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About Wallowa chieftain. (Joseph, Union County, Or.) 1884-1909 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1902)
AAA T A A A A A A A A A A A A A A AAA AAA A A A A A A A A A A : . A STUDY IN SCARLET BY A. CONAN DOYLE. ClUrTKK VII Cnntim-.e.i. Mr. Gregson, who had listened to this address with considerable impa t:em t iould contain himself no longer. "Look here, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," he said, "we are all ready to acknowl edge 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 taking the man. I have made my case our. and It see.ms I was wrong. Young Char pentier could not have been engaged in this second affair. Lestrade went after his man. Stangerson. and it appears that he was WTong. too. Yon have thrown out hints here and hints there, and sem to know more than w-e do. but the timp has come when we feel that we have a right to ask you straight how much you do know cf the business. Can you name the man who did it?" "I cannot help feeling that Gregsnn Is right, sir." remarked Lestrade. "We have both tried, and we have both failed. Y"ou have remarked more than once since I have been in the room that ym: had all the evidence which you require. Surely you will not with hold it any longer?" "Any delay in arresting the assas sin." I observed, "might give him time to perpetrate some fresh atrocity." Thus pressed by us all, Holmes showed signs of irresolution He continued to walk up and down the room with his head sunk on his chest and his brows drawn down, as was his habit when lost in thought. ' There will be no more murders." he said, at last, stopping abruptly and fac ing us. "You can put that considera tion out of the question. Y'ou have asked me if I know the name of the assassin. I do. The mere knowing of his name Is a small thing, however, compared w-ith the power of laying our hands upon him. This I expect very shortly to do. I have good hopes of managing it through my own arrange ments: but It is a thing which needs delicate handling, for we have a shrewd and desperate .man to deal with, who is supported, as I have had occasion to prove, by another who Is as clever as himself. As long as this man has no idea that any one can have a clew, there is some chance of securing him: but If he had the slightest sus picion, he would change his name, and vanish in an instant among the four million Inhabitants of this great city. Without meaning to hurt either of your feelings. I am bound to say that I con sider these men to be more than a match for the official force, and that is why I have not asked your assistance. If I fail I shall, of course. Incur all the blame due to this omission: but that 1 am prepared for. At present I am ready to promise that the Instant I can communicate with you without endangering my own combinations I shall do so." , Gregson and I.estrado seemed to be far from satisfied by this assurance, or by the deprecating allusion to the de tective police. The former hal flushed up to the rents cf his flaxen hair, while the other's beady eye? glistened with euri c:iry and resentment. Xi-itiicr of thm had t1m to speak, however, before t!Tre was a tap at the door and the spokesman of the street arab. voting Wiggi'i.. introduced his ir-sisn'fn ant and unsavory person. "P'e.-v-e. sir." he said, tonchine his forelock. "I have the cab down stair." "Good boy." said Holmes, blandly. "Why flon't you introduce this pattern at Scotland Yard?" he continued, tak ing a pair of steel handcuffs from a drawer. "See how beautifully the erring works. They fasten in an in stant." "The old pattern is good enough." remarked I.estrade. "If we can find the man to put them on." "Very good, very good." said Holmes, smiling. "The cabman may as well help me with my boxes. Just ask him to step up. Wiggins." I was surprised to find my compan ion sneaking as though we were about to start out on a journey, since he had not saiil nothing to me about it. There was a small portmanteau in the room, and this he pulled out and beean to strap. He was busily engaged at it when the cabman entered the room. "Just give me a help with this buckle, cabman." he said, kneeling over his task, and never turning hU head. The fellow came forward with a somewhat sullen defiant air, and put down his hands to assist At that instant there was a sharp click, the jangling of metal, and Sher lock Holmes snrang to his feet again. "Gentlemen." he cried, with flashing eyes, "let me introduce to you Mr Jef ferson