Cheraw chronicle. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, May 30, 1912, Page PAGE TWO, Image 2
r ?
Reminiscences of
Sherlock Holme;
(CO.NT1NUTED FROM LAST WEEK.
re was an 'excellent hiding-placi
which she had arranged. The mirro
was so placed that, seated in the dark
we could very plainly see the door cp
posite. We had hardly settled dowi
in it, and Mrs. Warren left us, whet
a distant tinkle announced that ou'
mysterious neighbor had rung. Pros
^ntly the landlady appeared with tlx
tray, laid it down upon a chair besid<
mB.'
I Caught a Glimpse of a Dark, Beautiful,
Horrified Face.
the closed door, and then, treading
heavily, departed. Crouching together
in the angle of the door, we kept
our eyes fixed upon the mirror. Suddenly,
as the landlady's footsteps died
away, there was the creak of a turning
key, the handle revolved, and two
thin hands darted out and lifted the
tray from the chair. An instant later
it was hurriedly replaced, and I caught
a glimpse of a dark, beautiful, horrified
face glaring at the narrow opening
of the boxroom. Then the door
"crashed to, the key turned once more,
und all tor .alienee? Holpies twitched
the stair.
"I will call again In the evening,"
inid he to the expectant landlady. "I
think, Watson, we can discuss this
business better in our own quarters."
"My surmise, as you saw, proved to
be correct," said he, speaking from
the depths of his easy-chair. "There
has been a substitution of lodgers.
T Jtrl fnrnctws ic thflt Wfi
>> Jia I 1 UJU UVl <W ?. . v .. _
should find a woman, and no ordinary
woman, Watson."
"She saw us."
"Well, she saw something to alarm
her. That is certain. The general
sequence of events is pretty clear, is
It not? A couple seek refuge in London
from a very terrible and instant
danger. The measure of that danger
is the rigor of their precautions. The
man, who has some work which he
must do, desires to leave the woman
in absolute safety while ho does it. It
is not an easy problem, but he solved
it in an original fashion, and so e ffec
tivelv that her presence was not ever
k: own to tl j .;...ri!ari" who sup,.Iks
her with food. The printed messages
as is now evident, were to preveni
her sex being discovered by her writ
ing. The man cannot come near tlx
woman, or ha will guide their enemies
to her. Since he cannot commu?icat<
with her direct, he has recourse to tlx
agony column of a paper. So far al
is clear."
"But what is at the root of it?"
"Ah vos U'.iTsr,;.?severely practi
cal, as usual! ,What is at the 100
of it all? Mrs. Warren's -whimsies
|111
f *A Cipher Message, Holmes."
problem enlarge?, rmewhat and at
sumes a mere sinister aspect_as w
I I
j proceed. This much wo can say: u
| that It is no ordinary love escapade, y
! You saw the woman's face at the sign
!> of danger. We have hoard, too, of the j
| attack upon the landlord, which was g
) | undoubtedly meant for the lodger.
| These alarms, and the desperate need t(
j for secrecy, argue that the matte; is u
s one of life or death. The attack upon
r Mr. Warren further shows that the
? enemy, whoever they are, are them- ^
-' selves not aware of the substitution 0
i of the female lodger for the male. It S)
t is very curious and complex, Watr
son."
"Why should you go further in it? ^
3 What have ycu to gain from it?" j!j
3 "What indeed? It is Art for Art's
sake, Watson. I suppose when you -(
doctored you found yourself studying
cases without thought of a fee?" s.
"For my education, Holmes."
"Education never ends, Watson. It
is a series of lessons with the greatest 0
for the last. This is an instructive u
case. There is neither money nor s
credit in it, and yet one would wisu v
to tidy it up. When dusk comes we s;
should find ourselves one stage ad- u
vaneod in our investigation." Sj
When we returned to Mrs. War- g
ren's rooms, the gloom of a London nwinter
evening had thickened into one e]
gray curtain, h dead monotone of color,
broken only by the sharp squares ^
of the windows and the blurred haloes j,
of the gas lamps. As we peered from
the darkened sitting-room of the y<
lodging-house, one more dim light j1;
glimmered high up through the ob- 0|
6curity. ol
"Someone is moving in that room," < ]
said Holmes in a whisper, his gaunt
and eager face thrust forward to the c]
window-pane. "Yes, I can see his
shadow. There he is again. He has fo
a candle in his hand. Now he is j,j
peering across. He wants to be sure tj
that she is on the look-out. Now he w
begins to flash. Take the message
also, Watson, that we may check each y
other. A single flash?that is 'A,' a
surely. Now, then. How many did c,
you make it? Twenty. So did I. JTha' g
should mean 'T.' A T?that's intelli- tl
gible enough! Another 'T.' Surely 0,
this Is the beginning of a second t
word. Now, then TENT A. Dead
stop. That can't be all, Watson?
'A T T E N T A' gives no sense. Nor
is it any better as three words?'A T. '
TEN. TA,' unless 'T.A.' are a person's
initials. There he goes again!
"What's that? ATTE?why, it is the
onoe morel ' A^?whyThe^s repeat-" ^
ing it for the third time. 'ATTEN
TA' three times! How often will he
repeat it? No, that seems to be the
finish. He has withdrawn from the
window. What do you make of it,
Watson?"
"A cipher message, Holme6." jl
My companion gave a sudden .]
chuckle of comprehension. "And not '
a very obscure cipher, Watson," said t
he. "Why, of course, it is Italian!
The 'A' means that it is addressed
Haw.awaI f Pa
to a woman. xj*-?aic.
ware!' How's that, Watson?"
"I believe you have hit it."
