The Horry herald. (Conway, S.C.) 1886-1923, August 28, 1913, Image 3

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A STUDY IN SCARLET By Sir A. Con an lk>yle. ? i * CHAI'TKK VII. Light in til? Darkness. The intelligence with which Lestrade greeted us was so momentous and so unexpected that we were all three fairly dumfounded. Gregson sprang out of his chair and upset the remainder of his whiskey and water. I started in silence at Sherlock Holmes, whose lips were compressed and his brows drawn clown over his eyes. "Stangerson, tool" he muttered. "The plot thickens!" "It was quite thick enough before," grumbled Lestrade, taking a chair. "I seem to have dropped into a sort of council of war." "Are you?are you sure of this piece of intelligence?" stammered Gregson. "I have just come from his room," said Lestrade. "I was the first to discover what had occurred." "We have been hearing Gregson's win f 4 ^ " 11 M ui (.utj iuaiier, iioimcs observed. "Would you mind letting us know what you have seen and done?" "I have 110 objection." Lestrade answered, seating himself. "I freely confess that I was of the opinion that StangerBon was concerned in the death of Drehher. This fresh development hns shown me that I was completely mistaken. Full of the one idea, I set myself to find out what had .become of the secretary. They had been seen together at Euston Station about half-past eight 011 the evening of the third. At two in the morning Drehher had been found in the Brixton Road. The question which confronted me was to find out how Stangerson had been employed between S:fiO and the time of the crime, and what had become of him afterward. 1 telegraphed to Diverpool, giving a description of the man, and warning them to keep a watch upon the American boats. I then set to work calling upon all the hotels 21 11 ?1 lnilirinf-tinnooo 5n Hid ?lolnW? ------ *iv/ ituvo iii ni\j ? *v 11111 > u i Euston. You see, I argued that it Drebber and his companion had become separated, the natural course for the latter would be to put up somewhere in the vicinity for the night, and then to hang about the station again next morning." "They would be likely to agree on some meeting-place beforehand," remarked Holmes. "So it proved. T spent the whole of yesterday evening in making inquiries, entirely without avail. This morning I began very early, and at eight o'clock I reached Halliday's Private Hotel, in T.ittle (leorge Street. On my inquiry as to whether a Mr. Stangerson was living there, they at once answered me in the affirmative. " 'No doubt you are the gentleman he was expecting,' they said. 'He has been waitinsr for n centlpmn.n for two days.' " 'Where is he now?' I asked. " 'He is upstairs in bed. lie wished to be called at nine.' "It seemed to me that my sudden appearance might shako his nerves and lead him to say something unguarded. The Hoots volunteered to show me the room; it was on the second floor, and there was a small corridor leading up to it. Tho Hoots pointed out the door to me, and was about to go downstairs again, when I saw something that made me feel sickish, in spite of my twenty years' experience. From under the door there curled a little red ribbon of blood, which had meandered across tho passage and formed a little pool along the skirting at tho other side. I gavo a cry, which brought the Hoots back. He nearly fainted when ho saw it. The door was locked on the inside, but we put out shoulders to it and knocked it in. The window of the room was open, and beside the window, all huddled up, lay the body of a man in his night-dress. He was quite dead, and had been for some time, for his limbs were rigid and cold. When we turned him over the Hoots recognized him at once as being the same geiftleman who had engaged the room under the name of Joseph Stangerson. The cause ol death was a deep stab in the left side which must have penetrated the heart. And now comes the strangest n v f r\f h a n ff e i r \.