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A Study in Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · Rediscover the Classics - Fiction You’ll Love

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  Speaker 1: A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Part one,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter one, Mister Sherlock Holmes. In the year eighteen seventy eight,
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  Speaker 1: I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the
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  Speaker 1: University of London and proceeded to Netley to go through
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  Speaker 1: the course prescribed for surgeons in the Army. Having completed
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  Speaker 1: my studies there, I was duly attached to the fifth
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  Speaker 1: Northumberland Fusiliers as assistant surgeon. The regiment was stationed in
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  Speaker 1: India at the time, and before I could join it,
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  Speaker 1: the Second Afghan War had broken out. On landing at Bombay,
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  Speaker 1: I learned that my corps had advanced through the passes
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  Speaker 1: and was already deep in the enemy's country. I followed, however,
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  Speaker 1: with many other officers who were in the same situation
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  Speaker 1: as myself, and succeeded in reaching Kandahigh in safety, where
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  Speaker 1: I found my regiment and at once entered upon my
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  Speaker 1: new duties. The paign brought honors and promotion to many,
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  Speaker 1: but for me it had nothing but misfortune and disaster.
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  Speaker 1: I was removed from my brigade and attached to the Bochers,
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  Speaker 1: with whom I served at the fatal battle of my
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  Speaker 1: wand there I was struck on the shoulder by a
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  Speaker 1: Jazael bullet which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery.
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  Speaker 1: I should have fallen into the hands of the murderous Ghazis,
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  Speaker 1: had it not been for the devotion and courage shown
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  Speaker 1: by Murray, my orderly, who threw me across a pack
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  Speaker 1: horse and succeeded in bringing me safely to the British lines.
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  Speaker 1: Worn with pain and weak from the prolonged hardships which
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  Speaker 1: I had undergone, I was removed with a great train
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  Speaker 1: of wounded sufferers to the base hospital at Peshawar. Here
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  Speaker 1: I rallied, and had already improved so far as to
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  Speaker 1: be able to walk about the wards and even to
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  Speaker 1: bask a little upon the Verandah, when I was struck
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  Speaker 1: down by enteric fever, that curse of our Indian poss
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  Speaker 1: For months my life was despaired of, And when at
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  Speaker 1: last I came to myself and became convalescent, I was
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  Speaker 1: so weak and emaciated that a medical board determined that
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  Speaker 1: not a day should be lost in sending me back
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  Speaker 1: to England. I was dispatched accordingly in the troop ship Oorantes,
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  Speaker 1: and landed a month later on Portsmouth Jetty, with my
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  Speaker 1: health irretrievably ruined, but with permission from a paternal government
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  Speaker 1: to spend the next nine months in attempting to improve it.
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  Speaker 1: I had neither kiss nor kin in England, and was
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  Speaker 1: therefore as free as air, or as free as an
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  Speaker 1: income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit
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  Speaker 1: a man to be. Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated
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  Speaker 1: to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers
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  Speaker 1: and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained. There I
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  Speaker 1: stayed for some time at a private hotel in the Strand,
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  Speaker 1: leading a comfortless, meaning less existence and spending such money
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  Speaker 1: as I had, considerably more freely than I ought. So
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  Speaker 1: alarmingly did the state of my fananci has become that
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  Speaker 1: I soon realized that I must either leave the metropolis
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  Speaker 1: and rusticate somewhere in the country, or that I must
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  Speaker 1: make a complete alteration in my style of living. Choosing
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  Speaker 1: the latter alternative, I began by making up my mind
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  Speaker 1: to leave the hotel and to take up my quarters
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  Speaker 1: in some less pretentious and less expensive domicile. On the
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  Speaker 1: very day that I had come to this conclusion, I
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  Speaker 1: was standing at the Criterion bar when someone tapped me
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  Speaker 1: on the shoulder, and turning around, I recognized young Stamford,
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  Speaker 1: who had been a dresser under me at Bart's. The
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  Speaker 1: sight of a friendly face in the great wilderness of
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  Speaker 1: London is a pleasant thing, indeed to a lonely man
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  Speaker 1: in old days. Stamford had never been a particular crony
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  Speaker 1: of mine, but now I hailed him with enthusiasm, and he,
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  Speaker 1: in his turn, appeared to be delighted to see me.
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  Speaker 1: In the exuberance of my joy, I asked him to
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  Speaker 1: lunch at me at the Hoeborn, and we started off
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  Speaker 1: together in a hansom. Whatever have you been doing with yourself, Watson,
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  Speaker 1: he asked in an undisguised wonder, as we rattle through
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  Speaker 1: the crowded London streets. You are as thin as a
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  Speaker 1: lathe and as brown as a nut. I gave him
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  Speaker 1: a short sketch of my adventures, and had hardly concluded
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  Speaker 1: it by the time that we reached our destination. Poor devil,
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  Speaker 1: he said, commiseratingly. After he had listened to my misfortunes,
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  Speaker 1: What are you up to now looking for lodgings, I answered,
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  Speaker 1: trying to solve the problem as to whether it is
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  Speaker 1: possible to get comfortable rooms at a reasonable price. That's
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  Speaker 1: a strange thing, remarked my companion. You are the second
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  Speaker 1: man to day that has used that expression to me.
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  Speaker 1: And who was the first? I asked? Hello? Was working
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  Speaker 1: at the chemical laboratory up at the hospital. He was
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  Speaker 1: bemoaning himself this morning because he could not get someone
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  Speaker 1: to go halves with him in some nice rooms which
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  Speaker 1: he'd found and which were too much for his purse.
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  Speaker 1: By jove, I cried, if he really wants someone to
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  Speaker 1: share the rooms and the expense, I'm the very man
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  Speaker 1: for him. I should prefer having a partner to being alone.
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  Speaker 1: Young Stamford looked rather strangely at me over his wineglass.
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  Speaker 1: You don't know Sherlock Holmes, yet, he said, Perhaps you
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  Speaker 1: would not care for him as a constant companion. Why
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  Speaker 1: what is there against him? Oh? I didn't say there
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  Speaker 1: was anything against him. He's a little queer in his ideas,
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  Speaker 1: an enthusiast in some branches of sciences. Far as I know,
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  Speaker 1: he's a decent fellow enough a medical student. I suppose,
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  Speaker 1: said I, No, I have no idea what he intends
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  Speaker 1: to go in for. I believe he is well up
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  Speaker 1: in anatomy, and he is a first class chemist. But
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  Speaker 1: as far as I know, he's never taken out any
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  Speaker 1: systematic medical classes. His studies are very desultory and eccentric.
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  Speaker 1: But he has a master a lot of out of
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  Speaker 1: the way knowledge which would astonish his professors. Did you
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  Speaker 1: never ask him what he was going in for? I asked, no.
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  Speaker 1: He is not a man that is easy to draw out,
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  Speaker 1: though he can be communicative enough when the fancy seizes him.
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  Speaker 1: I should like to meet him, I said. If I
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  Speaker 1: am to lodge with any one, I should prefer a
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  Speaker 1: man of studious and quiet habits. I am not strong
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  Speaker 1: enough yet to stand much noise or excitement. I had
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  Speaker 1: enough of both in Afghanistan to last me for the
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  Speaker 1: remainder of my natural existence. How can I meet this
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  Speaker 1: friend of yours? He is sure to be at the laboratory,
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  Speaker 1: returned my companion. He either avoids the place for weeks,
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  Speaker 1: or else he works there from morning to night. If
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  Speaker 1: you like, we shall drive round together after luncheon. Certainly,
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  Speaker 1: I answered, and the conversation drifted away into other channels
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  Speaker 1: as we made our way to the hospital. After leaving
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  Speaker 1: the Holborn, Stamford gave me a few more particulars about
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  Speaker 1: the gentleman whom I proposed to take as a fellow lodger.
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  Speaker 1: You mustn't blame me if you don't get on with him,
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  Speaker 1: he said. I know nothing more of him than I
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  Speaker 1: have learned from meeting him occasionally in the laboratory. You
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  Speaker 1: propose this arrangement, so you must not hold me responsible
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  Speaker 1: if we don't get on. It will be easy to
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  Speaker 1: part company, I answered, It seems to me Stamford, I added,
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  Speaker 1: looking hard at my companion, that you have some reason
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  Speaker 1: for washing your hands of the matter. Is this fellow's
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  Speaker 1: temper so formidable or what is it? Don't be merely
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  Speaker 1: mouthed about it. It's not easy to express the inexpressible,
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  Speaker 1: he answered, with a laugh. Holmes is a little too
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  Speaker 1: scientific for my tastes. It approaches to cold bloodedness. I
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  Speaker 1: could imagine his giving a friend a little pinch of
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  Speaker 1: the latest vegetable alkaloid. Not out of malevolence, you understand,
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  Speaker 1: but simply out of a spirit of inquiry, in order
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  Speaker 1: to have an accurate idea of the effects to do
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  Speaker 1: him justice. I think that he would take it himself
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  Speaker 1: with the same readiness. He appears to have a passion
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  Speaker 1: for definite and exact knowledge. Very right too, Yes, but
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  Speaker 1: it may be pushed to excess when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: beating the subjects in the dissecting rooms with a stick.
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  Speaker 1: It is certainly taking rather a bizarre shape beating the subjects, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: to verify how far bruises may be produced after death.
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  Speaker 1: I saw him at it with my own eyes. And
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  Speaker 1: yet you say he's not a medical student. No, Heaven
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  Speaker 1: knows what the objects of his studies are. But here
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  Speaker 1: we are, and you must form your own impressions about him.
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  Speaker 1: As he spoke, we turned down a narrow lane and
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  Speaker 1: passed through a small side door which opened to a
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  Speaker 1: wing of the great hospital. It was familiar ground to
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  Speaker 1: me and I needed no guiding as we ascended the
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  Speaker 1: bleak stone staircase and made our way down the long
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  Speaker 1: corridor with its vista of whitewashed wall and dun colored doors.
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  Speaker 1: Near the further end, a low arched passage branched away
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  Speaker 1: from it and led to the chemical laboratory. This was
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  Speaker 1: a lofty chamber lined and littered with countless bottles. Broad
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  Speaker 1: low tables were scattered about, which bristled with retorts, test tubes,
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  Speaker 1: and little Bunsen lamps with their blue, flickering flames. There
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  Speaker 1: was only one student in the room, who was bending
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  Speaker 1: over a distant table, absorbed in his work. At the
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  Speaker 1: sound of our steps, he glanced round and sprang to
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  Speaker 1: his feet with a cry of pleasure. I've found it.
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  Speaker 1: I've found it, he shouted to my companion, running towards
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  Speaker 1: us with a test tube in his hand. I have
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  Speaker 1: found a reagent which is precipitated by hemoglobin and by
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  Speaker 1: nothing else. Had he discovered a gold mine, greater delight
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  Speaker 1: could not have shone upon his features, Dr Watson, mister
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  Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes, said Stamford, introducing us. How are you, he said, cordially,
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  Speaker 1: gripping my hand with the strength for which I should
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  Speaker 1: hardly have given him credit. You have been in Afghanistan,
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  Speaker 1: I perceive, how on earth did you know? That? I asked,
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  Speaker 1: in astonishment. Never mind, said he, chuckling to himself. The
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  Speaker 1: question now is about hemoglobin. No doubt you see the
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  Speaker 1: significance of this discovery of mine. It is interesting chemically,
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  Speaker 1: No doubt, I answered, But practically, why man, it is
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  Speaker 1: the most practical medico legal discovery for years. Don't you
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  Speaker 1: see that it gives us an infallible test for blood stains.
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  Speaker 1: Come over here now, He seized me by the coat
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  Speaker 1: sleeve in his eagerness, and drew me over to the
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  Speaker 1: table at which he had been working. Let us have
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  Speaker 1: some fresh blood, he said, digging a long bodkin into
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  Speaker 1: his finger and drawing off the resulting drop of blood
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  Speaker 1: in a chemical pipette. Now I add this small quantity
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  Speaker 1: of blood to a leach of water. You perceive that
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  Speaker 1: the resulting mixture has the appearance of pure water. The
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  Speaker 1: proportion of blood cannot be more than one in a million.
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  Speaker 1: I have no doubt, however, that we shall be able
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  Speaker 1: to obtain a characteristic reaction. As he spoke, he threw
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  Speaker 1: into the vessel a few white crystals, and then added
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  Speaker 1: some drops of a transparent fluid. In an instant, the
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  Speaker 1: contents assumed a dull mahogany color, and a brownish dust
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  Speaker 1: was precipitated to the bottom of the glass. Jar ha ha,
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  Speaker 1: he cried, clapping his hands and looking as delighted as
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  Speaker 1: a child with a new toy. What do you think
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  Speaker 1: of that? It seems to be a very delicate test,
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  Speaker 1: I remarked, beautiful, beautiful. The old guiacum test was very
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  Speaker 1: clumsy and uncertain. So is the microscopic examination for blood corpusals.
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  Speaker 1: The latter is valueless if the stains are a few
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  Speaker 1: hours old. Now this appears to act as well, whether
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  Speaker 1: the blood is old or new. Had this test been invented,
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  Speaker 1: there are hundreds of men now walking the earth who
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  Speaker 1: would long ago have paid the penalty of their crimes. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: I murmured criminal cases are continually hinging upon that one point.
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  Speaker 1: A man is suspected of a crime, months perhaps after
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  Speaker 1: it has been committed. His linen or clothes are examined,
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  Speaker 1: and brownish stains discovered upon them. Are they blood stains
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  Speaker 1: or mud stains, or rust daines or fruit stains? Or
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  Speaker 1: what are they? That is a question which has puzzled
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  Speaker 1: many an expert. And why because there was no reliable test.
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  Speaker 1: Now we have the Sherlock Holmes test, and there will
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  Speaker 1: no longer be any difficulty. His eyes fairly glittered as
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  Speaker 1: he spoke, and he put his hand over his heart
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  Speaker 1: and bowed as if to some applauding crowd conjured up
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  Speaker 1: by his imagination. You are to be congratulated, I remarked,
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  Speaker 1: considerably surprised at his enthusiasm. There was the case of
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  Speaker 1: von Bischoff at Frankfort last year. He would certainly have
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  Speaker 1: been hung had this test been in existence. Then there
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  Speaker 1: was the Mason of Bradford, and the notorious Puller, and
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  Speaker 1: the Lefevre of Montpellier, and Samson of New Orleans. I
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  Speaker 1: could name a score of cases in which it would
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  Speaker 1: have been decisive. You seem to be a walking calendar
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  Speaker 1: of crime, said Stamford, with a laugh. Who might start
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  Speaker 1: a paper on those lines? Call it the police News
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  Speaker 1: of the past. Very interesting reading it might make, too,
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  Speaker 1: remarked Sherlock Holmes, sticking a small piece of plaster over
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  Speaker 1: the prick on his finger. I have to be careful,
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  Speaker 1: he continued, turning to me with a smile, for I
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  Speaker 1: dabble with poisons. A good deal. He held out his
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  Speaker 1: hand as he spoke, and I noticed that it was
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  Speaker 1: all mottled over with similar pieces of plaster and discolored
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  Speaker 1: with strong acids. We came here on business, said Stamford,
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  Speaker 1: sitting down on a high three legged stool and pushing
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  Speaker 1: another one in my direction with his foot. My friend
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  Speaker 1: here wants to take diggings. And as you were complaining
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  Speaker 1: that you could get no one to go halves with you,
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  Speaker 1: I thought I had better bring you together. Sherlock Holmes
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  Speaker 1: seemed delighted at the idea of sharing his rooms with me.
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  Speaker 1: I have my eye on a suite in Baker Street,
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  Speaker 1: he said, which would suit us down to the ground.
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  Speaker 1: You don't mind the smell of strong tobacco, I hope.
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  Speaker 1: I always smoke ships myself, I answered, that's good enough.
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  Speaker 1: I generally have chemicals about and occasionally do experiments. Would
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  Speaker 1: that annoy you? By no means? Let me see what
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  Speaker 1: are my other shortcomings. I get in the dumps at
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  Speaker 1: times and don't open my mouth for days on end.
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  Speaker 1: You must not think I'm sulky when I do that.
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  Speaker 1: Just let me alone and I'll soon be right. What
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  Speaker 1: have you to confess? Now? It's just as well for
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  Speaker 1: two fellows to know the worst of one another before
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  Speaker 1: they begin to live together, I laughed at this cross examination.
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  Speaker 1: I keep a bull pup, I said, and I object
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  Speaker 1: to rows because my nerves are shaken, and I get
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  Speaker 1: up at all sorts of ungodly hours, and I am
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  Speaker 1: extremely lazy. I have another set of vices when I'm well,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: but those are the principal ones at present. Do you
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: include violin playing in your category of rows? He asked anxiously.
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  Speaker 1: It depends on the player, I answered. A well played
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: violin is a treat for the gods. A badly played one.
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  Speaker 1: Oh that's all right, he cried, with a merry laugh.
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  Speaker 1: I think we may consider the thing as settled. That is,
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  Speaker 1: if the rooms are agreeable to you, when shall we
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  Speaker 1: see them? Call for me here at noon to morrow?
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  Speaker 1: Men will go together and settle everything. He answered, all right,
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  Speaker 1: noon exactly, said I, shaking his hand. We left him
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  Speaker 1: working among his chemicals, and we walked together towards my hotel.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, I asked, suddenly, stopping and turning upon Stamford,
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  Speaker 1: how the deuce did he know that I had come
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  Speaker 1: from Afghanistan. My companion smiled an enigmatical smile. That's just
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  Speaker 1: his little peculiarity, he said. A good many people have
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: wanted to know how he finds things out. Oh a mystery,
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  Speaker 1: is it, I cried, rubbing my hands. This is very piquant.
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  Speaker 1: I am much obliged to you for bringing us together.
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  Speaker 1: The proper study of mankind is man. You know you
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  Speaker 1: must study him. Then, Stamford said, as he bade me
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  Speaker 1: good bye, you will find him a knotty problem, though
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  Speaker 1: I'll wager he learns more about you than you about him. Goodbye,
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  Speaker 1: good bye, I answered, and strolled on to my hotel,
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  Speaker 1: considerably interested in my new acquaintance. End of Chapter one,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter two, The Science of Deduction. We met next day,
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  Speaker 1: as he had arranged and inspected the rooms at number
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  Speaker 1: two twenty one B Baker Street of which he had
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  Speaker 1: spoken at our meeting. They consisted of a couple of
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  Speaker 1: comfortable bedrooms and a single large airy sitting room, cheerfully
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  Speaker 1: furnished and illuminated by two broad windows. So desirable in
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: every way were the apartments, and so moderate did the
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  Speaker 1: term see when divided between us, that the bargain was
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  Speaker 1: concluded upon the spot, and we at once entered into possession.
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  Speaker 1: That very evening I moved my things round from the hotel,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: and on the following morning Sherlock Holmes followed me with
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  Speaker 1: several boxes and portmanteau. For a day or two we
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: were busily employed in unpacking and laying out our property
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  Speaker 1: to the best advantage. That done, we gradually began to
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  Speaker 1: settle down and to accommodate ourselves to our new surroundings.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: Holmes was certainly not a difficult man to live with.
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  Speaker 1: He was quiet in his ways, and his habits were regular.
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  Speaker 1: It was rare for him to be up after ten
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  Speaker 1: at night, and he had invariably breakfasted and gone out
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  Speaker 1: before I rose in the morning. Sometimes he spent his
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  Speaker 1: day at the chemical laboratory, sometimes in the dissecting rooms,
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  Speaker 1: and occasionally in long walks which appeared to take him
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  Speaker 1: into the lowest portions of the city. Nothing could exceed
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  Speaker 1: his energy when the working fit was upon him. But
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: now and again a reaction would seize him, and for
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  Speaker 1: days on end he would lie upon the sofa in
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  Speaker 1: the sitting room, hardly uttering a word or moving a
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  Speaker 1: muscle from morning to night. On these occasions I have
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  Speaker 1: noticed such a dreamy, vacant expression in his eyes that
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  Speaker 1: I might have suspected him of being addicted to the
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  Speaker 1: use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanliness
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  Speaker 1: of his whole life forbidden such a notion. As the
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  Speaker 1: weeks went by, my interest in him, and my curiosity
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  Speaker 1: as to his aims in life gradually deepened and increased.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: His very person and appearance were such as to strike
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  Speaker 1: the attention of the most casual observer. In height, he
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  Speaker 1: was rather over six foot, and so excessively lean that
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  Speaker 1: he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp
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  Speaker 1: and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which
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  Speaker 1: I have alluded, and his thin, hawk like nose gave
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  Speaker 1: his whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin,
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  Speaker 1: too had the prominence and squareness which mark them of determination.
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  Speaker 1: His hands were invariably blotted with ink and stained with chemicals,
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  Speaker 1: Yet he was possessed of extraordinary delicacy of touch, as
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: I frequently had occasion to observe when I watched him
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: manipulating his fragile philosophical instruments. The reader may set me
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: down as a hopeless, busybody when I confess how much
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: this man stimulated my curiosity, and how often I endeavored
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: to break through the reticence which he showed on all
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: that concerned himself. Before pronouncing judgment, however, be it remembered
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: how objectless was my life, and how little there was
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: to engage my attention. My health forbade me from venturing
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: out unless the weather was exceptionally genial, and I had
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: no friends who would call upon me and break the
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: monotony of my daily existence. Under these circumstances, I eagerly
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: hailed the little mystery which hung around my companion, and
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: spent much of my time in endeavoring to unravel it.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: He was not studying medicine. He had himself, in reply
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: to a question, confirmed Stamford's opinion upon that point. Neither
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: did he appear to have pursued any course of reading
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: which might fit him for a degree in science, or
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: any other recognized portal which would give him an entrance
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: into the learned world. Yet his zeal for certain studies
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: was remarkable, and within eccentric limits. His knowledge was so
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: extraordinarily ample and minute that his observations have fairly astounded me. Surely,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: no man would work so hard or attain such precise
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: information unless he had some definite end in view. Desultry
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: readers are seldom remarkable for the exactness of their learning.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: has some very good reason for doing so. His ignorance
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: was as remarkable as his knowledge of contemporary literature, philosophy,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: and politics. He appeared to know next to nothing. Upon
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: my quoting Thomas Carlyle, he inquired in the naivest way
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: who he might be and what he had done. My
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: he was ignorant of the Copernican theory and of the
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: composition of the solar system. That any civilized human being
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: in his nineteenth century should not be aware. That the
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Earth traveled around the Sun appeared to be to me
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: You appear to be astonished, he said, smiling at my
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: expression of surprise. Now that I do know it, I
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: shall do my best to forget it. To forget it,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: you see, he explained, I consider that a man's brain
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: originally is like a little empty attic, and you have
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: the skillful workman is very careful indeed, as to what
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: he takes in to his brain attic. He will have
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: nothing but the tools which may help him in doing
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: his work. But of these he has a large assortment,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: and all in the most perfect order. It is a
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: mistake to think that the little room has elastic walls
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: and can distend to any extent depend upon it. There
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: comes a time when for every addition of knowledge, you
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: forget something that you knew before. It is of the
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: highest importance. Therefore not to have useless facts, elbowing out
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: the useful ones. But the solar system, I protested, What
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: the deuce is it? To me? He interrupted, impatiently, you
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: say that we go round the sun. If we went
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: round the moon, it would not make a pennyworth of
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: difference to me or to my work. I was on
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: the point of asking him what that work might be,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: But something in his manner showed me that the question
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: would be an unwelcome one. I pondered over our short conversation, however,
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: and endeavored to draw my deductions from it. He said
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: that he would acquire no knowledge which did not bear
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: upon his object. Therefore, all the knowledge which he possessed
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: was such as would be useful to him. I enumerated
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: in my own mind all the various points upon which
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: he had shown me that he was exceptionally well informed.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: I even took a pencil and jotted them down. I
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: could not help smiling at the document when I had
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: completed it. It ran in this way. Sherlock Holmes his
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: limits One knowledge of literature nil, two, philosophy nil, three,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: astronomy nil. Four, politics feeble, five botany variable well up
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: in belladonna, opium and poisons. Generally knows nothing of practical gardening.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Six geology practical but limited. Tells at a glance different
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: soils from each other. After he walks, shown me splashes
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: upon his trousers, and told me by their color and
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: consistence in what part of London he had received them.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: Seven chemistry profound. Eight anatomy accurate but unsystematic. Nine sensational
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: literature immense. He appears to know every detail of every
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: horror perpetrated in the century. Ten plays the violin well.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: Eleven is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman. Twelve
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: has a good practical knowledge of British law. When I
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: got so far in my list, I threw it into
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: the fire in despair. If I can only find out
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: what the fellow is driving at by reconciling all these
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: accomplishments and discovering a calling which needs them all, I
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: said to myself, I may as well give up the
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: attempt at once. I see that I have alluded above
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: to his powers upon the violin. These were very remarkable,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: but as eccentric as all his other accomplishments. And that
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: he could play pieces and difficult pieces I knew well,
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: because at my request he has played me some of
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Mendelssohn's Leader and other favorites. When left to himself, however,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: he would seldom produce any music or attempt any recognized air.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Leaning back in his arm chair of an evening, he
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: would close his eyes and scrape carelessly at the fiddle,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: which was thrown across his knee. Sometimes the chords were
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: sonorous and melancholy. Occasionally they were fantastic and cheerful. Clearly
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: they reflected the thoughts which possessed him. But whether the
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: music aided those thoughts or whether the playing was simply
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: the result of a whim or fancy was more than
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: I could determine. I might have rebelled against these exasperating
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: solos had it not been that he usually terminated them
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: by playing, in quick succession a whole series of my
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: favorite airs as a slight compensation for the trial upon
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: my patience. During the first week or so, we had
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: no callers, and I had begun to think that my
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: companion was as friendless a man as I was myself. Presently, however,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: I found that he had many acquaintances, and those in
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: the most different classes of society. There was one little, sallow,
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: rat faced, dark eyed fellow who was introduced to me
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: as mister Lestrade, and who came three or four times
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: in a single week. One morning, a young girl called
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: fashionably dressed and stayed for half an hour or more.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: The same afternoon brought a gray headed, seedy visitor looking
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: like a jew peddler, who appeared to me to be
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: much excited, and who was closely followed by a slipshod
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: elderly woman. On another occasion, an old, white haired gentleman
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: had an interview with my companion, and on another a
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: railway porter in his velveteen uniform. When any of these
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: nondescript individuals put in an appearance, Shock Holmes used to
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: beg for the use of the sitting room, and I
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: would retire to my bedroom. He always apologized to me
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: for putting me to this inconvenience. I have to use
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: this room as a place of business, he said, and
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: these people are my clients. Again, I had an opportunity
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: of asking him a point blank question, and again my
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: delicacy prevented me from forcing another man to confide in me.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: I imagined at the time that he had some strong
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: reason for not alluding to it, but he soon dispelled
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: the idea by coming round to the subject of his
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: own accord. It was upon the fourth of March, as
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: I have good reason to remember, that I rose somewhat
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: earlier than usual, and found that Sherlock Holmes had not
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: yet finished his breakfast. The landlady had become so accustomed
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: to my late habits that my place had not been laid,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: nor my coffee prepared. With the unreasonable petulance of mankind,
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: I rang the bell and gave a curt intimation that
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: I was ready. Then I picked up a magazine from
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: the table and attempted to while away the time with it,
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: while my companion munched silently at his toast. One of
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: the articles had a pencil mark at the heading, and
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: I naturally began to run my eye through it. Its
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: somewhat ambitious title was the Book of Life, and it
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: attempted to show how much an observant man might learn
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: by an accurate and systematic examination of all that came
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: in his way. It struck me as being a remarkable
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: mixture of shrewdness and of absurdity. The reasoning was close
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: and intense, but the deductions appeared to me to be
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: far fetched and exaggerated. The writer claimed by a momentary expression,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: a twitch of a muscle, or a glance of an eye,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: to fathom a man's inmost thoughts deceit, according to him,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: was an impossibility in the case of one trained to
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: observation and analysis. His conclusions were as infallible as so
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: many propositions of euclid. So startling would his results appear
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: to the uninitiated, that until they learned the processes by
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: which he had arrived at them, they might well consider
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: him as a necromancer. From a drop of water, said
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: the writer, a logician could infer the possibility of an
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: one or the other. So all life is a great chain,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: the nature of which is known whenever we are shown
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: a single link of it. Like all other arts, the
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: science of deduction and analysis is one which can only
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: be acquired by long and patient study. Nor is life
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: long enough to allow any mortal to attain the highest
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: possible perfection in it. Before turning to those moral and
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest difficulties,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: let the inquirer begin by mastering more elementary problems. Let him,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: on meeting a fellow mortal, learn at a glance to
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: distinguish the history of the man and the trade or
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: profession to which he belongs. Puerile as such an exercise
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: may seem, it sharpens the faculties of observation, and teaches
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: one where to look and what to look for. By
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: a man's finger nails, by his coat sleeve, by his boot,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: by his trouser knees, by the callosities of his forefinger
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt cuffs. By
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: each of these things, a man's calling is plainly revealed.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: That all united should fail to enlighten the competent inquirer
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: in any case is almost inconceivable. What ineffable twaddle, I cried,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: slapping the magazine down on the table. I never read
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: such rubbish in my life. What is it, asked Sherlock Holmes.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: Why this article, I said, pointing at it with my
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: egg spoon as I sat down to my breakfast. I
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: see that you've read it, since you've marked it. I
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: don't deny that it's smartly written. It irritates me, though
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: it's evidently the theory of some arm chair lounger who
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: evolves all these neat little paradoxes in the seclusion of
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: his own study. It is not practical. I should like
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: to see him clap down in a third class carriage
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: on the underground and asked to give the trades of
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: all his fellow travelers. I would lay a thousand to
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: one against him. You would lose your money. Sherlock Holmes remarked, calmly,
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: as the article I wrote it myself. You, yes, I
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: have a turn both for observation and for deduction. The theories
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: which I have expressed there, and which appear to you
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: to be so chimerical are really extremely practical, so practical
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: that I depend upon them for my bread and cheese.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: And how I asked involuntarily, Well, I have a trade
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: of my own. I suppose I am the only one
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: in the world. I am a consulting detective, if you
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: can understand what that is. Here in London we have
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: lots of government detectives and lots of private ones. When
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: these fellows are at fault, they come to me and
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: I manage to put them on the right scent. They
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: lay all the evidence before me, and I am generally able,
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: by the help of my knowledge of the history of crime,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: to set them straight. There is a strong family resemblance
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: about misdeeds. And if you have all the details of
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: a thousand that your finger ends, it is odd if
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: you can't unravel the thousand and first. Lestrade is a
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: well known detective. He got himself into a fog recently
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: over a forgery case, and that was what brought him here.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: And these other people, they are mostly sent on by
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: private inquiry agencies. They are all people who are in
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: trouble about something and want a little enlightening. I listen
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: to their story, they listen to my comments. And then
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: I pocket my fee. But do you mean to say
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: I said that, without leaving your room, you can unravel
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: some knot which other men can make nothing of, although
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: they have seen every detail for themselves. Quite so, I
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: have a kind of intuition that way. Now and again
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: a case turns up which is a little more complex.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: Then I have to bustle about and see things with
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: my own eyes. You see, I have a lot of
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: special knowledge which I apply to the problem, and which
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: facilitates matters. Wonderfully. Those rules of deduction laid down in
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: that article which roused your scorn, are invaluable to me
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: in practical work. Observation with me is second nature. You
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: appeared to be surprised when I told you on our
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: first meeting that you had come from Afghanistan. You were told,
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: no doubt, nothing of the sort. I knew you came
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: from Afghanistan. From long habit. The train of thoughts ran
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: so swiftly through my mind that I arrived at the
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: conclusion without being conscious of intermediate steps. There were such steps, however,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: the train of reasoning ran. Here is a gentleman of
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: a medical type, but with the air of a military man,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: clearly an army doctor. Then he has just come from
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: the tropics. For his face is dark, and that is
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: not the natural tint of his skin. For his wrists
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: are fair. He has undergone hardships and sickness, as his
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: haggard face says clearly, his left arm has been injured.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: He holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner. Wherein
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: the tropics could an English army doctor have seen much
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: hardship and got his arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanistan. Train
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: of thought did not occupy a second. I then remarked
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: that you came from Afghanistan, and you were astonished. It's
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: simple enough as you explain it, I said, smiling. You
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: remind me of Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin. I had no
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: idea that such individuals did exist outside of stories. Sulock
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: Holmes rose and lit his pipe. No doubt you think
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: that you are complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: He observed. Now, in my opinion, Dupin was a very
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: inferior fellow. That trick of his of breaking in on
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: his friend's thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: of an hour's silence is really very showy. And superficial.
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: He had some analytical genius, no doubt, but he was
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: by no means such a phenomenon as Poe appeared to imagine.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: Have you read Gaboreou's works, I asked, Does Lecoq come
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: up to your idea of a detective? Shulock Holms sniffed sardonically.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: The cock was a miserable bungler, he said in an
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: angry voice. He had only one thing to recommend him,
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: and that was his energy. That book made me positively ill.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: The question was how to identify an unknown prisoner. I
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: could have done it in twenty four hours. Lecoq took
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: six months or so. Might be made a text book
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: for detectives to teach them what to avoid. I felt
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: rather indignant at having two characters whom I had admired
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: treated in this cavalier style. I walked over to the
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: window and stood looking out into the busy street. This
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: fellow may be very clever, I said to myself, but
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: he's certainly very conceited. There are no crimes and no
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: criminals in these days, he said, querulously, What is the
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: use of having brains in our profession? I know well
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: that I have it in me to make my name famous.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: No man lives, or has ever lived, who has brought
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: the same amount of study and of natural talent to
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: the detection of crime which I have done. And what
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: is the result. There is no crime to detect, or
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: at most some bungling villainy with a motive so transparent
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: that even a Scotland yard official can see through it.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: I was still annoyed at his pumptuous style of conversation.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: I thought it best to change the topic. I wonder
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: what that fellow is looking for, I asked, pointing to
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: a stalwart, plainly dressed individual who was walking slowly down
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: the other side of the street, looking anxiously at the numbers.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: He had a large blue envelope in his hand and
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: was evidently the bearer of a message. You mean, the
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: retired sergeant of Marines, said Sherlock Holmes, brag and bounce.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: I thought to myself, he knows that I cannot verify
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: his guess. The thought had hardly passed through my mind
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: when the man whom we were watching caught sight of
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: the number on our door and ran rapidly across the roadway.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: We heard a loud knock, A deep voice below, and
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: a heavy step ascending the stair for mister Sherlock owns,
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: he said, stepping into the room and handing my friend
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: the letter. Here was an opportunity of taking the conceit
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: out of him. He little thought of this when he
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: made that random shot. May I ask my lad, I said,
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: in the blandest voice, what your trade may be? Commissioner Sir?