"Not a doubt of it. It is a very urgent
message, thrice repeated to make
it more so. But be.ware of what?
i Wait a bit; he is coming to the wini
dow once more."
i Again we saw the dim silhouette
of a crouching man and the whisk of
1 the small flame across the window, as w<
the FU'nnls were renewed. They ramo of
1 nore rapidly than he'ore-?so rmifi
1 j .1.. it was nard to follow tli- in. 1
" 'I' 15 III C O L 0* ?'iK'ficclo,? Uh, Kl
! whac's that, Watson? Danger, isn't
i:? Yes, by Jove, its's a lamer ^
; signal. There he goes again! 'PERI.'
3 llalloa, whr' on earth?"
i The light ad suddenly gor.e out,
i the gliniii!' si. g square of window had
1 di.sappeai . and the third floor formed
a dark La. round the lofty building,
with its . ;3 of shining easements. sa
That last v...::sing cry had been sud- tr
t denly cut short. How, and by whom? (
' The same thought occurred on the in- W
slant to us both. Holmes sprang up
from where he crouched by the win- ,
dow. 'u
"This is serious, Watson," he cried. of
'There is soiuj deviltry going forward! c
W hy sliould such a message stop in ^
such a way? I should put Scotland r'
\ard In touch with this business?and ^
yet, it is too pressing for us to leave."
"Shall I go for the police?" 01
"We must define the Ritn.itten a tit.
tie more clearly. It may bear some a
more innocent interpretation. Come,
Watson, let us go across ourselves
' and see what we can make of it."
As we walked rapidly down Howe "
street I glanced back at the building 11
which we had left. There, dimly out- Ci
lined at the top window, I could see
the shadow of a head, a woman's head, 111
gazing tensely, rigidly, out into the
night, waiting with breathless suspense
for the renewal of that inter- ei
rupted message. At the doorway of **
the Howe street flats a man, muffled ?
in a cravat and great-coat, was lean- ai
ing against the railing. He started
as the hall-light fell upon our faceB. Bt
"Holmes!" he cried. **
"Why, Gregson!" said my compan- "
j- ion, as he shook hands with the Scote
land Yard detective. "Journeys end P'
itli lovers' meetings. What brings
ou here?"
"The same reasons that bring you,
expect," said Grcgson. "IIow you
ot on to it I can't, imagine."
"Different threads, but leading up
) the same tangle. I've been taking
te signals!"
"Signals?"
"Yes, from that "window. They
roke off in the middle. We came
ver to see the reason. l)ut since it is
ife in your hands I see no object in
ontinuing the business."
"Wait a bit!" cried Oregson, ongrr\
"I'll do you this justice, .Mr.
lolmes, that I was never in a case
tat I didn't feel stronger for having
ou on my side. There's only the one
xit to these flats, so wc have him
ife."
"Who is he?"
"Well, well, we score over you for
nee, Mr. Holmes. You must give
s best this time." He struck his
tick sharply upon the ground, on
hich a cabman, his whip in his hand,
tuntered over from a four-wheeler
hich stood on the far side of the
ireet. "May 1 introduce you to Mr.
herlock Holmes?" he said to the orbtan.
"This is Mr. Leverton of Pink*
rton's American agency." :
"The hero of the Long Island Cave ,
lystory?" said Holmes. "Sir, I ain I
leaseu to meet you."
The American, a quiet, businesslike
oung man, with a clean-shaven,
atchet lace, flushed up at the words
f commendation. "I am on the trail
f my life now, Mr. Holmes," said he.
If I can get Gorgiano?"
"What! Gorgiano of the Red CirIc?"
,
"Oh, he has a European fame, has
e? Well, we've learned all about
im in America. We know he is at
le bottom of fifty murders, and yet
e have nothing positive we can take
Im on. I tracked him over from New
ork, and I've been close to him for
week in London, waiting some extse
to get my hand on his collar. Mr.
regson and I ran him to ground in
lat big tenement house, and there's
ily the one door, so he can't slip us.
here's three folk come out since he
"What Brings You Here?"
ent in, but I'll swear he wasn't one
' them."
"Mr. Holmes talks of signals," said
regson. "I expect, as usual, he
lows a good deal that we don't."
In a few clear words Holmes exained
the situation as it had apsarod
to us. The American struck
s hands.together with vexation.
"He's 011 to us!" he cried.
"Why do you think so?"
"Well, it figures out that way, does
not? Here he is, sending out mesges
to an accomplice?there are seval
of his gang in London. Then sud?nly,
Just as by your own account lie
as telling them that there was dan;r,
he broke short off. What could
mean except that from the window
! had suddenly either caught sight "
us in the street, or in some way
ome to understand how close the
anger was, and that he must act
ight away if he was to avoid it?
/hat do you suggest, Mr. Holmes?"
"That we go up at once and see for
urselves."
"But we have no warrant for his
rrest."
"He is in unoccupied premises un- ^
er suspicious circumstances," said
regson. "That is good enough for
le moment. When we have him by
le heels we can see if New York
ln't help us to keep him. I'll take
he responsibility of arresting him
ow."
Our official detectives may blunder
i the matter of intelligence, but nevr
in that of courage. Gregson climbed
le stair to arrest this desperate mur
?rer with the same absolutely quiet
ad businesslike bearing with which c
s would have ascended the official
aircase of Scotland Yard. The
inkerton man had tried to push past
im, but Gregson had firmly elbowed
im back. London dangers were the _
riyllege of the_ London force.
Have Your Money in C
Your Bills Wit!
-?why;
1st?Its convenient.
2nd?It avoids keeping receipts.
3rd?It pleases the receiver.
4th?It requires no change.
Eth?It gives you a business lr.
6tb?It gives you a financial standin
7th?It establishes a credit.
i
We wiil welcome your business. Just
THE FIRST NATI
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