\7 h q t rl a vrm ann. I / < I I I- U I *11^7 CI II (1 I I I T T i I U L V*V7 J V VI n VI p pose was above the murdered man?' I felt a creeping of flesh, and s presentiment of coming horror, ever before Sherlock Holmes answered: "The word 'Radio', written in let tors of blood," he said. "That was it," said Lestrade, in ar awe-struck voice; and we were al silent for a while. There was something so methodi cal and so incomprehensible abou the deeds of this unknown assassin that it imparted a fresh ghastliness t< his crimes. My nerves, which wer< steady enough on the field of battle tingled as I thought of it. "The man was seen," continue! J,estrade. "A milk-boy, passing 01 ^ his way to the dairy, happened t< walk down the lane which leads fron the mews at the back of the hotel He noticed that a ladder, which us ually lay there was raised against on of the windows of the second floor N, which was wide open. After passing he looked back and saw a man de scend the ladder. Ho came down s luiotly and openly that the boy imagined him to bo some carpenter or joined at work in the hotel. He took no particular notice of him, beyond thinking in hie own mind that it was early for him'to bo at work. Ho has nn impression that the man was tall, bad a reddish faco, and was dressed In a long, browning coat. He must have stayed in the room some little time after the murder, for we found blood-stained water in the basin, where he had washed his hands, and marks on the sheets where he had deliberately wiped his knife." I glanced at Holmes on hoaring the description of the murderer, which tallied so exactly with his own. There was, however, no trace of exultation or satisfaction upon his face. "Did you find nothing in tlio room which could furnish a clew to the murderer?" he asked. "Nothing. Stangerson had Drebber's purse in his pocket, but it seems that this was usual, as he did all the paying. There were eighty-odd pounds in it. but nothing had been taken. Whatever the motives of these extraordinary crimes, robbery is certainly not one of them. There wore no papers or memoranda in the murdered man's pockets, except a singlo telegram, dated from Cleveland about a month ago, and containing the words, 'J. 11. is in Europe.' Tlmre was no name appended to this message." "And was there nothing else?" Holmes asked. "Nothing or any importance. The man's novel, with which ho had read himself to sleep, was lying upon the bed, and his pipe was on a chair beside him. There was a glass of water on the table, and on the window-sill a small chip ointment box containing a couple of pills." Sherlock Holmes sprang from his chair with an exclamation of delight. "The last link!" he cried, exultantly. "My case is complete." The two detectives stared at him in amazement. "I have now in my hands," my companion said, confidently, "all tin. threads which have formed such a tangle. There are, of course, details to bo filled in, but I am as certain of all the main facts, from the time that Drebber parted from Stangerson at the station up to the discovery of the body of the latter, as if I had seen them with my own eyes. I will give you a proof of my knowledge. Could you lay your hand upon those pills?" "I have them," said Lestrade, producing a small white box; "I took them and the purse and the telegram, intending to have them put In a place of safety at the police station. It was the merest chance my taking these pills, for I am bound to say that I do not attach any importance to them." "Give me them here," said Holmes. "Now, doctor, turning to me, "are those ordinary pills?" They certainly were not. They were of a pearly gray color, small, round, and almost transparent against the light. "From their lightness and transparency T should imagine that they are soluble in water," I remarked. "Precisely so," answered Holmee "Now, would you mind going down and fetching that poor little devil of a terrier which has been bad so long, and which the landlady wanted you to put out of its pain yesterday?" I went downstairs and carried the dog unstairs in my arms. Its labored breathing and glazing eye showed that it was not far from its end. Indeed, its snow-white muzzle proclaimed that it had already exceeded tho usual term or canine existence. 