The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-09-23
PART THREE

For a charming week we wandered
up the valley of the Rhine, and then,
branching off at Leuk, we made our
way over the Gemmi Pass, still deep
in snow, and so, by way of Interlaken,
to Meiringen. 1t was a lovely trip,
the dainty green of the spring below,
the virgin white of the winter above;
but it was clear to me that never for
one instant did Holmes forget the
shadow which lay across him. In the,
homely Alpine villages or in the lone
ly mountain passes, | could still tell
by his quick glancing eyes and his
sharp scrutiny of every face that
passed US, that he was well convinced
that, walk where we would, We could
not walk ourselves clear of the danger
which was DIGGING our footsteps.
Once, l remember, as we passed
over the Gemmi, and walked along the
border of the melancholy Dauhensee,
a large rock which had been dislodged
from the ridge upon our right clatter-
ed down and roared into the lake be-
hind US. In an instant Holmes had
raced up on the ridge, and, standing
upon lofty pinnacle, craned his neck
in every direction. 1t was in vain that
our guide assured him that fall OF
stones was a common chance in the
springtime at that spot. He SAID
, nothing, but he smiled at me with the
air of man who sees the fulfillment
of that which he had expected.
And yet for all his watchfulness he
was never depressed. On the contrary,
| can never recollect having seen him
in such exuberant spirits. Again and
again he required to the fact that If
he could be assured that society was
| freed from Professor Moriarty he
would cheerfully bring his own career
| to a conclusion.
! Il think that may go so far as to
| say, Watson, that have not lived
wholly in vain, he remarked. IF my
/ record were closed tonight l could still
| survey it with equanimity. The air OF
| London is the sweeter for my pres
| ence. In over thousand cases | am
not aware that / have ever used my
| powers upon the wrong side. OF late
I have been tempted to look into the
! problems furnished by nature rather
| than those more superficial ones for
which our artificial state of society is
responsible. Your memoirs will draw
| to an end Watson, upon the day that
l crown my career by the capture or
extinction of the most dangerous and
capable criminal in Europe"
| | shall be brief, and yet exact in
! the little which remains for me to tell.
1t is not a subject on which | would
willingly dwell, and yet l am con-
scious that duty devolves upon me
| to omit no detail.
| Ii was on the Sd of May that we
reached the little village of Meiringen.
where we put up at the Englischer
! Hof, then kept by Peter Steiler the
/ elder. Our landlord was an intelligent
] man, and spoke excellent English, hav-
| ing served for three years as waiter
at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. At
! his advice, on the afternoon of the
4th we set off together, with the in
! tention of crossing the hills and spend
ing the night at the hamlet of Rosen'
| laui We had strict injunctions, how.
ever, on no account TO pass the falls of
| Reichenbach, which are about half
| way up the hill, without making q
small detour to see them.
1t is, indeed, a fearful place. The
torrent, swollen by the melting snow
plunges into tremendous abyss from
which the spray rolls up like the
smoke from a burning house. The
shaft into which the river hurls itself
is an immense chasm, lined by glisten