Hope, the murderer of Enoch Drebber and Joseph Stangerson. The whole thing occurred In a mo ment so quickly that I had no time to Tealize it. I have a vivid recollection of that in stant, of Holmes' triumphant expres sion and the ring of his voice, of the cabman's dazed, savage face, as he glared at the glistening handcuffs, which had appeared as if by magic upon his wrists. For a second or two w-e might have been a group of statues. Then, with an inarticulate roar of fury, the pris oner wrenched himself free from Holmes' grasp, and hurled himself through the window. Woodwork and glass gave way be fore him: but before he got quite through Gregson, Lestrade and Holmes sprang upon him like so many stag hounds. He was dragged back into the room, and then commenced a terrific conflict. So powerful and so fierce was he that the four of us were shaken off again and again. He appeared to have the convulsive strength of a man in en epileptic -fit. His face and hands were terribly mangled by the passage through the glass, but loss of blood had no effect In diminishing bis resistance. It was not until Lestrade succee'deC in gettuii: his hand inside his neck cloth and half strangling him that we maiie him realize tint his struggles were of no avail: and evpn then we felt no security until we had pinioned his feet as well as his hands. That done, we rose to our feet, breathless and panting. "We have his cat)." said Sherlock- Holmes "It will serve to take him to Scotland Y'ard. And now. gentlemen." he continued, with a pleasant smile, "we have reached the end of nur little mystery. Y'ou are very welcome to put any questions that you like to me fow, and there is no danger that I will refuse to answer them." PART II. The Country of the Saint. CHAPTER I. In the central portion of the great North American Continent there lies an arid and repulsive desert, which for many a long year served as a barrier against the advance of civilization. From the Sierra Nevada to Ne braska, and from the Yellowstone riv er in the north to the Colorado upon the south, is a region of desolation and siience. Nor Is nature always in one mooj throughout this grim district. It com prises snow-capped and lofty moun tains and dark gloomy valleys. There are swiftly-flowing rivers which dash through jagged canyons: and there are enormous plains, which in winter are white with snow, and in summer are gray with the saline alkali dust. They all preserve, however, the common characteristic of barrenness, : irhospitality and misery. ' There are no inhabitants of this land of despair. , A band of Pawnees or of Black feet ' may occasionally traverse it in order to reach other hunting-grounds, but the hardiest of the braves are glad to lose sight of those awesome plains and to i find themselves once more upon their prairies. ! The coyote skulks among the scrub, the buzzard flaps heavily through the air, and the clumsy grizzly bear lum bers through the dark ravines, and 1 picks up such sustenance as it can among the rocks. These are the sole dwellers in the wilderness. I In the whole world there can be no more dreary view than that from the ' northern slope of the Sierra Blanco. I As far as the eye can reach stretch es the great flat plainland, all dusted ; over with patches of alkali, and inter i sected by clumps of the dwarfish chap : arral bushes. I On the extreme verge of the horizon lie a long chain of mountain peaks, ' with their rugged summits necked with snow, in this great stretch of coun try there is no sign of life, nor of any thing appertaining to life. Tuere is no bud in the steel-blue heaven, no movement upon the dull, !giay earth above all mere is abso : lute silence. Listen as one may, there : io no shadow of a sound in all that : mighty wilderness; nothing but silence : complete and heari-subuuing silence. it has been said thuie is nothing ap pertaining to iiie upon the b"uuu plain. That is hardly true. Loo.iing down irom the Sierra Bian co, onu sets a piu.nvay traced out au'o.-is the ikeu. whicii winds uv.aj and i.s u.