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: He said, gruffly, uniformal, wait for repairs, and you were,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: I asked, with a slightly malicious glance at my companion,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: A sergeant, sir, raw Marine lay infantry, Sir. No answer, right, sir.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: He clicked his heels together, raised his hand in a salute,
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: and was gone. End of Chapter two, Chapter three, The
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: Lorstown Garden Mystery. I confess that I was considerably startled
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: by this fresh proof of the practical nature of my
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: companion's theories. My respect for his powers of analysis increased wondrously.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: There still remain some lurking suspicion in my mind, however,
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: that the whole thing was a pre arranged episode intended
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: to dazzle me. Though what earthly object he could have
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: in taking me in was past my comprehension. When I
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: looked at him. He had finished reading the note, and
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: his eyes had assumed the vacant, lackluster expression which showed
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: mental abstraction. How in the world did you deduce that?
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: I asked, deduce what, said he petulantly, Why that he
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: was a retired sergeant of marines. I have no time
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: for trifles, he answered bruskly, then with a smile, excuse
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: my rudeness. You broke the thread of my thoughts. But
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: perhaps it is as well so you actually were not
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: able to see that the man was a sergeant of marines. No, indeed,
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: it was easier to know it than to explain why
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: I knew it. If you are asked to prove that
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: two and two made four, you might find some difficulty.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: And yet you are quite sure of the fact. Even
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: across the street I could see a great blue anchor
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: tattooed on the back of the fellow's hand that smacked
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: of the sea. He had a military carriage, however, and
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: regulation side whiskers there we have the marine. He was
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: a man with some amount of self importance and a
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: certain air of command. You must have observed the way
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: in which he held his head and swung his cane
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: a steady, respectable, middle aged man too. On the face
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: of him, all facts which led me to believe that
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: he had been a sergeant. Wonderful, I ejaculated commonplace, said Holmes,
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: though I thought from his expression that he was pleased
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: at my evident surprise and admiration. I said, just now
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: that there were no criminals. It appears that I am wrong.
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: Look at this, he threw me over the note which
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: the commissionnaire had brought. Why, I cried as I cast
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: my eye over it. This is terrible. It does seem
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: to be a little out of the common he remarked, calmly.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: Would you mind reading it to me aloud? This is
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: the letter which I read to him. Dear mister Sherlock Holmes,
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: there has been a bad business during the night at
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: three Lorston Gardens, off the Brixton Road. Our man on
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: the beat saw a light there about two in the morning,
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: and as the house was an empty one suspected that
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: something was amiss. He found the door open, and in
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: the front room, which is bare of furniture, discovered the
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: body of a gentleman, well dressed and having cards in
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: his pocket bearing the name of Enoch J. Drebber Cleveland, Ohio.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: U s A. There had been no robbery, nor is
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: there any evidence as to how the man met his death.
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: There are marks of blood in the room, but there
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: is no wound upon his person. We are at a
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: loss as to how he came into the empty house. Indeed,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: the whole affair is a puzzler. If you can come
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: round to the house any time before twelve, you will
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: find me there. I have left everything in state that
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: you quo until I hear from you. If you are
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: unable to come, I shall give you fuller details, and
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: would esteem it a great kindness if you would favor
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: me with your opinion yours faithfully to Bias Gregson. Gregson
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: is the smartest of the Scotland yarders. My friend remarked,
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: he and Lestrade are the pick of a bad lot.
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: They are both quick and energetic, but conventional. Shockingly so,
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: they have their knives into one another too. They are
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: as jealous as a pair of professional beauties. There will
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: be some fun over this case if they are both
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: put upon the scent. I was amazed at the calm
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: way in which he rippled on. Surely there's not a
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: moment to be lost, I cried, shall I go and
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: order your cab? I am not sure about whether I
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: shall go. I am the most incurably lazy devil that
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: ever stood in shoe leather, that is when the fit
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: is on me. For I can be spry enough at times.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: Why it is just such a chance as you been
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: longing for, My dear fellow, What does it matter to
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: me supposing I unravel the whole matter? You may be
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: sure that Gregson lestradon Co. Will pocket all the credit
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: that comes of being an unofficial personage. But he begs
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: you to help him. Yes, he knows that I am
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: his superior and acknowledges it to me. But he would
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: cut his tongue out before he would own it to
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: any third person. However, we may as well go and
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: have a look. I shall work it out on my
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: own hook. I may have a laugh at them if
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: I have nothing else. Come on. He hustled on his
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: overcoat and bustled about in a way that showed that
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: an energetic fit had superseded the apathetic one. Get your hat,
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: he said, you wish me to come, yes, if you
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: have nothing better to do. A minute later we were
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: both in a hansom, driving furiously for the Brixton Road.
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: It was a foggy, cloudy morning, and a uncolored veil
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: hung over the house tops, looking like the reflection of
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: the mud colored streets beneath. My companion was in the
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: best of spirits and prattled away about Cremona fiddles and
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: the difference between a Stradivarius and an Amarty. As for myself,
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: I was silent. For the dull weather and the melancholy
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: business upon which we were engaged depressed my spirits. You
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: don't seem to give much thought to the matter in hand,
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: I said, at last, interrupting Holmes's musical disquisition. No data yet,
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: he answered. It is a capital mistake to theorize before
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment. You
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: will have your data soon, I remarked, pointing with my finger.
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: This is the Brixton Road, and that is a house.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: If I am not very much mistaken, so it is stop, driver, stop.
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: We were still a hundred yards or so from it,
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: but he insisted upon our alighting, and we finished our
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: journey upon foot Number three. Lorriston Gardens wore an ill
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: omened and minitary look. It was on a four which
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: stood back some little way from the street, two being
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: occupied and two empty. The latter looked out with three
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: tiers of vacant, melancholy windows, which were blank and dreary,
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: save that here and there a toulette card had developed
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: like a cataract upon the bleared panes. A small garden,
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: sprinkled over with a scattered eruption of sickly plants, separated
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: each of these houses from the street, and was traversed
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: by a narrow pathway, yellowish in color and consisting apparently
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: of a mixture of clay and of gravel. The whole
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: place was very sloppy from the rain which had fallen
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: through the night. The garden was bounded by a three
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: foot brick wall with a fringe of wood rails upon
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: the top, and against this wall was leaning a stalwart
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: police constable, surrounded by a small knot of loafers, who
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: craned their necks and strained their eyes in the vain
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: hope of catching some glimpse of the proceedings within. I
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: had imagined that Sherlock Holmes would at once have hurried
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: into the house and plunged into a study of the mystery.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Nothing appeared to be further from his intention, with an
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: air of nonchalance, which, under the circumstances seems to me
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: to border upon affectation. He lounged up and down the
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: pavement and gazed vacantly at the ground, the sky, the
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: opposite houses, and the line of railings. Having finished his scrutiny,
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: he proceeded slowly down the path, or rather down the
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: fringe of grass which flanked the path, keeping his eyes
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: riveted upon the ground. Twice he stopped, and once I
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: saw him smile and heard him utter an exclamation of satisfaction.
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: There were many marks of footsteps upon the wet clayey soil,
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: but since the police had been coming and going over it,
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: I was unable to see how my companion could hope
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: to learn anything from it. Still, I had had such
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: extraordinary evidence of the quickness of his perceptive faculties that
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: I had no doubt that he could see a great
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: deal which was hidden from me. At the door of
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: the house we were met by a tall, white faced,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: flaxen haired man with a notebook in his hand, who
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: rushed forward and wrung my companion's hand with effusion. It
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: is indeed kind of you to come, he said, I've
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: had everything left untouched, except that, my friend answered, pointing
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: at the pathway, if a herd of buffaloes had passed along,
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: there could not be a greater mess, no doubt. However,
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: you had drawn your own conclusions, Gregson, before you permitted this.
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: I've had so much to do inside the house, the
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: detective said, evasively. My colleague, misster Lestrade, as here I
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: had relied upon him to look after this. Holmes glanced
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: at me and raised his eyebrows sardonically. With two such
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: men as yourself and Lestrade upon the ground, there will
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: not be much for a third party to find out,
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: he said. Gregson rubbed his hands in a self satisfied way.
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: I think we've done all that can be done, he answered.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: It's a queer case, though, and I knew your taste
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: for such things. You did not come here in a cab,
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: asked Sherlock Holmes, No sir, nor Lestrade, No sir. Then
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: let us go and look at the room, with which,
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: inconsequent remark he strode on into the house, followed by Gregson,
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: whose features expressed his astonishment. A short passage, bare planked
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: and dusty, led to the kitchen and offices. Two doors
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: opened out of it. To the left and to the right.
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: One of these had obviously been closed for many weeks.
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: The other belonged to the dining room, which was the
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: apartment in which the mysterious affair had occurred. Holmes walked in,
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: and I followed him with that subdued feeling at my
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: heart which the presence of death inspires. It was a large,
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: square room, looking all the larger from the absence of
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: all furniture. A vulgar flaring paper adorned the walls, but
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: it was blotched in places with mildew, and here and
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: there great strips had become detached and hung down, exposing
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: the yellow plaster underneath. Opposite the door was a showy fireplace,
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: surmounted by a mantel piece of imitation white marble. On
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: one corner of this was stuck the stump of a
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: red wax candle. The solitary window was so dirty that
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: the light was hazy and uncertain, giving a dull, gray
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: tinge to everything, which was intensified by the thick layer
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: of dust which coated the whole apartment. All these details
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: I observed afterwards. At present, my attention was centered upon
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: the single, grim, motionless figure which lay stretched upon the
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: boards with vacant, sightless eyes staring up at the discolored ceiling.
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: It was that of a man about forty three or
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: forty four years of age, middle sized, broad shouldered, with crisp,
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: curling black hair and a short, stubbly beard. He was
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: dressed in a heavy broadcloth frock coat and waistcoat, with
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: light colored trousers and immaculate collar and cuffs. A top hat,
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: well brushed and trim was placed upon the floor beside him.
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: His hands were clenched and his arms thrown abroad, while
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: his lower limbs were interlocked, as though this death struggle
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: had been a grievous one. On his rigid face. There
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: stood an expression of horror, and as it seemed to me,
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: of hatred such as I've never seen upon human features.
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: This malignant and terrible contortion, combined with the low forehead,
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: blunt nose, and prognathous jaw, gave the dead man a
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: singularly simious and apelike appearance, which was increased by his writhing,
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: unnatural posture. I've seen death in many forms, but never
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: has it appeared to me in a more fearsome aspect
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: than in that dark, grimy apartment which looked out upon
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: one of the main arteries of suburban London. Lestrade, lean
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: and ferret like as ever, was standing by the doorway,
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: and greeted my companion and myself. This case will make
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: a stir, sir, he remarked. It beats anything I've seen,
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: and I'm now chicken. There is no clue, said Gregson,
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: not at all chimed in Lestrade. Sherlock Holmes approached the
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: body and, kneeling down, examined it intently. You are sure
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: there is no wound, he asked, pointing to numerous gouts
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: and splashes of blood which lay all around. Positive, cried
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: both detectives. Then, of course this blood belongs to a
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: second individual, presumably the murderer, if murder has been committed.
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: It reminds me of the circumstances attendant on the death
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: of Van Janssen in Utrecht in the year thirty four.
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: And do you remember the case, Gregson? Now, sir, read
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: it up. You really should. There is nothing new under
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: the sun. It has all been done before. As he spoke,
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: his nimble fingers were flying here and there and everywhere,
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: feeling pressing, unbuttoning, examining, while his eyes wore the same
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: far away expression which I've already remarked upon. So swiftly
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: was the examination made that one would hardly have guessed
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: the minuteness with which it was conducted. Finally, he sniffed
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: the dead man's lips, and then glanced at the soles
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: of his patent leather boots. He has not been moved
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: at all, he asked, No more than was necessary for
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: the purposes of ore examination. You can take him to
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: the mortuary now, he said. There's nothing more to be learned.
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: Gregson had a stretcher and four men at hand at
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: his call. They entered the room, and the stranger was
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: lifted and carried out. As they raised him, a ring
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: tinkled down and rolled across the floor. Lestrade grabbed it
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: up and stared at it with mystified eyes. There's been
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: a woman ere, he cried. It's a woman's wedding ring.
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: He held it out as he spoke upon the palm
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: of his hand. We all gathered round and gazed at it.
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: There could be no doubt that the circlet of plain
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: gold had once adorned the finger of a bride. This
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: complicates mas, said Gregson, ever knows. They were complicated enough
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: before you're sure it doesn't simplify them, observed Holmes. There's
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: nothing to be learned by staring at it. What did
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: you find in his pockets? We have it all here,
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: said Gregson, pointing to a litter of objects upon one
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: of the bottomed steps of the stairs. A guld watch
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: nowm ninety seven one sixty three by Barrow of London,
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: gold Albert chain, very heavy and solid gold ring with
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: Masonic device, gold pin, bulldog's ed with Rubies' eyes. Russian
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: leather card case with cards of Enoch J. Drebber of Cleveland,
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: corresponding with the EJD. Upon the linen. No purse but
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: loose money to the extent of seven pounds. Thirteen pocket
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: edition of Bacacio's Decameron, with name of Joseph Stangerson. Upon
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: the fly leaf two letters, one addressed to E. J.
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: Drebber and one to Joseph Stangerson at what address American
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: Exchange strand to be left till called for. They're both
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: from the Gillon Steamship Company and refer to the sailing
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: of their boats from Liverpool. It is clear that this
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: unfortunate man was about to return to New York. Have
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: you made any inquiries as to this man Stangerson? I
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: did it at once, said Gregson. I've had the advertisement
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: sent to all the newspapers, and one of my men
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: has gone to the American Exchange, but he hasn't returned yet.
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: Have you sent to Cleveland? We telegraph this morning. How
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: did you word your inquiries? Oh? He simply detailed the
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: circumstances and said that we should be glad of any
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: information which could help us. You did not ask for
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: particulars on any point which appeared to you to be crucial.
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: I asked about Stangerson, nothing else. Is there no circumstance
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: on which this whole case appears to hinge? Will you
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: not telegraph again? I've said all I have to say,
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: said Gregson in an offended voice. Sherlock Holmbs chuckled to
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: himself and appeared to be about to make some remark
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: when Lestrade, who had been in the front room while
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: we were holding this conversation in the hall, reappeared upon
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: the scene, rubbing his hands in a pompous and self
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: satisfied manner. Mister Gregson, he said, I've just made a
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: discovery of the highest importance, and one which would have
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: been overlooked had it not been made a careful examination
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: of the walls. The little man's eyes sparkled as he spoke,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: and he was evidently in a state of suppressed exultation
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: at having scored a point against his colleague. Come here,
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: he said, bustling back into the room, the atmosphere of
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: which felt clearer since the removal of its ghastly inmate.
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: Now stand there. He struck a match on his boot
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: and held it up against the wall. Look at that,
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: he said, triumphantly. I have remarked that the paper had
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: fallen away in parts. In this particular corner of the room,
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: A large piece had peeled off, leaving a yellow square
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: of coarse plastering Across this bare space. There was scrawled
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: in blood red letters a single word R A C
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: H E. What do you think of that? Cried the detective,
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: with the air of a showman exhibiting his show. This
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: was overlooked because it was in the dark corner of
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: the room, and no one thought of looking there. The
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: murderer has written it with his or her own blood.
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: See this smear where it was trickled down the wall.
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: That disposes of the idea of suicide anyway, why was
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: that corner chosen to write it on? I'll tell you
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: see that candle on the mantelpiece. It was lit at
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: the time, and if it was lit, this corner would
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: be the brightest instead of the darkest portion of the wall.
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: And what does it mean now that you have found it,
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: asked Gregson in an appreciatory voice. Mean why it means
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: that the writer was going to put the female name Rachel,
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: but was disturbed before he or she had time to finish.
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: You mark my words. When this case comes to be
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: cleared up, you'll find that a woman named Rachel has
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: something to do with it. It's all very well for you
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: to laugh, mister Sherlock Holmes. You may be very smart
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: and clever, but the old own is the best. When
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: all is and done, I really beg your pardon, said
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: my companion, who had ruffled the little man's temper by
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: bursting into an explosion of laughter. You certainly have the
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: credit of being the first of us to find this out,
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: and as you say, it bears every mark of having
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: been written by the other participant in last night's mystery.
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: I have not had time to examine this room yet,
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: but with your permission, I shall do so. Now. As
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: he spoke, he whipped a tape measure and a large
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: round magnifying glass from his pocket. With these two implements,
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: he trotted noiselessly about the room, sometimes stopping, occasionally kneeling,
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: and once lying flat upon his face. So engrossed was
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: he with his occupation that he appeared to have forgotten
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: our presence, for he chattered away to himself under his
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: breath the whole time, keeping up a running fire of exclamations, groans, whistles,
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: and little cries suggestive of encouragement and of hope. As
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: I watched him, I was irresistibly reminded of a pure blooded,
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: well trained foxhound as it dashes backwards and forwards through
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: the covert, whining in its eagerness until it comes across
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: the lost scent. For twenty minutes or more, he continued
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: his researches, measuring with the most exact care the distance
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: between marks which were entirely invisible to me, and occasionally
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: applying his tape to the walls in an equally incomprehensible manner.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: In one place, he gathered up very carefully a little
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: pile of gray dust from the floor and packed it
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: away in an envelope. Finally, he examined with his glass
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: the word upon the wall, going over every letter of
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: it with the most minute exactness. This done, he appeared
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: to be satisfied, for he replaced his tape and his
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: glass in his pocket. They say that genius is an
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: infinite capacity for taking pains, he remarked, with a smile.
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: It's a very bad definition, but it does apply to
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: detective work. Gregson and Lestrade had watched the maneuvers of
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: their amateur companion with considerable curiosity and some contempt. They
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: evidently failed to appreciate the fact which I had begun
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: to realize that Sherlock Holmbe's smallest actions were all directed
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: towards some definite and practical end. What do you think
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: of it, sir, they both asked. It would be robbing
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: you of the credit of the case if I was
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: to presume to help. You, remarked, my friend, you are
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: doing so well now that it would be a pity
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: for anyone to interfere. There was a world of sarcasm
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: in his voice as he spoke, If you will let
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: me know how your investigations go, he continued, I shall
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: be happy to give you any help I can. In
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: the meantime, I should like to speak to the constable
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: who found the body. Can you give me his name
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: and address? Lestrade glanced at his notebook, John Rance, He said,
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: he's off duty. Now you'll find him at forty six
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: Orderly Court, Kennington, park Gate. Holmes took a note of
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: the address. Come along, doctor, he said, we shall go
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: and look him up. I'll tell you one thing which
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: may help you in the case, he continued, turning to
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: the two detectives. There has been murder done, and the
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: murderer was a man. He was more than six feet high,
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: was in the prime of life, had small feet for
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: his height, wore coarse, square toed boots, and smoked a
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: trickenopo leaf cigar. He came here with his victim in
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: a four wheeled cab which was drawn by a horse,
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: with three old shoes and one new one on his
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: off fore leg. In all probability, the murderer had a
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: florid face, and the finger nails of his right hand
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: were remarkably long. There are only a few indications, but
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: they may assist you. Lestrade and Gregson glanced at each
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: other with an incredulous smile. If this man was murdered,
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: how was it done? Asked the former poison said Sherlock
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: Holmes curtly, and strode off. One other thing, Lestrade, he added,
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: turning around at the door, Racha is the German for revenge,
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: So don't lose your time looking for miss Rachel, with
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: which Parthian shot. He walked away, leaving the two rivals
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: open mouthed behind him. End of Chapter three, Chapter four.
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: What John Rance had to tell It was one o'clock
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: when we left number three Lorston Gardens. Sherlock Holmes led
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: me to the nearest telegraph office, whence he dispatched a
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: long telegram. He then hailed a cab and ordered the
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: driver to take us to the address given us by Lestrade.
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: There's nothing like first hand evidence, he remarked. As a
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: matter of fact, my mind is entirely made up upon
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: the case. But still we may as well learn all
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: that is to be learned. You amaze me, Holmes said,
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: I surely you are not as sure as you pretend
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: to be of all these particulars which you gave. There's
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: no room for a mistake. He answered. The very first
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: thing which I observed on arriving there was that a
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: cab had made two ruts with its wheels close to
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: the curb. Now, up to last night we have had
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: no rain for a week, so that those wheels which
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: left such a deep impression must have been there during
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: the night. There were the marks of the horse's hoofs,
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: the outline of one which was far more clearly cut
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: than that of the other three, showing that there was
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: a new shoe. Since the cab was there after the
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: rain began, and was not there at any time during
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: the morning, I have Gregson's word for that. It follows
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: that it must have been there during the night, and
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: therefore that it brought those two individuals to the house.
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: That seems simple enough, said I. But how about the
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: other man's height? Why the h might of a man
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: in nine cases out of ten, can be told from
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: the length of his stride. It is a simple calculation enough,
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: though there is no use my boring you with figures.
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: I had this fellow's stride both on the clay outside
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: and on the dust within. Then I had a way
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: of checking my calculation. When a man writes on a wall,
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: his instinct leads him to write about the level of
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: his own eyes. Now that writing was just over six
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: feet from the ground. It was child's play and his age.
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: I asked, well, if a man can stride four and
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: a half feet without the smallest effort, he can't be
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: quite in the sere and yellow that was the breadth
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: of a puddle on the garden walk, which he had
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: evidently walked across Peyton Leather boots had gone round and
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: square toes had hopped over. There is no mystery about
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: it at all. I am simply applying to ordinary life
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: a few of those precepts of observation and deduction which
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: I advocated in that article. Is there anything else that
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: puzzles you? The finger, nails and the trichinopoly, I suggested.
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: The writing on the wall was done with a man's
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: forefinger dipped in blood. My glass allowed me to observe
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: that the plaster was slightly scratched in doing it, which
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: would not have been the case if the man's nail
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: had been trimmed. I gathered up some scattered ash from
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: the floor. It was dark in color and flaky. Such
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: an ash is only made by a trichinopoly. I have
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: made a special study of cigar ashes. In fact, I've
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: written a monograph upon the subject. I flatter myself that
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: I can distinguish at a glance the ash of any
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: known brand, either of cigar or of tobacco. It is
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: just in such details that the skilled detective differs from
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: the Gregson and Lestrade type and the florid face. I asked, Ah,
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: that was a more daring shot. Though I have no
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: doubt that I was right, you must not ask me
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: that at the present state of the affair. I passed
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: my hand over my brow. My head is in a whirl,
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: I remarked. The more one thinks of it, the more
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: mysterious it grows. How came these two men? If there
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: were two men into an empty house, what has become
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: of the cabman who drove them? How could one man
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: compel another to take poison? Where did the blood come from?
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: What was the object of the murderer? Since robbery had
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: no part in it? How came the woman's ring? There?
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: Above all, why should the second man write up the
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: German word racha before decamping? I confess that I cannot
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: see any possible way of reconciling all these facts my
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: companion smiled approvingly. You sum up the difficulties of the
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 1: situation succinctly and well, he said. There is much that
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 1: is still obscure, though I have quite made up my
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: mind on the main facts. As to Paul Lestrade's discovery,
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 1: it was simply a blind intended to put the police
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: upon a wrong track by suggesting socialism and secret societies.
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 1: It was not done by a German. The a, if
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: you noticed, was printed somewhat after the German fashion. Now
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: a real German invariably prints in the Latin character, so
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: that we may safely say that this was not written
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: by one but by a clumsy imitator who overdid his part.
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: It was simply a ruse to divert inquiry into a
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: wrong channel. I'm not going to tell you much more
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: of the case, doctor. You know, a conjurer gets no
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: credit when once he has explained his trick. And if
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 1: I show you too much of my method of working,
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: you will come to the conclusion that I am a
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: very ordinary individual. After all, I shall never do that.
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: I answered, You've brought detection as near an exact science
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: as it ever will be brought in this world. My
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: companion flushed up with pleasure at my words and the
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: earnest way in which I uttered them. I had already
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: observed that he was as sensitive to flattery on the
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: score of his art as any girl could be of
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: her beauty. I'll tell you one thing, he said. Patent
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: Leathers and square Toes came in the same cab, and
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: they walked down the pathway together as friendly as possible,
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: arm in arm, in all probability. When they got inside,
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: they walked up and down the room, or rather, Patent
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: Leathers stood still, while square Toes walked up and down.
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: I could read all that in the dust, and I
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: could read that as he walked he grew more and
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: more excited. That is shown by the increased length of
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 1: his strides. He was talking all the while, and working
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: himself up, no doubt, into a fury. Then the tragedy occurred.
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: I've told you all I know myself now, for the
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: rest is mere surmise and conjecture. We have a good
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: working basis. However, on which to start we must hurry up,
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: for I want to go to Hallai's concert to hear
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: Norman Neruda. This afternoon. This conversation had occurred while our
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: cab had been threading its way through a long succession
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: of dingy streets and dreary byways. In the dingiest and
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: dreariest of them, our driver suddenly came to a stand
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: that's awdly cought in there, he said, pointing to a
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: narrow slit in the line of dead colored brick. You'll
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 1: form me here when you come back. Udly Court was
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 1: not an attractive locality. The narrow passage led us into
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: a squadrangle, paved with flags and lined by sordid dwellings.
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: We picked our way among groups of dirty children and
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: through lines of discolored linen, until we came to number
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: forty six, the door of which was decorated with a
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: small slip of brass on which the name Rance was engraved.
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: On inquiry, we found that the Constable was in bed,
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: and we were shown into a little front parlor to
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: wait his coming. He appeared, presently, looking a little irritable
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: at being disturbed in his slumbers or mode of my
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: report at the office, he said. Holmes took a half
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 1: sovereign from his pocket and played with it pensively. We
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: thought that we should like to hear it all from
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: your own lips, he said, or it shall be your
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: most stappy to tell you anything I can. The Constable answered,
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: with his eyes upon the little golden disc. Just let
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: us hear it all in your own way. As it occurred,
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: Rance sat down on the horsehair sofa and knitted his brows,
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 1: as though determined not to omit anything in his narrative.
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: I'll tell it you from the beginning, he said. My
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: time is from ten at night to six in the morning.
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: At eleven there was a fight at the White Art,
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: but bar that all was quiet enough on the beat.
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: At one o'clock it began to rain when I met
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: Mary Murcher, who has the olng Grove Beat, and we
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 1: stood together at the corner of Henrietta Street. Are talking presently.
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: Maybe about two or a little after. I thought would
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 1: take a look around and see that all was right
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: down the Brixton Road. It was precious, dirty and lonely.
• 1:12:17
  Speaker 1: Not a sol did I meet all the way down,
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: though a cab or two went past me. I was
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 1: strolling down, thinking between ourselves our uncommon andy a four
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: of ginnot would be, when suddenly the glint of a
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 1: light caught my eye in the window of that same house. Now,
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: I knew then that two hours is in Lorriston Gardens
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 1: was empty on account of him that owns them, who
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 1: won't have the drain seed too, though the very last
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: tenant what lived in one of them, died a typhoid fever.
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 1: I was knocked all in a heap therefore at seeing
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: a light in the window, and I suspected as something
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: was wrong. When I got to the door, you stopped
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: and then walked back to the garden gate. My companion interrupted,
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 1: what did you do that for? Rance gave a violent
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 1: jump and stared at Sherlock Holmes with the utmost amazement
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: upon his features. Why that's true, sir, he said, Oh, oh,
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: come you to know it? Heaven only knows you. See.
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 1: When I got up to the door, it was so
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: still and so lonesome that I thought i'd been none
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: the worse for someone with me. I ain't a feared
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: of anything on this side of the grave, but I
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: thought that maybe it was him that died of the typhoid.
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: Inspecting the drains what killed him. The thought gave me
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 1: a kind of turn, and I walked back to the
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: gate to see if I could see merchant's lantern but
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: then want no sign of him, nor of anyone else.
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: There was no one in the street, not a living soul, sir,
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: nor as much as a dog. Then I pulled myself
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 1: together and went back and pushed the door open. All
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: was quiet inside, so I went into the room, where
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: the light was a burning. There was a candle flickering
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: in the mantelpiece, a red wax one, and by its
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: lie I saw, Yes, I know all that you saw.
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 1: You walked round the room several times, and you knelt
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 1: down by the body, and then you walked through and
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: tried the kitchen door. And then John Rance sprang to
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: his feet with a frightened face and suspicion in his eyes.
• 1:14:22
  Speaker 1: Where was you ind to see all that? He cried?
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: It seems to me that you knows a deal more
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 1: than you should. Holmes laughed and threw his card across
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: the table to the constable. Don't get arresting me for
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: the murder, he said, I am one of the hounds
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: and not the wolf. Mister Gregson or mister Lestrade will
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: answer for that. Go on, though, what did you do next?
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: Rance resumed his seat, without however, losing his mystified expression.
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 1: I went back to the gate, and sound of my
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: whistle that brought Murcher and two more to the spot.
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 1: Was the street heat empty? Then? Well it was as
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: far as anybody that could be of any good goes.
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: What do you mean? The Constable's features broadened into a grin.
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: I've seen many a drunk chap in my time, he said,
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: but never anyone so crying drunk as that cove. He
• 1:15:18
  Speaker 1: was at the gate when I came out, a leaning
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: up again the railings, and a singing at the picture
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 1: of his lungs about Columbine's new fangled banner wore some
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: such stuff. He couldn't stand far less help. What sort
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: of man was? He asked Sherlock Holmes. John Rance appeared
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: to be somewhat irritated at this digression. He was an
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: uncommon drunk sort of man, he said. He'd have found
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 1: himself in the station if we hadn't been so took
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: up his face, his dress. Didn't you notice them, Holmes
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: broke in impatiently. I should think I did notice them,
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: seeing that I had to prop him up, me and
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: Mercher between us. He was a long chap with a
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 1: red face, the lower part muffled round that twill do,
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 1: cried Holmes. What became of him? Wed enough to do
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: without looking after him? The policeman said, in an aggrieved voice, Oh, wager,
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: he found his way home all right? How was he dressed?
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: A brown overcoat? Had he a whip in his hand?
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 1: A whip? Now he must have left it behind, muttered
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 1: my companion. You didn't happen to see or hear a
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: cab after that. No, there's a half sovereign for you,
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: my companion said, standing up and taking his hat. I'm
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: afraid rance that you will never rise in the force.
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: That head of yours should be for use as well
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: as ornament. You might have gained your sergeant's stripes last night.
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: The man whom you held in your hands is the
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: man who holds the clue of this mystery and whom
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 1: we are seeking. There is no use of arguing about
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: it now, I'll tell you that it is so. Come along, doctor.
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 1: We started off for the cab together, leaving our informant
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: incredulous but obviously uncomfortable. The blundering fool, Holmes said, bitterly,
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: as we drove back to our lodgings. Just to think
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: of his having such an incomparable bit of good luck
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: and not taking advantage of it. I'm rather in the dark. Still.
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: It's true that the description of this man tallies with
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 1: your idea of the second party in this mystery. But
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: why should he come back to the house after leaving it?
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: That is not the way of criminals. The ring man,
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 1: the ring, that was what he came back for. If
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 1: we have no other way of catching him, we can
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: always bait our line with the ring. I shall have him, doctor,
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 1: I'll lay you two to one that I have him.
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: I must thank you for it all. I might not
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 1: have gone but for you, and so have missed the
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: finest study I have ever come across. A study in scarlet. Eh,
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: why shouldn't we use a little art jargon. There's the
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 1: scarlet thread of murder running through the colorless scheme of life,
• 1:18:04
  Speaker 1: and our duty is to unravel it and isolate it,
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 1: and expose every inch of it. And now for lunch,
• 1:18:12
  Speaker 1: and then for Norman Neruda. Her attack and her bowing
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: are splendid. What's that little thing of chopin she plays
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: so magnificently? Tra La Lalai ra La lays leaning back
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 1: in the cab. This amateur bloodhound carroled away like a
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: lark while I meditated upon the many sidedness of the
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: human mind. End of Chapter four, Chapter five, Our advertisement
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: brings a visitor. Our morning's exertions had been too much
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: for my weak health, and I was tired out. In
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: the afternoon, after holmes departure for the concert, I lay
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 1: down upon the sofa and endeavored to get a couple
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: of hours sleep. It was a useless attempt. My mind
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 1: had been too much excited by all that had occurred,
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: and the strangest fancies and surmises crowded into it. Every
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 1: time that I closed my eyes, I saw before me
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: the distorted, baboon like countenance of the murdered man. So
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 1: sinister was the impression which that face had produced upon
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 1: me that I found it difficult to feel anything but
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: gratitude for him who had removed its owner from the world.
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: If ever human features bespoke vice of the most malignant type,
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: they were certainly those of Enoch J. Drebber of Cleveland. Still,
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 1: I recognized that justice must be done, and that the
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: depravity of the victim was no condonement in the eyes
• 1:19:38
  Speaker 1: of the law. The more I thought of it, the
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 1: more extraordinary did my companion's hypothesis that the man had
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: been poisoned appear? I remembered how he had sniffed his lips,
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: and had no doubt that he had detected something which
• 1:19:52
  Speaker 1: had given rise to the idea. Then again, if not poison,
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 1: what had caused the man's death, since there was neither
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: wound nor marks of strangulation. But on the other hand,
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 1: whose blood was that which lay so thickly upon the floor.