1 placed it upon a cushion on the rug "I will now cut one of these pills in two," said Holces; and, drawing his penknife, the suited the action tc the word. "One half we return into the box for future purposes. The other half I will place in this wineglass, in which is a teaspoonful ol water. You perceive that our friend the doctor, is right, that it readil> dissolves." "Ibis may be very interesting, said Lestrade, in the Injured tone ol one who suspects that he is being i laughed at. "I can not see, however ' what it lias to do with the death o! Mr. Joseph Stan person." "'Patience, my friend, patience! Yon will find in time that it lia: everything to do with it. I shall nov add a little milk to make the rnixtur* P palatable, and on presenting it to th< , dog we find that he laps it up readilj i enough." As ho spoke he turned tho con tents of the wineglass into a sauce and placed it In front of the terrier t who speedily licked it dry. Slier i lock Holmes' earnest demeanor hav far convinced us that wo all sat ii - silence, watching the animal intent 1 y, and expecting some startling ef 1 *fect. None appeared, however. Th 1 dog continued to lie upon the cush ion, breathing in a labored way, bu - apparently neither the better no t worse for its draught. , Holmes hart taken out his watch :> and as minute followed minute with 3 out result, an expression of the ut , most chagrin and disappointment ap poared upon his features. He gnaw 1 ed his lip, drummed his fingers upo i the tahle, and showed every othe 3 symptom of acute impatience. S i great was his emotion that I felt sir 1. cerely sorry for him, whilo the tw - detectives smiled derlvely, by n e means displeased at his check whic he had met. "It can't ,bo a coincidence," h i- cried at last, springing from his chal o and pacing wildly up and down th room; "It is impossible that it should f be a moro coincidence. The very a pills which I suspected in the case of <J Drebber are actually found after the s death of Stangerson. And yet they v are inert. What can it mean? Sure- v ly my wholo chain of reasoning can- t not have been false! It is itnpos- e sible! And yet tins wretched dog is d none the worse. Ah, 1 have it! Ia have it!" With a perfect shriek of i delight he rushed to the box, cut thv. other pill in two, dissolved it, added f milk, and presented it to the terrier, s The unfortunate creature's tongue seemed hardly to have been moisten- 1 ed in it before it gave a convulsive j shiver in every limb, and lay as rlgiu t and lifeless as if it had been struck q by lightning. t Sherlock Holmes drew a long t breath, and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. r "I should have moro faith," he t said; "I ought to know by this time that when a fact appears to be op- i posed to a long train of deductions it ? invariably proves to be capable of f hearing some other interpretation. Of the two pills in that box one was j the most deadly poison and the other } was entirely harmless. I ought to \ have known that before I ever saw \ the box at all." \ This last statement appeared to me ? to be so startling that 1 could hardly ( believe that he was in his soher | senses. There was the dead dog, however, to prove that his conjee- ] ture had been correct. It seemed to ( me that the mists in my own mind | were gradually clearing away, and 1 began to have a dim, vague percep- , tion of the truth. ( "All this seems strange to you," continued Holmes, "because you failed at the beginning of the inquiry to grasp the importance of the single real clew which was presented to you. I had the cnnrl fr?rtnt?r> cui?n nw w,. . w. v M l?\ I V? OV l/i\J ll|/V/ll that, and everything which has occurred since then lias served to con| Arm my original supposition, and, indeed, was the logical sequence of it. Hence, things which have perplexed you and made the case more obscure have served to enlighten me and to strengthen my conclusions. It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery. The most commonplace crime is often the most mysterious, because it presents no new or special features from which deductions may be drawn. This murder would have been indefinitely more difficult to unravel had the body of the victim been simply found lying in the roadway without any of those outre and sensational accompaniments which have rendered it remarkable. These strange details, far from making the case more difficult, have really had the effect of making it less so." Mr. (iregson, who had listened to this address with considerable impatience, could contain himself no longer. "Look here, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," he