The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-06-16
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There is no mystery, my dear madam" said he, smiling. ''The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit Qn the 1eft-hand side of the driver
 ''WhateVer your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct" said she. T started from home before six reached Leatherhead at twenty past. and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir. I can stand this strain no longer; shall go mad if it con tinues. I have no one to turn to none, save only one, who cares for me. and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, MT Holmes; l have heard of you from Mrs. FarintOsh, whom you helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had your address. Oh, sir do you not think that you could help me- too, and at least throw a little light through the dense dark ness which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward you for your services, but in month or six weeks I shall be married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you shall not find me ungrateful-''
 Holmes turned to his desk, and unlocking it drew out small case book, which he consulted.
 'F'arintosh,'' said he. ''Ah, yes, I recall the case; l. was concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before madam, that l shall be happy to de- vote the same care to your case as did to that of your friend. As to reward, my profession is it's own re- ward; but you are at liberty to de- fray whatever expenses may be put to, at the time which suits you best. | And now l beg that you will lay be- fore us everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the mat ter"
 'Alas!' replied our visitor, '.the very horror of my situation lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicious depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it as the fanCies of 9 nervous woman. He does not say so, but l can read it from his soothing answers and avert ed eyes, But have heard, MT. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid the dangers which encom- pass me"
 "I am all attention, madam
 l am living with my stepfather, who Is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the west ern border of Surrey"
 Holmes nodded his head ''The name is familiar to me- said he.
 ''The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the es- tates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and Hamp- shire in the west. In the last cen tury, however, four successive heirs were of Q dissolute and wasteful dis position, and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the Regency. Nothing was left save Q few acres of ground, and the twO-hUndred-year-OI house, which is itself crushed under a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence there. Hvingsthe horrible life of an aristCcratic pau per; but his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the new conditions, obtained an ad- vance from a relative, which enabled him to take a medical degree, and went out to Calcutta. where. by his professional skill and his force of character, he established a large practice. In a fit of anger, how ever, caused by some robberies which had been perpctrated in the house, and narrowly escaped a capital sen tence. As 1t was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment, and after- wards returned to England a morose and disappointed Tnsn.
 '<When pr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner. the young widow of MajOr-General Stoner of the Bengal Artillery My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old at the time of my mothers renarriaSe. She had a consid erable sum of mOney-not less than 1000 a year-and this she be- uueathed to Dr. RoyIott entirely whil, we resided w..h him. with a provis ion that a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return to England my mother died she yva= killed eight years ago in . railway accident near Crewe. pr RcyIott then abandoned his attemptF ---2--z-s Ax----<-ls ----<-A&>--- &--