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The Adventure of The Engineers Thumb - Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · Adventure Books Library

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The adventure of the Engineer's Thumb. Of all the problems which have been submitted
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to my friend mister Sherlock Holmes for solution during the years of our intimacy,
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there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his notice,
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that of mister Hatherley's Thumb and that of Colonel Warburton's Madness. Of these,
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the latter may have afforded a finer view for an acute and original observer,
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but the other was so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details,
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that it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even
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if it gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of reasoning by which
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he achieved such remarkable results. The story has, I believe, been told
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more than once in the newspapers, but like all such narratives, its effect
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is much less striking when set forth on block in a single half column of
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print, than when the facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the
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mystery clears gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads on to
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the complete truth. At the time, the circumstances made a deep impression upon
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me, and the lapse of two years has hardly served to weaken the effect.
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It was in the summer of eighty nine, not long after my marriage,
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that the events occurred which I am now about to summarize. I had
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returned to civil practice, and had finally abandoned homes in his Baker's street rooms,
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although I continually visited him, and occasionally even persuaded him to forego his
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bohemian habits so far as to come and visit us. My practice had steadily
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increased, and as I happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington's
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station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of these
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whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease. Was never weary of
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advertising my virtues and of endeavoring to send me on every sufferer over whom he
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might have any influence. One morning, at a little before seven o'clock,
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I was awakened by the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men
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had come from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting room. I dressed hurriedly,
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for I knew by experience that railway cases were seldom trivial and hastened downstairs.
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As I descended my old ally, the guard came out of the room
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and closed the door tightly behind him. I've got him in here, he
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whispered, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. He's all right. What is
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it? Then? I asked for his manner suggested that it was some strange
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creature which he had caged up in my room. It's a new patient,
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he whispered. I thought i'd bring him round myself. Then he couldn't slip
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away there he is all safe and sound. I must go now, doctor,
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I have my duties just the same as you. And off he went,
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this trusty toute, without even giving me time to thank him. I
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entered my consulting room and found a gentleman seated by the table. He was
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quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed, with a soft cloth cap which
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he had laid down upon my books. Round one of his hands. He
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had a handkerchief wrapped which was mottled all over with blood stains. He was
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young, not more than five and twenty, i should say, with a
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strong masculine face, but he was exceedingly pale, and gave me the impression
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of a man who was suffering from some strong agitation which it took all his
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strength of mind to control. I am sorry to knock you up so early,
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doctor, he said, but I have had a very serious accident during
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the night. I came in by train this morning, and on inquiring at
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Paddington as to where I might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly
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escorted me here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that
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she has left it upon the side table. I took it up and glanced
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at it. Mister Victor Heatherley, hydraulic engineer, sixteen a Victoria's Street,
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third floor. That was the name, style and abode of my morning visitor.
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I regret that I have kept you waiting, said I, sitting down
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in my library chair. You are fresh from a night journey, I understand,
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which is in itself a monotonous occupation. Oh my night could not be
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called monotonous, said he, and laughed. He laughed very heartily, with
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a high ringing note, leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides.
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All my medical instincts rose up against that laugh. Stop it, I cried,
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pull yourself together, and I poured out some water from a caraffe.
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It was useless. However, he was off in one of those hysterical outbursts
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which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis is over and gone.
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Presently, he came to himself once more, very weary and pale looking.
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I have been making a fool of myself, he gasped, Not at all,
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drink this. I dashed some brandy into the water, and the color
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began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. That's better, said he.
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And now, doctor, perhaps you would kindly attend to my thumb, or
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rather to the place where my thumb used to be. He unwound the handkerchief
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and held out his hand. It gave even my hardened nerves a shudder to
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look at it. There were four protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy
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surface where the thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right
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out from the roots. Good Heavens, I cried, this is a terrible
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injury. It must have bled considerably, Yes it did. I fainted when
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it was done, and I think that I must have been senseless for a
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long time. When I came to, I found that it was still bleeding.
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So I tied one end of my handkerchief very tightly round the wrist,
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and braced it up with a twig. Excellent. You should have been a
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surgeon. It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within
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my own province. This has been done, said I, examining the wound
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by a very heavy and sharp instrument, a thing like a cleaver, said
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he, an accident, I presume by no means what a murderous attack.