said, "we are all ready to acknowledge that you are a smart man. and that you have your own methods of working. We want something more than mere theory and preaching now, though. It is a case of t akin if t h n mnn 1 lmvn mewl a mv case out, and it seems I was wrong. Young Charpentier could not have been engaged in this second affair. Lestrado went after this man, St.angerson, and it appears that he was wrong, too. You have thrown out hints here and there, and seem to know more than we do, but the time lias come when we feel that we have a right to ask you straight how much you do know of the business. Can you name the man who did it?" "I can not help feeling that CJregson is right, sir," remarked Lestrade. i "We have both tried, and we have both failed. You have remarked > more than once since 1 have been in i the room that yau have all the evi! donee which you require. Surely you will withhold it any longer." "Any delay in arresting the as, sassin," I observed, "might give him r to perpetrate some fresh atrocity." Thus pressed by us all Holmes showed signs of irresolution, lie conf tinned to walk up and down the room r with his head sunk on his chest and , his brows drawn down, as was his f habit when lost in thought. "There will be no more murders,' ! ho said, at last, stopping abruptly 3 and facing us. "You can put that r consideration out of the question. 3 You have asked me if I know the 3 name of t lie assassin. I do The mere r knowing of his name is a small thing compared with the power of laying - our hands upon him. Thjs I expect r very shortly to do. I have good hopes , of managing it through my own ar rangements; but it is a thing which ,i needs dilicato handling1, for we have 11 a shrewd and desperate manto deal - with,who is supported, as I had occaslon to prove, by another who is as e clever as himself. As Ion# as this man has no Idea that anyone can have t a clew, there js some chance of securr of managing it through my own aring him; but if he had the slighest i? needs delicate handling, for we have i- a shrewd and desperate man to death > four million inhabitants of this great city. Without meaning to hurt either of your feelings, I am bound to say n that if I consider these men to he r more than a match for the official 0 force, and that is why I have not asked your assistance. If I fail I shall 0 of course incur all the blame due to ? this omission; but that I am prepared h for. At present I am ready to promise that the instant I can communicate e with you without endangering my 'r combinations I shall do so." e Gregaon and Lestrade seemed to be ar from satisfied by this assurance, >r by the depreciating allusion to tlie letective police. The former had fluhed up to the roots of his flaxen hair vbilo the other's beady eyes glistened rith curiosity and resentment. Neiher of them had time to speak, how. ver. before there was a tap at tno loor and tlie spokesman of the street ,rabs, young Wiggins, introduced his nsignificiunt and unsavory person. "Please, sir," he said, touching liis orehead, "1 have the cab downtairs." "Good boy," said Holmes, blandy. "Why don't you Introduce this >attern at Scotland Yard?" ho coninuod, taking a pair of steel handuffs from a drawer. "See how beauifully the spring works. They fasen in an instant." "The old pattern is good enough," emarked Lestrade, "if we can lind he man to put them on." "Very good, very good," said lolmes, smiling.. "The cabman may is well help me with my boxes. Just isk him to step \ip. Wiggins." 1 was surprised to find my oomlanion speaking as though lie were i,bout to set out on a journey, since le had not said anything to mo about t. There was a small portmanteau 11 the room, and this he pulled out md began to strap. Ho was busily engaged at it when the cabman entered the room. ".hist give me a help with tills bucfcle. cabman," he said, kneeling aver his task, and never turning his head. The fellow came forward with a somewhat sullen, d< f.ant air, and put down bis Uo'ids to ruscb'. \t that instant there was a sharp click, the jitngnug 01 mown, una mhtiock Holmes sprang to liis feet again. "Gentlemen," he cried, with Hashing eyes, "lot m<' introduce you to Mr. Jefferson Hope, the murderer of Fnoch Drehbor