed hopeless for me to attempt to
catch my train. / was feeling drowsy
and stupid, partly from my dinner and
also from the effects of a long days
work. A cup of coffee would clear my
brain. A commissionnaire remains all
night in a little lodge at the foot OF
ILe SIIlIS, d1lO - III LllC hdOII VI 1hdh
ing coffee at his spiritlamp for any
officials who may be working over
time l rang the bell, therefore, to
summon him.
ITO my surprise, it was a woman
who answered the summons, a large,
| coarse-faced. elderly woman. in an
apron. She explained that she was
/ the commissionnaire's wife, who did
~ ~ @,l0
| for the coffee.
az wrote two more articles, and
then, feeling more drowsy than ever.
rose and walked up and down the
room to stretch my legs. My coffee
| had not yet come, and l wondered
| what the cause of the delay could be.
| Opening the door, l started down the
corridor to find out. There was a
! straight passage, dimly lighted, which
| led from the room in which l had
, been working, and was the only exit
from it. 1t ended in curving stair
case, with the commissionnaire's lodge
in the passage at the bottom. Hall
| way down this staircase is small
| landing. with another passage running
, into it at right angles. This second
| one leads by means of second small
| stair to a side door, used by servants.
| and also as a short cut by clerks when
coming from Charles street. Here is
a rough chart of the place"
Thank you. think that l quite
follow you,' said Sherlock Holmes.
1T is of the utmost importance that
you should notice this point. I went
down the stairs and into the hall,
where l found the commissionnaire
fast asleep in his box, with the kettle
boiling furiously upon the spirit-lamp.
I took off the kettle and blew out the
lamp, for the water was squirting over
the floor. Then l put out my hand and
! was about to shake the man, who was
still sleeping soundly, when a bell
over his head rang loudly, and he
woke with a start.
"'Mr. Phelps, sir!' said he, looking
! at me in bewilderment.
~ came down to see if my coffee
was ready ~. .-s.
az was boiling the kettle when I
fell asleep, sir He looked at me and
then up at the still quivering bell with
| an evergrowing establishment upon
his face.
off you was here, sir, then who
rang the bell? he asked.
1.-The bell!' 1 cried. What bell is
it?'
Its the bell of the room you were
working in
| "A cold hand seemed to close round
my heart. Some one then, was in that
! room where my precious treaty lay
! upon the table. l ran frantically up
| the stairs and along the passage.
There was no one in the corridors.
Mr.. Holmes. There was no one in the
room. All was exactly as I left 1t,
! save only that the papers which had
been committed to my care had been
taken from the desk on which they
lay. The copy was there, and the
original was gone"
| Holmes sat up in his chair and
rubbed his hands. I could see that the
problem was entirely to his heart
pray, what did you do them" he
murmured.
| Il recognized in an instant that the
| thief must have come up the stairs
from the side door Of course I must
have met him it he had come the
other way"
| You were satisfied that he could
! not have been concealed in the room