-:i in tic- xii-eme distance. U i.s rutted with wiaels and Hodden down by the feet of many auveiiutifci-:;. Here and liieie are scattered while ; objects which glisten in the sun and ! stand out against the dull deposit Of t alkali. j Approach and examine them: They i are bones; some large anil coarse, i others smaller and more delicate. The former have belonged to oxen, the i latter to men. I For fifteen hundred miles one may : trace this ghastly caravan route by these scattered remains of those who had fallen by the wayside. Looking down on this veny scene, there stood upon the 4th of May, M, a solitary traveler. His appearance was such that he might have been the very genius or demon of the region. An observer would have found it difficult to say whether he was nearer to forty or to sixty. His face was lean and haggard, and the brown, parchment-like skin was drawn tightly over the projecting bones; his long, brown hair and beard were all flecked and dashed with white: his eyes were sunken in his head, and burned with an unnatural luster, while the hand which grasped his rifle was hardly more fleshy than that of a skeleton. . As he stood, he leaned upon his weapon for support, and yet his tall figure and the massive framework of his bones suggested a wiry and vigor ous constitution. His gaunt face, however, and his clothes, which hung so baggily over his shriveled limbs, proclaimed what It was that gave him that senile and decrepit appearance. The man was dying dying from hunger and from thirst. He had toiled painfully down the ra vine, and on to this little elevation, fn the vain hope of seeing some signs of water. Now the great salt plain stretched before his eyes, and the distant belt of savage mountains, without a sign anywhere of plant or tree which might indicate the presence of moisture. In all that broad landscape there was no gleam of hope. North, and cast, and west he looked with wild, questioning eyes, and then he realized that his wanderings had come to an end, and that there, on that barren crag, he was about to die. "Why not here, as well as In a feath er bed, twenty yeard hence," he mut tered, as he seated himself in the shel ter of a bowlder. Before sitting down, he had depos ited upon the ground nis useless rifle, and also a large bundle tied up in a gray shawl, which he had carried slung over his right shoulder. It appeared to be somewhat too heavy for his strength, for, in lowering it, It came down on the ground with some little violence. ' Instantly ther? broke from the gray parcel a little moaning cry. and f om it there protruded a small, scared f.'.cc with very bright, brown eyes, and two little Speckled, dimpled fits. "You've hurt me!" said a childish voice, reproachfully. 1 "Have I. though?" the man an swered, penilent.lv; "I didn't go for to do it." As he spoke, he unwrapped the gray shawl and extricated a pretty little girl of about five years of ace. whose dainty shoes and smart pink frock, with its little linen apron, all bespoke a mother's care. The child was pale and wan. but her healthy arms and legs showed that she had suffered less than her companion. "How is it now?" he answered, anx iously, for she was still nibbing the towsy-golden curls which covered the back of her head. "Kiss It and make It well." she said, with perfect gravity, shoving the in jured part up to him. "That's what mother used to do. Where's mother?" "Mother's gone. I guess you'll see j her before long." ! "Gone, eh?" said the litt'e girl. ("Funny, she di.lnt say good-bye: she ''most always did if she was just goin' ' over to auntie's for tea. and row she's been away for three days. Say. It's :pwful dry. ain't It? Ain't there no water nor nothing to eat?" "No. there ain't nothing, dearie. Y'ou'll just nee dto be patient awhile, and then you'll be all rinht. Put your head up agin me, like that, nnd then you'll feel better. It ain't easy to talk when your lips are like leather, but I guess I'd best let you know how the cards lie. What's that you've eot?" "Pretty things: fine thin?:" cried the little girl. ethuisasticaUy. holding ur two glittering fragments of mica. "When we goes hack to home I'll give , them to brother Hob." ! "Y'ou'll see prettier thinrs than them soon," said the man. confidently. "You just wait a bit. I was going to tell you. though you remember when we icft the river?" "Well, we reckoned we strike an other river soon, d'ye see. But there was somethin' wrong: compasses or uap. or somethin". and it didn't turn p. Water can out Just except a l" t drop for the l:kes of you and and " "And you couldn't wash yourself." in terrupted his companion, gravely, star ing tip at his grimy visage. "No. nor drink. And Mr. Bender, he was the first to go, and then Indian Pete, and then Mrs. McGregor, and then Johnny Hones, and then, dearie, your mother." "Then mother's a deader too." cried the little girl, drooping her face in her pinafore and sobbing bitterly. , "Y'es: they all went except you and me. Then I t'-ought there was some chance of