• 1:20:09
  Speaker 1: There were no signs of a struggle, nor had the
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: victim any weapon with which he might have wounded an antagonist.
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: As long as all these questions were unsolved, I felt
• 1:20:20
  Speaker 1: that sleep would be no easy matter, either for Holmes
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: or myself. His quiet, self confident manner convinced me that
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: he had already formed a theory which explained all the facts,
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: though what it was I could not for an instant conjecture.
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: He was very late in returning, so late that I
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 1: knew that the concert could not have detained him all
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: the time. Dinner was on the table before he appeared.
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 1: It was magnificent, he said, as he took his seat.
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: Do you remember what Darwin says about music? He claims
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: that the power of producing and appreciating. It existed among
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: the human race long before the power of speech, which
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: was arrived at. Perhaps that is why we are so
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: subtly influenced by it. There are vague memories in our
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: souls of those misty centuries when the world was in
• 1:21:10
  Speaker 1: its childhood. That's rather a broad idea, I remarked. One's
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 1: ideas must be as broad as nature, if they are
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: to interpret nature. He answered, what's the matter? You are
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: not looking quite yourself. This Brixton Road affair has upset you.
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 1: To tell the truth, it has, I said, I ought
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: to be more case hardened after my Afghan experiences, and
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: I saw my own comrades hacked to pieces at my
• 1:21:36
  Speaker 1: wand without losing my nerve, I can understand there is
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: a mystery about this which stimulates the imagination. Where there
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 1: is no imagination, there is no horror. Have you seen
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: the evening paper? No, it gives a fairly good account
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: of the affair. It does not mention the fact that
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: when the man was raised up a woman's wedding ring
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 1: fell upon the floor. It is just as well it
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 1: does not. Why look at this advertisement, he answered, I
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 1: had once sent to every paper this morning immediately after
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 1: the affair. He threw the paper across to me and
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 1: I glanced at the place indicated it was the first
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: announcement in the found column in Brixton Road this morning.
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: It ran A plain gold wedding ring found in the
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: roadway between the white Hart Tavern and Holland Grove. Apply
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 1: doctor Watson, two twenty one b Baker Street between eight
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: and nine this evening. Excuse my using your name, he said,
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 1: If I use my own, some of these dunder heads
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 1: would recognize it and want to meddle in the affair.
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 1: Now that's all right, I answered, But supposing any one applies,
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 1: I have no ring? Oh yes, you have said, he
• 1:22:54
  Speaker 1: handing me one. This will do very well. It is
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 1: almost a facsimile. And who do you expect will answer
• 1:23:01
  Speaker 1: this advertisement? Why the man in the brown coat, our
• 1:23:05
  Speaker 1: florid friend with the square toes. If he does not
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 1: come himself, he will send an accomplice. Would he not
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 1: consider it as too dangerous? Not at all? If my
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: view of the case is correct, and I have every
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: reason to believe that it is, this man would rather
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 1: risk anything than lose the ring. According to my notion,
• 1:23:24
  Speaker 1: he dropped it while stooping over Drever's body, and did
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 1: not miss it at the time. After leaving the house,
• 1:23:32
  Speaker 1: he discovered his loss and hurried back, but found the
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 1: police already in possession. Owing to his own folly in
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 1: leaving the candle burning, he had to pretend to be
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: drunk in order to allay the suspicions which might have
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 1: been aroused by his appearance at the gate. Now put
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 1: yourself in that man's place. On thinking the matter over,
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 1: it must have occurred to him that it was possible
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 1: that he had lost the ring in the road after
• 1:23:57
  Speaker 1: leaving the house. What would he do? Then? He would
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: eagerly look out for the evening papers, in the hope
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 1: of seeing it. Among the articles found. His eye, of course,
• 1:24:08
  Speaker 1: would light upon this. He would be overjoyed. Why should
• 1:24:12
  Speaker 1: he fear a trap? There would be no reason in
• 1:24:15
  Speaker 1: his eyes why the finding of the ring should be
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: connected with the murder. He would come, He will come.
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: You shall see him within an hour. And then I asked, oh,
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: you can leave me to deal with him. Then have
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 1: you any arms? I have my old service revolver and
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 1: a few cartridges. You had better clean it and load it.
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: He will be a desperate man, and though I shall
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: take him unawares, it is as well to be ready
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: for anything. I went to my bedroom and followed his advice.
• 1:24:47
  Speaker 1: When I returned with the pistol, the table had been
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 1: cleared and Holmes was engaged in his favorite occupation of
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 1: scraping upon his violin The plot thickens, he said, as
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: I entered, I have just had an answer to my
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 1: American telegram. My view of the case is the correct one,
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 1: and that is I asked eagerly. My fiddle would be
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 1: the better for new strings, He remarked. Put your pistol
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 1: in your pocket. When the fellow comes, speak to him
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: in an ordinary way. Leave the rest to me. Don't
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: frighten him by looking at him too hard. It is
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 1: eight o'clock now, I said, glancing at my watch. Yes,
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: he will probably be here in a few minutes. Open
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: the door slightly. That will do. Now, put the key
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 1: on the inside. Thank you. This is a queer old
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: book I picked up at a store yesterday, De Giorre
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: inter Gentes, published in Latin. At the age in the
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 1: Lowlands in sixteen forty two, Charles's head was still firm
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: on his shoulders when this little brown backed volume was
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 1: struck off. Who is the printer Philippe de Crois, whoever
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 1: he may have been? On the fly in very faded
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 1: ink is written ex libris Giliormele White. I wonder who
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: William White was some pragmatical seventeenth century lawyer. I suppose
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: his writing has a legal twist about it. Here comes
• 1:26:15
  Speaker 1: our man, I think. As he spoke, there was a
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 1: sharp ring at the bell Sherlock Holmbs rose softly and
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 1: moved his chair in the direction of the door. We
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 1: heard the servant pass along the hall, and the sharp
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: click of the latch as she opened it. Does Dr
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 1: Watson Livia asked a clear but rather harsh voice. We
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 1: could not hear the servant's reply, but the door closed,
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: and some one began to ascend the stairs. The footfall
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 1: was an uncertain and shuffling one. A look of surprise
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 1: passed over the face of my companion as he listened
• 1:26:50
  Speaker 1: to it. It came slowly along the passage, and there
• 1:26:54
  Speaker 1: was a feeble tap at the door. Come in, I
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 1: cried at my summons. Instead of the man of violence
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 1: whom we expected, a very old and wrinkled woman hobbled
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: into the apartment. She appeared to be dazzled by the
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 1: sudden blaze of light, and after dropping a curtsey, she
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: stood blinking at us with her bleared eyes and fumbling
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 1: in her pocket with nervous, shaky fingers. I glanced at
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: my companion, and his face had assumed such a disconsolate
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: expression that it was all I could do to keep
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 1: my countenance. The old crone drew out an evening paper
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 1: and pointed at our advertisement. It's this As has brought
• 1:27:37
  Speaker 1: me good gentleman, she said, dropping another curtsey, a gold
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 1: wedding ring in the Brixton Road. It belongs to my girl,
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: Sally As was married only this time twelvemonth, which her
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 1: husband is steward aboard a union boat. And what you'd
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 1: say if he come home and found her without her
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 1: ring is more than I can think, he being sure
• 1:27:59
  Speaker 1: enough for the best of times, but more especially when
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 1: he has the drink. If it please you, she went
• 1:28:07
  Speaker 1: to the circus last night along with is that her ring?
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: I asked? The lord be thanked, cried the old woman.
• 1:28:17
  Speaker 1: Sallie will be a glad woman this night. That's the ring.
• 1:28:22
  Speaker 1: And what may your address be? I inquired, taking up
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 1: a pencil, thirteen Duncan Street, Hound's Ditch a weary way
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 1: from here. The Brixton Road does not lie between any
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 1: circus and Hound's Ditch, said Sherlock Holmes sharply. The old
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: woman faced round and looked keenly at him from her little,
• 1:28:42
  Speaker 1: red rimmed eyes. The gentleman ask me for my address,
• 1:28:47
  Speaker 1: she said, Sallie lives in lodgings at three Mayfield Place, Peckham.
• 1:28:53
  Speaker 1: And your name is My name is Sawyer. Hers is Dennis,
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 1: which Tom Denis married her. And a smart clean lad too,
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 1: as long as he's at sea, and no steward in
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 1: the company more thought of. But when on shore, what
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 1: with the women, and what with liquor shops? Here is
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 1: your ring, missus, Sawyer, I interrupted, in obedience to a
• 1:29:16
  Speaker 1: sign from my companion. It clearly belongs to your daughter,
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: and I am glad to be able to restore it
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: to the rightful owner. With many mumbled blessings and protestations
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: of gratitude, the old crone packed it away in her
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 1: pocket and shuffled off down the stairs. Sherlock Holmes sprang
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 1: to his feet the moment that she was gone, and
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: rushed into his room. He returned in a few seconds,
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 1: enveloped in an ulster and a cravat. I'll follow her,
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: he said, hurriedly. She must be an accomplice and will
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 1: lead me to him. Wait up for me. The hall
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 1: door had hardly slammed behind our visitor before Holmes had
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: descended the stair. Looking through the window, I could see
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 1: her walking feebly along the other side, while her pursuer
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: dogged her some little distance behind. Either this whole theory
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: is incorrect, I thought to myself, or else it'd be
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: led down to the heart of the mystery. There was
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 1: no need for him to ask me to wait up
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 1: for him, for I felt that sleep was impossible until
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 1: I heard the result of his adventure. It was close
• 1:30:24
  Speaker 1: upon nine when he set out. I had no idea
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: how long he might be, but I sat stolidly, puffing
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: at my pipe and skipping over the pages of Enri
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 1: Murger's VI Debo. M. Ten o'clock passed, and I heard
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 1: the footsteps of the maid as they pattered off to
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 1: bed eleven, and the more stately tread of the landlady
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 1: passed my door, bound for the same destination. It was
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 1: close upon twelve before I heard the sharp sound of
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 1: his latch key. The instant he entered, I saw by
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 1: his face that he had not been successful. Amusement and
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: chagrin seemed to be struggling for the mastery, until the
• 1:31:03
  Speaker 1: former suddenly carried the day, and he burst into a
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 1: hearty laugh. I wouldn't have the Scotland yarders know it
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: for the world, he cried, dropping into his chair. I
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 1: have chafed them so much that they would never have
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 1: let me hear the end of it. I can afford
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 1: to laugh because I know that I will be even
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: with them in the long run. What is it, then,
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: I asked, Oh, I don't mind telling a story against myself.
• 1:31:30
  Speaker 1: That creature had gone a little way when she began
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 1: to limp and show every sign of being footsore. Presently
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: she came to a halt and hailed a four wheeler
• 1:31:39
  Speaker 1: which was passing. I managed to be close to her
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 1: so as to hear the address. But I need not
• 1:31:45
  Speaker 1: have been so anxious, for she sang it out loud
• 1:31:48
  Speaker 1: enough to be heard at the other side of the street.
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: Drive to thirteen Duncan Street, Ouns Ditch. She cried. This
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: begins to look genuine, I thought, and having seen her
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 1: safely inside, I perched myself behind. That's an art which
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 1: every detective should be an expert at. Well away we
• 1:32:07
  Speaker 1: rattled and never drew rein until we reached the street
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: in question. I hopped off before we came to the door,
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: and strolled down the street in an easy lounging way.
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: I saw the cab pull up, The driver jumped down,
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: and I saw him open the door and stand expectantly.
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: Nothing came out. When I reached him, he was groping
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: about frantically in the empty cab and giving vent to
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 1: the finest assorted collection of oaths that ever I listened to.
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 1: There was no sign or trace of his passenger, and
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 1: I fear it will be some time before he gets
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: his fare. On inquiring at number thirteen, we found that
• 1:32:44
  Speaker 1: the house belonged to a respectable paperhanger named Kessick, and
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 1: that no one of the name either of Sawyer or
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 1: Denis had ever been heard of there. You don't mean
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 1: to say, I cried in amazement that that tottering, feeble
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 1: old woman was able to get out of a cab
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 1: while it was in motion, without either you or the
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 1: driver seeing her. Old woman be damned, said Sherlock Holmes
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: sharply we were the old women was so taken in
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: it must have been a young man, and an active
• 1:33:13
  Speaker 1: one too, Besides being an incomparable actor. The get up
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: was inimitable. He saw that he was followed no doubt,
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 1: and used this means of giving me the slip. It
• 1:33:25
  Speaker 1: shows that the man we are after is not as
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 1: lonely as I imagined he was, but has friends who
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 1: are ready to risk something for him. Now, doctor, you're
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: looking done up, take my advice and turn in. I
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: was certainly feeling very weary, so I obeyed his injunction.
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: I left home seated in front of the smoldering fire,
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 1: and long into the watches of the night, I heard
• 1:33:48
  Speaker 1: the low, melancholy wailings of his violin, and knew that
• 1:33:52
  Speaker 1: he was still pondering over the strange problem which he
• 1:33:56
  Speaker 1: had set himself to unravel. End of Chapter five, Chapter six,
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: Tobias Gregson shows what he can do. The papers next
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 1: day were full of the Brixton mystery, as they termed it.
• 1:34:12
  Speaker 1: Each had a long account of the affair, and some
• 1:34:14
  Speaker 1: had leaders upon it. In addition, there was some information
• 1:34:17
  Speaker 1: in them which was new to me. I still retain
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 1: in my scrap book numerous clippings and extracts bearing upon
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 1: the case. Here is a condensation of a few of them.
• 1:34:28
  Speaker 1: The Daily Telegraph remarked that in the history of crime
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: there had seldom been a tragedy which presented stranger features.
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 1: The German name of the victim, the absence of all
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 1: other motive, and the sinister inscription on the wall all
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 1: pointed to its perpetration by political refugees and revolutionists. The
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 1: socialists had many branches in America, and the deceased had
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: no doubt infringed their unwritten laws and been tracked down
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 1: by them. After alluding airily to the veymer Bicht, Aquatafana Cabanari,
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: the Marchioness de Brinvilliers, the Darwinian theory, the principles of Maltice,
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 1: and the Ratcliffe Highway murders, the article concluded by admonishing
• 1:35:12
  Speaker 1: the government and advocating a closer watch over foreigners in England.
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 1: The Standard commented upon the fact that lawless outrages of
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 1: the sort usually occurred under a liberal administration. They arose
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 1: from the unsettling of the minds of the masses and
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 1: the consequent weakening of all authority. The deceased was an
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 1: American gentleman who had been residing for some weeks in
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 1: the metropolis. He had stayed at the boarding house of
• 1:35:38
  Speaker 1: Madame Charpontier in Torquay Terrace, Camberwell. He was accompanied in
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 1: his travels by his private secretary, mister Joseph Stangerson. The
• 1:35:49
  Speaker 1: two bade adieu to their landlady upon Tuesday the fourth
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 1: inst and departed to Euston Station with the avowed intention
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 1: of catching the Liverpool Express. They were afterwards seen together
• 1:36:01
  Speaker 1: upon the platform. Nothing more is known of them until
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 1: mister Drever's body was, as recorded, discovered in an empty
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: house in the Brixton Road, many miles from Euston. How
• 1:36:14
  Speaker 1: he came there or how he met his fate are
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 1: questions which are still involved in mystery. Nothing is known
• 1:36:21
  Speaker 1: of the whereabouts of Stangerson. We are glad to learn
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 1: that mister Lestrade and mister Gregson of Scotland Yard are
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: both engaged upon the case, and it is confidentially anticipated
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 1: that these well known officers will speedily throw light upon
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 1: the matter. The Daily News observed that there was no
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 1: doubt as to the crime being a political one. The
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 1: despotism and hatred of liberalism, which animated the continental governments,
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 1: had had the effect of driving to our shores a
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 1: number of men who might have made excellent citizens, were
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 1: they not soured by the recollection of all that they
• 1:36:56
  Speaker 1: had undergone. Among these men, there there was a stringent
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 1: code of honor, any infringement of which was punished by death.
• 1:37:05
  Speaker 1: Every effort should be made to find the Secretary Stangerson,
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 1: and to ascertain some particulars of the habits of the deceased.
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: A great step had been gained by the discovery of
• 1:37:15
  Speaker 1: the address of the house at which he had boarded,
• 1:37:18
  Speaker 1: a result which was entirely due to the acuteness and
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 1: energy of mister Gregson of Scotland Yard. Sir Combs and
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: I read these notices over together at breakfast, and they
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: appeared to afford him considerable amusement. I told you that
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 1: whatever happened, Lestrade and Gregson would be sure to score.
• 1:37:38
  Speaker 1: That depends on how it turns out, Oh bless you.
• 1:37:42
  Speaker 1: It doesn't matter in the least. If the man is court,
• 1:37:45
  Speaker 1: it'll be on account of their exertions. If he escapes,
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 1: it will be in spite of their exertions. Its heads,
• 1:37:52
  Speaker 1: I win and tails you lose. Whatever they do, they
• 1:37:54
  Speaker 1: will have followers, and so true. Trujour am plusau quiladmir
• 1:38:01
  Speaker 1: What on earth is this? I cried for At this
• 1:38:05
  Speaker 1: moment there came the pattering of many steps in the
• 1:38:08
  Speaker 1: hall and on the stairs, accompanied by audible expressions of
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 1: disgust upon the part of our landlady. It's the Baker
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 1: Street Division of the Detective Police Force, said my companion gravely.
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 1: And as he spoke, there rushed into the room half
• 1:38:25
  Speaker 1: a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street arabs
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 1: that ever. I clapped eyes on tension, cried Holmes in
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 1: a sharp tone, and the six dirty little scoundrels stood
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 1: in a line like so many disreputable statuettes. In future,
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 1: you shall send up Wiggins alone to report, and the
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 1: rest of you must wait in the street. Have you
• 1:38:46
  Speaker 1: found it Wiggins? Now, sir, we hate, said one of
• 1:38:50
  Speaker 1: the youths. I hardly expected you would. You must keep
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 1: on until you do. Here are your wages. He handed
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 1: each of them a shilling. Now off you go and
• 1:39:01
  Speaker 1: come back with a better report next time. He waved
• 1:39:04
  Speaker 1: his hand, and they scampered away downstairs like so many rats,
• 1:39:09
  Speaker 1: and we heard their shrill voices next moment in the street.
• 1:39:13
  Speaker 1: There's more work to be got out of one of
• 1:39:15
  Speaker 1: those little beggars than out of a dozen of the force.
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 1: Holmes remarked, the mere sight of an official looking person
• 1:39:21
  Speaker 1: seals men's lips. These youngsters, however, go everywhere and hear everything.
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 1: They are as sharp as needles too. All they want
• 1:39:30
  Speaker 1: is organization. Is it on this Brixton case that you
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 1: are employing them? I asked, yes, there is a point
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 1: which I wish to ascertain. It is merely a matter
• 1:39:41
  Speaker 1: of time. Hello, we're going to hear some news now
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: with a vengeance. Here is Gregson coming down the road,
• 1:39:48
  Speaker 1: with beatitude written upon every feature of his face, bound
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: for us. I know, yes, he is stopping there he is.
• 1:39:59
  Speaker 1: There was a violent peace at the bell, and in
• 1:40:01
  Speaker 1: a few seconds, the fair haired detective came up the
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 1: stairs three steps at a time, and burst into our
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 1: sitting room. My dear fellow, he cried, wringing Holme's unresponsive hand.
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 1: Congratulate me. I have made the whole thing as clear
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 1: as day. A shade of anxiety seemed to me to
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 1: cross my companion's expressive face. Do you mean that you
• 1:40:24
  Speaker 1: are on the right track, he asked, right track? Why, sir,
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 1: we have the man under loton key and his name
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 1: is Arthur Sharp Pontier, sub Lieutenant in Her Majesty's Navy,
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 1: cried Gregson, pompously, rubbing his fat hands and inflating his chest.
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes gave a sigh of relief and relaxed into
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 1: a smile. Take a seat and try one of these cigars,
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 1: he said. We are anxious to know how you managed it.
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 1: Will you have some whiskey and water? I don't mind
• 1:40:58
  Speaker 1: if I do. The detective have answered. The tremendous exertions
• 1:41:02
  Speaker 1: which I have gone through during the last day or
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 1: two have worn me out. Not so much bodily exertion,
• 1:41:09
  Speaker 1: you understand, as a strain upon the mind. You will
• 1:41:12
  Speaker 1: appreciate that, mister Sherlock Holmes, for we are both brain workers.
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 1: You do me too much honor, said Holmes gravely. Let
• 1:41:21
  Speaker 1: us hear how you arrived at this most gratifying result.
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 1: The detective seated himself in the armchair and puffed complacently
• 1:41:30
  Speaker 1: at his cigar. Then suddenly he slapped his thigh in
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: a paroxysm of amusement. The fun of it is. He
• 1:41:38
  Speaker 1: cried that that fool lestrade, who thinks himself so smart,
• 1:41:44
  Speaker 1: has gone off upon the wrong track altogether. He's after
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: the Secretary Stangerson, who had no more to do with
• 1:41:51
  Speaker 1: the crime than the babe unborn. I have no doubt
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 1: that he has caught him by this time. The idea
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 1: tickled Gregson so much that he laughed until he choked.
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 1: And how did you get your clue? I'll tell you
• 1:42:06
  Speaker 1: about it, of course, Dr Watson. This is strictly between ourselves,
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 1: and the first difficulty which we had to contend with
• 1:42:15
  Speaker 1: was the finding of this American's antecedents. Some people would
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 1: have waited until their advertisements were answered, or until parties
• 1:42:24
  Speaker 1: came forward and volunteered information. That is not to bias
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 1: Gregson's way of going to work. You remember that beside
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: the dead man, Yes, said Holmes by John Underwood and Sons,
• 1:42:38
  Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty nine Camberwell Road. Gregson looked quite crestfallen.
• 1:42:44
  Speaker 1: I had no idea that you noticed that. He said,
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 1: have you been there? No, ha, cried Gregson in a
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 1: relieved voice. You should never neglect a chance, however small
• 1:42:56
  Speaker 1: it may seem to a great mind. Nothing is little,
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 1: remarked Holmes, sententiously. Well, I went to Underwood and asked
• 1:43:05
  Speaker 1: him if he had sold a hat of that size
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: and description. He looked over his books and came on
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 1: it at once. He had sent the hat to a
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 1: mister Drebber residing at Charpentier's boarding establishment, Torquay Terrace. Thus
• 1:43:20
  Speaker 1: I got at his address, smart, very smart, murmured Sherlock Holmes.
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 1: I next called upon Madame Charpontier, continued the detective. I
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 1: found her very pale and distressed. Her daughter was in
• 1:43:36
  Speaker 1: the room, an uncommonly fine girl. She is too. She
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 1: was looking red about the eyes, and her lips trembled
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 1: as I spoke to her. That didn't escape my notice.
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 1: I began to smell a rat. You know the feeling,
• 1:43:50
  Speaker 1: mister Sherlock Holmes, when you come upon the right scent,
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 1: a kind of thrill in your nerves. Have you heard
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 1: of the mysterious death of your late border mister Enoch J.
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 1: Drebber of Cleveland, I asked? The mother nodded. She didn't
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 1: seem able to get out a word. The door burst
• 1:44:08
  Speaker 1: into tears. I felt more than ever that these people
• 1:44:12
  Speaker 1: knew something of the matter. At what o'clock did Dr
• 1:44:17
  Speaker 1: Drebber leave your house for the train? I asked, At
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 1: eight o'clock, she said, gulping in her throat to keep
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 1: down her agitation. His secretary, mister Stangerson, said that there
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 1: were two trains, one at nine point fifteen and one
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 1: at eleven. He was to catch the first, and was
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 1: that the last which you saw of him? A terrible
• 1:44:42
  Speaker 1: change came over the woman's face. As I asked the question.
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 1: Her features turned perfectly livid. It was some seconds before
• 1:44:49
  Speaker 1: she could get out the single word yes, and when
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 1: it did come, it was in a husky, unnatural tone.
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 1: There was silence for a moment, and when the daughter
• 1:45:00
  Speaker 1: spoke in a calm, clear voice, No good can ever
• 1:45:04
  Speaker 1: come a falsehood. Mother, she said, let us be frank
• 1:45:07
  Speaker 1: with this, gentleman. We did see mister Drebber again. God
• 1:45:12
  Speaker 1: forgive you, cried Madame Charpentier, throwing up her arms and
• 1:45:17
  Speaker 1: sinking back in her chair. You have murdered your brother Arthur.
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: Would rather we spoke the truth? The girl answered firmly.
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 1: You had best tell me all about it now, I said.
• 1:45:30
  Speaker 1: Half confidences are worse than none. Besides, you do not
• 1:45:35
  Speaker 1: know how much we know of it. On your head
• 1:45:38
  Speaker 1: be it, Alice cried her mother, and then turning to me,
• 1:45:42
  Speaker 1: I will tell you all, sir, do not imagine that
• 1:45:45
  Speaker 1: my agitation on behalf of my son arises from any
• 1:45:49
  Speaker 1: fear lest he should have had, and in this terrible affair,
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 1: he is utterly innocent of it. My dread is, however,
• 1:45:57
  Speaker 1: that in your eyes and in the eyes of others,
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 1: he may appear to be compromised. That, however, is surely impossible.
• 1:46:04
  Speaker 1: His eye, character, his profession, his antecedents would all forbid it.
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 1: Your best way is to make a clean breast of
• 1:46:12
  Speaker 1: the facts, I answered, depend upon it. If your son
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 1: is innocent, he will be none the worse. Perhaps, Alice,
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 1: you had better leave us together, she said, and her
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 1: daughter withdrew. Now, sir, she continued, I had no intention
• 1:46:29
  Speaker 1: of telling you all this, but since my poor daughter
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 1: has disclosed it, I have no alternative. Having once decided
• 1:46:37
  Speaker 1: to speak, I will tell you all without in any particular.
• 1:46:42
  Speaker 1: It is your wisest course, said I. Mister Drebber has
• 1:46:47
  Speaker 1: been with us nearly three weeks. He and his secretary,
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 1: mister Stangerson, have been traveling on the continent, I noticed
• 1:46:55
  Speaker 1: a Copenhagen label upon each of their trunks, showing that
• 1:46:58
  Speaker 1: that had been their last stopping place. Stangerson was a quiet,
• 1:47:02
  Speaker 1: reserved man, but his employer, I am sorry to say,
• 1:47:06
  Speaker 1: was far otherwise. He was coarse in his abbots and
• 1:47:09
  Speaker 1: brutish in his ways. The very night of his arrival
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 1: he became very much the worse for drink, and indeed,
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 1: after twelve o'clock in the day he could hardly ever
• 1:47:18
  Speaker 1: be said to be sober. His manners towards the maid
• 1:47:21
  Speaker 1: servants were disgustingly free and familiar. Worst of all, he
• 1:47:27
  Speaker 1: speedily assumed the same attitude towards my daughter Alice, and
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 1: spoke to her more than once in a way which,
• 1:47:33
  Speaker 1: fortunately she is too innocent to understand. On one occasion
• 1:47:38
  Speaker 1: he actually seized her in his arms and embraced her,
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 1: an outrage which caused his own secretary to reproach him
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 1: for his unmanly conduct. But why did you stand all this,
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 1: I asked, I suppose that you can get rid of
• 1:47:52
  Speaker 1: your borders when you wish, missus. Charpentier blushed at my
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 1: pertinent question, would to God that I had given him
• 1:48:00
  Speaker 1: notice on the very day that he came, she said,
• 1:48:03
  Speaker 1: But it was a sore temptation. They were paying a
• 1:48:06
  Speaker 1: pound a day each fourteen pounds a week, and this
• 1:48:10
  Speaker 1: is a slack season. I'm a widow, and my boy
• 1:48:13
  Speaker 1: in the navy has cost me much. I grudged to
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 1: lose the money. I acted for the best. This last
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 1: was too much, however, and I gave him notice to
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 1: leave on account of it. That was the reason of
• 1:48:25
  Speaker 1: his going. Well, my heart grew light when I saw
• 1:48:29
  Speaker 1: him drive away. My son is on leave just now,
• 1:48:33
  Speaker 1: but I did not tell him anything of all this,
• 1:48:36
  Speaker 1: for his temper is violent, and he is passionately fond
• 1:48:39
  Speaker 1: of his sister. When I closed the door behind him,
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 1: a load seemed to be lifted from my mind. Alas,
• 1:48:46
  Speaker 1: in less than an hour there was a ring at
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 1: the bell, and I learned that mister Drebber had returned.
• 1:48:51
  Speaker 1: He was much excited, and evidently the worse for drink.
• 1:48:55
  Speaker 1: He forced his way into the room where I was
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 1: sitting with my door, and made some inco and remark
• 1:49:00
  Speaker 1: about having missed his train. He then turned to Alice,
• 1:49:05
  Speaker 1: and before my very face, proposed to her that she
• 1:49:07
  Speaker 1: should fly with him. You were of age, he said,
• 1:49:11
  Speaker 1: and there is no law to stop you. I have
• 1:49:14
  Speaker 1: money enough and to spare. Never mind the old Girlier,
• 1:49:17
  Speaker 1: but come along with me now, straightway, you shall live
• 1:49:20
  Speaker 1: like a princess. Poor Alice was so frightened that she
• 1:49:24
  Speaker 1: shrunk away from him, but he caught her by the
• 1:49:26
  Speaker 1: wrist and endeavored to draw her towards the door. I screamed,
• 1:49:30
  Speaker 1: and at that moment my son Arthur came into the room.
• 1:49:33
  Speaker 1: What happened then, I do not know. I heard oaths
• 1:49:36
  Speaker 1: and the confused sounds of a scuffle. I was too
• 1:49:39
  Speaker 1: terrified to raise my head. When I did look up,
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 1: I saw Arthur standing in the doorway, laughing, with a
• 1:49:45
  Speaker 1: stick in his hand. I don't think that fine fellow
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 1: will trouble us again, he said, I'll just go after
• 1:49:51
  Speaker 1: him and see what he does with himself. With those words,
• 1:49:55
  Speaker 1: he took his hat and started off down the street.
• 1:49:59
  Speaker 1: The next morning, word of mister Drebber's mysterious death. This
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 1: statement came from missus Sharpentier's lips, with many gasps and pauses.
• 1:50:08
  Speaker 1: At times, she spoke so low that I could hardly
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: catch the words. I made shortenan notes of all that
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 1: she said however, so that there should be no possibility
• 1:50:17
  Speaker 1: of a mistake. It's quite exciting, said Sherlock Holmes with
• 1:50:22
  Speaker 1: a yawn. What happened next? When missus Sharpentier paused, the
• 1:50:28
  Speaker 1: detective continued, I saw that the whole case hung upon
• 1:50:32
  Speaker 1: one point, fixing her with my eye in a way
• 1:50:35
  Speaker 1: which I always found effective with women, I asked her
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 1: at what hour ER's son returned, I do not know,
• 1:50:43
  Speaker 1: she answered, not know. No, he has a latch key,
• 1:50:48
  Speaker 1: and he let himself in after you went to bed. Yes,
• 1:50:53
  Speaker 1: when did you go to bed? About eleven? So your
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 1: son was gone at least two hours, yes, possibly four
• 1:51:02
  Speaker 1: or five? Yes. What was he doing during that time?
• 1:51:07
  Speaker 1: I do not know, she answered, turning white to her
• 1:51:10
  Speaker 1: very lips. Of course, after that there was nothing more
• 1:51:14
  Speaker 1: to be done. I found out where Leutenant Charpentier was,
• 1:51:18
  Speaker 1: took two officers with me and arrested him. When I
• 1:51:21
  Speaker 1: touched him on the shoulder and warned him to come
• 1:51:23
  Speaker 1: quietly with us, he answered us as bold as brass,
• 1:51:27
  Speaker 1: I suppose you're arresting me for being concerned in the
• 1:51:30
  Speaker 1: death of that scoundrel Drebber. He said, we had said
• 1:51:34
  Speaker 1: nothing to him about it. So that is alluding to
• 1:51:37
  Speaker 1: it at a most suspicious aspect. Very, said Holmes. He
• 1:51:42
  Speaker 1: still carried the heavy stick which the Mother's prescribed as
• 1:51:45
  Speaker 1: having with him when he followed Drebber. It was a
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 1: stout oak cudgel. What is your theory then, well, my
• 1:51:54
  Speaker 1: theory is that he followed Drebber as far as the
• 1:51:57
  Speaker 1: Brixton Road, when there a fresh altercation arose between them,
• 1:52:02
  Speaker 1: in the course of which Drebber received a blow from
• 1:52:05
  Speaker 1: the stick in the pit of the stomach, perhaps which
• 1:52:09
  Speaker 1: killed him without leaving any mark. The night was so
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 1: wet that no one was about. So sharp Pentier dragged
• 1:52:17
  Speaker 1: the body of his victim into the empty house. As
• 1:52:20
  Speaker 1: to the candle and the blood, and the writing on
• 1:52:23
  Speaker 1: the wall and the ring, they may all be so
• 1:52:26
  Speaker 1: many tricks to throw the police onto the wrong scent.
• 1:52:30
  Speaker 1: Well done, said Holmes in an encouraging voice. Really, Gregson,
• 1:52:35
  Speaker 1: you are getting along. We shall make something of you.
• 1:52:38
  Speaker 1: Yet I flatter myself that I have managed it rather neatly,
• 1:52:43
  Speaker 1: the detective answered proudly. The young man volunteered a statement
• 1:52:48
  Speaker 1: in which he said that after following Drebber some time,
• 1:52:51
  Speaker 1: the latter perceived him and took a cab in order
• 1:52:54
  Speaker 1: to get away from him. On his way home, he
• 1:52:57
  Speaker 1: met an old shipmate and took a long walk with him.
• 1:53:01
  Speaker 1: On being asked where this old shipmate lived, he was
• 1:53:04
  Speaker 1: unable to give any satisfactory reply. I think the old
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 1: case fits together uncommonly. Well, what amuses me is to
• 1:53:13
  Speaker 1: think of Lestrade, who stared off on the wrong scent.
