? ? ? ? "That is so. Someone, then, cut out the message with a pair of short-bladed scissors, pasted it with paste --"
? ? ? ? "Gum," said Holmes.
? ? ? ? "With gum on to the paper. But I want to know why the word 'moor' should have been written?"
? ? ? ? "Because he could not find it in print. The other words were all simple and might be found in any issue, but 'moor' would be less common."
? ? ? ? "Why, of course, that would explain it. Have you read anything else in this message, Mr. Holmes?"
? ? ? ? "There are one or two indications, and yet the utmost pains have been taken to remove all clues. The address, you observe is printed in rough characters. But the Times is a paper which is seldom found in any hands but those of the highly educated. We may take it, therefore, that the letter was composed by an educated man who wished to pose as an uneducated one, and his effort to conceal his own writing suggests that that writing might be known, or come to be known, by you. Again, you will observe that the words are not gummed on in an accurate line, but that some are much higher than others. 'Life,' for example is quite out of its proper place. That may point to carelessness or it may point to agitation and hurry upon the part of the cutter.
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