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4 A CASE OF INDENTITy ' ; BY SIB CONAN DOYLE (Coirtlnmd from pse 16) 1 !n 77. and there was something: of the sort at The Hague last year. Old as Is 'the idea, however, there were one or two details which were new-to me. But the maiden herself was most - instruc tive.". ; "You appeared to read a grood deal pon her which was quite invisible to me," I remarked. "Not invisible, but unnoticed. Wat son.' You did not know where to look, and so you missed all that -was im portant. I can never bring: you to real ize the importance of sleeves, the sug gestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may. hang: 'from a boot-lace. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? De- "Well, she had a slate-colored, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black -beads sewn upon it, and a fringe of little -black jet orna ments. Her dress was brown, rather 4rker than coffee color, with a little purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her crloves were jrravish. 'and were worn through at the right forefinger. Hor boots I didn't observe. She had small, round, hanging gold ear-rings, and a general air of being fairly well-to-dp, in a vulvar, comfortable, easy going way." j Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. , " 'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have really vdone very well indeed. It is true that you have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye for color. Never trust to general impres sionst my boy, but concentrate your self uipon . details. My first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In. a man it is perhaps better first to take the knee' of the trouser. As you observe, this voman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most useful material for Showing traces. The doufcle line a lit tle above the wrist, iwhere the type writ ist presses against the table, was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, leaves a simi lar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the 'broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and observ ing the, dent of a pincencz at either side of her nose, I ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed to surprise her." "It surprised me." "IJut, surely, it was very obvious. I was then much surprised and interest ed on glancing down to observe that, though the boots which she was wear ing were not unlike each other, they' . were rfiiny oua ones; lae one navmg a slightly decorated toe-cap, and the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the, two lower buttons out of five, and the other at the first; third, and fifth. Now. when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, it is no great de duction to say that she came away in a hurry." "And what else?" I asked, keenlv interested, as I always was, by my friend's incisive reasoning. "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving' home, but after being fully dressed. You ob served that her right g-love was torn at the forefinger, but you did not ap parently see that both Rlove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had .written in a hurry, and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. All this is amus ing, though rather elementary, but. I must go back to business. Watson. Would you mind reading me the ad vertised description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" I held the little printed slip to the light. "Missing," it said, "on the morn ing of the 14th, a gentleman named Hosmer "Angel. About 5 ft. 7 ins. in height; strongly built, sallow complex ion, black hair, a little bald in the cen ter, busy, black side-whiskers and mustache; tinted glasses, slight infirm ity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert chain, and gray Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in Leadenhall street. Any body bringing," etc.. etc. "That will do." said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, glancing over them, "they are very common-! nlana A Vtotlntnl.. 1 .1 . ' frr.dvc i licuiuicij no ciew in mem to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike you." 'They are typewritten," remarked. "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you see, but no superscrip tion except Leadenhall street, which is rather vague. The point about the sig nature is very suggestive in fact, we may call it conclusive." "Of what?" "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it bears upon the case?" "I cannot say that I do, unless it were that he wished to be. able to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were instituted." "No, that was not the point. How- "They WORK while you sleep' Iont stay bilious or constipated, with your head dull, your stomach sour, gassy, upset. Take-one or two Cascarets tonight sure . for yonr liver ?..bowel" and wa! up clear and fit. Children love Caoarets tpo. , No grip- u- no inconvenience. 10,. 25, 60 cents. -Adv. ---v.. . ever, I 'shall write two letters, which should "settle -the matter. . One is to a Arm -In the 'city, the other Is to the young ' layjs stepfathsr, Mr. Wlndi bank, asking him whether he could meet us here at . 