• 1:53:17
  Speaker 1: I'm afraid he won't make much of why. By Jove,
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 1: he's the very man himself. It was indeed Lestrade who
• 1:53:24
  Speaker 1: had ascended the stairs while we were talking, and who
• 1:53:28
  Speaker 1: now entered the room. The assurance and jauntiness which generally
• 1:53:32
  Speaker 1: marked his demeanor and dress were, however wanting. His face
• 1:53:36
  Speaker 1: was disturbed and troubled, while his clothes were disarranged and untidy.
• 1:53:42
  Speaker 1: He had evidently come with the intention of consulting with
• 1:53:45
  Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes, for on perceiving his colleague, he appeared to
• 1:53:48
  Speaker 1: be embarrassed and put out. He stood in the center
• 1:53:52
  Speaker 1: of the room, fumbling nervously with his hat and uncertain
• 1:53:56
  Speaker 1: what to do. This is a most extraor mary case,
• 1:54:01
  Speaker 1: he said, at last, a most incomprehensible affair. Ah, you
• 1:54:07
  Speaker 1: find it so, mister Lestrade, cried Gregson triumphantly. I thought
• 1:54:12
  Speaker 1: you would come to that conclusion. Have you managed to
• 1:54:15
  Speaker 1: find the secutary, mister Joseph Stangerson? The secretary, mister Joseph Stangerson,
• 1:54:22
  Speaker 1: said Lestrade gravely, was murdered at Alladay's private hotel about
• 1:54:29
  Speaker 1: six o'clock this morning. End of chapter six, Chapter seven,
• 1:54:37
  Speaker 1: Light in the Darkness. The intelligence with which Lestrade greeted
• 1:54:42
  Speaker 1: us was so momentous and so unexpected, that we were
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 1: all three fairly dumfounded. Gregson sprang out of his chair
• 1:54:51
  Speaker 1: and upset the remainder of his whiskey and water. I
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 1: stared in silence at Sherlock Holmes, whose lips were compressed
• 1:54:57
  Speaker 1: and his brows drawn down over his eyes. Stangerson too,
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 1: he muttered, the plot thickens. He was quite thick enough before,
• 1:55:09
  Speaker 1: grumbled Lestrade, taking a chair. I seemed to have dropped
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 1: into a sort of council of war. Are you Are
• 1:55:16
  Speaker 1: you sure of this piece of intelligence, stammered Gregson. I've
• 1:55:20
  Speaker 1: just come from his room, said Lestrade. I was the
• 1:55:24
  Speaker 1: first to discover what had occurred. We have been hearing
• 1:55:28
  Speaker 1: Gregson's view of the matter. Holmes observed, would you mind
• 1:55:31
  Speaker 1: letting us know what you have seen and done. I
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 1: have no objection, Lestrade answered, seating himself, I freely confess
• 1:55:40
  Speaker 1: that I was of the opinion that Stangerson was concerned
• 1:55:44
  Speaker 1: in the death of Drebber. This fresh development has shown
• 1:55:48
  Speaker 1: me that I was completely mistaken. Full of the one idea,
• 1:55:52
  Speaker 1: I set myself to find out what had become of
• 1:55:54
  Speaker 1: the secretary. They have been seen together at Euston Station
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 1: about half past eight on the evening of the third.
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 1: At two in the morning, Drebber had been found in
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 1: the Brixton Road. The question which confronted me was to
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 1: find out our Stangerson had been employed between eight point
• 1:56:12
  Speaker 1: thirty and the time of the crime, and what had
• 1:56:15
  Speaker 1: become of him afterwards our telegraph to Liverpool, giving a
• 1:56:19
  Speaker 1: description of the man and warning them to keep a
• 1:56:22
  Speaker 1: watch upon the American boats. I then set to work,
• 1:56:26
  Speaker 1: calling upon all the hotels and lodging houses in the
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 1: vicinity of Houston. You see, I argue that if Drebber
• 1:56:32
  Speaker 1: and his companion had become separated, the natural course for
• 1:56:36
  Speaker 1: the latter would be to put up somewhere in the
• 1:56:38
  Speaker 1: vicinity for the night, and then to hang about the
• 1:56:41
  Speaker 1: station again next morning. They would be likely to agree
• 1:56:46
  Speaker 1: on some meeting place beforehand, remarked Holmes. So it proved
• 1:56:52
  Speaker 1: I spent the ol of yesterday evening in making inquiries
• 1:56:55
  Speaker 1: entirely without avail. This morning I began very early, and
• 1:57:00
  Speaker 1: at eight o'clock I reached Halliday's private hotel in Little
• 1:57:03
  Speaker 1: George Street. On my inquiry as to whether a mister
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 1: Stangerson was living there, they at once answered me in
• 1:57:10
  Speaker 1: the affirmative, no doubt you are the gentleman whom he
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 1: was expecting. They said, he has been waiting for a
• 1:57:18
  Speaker 1: gentleman for two days. Where is he now? I asked,
• 1:57:23
  Speaker 1: He's upstairs in bed. He wishes to be called. At nine.
• 1:57:27
  Speaker 1: I will go out and see him at once, I said.
• 1:57:30
  Speaker 1: It seemed to me that my sudden appearance might shake
• 1:57:33
  Speaker 1: his nerves and lead him to say something unguarded. The
• 1:57:37
  Speaker 1: Boots volunteered to show me the room. He was on
• 1:57:40
  Speaker 1: the second floor, and there was a small corridor leading
• 1:57:43
  Speaker 1: up to it. The Boots pointed out the door to
• 1:57:46
  Speaker 1: me and was about to go downstairs again when I
• 1:57:49
  Speaker 1: saw something that made me feel sickish. In spite of
• 1:57:53
  Speaker 1: my twenty years experience from under the door, there curled
• 1:57:58
  Speaker 1: a little red ribbon of blood which had meandered across
• 1:58:03
  Speaker 1: the passage and formed a little pool along the skirt
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 1: in at the other side. I gave a cry which
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 1: brought the boots back. He nearly fainted when he saw it.
• 1:58:14
  Speaker 1: The door was locked on the inside, but we put
• 1:58:17
  Speaker 1: our shoulders to it and knocked it in. The window
• 1:58:20
  Speaker 1: of the room was open, and beside the window all
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: huddled up laying the body of a man in his
• 1:58:25
  Speaker 1: night dress. He was quite dead, and had been for
• 1:58:29
  Speaker 1: some time, for his limbs were rigid and cold. When
• 1:58:32
  Speaker 1: we turned him over, the boots recognized him at once
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 1: as being the same gentleman who had engaged the room
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 1: under the name of Joseph Stangerson. The cause of death
• 1:58:43
  Speaker 1: was a deep stab in the left side, which must
• 1:58:46
  Speaker 1: have penetrated the art. And now comes the strangest part
• 1:58:50
  Speaker 1: of the affair. What do you suppose was above the
• 1:58:53
  Speaker 1: murdered man? I felt a creeping of the flesh and
• 1:58:57
  Speaker 1: the presentiment of coming horror. Even before Sherlock Holmes answered
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 1: the word racha written in letters of blood. He said,
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 1: that was it, said Lestrade in an awe struck voice,
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 1: And we were all silent for a while. There was
• 1:59:15
  Speaker 1: something so methodical and so incomprehensible about the deeds of
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 1: this unknown assassin that it imparted a fresh ghastliness to
• 1:59:23
  Speaker 1: his crimes. My nerves, which were steady enough on the
• 1:59:27
  Speaker 1: field of battle, tingled as I thought of it. The
• 1:59:32
  Speaker 1: mount was seen, said Lestrade. A milk boy, passing on
• 1:59:36
  Speaker 1: his way to the dairy, happened to walk down the
• 1:59:39
  Speaker 1: lane which leads from the Meuse at the back of
• 1:59:41
  Speaker 1: the hotel. He noticed that a ladder, which usually lay there,
• 1:59:46
  Speaker 1: was raised against one of the windows of the second floor,
• 1:59:49
  Speaker 1: which was wide open. After passing, he looked back and
• 1:59:53
  Speaker 1: saw a man descend the ladder. He came down so
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 1: quietly and openly that the boy imagined him to be
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 1: some carpenter or joiner at work in the hotel. He
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 1: took no particular notice of him, beyond thinking in his
• 2:00:06
  Speaker 1: own mind that it was early for him to be
• 2:00:08
  Speaker 1: at work. He has an impression that the man was tall,
• 2:00:12
  Speaker 1: had a reddish face, and was dressed in a long
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 1: brownish coat. He must have stayed in the room some
• 2:00:19
  Speaker 1: little time after the murder, for we found bloodstained water
• 2:00:22
  Speaker 1: in the basin where he'd washed his hands and marks
• 2:00:25
  Speaker 1: on the sheets where he deliberately wiped his knife. I
• 2:00:30
  Speaker 1: glanced at Holmes on hearing the description of the murderer,
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 1: which talied so exactly with his own. There was, however,
• 2:00:37
  Speaker 1: no trace of exultation or satisfaction upon his face. Did
• 2:00:42
  Speaker 1: you find nothing in the room which could furnish a
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 1: clue to the murderer? He asked nothing. Stangerson had drebber's
• 2:00:50
  Speaker 1: purse in his pocket, but it seems that this was usual,
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 1: as he did all the pain. There was eighty odd
• 2:00:56
  Speaker 1: pounds in it, but nothing had been taken. Whatever the
• 2:00:59
  Speaker 1: motive of these extraordinary crimes, robbery is certainly not one
• 2:01:03
  Speaker 1: of them. There were no papers or memoranda in the
• 2:01:07
  Speaker 1: murdered man's pocket, except a single telegram, dated from Cleveland
• 2:01:11
  Speaker 1: about a month ago, and containing the words j H
• 2:01:15
  Speaker 1: is in Europe. There was no name appended to the message,
• 2:01:20
  Speaker 1: and there was nothing else. Holmes asked nothing of importance.
• 2:01:25
  Speaker 1: The man's novel, with which he had read himself to sleep,
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: was lying upon the bed, and his pipe was on
• 2:01:31
  Speaker 1: a chair beside him. There was a glass of water
• 2:01:34
  Speaker 1: on the table, and on the window sill a small
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 1: chip ointment box containing a couple of pills. Sherlock Holmes
• 2:01:41
  Speaker 1: sprang from his chair with an exclamation of delight the
• 2:01:45
  Speaker 1: last link, he cried exultantly, My case is complete. The
• 2:01:51
  Speaker 1: two detectives stared at him in amazement. I have now
• 2:01:55
  Speaker 1: in my hands, my companion, said confidently, all the threads
• 2:01:59
  Speaker 1: which were form such a tangle. There are, of course
• 2:02:02
  Speaker 1: details to be filled in, but I am as certain
• 2:02:05
  Speaker 1: of all the main facts from the time that Drebbers
• 2:02:07
  Speaker 1: parted from Stangerson at the station up to the discovery
• 2:02:11
  Speaker 1: of the body of the latter, as if I had
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 1: seen them with my own eyes. I will give you
• 2:02:16
  Speaker 1: a proof of my knowledge. Could you lay your hand
• 2:02:18
  Speaker 1: upon those pills? I add them, said Lestrade, producing a
• 2:02:23
  Speaker 1: small white box. I took them and the purse and
• 2:02:27
  Speaker 1: the telegram, intending to have them put in a place
• 2:02:30
  Speaker 1: of safety at the police station. It was the merest
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 1: chance my taking those pills, for I am bound to
• 2:02:36
  Speaker 1: say that I do not attach any importance to them.
• 2:02:40
  Speaker 1: Give them here, said Holmes, now, doctor, turning to me,
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 1: are those ordinary pills? They certainly were not. They were
• 2:02:50
  Speaker 1: of a pearly gray color, small round, and almost transparent
• 2:02:54
  Speaker 1: against the light from their likeness and transparency. I should
• 2:02:58
  Speaker 1: imagine that they are solubly water, I remarked. Precisely so,
• 2:03:04
  Speaker 1: answered Holmes. Now, would you mind going down and fetching
• 2:03:07
  Speaker 1: that poor little devil of a terrier, which has been
• 2:03:10
  Speaker 1: bad so long, and which the landlady wanted you to
• 2:03:12
  Speaker 1: put out of its pain? Yesterday? I went downstairs and
• 2:03:17
  Speaker 1: carried the dog upstairs in my arms. Its labored breathing
• 2:03:21
  Speaker 1: and glazing eye showed that it was not far from
• 2:03:23
  Speaker 1: its end. Indeed, its snow white muzzle proclaimed that it
• 2:03:28
  Speaker 1: had already exceeded the usual term of canine existence. I
• 2:03:32
  Speaker 1: placed it upon a cushion on the rug. I will
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 1: now cut one of these pills in two, said Holmes,
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: and drawing his penknife, he suited the action to the word.
• 2:03:43
  Speaker 1: One half we return into the box for future purposes.
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 1: The other half I will place in this wine glass,
• 2:03:50
  Speaker 1: in which is a teaspoonful of water. You perceive that
• 2:03:54
  Speaker 1: our friend the doctor, is right, and that it readily dissolves.
• 2:03:59
  Speaker 1: This be very interesting, said Lestrade, in the injured tone
• 2:04:03
  Speaker 1: of one who suspects that he is being laughed at.
• 2:04:06
  Speaker 1: I cannot see, however, what it has to do with
• 2:04:09
  Speaker 1: the death of mister Joseph Stangerson. Patience, my friend, patience,
• 2:04:15
  Speaker 1: you will find in time that it has everything to
• 2:04:17
  Speaker 1: do with it. I shall now add a little milk
• 2:04:20
  Speaker 1: to make the mixture palatable, and on presenting it to
• 2:04:23
  Speaker 1: the dog, we find that he laps it up readily enough.
• 2:04:28
  Speaker 1: As he spoke, he turned the contents of the wine
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 1: glass into a saucer and placed it in front of
• 2:04:33
  Speaker 1: the terrier, who speedily licked it dry. Sherlock Holmes's earnest
• 2:04:38
  Speaker 1: demeanor had so far convinced us that we all sat
• 2:04:41
  Speaker 1: in silence, watching the animal intently and expecting some startling effect.
• 2:04:48
  Speaker 1: None such appeared. However, the dog continued to lie stretched
• 2:04:52
  Speaker 1: upon the cushion, breathing in a labored way, but apparently
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 1: neither the better nor the worse for its draft. Holmes
• 2:04:59
  Speaker 1: had take out his watch, and as minute followed minute
• 2:05:02
  Speaker 1: without result, an expression of the utmost chagrin and disappointment
• 2:05:07
  Speaker 1: appeared upon his features. He gnawed his lip, drummed his
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 1: fingers upon the table, and showed every other symptom of
• 2:05:15
  Speaker 1: acute impatience. So great was his emotion that I felt
• 2:05:19
  Speaker 1: sincerely sorry for him. While the two detectives smiled derisively
• 2:05:24
  Speaker 1: by no means, displeased at this check which he had met.
• 2:05:29
  Speaker 1: It can't be a coincidence, he cried at last, springing
• 2:05:32
  Speaker 1: from his chair and pacing wildly up and down the room.
• 2:05:36
  Speaker 1: It is impossible that it should be a mere coincidence.
• 2:05:39
  Speaker 1: The very pills which I suspected in the case of
• 2:05:42
  Speaker 1: Drebber are actually found after the death of Stangerson, and
• 2:05:47
  Speaker 1: yet they are inert. What can it mean? Surely my
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 1: whole chain of reasoning cannot have been false. It is impossible,
• 2:05:57
  Speaker 1: and yet this wretched dog is none the worse. Ah,
• 2:06:01
  Speaker 1: I have it. I have it. With a perfect shriek
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: of delight, he rushed to the box, cut the other
• 2:06:07
  Speaker 1: pill in two, dissolved it, added milk, and presented it
• 2:06:11
  Speaker 1: to the terrier. The unfortunate creature's tongue seemed hardly to
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 1: have been moistened in it before. It gave a convulsive
• 2:06:19
  Speaker 1: shiver in every limb, and lay as rigid and lifeless
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 1: as if it had been struck by lightning. Sherlock Holmes
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 1: drew a long breath and wiped the perspiration from his forehead.
• 2:06:32
  Speaker 1: I should have more faith, he said, I ought to
• 2:06:35
  Speaker 1: know by this time that when a fact appears to
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 1: be opposed to a long train of deductions, it invariably
• 2:06:41
  Speaker 1: proves to be capable of bearing some other interpretation. Of
• 2:06:45
  Speaker 1: the two pills in that box, one was of the
• 2:06:47
  Speaker 1: most deadly poison, and the other was entirely harmless. I
• 2:06:52
  Speaker 1: ought to have known that before I ever saw the
• 2:06:54
  Speaker 1: box at all. This last statement appeared to me to
• 2:06:58
  Speaker 1: be so startling that I could hardly believed that he was,
• 2:07:01
  Speaker 1: in his sober senses, there was the dead dog. However,
• 2:07:05
  Speaker 1: to prove that his conjectures had been correct. It seemed
• 2:07:09
  Speaker 1: to me that the mists in my own mind were
• 2:07:11
  Speaker 1: gradually clearing away, and I began to have a dim,
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 1: vague perception of the truth. All this seems strange to you,
• 2:07:20
  Speaker 1: continued Holmes, because you failed, at the beginning of the
• 2:07:23
  Speaker 1: inquiry to grasp the importance of the single real clue
• 2:07:27
  Speaker 1: which was presented to you. I had the good fortune
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 1: to seize upon that, and everything which has occurred since
• 2:07:33
  Speaker 1: then has served to confirm my original supposition, and indeed
• 2:07:39
  Speaker 1: was the logical sequence of it. Hence, things which have
• 2:07:43
  Speaker 1: perplexed you and made the case more obscure have served
• 2:07:46
  Speaker 1: to enlighten me and to strengthen my conclusions. It is
• 2:07:50
  Speaker 1: a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery. The most commonplace
• 2:07:54
  Speaker 1: crime is often the most mysterious because it presents no
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 1: new or special features from which deductions may be drawn.
• 2:08:02
  Speaker 1: This murder would have been infinitely more difficult to unravel
• 2:08:06
  Speaker 1: had the body of the victim been simply found lying
• 2:08:08
  Speaker 1: in the roadway without any of these utre and sensational
• 2:08:13
  Speaker 1: accompaniments which have rendered it remarkable. These strange details, far
• 2:08:18
  Speaker 1: from making the case more difficult, have really had the
• 2:08:22
  Speaker 1: effect of making it less. So mister Gregson, who had
• 2:08:26
  Speaker 1: listened to this address with considerable impatience, could contain himself
• 2:08:31
  Speaker 1: no longer. Look here, mister Sherlock Holmes, he said, We're
• 2:08:36
  Speaker 1: all ready to acknowledge that you are a smart man,
• 2:08:39
  Speaker 1: and you have your own methods of work in we
• 2:08:41
  Speaker 1: want something more more than theory and preaching. Now, though
• 2:08:45
  Speaker 1: it's a case of taking the man. I have made
• 2:08:48
  Speaker 1: my case out, and it seems I was wrong. Young
• 2:08:52
  Speaker 1: Charpentier could not have been engaged in this second affair.
• 2:08:56
  Speaker 1: Lestrade went after his man Stangerson, and it appears that
• 2:09:00
  Speaker 1: he was wrong too. You've thrown out ins here and
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 1: ince there, and seem to know more than we do.
• 2:09:06
  Speaker 1: But the time has come when we feel that we
• 2:09:08
  Speaker 1: have a right to ask you straight out how much
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 1: you do know of the business. Can you name the
• 2:09:14
  Speaker 1: man who did it? Ah? Can I help feeling that
• 2:09:18
  Speaker 1: Gregson is right, Sir, remarked Lestrade. We've both tried, and
• 2:09:23
  Speaker 1: we've both failed. You have remarked more than once since
• 2:09:26
  Speaker 1: I've been in the room, that you had all the
• 2:09:27
  Speaker 1: evidence which you require. Surely you're not withold it any longer.
• 2:09:33
  Speaker 1: Any delay in arresting the assassin, I observed, might give
• 2:09:37
  Speaker 1: him time to perpetrate some fresh atrocity. Thus pressed by us,
• 2:09:42
  Speaker 1: all Holmes showed signs of irresolution. He continued to walk
• 2:09:47
  Speaker 1: up and down the room, with his head sunk on
• 2:09:49
  Speaker 1: his chest and his brows drawn down, as was his
• 2:09:53
  Speaker 1: habit when lost in thought. There will be no more murders,
• 2:09:57
  Speaker 1: he said at last, stopping abruptly in facing us. You
• 2:10:01
  Speaker 1: can put that consideration out of the question. You have
• 2:10:05
  Speaker 1: asked me if I know the name of the assassin,
• 2:10:08
  Speaker 1: I do. The mere knowing of his name is a
• 2:10:11
  Speaker 1: small thing, however, compared with the power of laying our
• 2:10:15
  Speaker 1: hands upon him. This I expect very shortly to do.
• 2:10:20
  Speaker 1: I have good hopes of managing it through my own arrangements.
• 2:10:24
  Speaker 1: But it is a thing which needs delicate handling. For
• 2:10:27
  Speaker 1: we have a shrewd and desperate man to deal with,
• 2:10:29
  Speaker 1: who is supported, as I have had occasion to prove
• 2:10:32
  Speaker 1: by another, who is as clever as himself. As long
• 2:10:36
  Speaker 1: as this man has no idea that any one can
• 2:10:38
  Speaker 1: have a clue, there is some chance of securing him.
• 2:10:42
  Speaker 1: But if he had the slightest suspicion, he would change
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 1: his name and vanish in an instant among the four
• 2:10:47
  Speaker 1: million inhabitants of this great city. Without meaning to hurt
• 2:10:51
  Speaker 1: either of your feelings, I am bound to say that
• 2:10:54
  Speaker 1: I consider these men to be more than a match
• 2:10:56
  Speaker 1: for the official force, and that is why I have
• 2:10:59
  Speaker 1: not asked you your assistance. If I fail, I shall
• 2:11:03
  Speaker 1: of course incur all the blame due to this omission.
• 2:11:06
  Speaker 1: But that I am prepared for at present. I am
• 2:11:10
  Speaker 1: ready to promise that the instant that I can communicate
• 2:11:13
  Speaker 1: with you without endangering my own combinations, I shall do so.
• 2:11:19
  Speaker 1: Gregson and Lestrade seem to be far from satisfied by
• 2:11:22
  Speaker 1: this assurance or by the depreciating allusion to the detective police.
• 2:11:28
  Speaker 1: The former had flushed up to the roots of his
• 2:11:30
  Speaker 1: flaxen hair, while the other's beady eyes glistened with curiosity
• 2:11:34
  Speaker 1: and resentment. Neither of them had time to speak, however,
• 2:11:38
  Speaker 1: before there was a tap at the door, and the
• 2:11:40
  Speaker 1: spokesman of the street arabs. Young Wiggins introduced his insignificant
• 2:11:45
  Speaker 1: and unsavory person. Play Sir, he said, touching his forelock.
• 2:11:51
  Speaker 1: I have the cab downstairs, Good boy, said Holmes, blandly.
• 2:11:56
  Speaker 1: Why don't you introduce this patent at Scotland Yard, he continued,
• 2:12:00
  Speaker 1: taking a pair of steel handcuffs from a drawer. See
• 2:12:03
  Speaker 1: how beautifully the spring works. They fasten in an instant.
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 1: The old pattern is good enough, remarked Lestrade. If we
• 2:12:11
  Speaker 1: can only find a man to put him on. Very good,
• 2:12:15
  Speaker 1: very good, said Holmes, smiling. The cabman may as well
• 2:12:18
  Speaker 1: help me with my boxes. Just ask him to step up. Wiggins,
• 2:12:23
  Speaker 1: I was surprised to find my companion speaking as though
• 2:12:26
  Speaker 1: he were about to set out on a journey, since
• 2:12:28
  Speaker 1: he had not said anything to me about it. There
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 1: was a small portmanteau in the room, and this he
• 2:12:34
  Speaker 1: pulled out and began to strap. He was busily engaged
• 2:12:38
  Speaker 1: at it when the cabman entered the room. Just give
• 2:12:41
  Speaker 1: me a help with this buckle, cabman, he said, kneeling
• 2:12:44
  Speaker 1: over his task and never turning his head. The fellow
• 2:12:48
  Speaker 1: came forward with a somewhat sullen, defiant air, and put
• 2:12:52
  Speaker 1: down his hands to assist. At that instant, there was
• 2:12:56
  Speaker 1: a sharp click, the jangling of metal and shull. Holmes
• 2:13:00
  Speaker 1: sprang to his feet again. Gentlemen, he cried, with flashing eyes,
• 2:13:05
  Speaker 1: Let me introduce you to mister Jefferson Hope, the murderer
• 2:13:10
  Speaker 1: of Enoch Drebber and of Joseph Stangerson. The whole thing
• 2:13:15
  Speaker 1: occurred in a moment so quickly that I had no
• 2:13:19
  Speaker 1: time to realize it. I have a vivid recollection of
• 2:13:22
  Speaker 1: that instant, of Holmes's triumphant expression and the ring of
• 2:13:26
  Speaker 1: his voice, of the cabman's dazed, savage face as he
• 2:13:30
  Speaker 1: glared at the glittering handcuffs which had appeared, as if
• 2:13:33
  Speaker 1: by magic, upon his wrists. For a second or two
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 1: he might have been a group of statues. Then, with
• 2:13:39
  Speaker 1: an inarticulate roar of fury, the prisoner wrenched himself free.
• 2:13:43
  Speaker 1: From Holmes's grasp and hurled himself through the window. Woodwork
• 2:13:47
  Speaker 1: and glass gave way before him. But before he got
• 2:13:51
  Speaker 1: quite through, Gregson, Lestrade, and Holmes sprang upon him like
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 1: so many staghounds. He was dragged back into the room,
• 2:13:59
  Speaker 1: and then commenced a terrific conflict. So powerful and so
• 2:14:04
  Speaker 1: fierce was he that the four of us were shaken
• 2:14:06
  Speaker 1: off again and again. He appeared to have the convulsive
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 1: strength of a man in an epileptic fit. His face
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 1: and hands were terribly mangled by his passage through the glass.
• 2:14:17
  Speaker 1: The loss of blood had no effect in diminishing his resistance.
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 1: It was not until Lestrade succeeded in getting his hand
• 2:14:24
  Speaker 1: inside his neckcloth and half strangling him that we made
• 2:14:28
  Speaker 1: him realize that his struggles were of no avail. And
• 2:14:32
  Speaker 1: even then we felt no security until we had pinioned
• 2:14:35
  Speaker 1: his feet as well as his hands. That done, we
• 2:14:38
  Speaker 1: rose to our feet, breathless and panting. We have his cab,
• 2:14:44
  Speaker 1: said Sherlock Holmes. It will serve to take him to
• 2:14:47
  Speaker 1: Scotland Yard. And now, gentlemen, he continued, with a pleasant smile,
• 2:14:52
  Speaker 1: we have reached the end of our little mystery. You
• 2:14:55
  Speaker 1: are very welcome to put any questions that you like
• 2:14:58
  Speaker 1: to me now, and there is no no danger that
• 2:15:01
  Speaker 1: I will refuse to answer them. End of Chapter seven
• 2:15:06
  Speaker 1: and Part one, Part two. The Country of the Saints.
• 2:15:13
  Speaker 1: Chapter one. On the Great Alkali Plain, in the central
• 2:15:19
  Speaker 1: portion of the Great North American continent, there lies an
• 2:15:22
  Speaker 1: arid and repulsive desert which, for many a long year
• 2:15:26
  Speaker 1: served as a barrier against the advance of civilization. From
• 2:15:29
  Speaker 1: the Sierra Nevada to Nebraska, and from the Yellowstone River
• 2:15:33
  Speaker 1: in the north to the Colorado upon the south, is
• 2:15:36
  Speaker 1: a region of desolation and silence. Nor is nature always
• 2:15:41
  Speaker 1: in one mood throughout this grim district. It comprises snow
• 2:15:45
  Speaker 1: capped and lofty mountains and dark and gloomy valleys. There
• 2:15:50
  Speaker 1: are swift flowing rivers which dash through jagged canyons, and
• 2:15:54
  Speaker 1: there are enormous plains which in winter are white with snow,
• 2:15:58
  Speaker 1: and in summer are gray with the saline alkali dust.
• 2:16:02
  Speaker 1: They all preserve, however, the common characteristics of barrenness, in hospitality,
• 2:16:08
  Speaker 1: and misery. There are no inhabitants of this land of despair.
• 2:16:13
  Speaker 1: A band of poornees or of blackfeet may occasionally traverse
• 2:16:17
  Speaker 1: it in order to reach other hunting grounds. But the
• 2:16:20
  Speaker 1: hardiest of the braves are glad to lose sight of
• 2:16:23
  Speaker 1: those awesome plains and to find themselves once more upon
• 2:16:27
  Speaker 1: their prairies. The coyote skulks among the scrub, the buzzard
• 2:16:33
  Speaker 1: flaps heavily through the air, and the clumsy grizzly bear
• 2:16:36
  Speaker 1: lumbers through the dark ravines and picks up such sustenance
• 2:16:40
  Speaker 1: as it can amongst the rocks. These are the sole
• 2:16:44
  Speaker 1: dwellers in the wilderness. In the whole world, there can
• 2:16:48
  Speaker 1: be no more dreary view than that from the northern
• 2:16:51
  Speaker 1: slope of the Sierra Blanco. As far as the eye
• 2:16:54
  Speaker 1: can reach, stretches the great flat plain land, all dusted
• 2:16:58
  Speaker 1: over with patches of valve calli and intersected by clumps
• 2:17:02
  Speaker 1: of the dwarfish chaparral bushes. On the extreme verge of
• 2:17:06
  Speaker 1: the horizon lie a long chain of mountain peaks, with
• 2:17:10
  Speaker 1: their rugged summits flecked with snow. In this great stretch
• 2:17:14
  Speaker 1: of country, there is no sign of life, nor of
• 2:17:17
  Speaker 1: anything appertaining to life. There is no bird in the
• 2:17:21
  Speaker 1: steel blue heaven, no movement upon the dull, gray earth.
• 2:17:25
  Speaker 1: Above all, there is absolute silence. Listeners, one may there
• 2:17:31
  Speaker 1: is no shadow of a sound in all that mighty wilderness,
• 2:17:35
  Speaker 1: nothing but silence, complete and heart subduing silence. It has
• 2:17:43
  Speaker 1: been said there is nothing appertaining to life upon the
• 2:17:46
  Speaker 1: broad plain. That is hardly true. Looking down from the
• 2:17:51
  Speaker 1: Sierra Blanco, one sees a pathway traced out across the desert,
• 2:17:55
  Speaker 1: which winds away and is lost in the extreme distance.
• 2:17:59
  Speaker 1: It is rutted with wheels and trodden down by the
• 2:18:01
  Speaker 1: feet of many adventurers. Here and there there are scattered
• 2:18:05
  Speaker 1: white objects which glisten in the sun and stand out
• 2:18:08
  Speaker 1: against the dull deposit of alkali. Approach and examine them.
• 2:18:13
  Speaker 1: They are bones, some large and coarse, others smaller and
• 2:18:18
  Speaker 1: more delicate. The former have belonged to Oxen, and the
• 2:18:21
  Speaker 1: latter to men. For fifteen hundred miles, one may trace
• 2:18:26
  Speaker 1: this ghastly caravan route by these scattered remains of those
• 2:18:31
  Speaker 1: who had fallen by the wayside. Looking down on this
• 2:18:35
  Speaker 1: very scene, there stood upon the fourth of May eighteen
• 2:18:39
  Speaker 1: hundred and forty seven, a solitary traveler. His appearance was
• 2:18:45
  Speaker 1: such that he might have been the very genius sword
• 2:18:47
  Speaker 1: demon of the region. An observer would have found it
• 2:18:51
  Speaker 1: difficult to say whether he was nearer to forty or
• 2:18:53
  Speaker 1: to sixty. His face was lean and haggard, and the
• 2:18:57
  Speaker 1: brown parchment like skin was drawn highly over the projecting bones.
• 2:19:02
  Speaker 1: His long brown hair and beard were all flecked and
• 2:19:06
  Speaker 1: dashed with white. His eyes were sunken in his head
• 2:19:10
  Speaker 1: and burned with an unnatural luster, while the hand which
• 2:19:14
  Speaker 1: grasped his rifle was hardly more fleshy than that of
• 2:19:17
  Speaker 1: a skeleton. As he stood, he leaned upon his weapon
• 2:19:22
  Speaker 1: for support. And yet his tall figure and the massive
• 2:19:25
  Speaker 1: framework of his bones suggested a wiry and vigorous constitution.
• 2:19:31
  Speaker 1: His gaunt face, however, and his clothes, which hung so
• 2:19:34
  Speaker 1: baggily over his shriveled limbs, proclaimed what it was that
• 2:19:38
  Speaker 1: gave him that senile and decrepit appearance. The man was dying,
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 1: dying from hunger and from thirst. He had toiled painfully
• 2:19:49
  Speaker 1: down the ravine and on to this little elevation in
• 2:19:52
  Speaker 1: the vain hope of seeing some signs of water. Now,
• 2:19:57
  Speaker 1: the great salt plains stretched before his eyes, and the
• 2:20:00
  Speaker 1: distant belt of savage mountains without a sign anywhere of
• 2:20:04
  Speaker 1: plant or tree which might indicate the presence of moisture.
• 2:20:10
  Speaker 1: In all that broad landscape, there was no gleam of
• 2:20:13
  Speaker 1: hope north and east and west. He looked with wild,
• 2:20:18
  Speaker 1: questioning eyes, and then he realized that his wanderings had
• 2:20:22
  Speaker 1: come to an end, and that there on that barren
• 2:20:26
  Speaker 1: crag he was about to die? Why not here as
• 2:20:32
  Speaker 1: well as in a feather bed twenty years? Hence, he
• 2:20:35
  Speaker 1: muttered as he seated himself in the shelter of a boulder.