water in this direction, so , I heaved you on my rhoulder and we tramped it together. It don't seem as though we've improved matters. There's an almighty small chance for ' us now!" ! "Do you mean that we tire going to die, too?" asked the child, checking her sobs, and raising her tear-stained : face. ! "I guess that's about thp size of it." "Why didn't you say so before?" she jsaid. laughing gleefully. "Y'ou gave me such a fright. Why. of course, now as long as we die we'll 1 e with mother again." "Yes. you will, dearie." "And' you. too. I'll tell her ho awful good you've been. I'll let she meets us at the (oor of heaven with a big pitcher of water, aid a lot of buel:vhcat cakes, hot. and toasfe-' m both sides, line P.oh nml me was fond of How long will it 1 e first?" "I don't know not very Ion::." Tile man's eyes were fixed on the northern horizon. In th- blue vult of the heaven there appeared three little specks which i-tcrea-ed in size every Moment, so rapidlv did they approach. ! They spee'ilv ro-olvf, themselves into three large brown birds, which cir j cled over the heads of the two wan- derer. and then settled upon 'some ! rocks which overlooked them. They were buzzards, the vultures of i the West, whose coming is the fore runner of death. ' 111 there hna heen nn ..: , ' W, incic iaB urcu uu practical ttlst (Yj large scale, until since the closofV Spanish war. and our sequesters the and rvl m iwi nm' Puo-et Sound Cf , r 1 SPnrred battleships of the first ,.1 ft . Navy Yard and Dry Docks r rVI ffl . . W VTln and latterly the chase around the continent itk . r-- vciESWI ha 1 no need to der (.instruction. ships running r miesi comer. i't RE formidable fortitlca- through that body of water directly up ;aJJ th, . ions and euens.ve naval and to the eoai bunkers ; near he mines ; Sffi tSlSt!? military works, in omer to ana in uig " h 0,ii mlairivin. a... j a'"yo make sure of protection for the waters bottoms of barnacles, saving the scrap-, small mlsglvln Arrived at the Su and commercial Interests of the Pacific ing process in dry dock. The - rolls of on each and all ha ve now Northwest, but when our Uncle Sam employes at present exceed 800 men, , ft' the pa ces of test of the hrit located the Puget Sound Naval Station with the certainty 01 ronsumi iarje .u-1 naming, he assured such protection for all time creases as the works are extended. . the Bt comP tWwtlon to $ .. ., . The nresent works comnr se the fol-. eoncemed. In maneuver ne lu ,umtr 1"""" !,"- lor whilt not onrh nnH " " mestic or foreign. At the same time ic nig. ... . ,, "-, Ieaf he located these works in a position DryuocK. tne iargeHl " , - i me orepu, absolutely Impregnable, a very Gibtal- 'dock In the Uited States. her J brokj en pi ates wrenched ter of security against attack or inter j Wharf and docks largest and most w hen thiWpwu on the rook, b i.. - .....i.,.i wa. in i commodious on the Pacific Coast. Asia, have been replaced with the-.. and surroundings will show. In the first place, the location of Port Orchard bay, on which the station is built, i.s 100 miles interior from the P'i rifie. reached only through the strait n San Juan de Fuca. that wonderf':! body of water through which pours tlv present enormous streams of North western commerce. This water is stf ceptible of fortifications and of dcfer.se beyond the ability of the combined wn tleets of all earth to force an entrance. Forts at Port Townsend ami other points eastward from the en trance of the straits already protect the passage, while beyond, as the course lies further in toward the naval iation. the channel narrows Into abut ting natural defenses. Shonld'the naval powers of ea-th ever force these, there would remain 'orne.'o. bomb, dynamite mines, chain. T.d like means of destruction of the tdvancins encines of war. strung nn 1 hung In the narrower channels rearer 'b stat'on. bevond any conceivable ability of present or future naval pow ers to pass. On such situation Is basel the claim that the location, for safetv and strength, is the fi-'est that the world knows todav. Other feature: -e nnife as favorable, including denth of water, character of anchorage grounds, shore for docks and wharfs, surrounding lands r-nd conditions in c'uding climatic conditions and protec tion from all winds by an nbsolnte'v land-locked harbor, set within densely timbered hills. Views of the Station. Its works and -urrou"di""s herewith given, disclose but a small inrt of the interesting nnd instntcti'-e features to be learned bv n -itt to Hrportnn. ns the little r'tv surrounding the Station, has been nam-e-'. Cp'ved out of the virgin forest. the works ocennv nn enclosure of some Brick and steel fire-proof construe-j thpt a skiff would tie handled t,T ,h. tion and repair buildings. i ships carpenter. The dry dock thai r ""j ' '. . ' " -.