Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / Feb. 6, 1921, edition 1 / Page 13
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.... - - V T . n. PAGES 1 TO 10 SECOND SECTION nrt STATE NEWS AUTOMOBILES HE m FOUNDED VOL. CVL-No. 156. WILMINGTON, N. C, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 6, 1921s OLDEST DAILY IN THE STATE. LMES ories THE ADVENTURE OF THE THREE STUDENTS By SIR ARTHUR CON AN DOYLE fop,riht. 101. y Harder & Bros. Pnbliahed by apeclal arrangement with The McClure Nenpaper Syndicate r u the first Installment of 1'"" . 1 a shrrloCK nt"ra - " rt JjV V. IOUOU UKl VFX4V- Storv Will appear rvtry Next Sunday iturifs I : .T- In The Star !"'"" untitv" will annear. Case iff ... in ths vear '95 that a combi- T nation of events, into which I need not enter, caused Mr. Sherlock Holmes and myself to spend some . i..- in nnc of our great univer- i it .roc rlnrinc thin tlmp i,v towns ami iat the sinaa nui uis u.wve h' h I am about to relate befell It Will " ( I I ' L m' . iviiich wouitl neij i. ww,. dentifv tne course wi ......., ivotild injudicious and offensive.; in fill a scanaai may wen ub i- iowed to die out. With due discretion he incident useu iuiy, uuwt., Wribed. since it serves to illustrate .. nniitifa for which mv some oi rinuMvas remarKariie. i w n i euu.wv in mv statement. iu vum out" U esrvK tn limit tYlf. oriiis as V I'll in .. 1' .1 1 1 I . ,nt to anv particular pmco, or givo '- riu'e as to the people concerned. We were residing at the time In fur- ,r,'in.' !;ihoriou.s researches in early nu'isli charters researches Which led n nsnlts s' striking tnat tney may c tlif ytihject ef one of ray future nar mives. Here it was that one evening V( received a visit from an acquaint- Ml'' .Mr. I l i i i 1 1 ouaiitw, tuivi v ctnrer at the College of St. Luke's. T. S"Hmes was h ia.ii. spare main, ot n.rvous; and excitable temperament. ! Iia.l nhvays known him to be rest- ess i-i his manner, but on this partlc ii.ir iiccasi'iii he was tn such a state ,f iineontrolhible -agitation that it was Icir something very unusual had oc- urrefl. "I trust. Mr. Holmes, that you can .pare me a few hours of your valuable lm We liuve had a very painful ln--Mnt at St. Luke's, and really, but 'nr thf happy chance of your being in iwn. I ghnuhl have teen at a loss rtat to dn." . "i am very Titisy just how" and I de nn distractions." my friend an swered. "I should much prefer that you called in the aid of the police." "No, no, my dear sir; such a course is utterly impossible. , When once th law is evoked it cannot be stayed again, and this is just one df" those cases wtere, for the credit of the col lege, it is most essential to avoid scan dal. Your discretion is as well known as your powers, and you are the One man in the world who can help me. I beg you Mr. Holmes, to do what you can. My friend's temper had not improv ed since- he had been deprived of the congenial surroundings of Baker street. Without his scrap-books, his chemicals, and his -homely untidiness, he was an uncomfortable man. He shrugged his shoulders in ungracious acquiescence, while our visitor in hur ried words and with much excitable gesticulation poured forth his story. "I must explain to you. Mr. Holmes, that tomorrow is the first day of the examination for the Fortescue schol arship. I am one of the examiners. My subject is Greek, and the first of. the i papers consists of a large passage of Greek translation which the candidate (has not seen. This passage is printed on the examination paper, and it would i naturally be an immense advantage if the candidate could prepare it in ad- j vance. For this reason, great care is taken t6 keep the paper secret. j "Today, about 3 o'clock, the proofs of this paper arrived from the print ers. The exercise consists of half a chapter of Thucydides. I had to read it over carefully, as the text must be absolutely correct. At 4:30 my task was not yet completed. I had, how ever, promised to take tea in a friend's rooms, so I left the proof upon my J desk. I was absent rather more than' an hour. "You are aware, Mr. Holmes, that our college doors are double a green baize one within and a heavy oak one without. As I approacned my outer door, I was amazed to see a key in it. For an Instant I imagined that I had left my