The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-07-26
The Problem Of Thor Bridge
BY Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

ton. We secured a ram-shackle trap,
and in a quarter of an hour were al
the house of our confidential friend,
the sergeant.
"a clue, Mr.. Holmes? What is it,"
1T all depends upon the behavior
of DR.. Watson's revolver" said my
friend Here it is. Now, officer,
can you give me ten yards of string?"
The village shop provided a ball of
stout Irvine.
81 think that this is all we will
need" said Holmes. 'Now, if you
please, we will get off on what l
hope is the last stage of our jour
ney"
The sun was setting and turning
the rolling Hampshire moor into a
wonderful autumnal panorama. The
sergeant, with many critical and in
credulous glances. which showed his
deep doubts of the sanity of my COM
panion, lurched along beside US. AS
we approached the scene of the crime
could see that my friend under all
his habitual GOODNESS was in truth
deeply agitated
YES" he said, in answer to my re-
mark, you have seen me miss my
mark before Watson l have an in
stinct for such things, and yet it has
sometimes played me false. 1t seemed
a certainty when first it flashed
across my mind in the cell at Winche5-
/ ter, but one drawback of an active
mind is that one can always conceive
alternative explanations which would
make our scent false one. And yet
and yet-Well. Watson, we can but
try"
AS he walked he had firmly tied
one end of the string to the handle
of the revolver. We had now reached
the scene of the tragedy. With great
care he marked out under the guild
ance of the policeman the exact spot
where the body had been stretched
He then hunted among the heather
and the ferns until he found a con
; siderable stone. This he secured to
. the other end of his line of, string
! and he hung it over the parapet OF
; the bridge so that it swung clear
. above the water He then stood on
! the fatal spot, some distance from
. the edge of the bridge, with my re
volver in his hand, the string being
| taut between the weapon and the
| heavy stone on the farther side.
NOW for II! he cried.
| At the words he raised the pisto,
: to his head, and then let go his grip
: In an instant it had been whisked
; away by the weight of the stone
; had struck with a sharp crack
against the parapet, and had vanished
, over the side into the water. 1t haC
i hardly gone before Holmes was kneel
ing beside the stonework, and joyous
cry showed that he had found wha1
! he had expected.
''Was there ever a more exact dem
, onstration?' he cried. ''See, Watson
| your revolver has solved the prob
! lem!" AS he spoke he pointed to ;
second chip of the exact size an.
: shape of the first which had appeared
2 on the under edge of the stone balus
trade.
> We'll stay at the inn tonight,
!, he continued, rs he rose and face,
: the astonished sergeant you viii
of course, get 4 graphing hook ant
= you will easily restore my friend
revolver. You will also find beside
it the revolver, string, and weigh
with which this vindictive woman at
), tempted to disguise her own crime
D and to fasten charge OF murde
4 upon an innocent victim. You ca:
: let Mr.. Gibson know that l will Sc,
him in the morning, when steps cal
be taken for Miss Dunbar's vindica
). ton"
Late that evening, as we sat tc
/ gether smoking our pipes in the wi
= lage inn, Holmes gave me a brie
e review of what had passed.
z 81 fear, Watson said he, "tha
G you will not improve any reputatio,
j which l may have acquired by ado
ing the Case of the Thor Bridg
n Mystery to your annals. / have bee
:, sluggish in mind and wanting i
e that mixture of imagination an
l. reality which is the basis of my ar
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