• 2:20:39
  Speaker 1: Before sitting down, he had deposited upon the ground his
• 2:20:42
  Speaker 1: useless rifle, and also a large bundle tied up in
• 2:20:46
  Speaker 1: a gray shawl, which he had carried slung over his
• 2:20:49
  Speaker 1: right shoulder. It appeared to be somewhat too heavy for
• 2:20:53
  Speaker 1: his strength, for in lowering it it came down the
• 2:20:57
  Speaker 1: ground with some little violence. Instantly there broke from the
• 2:21:01
  Speaker 1: gray parcel a little moaning cry, and from it protruded
• 2:21:06
  Speaker 1: a small, scared face with very bright brown eyes and
• 2:21:11
  Speaker 1: two little speckled, dimpled fists. You've hurt me, said a
• 2:21:16
  Speaker 1: childish voice, reproachfully, have I? Though the man answered penitently,
• 2:21:22
  Speaker 1: I didn't go for to do it. As he spoke,
• 2:21:25
  Speaker 1: he unwrapped the gray shawl and extricated a pretty little
• 2:21:28
  Speaker 1: girl of about five years of age, whose dainty shoes
• 2:21:33
  Speaker 1: and smart pink frock with its little linen apron all
• 2:21:36
  Speaker 1: bespoke a mother's care. The child was pale and one,
• 2:21:41
  Speaker 1: but her healthy arms and legs showed that she had
• 2:21:43
  Speaker 1: suffered less than her companion. How is it now, he
• 2:21:48
  Speaker 1: answered anxiously, for she was still rubbing the towsy golden
• 2:21:52
  Speaker 1: curls which covered the back of her head. Kiss it
• 2:21:56
  Speaker 1: and make it well, she said, with perfect gravity, shoving
• 2:22:00
  Speaker 1: the injured part up to him. That's what mother used
• 2:22:04
  Speaker 1: to do. Where's mother? Mother's gone? I guess you'll see
• 2:22:09
  Speaker 1: her before long gone, eh, said the little girl. Funny
• 2:22:16
  Speaker 1: she didn't say goodbye. She most always did if she
• 2:22:20
  Speaker 1: was just going over to Auntie's for tea, And now
• 2:22:23
  Speaker 1: she's been away three days. Say it's awful dry, ain't it?
• 2:22:29
  Speaker 1: Ain't no nor water nor nothing to eat. No, there
• 2:22:33
  Speaker 1: ain't nothing, dearie. You'll just need to be patient awhile
• 2:22:38
  Speaker 1: and then you'll be all right. Put your head up,
• 2:22:40
  Speaker 1: Begin me like that again, and you'll feel bullier. It
• 2:22:44
  Speaker 1: ain't easy to talk when your lips is like leather.
• 2:22:47
  Speaker 1: But I guess i'd best let you know how the
• 2:22:49
  Speaker 1: cards lie. What's that? You got? Pretty things? Fine things,
• 2:22:55
  Speaker 1: cried the little girl, enthusiastically holding up two glittering fragments
• 2:22:59
  Speaker 1: of her. When we goes back to home, I'll give
• 2:23:03
  Speaker 1: them to my brother Bob. You'll see prettier things than
• 2:23:07
  Speaker 1: them soon, said the man, confidently. You just wait a bit.
• 2:23:12
  Speaker 1: I was going to tell you though. You remember when
• 2:23:15
  Speaker 1: we left the river? Oh, yes, well we reckon. We'd
• 2:23:19
  Speaker 1: strike another river soon, do you see? But there was
• 2:23:22
  Speaker 1: something wrong compasses or map or something. And it didn't
• 2:23:27
  Speaker 1: turn up. Water ran out, just except a little drop
• 2:23:30
  Speaker 1: for the likes of you, and and and you couldn't
• 2:23:35
  Speaker 1: wash yourself, interrupted his companion, gravely, staring up at his
• 2:23:39
  Speaker 1: grimy visage. No nor drink, and mister bender, he was
• 2:23:45
  Speaker 1: the first to go, And then Indian Pete, and then
• 2:23:48
  Speaker 1: Missus McGregor, and then Johnny Holnes and then Dearie your mother.
• 2:23:54
  Speaker 1: Then mother's a dead or too, cried the little girl,
• 2:23:57
  Speaker 1: dropping her face in a pinafore and sobbing bitter. Yes,
• 2:24:03
  Speaker 1: they all went except you and me. Then I thought
• 2:24:05
  Speaker 1: there was some chance of water in this direction, so
• 2:24:09
  Speaker 1: I heaved you over my shoulder and we tramped it together.
• 2:24:13
  Speaker 1: It don't seem as though we've improved matters. There's an
• 2:24:16
  Speaker 1: almighty small chance for us. Now do you mean are
• 2:24:20
  Speaker 1: we going to die too? Asked the child, checking her
• 2:24:24
  Speaker 1: sobs and raising her tear stained face. I guess that's
• 2:24:28
  Speaker 1: about the size of it. Why didn't you say so before,
• 2:24:33
  Speaker 1: she said, laughing gleefully. You gave me such a fright.
• 2:24:37
  Speaker 1: Why of course, Now, as long as we die, we'll
• 2:24:39
  Speaker 1: be with mother again. Yes you will, dearie, and you too.
• 2:24:45
  Speaker 1: I'll tell her how awful good you've been. I'll bet
• 2:24:48
  Speaker 1: she meets us at the door of heaven with a
• 2:24:50
  Speaker 1: big pitcher of water and a lot of buckwheat cakes,
• 2:24:54
  Speaker 1: hot and toasted on both sides, like Bob and me
• 2:24:57
  Speaker 1: was fond of How long will it be? First? I
• 2:25:01
  Speaker 1: don't know, not very long. The man's eyes were fixed
• 2:25:05
  Speaker 1: upon the northern horizon. In the blue vault of the heaven,
• 2:25:09
  Speaker 1: there had appeared three little specks, which increased in size
• 2:25:12
  Speaker 1: every moment. So rapidly did they approach. They speedily resolved
• 2:25:17
  Speaker 1: themselves into three large brown birds, which circled over the
• 2:25:21
  Speaker 1: heads of the two wanderers, and then settled upon some
• 2:25:24
  Speaker 1: rocks which overlooked them. They were buzzards, the vultures of
• 2:25:29
  Speaker 1: the west, whose coming as the forerunner of death. Cocks
• 2:25:34
  Speaker 1: and hens, cried the little girl, gleefully, pointing at their
• 2:25:37
  Speaker 1: ill omened forms and clapping her hands to make them rise.
• 2:25:41
  Speaker 1: Say did God make this country? In course he did,
• 2:25:46
  Speaker 1: said her companion, rather startled by this unexpected question. He
• 2:25:51
  Speaker 1: made the country down in Illinois, and he made the Missouri.
• 2:25:55
  Speaker 1: Little girl continued, I guess somebody else made the country
• 2:26:00
  Speaker 1: in these parts. It's not nearly so well done. They
• 2:26:04
  Speaker 1: forgot the water and the trees. What would you think
• 2:26:08
  Speaker 1: of offering up prayer, the man asked, diffidently. It ain't night yet,
• 2:26:14
  Speaker 1: She answered, it don't matter. It ain't quite regular, but
• 2:26:19
  Speaker 1: he won't mind that. You bet you say over them
• 2:26:22
  Speaker 1: ones that you used to say every night in the
• 2:26:24
  Speaker 1: wagon when we is on the plains. Why don't you
• 2:26:28
  Speaker 1: say some yourself, the child asked, with wondering eyes. I
• 2:26:33
  Speaker 1: disremember them, he answered, I hain't said none since I
• 2:26:38
  Speaker 1: was half the hide of that gun. I guess it's
• 2:26:41
  Speaker 1: never too late. You say them out, and I'll stand
• 2:26:44
  Speaker 1: by and come in on the choruses. Then you'll need
• 2:26:48
  Speaker 1: to kneel down, and me too, she said, laying the
• 2:26:51
  Speaker 1: shawl out for that purpose. You got to put your
• 2:26:54
  Speaker 1: hands up like this. It makes you feel kind of good.
• 2:26:59
  Speaker 1: It was a strange sight, had there been anything but
• 2:27:01
  Speaker 1: the buzzers to see it. Side by side on the
• 2:27:04
  Speaker 1: narrow shawl knelt the two wanderers, the little prattling child
• 2:27:09
  Speaker 1: and the reckless, hardened adventurer. Her chubby face and his
• 2:27:13
  Speaker 1: haggard angular visage, were both turned up to the cloudless
• 2:27:17
  Speaker 1: heaven in heartfelt entreaty to that dread being with whom
• 2:27:21
  Speaker 1: they were face to face. While the two voices, the
• 2:27:25
  Speaker 1: one thin and clear, the other deep and harsh, united
• 2:27:29
  Speaker 1: in the entreaty for mercy and forgiveness. The prayer finished,
• 2:27:35
  Speaker 1: they resumed their seat in the shadow of the boulder,
• 2:27:37
  Speaker 1: until the child fell asleep, nestling upon the broad breast
• 2:27:40
  Speaker 1: of her protector. He watched over her slumber for some time,
• 2:27:45
  Speaker 1: but nature proved to be too strong for him. For
• 2:27:49
  Speaker 1: three days and three nights he had allowed himself neither
• 2:27:52
  Speaker 1: rest nor repose. Slowly, the eyelids drooped over the tired eyes,
• 2:27:58
  Speaker 1: and the head sunk lower and lower upon the breast,
• 2:28:03
  Speaker 1: until the man's grizzled beard was mixed with the gold
• 2:28:06
  Speaker 1: tresses of his companion, and both slept the same deep
• 2:28:10
  Speaker 1: and dreamless slumber. Had the wanderer remained awake for another
• 2:28:15
  Speaker 1: half hour, a strange sight would have met his eyes.
• 2:28:20
  Speaker 1: Far away, on the extreme verge of the alkali plane,
• 2:28:24
  Speaker 1: there rose up a little spray of dust, very slight
• 2:28:27
  Speaker 1: at first and hardly to be distinguished from the mists
• 2:28:30
  Speaker 1: of the distance, but gradually growing higher and broader until
• 2:28:34
  Speaker 1: it formed a solid, well defined cloud. This cloud continued
• 2:28:39
  Speaker 1: to increase in size until it became evident that it
• 2:28:42
  Speaker 1: could only be raised by a great multitude of moving creatures.
• 2:28:46
  Speaker 1: In more fertile spots, the observer would have come to
• 2:28:50
  Speaker 1: the conclusion that one of these great herds of bisons
• 2:28:53
  Speaker 1: which graze upon the prairie land, was approaching him. This
• 2:28:57
  Speaker 1: was obviously impossible in these arid whiles. As the whirl
• 2:29:01
  Speaker 1: of dust grew nearer to the solitary bluff upon which
• 2:29:03
  Speaker 1: the two castaways were reposing, the canvas covered tilts of
• 2:29:08
  Speaker 1: wagons and the figures of armed horsemen began to show
• 2:29:11
  Speaker 1: up through the haze, and the apparition revealed itself as
• 2:29:16
  Speaker 1: being a great caravan upon its journey for the west.
• 2:29:21
  Speaker 1: But what a caravan. When the head of it had
• 2:29:24
  Speaker 1: reached the base of the mountains, the rear was not
• 2:29:27
  Speaker 1: yet visible on the horizon. Right across the enormous plain
• 2:29:32
  Speaker 1: stretched the straggling array wagons and carts, men on horseback
• 2:29:37
  Speaker 1: and men on foot, innumerable women who staggered along under burdens,
• 2:29:43
  Speaker 1: and children who toddled beside the wagons or peeped out
• 2:29:46
  Speaker 1: from under the white coverings. This was evidently no ordinary
• 2:29:51
  Speaker 1: party of immigrants, but rather some nomad people who had
• 2:29:55
  Speaker 1: been compelled from stress of circumstances to seek themselves and
• 2:29:59
  Speaker 1: new country. There rose through the clear air a confused
• 2:30:04
  Speaker 1: clattering and rumbling from this great mass of humanity, With
• 2:30:08
  Speaker 1: the creaking of wheels and the neighing of horses. Loud
• 2:30:13
  Speaker 1: as it was, it was not sufficient to rouse the
• 2:30:16
  Speaker 1: two tired wayfarers above them. At the head of the
• 2:30:20
  Speaker 1: column there rode a score or more of grave, iron
• 2:30:23
  Speaker 1: faced men, clad in somber homespun garments and armed with rifles.
• 2:30:29
  Speaker 1: On reaching the base of the bluff, they halted and
• 2:30:32
  Speaker 1: held a short council among themselves. The wells are to
• 2:30:36
  Speaker 1: the right. My brothers, said one, a hard lipped, clean
• 2:30:40
  Speaker 1: shaven man with grizzly hair. To the right of the
• 2:30:43
  Speaker 1: Sierra Blanco. So we shall reach the Rio Grande, said another.
• 2:30:49
  Speaker 1: Fear not for water, cried a third. He who could
• 2:30:52
  Speaker 1: draw it from the rocks, will not now abandon his
• 2:30:55
  Speaker 1: own chosen people. Amen, Amen, rep bonded the whole party.
• 2:31:02
  Speaker 1: They were about to resume their journey when one of
• 2:31:05
  Speaker 1: the youngest and keenest eyed uttered an exclamation and pointed
• 2:31:10
  Speaker 1: up at the rugged crag above them. From its summit
• 2:31:14
  Speaker 1: there fluttered a little wisp of pink, showing up hard
• 2:31:17
  Speaker 1: and bright against the gray rocks behind. At the sight,
• 2:31:21
  Speaker 1: there was a general reining up of horses and unslinging
• 2:31:24
  Speaker 1: of guns, while fresh horsemen came galloping up to reinforce
• 2:31:28
  Speaker 1: the vanguard. The word redskins was on every lip. There
• 2:31:34
  Speaker 1: can't be any number of engines here, said the elderly
• 2:31:37
  Speaker 1: man who appeared to be in command. We have passed
• 2:31:40
  Speaker 1: the Pawnees, and there are no other tribes until we
• 2:31:43
  Speaker 1: crossed the great mountains. Shall I go forward and see,
• 2:31:47
  Speaker 1: brother Stangerson, asked one of the band and I and
• 2:31:52
  Speaker 1: I cried a dozen voices. Leave your horses below, and
• 2:31:57
  Speaker 1: we will await you here, the elder answered. Moment the
• 2:32:01
  Speaker 1: young fellows had dismounted, fastened their horses, and were ascending
• 2:32:05
  Speaker 1: the precipitous slope which led up to the object which
• 2:32:08
  Speaker 1: had excited their curiosity. They advanced rapidly and noiselessly, with
• 2:32:14
  Speaker 1: the confidence and dexterity of practiced scouts. The watchers from
• 2:32:18
  Speaker 1: the plain below could see them flip from rock to
• 2:32:20
  Speaker 1: rock until their figures stood out against the skyline. The
• 2:32:25
  Speaker 1: young man who had first given the alarm was leading them.
• 2:32:28
  Speaker 1: Suddenly his followers saw him throw up his hands as
• 2:32:31
  Speaker 1: though overcome with astonishment, and on joining him, they were
• 2:32:34
  Speaker 1: affected in the same way by the sight which met
• 2:32:37
  Speaker 1: their eyes. On the little plateau which crowned the barren hill,
• 2:32:42
  Speaker 1: there stood a single giant boulder, And against this boulder
• 2:32:47
  Speaker 1: there lay a tall man, long bearded and hard featured,
• 2:32:51
  Speaker 1: but of an excessive thinness. His placid face and regular
• 2:32:55
  Speaker 1: breathing showed that he was fast asleep. Beside him lay
• 2:33:00
  Speaker 1: a little child, with her round white arms encircling his brown,
• 2:33:04
  Speaker 1: sinewy neck, and her golden haired head resting upon the
• 2:33:09
  Speaker 1: breast of his velveteen tunic. Her rosy lips were parted,
• 2:33:14
  Speaker 1: showing the regular line of snow white teeth within, and
• 2:33:18
  Speaker 1: a playful smile played over her infantile features. Her plump,
• 2:33:22
  Speaker 1: little white legs terminating in white socks and neat shoes
• 2:33:26
  Speaker 1: with shining buckles, offered a strange contrast to the long,
• 2:33:31
  Speaker 1: shriveled members of her companion. On the ledge of rock,
• 2:33:35
  Speaker 1: above this strange couple there stood three solemn buzzards, who,
• 2:33:40
  Speaker 1: at the sight of the newcomers, uttered raucous screams of
• 2:33:43
  Speaker 1: disappointment and flapped sullenly away. The cries of the foul
• 2:33:48
  Speaker 1: birds awoke the two sleepers, who stared about them in bewilderment.
• 2:33:53
  Speaker 1: The man staggered to his feet and looked down upon
• 2:33:56
  Speaker 1: the plain which had been so desolate when sleep had
• 2:34:00
  Speaker 1: overtaken him, and which was now traversed by this enormous
• 2:34:04
  Speaker 1: body of men and of beasts. His face assumed an
• 2:34:08
  Speaker 1: expression of incredulity as he gazed, and he passed his
• 2:34:12
  Speaker 1: bony hand over his eyes. This is what they called delirium,
• 2:34:18
  Speaker 1: I guess, he muttered. The child stood beside him, holding
• 2:34:22
  Speaker 1: on to the skirt of his coat, and said nothing.
• 2:34:25
  Speaker 1: But looked all around her with the wondering, questioning gaze
• 2:34:29
  Speaker 1: of childhood. The rescuing party was speedily able to convince
• 2:34:34
  Speaker 1: the two castaways that their appearance was no delusion. One
• 2:34:38
  Speaker 1: of them seized the little girl and hoisted her upon
• 2:34:41
  Speaker 1: his shoulder, while two others supported her gaunt companion and
• 2:34:46
  Speaker 1: assisted him towards the wagons. My name is John Ferrier,
• 2:34:52
  Speaker 1: the wonderer, explained. Me and that little un are all
• 2:34:56
  Speaker 1: that's left to twenty one people. The rest is all dead,
• 2:34:59
  Speaker 1: athree erst and hunger way down in the south. Is
• 2:35:04
  Speaker 1: she your child? Asked some one. I guess she is now.
• 2:35:08
  Speaker 1: The other cried defiantly, she's mine because I saved her.
• 2:35:13
  Speaker 1: No man will take her from me. She's Lucy Ferrier
• 2:35:16
  Speaker 1: from this day on. Who are you? Though he continued
• 2:35:20
  Speaker 1: glancing with a curiosity at his stalwart, sunburned rescuers. There
• 2:35:25
  Speaker 1: seems to be a powerful lott ye nigh upon ten thousand,
• 2:35:30
  Speaker 1: said one of the young men. We are the persecuted
• 2:35:33
  Speaker 1: children of God, the chosen of the angel Moroner. I
• 2:35:37
  Speaker 1: never heard tell on him, said the wanderer. He appears
• 2:35:40
  Speaker 1: to have chosen a fair crowd. Are ye do not
• 2:35:44
  Speaker 1: jest at that which is sacred, said the other sternly,
• 2:35:47
  Speaker 1: we are of those who believe in those sacred writings
• 2:35:50
  Speaker 1: drawn in Egyptian letters on plates of beaten gold, which
• 2:35:54
  Speaker 1: were handed unto the Holy Joseph Smith at Palmyra. We
• 2:35:58
  Speaker 1: have come from Nauvoo, in the state of Illinois, where
• 2:36:02
  Speaker 1: we had founded our temple. We have come to seek
• 2:36:04
  Speaker 1: a refuge from the violent man and from the godless,
• 2:36:08
  Speaker 1: even though it be the heart of the desert. The
• 2:36:11
  Speaker 1: name of Navou evidently recalled recollections to John Ferrier. I see,
• 2:36:17
  Speaker 1: he said, you are the Mormons. We are the Mormons,
• 2:36:23
  Speaker 1: answered his companions with one voice, and where are you going?
• 2:36:29
  Speaker 1: We don't know. The hand of God is leading us
• 2:36:32
  Speaker 1: under the person of our prophet. You must come before him.
• 2:36:36
  Speaker 1: He shall say what is to be done with you.
• 2:36:39
  Speaker 1: They had reached the base of the hill by this
• 2:36:41
  Speaker 1: time and were surrounded by crowds of the pilgrims, pale faced,
• 2:36:45
  Speaker 1: meek looking women, strong laughing children, and anxious, earnest eyed men.
• 2:36:51
  Speaker 1: Many were the cries of astonishment and of commiseration which
• 2:36:54
  Speaker 1: arose from them when they perceived the youth of one
• 2:36:57
  Speaker 1: of the strangers and the destitution of the other. Their
• 2:37:02
  Speaker 1: escort did not halt, however, but pushed on, followed by
• 2:37:05
  Speaker 1: a great crowd of Mormons, until they reached a wagon
• 2:37:08
  Speaker 1: which was conspicuous for its great size and for the
• 2:37:12
  Speaker 1: gaudiness and smartness of its appearance. Six horses were yoked
• 2:37:17
  Speaker 1: to it, whereas the others were furnished with two or
• 2:37:20
  Speaker 1: at the most for a piece. Beside the driver there
• 2:37:24
  Speaker 1: sat a man who could not have been more than
• 2:37:25
  Speaker 1: thirty years of age, but whose massive head and resolute
• 2:37:29
  Speaker 1: expression marked him as a leader. He was reading a
• 2:37:34
  Speaker 1: brown backed volume, but as the crowd approached, he laid
• 2:37:38
  Speaker 1: it aside and listened attentively to an account of the episode.
• 2:37:43
  Speaker 1: Then he turned to the two castaways. If we'd take
• 2:37:47
  Speaker 1: you with us, he said, in solemn words, it can
• 2:37:51
  Speaker 1: only be as believers in our own creed, We shall
• 2:37:55
  Speaker 1: have no wolves in our fold. And better far that
• 2:37:58
  Speaker 1: your bones should bleach in this wilderness, then that you
• 2:38:02
  Speaker 1: should prove to be that little speck of decay which
• 2:38:05
  Speaker 1: in time corrupts the whole fruit. Will you come with
• 2:38:09
  Speaker 1: us on these terms? Guess I'll come with you on
• 2:38:13
  Speaker 1: any terms, said Ferrier, with such emphasis that the grave
• 2:38:17
  Speaker 1: elders could not restrain a smile. The leader alone retained
• 2:38:21
  Speaker 1: his stern, impressive expression. Take him, brother, Stangerson, he said,
• 2:38:29
  Speaker 1: give him food and drink, and the child likewise. Let
• 2:38:33
  Speaker 1: it be your task also to teach him our holy creed.
• 2:38:38
  Speaker 1: We have delayed long enough. Forward On on to Zion,
• 2:38:45
  Speaker 1: On on to Zion, cried the crowd of Mormons, and
• 2:38:50
  Speaker 1: the words rippled down the long caravan, passing from mouth
• 2:38:54
  Speaker 1: to mouth, until they died away in a dull murmur
• 2:38:57
  Speaker 1: in the far distance. With a cracking of whips and
• 2:39:01
  Speaker 1: the creaking of wheels, the great wagons got into motion,
• 2:39:05
  Speaker 1: and soon the whole caravan was winding along once more.
• 2:39:10
  Speaker 1: The elder, to whose care the two waifs had been committed,
• 2:39:13
  Speaker 1: led them to his wagon, where a meal was already
• 2:39:16
  Speaker 1: awaiting them. You shall remain here, he said, in a
• 2:39:21
  Speaker 1: few days you will have recovered from your fatigues. In
• 2:39:24
  Speaker 1: the meantime, remember that now and for ever you are
• 2:39:27
  Speaker 1: of our religion. Brigham Young has said it, and he
• 2:39:31
  Speaker 1: has spoken with the voice of Joseph Smith, which is
• 2:39:35
  Speaker 1: the voice of God. End of Chapter one, Book two,
• 2:39:42
  Speaker 1: Chapter two, The Flower of Utah. This is not the
• 2:39:48
  Speaker 1: place to commemorate the trials and privations endured by the
• 2:39:52
  Speaker 1: emigrant Mormons before they came to their final haven. From
• 2:39:56
  Speaker 1: the shores of the Mississippi to the western slopes of
• 2:39:59
  Speaker 1: the Rocky Mountains, they had struggled on with a constancy
• 2:40:03
  Speaker 1: almost unparalleled in history. The savage man and the savage beast, hunger, thirst, fatigue,
• 2:40:11
  Speaker 1: and disease. Every impediment which nature could place in the
• 2:40:15
  Speaker 1: way had all been overcome with Anglo Saxon tenacity. Yet
• 2:40:21
  Speaker 1: the long journey and the accumulated terrors had shaken the
• 2:40:24
  Speaker 1: hearts of the stoutest among them. There was not one
• 2:40:28
  Speaker 1: who did not sink upon his knees in heartfelt prayer
• 2:40:31
  Speaker 1: when they saw the broad Valley of Utah bathed in
• 2:40:35
  Speaker 1: the sunlight beneath them, and learned from the lips of
• 2:40:38
  Speaker 1: their leader that this was the promised land, and that
• 2:40:42
  Speaker 1: these virgin acres were to be theirs for evermore. Young
• 2:40:48
  Speaker 1: speedily proved himself to be a skillful administrator as well
• 2:40:52
  Speaker 1: as a resolute chief. Maps were drawn and charts prepared,
• 2:40:57
  Speaker 1: in which the future city was sketched out all around.
• 2:41:00
  Speaker 1: Farms were apportioned and allotted in proportion to the standing
• 2:41:04
  Speaker 1: of each individual. The tradesman was put to his trade,
• 2:41:08
  Speaker 1: and the artisan to his calling. In the town, streets
• 2:41:12
  Speaker 1: and squares sprang up as if by magic. In the
• 2:41:16
  Speaker 1: country there was draining and hedging, planting, and clearing, until
• 2:41:21
  Speaker 1: the next summer saw the whole country golden with the
• 2:41:23
  Speaker 1: wheat crop. Everything prospered in the strange settlement. Above all,
• 2:41:29
  Speaker 1: the great temple, which they had erected in the center
• 2:41:32
  Speaker 1: of the city, grew ever taller and larger. From the
• 2:41:36
  Speaker 1: first blush of dawn until the closing of the twilight.
• 2:41:39
  Speaker 1: The clatter of the hammer and the rasp of the
• 2:41:41
  Speaker 1: saw was never absent from the monument, which the immigrants
• 2:41:44
  Speaker 1: erected to him who had led them safe through many dangers.
• 2:41:50
  Speaker 1: The two castaways, John Ferrier, and the little girl who
• 2:41:53
  Speaker 1: had shared his fortunes and had been adopted as his daughter,
• 2:41:57
  Speaker 1: accompanied the Mormons to the end of their great pilgrimage.
• 2:42:01
  Speaker 1: Little Lucy Ferrier was borne along pleasantly enough in Elder
• 2:42:05
  Speaker 1: Stangerson's wagon, a retreat which she shared with the Mormon's
• 2:42:09
  Speaker 1: three wives and with his son, a headstrong, forward boy
• 2:42:12
  Speaker 1: of twelve. Having rallied with the elasticity of childhood, from
• 2:42:18
  Speaker 1: the shock caused by her mother's death. She soon became
• 2:42:21
  Speaker 1: a pet with the women and reconciled herself to this
• 2:42:24
  Speaker 1: new life in her moving canvas covered home. In the meantime, Ferrier,
• 2:42:30
  Speaker 1: having recovered from his privations, distinguished himself as a useful
• 2:42:34
  Speaker 1: guide and an indefatigable hunter. So rapidly did he gain
• 2:42:38
  Speaker 1: the esteem of his new companions, that when they reached
• 2:42:41
  Speaker 1: the end of their wonderings, it was unanimously agreed that
• 2:42:45
  Speaker 1: he should be provided with as large and as fertile
• 2:42:48
  Speaker 1: a tract of land as any of the settlers, with
• 2:42:51
  Speaker 1: the exception of young himself and of Stangerson, Campbell, Johnstone Andrebber,
• 2:42:57
  Speaker 1: who were the four principal elders on the farm thus acquired,
• 2:43:02
  Speaker 1: John Ferrier built himself a substantial log house, which received
• 2:43:06
  Speaker 1: so many additions in succeeding years that it grew into
• 2:43:09
  Speaker 1: a roomy villa. He was a man of a practical
• 2:43:13
  Speaker 1: turn of mind, keen in his dealings, and skillful with
• 2:43:16
  Speaker 1: his hands. His iron constitution enabled him to work morning
• 2:43:20
  Speaker 1: and evening at improving and tilling his lands. Hence it
• 2:43:24
  Speaker 1: came about that his farm and all that belonged to
• 2:43:27
  Speaker 1: him prospered exceedingly. In three years he was better off
• 2:43:32
  Speaker 1: than his neighbors. In six he was well to do,
• 2:43:36
  Speaker 1: in nine he was rich. And in twelve there were
• 2:43:40
  Speaker 1: not half a dozen men in the whole of Salt
• 2:43:42
  Speaker 1: Lake City who could compare with him. From the great
• 2:43:46
  Speaker 1: Inland Sea to the distant Warsatch Mountains, there was no
• 2:43:50
  Speaker 1: name better known than that of John Ferrier. There was
• 2:43:55
  Speaker 1: one way, and only one, in which he offended the
• 2:43:57
  Speaker 1: susceptibilities of his co religionists. No argument or persuasion could
• 2:44:02
  Speaker 1: ever induce him to set up a female establishment after
• 2:44:06
  Speaker 1: the manner of his companions. He never gave reasons for
• 2:44:09
  Speaker 1: this persistent refusal, but contented himself by resolutely and inflexibly
• 2:44:15
  Speaker 1: adhering to his determination. There were some who accused him
• 2:44:19
  Speaker 1: of lukewarmness in his adopted religion, and others who put
• 2:44:22
  Speaker 1: it down to greed of wealth and reluctance to incur expense.
• 2:44:27
  Speaker 1: Others again spoke of some early love affair, and of
• 2:44:30
  Speaker 1: a fair haired girl who had pined away on the
• 2:44:32
  Speaker 1: shores of the Atlantic. Whatever the reason, Ferrier remained strictly celibate.
• 2:44:39
  Speaker 1: In every other respect. He conformed to the religion of
• 2:44:41
  Speaker 1: the young settlement, and gained the name of being an
• 2:44:44
  Speaker 1: orthodox and straight walking man. Lucy Ferrier grew up within
• 2:44:49
  Speaker 1: the log house and assisted her adopted father in all
• 2:44:52
  Speaker 1: his undertakings. The keen air of the mountains and the
• 2:44:56
  Speaker 1: balsamic odor of the pine trees took the place of
• 2:44:59
  Speaker 1: nurse and mother to the young girl. As year succeeded
• 2:45:03
  Speaker 1: to year, she grew taller and stronger, her cheek more ruddy,
• 2:45:08
  Speaker 1: and her step more elastic. Many a wayfarer upon the
• 2:45:12
  Speaker 1: high road which ran by Ferrier's farm felt long forgotten
• 2:45:16
  Speaker 1: thoughts revive in their mind as they watched her little
• 2:45:20
  Speaker 1: girlish figure tripping through the wheat fields, or met her
• 2:45:23
  Speaker 1: mounted upon her father's mustang and managing it with all
• 2:45:26
  Speaker 1: the ease and grace of a true child of the West.
• 2:45:31
  Speaker 1: So the bud blossomed into a flower, and the year
• 2:45:35
  Speaker 1: which saw her father the richest of the farmers, left
• 2:45:38
  Speaker 1: her as fair a specimen of American girlhood as could
• 2:45:41
  Speaker 1: be found in the whole Pacific Slope. It was not
• 2:45:45
  Speaker 1: the father, however, who first discovered that the child had
• 2:45:48
  Speaker 1: developed into the woman. It seldom is in such cases
• 2:45:53
  Speaker 1: that mysterious change is too subtle and too gradual to
• 2:45:57
  Speaker 1: be measured by dates. Least of all does the maiden
• 2:46:00
  Speaker 1: herself know it until the tone of a voice or
• 2:46:03
  Speaker 1: the touch of a hand sets her heart thrilling within her,
• 2:46:07
  Speaker 1: and she learns, with a mixture of pride and of fear,
• 2:46:10
  Speaker 1: that anew and a larger nature has awoken within her.
• 2:46:14
  Speaker 1: There are few who cannot recall that day and remember
• 2:46:17
  Speaker 1: the one little incident which heralded the dawn of a
• 2:46:20
  Speaker 1: new life. In the case of Luciferia, the occasion was
• 2:46:24
  Speaker 1: serious enough in itself, apart from its future influence on
• 2:46:28
  Speaker 1: her destiny and that of many. Besides, it was a
• 2:46:33
  Speaker 1: warm June morning, and the latter day saints were as
• 2:46:36
  Speaker 1: busy as the bees, whose hive they have chosen for
• 2:46:38
  Speaker 1: their emblem. In the fields and in the streets rose
• 2:46:43
  Speaker 1: the same hum of human industry. Down the dusty high
• 2:46:47
  Speaker 1: roads defiled along streams of heavily laden mules, all heading
• 2:46:51
  Speaker 1: to the west, for the gold fever had broken out
• 2:46:53
  Speaker 1: in California, and the overland route lay through the city
• 2:46:57
  Speaker 1: of the elect There too were droves of sheep and
• 2:47:01
  Speaker 1: bullocks coming in from the outlying pasturelands, and trains of
• 2:47:05
  Speaker 1: tired immigrants, men and horses, equally weary of their interminable
• 2:47:09
  Speaker 1: journey through all this motley assemblage. Threading her way with
• 2:47:14
  Speaker 1: the skill of an accomplished rider, there galloped Lucy Ferrier,
• 2:47:19
  Speaker 1: her fair face flushed with the exercise and her long
• 2:47:22
  Speaker 1: chestnut hair floating out behind her. She had a commission
• 2:47:27
  Speaker 1: from her father in the city, and was dashing in
• 2:47:29
  Speaker 1: as she had done many a time before, with all
• 2:47:32
  Speaker 1: the fearlessness of youth, thinking only of her task and
• 2:47:36
  Speaker 1: how it was to be performed. The travel stained adventurers
• 2:47:40
  Speaker 1: gazed after her in astonishment, and even the unemotional Indians
• 2:47:45
  Speaker 1: journeying in with their pelties relaxed their accustomed stoicism as
• 2:47:49
  Speaker 1: they marveled at the beauty of the pale faced maiden.