6 o'clock tomorrow evening. ' It is Just as well that we should do business with the male rel atives. -And now, doctor, we can. do nothing untiL tae answers to those let ters come, so we may put our little I-roblem upon, the shelf for the in terim." I had so ' many reasons to believe in my friend's "subtle powers of-reasoning, and. extraordinary . energy, in action, that 1 felt -that he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy demeanor with which he treated the singular mystery which he had been, called upon to fathom. Once only had I know him to fail, in th-3 case of the' king" of Bohemia and of the Irene. Adler photograph; but whn I looked back to thfe weird business of the Sign of Pour, and the extraordi nary circumstances connected with the Study in Scarlet. I felt that it would be i a strange tangle inceed which he could not unravel. I left him then, still puffing at his black- clay 'pipe, with the conviction that whe'n JI came "again ori " the next evening I would fina mat he held in his hands ajl the clews which would lead up to the identity of the disap pearing bridegrom or Miss Mary Suth erland. A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy ''at the bedside", or the sufferer. It was not until close upon 6 o'clock that! I f bu'ftd .myself free, and was able to spring' into a hansom and drive to Baker street, half -afraid that I might be too late to assist at the denouement Of the little mystery. I found Sherlock Holmes alone, however,, half asleep, with his long, thin form curled up in the recesses of his urmchair. a formid able array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell of. hy drochloric acid, told me that he had spent his doy in;the chemical work which was so dear to him. "Well, -have you solved it?" I asked, as I entered. v "Yes. It was the bisulphate . of baryta." "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. There was never any ;mystery in the matter, though, as I said yesterday, some of the., details are of interest. The Only drawback is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch tne scoundrel." "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss Suther land?" t The, question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the passage, and a tap at the door.. "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "He has. written to me to say that he would be here at ' 6! ' Come in!" The man who entered was a sturdy, middie-sized fellow, some thirty years of age, clean shaven, and. sallow skin ned, with a bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and penetrating gray eyes. He- shot a questioning glance ut each of us. placed his shiny top hat upon the sideboard, and with a slight bow sidled down, into the nearest chair. "Good-evening. Mr." James Windi bank." said Holmes. "I think that this typewritten letter is from you. in which you'made an appointment with me for 6 o'clock?" "Yes, sir. ,1 am afraid .that I am a little late, but I am not quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite against my wishes that she came, but she is a very exctte able, ' impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and. she is not easily .con trolled when she nao made up her mind on a point- Of course, I did not mind you so much, as you are not con nected with the official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family misfor tune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is useless expense, ror how could-you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" "On the contrary," said Holmes, quietly; "I - have every reason to be lieve that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." Mr. Windibank gave a violent start, and dropped his gloves. "I am delight ed to hear it," he said. "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless they are quite new, no two of .them write exactly alike. Some letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one side, . Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that in every case 'there is some little slurring over the e,' and a slight detect in the tail of the 'r. There are fourteen other characteristics, but those are the more obvious." "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, and no doubt it is a little , worn," anr visitor an swered, glancing keenly at Holmes with his brfsht little eyes. "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, Mr. Windibank,", Holmes continued. "I think of writing another little mono graph some of these days on the type writer and its relation to crime. It-ts a subject to which fl nave devoted some little attention, I'have here four let ters which " purport to come from the missing man. They are all typewrit ten. In each case, not only are the 'e's' slurred and the T'S' tailless, but you will observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, tnat the fourteen other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair, and picked up his hat. "I cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," .he said. "If -you can catch the roan, i catch him, and let me know when you have done it." "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turnings the key . in the doer. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" ' " "What! where?" shauted Mr. Windi bank, turning white to his lips, and glancing about ,him like a rate in a trap.' : . ' "Oh, It' won't. d,6 really it won't." said Holmes, suavely. "There is no possible getting -out or it, Mr. Windibank- It 'Is quite too transparent, and it was a "very 'bad compliment when you said that it was impossible for, me to solve sa simple a question. That's righ! Sit ; down,' and let us talk it )oiP fsf-tor coilapsea Into a chair. With' a ghastly face., and a glitter of moisture on. his brow; "It it's not ac tionable,? he Btammered. 1"I am very .'much afraid that It is riot. -But-j betweetf' ourselves, Windi bank. 4t was as cruel and Selfish and heartless a trick in-a petty way as ever came bforevme. . now, lex me just run over the ;course of events, and you will contradict i me if "si go ' wrong.'' The-man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his breast; like one who is utterly crushed Holmes stuck,' his , rfeet up on the : car .ner of the ('mantel-piece, and, leaning back with' ' his hands in his pockets, began- talkine-.