The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-02-19

and held him up while Holmes and Pycrcft united the elastic bands which had dtsa appeared between the livid creases of skin. Then we carried him with a clay-colored face, puffing his purple lips in and out with every breath-a dreadful wreck of all tihat he had been but five minutes before. What do you think of him, Wat son" asked Holmes.
 l stopped over him and examined him. His pulse was feeble and inter mittent, but his breathing grew long, CT, and there was a little shivering of his eyelids, which showed a thin white slit of ball beneath.
 Ut has been touch and go with him." said l. ''but he'll live now. Just open that window, and hand me the water carafe." I undid his collar poured the cold water over his face and raised and sank his arms until he drew long, natural breath. Its only question Of time now,'' said I, as turned away from him.
 Holmes stood by the table, with his hands deep in his trousers pocket and his chin upon his breast
 "I suppose we ought to call the police in now,'' said he. And yet l confess that I'd like to give chem a complete case when they come" Its a blessed mystery to me- cried Pycroft scratching his head. all the way up here for, and then-''
 Pooh! All that is clear enough, {" said Holmes. ilnpatdently. '"It is this last sudden move.'' You understand the rest, then %
 "I think that it is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson ?'' shrugged my shoulders. f'I must confess that I am out of my depths D said I.
 "oh, surely if you consider the events at first they can only point to one conclusion"
 What do you make of them?'' two points. The first is the making of Everett write a declaration by which he entered the service of this prepos- erous company. Do you not see how
 'I am afraid I miss the point
 Well, why did they want him to do 1t? Not as a business matter, for these arrangements are usually yer bal, and there was no/ earthly busi- ness reason why this should be ar exception. Don't you see, my young friend, that they were very anxio us to obtain a specimen of your hand writing. and had no other way of do- ing it?
 swer that we have made some prog ress with our little problem. Why? There can be only one adequate req son. Some one wanted to learn to initiate your writing. and had to pro- cure specimen of it first. And now 1T we pass on 10 the second point we find that each throws light upon the other. That point is the request made by Primer that you should not re- sign your place, but should leave the manager of this important business in the full expectation that a MT. Hall Pycroft, whom he had never seen, was about to enter the office upon the Monday morning. My Godi" cried our client, 'fwf1at a blind beetle I have been!"
 ''Now you see the point about the handwriting Suppose that some on. 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 learned to initiate you, and
 his position was therefore secure, as ] 1 presume that nobody in the office had | ever set eyes upon you.''
 'Not a soul" groaned Hall Pycroft | Very good. Of course it was oi l the utmost importance to prevent you | from thinking better of it,sand also to keep you from coming into contact | with any one who might tell you Itha | your double was at work in Mawson's office. Therefore they gave you . | handsome advance on your salary and ran you off to the Midlands
 where they gave you enough work tt do to prevent your going to London
 where you might have burst their lit tie game up. That is all plair
 enough.
 "But why should this man pretend to be his own brother?"
 'Well, that is pretty clear also