• 2:47:54
  Speaker 1: She had reached the outskirts of the city when she
• 2:47:56
  Speaker 1: found the road blocked by a great drove of cattle
• 2:47:59
  Speaker 1: driven by a half dozen wild looking herdsmen from the plains.
• 2:48:03
  Speaker 1: In her impatience, she endeavored to pass this obstacle by
• 2:48:07
  Speaker 1: pushing her horse into what appeared to be a gap.
• 2:48:10
  Speaker 1: Scarcely had she got fairly into it, however, before the
• 2:48:13
  Speaker 1: beasts closed in behind her, and she found herself completely
• 2:48:17
  Speaker 1: embedded in the moving stream of fear sighed, long horned bullocks.
• 2:48:22
  Speaker 1: Accustomed as she was to deal with cattle, she was
• 2:48:25
  Speaker 1: not alarmed at her situation, but took advantage of every
• 2:48:29
  Speaker 1: opportunity to urge her horse on in the hopes of
• 2:48:31
  Speaker 1: pushing her way through the cavalcade. Unfortunately, the horns of
• 2:48:37
  Speaker 1: one of the creatures, either by accident or design, came
• 2:48:41
  Speaker 1: in violent contact with the flank of the mustang and
• 2:48:44
  Speaker 1: excited it to madness. In an instant, it reared up
• 2:48:48
  Speaker 1: upon its hind legs with a snort of rage, and
• 2:48:50
  Speaker 1: pranced and tossed in a way that would have unseated
• 2:48:53
  Speaker 1: any but a most skillful rider. The situation was full
• 2:48:57
  Speaker 1: of peril. Every plunge of the excite horse brought it
• 2:49:01
  Speaker 1: against the horns again and goaded it to fresh madness.
• 2:49:04
  Speaker 1: It was all that the girl could do to keep
• 2:49:06
  Speaker 1: herself in the saddle, yet a slip would mean a
• 2:49:09
  Speaker 1: terrible death under the hoofs of the unwieldy and terrified animals.
• 2:49:14
  Speaker 1: Unaccustomed to sudden emergencies, her head began to swim, and
• 2:49:18
  Speaker 1: her grip upon the bridle to relax. Choked by the
• 2:49:22
  Speaker 1: rising cloud of dust and by the steam from the
• 2:49:25
  Speaker 1: struggling creatures, she might have abandoned her efforts in despair,
• 2:49:29
  Speaker 1: but for a kindly voice at her elbow, which assured
• 2:49:33
  Speaker 1: her of assistance. At the same moment, a sinewy brown
• 2:49:37
  Speaker 1: hand caught the frightened horse by the curb, and, forcing
• 2:49:40
  Speaker 1: a way through the drove, soon brought her to the outskirts.
• 2:49:45
  Speaker 1: You're not heard, I hope, miss, said her preserver respectfully.
• 2:49:49
  Speaker 1: She looked up at his dark, fierce face and laughed saucily.
• 2:49:53
  Speaker 1: How awful frightened? She said, naively. Whoever would have thought
• 2:49:57
  Speaker 1: that Pancho would have been so scared by a lot
• 2:49:59
  Speaker 1: of cows? Thank God, you keep your seat, the other
• 2:50:03
  Speaker 1: said earnestly. He was a tall, savage looking young fellow,
• 2:50:08
  Speaker 1: mounted on a powerful roan horse and clad in the
• 2:50:11
  Speaker 1: rough dress of a hunter, with a long rifle slung
• 2:50:14
  Speaker 1: over his shoulders. I guess you are the daughter of
• 2:50:18
  Speaker 1: John Ferrier, he remarked. I saw you ride down from
• 2:50:22
  Speaker 1: his house. When you see him, ask him if he
• 2:50:26
  Speaker 1: remembers the Jefferson Hopes of Saint Louis. If he's the
• 2:50:30
  Speaker 1: same Ferrier. My father and he were pretty thick. Hadn't
• 2:50:35
  Speaker 1: you better come and ask yourself, she asked demurely. The
• 2:50:39
  Speaker 1: young fellow seemed pleased at the suggestion, and his dark
• 2:50:42
  Speaker 1: eyes sparkled with pleasure. I'll do so, he said. We've
• 2:50:47
  Speaker 1: been in the mountains for two months and are not
• 2:50:49
  Speaker 1: over and above in visiting condition. He must take us
• 2:50:52
  Speaker 1: as he finds us. He has a good deal to
• 2:50:55
  Speaker 1: thank you for, and so have I. She answered, he's
• 2:50:59
  Speaker 1: awful fun of me. If those cows had jumped on me,
• 2:51:03
  Speaker 1: he'd had never got over it. Neither would, I said
• 2:51:07
  Speaker 1: her companion. You, well, I don't see that. It wouldn't
• 2:51:12
  Speaker 1: make much matter to you anyhow, you ain't even a
• 2:51:15
  Speaker 1: friend of ours. The young hunter's dark face grew so
• 2:51:19
  Speaker 1: gloomy over this remark that Lucy Ferrier laughed aloud. There
• 2:51:23
  Speaker 1: I didn't mean that, she said. Of course you're a friend.
• 2:51:26
  Speaker 1: Now you must come and see us, And now I
• 2:51:29
  Speaker 1: must push along or father won't trust me with his
• 2:51:31
  Speaker 1: business any more. Goodbye, goodbye, he answered, raising his broad
• 2:51:37
  Speaker 1: sombrero and bending over her little hand, she wheeled her
• 2:51:42
  Speaker 1: mustang round and gave it a cut with her riding
• 2:51:44
  Speaker 1: whip and darted away down the broad road in a
• 2:51:47
  Speaker 1: rolling cloud of dust. Young Jefferson Hope rode on with
• 2:51:52
  Speaker 1: his companions, Gloomy and Taciturn. He and they had been
• 2:51:56
  Speaker 1: among the Nevada Mountains prospecting for silver, and were it
• 2:52:00
  Speaker 1: turning to Salt Lake City in the hope of raising
• 2:52:02
  Speaker 1: capital enough to work some loads which they had discovered.
• 2:52:06
  Speaker 1: He'd been as keen as any of them upon the
• 2:52:08
  Speaker 1: business until this sudden incident had drawn his thoughts into
• 2:52:11
  Speaker 1: another channel. The sight of the fair young girl, as
• 2:52:16
  Speaker 1: frank and wholesome as the Sierra breezes, had stirred his volcanic,
• 2:52:21
  Speaker 1: untamed heart to its very depths. When she had vanished
• 2:52:25
  Speaker 1: from his sight, he realized that a crisis had come
• 2:52:28
  Speaker 1: in his life, and that neither silver speculations nor any
• 2:52:32
  Speaker 1: other questions could ever be of such importance to him
• 2:52:36
  Speaker 1: as this new and all absorbing one. The love which
• 2:52:40
  Speaker 1: had sprung up in his heart was not the sudden,
• 2:52:42
  Speaker 1: changeable fancy of a boy, but rather the wild, fierce
• 2:52:47
  Speaker 1: passion of a man of strong will and imperious temper.
• 2:52:51
  Speaker 1: He had been accustomed to succeed in all that he undertook.
• 2:52:54
  Speaker 1: He swore in his heart that he would not fail
• 2:52:57
  Speaker 1: in this if human effort and human perseverance could render
• 2:53:02
  Speaker 1: him successful. He called on John Ferrier that night, and
• 2:53:07
  Speaker 1: many times again, until his face was a familiar one
• 2:53:10
  Speaker 1: at the farmhouse. John, cooped up in the valley and
• 2:53:14
  Speaker 1: absorbed in his work, had had little chance of learning
• 2:53:17
  Speaker 1: the news of the outside world during the last twelve years.
• 2:53:21
  Speaker 1: All this, Jefferson Hope was able to tell him, and
• 2:53:24
  Speaker 1: in a style which interested Lucy as well as her father.
• 2:53:28
  Speaker 1: He had been a pioneer in California and could narrate
• 2:53:31
  Speaker 1: many a strange tale of fortunes made and fortunes lost
• 2:53:35
  Speaker 1: in those wild halcyon days. He'd been a scout too,
• 2:53:39
  Speaker 1: and a trapper, a silver explorer, and a ranchman. Wherever
• 2:53:44
  Speaker 1: stirring adventures were to be had, Jefferson Hope had been
• 2:53:48
  Speaker 1: there in search of them. He soon became a favorite
• 2:53:51
  Speaker 1: with the old farmer, who spoke eloquently of his virtues
• 2:53:55
  Speaker 1: on such occasions. Lucy was silent, but her blushing cheek
• 2:54:00
  Speaker 1: and her bright, happy eyes showed only too clearly that
• 2:54:04
  Speaker 1: her young heart was no longer her own. Her honest
• 2:54:07
  Speaker 1: father may not have observed these symptoms, but they were
• 2:54:11
  Speaker 1: assuredly not thrown away upon the man who had won
• 2:54:14
  Speaker 1: her affections. It was a summer evening when he came
• 2:54:18
  Speaker 1: galloping down the road and pulled up at the gate.
• 2:54:22
  Speaker 1: She was at the doorway and came down to meet him.
• 2:54:25
  Speaker 1: He threw the bridle over the fence and strode up
• 2:54:27
  Speaker 1: the pathway. I am off, lucy, he said, taking her
• 2:54:32
  Speaker 1: two hands in his and gazing tenderly down into her face.
• 2:54:37
  Speaker 1: I won't ask you to come with me now, but
• 2:54:39
  Speaker 1: will you be ready to come when I'm here again?
• 2:54:42
  Speaker 1: And when will that be, she asked, blushing and laughing,
• 2:54:46
  Speaker 1: a couple of months at the outside. I'll come and
• 2:54:49
  Speaker 1: claim you then, my darling. There's no one who can
• 2:54:52
  Speaker 1: stand between us. And how about father, she asked. He
• 2:54:58
  Speaker 1: is given his consent provided we get these mines working,
• 2:55:01
  Speaker 1: all right, I have no fear on that head. Ah. Well,
• 2:55:06
  Speaker 1: of course, if you and Father have arranged it all,
• 2:55:10
  Speaker 1: there's no more to be said, She whispered, with her
• 2:55:12
  Speaker 1: cheek against his broad breast. Thank god, he said, hoarsely,
• 2:55:18
  Speaker 1: stooping and kissing her. It is settled. The longer I stay,
• 2:55:22
  Speaker 1: the harder it'll be to go. They're waiting for me
• 2:55:25
  Speaker 1: at the canyon. Good Bye, my own darling. Goodbye. In
• 2:55:30
  Speaker 1: two months you shall see me. He tore himself from
• 2:55:34
  Speaker 1: her as he spoke, and, flinging himself upon his horse,
• 2:55:38
  Speaker 1: galloped furiously away, never even looking around, as though afraid
• 2:55:42
  Speaker 1: that his resolution might fail him if he took one
• 2:55:45
  Speaker 1: glance at what he was leaving. She stood at the gate,
• 2:55:49
  Speaker 1: gazing after him until he vanished from her sight. Then
• 2:55:53
  Speaker 1: she walked back into the house, the happiest girl in
• 2:55:58
  Speaker 1: all Utah. End of Chapter two, Book two, Book two,
• 2:56:05
  Speaker 1: Chapter three, John Ferrier talks with the prophet. Three weeks
• 2:56:12
  Speaker 1: had passed since Jefferson Hope and his comrades had departed
• 2:56:15
  Speaker 1: from Salt Lake City. John Ferrier's heart was sore within
• 2:56:19
  Speaker 1: him when he thought of the young man's return and
• 2:56:22
  Speaker 1: of the impending loss of his adopted child. Yet her
• 2:56:26
  Speaker 1: bright and happy face reconciled him to the arrangement more
• 2:56:29
  Speaker 1: than any argument could have done. He had always determined,
• 2:56:33
  Speaker 1: deep down in his resolute heart, that nothing would ever
• 2:56:36
  Speaker 1: induce him to allow his daughter to wed a Mormon.
• 2:56:39
  Speaker 1: Such a marriage he regarded as no marriage at all,
• 2:56:43
  Speaker 1: but as a shame and a disgrace. Whatever he might
• 2:56:47
  Speaker 1: think of the Mormon doctrines. Upon that one point, he
• 2:56:51
  Speaker 1: was inflexible. He had to seal his mouth on the subject, however,
• 2:56:56
  Speaker 1: for to express an unorthodox opinion was a dangerous matter
• 2:56:59
  Speaker 1: in those days, in the land of the Saints, Yes,
• 2:57:03
  Speaker 1: a dangerous matter, so dangerous that even the most saintly
• 2:57:07
  Speaker 1: dared only whisper their religious opinions with bated breath, lest
• 2:57:11
  Speaker 1: something which fell from their lips might be misconstrued and
• 2:57:15
  Speaker 1: bring down a swift retribution upon them. The victims of
• 2:57:19
  Speaker 1: persecution had now turned persecutors on their own account, and
• 2:57:24
  Speaker 1: persecutors of the most terrible description. Not the Inquisition of Seville,
• 2:57:30
  Speaker 1: nor the German Weimgricht, nor the secret societies of Italy
• 2:57:34
  Speaker 1: were ever able to put a more formidable machinery in
• 2:57:37
  Speaker 1: motion than that which cast a cloud over the state
• 2:57:40
  Speaker 1: of Utah. Its invisibility and the mystery which was attached
• 2:57:46
  Speaker 1: to it made this organization doubly terrible. It appeared to
• 2:57:50
  Speaker 1: be omniscient and omnipotent, and yet was neither seen nor heard.
• 2:57:56
  Speaker 1: The man who held out against the Church vanished away,
• 2:58:00
  Speaker 1: and none knew whether he had gone or what had
• 2:58:02
  Speaker 1: befallen him. His wife and his children awaited him at home,
• 2:58:07
  Speaker 1: But no father ever returned to tell them how he
• 2:58:10
  Speaker 1: had fared at the hands of his secret judges. A
• 2:58:14
  Speaker 1: rash word or a hasty act was followed by annihilation.
• 2:58:18
  Speaker 1: And yet none knew what the nature might be of
• 2:58:21
  Speaker 1: this terrible power which was suspended over them. No wonder
• 2:58:25
  Speaker 1: that men went about in fear and trembling, and that
• 2:58:28
  Speaker 1: even in the heart of the wilderness they dared not
• 2:58:31
  Speaker 1: whisper the doubts which oppressed them. At first, this vague
• 2:58:35
  Speaker 1: and terrible power was exercised only upon the recalcitrants, who,
• 2:58:40
  Speaker 1: having embraced the Mormon faith, wished afterwards to pervert or
• 2:58:43
  Speaker 1: to abandon it. Soon, however, it took a wider range.
• 2:58:49
  Speaker 1: The supply of adult women was running short, and polygamy
• 2:58:53
  Speaker 1: without a female population on which to draw was a
• 2:58:55
  Speaker 1: barren doctrine. Indeed, strange rumours began to be banded about,
• 2:59:00
  Speaker 1: rumors of murdered immigrants and rifled camps in regions where
• 2:59:04
  Speaker 1: Indians had never been seen. Fresh women appeared in the
• 2:59:08
  Speaker 1: harems of the elders, women who pined and wept, and
• 2:59:12
  Speaker 1: bore upon their faces the traces of an unextinguishable horror.
• 2:59:18
  Speaker 1: Belated wanderers upon the mountains spoke of gangs of armed men, masked,
• 2:59:23
  Speaker 1: stealthy and noiseless, who flitted by them in the darkness.
• 2:59:28
  Speaker 1: These tales and rumors took substance and shape, and were
• 2:59:33
  Speaker 1: corroborated and re corroborated until they resolved themselves into a
• 2:59:37
  Speaker 1: definite name. To this day, in the lonely ranches of
• 2:59:42
  Speaker 1: the west, the name of the Danite Band or the
• 2:59:45
  Speaker 1: Avenging Angels is a sinister and an ill omened one.
• 2:59:51
  Speaker 1: Fuller knowledge of the organization which produced such terrible results
• 2:59:55
  Speaker 1: served to increase, rather than to lessen, the horror which
• 2:59:58
  Speaker 1: it inspired in the minds of men. None knew who
• 3:00:02
  Speaker 1: belonged to this ruthless society. The names of the participators
• 3:00:07
  Speaker 1: in the deeds of blood and violence done under the
• 3:00:09
  Speaker 1: name of religion were kept profoundly secret. The very friend
• 3:00:15
  Speaker 1: to whom you communicated your misgivings as to the prophet
• 3:00:18
  Speaker 1: and his mission, might be one of those who would
• 3:00:21
  Speaker 1: come forth at night with fire and sword to exact
• 3:00:24
  Speaker 1: a terrible reparation. Hence, every man feared his neighbor, and
• 3:00:29
  Speaker 1: none spoke of the things which were nearest his heart.
• 3:00:34
  Speaker 1: One fine morning, John Ferrier was about to set out
• 3:00:37
  Speaker 1: to his wheat fields when he heard the click of
• 3:00:40
  Speaker 1: the latch, and, looking through the window, saw a stout,
• 3:00:45
  Speaker 1: sandy haired, middle aged man coming up the pathway. His
• 3:00:49
  Speaker 1: heart leapt to his mouth, for this was none other
• 3:00:54
  Speaker 1: than the Great Brigham Young, himself full of trepidation, for
• 3:00:59
  Speaker 1: he knew that such a boded him, Little good Ferrier
• 3:01:02
  Speaker 1: ran to the door to greet the Mormon chief. The latter, however,
• 3:01:06
  Speaker 1: received his salutations coldly, and followed him with a stern
• 3:01:11
  Speaker 1: face into the sitting room. Brother Ferrier, he said, taking
• 3:01:16
  Speaker 1: a seat and eyeing the farmer keenly from under his
• 3:01:19
  Speaker 1: light colored eyelashes. The true Believers have been good friends
• 3:01:24
  Speaker 1: to you. We picked you up when you were starving
• 3:01:27
  Speaker 1: in the desert. We shed our food with you, led
• 3:01:31
  Speaker 1: you safe to the chosen valley, gave you a goodly
• 3:01:34
  Speaker 1: share of land, and allowed you to wax rich under
• 3:01:38
  Speaker 1: our protection. Is this not so? It is so, answered
• 3:01:44
  Speaker 1: John Ferrier. In return for all this we asked but
• 3:01:49
  Speaker 1: one condition. That was that you should embrace the true
• 3:01:53
  Speaker 1: faith and conform in every way to its usages. This
• 3:01:58
  Speaker 1: you promised to do, And this if common report says,
• 3:02:01
  Speaker 1: truly you have neglected, and how have I neglected it?
• 3:02:08
  Speaker 1: Asked Faria, throwing out his hands in expostulation. Have I
• 3:02:12
  Speaker 1: not given to the common fund? Have I not attended
• 3:02:16
  Speaker 1: at the temple? Have I not where are your wives?
• 3:02:21
  Speaker 1: Asked young looking around him, Call them in that I
• 3:02:25
  Speaker 1: may greet them. It is true that I have not married,
• 3:02:29
  Speaker 1: Feria answered, But women were few, and there were many
• 3:02:33
  Speaker 1: who had better claims than I. I was not a
• 3:02:36
  Speaker 1: lonely man. I had my daughter to attend to my wants.
• 3:02:41
  Speaker 1: He is of that daughter that I would speak to you,
• 3:02:44
  Speaker 1: said the leader of the Mormons. She has grown to
• 3:02:47
  Speaker 1: be the flower of Utah and has found favor in
• 3:02:50
  Speaker 1: the eyes of many who are high in the land.
• 3:02:54
  Speaker 1: John Ferrier groaned internally. There are stories of her which
• 3:03:00
  Speaker 1: I would fain disbelieve, stories that she is sealed to
• 3:03:04
  Speaker 1: some gentile. This must be the gossip of idle tongues.
• 3:03:10
  Speaker 1: What is the thirteenth rule in the Code of the
• 3:03:12
  Speaker 1: Sainted Joseph Smith? Let every maiden of the true faith
• 3:03:18
  Speaker 1: marry one of the elect For if she wed a gentile,
• 3:03:22
  Speaker 1: she commits a grievous sin. This being so, it is
• 3:03:28
  Speaker 1: impossible that you, who profess the holy creed, should suffer
• 3:03:33
  Speaker 1: your daughter to violate it. John Ferrier made no answer,
• 3:03:38
  Speaker 1: but he played nervously with his riding whip. Upon this
• 3:03:43
  Speaker 1: one point, your whole faith shall be tested. So it
• 3:03:47
  Speaker 1: has been decided in the Sacred Council of four. The
• 3:03:51
  Speaker 1: girl is young, and we would not have her wed
• 3:03:54
  Speaker 1: gray hairs. Neither would we deprive her of all choice.
• 3:03:58
  Speaker 1: We elders have many heifers, but our children must also
• 3:04:03
  Speaker 1: be provided. Stangerson has a son, and Rebber has a son,
• 3:04:08
  Speaker 1: and either of them would gladly welcome your daughter to
• 3:04:11
  Speaker 1: their house. Let her choose between them. They are young
• 3:04:15
  Speaker 1: and rich and of the true faith. What say you
• 3:04:19
  Speaker 1: to that? Ferrier remained silent for some little time, with
• 3:04:24
  Speaker 1: his brows knitted. You will give us time, he said,
• 3:04:29
  Speaker 1: at last. My daughter is very young. She is scarce
• 3:04:33
  Speaker 1: of an age to marry. She shall have a month
• 3:04:37
  Speaker 1: to choose, said young rising from his seat. At the
• 3:04:41
  Speaker 1: end of that time, she shall give her answer. He
• 3:04:46
  Speaker 1: was passing through the door when he turned with flushed
• 3:04:49
  Speaker 1: face and flashing eyes. It were better for you, John Ferrier.
• 3:04:55
  Speaker 1: He thundered, that you and she were now lying blanched
• 3:04:59
  Speaker 1: skeletons upon the the Sierra Blanco. Then that you should
• 3:05:02
  Speaker 1: put your weak wills against the orders of the Holy Four.
• 3:05:08
  Speaker 1: With a threatening gesture of his hand, he turned from
• 3:05:11
  Speaker 1: the door, and Ferrier heard his heavy step scrunching along
• 3:05:15
  Speaker 1: the shingly path. He was still sitting with his elbows
• 3:05:20
  Speaker 1: upon his knees, considering how he should broach the matter
• 3:05:23
  Speaker 1: to his daughter, when a soft hand was laid upon his,
• 3:05:28
  Speaker 1: and looking up he saw her standing beside him. One
• 3:05:32
  Speaker 1: glance at her pale, frightened face showed him that she
• 3:05:36
  Speaker 1: had heard what had passed. I couldn't help it, she said,
• 3:05:40
  Speaker 1: in answer to his look. His voice rang through the house. Oh, father, father,
• 3:05:46
  Speaker 1: what shall we do? Don't you scare yourself? He answered,
• 3:05:51
  Speaker 1: drawing her to him and passing his broad rough hand
• 3:05:53
  Speaker 1: caressingly over her chestnut hair. We'll fix it up somehow
• 3:05:58
  Speaker 1: or other. You don't find your fancy cand of lessening
• 3:06:02
  Speaker 1: for this chap, do you a sob? And the squeeze
• 3:06:06
  Speaker 1: of his hand was her only answer, No, of course not.
• 3:06:11
  Speaker 1: I shouldn't care to bear you say you did. He's
• 3:06:14
  Speaker 1: a likely lad, and he's a Christian, which is more
• 3:06:17
  Speaker 1: than these folk here in spite all their praying and preaching.
• 3:06:21
  Speaker 1: There's a party starting for Nevada tomorrow, and I'll manage
• 3:06:25
  Speaker 1: to send him a message letting him know the hole
• 3:06:27
  Speaker 1: we're in. If I know anything of that young man,
• 3:06:30
  Speaker 1: he'll be back here with a speed that would whip
• 3:06:32
  Speaker 1: electra telegraphs. Lucy laughed through her tears at her father's description.
• 3:06:39
  Speaker 1: When he comes, he will advise us for the best.
• 3:06:42
  Speaker 1: But it is for you that I'm frightened, dear one.
• 3:06:45
  Speaker 1: Here is one hears such dreadful stories about those who
• 3:06:48
  Speaker 1: oppose the prophet. Something terrible always happens to them. But
• 3:06:53
  Speaker 1: we haven't opposed him yet, her father answered, it'll be
• 3:06:57
  Speaker 1: time to look out for squalls. When we do. We
• 3:07:01
  Speaker 1: have a clear month before us. At the end of that,
• 3:07:05
  Speaker 1: I guess we'd best shin out of Utah. Leave Utah.
• 3:07:10
  Speaker 1: That's about the size of it. But the farm we'll
• 3:07:13
  Speaker 1: raise as much as we can and money and let
• 3:07:16
  Speaker 1: the rest go. To tell the truth, Lucy, it isn't
• 3:07:19
  Speaker 1: the first time I've thought of doing it. I don't
• 3:07:22
  Speaker 1: care about knucklin under to any man as these folk
• 3:07:25
  Speaker 1: do to their darned prophet. I'm a free born American,
• 3:07:29
  Speaker 1: and it's all new to me. Guess I'm too old
• 3:07:32
  Speaker 1: to learn. If he comes browsing about this farm, he
• 3:07:36
  Speaker 1: might chance to run up against a charge of buckshot
• 3:07:38
  Speaker 1: traveling in the opposite direction. But they won't let us leave.
• 3:07:43
  Speaker 1: His daughter objected, Wait till Jefferson comes, and we'll soon
• 3:07:48
  Speaker 1: manage that. In the meantime, don't you fret yourself, my dearie,
• 3:07:53
  Speaker 1: and don't get your eyes swelled up, else he'll be
• 3:07:55
  Speaker 1: walking into me when he sees you. There's nothing to
• 3:07:58
  Speaker 1: be a feared about, and there's no danger at all.
• 3:08:02
  Speaker 1: John Ferrier uttered these consoling remarks in a very confident tone,
• 3:08:07
  Speaker 1: which she could not help observing that he paid unusual
• 3:08:11
  Speaker 1: care to the fastening of the doors that night, and
• 3:08:14
  Speaker 1: that he carefully cleaned and loaded the rusty old shotgun
• 3:08:17
  Speaker 1: which hung upon the wall of his bedroom. End of
• 3:08:21
  Speaker 1: Chapter three, Book two, Chapter four, A Flight for Life.
• 3:08:30
  Speaker 1: On the morning which followed his interview with the Mormon prophet,
• 3:08:33
  Speaker 1: John Ferrier went into Salt Lake City, and, having found
• 3:08:37
  Speaker 1: his acquaintance who was bound for the Nevada Mountains, he
• 3:08:41
  Speaker 1: entrusted him with his message to Jefferson Hope. In it,
• 3:08:44
  Speaker 1: he told the young man of the imminent danger which
• 3:08:47
  Speaker 1: threatened them, and how necessary it was that he should return.
• 3:08:52
  Speaker 1: Having done thus, he felt easier in his mind, and
• 3:08:55
  Speaker 1: returned home with a lighter heart. As he approached his farm,
• 3:09:00
  Speaker 1: he was surprised to see a horse hitched to each
• 3:09:02
  Speaker 1: of the posts of the gate. Still more surprised was
• 3:09:06
  Speaker 1: he on entering to find two young men in possession
• 3:09:09
  Speaker 1: of his sitting room. One with a long, pale face,
• 3:09:13
  Speaker 1: was leaning back into the rocking chair and with his
• 3:09:15
  Speaker 1: feet cocked up upon the stove. The other, a bull
• 3:09:19
  Speaker 1: necked youth with coarse bloated features, was standing in front
• 3:09:23
  Speaker 1: of the window with his hands in his pocket, whistling
• 3:09:26
  Speaker 1: a popular hymn. Both of them nodded to Ferrier as
• 3:09:30
  Speaker 1: he entered, and the one in the rocking chair commenced
• 3:09:33
  Speaker 1: the conversation. Maybe you don't know us, He said, this
• 3:09:38
  Speaker 1: here is the son of Elder Drebber, and I'm Joseph Stangerson,
• 3:09:42
  Speaker 1: who travel with you in the desert. When the Lord
• 3:09:44
  Speaker 1: stretched out his hand and gathered you into the true fold,
• 3:09:48
  Speaker 1: as he will with all the nations in his own
• 3:09:51
  Speaker 1: good time, said the other, in a nasal voice. He
• 3:09:55
  Speaker 1: grind us slowly but exceeding small Ferry bowed coldly. He
• 3:10:02
  Speaker 1: had guessed who his visitors were. We have come, continued Stangerson,
• 3:10:08
  Speaker 1: at the advice of our fathers, to solicit the hand
• 3:10:11
  Speaker 1: of your daughter, for whichever of us may seem good
• 3:10:14
  Speaker 1: to you and to her. As I have but four wives,
• 3:10:18
  Speaker 1: and brother Drebber here has seven, it appears to me
• 3:10:21
  Speaker 1: that my claim is the stronger one. Nay, nay, brother Stangson,
• 3:10:27
  Speaker 1: cried the other. The question is not how many wives
• 3:10:30
  Speaker 1: we have, but how many we can keep. My father
• 3:10:34
  Speaker 1: has now given over his mills to me, and I
• 3:10:37
  Speaker 1: am the richer man. But my prospects are better, said
• 3:10:42
  Speaker 1: the other warmly. When the Lord removes my father, I
• 3:10:46
  Speaker 1: shall have his tanning yard and his leather factory. Then
• 3:10:49
  Speaker 1: I am your elder, and am higher in the church.
• 3:10:54
  Speaker 1: It will be for the maiden to decide, rejoined young Drebber,
• 3:10:58
  Speaker 1: smirking at his own red in the glass. We will
• 3:11:02
  Speaker 1: leave it all to her decision. During this dialog, John
• 3:11:08
  Speaker 1: Ferrier had stood fuming in the doorway, hardly able to
• 3:11:11
  Speaker 1: keep his riding whip from the backs of his two visitors.
• 3:11:15
  Speaker 1: Look here, he said, at last, striding up to them,
• 3:11:19
  Speaker 1: when my daughter summons you. You can come, but until
• 3:11:23
  Speaker 1: then I don't want to see your faces again. The
• 3:11:27
  Speaker 1: two young Mormons stared at him in amazement. In their eyes,
• 3:11:30
  Speaker 1: this competition between them for the maiden's hand was the
• 3:11:34
  Speaker 1: highest of honors, both to her and her father. There
• 3:11:38
  Speaker 1: are two ways out of the room, cried Ferrier. There's
• 3:11:42
  Speaker 1: the door and there's the window. Which do you care
• 3:11:45
  Speaker 1: to use. His brown face looked so savage, and his
• 3:11:50
  Speaker 1: gaunt hands so threatening, that his visitors sprang to their
• 3:11:53
  Speaker 1: feet and beat a hurried retreat. The old farmer followed
• 3:11:57
  Speaker 1: them to the door. Let me know when you have
• 3:12:00
  Speaker 1: settled which it is to be, he said, sardonically. You
• 3:12:04
  Speaker 1: shall smart for this, Stangerson cried white with rage. You
• 3:12:08
  Speaker 1: have defied the prophet and the counsel of four. You
• 3:12:11
  Speaker 1: shall rue it to the end of your days. The
• 3:12:14
  Speaker 1: hem of the Lord shall be heavy upon you, cried
• 3:12:17
  Speaker 1: young Drebber. He will arise and smite you. Then I'll
• 3:12:21
  Speaker 1: start the smiting, exclaimed Ferrier furiously, and would have rushed
• 3:12:25
  Speaker 1: upstairs for his gun, had not Lucy seized him by
• 3:12:28
  Speaker 1: the arm and restrained him before he could escape from her.
• 3:12:33
  Speaker 1: The clatter of horses hoofs told him that they were
• 3:12:35
  Speaker 1: beyond his reach, the young canting rascals, he exclaimed, wiping
• 3:12:41
  Speaker 1: the perspiration from his forehead. I would sooner see you
• 3:12:44
  Speaker 1: in your grave, my girl, than the wife of either
• 3:12:46
  Speaker 1: of them, and so should I father. She answered with spirit.
• 3:12:52
  Speaker 1: But Jefferson will soon be here. Yes, it will not
• 3:12:56
  Speaker 1: be long before he comes. The sooner the better, for
• 3:12:59
  Speaker 1: we do not know what their next move may be.
• 3:13:03
  Speaker 1: It was indeed high time that some one capable of
• 3:13:06
  Speaker 1: giving advice and help should come to the aid of
• 3:13:09
  Speaker 1: the sturdy old farmer and his adopted daughter. In the
• 3:13:13
  Speaker 1: whole history of the settlement, there had never been such
• 3:13:16
  Speaker 1: a case of rank disobedience to the authority of the elders.
• 3:13:20
  Speaker 1: If minor errors were punished so sternly, what would be
• 3:13:24
  Speaker 1: the fate of this arch rebel. Ferrier knew that his
• 3:13:28
  Speaker 1: wealth and position would be of no avail to him.
• 3:13:31
  Speaker 1: Others as well known and as rich as himself had
• 3:13:34
  Speaker 1: been spirited away before now, and their goods given over
• 3:13:37
  Speaker 1: to the church. He was a brave man, but he
• 3:13:41
  Speaker 1: trembled at the vague, shadowy terrors which hung over him.
