The Red Thumb Mark

been resented by me as somewhat of an impertinence. Nevertheless, it gave me considerable food for meditation, and I presently began to suspect that the wat

artially and examined my own consciousness, I could not but recognise that she had aroused in me an interest which bore no relation to the part that she had played in the drama that was so slowly unfolding. She was undeniably a very handsome girl, and her beauty was of a type that specially appealed to me-full

o such person as Reuben Hornby, I should ha

but young ladies are not always impartial judges of their own feelings, and, as a man of the world, I could not but have my own opinion on the matter-which opinion I believed to be shared by Thorndyke. The conclusions to which my cogitations at length brought me were: first, that I was an egotistical d

e profound reflections of yours are connected with the Hornby affair; in which c

rbing in the dry, quizzical smile that I encountered and the reflection that I had been under observation, and I felt as much embarra

the relentless regularity of a sausage-machine, and you have, from time to time, made the most damnable faces at the coffee-pot-

yke's quaint conceit and a glance at the grotesquely d

her dull companion this mornin

I have found you both amusing and instructive, and I only spoke w

o be facetious at

orted. "I have been merely consuming a by-product of

the occasion of this exclamation, and as Thorndyke sprang up and flung the door open, a clear,

oked round critically. "'Tis even so," he declared. "Physiological chemistry and its practical applications appears to be th

h his pince-nez, and I gazed

have heard me speak," said Thorndyke.

ut his hand. "I am proud to know you. I should have recognised you ins

d Thorndyke, "but he has lucid intervals. H

ent when I am dragged into police courts and other sinks of iniquity t

ng to Lawley, I se

me that we haven't

s, as men of intellect should. But

knows it all

knowledge by intuition-a deuced easy road and cheap travell

is sure to commit unless you

alibi, but we are

d it is time that we wended on our pilgrimage, for we are

g of poor Hornby's case, you know. There won't be anything done on o

we accordingly sallied forth together in the direction of Lincoln

these occasions, you know. Let me see, do you know Mr. Walter Hornby? I don't think you do." He presented Thorndy

ars to regard you as a kind of legal Maskelyne and Cooke. I hope, for my cousin's sake, that you will

ith a warmth that I found very pathetic. He seemed to have aged since I had last seen him, and was pale and rat

door, sir," a

ey, looking dubiously at

uggested. "We shall probably get there as so

r. Lawley; "you two walk do

-wheeler was drawn up, and as the others were entering

ow voice, without looking at me; then he

we had been walking in silence for a minute or two; "a most ghastly

that?"

s my experience of him goes, committing a mean and sordid theft for which no motive can be discovered-for he is not poor, nor pecuniarily embarrassed nor in the smallest degree avaricious. On the othe

wered, "the case is ex

ut it?" he demanded, with

e man you believe him to be,

h he was evidently disappoin

e fair to ask if you see any way out of the difficulty? We are all, naturally an

you do, and as to Thorndyke, you might as well cross-

gleaned some notion of the line of defence from your work in t

aboratory assistant, and his knowledge of the case, I should say, is about as great as a type-founder's knowledge of the books that he is hel

ed, with great adroitness, a rather inconvenient question. But the time was not far distant wh

e, "is a pretty miserable one at present, with this

trouble besides th

en-not that it is in any way a secret, seeing that it is public property in th

considerably startled b

ght he was 'in the know,' not unnaturally; but it seems he wasn't after all, and the things have gone wrong, leaving him with a deal more money than he can afford locked up and the possibility of a dead loss if they don't revive. The

you think t

rse, if he is made accountable for the diamonds there will be nothing for

re of considerab

y thousand pounds' worth v

ned, and I was wondering if Thorndyke had realised the mag

ne inside," said Walter. "They

e entrance to the court. Passing down a passage and elbowing our way through the throng of idler

eadfully suggestive of the helplessness of even an innocent man on whom the law ha

l representing the police gave an abstract of the case with the matter-of-fact air of a house-agent describing an eligible property. Then, when the plea of "not guilty" had be

nual nervous movements which contrasted curiously with the composed demeanour of the accused man. Nevertheless, he gave his evidence in a perfectly connected manner, recounting the events connected with the dis

He produced the paper which bore the thumb-print in blood (which had previously been identified by Mr. Hornby) and a paper beari

found in Mr. Hornby's safe, was made by the prisoner's left

ertain

ion that no mist

ible, your worship.

Anstey inquiringly, whe

ur defence, y

soner for trial at the Central Criminal Court, refusing to accept bail for his a

o Holloway in a cab, thus escaping the horrors of the filthy and verminous prison va

the warmth of a really sympathetic nature broke through his habitual impassivity. "But be of good cheer; I have convinced myself of yo

, as his self-control was evidently strained to the breaking point, Thorndyke, with a man's n

delay, and especially from the degradation of being locked up i

I answered, without much conviction, however. "It may happen to the

euben at Holloway. He will be ordered about by warders, will have a number label fastened on to his coat, he will be locked in a cell with a spy-hole in the door, through which any passing stranger may watch him; his food will be handed to him in a tin pan with a tin knife and spoon; and he will be periodicall

hese evils are una

treatment of an accused man, from the moment of his arrest, is that of a criminal. However," he concluded, hailing

hen call on Miss Gibson to le

thrash the case out in the police court, but it would not have been safe. He would almost certainly

ries concerning the regulations as to visitors at Holloway prison. At the door I met the friendly inspector from Scotland Yard, who gave m