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Very murderous. Indeed, you horrify me. I sponged the wound, cleaned
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it, dressed it, and finally covered it over with cotton wadding and carbalized
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bandages. He lay back without wincing, though he bit his lip from time
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to time. How is that? I asked? When I had finished capital
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between your brand and your bandage, I feel a new man. I was
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very weak, but I've had a good deal to go through. Perhaps you
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had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently trying to your nerves.
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Oh no, not now. Now I shall have to tell my tale
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to the police, but between ourselves. If it were not for the convincing
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evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they believed my
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statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I have not much
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in the way of proof with which to back it up. And even if
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they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so vague that
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it is a question whether justice will be done. Hah, cried I.
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If it is anything in the nature of a problem which you desired to see
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solved, I should strongly recommend you come to my friend, mister Sherlock Holmes
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before you go to the official police. Oh, I have heard of that
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fellow, answered my visitor, and I should be very glad if he would
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take the matter up, though of course I must use the official police as
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well. Would you give me an introduction to him? I'll do better.
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I'll take you round to him myself. I should be immensely obliged to you.
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We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time
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to have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?
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Yes? I shall not feel easy until I have told my story. Then
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my servant will call a cab and I shall be with you in an instant.
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I rushed upstairs, explain the matter shortly to my wife, and in
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five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my new acquaintance to Baker Street.
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Sherlock Holmes was as I expected, lounging about his sitting room in his
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dressing gown, reading the agony column of the Times, and smoking his before
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breakfast pipe, which was composed of all the plugs and dattles left from his
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smokes of the day before, all carefully dried and collected in the corner of
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the mantel piece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, ordered fresh
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rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. When it was
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concluded, he settled our new acquaintance upon the sofa, placed a pillow beneath
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his head, and laid a glass of brandy and water within his reach.
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It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, mister
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Hatherley, said. He pray, lie down there and make yourself absolutely at
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home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are tired,
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and keep up your strength with a little stimulant. Thank you, said my
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patient. But I have felt another man since the doctor bandaged me, and
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I think that your breakfast has completed the cure. I shall take up as
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little of your valuable time as possible, so I shall start at once upon
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my peculiar experiences. Holmes sat in his big arm chair with the weary,
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heavy lidded expression which failed his keen and eager nature, while I sat opposite
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to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story which our visitor
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detailed to us. You must know, said he that I am an orphan
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and a bachelor, residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession, I'm
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a hydraulic engineer, and I've had considerable experience of my work during the seven
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years that I was apprenticed to Venner and Matheson, the well known firm of
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Greenwich. Two years ago, having served my time, and having also come
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into a fair sum of money through my poor father's death, I determined to
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start in business for myself and took professional chambers in Victorious Street. I suppose
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that every one finds his first independent start in business a dreary experience. To
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me, it has been exceptionally so. During two years, I've had three
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consultations in one small job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has
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brought me. My gross takings amount to twenty seven pounds ten shillings every day
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from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon. I waited in my
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little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came
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to believe that I should never have any practice at all. Yesterday, however,
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just as I was thinking of leaving the office, my clerk entered to
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say, there was a gentleman waiting who wished to see me upon business.
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He brought up a card too, with the name of Colonel Lysander Stark engraved
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upon it. Close at his heels came the Colonel himself, a man rather
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over the middle size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think
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that I have ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away
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into nose and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense
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over his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his natural habit,
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and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his step brisk
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and bearing assured he was plainly but neatly dressed. And his age, I
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should judge, would be nearer forty than thirty. Mister Hatherley said he,
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with something of a German accent, You've been recommended to me, mister Hatherley,
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as being a man who is not only proficient in his profession, but
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is also discreet and capable of preserving a secret. I bowed, feeling as
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flattered as any young man would at such an address. May ask who it
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was who gave me so good a character. Well, perhaps it is better
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that I should not tell you that just at this moment I have it from
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the same source that you are both an orphan and a bachelor and are residing
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alone in London. That is quite correct, I answered, But you will
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excuse me if I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my
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professional qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter that you wish
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to speak to me, undoubtedly so, but you will find that all I
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say is really to the point I have a professional commission for you. But
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absolute secrecy is quite essential. Absolute secrecy, you understand, and of course
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we may expect that more from a man who is alone than from one who
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lives in the bosom of his family. If I promise to keep a secret,
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said I, you may absolutely depend upon my doing so. He looked
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very hard at me as I spoke and it seemed to me that I had
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never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. Do you promise, then,
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he said, at last, yes, I promise absolute and complete silence,
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before, during, and after no reference to the matter at all, either
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in word or writing. I have already given you my word. Very good.