• 3:13:46
  Speaker 1: Any known danger he could face with a firm lip,
• 3:13:49
  Speaker 1: But this suspense was unnerving. He concealed his fears from
• 3:13:53
  Speaker 1: his daughter, however, and affected to make light of the
• 3:13:56
  Speaker 1: whole matter, though she, with the keen eye of love,
• 3:14:00
  Speaker 1: saw plainly that he was ill at ease. He expected
• 3:14:04
  Speaker 1: that he would receive some message or remonstrance from Young
• 3:14:08
  Speaker 1: as to its conduct, and he was not mistaken, though
• 3:14:12
  Speaker 1: it came in an unlooked for manner. Upon rising next morning,
• 3:14:17
  Speaker 1: he found, to his surprise a small square of paper
• 3:14:21
  Speaker 1: pinned on to the coverlet of his bed, just over
• 3:14:24
  Speaker 1: his chest. On it was printed, in bold, straggling letters,
• 3:14:28
  Speaker 1: twenty nine days are given you for amendment. And then
• 3:14:34
  Speaker 1: the dash was more fear inspiring than any threat could
• 3:14:38
  Speaker 1: have been. How this warning came into his room puzzled
• 3:14:41
  Speaker 1: John Ferrier sorely, for his servants slept in an outhouse,
• 3:14:46
  Speaker 1: and the doors and windows had all been secured. He
• 3:14:51
  Speaker 1: crumpled the paper up and said nothing to his daughter,
• 3:14:55
  Speaker 1: But the incident struck a chill into his heart. The
• 3:14:58
  Speaker 1: twenty nine days were evidently the balance of the month
• 3:15:01
  Speaker 1: which Young had promised. What strength or courage could avail
• 3:15:04
  Speaker 1: against an enemy armed with such mysterious powers the hand
• 3:15:09
  Speaker 1: which fastened. That pin might have struck him to the heart,
• 3:15:13
  Speaker 1: and he could never have known who had slain him.
• 3:15:17
  Speaker 1: Still more shaken was he. Next morning they had sat
• 3:15:20
  Speaker 1: down to their breakfast when Lucy, with a cry of surprise,
• 3:15:23
  Speaker 1: pointed upwards. In the center of the ceiling was scrawled
• 3:15:28
  Speaker 1: with a burned stick, apparently the number twenty eight. To
• 3:15:32
  Speaker 1: his daughter, it was unintelligible, and he did not enlighten her.
• 3:15:37
  Speaker 1: That night he sat up with his gun and kept watch,
• 3:15:40
  Speaker 1: and ward he saw and he heard nothing. And yet
• 3:15:44
  Speaker 1: in the morning a great twenty seven had been painted
• 3:15:47
  Speaker 1: upon the outside of his door. Thus day followed day,
• 3:15:52
  Speaker 1: and as sure as morning came, he found that his
• 3:15:54
  Speaker 1: unseen enemies had kept their register and had marked up
• 3:15:58
  Speaker 1: in some conspicuous place position. How many days were still
• 3:16:02
  Speaker 1: left to him out of the month of grace. Sometimes
• 3:16:06
  Speaker 1: the fatal numbers appeared upon the walls, sometimes upon the floors.
• 3:16:11
  Speaker 1: Occasionally they were on small placards stuck upon the garden
• 3:16:15
  Speaker 1: gate or the railings. With all his vigilance, John Ferrier
• 3:16:19
  Speaker 1: could not discover whence these daily warnings proceeded. A horror
• 3:16:24
  Speaker 1: which was almost superstitious, came upon him at the sight
• 3:16:27
  Speaker 1: of them, he became haggard and restless, and his eyes
• 3:16:30
  Speaker 1: had the troubled look of some hunted creature. He had
• 3:16:34
  Speaker 1: but one hope in life now, and that was for
• 3:16:37
  Speaker 1: the arrival of the young hunter from Nevada. Twenty had
• 3:16:43
  Speaker 1: changed to fifteen, and fifteen to ten, but there was
• 3:16:47
  Speaker 1: no news of the absentee. One by one the numbers
• 3:16:50
  Speaker 1: dwindled down, and still there came no sign of him.
• 3:16:55
  Speaker 1: Whenever a horseman clattered down the road, or a driver
• 3:16:58
  Speaker 1: shouted at his team, the old farmer hurried to the gate,
• 3:17:01
  Speaker 1: thinking that help had arrived at last, at last. When
• 3:17:06
  Speaker 1: he saw five give way to four, and that again
• 3:17:09
  Speaker 1: to three, he lost heart and abandoned all hope of escape.
• 3:17:15
  Speaker 1: Single handed, and with his limited knowledge of the mountains
• 3:17:18
  Speaker 1: which surrounded the settlement, he knew that he was powerless.
• 3:17:22
  Speaker 1: The more frequented roads were strictly watched and guarded, and
• 3:17:26
  Speaker 1: none could pass along them without an order from the
• 3:17:28
  Speaker 1: council turn which way he would. There appeared to be
• 3:17:33
  Speaker 1: no avoiding the blow which hung over him. Yet the
• 3:17:36
  Speaker 1: old man never wavered in his resolution to part with
• 3:17:39
  Speaker 1: life itself. Before he consented to what he regarded as
• 3:17:43
  Speaker 1: his daughter's dishonor He was sitting alone one evening, pondering
• 3:17:48
  Speaker 1: deeply over his troubles and searching vainly for some way
• 3:17:52
  Speaker 1: out of them. That morning had shown the figure two
• 3:17:55
  Speaker 1: upon the wall of his house, and the next day
• 3:17:58
  Speaker 1: would be the last of the allotted time. What was
• 3:18:01
  Speaker 1: to happen then? All manner of vague and terrible fancies
• 3:18:05
  Speaker 1: filled his imagination, and his daughter What was to become
• 3:18:09
  Speaker 1: of her after he was gone? Was there no escape
• 3:18:12
  Speaker 1: from the invisible network which was drawn all around them?
• 3:18:16
  Speaker 1: He sank his head upon the table and sobbed at
• 3:18:19
  Speaker 1: the thought of his own impotence. What was that? In
• 3:18:24
  Speaker 1: the silence? He heard a gentle scratching sound, low but
• 3:18:29
  Speaker 1: very distinct, in the quiet of the night. It came
• 3:18:33
  Speaker 1: from the door of the house. Ferrier crept into the
• 3:18:36
  Speaker 1: hall and listened intently. There was a pause for a
• 3:18:40
  Speaker 1: few moments, and then the low, insidious sound was repeated.
• 3:18:44
  Speaker 1: Someone was evidently tapping very gently upon one of the
• 3:18:47
  Speaker 1: panels of the door. Was it some midnight assassin who
• 3:18:52
  Speaker 1: had come to carry out the murderous orders of the
• 3:18:54
  Speaker 1: secret tribunal? Or was it some agent who was marking
• 3:18:58
  Speaker 1: up that the last day of great had arrived. John
• 3:19:02
  Speaker 1: Ferrier felt that instant death would be better than the
• 3:19:05
  Speaker 1: suspense which shook his nerves and chilled his heart. Springing forward,
• 3:19:10
  Speaker 1: he drew the bolt and threw the door open. Outside,
• 3:19:14
  Speaker 1: all was calm and quiet, The night was fine, and
• 3:19:17
  Speaker 1: the stars were twinkling brightly overhead. The little front garden
• 3:19:22
  Speaker 1: lay before the farmer's eyes, bounded by the fence and gate.
• 3:19:26
  Speaker 1: But neither there, nor on the road was any human
• 3:19:29
  Speaker 1: being to be seen. With a sigh of relief, Ferrier
• 3:19:33
  Speaker 1: looked right and to left, until happening to glance straight
• 3:19:37
  Speaker 1: down at his own feet, he saw, to his astonishment
• 3:19:40
  Speaker 1: a man lying flat upon his face upon the ground,
• 3:19:43
  Speaker 1: with arms and legs all asprawl. So unnerved was he
• 3:19:48
  Speaker 1: at the sight that he leaned up against the wall
• 3:19:50
  Speaker 1: with his hand to his throat to stifle his inclination
• 3:19:53
  Speaker 1: to call out. His first thought was that the prostrate
• 3:19:57
  Speaker 1: figure was that of some wounded or dying man. But
• 3:20:01
  Speaker 1: as he watched it, he saw it writhe along the
• 3:20:04
  Speaker 1: ground and into the hall with the rapidity and noiselessness
• 3:20:07
  Speaker 1: of a serpent. Once within the house, the man sprang
• 3:20:11
  Speaker 1: to his feet, closed the door, and revealed to the
• 3:20:14
  Speaker 1: astonished farmer the fierce face and resolute expression of Jefferson Hope,
• 3:20:20
  Speaker 1: good God, gasped John Ferrier. How you scared me? Whatever
• 3:20:25
  Speaker 1: made you come in like that? Give me food, the
• 3:20:30
  Speaker 1: other said, hoarsely. I have had no time for bite
• 3:20:33
  Speaker 1: or sup for eight and forty hours. He flung himself
• 3:20:37
  Speaker 1: upon the cold meat and bread which were still lying
• 3:20:39
  Speaker 1: upon the table from his host's supper, and devoured it voraciously.
• 3:20:45
  Speaker 1: Does Lucy bear up well, he asked, when he had
• 3:20:48
  Speaker 1: satisfied his hunger. Yes, she does not know the danger.
• 3:20:52
  Speaker 1: Her father answered, that is well. The house is watched
• 3:20:56
  Speaker 1: on every side. That is why I crawled my way
• 3:20:58
  Speaker 1: up to it. They may be done sharp, but they're
• 3:21:02
  Speaker 1: not quite sharp enough to watch awasou hunter. John Ferrier
• 3:21:06
  Speaker 1: felt a different man now that he realized that he
• 3:21:09
  Speaker 1: had a devoted ally. He seized the young man's leathery
• 3:21:13
  Speaker 1: hand and wrung it cordially. You're a man to be
• 3:21:16
  Speaker 1: proud of, he said. There are not many who would
• 3:21:20
  Speaker 1: come to share our danger and our troubles. You've hit
• 3:21:24
  Speaker 1: it there, pard, The young hunter answered, I have a
• 3:21:27
  Speaker 1: respect for you, but if you are alone in this business,
• 3:21:31
  Speaker 1: I'd think twice before I put my head into such
• 3:21:33
  Speaker 1: a hornet's nest. It's Lucy that brings me here, and
• 3:21:38
  Speaker 1: before harm comes on her, I guess there'll be one
• 3:21:40
  Speaker 1: less of the Hope family in Utah. What are we
• 3:21:44
  Speaker 1: to do? Tomorrow is your last day, and unless you
• 3:21:47
  Speaker 1: act to night, you're lost. I have a mule and
• 3:21:50
  Speaker 1: two horses waiting in the eagle ravine. How much money
• 3:21:54
  Speaker 1: have you? Two thousand dollars in gold and five in notes?
• 3:21:59
  Speaker 1: That will do? I have as much more to add
• 3:22:02
  Speaker 1: to it. We must push for Carson City through the mountains.
• 3:22:06
  Speaker 1: You had best wake Lucy. It is as well that
• 3:22:08
  Speaker 1: the servants do not sleep in the house. While Ferrier
• 3:22:13
  Speaker 1: was absent preparing his daughter for the approaching journey, Jefferson
• 3:22:17
  Speaker 1: Hope packed all the eatables that he could find into
• 3:22:20
  Speaker 1: a small parcel and filled a stoneware jar with water,
• 3:22:23
  Speaker 1: for he knew by experience that the mountain wells were
• 3:22:27
  Speaker 1: few and far between. He had hardly completed his arrangements
• 3:22:31
  Speaker 1: before the farmer returned with his daughter, all dressed and
• 3:22:33
  Speaker 1: ready for a start. The greeting between the lovers was
• 3:22:37
  Speaker 1: warm but brief, for minutes were precious, and there was
• 3:22:41
  Speaker 1: much to be done. We must make our start at once,
• 3:22:45
  Speaker 1: said Jefferson Hope, speaking in a low but resolute voice,
• 3:22:49
  Speaker 1: like one who realizes the greatness of the peril, but
• 3:22:52
  Speaker 1: has steeled his heart to meet it. The front and
• 3:22:55
  Speaker 1: back entrances are watched, but with caution, we may get
• 3:22:58
  Speaker 1: away through the side window and across the fields. Once
• 3:23:01
  Speaker 1: on the road, we are only two miles from the ravine,
• 3:23:04
  Speaker 1: where the horses are waiting. By daybreak we should be
• 3:23:07
  Speaker 1: half way through the mountains. What if we are stopped,
• 3:23:11
  Speaker 1: asked Ferrier. Hope slapped the revolver butt which protruded from
• 3:23:15
  Speaker 1: the front of his tunic. If they are too many
• 3:23:18
  Speaker 1: for us, we shall take two or three of them
• 3:23:20
  Speaker 1: with us, he said, with a sinister smile. The lights
• 3:23:25
  Speaker 1: inside the house had all been extinguished, and from the
• 3:23:28
  Speaker 1: darkened window Ferrier peered over the fields which had been
• 3:23:31
  Speaker 1: his own, and which he was now about to abandon forever.
• 3:23:35
  Speaker 1: He had long nerved himself to the sacrifice, however, and
• 3:23:39
  Speaker 1: the thought of the honor and happiness of his daughter
• 3:23:42
  Speaker 1: outweighed any regret at his ruined fortunes. All looked so
• 3:23:46
  Speaker 1: peaceful and happy, the rustling trees and the broad, silent
• 3:23:51
  Speaker 1: stretch of grain land that it was difficult to realize
• 3:23:55
  Speaker 1: that the spirit of murder lurked through it all. Yet
• 3:23:59
  Speaker 1: the white face and expression of the young hunter showed
• 3:24:02
  Speaker 1: that in his approach to the house he had seen
• 3:24:05
  Speaker 1: enough to satisfy him. Upon that head, ferrier carried the
• 3:24:10
  Speaker 1: bag of gold and notes. Jefferson Hope had the scanty
• 3:24:14
  Speaker 1: provisions and water, while Lucy had a small bundle containing
• 3:24:18
  Speaker 1: a few of her more valued possessions. Opening the window
• 3:24:22
  Speaker 1: very slowly and carefully, they waited until a dark cloud
• 3:24:26
  Speaker 1: had somewhat obscured the night, and then one by one
• 3:24:30
  Speaker 1: passed through into the little garden with bated breath and
• 3:24:34
  Speaker 1: crouching figures. They stumbled across it and gained the shelter
• 3:24:38
  Speaker 1: of the hedge, which they skirted until they came to
• 3:24:41
  Speaker 1: the gap which opened into the corn fields. They had
• 3:24:45
  Speaker 1: just reached this point when the young man seized his
• 3:24:48
  Speaker 1: two companions and dragged them down into the shadow, where
• 3:24:51
  Speaker 1: they lay silent and trembling. It was as well that
• 3:24:54
  Speaker 1: his prairie training had given Jefferson Hope the ears of
• 3:24:58
  Speaker 1: a lynx. He and his frie friends had hardly crouched
• 3:25:01
  Speaker 1: down before the melancholy hooting of a mountain owl was
• 3:25:05
  Speaker 1: heard within a few yards of them, which was immediately
• 3:25:08
  Speaker 1: answered by another hoot at a small distance. At the
• 3:25:12
  Speaker 1: same moment, a vague, shadowy figure emerged from the gap
• 3:25:16
  Speaker 1: for which they had been making, and uttered the plaintive
• 3:25:19
  Speaker 1: signal cry again, on which a second man appeared out
• 3:25:23
  Speaker 1: of the obscurity. Tomorrow at midnight, said the first, who
• 3:25:27
  Speaker 1: appeared to be an authority. When the whip poor will
• 3:25:31
  Speaker 1: calls three times, it is well returned the other. Shall
• 3:25:36
  Speaker 1: I tell brother Drebber pass it on to him, and
• 3:25:40
  Speaker 1: from him to the others. Nine to seven, Seven to five,
• 3:25:45
  Speaker 1: repeated the other, and the two figures flitted away in
• 3:25:49
  Speaker 1: different directions. Their concluding words had evidently been some form
• 3:25:54
  Speaker 1: of sign and countersign the instant that their footsteps had
• 3:25:58
  Speaker 1: died away in the distance. Jefferson Hope sprang to his feet, and,
• 3:26:04
  Speaker 1: helping his companions through the gap, led the way across
• 3:26:07
  Speaker 1: the fields at the top of his speed, supporting and
• 3:26:10
  Speaker 1: half carrying the girl when her strength appeared to fail her.
• 3:26:14
  Speaker 1: Hurry on, hurry on, he gasped, from time to time
• 3:26:17
  Speaker 1: way through the line of sentinels. Everything depends on speed,
• 3:26:20
  Speaker 1: hurry on. Once on the high road, they made rapid progress.
• 3:26:26
  Speaker 1: Only once did they meet any one, and then they
• 3:26:28
  Speaker 1: managed to slip into a field and so avoid recognition.
• 3:26:32
  Speaker 1: Before reaching the town, the hunter branched away into a
• 3:26:35
  Speaker 1: rugged and narrow footpath which led to the mountains. Two dark,
• 3:26:40
  Speaker 1: jagged peaks loomed above them through the darkness, and the
• 3:26:44
  Speaker 1: defile which led between them was the Eagle Canyon, in
• 3:26:47
  Speaker 1: which the horses were waiting for them. With irony instinct,
• 3:26:52
  Speaker 1: Jefferson Hope picked his way among the great boulders and
• 3:26:55
  Speaker 1: along the bed of a dried up water course until
• 3:26:58
  Speaker 1: he came to the retired corner, screened with rocks, where
• 3:27:02
  Speaker 1: the faithful animals had been picketed. The girl was placed
• 3:27:06
  Speaker 1: upon the mule, and all Ferrier upon one of the
• 3:27:09
  Speaker 1: horses with his money bag, while Jefferson Hope led the
• 3:27:12
  Speaker 1: other along the precipitous and dangerous path. It was a
• 3:27:16
  Speaker 1: bewildering route for any one who was not accustomed to
• 3:27:19
  Speaker 1: face nature in her wildest moods. On the one side,
• 3:27:24
  Speaker 1: a great crag towered up a thousand feet or more,
• 3:27:27
  Speaker 1: black stern and menacing with long basaltic columns. Upon its
• 3:27:32
  Speaker 1: rugged surface, like the ribs of some petrified monster. On
• 3:27:36
  Speaker 1: the other hand, a wild chaos of boulders and debris
• 3:27:40
  Speaker 1: made all advance impossible. Between the two ran the irregular track,
• 3:27:45
  Speaker 1: so narrow in places that they had to travel in
• 3:27:48
  Speaker 1: Indian file, and so rough that only practiced riders could
• 3:27:52
  Speaker 1: have traversed it at all. Yet, in spite of all
• 3:27:55
  Speaker 1: dangers and difficulties, the hearts of the fugitives were light
• 3:27:59
  Speaker 1: within them, for every step increased the distance between them
• 3:28:04
  Speaker 1: and the terrible despotism from which they were flying. They
• 3:28:08
  Speaker 1: soon had a proof, however, that they were still within
• 3:28:11
  Speaker 1: the jurisdiction of the Saints. They had reached the very
• 3:28:15
  Speaker 1: wildest and most desolate portion of the pass when the
• 3:28:18
  Speaker 1: girl gave a startled cry and pointed upwards on a
• 3:28:22
  Speaker 1: rock which overlooked the track, Showing out, dark and plain
• 3:28:25
  Speaker 1: against the sky, there stood a solitary sentinel. He saw
• 3:28:29
  Speaker 1: them as soon as they perceived him, and his military
• 3:28:32
  Speaker 1: challenge of who goes there rang through the silent ravine
• 3:28:37
  Speaker 1: travelers for Nevada, said Jefferson Hope, with his hand upon
• 3:28:41
  Speaker 1: the rifle which hung by his saddle. They could see
• 3:28:44
  Speaker 1: the lonely watcher, fingering his gun and peering down at them,
• 3:28:48
  Speaker 1: as if dissatisfied at their reply. By whose permission he asked,
• 3:28:54
  Speaker 1: the Holy four answered Ferrier. His Mormon experiences had taught
• 3:28:58
  Speaker 1: him that that was the highest authority to which he
• 3:29:01
  Speaker 1: could refer. Nine from seven cried the sentinel. Seven from
• 3:29:08
  Speaker 1: five returned Jefferson Hope, promptly, remembering the countersign which he
• 3:29:13
  Speaker 1: had heard in the garden. Pass and the Lord, go
• 3:29:17
  Speaker 1: with you, said the voice from above. Beyond his post.
• 3:29:22
  Speaker 1: The path broadened out, and the horses were able to
• 3:29:25
  Speaker 1: break into a trot. Looking back, they could see the
• 3:29:29
  Speaker 1: solitary watcher leaning upon his gun, and knew that they
• 3:29:33
  Speaker 1: had passed the outlying post of the Chosen People, and
• 3:29:37
  Speaker 1: that freedom lay before them. End of Book two, Chapter four,
• 3:29:44
  Speaker 1: Book two, Chapter five. The Avenging Angels all night their
• 3:29:50
  Speaker 1: course lay through intricate defiles and over irregular and rock
• 3:29:53
  Speaker 1: strewn paths. More than once they lost their way, but
• 3:29:57
  Speaker 1: Hope's intimate knowledge of the mountains enable them to regain
• 3:30:01
  Speaker 1: the track once more. When morning broke, a scene of marvelous,
• 3:30:05
  Speaker 1: though savage beauty lay before them in every direction, the
• 3:30:09
  Speaker 1: great snow capped peaks hemmed them in peeping over each
• 3:30:13
  Speaker 1: other's shoulders to the far horizon. So steep were the
• 3:30:17
  Speaker 1: rocky banks on either side of them that the larch
• 3:30:20
  Speaker 1: and the pine seemed to be suspended over their heads,
• 3:30:23
  Speaker 1: and to need only a gust of wind to come
• 3:30:25
  Speaker 1: hurtling down upon them. Nor was the fear entirely an illusion,
• 3:30:31
  Speaker 1: for the barren valley was thickly strewn with trees and
• 3:30:34
  Speaker 1: boulders which had fallen in a similar manner. Even as
• 3:30:38
  Speaker 1: they passed, a great rock came thundering down with a
• 3:30:41
  Speaker 1: hoarse rattle, which woke the echoes in the silent gorges
• 3:30:45
  Speaker 1: and startled the weary horses into a gallop. As the
• 3:30:49
  Speaker 1: sun rose slowly above the eastern horizon, the caps of
• 3:30:53
  Speaker 1: the great mountains lit up, one after the other, like
• 3:30:56
  Speaker 1: lamps at a festival, until they were all ruddy and glowing.
• 3:31:00
  Speaker 1: The magnificent spectacle cheered the hearts of the three fugitives
• 3:31:05
  Speaker 1: and gave them fresh energy. At a wild torrent which
• 3:31:09
  Speaker 1: swept out of a ravine, they called a halt and
• 3:31:12
  Speaker 1: watered their horses while they partook of a hasty breakfast.
• 3:31:17
  Speaker 1: Lucy and her father would fain have rested longer, but
• 3:31:20
  Speaker 1: Jefferson Hope was inexorable. They will be upon our track
• 3:31:25
  Speaker 1: by this time, he said, everything depends upon our speed.
• 3:31:29
  Speaker 1: Once safe in Carson, we may rest for the remainder
• 3:31:32
  Speaker 1: of our lives. During the whole of that day they
• 3:31:36
  Speaker 1: struggled on through the defiles, and by evening they calculated
• 3:31:39
  Speaker 1: that they were more than thirty miles from their enemies.
• 3:31:43
  Speaker 1: At night time, they chose the base of a beetling crag,
• 3:31:46
  Speaker 1: where the rocks offered some protection from the chill wind,
• 3:31:49
  Speaker 1: and there, huddled together for warmth, they enjoyed a few
• 3:31:53
  Speaker 1: hours sleep. Before daybreak, however, they were up and on
• 3:31:57
  Speaker 1: their way once more. They had seen no sun kines
• 3:32:00
  Speaker 1: of any pursuers, and Jefferson Hope began to think that
• 3:32:03
  Speaker 1: they were fairly out of reach of the terrible organization
• 3:32:07
  Speaker 1: whose enmity they had incurred. He little knew how far
• 3:32:11
  Speaker 1: that iron grass could reach, or how soon it was
• 3:32:14
  Speaker 1: to close upon them and crush them. About the middle
• 3:32:19
  Speaker 1: of the second day of their flight, their scanty store
• 3:32:21
  Speaker 1: of provisions began to run out. This gave the hunter
• 3:32:25
  Speaker 1: little uneasiness, however, for there was game to be had
• 3:32:29
  Speaker 1: among the mountains. And he had frequently before had to
• 3:32:32
  Speaker 1: depend upon his rifle for the needs of life. Choosing
• 3:32:36
  Speaker 1: a sheltered nook, he piled together a few dried branches
• 3:32:40
  Speaker 1: and made a blazing fire at which his companions might
• 3:32:43
  Speaker 1: warm themselves, for they were now nearly five thousand feet
• 3:32:46
  Speaker 1: above sea level, and the air was bitter and keen.
• 3:32:51
  Speaker 1: Having tethered the horses and bade Lucie adieu, he threw
• 3:32:54
  Speaker 1: his gun over his shoulder and set out in search
• 3:32:57
  Speaker 1: of whatever chance might throw in his way. Looking back,
• 3:33:02
  Speaker 1: he saw the old man and the young girl crouching
• 3:33:04
  Speaker 1: over the blazing fire, while the three animals stood motionless
• 3:33:08
  Speaker 1: in the background. Then the intervening rocks hid them from
• 3:33:12
  Speaker 1: his view. He walked for a couple of miles through
• 3:33:15
  Speaker 1: one ravine after another without success, though from the marks
• 3:33:19
  Speaker 1: upon the bark of the trees and other indications, he
• 3:33:22
  Speaker 1: judged that there were numerous bears in the vicinity. At last,
• 3:33:26
  Speaker 1: after two or three hours fruitless search, he was thinking
• 3:33:29
  Speaker 1: of turning back in despair, when casting his eyes upwards,
• 3:33:33
  Speaker 1: he saw a sight which sent a thrill of pleasure
• 3:33:36
  Speaker 1: through his heart. On the edge of a jutting pinnacle,
• 3:33:39
  Speaker 1: three or four hundred feet above him there stood a
• 3:33:42
  Speaker 1: creature somewhat resembling a sheep in appearance, but armed with
• 3:33:47
  Speaker 1: a pair of gigantic horns. The big Horn, for so
• 3:33:51
  Speaker 1: it is called, was acting probably as a guardian over
• 3:33:54
  Speaker 1: a flock which were invisible to the hunter, but fortunately
• 3:33:59
  Speaker 1: it was heading in the opposite direction and had not
• 3:34:02
  Speaker 1: perceived him. Lying on his face. He rested his rifle
• 3:34:06
  Speaker 1: upon a rock and took a long and steady aim.
• 3:34:10
  Speaker 1: Before drawing the trigger. The animal sprang into the air,
• 3:34:14
  Speaker 1: tottered for a moment upon the edge of the precipice,
• 3:34:17
  Speaker 1: and then came crashing down into the valley beneath. The
• 3:34:21
  Speaker 1: creature was too unwieldy to lift, so the hunter contented
• 3:34:25
  Speaker 1: himself with cutting away one haunch and part of the flank.
• 3:34:29
  Speaker 1: With his trophy over his shoulder, he hastened to retrace
• 3:34:33
  Speaker 1: his steps, for the evening was already drawing in. He
• 3:34:37
  Speaker 1: had hardly started, however, before he realized the difficulty which
• 3:34:40
  Speaker 1: faced him. In his eagerness, he had wandered far past
• 3:34:44
  Speaker 1: the ravines which were known to him, and it was
• 3:34:46
  Speaker 1: no easy matter to pick out the path which he
• 3:34:49
  Speaker 1: had taken. The valley in which he found himself divided
• 3:34:53
  Speaker 1: and subdivided into many gorges, which was so like each
• 3:34:57
  Speaker 1: other that it was impossible to distinguish one from the other.
• 3:35:01
  Speaker 1: He followed one for a mile or more until he
• 3:35:03
  Speaker 1: came to a mountain torrent, which he was sure that
• 3:35:06
  Speaker 1: he had never seen before. Convinced that he had taken
• 3:35:10
  Speaker 1: the wrong turn, he tried another, but with the same result.
• 3:35:14
  Speaker 1: Night was coming on rapidly, and it was almost dark
• 3:35:17
  Speaker 1: before he at last found himself in a defile which
• 3:35:20
  Speaker 1: was familiar to him. Even then, it was no easy
• 3:35:24
  Speaker 1: matter to keep to the right track, for the moon
• 3:35:27
  Speaker 1: had not yet risen, and the high cliffs on either
• 3:35:30
  Speaker 1: side made the obscurity more profound. Weighed down with his
• 3:35:34
  Speaker 1: burden and weary from his exertions, he stumbled along, keeping
• 3:35:39
  Speaker 1: up his heart by the reflection that every step brought
• 3:35:42
  Speaker 1: him nearer to Lucy, and that he carried with him
• 3:35:45
  Speaker 1: enough to insure them food for the remainder of their journey.
• 3:35:50
  Speaker 1: He had now come to the mouth of the very
• 3:35:51
  Speaker 1: defile in which he had left them. Even in the darkness,
• 3:35:55
  Speaker 1: he could recognize the outline of the cliffs which bounded it.
• 3:35:59
  Speaker 1: They must, he reflected, be awaiting him anxiously, for he
• 3:36:03
  Speaker 1: had been absent nearly five hours. In the gladness of
• 3:36:07
  Speaker 1: his heart, he put his hands to his mouth and
• 3:36:09
  Speaker 1: made the glen re echo to a loud halloo as
• 3:36:13
  Speaker 1: a signal that he was coming. He paused and listened
• 3:36:17
  Speaker 1: for an answer. None came, save his own cry, which
• 3:36:22
  Speaker 1: clattered up the dreary, silent ravines, and was borne back
• 3:36:25
  Speaker 1: to his ears in countless repetitions. Again, he shouted, even
• 3:36:31
  Speaker 1: louder than before, and again no whisper came back from
• 3:36:35
  Speaker 1: the friends whom he had left such a short time ago.
• 3:36:39
  Speaker 1: A vague, nameless dread came over him, and he hurried onwards, frantically,
• 3:36:45
  Speaker 1: dropping the precious food in his agitation. When he turned
• 3:36:50
  Speaker 1: the corner, he came full in sight of the spot
• 3:36:53
  Speaker 1: where the fire had been lit. There was still a
• 3:36:56
  Speaker 1: glowing pile of wood ashes there, but it had evidently
• 3:36:59
  Speaker 1: not been ten ended since his departure. The same dead
• 3:37:03
  Speaker 1: silence still reigned all round. With his fears all changed
• 3:37:07
  Speaker 1: to convictions, he hurried on. There was no living creature
• 3:37:10
  Speaker 1: near the remains of the fire, Animals, man, maiden, all
• 3:37:15
  Speaker 1: were gone. It was only too clear that some sudden
• 3:37:19
  Speaker 1: and terrible disaster had occurred during his absence, a disaster
• 3:37:24
  Speaker 1: which had embraced them all and yet had left no
• 3:37:27
  Speaker 1: traces behind it. Bewildered and stunned by this blow, Jefferson
• 3:37:33
  Speaker 1: Hope felt his head spin round and had to lean
• 3:37:36
  Speaker 1: upon his rifle to save himself from falling. He was
• 3:37:40
  Speaker 1: essentially a man of action, however, and speedily recovered from
• 3:37:44
  Speaker 1: his temporary impotence. Seizing a half consumed piece of wood
• 3:37:48
  Speaker 1: from the smoldering fire, he blew it into a flame
• 3:37:52
  Speaker 1: and proceeded with its help to examine the little camp.
• 3:37:56
  Speaker 1: The ground was all stamped down by the feet of horses,
• 3:37:59
  Speaker 1: showing that the large party of mounted men had overtaken
• 3:38:02
  Speaker 1: the fugitives, and the direction of their tracks proved that
• 3:38:05
  Speaker 1: they had afterwards turned back to Salt Lake City. Had
• 3:38:10
  Speaker 1: they carried back both of his companions with them. Jefferson
• 3:38:13
  Speaker 1: Hope had almost persuaded himself that they must have done so,
• 3:38:18
  Speaker 1: when his eye fell upon an object which made every
• 3:38:22
  Speaker 1: nerve of his body tingle within him. A little way
• 3:38:26
  Speaker 1: on one side of the camp was a low lying
• 3:38:29
  Speaker 1: heap of reddish soil, which had assuredly not been there before.
• 3:38:34
  Speaker 1: There was no mistaking it for anything but a newly
• 3:38:36
  Speaker 1: dug grave. As the young hunter approached it, he perceived
• 3:38:42
  Speaker 1: that a stick had been planted on it, with a
• 3:38:45
  Speaker 1: sheet of paper stuck in the cleft fork of it.
• 3:38:48
  Speaker 1: The inscription upon the paper was brief, but to the point.