own there, but on feeling: in my pocket I found that it was all right. The only duplicate which ex isted, so far as I knew, was that which belonged to ny servant. Bannister a man who has looked after my room for ten years, and whose honesty is absolutely above suspicion. I found that the key was indeed his, that he had entered my room to know if I wanted tea, and that he had very care lessly left the key in the door when he came' out'. Mis visit to my room must have been within a very few minutes of my leaving it. His for ge tfuln ess about the key wou'ld have mattered little upon any other occa sion, but on this one day it has pro duced the most deplorable conse quences. "The moment I looked at my table, I was aware that some one had rum magei among my papers. The proof was in three Ions slips. I had left them all- together. Now, I found that one of them was lying on the floor, one was on the side table near the window, andJAe third was where I had left It." Holmes stirred for the .first time. "The first page on the floor, the sec ond in the window, tne third where you left it.'' said. he. "Exactly, Mr. Holmes. You amaze me. How could you possibly know that?" ' "Pray continue your very interest ing statement." "For an instant I imagined that Ban nister had taken the unpardonable lib erty of examining my papers. He de nied it, however, with tne utmost ear nestness, and I am convinced that he was speaking the truth. The alterna tive was that some one passing had observed the key Jn trie door, had known that I was out, and had enter ed to look at the papers. A large sum of money is at stake, for the scholar ship is a very valuable one. and an un scrupulous man might very well run a risk in order to gain an advantage over his fellows. "Bannister was verv much upset by the incident. He had nearly fainted when we found that the papers had undoubtedly been tampered with. I gave him a little brandy and left him collapsed in a chair, while T made a most' eareful examination of the room. I soon saw that the intruder had left other traceB of his presence besides the rumpled papers. On the table In the window were several -shreds from a.. pencil which had'-been sharpened. A broken tip of lead was lying there also. Evidently the rascal had copied the paper In a great hurry, had brok-1 en his .pencil, and had been compelled to put a fresh point to It." "Excellent!" said Kolmes, who was recovering his good humor as his at tention became more engrossed hy the case. "Fortune has been your friend." "This was not all. I have a new writing "table witn a fine surface of red leather. I am prepared to swear, and so is Bannister, that it was smooth and unstained. Xow I found a clea.n cut in it about three inches long not a mere scratch, but a positive cut. Not only this, but on the table I found a small ball of black dough or clay, with specks of something which looks like sawdust in it. I am convinced that these marks were left by the man who rifled the papers. There were no footmarks and no other evidence as to his identity. I was at. my wits ends, when suddenly the happy thought oc curred to me that you were in town, and I came straight around to put the matter into your hands. Do help" me, Mr. Holmes. Yon see mv rHlnm-ma Either I must find tne man or else the' examination must be postponed until! fresh papers are prepared, and since this cannot be done without explana tion, there will ensue a hideons scan dal, which will throw a cloud not only on the college, bur on the university. Above all things, I desire to settle the matter quietly and discreetly." "I shall be happy to look into it and to give you such advice as I can." said Holmes, rising and putting on his overcoat. "The case ;s not entirely de void of interest. Had any one visited you in your room after the papers came to you?" "Yes, young Daulat Ras. an Indian student, who lives on the same stair, came in to ask me some particulars about the examination." "For which he was entered?" "Yes." "And the papers were on your ta ble?" "To the best of my belief, they were rolled up." "But might be recognized as proofs?" "Possibly." "No one else in your room?" "No." "Did any one know tnat these proofs would be there?" "No one save the printer." "Did this man Bannister know?" "No. certainty not. No