and of Joseph Stangerson." ' The whole thing occurred in a moment?so quickly that I had no time to realize it. 1 have a vivid recollection of that instant, of Holmes' triumphant expression and the ring of his voice, of the cabman's dazed, savage face, as he glared at the glittering handcuffs, which had appeared as if by magic upon his wrists. For a second or two we might have been a group of statues. Then, with an inarticulate roar of fury, tho prisoner wrenched himself free from Holmes' grasp, and hurled himself through the window. Woodword and glass gave way before him, but before he got quite through Gregson, Lestrade, and Holmes sprang upon him like so many staghounds. Ho was dragged hack into the room, and then commenced a terrific conflict. So powerful and so fierce was he that the four of us ware shaken off again and again. He appeared to have the convulsive strength of a man in an epileptic fit. His face and hands were terribly mangled by the passage through the glass, but loss of blood had no effect in diminishing his resistance. It was not. until Lestrade succeeded in getting his hand inside his neckcloth and half strangling him that we made him realize that his struggles wore of no avail; and even then we felt no security until we had pinioned his foot aa well as his hands. That done we roso to our foot, breathless and panting. "We have his cab," sr^id Sherlock Holmes. "It will serve to take him to Scotland Yard. And now, gentlemen," he continued, with a pleasant smile, "we have reached the end of our little mystery. You are very welcome to put any questions that you like to me now, and there is no danger that T will refuse to answer them." ? ? ? STEAMRK WRECKED. Ship "State of California" Strike?Alaskan Rock. The steamer "State of California" of the Pacific Coast Company, is r total loss in Gambler Hay, Stephen'? I'assage, Alexander Archipelago, AI a ska. Mrs. E. C. Ward, wife of th< assistant manager of the company and her daughter perished. The ves sel was bound from Seattle for Skag way. Seven members of tlie crew als( lost their lives. Miss Llllle B. Ward (laughter of the assistant genera manager, was alive when picked uj on a raft, hut she died from exposure The tragedy resulted from the ves sol's striking an uncharted rock Twenty-five passengers of the "Stati of California" are dead, it is report ed in a message from Juneau. Have Narrow Escape. Thirty-five workmen, caught -14< feet under ground in a section of th Catskill acqueduet, in course of con strucMon under Washington Height? near Now York, wlion fire broko on in tho shaft house overhead Thura day night, woro found unharmed tw hours later when tho fire was con trolled. ? Ships to Cruise. Ten big battleships and all th torpe 'o boat destroyers now attacli ed to the Atlantic fleet will make cruise to the Mediterranean Sea, d< parting October 25 and returning t thoir home port Docemh.er 20. Quiet your fears Evelyn. Yon ' man Thaw may be crazy, but he ha had enough of prison life and doc i not want to kill anybody Juet now. C WOFfORD COLLEGE SF I II KMtV B A ItKAL COLLEGE WITH HIGH ? I SHIP AND CHARACTER. LOCAT1 SECTION OF UPPER SOUTH CARC I SOUTH OF ASHEVILLE, THIRTY) I PHE BLUE RIDGE, HBAI TH CO 3 FULL COURSES. AMPLE FACILITI 1 HALL. GYMNASIUM, ATHLETIC ( I RIES EXPENSES MODERATE. I 9 TEMPER 17. WRITE FOR C \TAL< 9 WOFFORD FITTING SCHOOi 9 SITUATED ON WOFFORI) COLLKG1 J EQUIPMENT. TWO MODERN D< 9 ROOM BUILDING. FIVE TE \CH E | TH 7 DORMITORIES. INSURI NG A I AND HEARTY CO-OPERATION Ol I A SCHOOL WITH HIGH STAN OAR 9 MOSPHERE TWO 1IUNDRE D STl U PENSES FOR THE YEAR. $1 82. E A. \V. MORTON, I SPARTANDI1 i nra A. ?1 tj ^jftuigeuiirj ? W. W. Rivers, * Presic' y laim.'kst co-hih<wtiovaii . < 01 takv i ok hoys. iiomk si kko $ kii.vhy, ml'sic, akt, IvM'kkssl I cost witiiiv vol ii iimacii. \v WrwTMVI | Orangebe las since 1804 Riven "Thorough Inst Influences at the lowest possible co RESULT: It is to-day with its facul its student body of 413, and its plant v THE LEADING TRAINING SCH< $150 pays all charges for the year, inc heat, laundry, medical attention, physi except music and elocution. For catt REV. THOS. ROSSER R] BLACKST POULTRY AND ECKJS. For Sale?Poland China pigs of iliu breeding. Write for prices. S. J Summers, Cameron, S. C. For Sale?Registered O. I. C. Pigs, 2 to 3 months old at reasonable prices. 