Cheraw chronicle. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, May 23, 1912, Page PAGE TWO, Image 3
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"Well, Mrs. Warren, I cannot nee
that yon have any particular cause
for uneasiness, nor do I understand
why I, whose time Is of some value,
should Interfere In the matter. I really
have other things to engage me."
So spoke Sherlock Holmes, and turned
back to the great scrapbook In which
he was arranging and Indexing some
of his recent material.
But the landlady; had the pertinacity,
and also the cunning of her sex.
She held her ground firmly.
"You arranged an affair for a lodger
of mine last year," she said?"Mr.
Falrdale Hohbs."
"Ah, yes?a simple matter."
"But be would never cease talking
of it?your kindness, sir, and the "way
In which you brought light Into the
darkness. I remembered his words
when I was In doubt and darkness
myself. I know you could if you only
would."
' v, Holmes was accessible upon the
side of flattery, and also, to do him
tustlce, upon the side of kindliness.
. The two foroes made him lay down
, hlsjpui}-l>rui|}i with a sigh of resign*well,
Mrs, Warren, let us
lt? then. You don't object
take Ittt Thank you,
^^H|P^DHBKfum. 'Wiry, bias* you,
MJPBSr^Wienr if 1 were you./ lodger
: you often would not see me tor weeks
>. <vr~. :
"No doubt, sir; but this Is different.
It frightens me, Mm Holmes. I cant
sleep for fright. To hear his quick
step movlnf here and moving there
from early morning to late at night,
and yet never to catch ao much as a j
glimpse of him?it's more than I can
stand. My husband Is as nervous over
It as I am, but he 1b out at his work
all day, while I get no rest from It.
What is he hiding for? What has he
done? Exoept for the girl, I am all
alone in the house with him, and it's
more than my nerves can stand."
Holmes leaned forward and laid his
long, thin fingers upon the woman's
shoulder. He had an almost hypnotlo
power of soothing when he wished.
The scared look faded from her eyes,
and her agitated features smoothed
Into their usual ccir.monplace. She
Bat down in the chair which he had
Indicated.
"If I take It up I must understand
every detail," said he. "Take time to
consider. The smallest point may b-v
the most essential. You say that the
man came ten days ago, and paid you
tor a fortnight's board and lodging?"
"He asked my terms, sir. I said
fifty shillings a week. There is a
small sitting-room and bedroom, and
all complete, at the top of the house."
"Well?"
"He said, 111 pay you five pounds a
* wee! if I can have it on my own
terms/ I'm a poor woman, sir, and
Mr. Warren earns little, and the money
meant much to me. He took oi>t
a ten-pound note, and he held it out
to me then and there. 'You can have
the same every fortnight for a long
time to come if you keep the terms,'
he said. 'If not, I'll have no more Id
do with you."*
"What were the terms?"
"Well, sir, they were that he was
to have a key of the house. That was
all right. Lodgers often have them.
Also, that be was to be left entirely
to himself, and never, upon any excuse,
to be disturbed."
"Nothing very wonderful in that,
.surely?"
"Not In reason, sir. But this is out
of all reason. He has been there for
ten days, and neither Mr. Warren nor
I nor the girl has once eet eyes upon
him. We can hear that quick step
of his pacing up and down, up and
down, night, morning and noon; but
except on that first night be has never
, once gone out of the house."
"Oh, be went out the first night,
ma ?r*
"Yes, sir, and retrrfiad Wary late?
after we were all In bed, frg told me
'ttisccttces of
IIRLOCK
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after he had taken the rooms that he
would do so, and asked me not to
bar the door. I heard him come up
11in mail airer uiiuuiguu
"But his meals?"
"It "was his particular direction that
we should always, when he rang,
leave his meal upon a chair outside
his door. Then he rings again when
he has finished, and we take it
down from the same chair. If he
wants anything else he prints It on
a slip of paper and leaves it."
"Prints it?"
"Yes, sir; prints it in pencil. Just
the word, nothing more. Here's one
I brought to show you?SOAP. Here's
another?M'ATCH. This Is one i.?
left the first morning?DAILY GAZETTE.
I leave that paper with his
breakfast every morning."
"Dear me, Watson," said Holmes,
staring with great curiosity at the
slips of foolscap which the landlady
had landed to him, "this is certainly
a little unusual. Seclusion. I can understand;
by why print? Printing is
a clumsy process. Why not' write?
What would it suggest, Watson?"
"That he desired to conceal his
handwriting."
"But -why? What can It matter" to
him that hla landlady should have a
word of hla writing? Still, It may be
aa you aay. Then, again, -why such
laconic messages?"
"I cannot Imagine."
"It opens a pleasing field for Indigent
speculation. The words are writ*
ten with a broad-pointed, violet-tinted
pencil of a not unusual pattern. You
will observe that the paper Is torn
away at the aide here after the printing
was done, so that the *8' of
'SOAP* Ma partly gone. Buggegtiye
- ^*2
^Exactly. There was evidently soJH
mark, some thumb print, somethjHI
which might give a clew to the pj&
son's identity. Now, Mrs. Warreira
you say that the man was of middle
slse, dark and bearded. What age
would be be?"
