Short Stories
however, with the utmost earnestness, and I am convinced that
he was speaking the truth. The alternative was that someone
passing had observed the key in the door, had known that I was
out, and had entered to look at the papers. A large sum of mon-
ey is at stake, for the scholarship is a very valuable one, and an
unscrupulous man might very well run a risk in order to gain an
advantage over his fellows.
"Bannister was very 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 col-
lapsed in a chair, while I made a most careful examination of the
room. I soon saw that the intruder had left other traces of his
presence besides the rumpled papers. On the table in the win-
dow were several shreds from a pencil which had been sharp-
ened. A broken tip of lead was lying there also. Evidently the
rascal had copied the paper in a great hurry, had broken his pen-
cil, and had been compelled to put a fresh point to it."
"Excellent!" said Holmes, who was recovering his good-
humour as his attention became more engrossed by the case.
"Fortune has been your friend."
"This was not all. I have a new writing-table with a fine sur-
face of red leather. I am prepared to swear, and so is Bannister,
that it was smooth and unstained. Now I found a clean 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 saw-
dust in it. I am convinced that these marks were left by the man
who rifled the papers. There were no footmarks and no other ev-
idence as to his identity. I was at my wit's end, when suddenly
the happy thought occurred to me that you were in the town,
48