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He suddenly sprang up and, darting like lightning across the room, he
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flung open the door. The passage outside was empty. That's all right,
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said he, coming back. I know that clerks are sometimes curious as to
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their master's affairs. Now we can talk in safety. He drew up his
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chair very close to mine and began to stare at me again with the same
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questioning and thoughtful look. A feeling of repulsion and of something akin to fear
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had begun to writes within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man.
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Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from showing my impatience.
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I beg that you will state your business, sir, said I.
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My time is of value. Heaven forgive me for that last sentence. But
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the words came to my lips. How would fifty guineas for a knight's work
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suit you, he asked, most admirably. I say a night's work,
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but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I simply want your opinion about
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a hydraulic stamping machine which has got out of gear. If you show us
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what is wrong, we shall soon set it right ourselves. What do you
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think of such a commission as that? The work appears to be light and
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the pay munificent. Precisely so, we shall want you to come to night
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by the last train where too, to Ayford in Berkshire. It is a
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little place near the borders of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of reading.
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There is a train from Paddington which would bring you there at about eleven fifteen.
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Very good. I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.
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There is a drive then, Yes, our little place is quite out in
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the country. It is a good seven miles from Ayford station. Then we
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can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there be no chance of a
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train back. I should be compelled to stop the night. Yes, we
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could easily give you a shakedown. That is very awkward. Could I not
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come at some more convenient hour? We have judged it best that you should
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come late. It is to recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying
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to you, a young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an
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opinion from the very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if
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you would like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time
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to do so. I thought of the fifty guineas of how very useful they
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would be to me. Not at all said I, I shall be very
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happy to accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to
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understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to do.
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Quite so, it is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which we have
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exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I have no wish to commit
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you to anything without your having it all laid before you. I suppose that
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we are absolutely safe from eavesdroppers entirely, then the matter stands. Thus you
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are probably aware that Fuller's Earth is a valuable product, and that it is
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only found in one or two places in England. I have heard so.
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Some little time ago I bought a small place, a very small place within
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ten miles of reading. I was fortunate enough to discover that there was a
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deposit of Fuller's earth in one of my fields. On examining it, however,
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I found that this deposit was a comparatively small one, and that it
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formed a link between two very much larger ones upon the right and left both
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of them. However, in the grounds of my neighbors. These good people
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were absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was quite as valuable as a
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gold mine. Naturally, it was to my interest to buy their land before
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they discovered its true value, but unfortunately I had no capital by which I
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could do this. I took a few of my friends into the secret,
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however, and they suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little
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deposit, and then in this way we should earn the money which would enable
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us to buy the neighboring fields. This we have now been doing for some
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time, and in order to help us in the operations, we erected a
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hydraulic press. This press, as I've already explained, has got out of
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order, and we wish your advice upon the subject. We guard our secret
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very jealously, however, and if it once became known that we had hydraulic
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engineers coming to our little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then
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if the facts came out, it would be good bye to any chance of
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getting these fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made
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you promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are going
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to Aford tonight. I hope that I make it all plain. I quite
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follow you, said I. The only point which I could not quite understand
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was what use you could make of a hydraulic press in excavating full as earth,
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which, as I understand, is dug out like gravel from a pit.
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Ah said he carelessly. We have our own process. We compressed the
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earth into bricks so as to remove them without revealing what they are. But
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that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully into my confidence now,
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mister Hatherley, and I have shown you how I trust you. He
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rose as he spoke. I shall expect you then at aefort at eleven fifteen.