'B. P. Jones, Reynolds, (la. Barred Rocks, White Leghorns? Eggs, 36 for $1; chicks, dozen, 1.20; weaners, 35c; half grown, 50c. Marion Moseley, Jeffers, Va. MISCELLANEOUS. ? 1 buy all kinds of empty barrels and i bags. Try mo. Walter A. Moore, 8 5 George St., Charleston, S. C. s Riles can bo relieved at once?Sen J , 15c for liberal sample, *'Llno Pile Or. r?< rwl .r ?? ,? A i ? ? - uvuieu^i ailU I/O CUIIVIIU't'U. liUrgC size, f)0c, 6 for $2.50. II. M. Knight and Co., Manufacturing Pharmacists, Lancaster, Penn. ) ' | Marry if you are lonely. The Reliable 1 Confidential Successful Club has > large number of wealthy eligible members, both sexes wishing early marriage. Descriptions free. Mrs. Wrubel, Box 26, Oakland, Cal. B - Yes, Rhea Springs has mileic and dancing. The place you can play golf, tennis, croquet, go fishing, swimming, boating, riding and driv[) ing, automobiling. Fine lawn and e board walks, and the home of the olil daiiokia ci?i ... . w... n< ikimo ivuotv opriugn \\ arer, | it the- best that flows; been tried for a t century. No better place to recupi_ erate. Fine accommodations. Rates o reasonable. Writo for particulars. Rhea Springs Co., Rhea Springs, Tenn. Farms for Sale?f.arge or small in e lower and upper country. Ten to forty dollars per acre. Some bara gains. Address Rox 4 4 3, Green4 wood, 3. Two Wet; One Try. News from Bamberg and Horn well ir show those counties have gone for is tho dispensary. Sumter county went !8 for the prohibition side of a bare majority of 8. 'ARTANBURG. S. C. ^ \. SNYhKR, I'rfftldcnt. >TANI>ARI)S OF SCHOLAR- i ID IN THE HIGH PIEDMONT | )LINA, SIXTY-NINE MILES g Mf LES FROM THE CREST OF f; NDITIONS UNSl'R PASSED. ES, LIBRARY, SCIENCE 4 IROCNDS, NEW DORMITOS'KXT SESSION OPENS SEP3GUE. L SPARTANBURG S. C 0 CAM PCS. S P L E N D I D )RMITORIE8 AND CLASS 1 US AND MATRON LIVE IN H , HOME-LIKE INFLUENCE gj F STUDIES AND FACULTY. I DS AND CLEAN MORAL AT- I TDENTS LAST YEAR. EX- fl O RCATALOCUK ADDRESS ' IV < >?< 1 Miislcr, R(?, S. C. J % College I A. B., A. M. 1 lent lii,IN mi'; MWTK. t'NDINCH I OK GIKIjS. I,!T. ON', AND 111 VIMvSS (OlI'.Sl.S. KITH I'Olt INFORMATION'. ERS, Pres." irg S. C. I ruction under positively Christian St." Ity of 33, a boarding patronage of 303, rorth $160,000 OOL FOR GIRLS IN VIRGINIA hiding tabic board, room, lights, Bteara oal culture, and tuition in all subjects iloguc and application blank address, EEVES, U. A., Principal* ONE. v/.? CHARLESTON BOYS DROWN, Three Go Down When Sail Boat is Capsized l>y Wind. Wlien their frail sail bateau capsized Thursday morning about 10 o'clock, off the point of Folly Island, Toby Hernandez, of Coles Island; William Walker, of Charleston, and Burmain Crlmball, of James Island, w re drowned. The young men, who were about nineteen years of age, were out for a lark in the bateau. They had not long left Coles Island. The overturning of the bateau was witnessed by Mr. George W. Walter, father of one of the boys; Dr. J. Walter Burn and others, and immediately efforts were made to go to the rescue of the young men. Mr. Arthur Lynah's gasoline yacht, with a cruising party, was passing soon after and this was hailed by Capt. Hernandez. A rescue party hurried to the scene, but on arriving there could find no trace of the young men or of Ti .1 .... uicn imicnu, 11, WHS UlOUgni lIKIt their bodies had been carried out to sea by the powerful tide. Money firing l'laced. The Southern States were selectod for the first deposits of the government crop fund on account of tho early movement of the cotton crop, which has a^gpady begun. Tho first (ieposits of the government's $f>0,ftfiA --1 ' </i/v',vw iiuiu iu cini crop movements will bo made I. tho Southern States In August and September. ? ltiid Hrcaks Hword, One thousand miles, from Abilene, Tex. to Fort Wayne, Tnd., in 20 hours 20 minutes and six seconds, actual flying time is tlie remarkable record set by a homing pigeon, belonging to O. Anderson, of Fort Wayne, Ind. The second bird was ten hours behind tho winner. llad Many Operations. George D. McDowell died in Baltlmoro Thursday after undergoing 500 operations for a growth in his throat, lie was a farmer of tho Boiling Springs section of Spartanburg county.