- - -vr. &lMWrmi :&Zx& figs: c . ... BIG FIGHTING MACHINE IN DRYD3CK. Steam engineerin equipment. ; Uriel; warehouse and store house. Administrative building and naval of fices. I Marine barracks with modern appli ances and conveniences, i Officers' quarters, five fine resi ' t'e.nces for naval officials Buildings in process: Equipment, eighty acres of level land, tht come ordnance and other shops, f-own to the water o-i just the le-o Considering the magnitude of tho needed for works and docks, while far- Station as it exists today, it seems al- fTo he continue-l.) WENT HIM SOME BETTER. Cirl Improved on Excuse Offered bv Her Little Brother. Annie was late, and like a sensible child, she recognized the fact and stop ped running. Not so Johnnie. He belonged to the class that never knows when it has enouph of either joy or trouble, so lie kept up his laborious trot until the school door was reached. There he leaned dejectedly and breath ed heavily. Annie eyed liiin with a scorn that grew as she looked. Later on they stood in the office looking like a set of illustrations for a new version of the "Lives of the Hunted," ami Johnnv was talking. "I couldn't mean it," he sobbed. "It wnz me big sister Katie's fault. She made me eat three eggs, an' me niudder tays I can't bold tiiat much till I'm nine years old, and " He would have babbled on indefinitely, the tears -rolling off his fat, foolish liitln face, but the principal handed him his admission slip and turned to Annie. That, young lady had a passion for acquisition, so with out further ado she acquired Johnnie's excuse. "I ate too many eggs, too, ami it made me late," she explained. "Indeed," said the principal, "and how many did you eat?" Annie's lips curled scornfully as she remembered Johnny and his miserable little three eggs. "I ate seventy-four," she replied, blandly. New Y'ork Kveuing Sun. fi . T.., - v. - i- "vV5fe!S building, with first tested by these greatest of battle I ships, proved adequate for even much larger vessels. All macninery and ip paratus worked to a charm, so that this evidence, if needed, closes the chaptet o! approval for the Paget Sound Su- t.on. Besides the mechanical test, re sults have been equally satisfactory with respect to health of men, and it- tractive surroundings, in fact as toil: other elements entering into the case. Bremerton, the city of the Station. to-be, has Its foundation of course to the labor employed, and the traffic o! the Station and of its officers tad nu-.nasers. Suddenly rising to setm! thousand of population, the little city u struggling to keep pace with Its own unexpected importance and growtl, i.nd fortunately is in the hands of ea- terprising, men of high character, wlc ure seized with the spirit and cliarac- iter of the enterprise that has come to ! them, and who evince a disposition to ! co-operate with the government pur i rose and to make their city a credit I This is shown in the character of In pvovenients. in street construction jm ; all the municipal improvements as tot as undertaken. There is a water tcm already installed, by utilization o! , fine streams of pure water, with sm ticient head for fire protection, and a scale for all future rquiremeW , The young city government Wps pan with the federal requirements ana n .t.-ieats. In short there Is that narrccn; find co-operntion so desirable undent' .circumstances. Among ether steps i' 'this direction, the town is. at prwr- organizing n Sailor's and limine Ciro. - i-fter the manner of those- clubs H Mare Island and Brooklyn, in the it terest of improvement, and a'lra-.t.? .for the sea-fa'-ing employes when ii in fitnt mi Si-hnn c rhurones. '. I snrtetv nf the ricini? order are featnt? ther back the ground rises bv ridtre ! most imiiriiuiii tv,,.t u n v 1 m tha vmmo- nit v nf Port Orchard Bsr 1 iiiiu il imr till Uftfll ' ....... .n id terrace, givin? attractive natural i accomnlisned in ten slmrt v Th which also has that modern -nece". location was made in 1SH1. the first the newspaper, the Weekly V c"' INTERIOR VIS w- OF DRYDOCK UNOCCUPIED. What Alligators Eat. I More tlian once curious things have been found in the stomach of a shark, but never hag such an extraordinary collection been found as was