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I shall certainly be there, and not a word to a soul.
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He looked at me with the last long, questioning gaze, and then pressing
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my hand in a cold, dank grasp, he hurried from the room.
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Well, when I came to think it all over in cool Blood. I
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was very much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission
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which had been entrusted to me. On the one hand, of course,
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I was glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have
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asked had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible
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that this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the
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face and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon me, and
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I could not think that his explanation of the Fuller's earth was sufficient to explain
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the necessity for my coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should
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tell any one of my errand And however, I threw all fears to the
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winds ate a hearty supper, drove to Paddington and started off, Having obeyed
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to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue at reading, I had
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to change not only my carriage but my station. However, I was in
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time for the last trained ayfort and I reached the little dim lit station after
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eleven o'clock. I was the only passenger who got out there, and there
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was no one upon the platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern.
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As I passed out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance
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of the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a word,
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he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door of
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which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either side, tapped
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on the woodwork, and away we went, as fast as the horse could
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go. One horse, interjected Holmes, yes, only one. Did you
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observe the color? Yes, I saw it by the side lights when I
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was stepping into the carriage. It was a chestnut, tired looking or fresh?
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Oh, fresh and glow. Thank you. I'm sorry to have interrupted
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you. Pray continue your most interesting statement. Away we went, then,
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and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel Lysander Stark had said that
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it was only seven miles, but I should think from the rate that we
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seemed to go, and from the time that we took that it must have
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been nearer twelve. He sat at my side in silence all the time,
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and I was aware more than once when I glanced at his direction, that
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he was looking at me with great intensity. The country road seemed to not
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be very good in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted
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terribly. I tried to look out of the windows to see something of where
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we were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make
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out nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now and then
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I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the journey, but the Colonel
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answered only in monosyllables, and the conversation soon flagged. At last, however,
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the bumping of the road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel
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drive, and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang out,
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and as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch which
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gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out
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of the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the
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most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that I had
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crossed the threshold, the door slammed heavily behind us, and I heard faintly
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the rattle of the wheels as the carriage drove away. It was pitch dark
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inside the house, and the Colonel fumbled about looking for matches and muttering under
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his breath. Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage,
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and a long golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew
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broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she
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held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. I
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could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which the light
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shone upon her dark dress, I knew that it was a rich material.
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She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue, in a tone as though
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asking a question, and when my companion answered in a gruff monosyllable, she
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gave such a start that the lamp nearly fell from her hand. Colonel Stark
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went up to her, whispered something in her ear, and then pushing her
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back into the room from whence she had come, He walked towards me again,
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with the lamp in his hand. Perhaps you will have the kindness to
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wait in this room for a few minutes, said he, throwing open another
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door. It was a quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a
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round table in the center, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel
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Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the door.
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I shall not keep you waiting an instant, said he, and vanished into
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the darkness. I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite
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of my ignorance of German, I could see that the two of them were
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treatises on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked across
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to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of the countryside.
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But an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded across it. It was
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a wonderfully silent house. There was an old clock ticking loudly somewhere in the
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passage, but otherwise ever was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began
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to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were they
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doing living in this strange out of the way place? And where was this
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place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was all I
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knew, but whether north, southeast or west, I had no idea.
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For that matter. Reading and possibly other large towns were within that radius,
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so the place might not be so secluded after all. Yet it was quite
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certain from the absolute stillness that we were in the country. I paced up
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and down the room, humming a tune under my breath to keep up my
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spirits, and feeling that I was thoroughly earning my fifty guinea fee. Suddenly,
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without any preliminary sound, in the midst of the utter stillness, the
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door of my room swung slowly open. The woman was standing in the aperture,
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the darkness of the hall behind her, the yellow light for my lamp
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beating upon her eager and beautiful face. I could see at a glance that
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she was sick with fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own
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heart. Art She held up one shaking finger to warn me to be silent,
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and she shot a few whispered words of broken English at me, her
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eyes glancing back like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her.