-raher to himself, as it seemed. thon -to'us. The -.man Vmarried & ' woman very much older than himself . for her money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of -the- moiieyof the daughter-as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable sum, for people . in . their position, and the loss of it would haye made a serious difference.., It was rorth an effort to preseifve it. The daughter was of a good, amiable dis position, but affectionate and warm hearted in her ways,- so that it was evident that with her fair personal ad vantages, and her little income-, -she would not be allowed to remain single long. Now 'her marriage would mean, of courserthe Toss of a hundred a year, so what does her stepfather do. to pre vent it? He takes the obvious courso of keeping her1 at home, and forbidding her to seek the company of people of her own age. But soon he: found .that that would not answer fbrever. She became restive, insisted . upon her rights, and finally announced her -positive 'intention of going , to a certain .ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? . He conceives an idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the .connivance and as sistance of his wife 'ne disguised him self, covered those , keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with a mustache and a pair of bushy whisk ers; sunk that clear' voice 'into an insinuating-whisper, and doubly secure on account of the girl's short sight, he appears . as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off other lovers by making love himself. ?' y - . "It was only a joke at first," groan ed our visitOT. "We never thought that she would have been so carried away." "Very likely not. However that may be, the youns lady was very decidedly carried away, and having quite made up her mind that her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never for an instant entered her mind. She was flatterea by the gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began ,jtp call, for it was obvious that the matter should be -pushed as rar as it would go, if a real effect were to be pro duced. Th,ere were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally se cur the girl's affections from turning towards any one" else. But the decep tion could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind,-and pre vent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and hence also the allu sions to a possibility of - something! happening on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not listen to another man. As tar as the church door he brought her, and then, as he ' could go no farther, he conveniently vanished away by the oli. trick of stepping in at one door of " a four wheeler, and out at the other. I think that that was the chain of events, Mr. Windibank!" Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a bold sneer upon his pale face. "It may be so, or it may not. Mr.! Holmes," said he, 'but If you are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is you who are breaking: the law now, and not me. I have done nothing actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door locked you lay yourself open to an J aetion for . assault and illegal con straint.". "The law cannot, as you say. touch you," -said Holmes, unlocking and; throwing, open 'the door, "ye.t there! never was a man who deserved punish- ment morfe. If the young lady has a brother- or a friend,- he ought to lay a whip. across your shoulders. By Jove!" he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon the man's face, "It. is not part of my duties to my client, but here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat myself to " He took two swift, steps to the whip, but before he could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, l the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he threw himself down into his chair once more. 'That fellow will rise from crime 'to crime until he does something very bad, and ends on a gallows... The case has, in some respects, been not entirely devoid of interest." "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I remarked. "Well, of course, it was obvious from th first that this Mr. Hosmer Angel mpst have some' strong object for his curious conduct, and it was equally, clear that the only man who really profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, but that the one always ap peared when the other was away., was suggestive. So were the tinted .spec tacles and the curious voice, '; which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My suspicions were all confirmed by .his peculiar action in typewriting his signature, whieh, of courseMnf erred" that bis handwriting was, so" familiar to her that she would recognize even the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, to gether with many minor ones, all pointed in the same direction." 7r "And how did you verify them?' . "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I knew the firm" for -which this man worked. Hav ing taken the printed description, I eliminated everything from It which could be the result of' a disguise the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I sent it to the firm, with a request .that they would Inform me whether it an swered to the description of any of their travelers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the typewriter, and? I wrote to the man himself at his busi ness address, asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his reply was typewritten, and revealed, the same trivial but characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from Westhouse & Martank, - of Fen church street, to say that the descrip tion tallied in every respect with that of their employe, James Windibank. Voila tout" ,"And Miss Sutherland?" " "'If- I tell her she will not believe me. "You may remember, the old Per sian saying, 'There is danger for him who take th the tiger cub,, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' 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Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Feb. 13, 1921, edition 1
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