"Youngish?not over thirty."
"Well, can you give me no farther
Indications T"
"He'vspoke good English, sir, and
yet I thought he waa a foreigner by
his accent."
"And he was well dressed?"
"Very smartly dressed, sir?quite
the gentleman. Dark' clothe#?nothing
you would note."
"He gave no name?"
"No, sir."
"And has had no letters or callers?"
"None."
"But surely you or the girl enter
his room of a morning?"
"No, sir; he looks after himself
entirely."
"Dear me! that is certainly remarkable.
What about his luggage?"
"He had one big brown bag with
him?nnthinir aloa"
"Well, we don't seem to have much
material to help us. Do you say
nothing has rome out of that room?
absolutely n'.hing?"
The lardlady drew an envelope
from her !>;.<;; from it ahe shook out
two burnt matches and a clragetteend
upon iho table.
"They v/ere on his tray this morning.
I brought them because I had
heard that you can read great things
out of small ones."
Holmes shrugged his shoulders.
"There Is nothing here," said he.
"The matches have, of course, been
used to Mght cigarettes. That Is obvious
from the shortness of the burnt
end. Half the match Is consumed In
lighting a pipe or a cigar. Sut, dear
me! this cigarette stub Is oertainly
remarkable. The gentleman was
bearded and mustached, you say?"
"Yes, sir."
"I don't understand that. I should
say that only a clean-shaven man
could have smoked this. Why, Watson,
even your modest mustache
yrould have been singed."
" holder?" I suggested.
"No? no; the end Is matted. I suppose
there could not be two people
in your rooms, Mrs. Warren?"
"No, sir. He eats so little that I
often wonder It can keep life In one."
"Well, I think we must wait for a
little more material. After all, you
have nothing to complain of. You
have received your rent, and be is
not a troublesome lodger, through h*
tfc certainly an ufflfesual 'dBfe. He pays
you well, and If be chooses to lie con*
cealed 1JL It QO direct bu;lnesf of
I yours. We ht re no excuse for an In
truslon upon hib privacy until we hav?
some reason to tMnk that there Is a
guilty reason for it. I've taken up
t&e matter, and I won't lose sight 01
It. Report to me if anything fresh
"There Was Evidently 8ome Mark,
8ome Thumb Print."
occurs, and rely upon my assistant
if it should be needed.
"There are certainly some points 01
Interest In this case, Watson," he re
marked, when the landlady had lefi
us. "It may, of course, be trivialIndividual
eccentricity; or it may b<
very much deeper than appears on tli<
surface. The first thing that strike
one Is the obvious possibility tbat th<
person now in the rooms may be en
tirely different from the one who en
gaged them."
"Why should you think so?"
"Well, apart from this cigarette
end, was It not suggestive that th<
only time the lodger went out was lm
mediately after his taking the rooms 1
He came hack?or someone cam<
back?when all witnesses were out ol
the way. We have no proof that tlw
person who catpe back was the persot
who weot eat. Then, a|aln, the mar
?hn
" "IX J ? XJUgliOL
Bundled Him Into a Cab That Wat Ba
aide the Curb.
good reasons to suspect that there hai
been a substitution of lodgers."
"But for -what possible end?"
"Ah! there lies our problem. Thert
Is one rather obvious line of lnvestl
gatlon." He took down the grea
book in which, day by day, he filet
the agony columns of the various Lon
don journals. 'Dear me!" said he
turning over the pages, "what a cho
rus of groans, cries and bleatlngs!
What a raa-hasr Of ainanilar hannon
ings! But sorely the most valuabl<
hunting-grou&d that ever was given t<
& student ai the unusual I This per
son is alone, and cannot be ap
proached by letter without a bread
of that absolute secrecy which is de
sired. How Is any news or any me a
sage to reach him from without'
Obviously by advertisement througl
a newspaper. There seems no othei
way, and fortunately we need con
cern ourselves with the one papei
only. Here are the Dally Gasette ex
tracts of the last fortnight. *Lad]
with a blpck boa at Prince's Skatinf
club'?that we mRt
Jimmy will not break _hi? mother'i
heart'?that appeara to be Irrelevant
'If the lady who fainted In the Brlx
ton bua'?ahe does not Interest me
'Every day my heart longa?' Bleat
Watson?unmitigated bleatl Ah! thli
la a little mote poaalble. Llalen t<
thla: rBe paAwt. Will find oon><
aura means of communication. Mean
"VkUet t^la QQlttmn.?Q.'__That is tw<
Have Your Money in
Your Bills Wit!
WHYi
let?Its convenient.
2nd?It avoids keeping receipts*
3rd?It pleases the receiver.
4th?It requires no change.
6th?It gives you a business ir.
otn?it gives you a financial stand in
r ,
7th?It establishes a credit.
/ We will welcome your business. Just
THE FIRST NATI
Cheraw, S
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IMICHI
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