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I would go, said she, trying hard as it seemed to me
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to speak calmly. I would go. I should not stay here. There
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is no good for you to do. But madam, I said, I
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have not yet done what I came for. I cannot possibly leave until I
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have seen the machine. It is not worth your while to wait. She
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went on, you can pass through the door. No one hinders. And
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then, seeing that I smiled and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside
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her constraint and made a step forward with her hands rung together. For the
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love of Heaven, she whispered, get away from here before it is too
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late. But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to
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engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I thought
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of my fifty guinea fee, of my wearisome jeary ernie, and of the
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unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to go for
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nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried out my commission and without
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the payment which was my due. This woman might, for all I knew,
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be a monomaniac with a stout bearing. Therefore, though her manner had
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shaken me more than I cared to confess, I still shook my head and
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declared my intention of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her
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entreaties when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps was heard
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upon the stairs. She listened for an instant threw up her hands with a
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despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and as noiselessly as she had come.
23:37
The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short, thick man with a chinchilla
23:42
beard growing out of the creases of his double chin, who was introduced to
23:47
me as mister Ferguson. This is my secretary and manager, said the Colonel.
23:52
By the way, I was under the impression that I left this door
23:55
shut just now. I feared that you have felt the draft. On the
23:57
contrary, said I. I opened the door myself because I felt the room
24:02
to be a little close. He shot one of his suspicious looks at me.
24:06
Perhaps we had better proceed to business, then, said he, mister
24:08
Ferguson, and I will take you up to see the machine. I had
24:12
better put my hat on, I suppose. Oh, no, it is
24:15
in the house what you dig Fuller's earth in the house. No, no,
24:19
this is only where we can press it. But never mind that.
24:22
All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us
24:26
know what is wrong with it. We went upstairs together, the Colonel first
24:30
with the lamp, the fat manager and I behind him. It was a
24:33
labyrinth of an old house with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and
24:37
little low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the generations who
24:42
had crossed them. There were no carpets and no sign of any furniture above
24:47
the ground floor. While the plaster was peeling off the walls and the damp
24:51
was breaking through in green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as
24:56
an unconcerned air as possible, But I had not forgotten the warnings of the
24:59
lake, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon
25:03
my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent man, but
25:07
I could see from the little that he had said that he was at least
25:11
a fellow countryman. Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door,
25:15
which he unlocked. Within was a small square room in which the three of
25:19
us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, and the Colonel
25:23
ushered me in. We are now said he actually within the hydraulic press,
25:29
and it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if any one were to
25:33
turn it on the ceiling of This small chamber is really the end of the
25:37
descending piston, and it comes down with the force of many tons upon this
25:41
metal floor. There are small lateral columns of water outside which received the force,
25:45
and which transmit and multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you.
25:49
The machine goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working
25:52
of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you
25:56
will have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can
25:59
set it right. I took the lamp from him, and I examined the
26:03
machine very thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of exercising
26:07
enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and pressed down the levers
26:11
which controlled it, I knew at once by the wishing sound that there was
26:15
a slight leakage which allowed a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders.
26:21
An examination showed that one of the indie rubber bands, which was round
26:23
the head of a driving rod, had shrunk so as not quite to fill
26:27
the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause of the loss
26:30
of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who followed my
26:34
remarks very carefully and asked several practical questions as to how they should proceed to
26:40
set it right. When I had made it clear to them, I returned
26:42
to the main chamber of the machine and took a good look at it to
26:45
satisfy my own curiosity. It was obvious at a glance that the story of
26:51
the Fuller's Earth was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose
26:55
that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a purpose. The
27:00
walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a large iron trough,
27:03
and when I came to examine it, I could see a crust of metallic
27:07
deposit all over it. I had stooped and was scraping at this to see
27:11
exactly what it was, when I heard a muttered exclamation in German and saw
27:15
the cadaverous face of the Colonel looking down at me. What are you doing
27:18
there, he asked. I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate
27:22
a story as that which he had told me. I was admiring your Fuller's
27:26
Earth, said I. I think that I should be better able to advise
27:30
you as to your machine, if I knew what the exact purpose was for
27:34
which it was used. The instant that I uttered the words, I regretted
27:38
the rashness of my speech. His face sat hard, and a baleful light
27:42
sprang up in his gray eyes. Very well, said he, you shall
27:47
know all about the machine. He took a step backward, slammed the little
27:51
door, and turned the key in the lock. I rushed towards it and
27:53
pulled at the handle, but it was quite secure and did not given the
27:57
least to my kicks and shoves. Hullo, I held, hullo. Colonel
28:00
let me out. And then suddenly, in the silence, I heard a
28:06
sound which sent my heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the
28:10
levers and the swish of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at
28:14
work. The lamp still stood upon the floor where I had placed it.