discovered recently in the stomach of an alligator. This alligator was killed in the Soudan, and was more than 12 feet in length. In its stcniach were discovered eighty five stones, several birds' claws, two human finger nails and three hoofs of a donkey, to one of which a piece of rope was attached. locations for the- administrative build it;gs. offices and quarters. Central to all lies the great dry dock, now the lcrgest possessed by the government with dockage and wharfs in front, and shops and repair and equipment bulb! ings adjoining. Notwithstanding th completeness of the works all is still bustle and animation in extensions constantly on foot, the largest of the present works under construction be ing an Immense equipment building o' brick, that win be completed this sea son. Brick and steel structure is main tained throughout, and every specie; of construction, brick, steel, stone and timber. Is of the superior quality fot which Uncle Samuel is noted. A point of great significance as bearing on the local adaptability and economy of the site, is that nearly a totality of all ma tcrials comes from the Puget Sonne and Pacific region, excepting barelv structural steel and iron. Stone. l"-ick. timber and coal, are all at Uncle Sam's finger tips. Details of these great works, are to be found in the reports, but a few items will suffice, emphasizing in the main, as they do, the local importance of the Station, and comparison with the sister stations of Mare Island and Brooklyn. Puget Sound is alreadv l arger than either of the other two. an'1 with contemplated Improvements si ready under the protecting aegis nf government appropriation, will shorf'v be among the largest in the world, its present dry dock has such- rank, hav ing a rapacity of containing the la-sr-t st battle ship in the world, and yet the extensions now contemplated, "to be covered in the next appronnation call ing for $4,000,000. already approved hv the department, call for another drv dock double the size 0f the present one deemed necessarv by our navai exten sion on the Pacific side of our domain, and our interests in the far east. Other extensions covered in the re cent appropriations of $1,200,000 Ure coal bunkers of 25.000 tons capacity. Bremerton being one of five such coal ing stations ordered, the other four be ing San Diego, San Francisco. SitVa and Dutch Harbor for the Pacific and Behring Sea. This coaling provision is now a necessity, but the future svr. tern for the Station is said by govern mont officials to be (o utllizze the Lake Washington fresh water canal now un- work commoncMwi tho vo ducted bv the Gale Brothers, ims " The very land enclosed in the station : established one year ago. ( yards, was part of an original home-! Kitsap is the inexpressive name e. sieau entry made in October 1875. al-1 the interior, sound-encircien w though the land, which had been "lum-' that has received this great inipro beied," had been enteieu upon lor that i ment and development." A rep. purpose as early ns ISaS. This home- densely timbered, sparsely sew". -Stead was n:itfntu,i t k-iiiub .iu j.- -ut i...ninnca ahnre ana " win- n iiikiiiib w III! IIS I'lllKI Uliai'i"" " - utnipi Who SOld to William Bremer frnm Uraffln Mthnrtn fimlR itS SOl "f whom the government nnrehnaoH iim ' i,.i,.rnra,n.i !,,' nnl.se and DBft' station tract of 8; acres, which was up- I with hints of the mighty world w on recommendation of two eommis-1 side, by comnarisons of the hitM a..,,,,,, u,r u. iiaiui omcers ami one oi , machinery of the worms n i . -,t"' . i -.- .--;'.'..... ... t OFFICERS' QUARTERS AT PUGET SOUND STATlCN- w)'rtofnH.Congre',s.acU,,! "I1Hn tne -'them unknown fighting Kon "it of those comnussions. Bi-emertnn !... : .... cn long their i-'nd ,"Rv'r il 'ts V''lUnd miration o me lann wnere ciiiun is was cleared until tho sVr,'lmC!lt ",,n,n,,"''l it in the year dnT r Mr; Bmor had built a small i'" bay boats,' which still paied with the extensive docks of modern equipment and construction "here now float the mightiest fighting machines of modern times. "snung tu,v?!I?otheJ eovernment authorities have proceeded with Increasing confi- tlio niumv lnttfnis SO The w ''1'"-. i tinning to blossom as cn3p'! it ..,i-tii are M' ..i iiuiiiei mis uiuii i'" ce eP up, testifying to the '"""":,, t0tw K.. nnvornmellt. 811" , "'"V "e siare. bcctions are getmiK rora"' i-oiinty seat Is across m - ' aI) it .t,,'."rB7emertor.r pie. that some time in tne i o(!ii Bremerton will be the capi" 4 county as It has alreanj commercial center.