one knew." Where is Bannister now?" "He was very ill, poor fellow. I loft him collapsed in the chair. I was in such a hurry to come to you." "You left your door open?'' "1 locked up the papers first." - "Then it, amounts to this. Mr. Soames, that unless the Indian student' recognized the roll as being proofs, the if s SIU ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE ; .;' Creator, ot. "Sherlock Holme," the Greatest Character. -Zn .Fiction. man who tampered with them came upon them accidentally without know ing that they were. there." "So it seems to me." Holmes gave, an enigmatic-smile. "Welt,? ,; said he, "let us go round. Not one of you cases, Watson mental,- tto t.iphylct'tArrrrigmt;'SOTne if you want to. Now Mr. Soames at your disposal!" The sitting T-oom of our client open- neck craned, he looked into the room "He must have entered through th door. There is no opening except th one pane," said our learned guide. "Dear me!" said Holmes, and he smiled in a singular war as ha glanoed at our companion. "Well, If there ll nothing to be learned here, we had best go inside.' The lecturer unlocked the outer doo and ushered us into his room. W stood at the entrance while Holme made an examination of the carpet. "1 am afraid there are no slgM here," said he "One could hardly hope for any upon so dry a day. Your servant seems ,to have quite recovered. You left him in a chair, you say. Which chair?" "By the window there." "I see. Near this little table. You can come in now. I have finished with the carpet. Let us take the little ta ble, first. Of course, what has hap pened is very clear. The man entered and took the appers, sheet by sheet, from the central table. He carried them over to the window table, be cause from there he could see if you came across the courtyard, and so could effect an escape." "As a matter of fact he could not," said Soames, "for I entered by the side door." "Ah, that's srood. Well, anyhow, that was in his mind. Let me Bee the three strips. No finger Impressions no! Well, he carried over this one first, and he copied it. How long would it take him to do that, using every pos sible contraction? A quarter of an hour, not less. Then he tossed It down and seized the next. He was in the midst of that when your return caused him to make a very hurried retreat very hurried, since he had not time to replace the papers which would tell you that he had been there. You were not aware of any hurrying feet on the stair as you entered the outer door? "No, I can't say I was." "Well, he wrote so furiously that he broke his pencil, and had, as you ob serve, to sharpen it again. This is of interest, Watson. The pencil was not an ordinary one. It was above the usual size, with a soft lead, the outer color was dark blue, the makers name was printed in Bilver lettering! and the piece remaining Ab only, about an inch Look for such a pen- ed by a long low, lattJceu window on to the ancient lichen-tinted court of t,h old college. A Gothic, arched door j and a half long. led to a worn stone staircase. On the ell, Mr. Soames, .and you have got your ground floor . was the tutor's room. man. When I add that he possesses a Above were three students, 'one on each j large and very blunt knife, you have story- It was already- twilight whenjan additional aid." we reached the scene of our problem-: ' Holmes halted and looked earnestly j Mr. Soames was somewhat over at the window. Then he approached.) Whelmed by this flood of information. it. arid, standing on tip-toe with ms (Continued on rage .Fourteen.) r Our pecia C on s i of m e n it Sale Ladies' georgette and crepe de chine Mousse, cloaks and cloak suits will close Saturday, February 12. This is an exceptional oppor tunity for the intelligent buying public to se cure new and up-to-date wearing apparel at one-third the manufacturers' prices. The largest line of coat suits ever shown in Wilmington is arriving daily. Prices range from $17.50 to $70.00. ' A special lot of tricolette and minuette silk dres&es go on sale at $17.25 to $32.50. Values to $87.50. Ma J. ROBERTS Hotel Wilmington Sample Rooms, 316 North Front St. I C. LOFTIN i A -' A i-fm 3 ,
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Feb. 6, 1921, edition 1
13
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