28:18
When examining the trough by its light, I saw that the black ceiling was
28:22
coming down upon me, slowly, jerkily. But as none knew better than
28:26
myself, with a force which must, within a minute grind me to a
28:30
shapeless pulp, I threw myself screaming against the door, and dragged with my
28:36
nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let me out, but
28:38
the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my cries. The ceiling was only foot
28:44
or two above my head, and with my hand upraised, I could feel
28:47
its hard, rough surface. Then it flashed through my mind that the pain
28:51
of my death would depend very much upon the position in which I met it.
28:55
If I lay on my face, the weight would come upon my spine,
28:59
and I shuddered to think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way,
29:03
perhaps, And yet had I the nerve to lie and look up at
29:06
that deadly black shadow wavering down upon me, already I was unable to stand
29:11
erect when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope back to my
29:15
heart. I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron,
29:19
the walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around,
29:23
I saw a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which
29:27
broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For an instant I
29:32
could hardly believe that here was indeed a door which led away from death.
29:37
The next instant, I threw myself through and lay half fainting upon the other
29:41
side. The panel had closed again behind me, but the crash of the
29:45
lamp, and a few moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal
29:48
told me how narrow had been my escape. I was recalled to myself by
29:52
frantic plucking at my wrist, and I found myself lying upon the stone floor
29:56
of a narrow corridor, while a woman bent over me and tugged at me
30:00
with her left hand, while she held a candle in her right. It
30:03
was the same good friend whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. Come,
30:07
Come, she cried breathlessly. They will be here in a moment. They
30:11
will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste the so
30:14
precious time. But come this time. At least I did not scorn her
30:18
advice. I staggered to my feet and ran with her along the corridor and
30:22
down a winding stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just
30:26
as we reached it, we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting
30:30
of two voices, one answering the other from the floor in which we were,
30:33
and from the one beneath my guide stopped and looked about her like one
30:37
who was at her WIT's end. Then she threw open a door which led
30:41
into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon was shining brightly.
30:45
It is your only chance, said she. It is high, but it
30:48
may be that you can jump it. As she spoke, a light sprang
30:51
into view at the further end of the passage, and I saw the lean
30:53
figure of Colonel Lysander Stark, rushing forward, with the lantern in one hand
30:57
and a weapon like a butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the
31:03
bedroom, flung open the window, and looked out how quiet and sweet and
31:07
wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be more than
31:10
thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I hesitated to
31:14
jump until I should have heard what passed between my savior and the ruffian who
31:18
pursued me. If she were ill used, then at any risks, I
31:22
was determined to go back to her assistance. The thought had hardly flashed through
31:26
my mind before he was at the door, pushing his way past her.
31:30
But she threw her arms round him and tried to hold him back. Fritz,
31:33
Fritz, she cried in English. Remember your promise, after the last
31:36
time you said it should not be again. He will be silent. Oh,
31:40
he'll be silent. You are mad, Alise, he shouted, struggling
31:44
to break away from her. You will be the ruin of us. He
31:47
has seen too much. Let me pass, I say. He dashed her
31:49
to one side, and, rushing to the window, cut at me with
31:52
his heavy weapon. I had let myself go and was hanging by the hands
31:56
to the sill when his blow fell. I was conscious of a dull pain.
32:00
My grip loosened, and I fell into the garden below. I was
32:05
shaken, but not hurt by the fall, so I picked myself up and
32:08
rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I understood
32:12
that I was far from being out of danger. Yet Suddenly, however,
32:15
as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. I glanced
32:20
down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and then for the first
32:23
time saw that my thumb had been cut off, and that the blood was
32:28
pouring from my wound. I endeavored to tie my handkerchief round it, but
32:32
there came a sudden buzzing in my ears, and next moment I fell into
32:36
a dead faint among the rose bushes. How long I remained unconscious I cannot
32:40
tell. It must have been a very long time, for the moon had
32:44
sunk and a bright morning was breaking. When I came to myself, my
32:47
clothes were all sodden with dew, and my coat sleeve was drenched with blood
32:52
from my wounded thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the
32:55
particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with the feeling
33:00
that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But to my astonishment,
33:04
when I came to look round me, neither house nor garden were to
33:07
be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the hedge, close
33:10
by the high road, and just a little lower down was a long building,
33:14
which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the very station at
33:17
which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were it not for the ugly
33:21
wound upon my hand, all that had passed during those dreadful hours might have
33:25
been an evil dream. Half dazed, I went into the station and asked
33:30
about the morning train, there'd be one to reading in less than an hour.
33:34
The same porter was on duty. I found as had been there when
33:37
I arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Lysander's
33:40
Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a carriage the
33:45
night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was there a
33:49
police station anywhere near? There was one about three miles off. It was
33:53
too far for me to go. Weak and ill as I was, I
33:57
determined to wait until I got back to town before telling my storyry to the
34:00
police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went
34:04
first to have my wound a dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough
34:07
to bring me along Here. I put the case into your hands, and
34:09
shall do exactly what you advise. We both sat in silence for some little
34:15
time after listening to this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down from the
34:20
shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he placed his cuttings. Here
34:24
is an advertisement which will interest you, said he. It appeared in all
34:28
the papers about a year ago. Listen to this lost on the ninth mister
34:31
Jeremiah Hayling, aged twenty six, a hydraulic engineer, left his lodgings at
34:37
ten o'clock at night and has not been heard of since. Was dressed in
34:42
et cetera, et cetera. Ha, that represents the last time that the
34:45
colonel needed to have his machine overhauled. I fancy good, heavens, cried
34:49
my patient. Then that explains what the girl said. Undoubtedly it is quite
34:53
clear that the colonel was a cool and desperate man who has absolutely determined that
34:58
nothing should stand in the way of his little game, like those out and
35:01
out pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, every
35:06
moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it, we shall
35:08
go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for Ayford.
35:13
Some three hours or so afterwards, we were all in the train together,
35:15
bound from Reading to the Little Berkshire village. There were Sherlock Holmes, the
35:20
hydraulic engineer, Inspector Brad Street of Scotland Yard, a plain's clothesman, and
35:24
myself. Brad Street had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the
35:29
seat and was busy with this compass, drawing a circle with Ayford for its
35:32
center. There you are, said he. That circle is drawn at a
35:36
radius of ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere
35:39
near that line. You said, ten miles. I think, sir,
35:43
it was an hour's good drive. And you think that they brought you back
35:46
all that way when you were unconscious. They must have done so. I
35:51
have a confused memory too, of having been lifted and conveyed somewhere. What
35:54
I cannot understand, said I, is why they should have spared you when
35:58
they found you lying fainting in the garden. Perhaps the villain was softened by
36:01
the woman's entreaties. I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more
36:07
inexorable face in my life. Oh we shall soon clear up all that,
36:10
said Bradstreet. Well, I have drawn my circle, and I only wish
36:14
I knew at what point upon it the folk that we are in search of
36:16
are to be found. I think I could lay my finger on it,
36:21
said Holmes quietly. Really, now, cried the inspector. You've formed your
36:24
opinion. Come now we shall see who agrees with you. I say it
36:28
is south, for the country is more deserted there, and I say east,
36:31
said my patient. I am for west, remarked the plains clothesman.
36:35
There are several quiet little villages up there, and I am for north,
36:38
said I, because there are no hills there. And our friend says they.
36:42
He did not notice the carriage go up any come, cried the inspector,
36:45
laughing. It's a very pretty diversity of opinion. We have boxed the
36:49
compass among us. Who do you give your casting vote to? You are
36:53
all wrong, But we can't all be Oh, yes you can. This
36:59
is my He placed his finger in the center of the circle. This is
37:04
where we shall find them. But the twelve mile drive, gasp, Patherley,
37:07
six out and six back? Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the
37:12
horse was fresh and glossy when you get in. How could it be that
37:15
if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads. Indeed, it is a
37:20
likely ruse enough, observed Bradstreet thoughtfully. Of course, there can be no
37:23
doubt as to the nature of this gang, none at all, said Holmes.
37:27
They are coiners on a large scale, and have used the machine to
37:30
form the amalgam which has taken the place of silver. We have known for
37:35
some time that a clever gang was at work, said the inspector. They've
37:37
been turning out half crowns by the thousand. We even traced them as far
37:42
as Redding, but could get no farther, for they'd covered their traces in
37:45
a way that showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks
37:49
to this lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough.
37:52
But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not destined to fall into
37:57
the hands of justice. As we rolled into Ayford's State, we saw a
38:00
gigantic column of smoke which streamed up from behind a small clump of trees in
38:04
the neighborhood and hung like an immense Ostrich feather over the landscape. A house
38:09
on fire, asked brad Street, as the train steamed off again on its
38:13
way, Yes, sir, said the station master. When did it break
38:15
out? I hear that it was during the night, sir, But has
38:19
got worse, and the whole place is in a blaze. Whose house is
38:22
it? Doctor Becker's? Tell me broke in? The engineer is doctor Becker?
38:27
A German, very thin with a long, sharp nose. The station
38:30
master laughed heartily. No, sir, doctor Becker is an Englishman, and
38:35
there isn't a man in the parish who has a better lined waistcoat. But
38:37
he has a gentleman staying with him, a patient, as I understand,
38:40
who is a foreigner, and he looks as if a little good Berkshire beef
38:45
would do him no harm. The station master had not finished his speech before
38:49
we were all hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a
38:52
low hill, and there was a great, widespread, whitewashed building in front
38:55
of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in the garden
38:59
in front three fire engines were vainly striving to keep the flames under That's it,
39:04
cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. There is the gravel drive, and
39:07
there are the rose bushes where I lay. That second window was the one
39:10
that I jumped from. Well, at least, said Holmes, you have
39:15
had your revenge upon them. There could be no question that it was your
39:17
oil lamp, which, when it was crushed in the press, set fire
39:21
to the wooden walls, though no doubt they were too excited in the chase
39:23
after you to observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in
39:28
this crowd for your friends of last night, though I very much fear that
39:30
they are a good hundred miles off by now, and Holmes's fears came to
39:36
be realized, for from that day to this no word has ever been heard
39:39
either of the beautiful woman, the sinister German, or the morose Englishman.
39:45
Early that morning a peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very
39:49
bulky boxes, driving rapidly in the direction of Reading. But there all traces
39:52
of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes's ingenuity failed ever to discover the least
39:58
clue as to their whereabo. The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange
40:02
arrangements which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a newly
40:07
severed human thumb upon a window sill of the second floor. About sunset,
40:12
however, their efforts were at last successful, and they subdued the flames,
40:15
but not before the roof had fallen in, and the whole place had been
40:19
reduced to such an absolute ruin that, save some twisted cylinders and iron piping,
40:23
not a trace remained of the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance.
40:28
So dearly large masses of nickel out of tin were discovered stored in an outhouse,
40:34
but no coins were to be found, which may have explained the presence
40:37
of those bulky boxes which have been already referred to. How our hydraulic engineer
40:42
had been conveyed from the garden to the spot where he recovered his senses might
40:45
have remained forever a mystery, were it not for the soft mold, which
40:50
told us a very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two
40:53
persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet, and the other unusually large
40:59
ones. On the whole it was most probable that the silent Englishman, being
41:02
less bold or less murderous than his companion, had assisted the woman to bear
41:07
the unconscious man out of the way of danger. Well, said our engineer
41:10
ruefully, as we took our seats to return once more to London. It
41:15
has been a pretty business for me. I have lost my thumb, and
41:17
I have lost a fifty guinea fee, and what have I gained? Experience,
41:22
said Holmes, laughing indirectly. It may be of value, you know,
41:25
you have only to put it into words to gain the reputation of being
41:30
excellent company for the remainder of your existence,