• 3:38:53
  Speaker 1: John Ferrier, formerly of Salt Lake City, died August fourth,
• 3:38:59
  Speaker 1: eighteen sixty. The sturdy old man whom he had left
• 3:39:03
  Speaker 1: so short a time before, was gone then, and this
• 3:39:08
  Speaker 1: was all his epitaph. Jefferson Hope looked wildly round to
• 3:39:13
  Speaker 1: see if there was a second grave, but there was
• 3:39:16
  Speaker 1: no sign of one. Lucy had been carried back by
• 3:39:19
  Speaker 1: their terrible pursuers to fulfill her original destiny by becoming
• 3:39:24
  Speaker 1: one of the harem of the elder's son. As the
• 3:39:28
  Speaker 1: young fellow realized the certainty of her fate and his
• 3:39:31
  Speaker 1: own powerlessness to prevent it, he wished that he too
• 3:39:34
  Speaker 1: was lying with the old farmer in his last silent
• 3:39:38
  Speaker 1: resting place again. However, his active spirit shook off the
• 3:39:43
  Speaker 1: lethargy which springs from despair. If there was nothing else
• 3:39:47
  Speaker 1: left to him, he could at least devote his life
• 3:39:50
  Speaker 1: to revenge with indomitable patience and perseverance. Jefferson Hope possessed
• 3:39:56
  Speaker 1: also a power of sustained vindictiveness, which he may have
• 3:40:00
  Speaker 1: learned from the Indians amongst whom he had lived. As
• 3:40:04
  Speaker 1: he stood by the desolate fire, he felt that the
• 3:40:07
  Speaker 1: only one thing which could assuage his grief would be
• 3:40:10
  Speaker 1: thorough and complete retribution brought by his own hand upon
• 3:40:15
  Speaker 1: his enemies. His strong will and untiring energy, should he determined,
• 3:40:21
  Speaker 1: be devoted to that one end. With a grim white face,
• 3:40:26
  Speaker 1: he retraced his steps to where he had dropped the food, and,
• 3:40:30
  Speaker 1: having stirred up the smoldering fire, he cooked enough to
• 3:40:33
  Speaker 1: last him for a few days. This he made up
• 3:40:36
  Speaker 1: into a bundle, and, tired as he was, he set
• 3:40:39
  Speaker 1: himself to walk back through the mountains upon the track
• 3:40:42
  Speaker 1: of the Avenging Angels. For five days he toiled footsore
• 3:40:49
  Speaker 1: and weary through the defiles which he had already traversed
• 3:40:52
  Speaker 1: on horseback. At night, he flung himself down among the
• 3:40:56
  Speaker 1: rocks and snatched a few hours asleep, but before daybreak
• 3:41:01
  Speaker 1: he was always well on his way. On the sixth day,
• 3:41:05
  Speaker 1: he reached the Eagle Canyon from which they had commenced
• 3:41:08
  Speaker 1: their ill fated flight. Thence he could look down upon
• 3:41:11
  Speaker 1: the home of the Saints. Worn and exhausted, he leaned
• 3:41:16
  Speaker 1: upon his rifle and shook his gaunt hand fiercely at
• 3:41:19
  Speaker 1: the silent, widespread city beneath him. As he looked at it,
• 3:41:24
  Speaker 1: he observed that there were flags in some of the
• 3:41:26
  Speaker 1: principal streets, and other signs of festivity. He was still
• 3:41:31
  Speaker 1: speculating as to what this might mean when he heard
• 3:41:35
  Speaker 1: the clatter of horses hoofs and saw a mounted man
• 3:41:39
  Speaker 1: riding towards him. As he approached, he recognized him as
• 3:41:44
  Speaker 1: a Mormon named Cowper, to whom he had rendered services
• 3:41:47
  Speaker 1: at different times. He therefore accosted him when he got
• 3:41:51
  Speaker 1: up to him, with the object of finding out what
• 3:41:53
  Speaker 1: Lucy Ferrier's fate had been. I am Jefferson Hope, he said,
• 3:41:59
  Speaker 1: you remember me. The Mormon looked at him with undisguised astonishment. Indeed,
• 3:42:05
  Speaker 1: it was difficult to recognize in this tattered, unkempt wanderer
• 3:42:09
  Speaker 1: with ghastly white face and fierce wild eyes, the spruce
• 3:42:13
  Speaker 1: young hunter of former days. Having however, at last satisfied
• 3:42:18
  Speaker 1: himself as to his identity, the man's surprise changed to consternation.
• 3:42:23
  Speaker 1: You are mad to come here, he cried. It is
• 3:42:27
  Speaker 1: as much as my own life is worth to be
• 3:42:29
  Speaker 1: seen talking with you. There is a warrant against you
• 3:42:32
  Speaker 1: from the Holy Four for assisting the Ferriers away. I
• 3:42:37
  Speaker 1: don't fear them or their warrant, Hope said earnestly. You
• 3:42:40
  Speaker 1: must know something of this matter. Cowper, I conjure you,
• 3:42:43
  Speaker 1: by everything you hold dear, to answer a few questions.
• 3:42:46
  Speaker 1: We have always been friends for God's sake. Don't refuse
• 3:42:50
  Speaker 1: to answer me. What is it? The Mormon asked, uneasily,
• 3:42:54
  Speaker 1: be quick. The very rocks have ears and the trees eyes.
• 3:42:59
  Speaker 1: What it's become a lucy ferrier? She was married yesterday
• 3:43:03
  Speaker 1: to young Drebber. Hold up, man, hold up, you have
• 3:43:07
  Speaker 1: no life left in you. Don't mind me, said Hope faintly.
• 3:43:13
  Speaker 1: He was white to the very lips and had sunk
• 3:43:16
  Speaker 1: down on the stone against which she had been leaning marriage.
• 3:43:20
  Speaker 1: You say marriage yesterday. That's what those flags are for
• 3:43:25
  Speaker 1: on the endowment house. There was some words between young
• 3:43:28
  Speaker 1: Drebber and young Stangerson as to which was to have her.
• 3:43:31
  Speaker 1: They've both been in the party that followed them, and
• 3:43:34
  Speaker 1: Stangerson had shot her father, which seemed to give him
• 3:43:37
  Speaker 1: the best claim. But when they argued it out in council,
• 3:43:41
  Speaker 1: Drever's party was the stronger, so the prophet gave her
• 3:43:45
  Speaker 1: over to him. No one won't have her very long, though,
• 3:43:49
  Speaker 1: for I saw death in her face yesterday. She is
• 3:43:52
  Speaker 1: more like a ghost than a woman. Are you off, then? Yes,
• 3:43:57
  Speaker 1: I am off, said Jefferson Hope, who had risen from
• 3:44:00
  Speaker 1: his seat. His face might have been chiseled out of marble,
• 3:44:04
  Speaker 1: so hard and set was its expression, while its eyes
• 3:44:07
  Speaker 1: glowed with a baleful light. Where are you going? Never mind?
• 3:44:13
  Speaker 1: He answered, and, slinging his weapon over his shoulder, strode
• 3:44:17
  Speaker 1: off down the gorge and so away into the heart
• 3:44:21
  Speaker 1: of the mountains, to the haunts of the wild beasts.
• 3:44:25
  Speaker 1: Amongst them all, there was none so fierce and so
• 3:44:28
  Speaker 1: dangerous as himself. The prediction of the Mormon was only
• 3:44:33
  Speaker 1: too well fulfilled. Whether it was the terrible death of
• 3:44:37
  Speaker 1: her father or the effects of the hateful marriage into
• 3:44:40
  Speaker 1: which she had been forced, Poor Lucy never held up
• 3:44:43
  Speaker 1: her head again, but pined away and died within a month.
• 3:44:47
  Speaker 1: Her soottish husband, who had married her principally for the
• 3:44:50
  Speaker 1: sake of John Ferrier's property, did not affect any great
• 3:44:54
  Speaker 1: grief at his bereavement, but his otherwise mourned over her
• 3:44:58
  Speaker 1: and sat up with her the before the burial, As
• 3:45:01
  Speaker 1: is the Mormon custom, they were grouped round the bier
• 3:45:05
  Speaker 1: in the early hours of the morning, when, to their
• 3:45:08
  Speaker 1: inexpressible fear and astonishment, the door was flung open, and
• 3:45:13
  Speaker 1: a savage looking, weather beaten man in tattered garments strode
• 3:45:16
  Speaker 1: into the room. Without a glance or a word to
• 3:45:20
  Speaker 1: the cowering women, he walked up to the white, silent
• 3:45:23
  Speaker 1: figure which had once contained the pure soul of Lucy Ferrier.
• 3:45:28
  Speaker 1: Stooping over her, he pressed his lips reverently to her
• 3:45:31
  Speaker 1: cold forehead, and then, snatching up her hand, he took
• 3:45:35
  Speaker 1: the wedding ring from her finger. She shall not be
• 3:45:39
  Speaker 1: buried in that, he cried with a fierce snarl, and
• 3:45:42
  Speaker 1: before an alarm could be raised, sprang down the stairs
• 3:45:45
  Speaker 1: and was gone. So strange and so brief was the
• 3:45:49
  Speaker 1: episode that the watchers might have found it hard to
• 3:45:52
  Speaker 1: believe it themselves or persuade other people of it, had
• 3:45:56
  Speaker 1: it not been for the undeniable fact that the circlet
• 3:45:59
  Speaker 1: of gold which marked her as having been a bride,
• 3:46:03
  Speaker 1: had disappeared. For some months, Jefferson Hope lingered among the mountains,
• 3:46:09
  Speaker 1: leading a strange wild life, and nursing in his heart
• 3:46:14
  Speaker 1: the fierce desire for vengeance which possessed him. Tales were
• 3:46:18
  Speaker 1: told in the city of the weird figure which was
• 3:46:21
  Speaker 1: seen prowling about the suburbs, and which haunted the lonely
• 3:46:24
  Speaker 1: mountain gorges. Once a bullet whistled through Stangerson's window and
• 3:46:30
  Speaker 1: flattened itself upon the wall within a foot of him.
• 3:46:33
  Speaker 1: On another occasion, as Drebber passed under a cliff, a
• 3:46:37
  Speaker 1: great boulder crashed down on him, and he only escaped
• 3:46:40
  Speaker 1: a terrible death by throwing himself upon his face. The
• 3:46:44
  Speaker 1: two young Mormons were not long in discovering the reason
• 3:46:48
  Speaker 1: of these attempts upon their lives, and led repeated expeditions
• 3:46:52
  Speaker 1: into the mountains in the hope of capturing or killing
• 3:46:55
  Speaker 1: their enemy, but always without success. Then they adopted the
• 3:47:02
  Speaker 1: precaution of never going out alone or after nightfall, and
• 3:47:06
  Speaker 1: of having their houses guarded. After a time, they were
• 3:47:09
  Speaker 1: able to relax these measures, for nothing was either heard
• 3:47:13
  Speaker 1: or seen of their opponent, and they hoped that time
• 3:47:16
  Speaker 1: had cooled his vindictiveness. Far from doing so, it had,
• 3:47:21
  Speaker 1: if anything augmented it. The hunter's mind was of a hard,
• 3:47:26
  Speaker 1: unyielding nature, and the predominant idea of revenge had taken
• 3:47:31
  Speaker 1: such complete possession of it that there was no room
• 3:47:34
  Speaker 1: for any other emotion. He was, however, above all things practical.
• 3:47:40
  Speaker 1: He soon realized that even his iron constitution could not
• 3:47:44
  Speaker 1: stand the incessant strain which he was putting upon it.
• 3:47:48
  Speaker 1: Exposure and want of wholesome food were wearing him out.
• 3:47:53
  Speaker 1: If he died like a dog among the mountains, what
• 3:47:56
  Speaker 1: was to become of his revenge then? And yet such
• 3:47:59
  Speaker 1: a death was sure to overtake him if he persisted.
• 3:48:03
  Speaker 1: He felt that that was to play his enemy's game,
• 3:48:07
  Speaker 1: so he reluctantly returned to the old Nevada mines, there
• 3:48:13
  Speaker 1: to recruit his health and to amass money enough to
• 3:48:16
  Speaker 1: allow him to pursue his object without privation. His intention
• 3:48:21
  Speaker 1: had been to be absent a year at the most,
• 3:48:24
  Speaker 1: but a combination of unforeseen circumstances prevented his leaving the
• 3:48:28
  Speaker 1: minds for nearly five. At the end of that time, however,
• 3:48:33
  Speaker 1: his memory of his wrongs and his craving for revenge
• 3:48:36
  Speaker 1: were quite as keen as on that memorable night when
• 3:48:39
  Speaker 1: he had stood by John Ferrier's grave, disguised and under
• 3:48:44
  Speaker 1: an assumed name. He returned to Salt Lake City, careless
• 3:48:49
  Speaker 1: what became of his own life, as long as he
• 3:48:51
  Speaker 1: obtained what he knew to be justice. There he found
• 3:48:56
  Speaker 1: evil tidings awaiting him. There had been a schism among
• 3:49:00
  Speaker 1: the Chosen People a few months before, some of the
• 3:49:03
  Speaker 1: younger members of the church having rebelled against the authority
• 3:49:06
  Speaker 1: of the elders, and the result had been the secession
• 3:49:10
  Speaker 1: of a certain number of the malcontents, who had left
• 3:49:12
  Speaker 1: Utah and become gentiles. Among these had been Drebber and Stangerson,
• 3:49:19
  Speaker 1: and no one knew whither they had gone. Rumor reported
• 3:49:23
  Speaker 1: that Drebber had managed to convert a large part of
• 3:49:26
  Speaker 1: his property into money, and that he had departed a
• 3:49:29
  Speaker 1: wealthy man, while his companion Stangerson was comparatively poor. There
• 3:49:35
  Speaker 1: was no clue at all, however, as to their whereabouts.
• 3:49:40
  Speaker 1: Many a man, however vindictive, would have abandoned all thought
• 3:49:44
  Speaker 1: of revenge in the face of such a difficulty, But
• 3:49:48
  Speaker 1: Jefferson Hope never faltered for a moment. With the small
• 3:49:53
  Speaker 1: competence he possessed eked out by such employment as he
• 3:49:57
  Speaker 1: could pick up. He traveled from town to town through
• 3:50:00
  Speaker 1: the United States in quest of his enemies. Year passed
• 3:50:05
  Speaker 1: into year, his black hair turned grizzled, but still he
• 3:50:10
  Speaker 1: wandered on a human bloodhound, with his mind wholly set
• 3:50:15
  Speaker 1: upon the one object upon which he had devoted his life.
• 3:50:19
  Speaker 1: At last his perseverance was rewarded. It was but a
• 3:50:25
  Speaker 1: glance of a face in a window, but that one
• 3:50:28
  Speaker 1: glance told him that Cleveland in Ohio possessed the men
• 3:50:32
  Speaker 1: whom he was in pursuit of. He returned to his
• 3:50:35
  Speaker 1: miserable lodgings, with his plan of vengeance all arranged. It chanced, however,
• 3:50:41
  Speaker 1: that Drebber, looking from his window, had recognized the vagrant
• 3:50:46
  Speaker 1: in the street, and had read murder in his eyes.
• 3:50:50
  Speaker 1: He hurried before a Justice of the Peace, accompanied by Stangerson,
• 3:50:53
  Speaker 1: who had become his private secretary, and represented to him
• 3:50:57
  Speaker 1: that they were in danger of their lives from the
• 3:50:59
  Speaker 1: jealousy and hatred of an old rival. That evening, Jefferson
• 3:51:04
  Speaker 1: Hope was taken into custody, and, not being able to
• 3:51:07
  Speaker 1: find sureties, was detained for some weeks, when at last
• 3:51:12
  Speaker 1: he was liberated it was only to find that Drebber's
• 3:51:15
  Speaker 1: house was deserted, and that he and his secretary had
• 3:51:18
  Speaker 1: departed for Europe. Again, the avenger had been foiled, and
• 3:51:25
  Speaker 1: again his concentrated hatred urged him to continue the pursuit.
• 3:51:31
  Speaker 1: Funds were wanting, however, and for some time he had
• 3:51:34
  Speaker 1: to return to work, saving every dollar for his approaching journey.
• 3:51:39
  Speaker 1: At last, having collected enough to keep life in him,
• 3:51:43
  Speaker 1: he departed for Europe and tracked his enemies from city
• 3:51:46
  Speaker 1: to city, working his way in any menial capacity, but
• 3:51:51
  Speaker 1: never overtaking the fugitives. When he reached Saint Petersburg, they
• 3:51:56
  Speaker 1: had departed for Paris, and when he followed them there,
• 3:52:00
  Speaker 1: he learned that they had just set off for Copenhagen,
• 3:52:03
  Speaker 1: at the Danish capital. He was again a few days late,
• 3:52:07
  Speaker 1: for they had journeyed on to London, where he at
• 3:52:10
  Speaker 1: last succeeded in running them to earth. As to what
• 3:52:14
  Speaker 1: occurred there, we cannot do better than quote the old
• 3:52:18
  Speaker 1: Hunter's own account, as duly recorded in doctor Watson's journal,
• 3:52:25
  Speaker 1: to which we are already under such obligations. End of
• 3:52:31
  Speaker 1: Book two, Chapter five, Book two, Chapter six, A continuation
• 3:52:38
  Speaker 1: of the reminiscences of John Watson m d. Our prisoner's
• 3:52:44
  Speaker 1: furious resistance did not apparently indicate any ferocity in his
• 3:52:48
  Speaker 1: disposition towards ourselves, for on finding himself powerless, he smiled
• 3:52:52
  Speaker 1: in an affable manner and expressed his hopes that he
• 3:52:55
  Speaker 1: had not hurt any of us in the scuffle. I
• 3:52:58
  Speaker 1: guess you're going to take me to the place east Station,
• 3:53:01
  Speaker 1: he remarked to Sherlock Holmes. My CAB's at the door.
• 3:53:04
  Speaker 1: If you'll loose my legs, I'll walk down to it.
• 3:53:07
  Speaker 1: I'm not so like to lift as I used to be.
• 3:53:10
  Speaker 1: Gregson and Lestrade exchanged glances as if they thought this
• 3:53:13
  Speaker 1: proposition rather a bold one. But Holmes at once took
• 3:53:18
  Speaker 1: the prisoner at his word and loosened the towel which
• 3:53:20
  Speaker 1: we had bound round his ankles. He rose and stretched
• 3:53:24
  Speaker 1: his legs, as though to assure himself that they were
• 3:53:27
  Speaker 1: free once more. I remember that, I thought to myself
• 3:53:30
  Speaker 1: as I eyed him, that I had seldom seen a
• 3:53:32
  Speaker 1: more powerfully built man, And his dark, sunburned face bore
• 3:53:37
  Speaker 1: an expression of determination and energy which was as formidable
• 3:53:41
  Speaker 1: as his personal strength. If there's a vacant place for
• 3:53:46
  Speaker 1: a chief of the police. I reckon, you're the man
• 3:53:49
  Speaker 1: for it, he said, gazing with undisguised admiration at my
• 3:53:53
  Speaker 1: fellow lodger. The way you kept on my trail was
• 3:53:56
  Speaker 1: a caution. You had better come with me, said Holmes
• 3:54:01
  Speaker 1: to the two detectives, Ark and drive you, said, Lestrade,
• 3:54:06
  Speaker 1: Good and Gregson can come inside with me, you two doctor,
• 3:54:11
  Speaker 1: you have taken an interest in the case, and may
• 3:54:13
  Speaker 1: as well stick to us. I assented gladly, and we
• 3:54:17
  Speaker 1: all descended together. Our prisoner made no attempt to escape,
• 3:54:22
  Speaker 1: but stepped calmly into the cab which had been his,
• 3:54:25
  Speaker 1: and we followed him. Lestrade mounted the box, whipped up
• 3:54:29
  Speaker 1: the horse, and brought us in a very short time
• 3:54:32
  Speaker 1: to our destination. We were ushered into a small chamber,
• 3:54:36
  Speaker 1: where a police inspector noted down our prisoner's name and
• 3:54:40
  Speaker 1: the names of the men with whose murder he had
• 3:54:42
  Speaker 1: been charged. The official was a white faced, unemotional man
• 3:54:47
  Speaker 1: who went through his duties in a dull, mechanical way.
• 3:54:52
  Speaker 1: The prisoner will be put before the magistrates in the
• 3:54:55
  Speaker 1: course of the week, he said. In the meantime, mister Jefferson, hope,
• 3:55:00
  Speaker 1: have you anything that you wish to say? I must
• 3:55:03
  Speaker 1: warn you that your words will be taken down and
• 3:55:06
  Speaker 1: may be used against you. I've got a good deal
• 3:55:11
  Speaker 1: to say, our prisoner said slowly, I want to tell you, gentlemen,
• 3:55:16
  Speaker 1: all about it. Hadn't you better reserve that for your trial,
• 3:55:21
  Speaker 1: asked the inspector. I may never be tried. He answered,
• 3:55:26
  Speaker 1: you needn't look startled. It isn't suicide I'm thinking of.
• 3:55:31
  Speaker 1: Are you a doctor? He turned his fierce dark eyes
• 3:55:34
  Speaker 1: upon me as he asked this last question. Yes I am,
• 3:55:38
  Speaker 1: I answered. Then put your hand here, he said, with
• 3:55:42
  Speaker 1: a smile, motioning with his manacled wrist towards his chest.
• 3:55:48
  Speaker 1: I did so, and became at once conscious of an
• 3:55:51
  Speaker 1: extraordinary throbbing and commotion which was going on inside. The
• 3:55:56
  Speaker 1: walls of his chest seemed to thrill and quiver as
• 3:55:59
  Speaker 1: a frail building would do inside when some powerful engine
• 3:56:03
  Speaker 1: was at work. In the silence of the room, I
• 3:56:06
  Speaker 1: could hear a dull, humming and buzzing noise which proceeded
• 3:56:09
  Speaker 1: from the same source. Why, I cried, You have an
• 3:56:14
  Speaker 1: aortic aneurism. That's what they call it, he said, placidly.
• 3:56:19
  Speaker 1: I went to a doctor last week about it, and
• 3:56:22
  Speaker 1: he told me that it is bound to burst before
• 3:56:24
  Speaker 1: many days past. It's been getting worse for years. I
• 3:56:28
  Speaker 1: got it from overexposure and under feeding among the Salt
• 3:56:31
  Speaker 1: Lake mountains. I've done my work now and I don't
• 3:56:35
  Speaker 1: care how soon I go, but I should like to
• 3:56:37
  Speaker 1: leave some account of the business behind me. I don't
• 3:56:40
  Speaker 1: want to be remembered as a common cutthroat. The inspector
• 3:56:45
  Speaker 1: and the two detectives had a hurried discussion as to
• 3:56:47
  Speaker 1: the advisability of allowing him to tell his story. Do
• 3:56:52
  Speaker 1: you consider, doctor, that there is immediate danger, the former asked,
• 3:56:57
  Speaker 1: Most certainly there is, I answered. In that case, it
• 3:57:02
  Speaker 1: is clearly our duty in the interest of justice to
• 3:57:05
  Speaker 1: take his statement, said the inspector. You are at liberty, sir,
• 3:57:08
  Speaker 1: to give your account, which I again warn you will
• 3:57:11
  Speaker 1: be taken down. I'll sit down with your leave, the
• 3:57:16
  Speaker 1: prisoner said, suiting the action to the word. This aneurysm
• 3:57:20
  Speaker 1: of mine makes me easily tired, and the tussle we
• 3:57:23
  Speaker 1: had half an hour ago has not mended matters. I
• 3:57:26
  Speaker 1: am on the brink of the grave, and I am
• 3:57:28
  Speaker 1: not likely to lie to you. Every word I say
• 3:57:31
  Speaker 1: is the absolute truth, and how you use it is
• 3:57:34
  Speaker 1: a matter of no consequence to me. With these words,
• 3:57:39
  Speaker 1: Jefferson Hope leaned back in his chair and began the
• 3:57:42
  Speaker 1: following remarkable statement. He spoke in a calm and methodical manner,
• 3:57:47
  Speaker 1: as though the events which he narrated were commonplace enough.
• 3:57:51
  Speaker 1: I can vouch for the accuracy of the subjoined accounts,
• 3:57:55
  Speaker 1: for I have had access to Lestrade's notebook, in which
• 3:57:58
  Speaker 1: the prisoner's words were taken down exactly as they were uttered.
• 3:58:03
  Speaker 1: It don't much matter to you why I hated these men,
• 3:58:06
  Speaker 1: he said. It's enough that they were guilty of the
• 3:58:09
  Speaker 1: death of two human beings, a father and a daughter,
• 3:58:14
  Speaker 1: and that they had therefore forfeited their lives. After the
• 3:58:19
  Speaker 1: lapse of time that has passed since their crime, it
• 3:58:22
  Speaker 1: was impossible for me to secure a conviction against them
• 3:58:25
  Speaker 1: in any court. I knew of their guilt, though, and
• 3:58:29
  Speaker 1: I determined that I should be judge, jury, and executioner,
• 3:58:33
  Speaker 1: all rolled into one. You'd have done the same if
• 3:58:37
  Speaker 1: you have any manhood in you, if you have been
• 3:58:40
  Speaker 1: in my place. That girl that I spoke of was
• 3:58:44
  Speaker 1: to have married me twenty years ago. She was forced
• 3:58:47
  Speaker 1: into marrying that same drebber and broke her heart over it.
• 3:58:52
  Speaker 1: I took the marriage ring from her dead finger, and
• 3:58:56
  Speaker 1: I vowed that his dying eyes should rest upon that
• 3:58:59
  Speaker 1: very ring, and that his last thoughts should be of
• 3:59:02
  Speaker 1: the crime for which he was punished. I have carried
• 3:59:05
  Speaker 1: about with me and have followed him and his accomplice
• 3:59:08
  Speaker 1: over two continents until I caught them. They thought to
• 3:59:12
  Speaker 1: tie me out, but they could not do it. If
• 3:59:16
  Speaker 1: I die to morrow, as is likely enough, I die
• 3:59:19
  Speaker 1: knowing that my work in this world is done and
• 3:59:22
  Speaker 1: well done. They have perished, and by my hand there
• 3:59:25
  Speaker 1: is nothing left for me to hope for or to desire.
• 3:59:30
  Speaker 1: They were rich and I was poor, so there was
• 3:59:33
  Speaker 1: no easy matter for me to follow them. When I
• 3:59:35
  Speaker 1: got to London, my pocket was about empty, and I
• 3:59:39
  Speaker 1: found that I must turn my hand to something for
• 3:59:41
  Speaker 1: my living. Drive in and riding are as natural to
• 3:59:46
  Speaker 1: me as walking. So I applied at a cab owner's
• 3:59:49
  Speaker 1: office and soon got employment. I was to bring a
• 3:59:52
  Speaker 1: certain summer week to the owner, and whatever was over
• 3:59:55
  Speaker 1: that I might keep for myself. They were seldom much over,
• 3:59:59
  Speaker 1: but I managed to scrape along somehow. The hardest job
• 4:00:03
  Speaker 1: was to learn my way about, For I reckon that
• 4:00:06
  Speaker 1: of all the mazes that ever were contrived. This city
• 4:00:09
  Speaker 1: is the most confusing. I had a map beside me, though,
• 4:00:13
  Speaker 1: and when once I had spotted the principal hotels and stations,
• 4:00:17
  Speaker 1: I got on pretty well. It was some time before
• 4:00:20
  Speaker 1: I found out where my two gentlemen were living, but
• 4:00:24
  Speaker 1: I inquired and inquired, until at last I had dropped
• 4:00:27
  Speaker 1: across them. They were at a boarding house at camberwell Over,
• 4:00:31
  Speaker 1: on the other side of the river. When once I
• 4:00:34
  Speaker 1: found out, I knew that I had them at my mercy.
• 4:00:37
  Speaker 1: I had grown my beard, and there was no chance
• 4:00:40
  Speaker 1: of their recognizing me. I would dog them and follow
• 4:00:44
  Speaker 1: them until I saw my opportunity. I was determined that
• 4:00:48
  Speaker 1: they should not escape me again. They were very near
• 4:00:51
  Speaker 1: doing it. For all that go where they would about London,
• 4:00:55
  Speaker 1: I was always at their heels. Sometimes I followed them
• 4:00:59
  Speaker 1: on my cab and sometimes on foot, but the former
• 4:01:03
  Speaker 1: was the best, for then they could not get away
• 4:01:05
  Speaker 1: from me. He was only early in the morning or
• 4:01:08
  Speaker 1: late at night that I could earn anything, so that
• 4:01:11
  Speaker 1: I began to get behindhand with my employer. I did
• 4:01:14
  Speaker 1: not mind that, however, as long as I could lay
• 4:01:17
  Speaker 1: my hand upon the men I wanted. They were cunning,
• 4:01:20
  Speaker 1: though they must have thought that there was some chance
• 4:01:24
  Speaker 1: of their being followed, for they would never go out alone,
• 4:01:27
  Speaker 1: and never after nightfall. During two weeks I drove behind
• 4:01:31
  Speaker 1: them every day and never once saw them separate. Drebber
• 4:01:36
  Speaker 1: himself was drunk half the time, but Stangerson was not
• 4:01:40
  Speaker 1: to be caught napping. I watched them late and early,
• 4:01:44
  Speaker 1: but never saw the ghost of a chance. But I
• 4:01:47
  Speaker 1: was not discouraged, for something told me that the hour
• 4:01:51
  Speaker 1: had almost come. My only fear was that this thing
• 4:01:55
  Speaker 1: in my chest might burst a little too soon and
• 4:01:57
  Speaker 1: leave my work undone. At last, one evening, I was
• 4:02:03
  Speaker 1: driving up and down Torquay Terrace, as the street was
• 4:02:06
  Speaker 1: called in which they board it, when I saw a
• 4:02:08
  Speaker 1: cab drive up to their door. Presently, some luggage was
• 4:02:12
  Speaker 1: brought out, and after a time Drebber and Stangerson followed
• 4:02:15
  Speaker 1: it and drove off. I whipped up my horse and
• 4:02:19
  Speaker 1: kept within sight of them, feeling very ill at ease,
• 4:02:23
  Speaker 1: for I feared that they were going to be shifting
• 4:02:25
  Speaker 1: their quarters. At Euston station, they got out and I
• 4:02:29
  Speaker 1: left a boy to hold my horse and followed them
• 4:02:31
  Speaker 1: onto the platform. I heard the mask for the Liverpool train,
• 4:02:36
  Speaker 1: and the guard answered that that one had just gone
• 4:02:38
  Speaker 1: and there would not be another for some hours. Stangerson
• 4:02:42
  Speaker 1: seemed to be put out at that, but Drebber was
• 4:02:45
  Speaker 1: rather pleased than otherwise. I got so close to them
• 4:02:48
  Speaker 1: in the bustle that I could hear every word that
• 4:02:52
  Speaker 1: passed between them. Drebber said that he had the little
• 4:02:55
  Speaker 1: business of his own to do, and that if the
• 4:02:57
  Speaker 1: other would wait for him, he would soon rejoin him.
• 4:03:01
  Speaker 1: His companion remonstrated with him and reminded him that they
• 4:03:04
  Speaker 1: had resolved to stick together. Drebber answered that the matter
• 4:03:09
  Speaker 1: was a delicate one and that he must go alone.
• 4:03:13
  Speaker 1: I couldn't catch what Stangerson said to that, but the
• 4:03:16
  Speaker 1: other burst out swearing and reminded him that he was
• 4:03:19
  Speaker 1: nothing more than his paid servant, and he must not
• 4:03:22
  Speaker 1: presume to dictate to him. On that, the secretary gave
• 4:03:26
  Speaker 1: it up as a bad job and simply bargained with
• 4:03:29
  Speaker 1: him that if he missed the last train, he should
• 4:03:32
  Speaker 1: rejoin him at Halliday's private hotel, to which Drebber answered
• 4:03:36
  Speaker 1: that he would be back on the platform before eleven,
• 4:03:39
  Speaker 1: and made his way out of the station. The moment
• 4:03:42
  Speaker 1: for which I had waited so long, had at last come,
• 4:03:46
  Speaker 1: I had my enemies within my power. Together they could
• 4:03:49
  Speaker 1: protect each other, but singly they were at my mercy.
• 4:03:55
  Speaker 1: I did not act, however, with undue precipitation. My plans
• 4:03:59
  Speaker 1: were already formed. There is no satisfaction in vengeance unless
• 4:04:04
  Speaker 1: the offender has time to realize who it is that
• 4:04:06
  Speaker 1: strikes him and why retribution has come upon him. I
• 4:04:11
  Speaker 1: had my plans arranged by which I should have the
• 4:04:14
  Speaker 1: opportunity of making the man who had wronged me understand
• 4:04:18
  Speaker 1: that his old sin had found him out. It chanced
• 4:04:21
  Speaker 1: that some days before a gentleman who had been engaged
• 4:04:24
  Speaker 1: in looking over some houses in the Brixton Road, had
• 4:04:27
  Speaker 1: dropped the key of one of them in my carriage.
• 4:04:31
  Speaker 1: It was claimed that same evening and returned. But in
• 4:04:35
  Speaker 1: the interval I had taken a molding of it and
• 4:04:38
  Speaker 1: had a duplicate constructed. By means of this, I had
• 4:04:41
  Speaker 1: access to at least one spot in this great city
• 4:04:44
  Speaker 1: where I could rely upon being free from interruption. How
• 4:04:48
  Speaker 1: to get Drebber to that house was the difficult problem
• 4:04:52
  Speaker 1: which I now had to solve. He walked down the
• 4:04:56
  Speaker 1: road and went into one or two liquor shops, staying
• 4:04:59
  Speaker 1: for nearly half an hour, and the last of them.
• 4:05:01
  Speaker 1: When he came out, he staggered in his walk and
• 4:05:04
  Speaker 1: was evidently pretty well on. There was a hansom just
• 4:05:08
  Speaker 1: in front of me, and he hailed it. I followed
• 4:05:11
  Speaker 1: it so close that the nose of my horse was
• 4:05:14
  Speaker 1: within a yard of his driver. The whole way we
• 4:05:17
  Speaker 1: rattled across Waterloo Bridge and through miles of streets, until,
• 4:05:22
  Speaker 1: to my astonishment, we found ourselves back in the terrace
• 4:05:26
  Speaker 1: in which he had boarded. I could not imagine what
• 4:05:30
  Speaker 1: his intention was in returning there, but I went on
• 4:05:33
  Speaker 1: and pulled up my cab a hundred yards or so
• 4:05:35
  Speaker 1: from the house. He entered it, and his hansom drove away.
• 4:05:41
  Speaker 1: Give me a glass of water, if you please. My
• 4:05:44
  Speaker 1: mouth gets dry with the talking. I handed him the
• 4:05:48
  Speaker 1: glass and he drank it down. That's better, he said. Well.
• 4:05:55
  Speaker 1: I waited for a quarter of an hour or more,
• 4:05:57
  Speaker 1: when suddenly there came a noise like people struggling inside
• 4:06:00
  Speaker 1: the house. Next moment the door was flung open, and
• 4:06:04
  Speaker 1: two men appeared, one of whom was Drebber, and the
• 4:06:08
  Speaker 1: other was a young chap whom I had never seen before.
• 4:06:11
  Speaker 1: This fellow had Drebber by the collar, and when they
• 4:06:15
  Speaker 1: came to the head of the steps, he gave him
• 4:06:18
  Speaker 1: a shove and a kick, which sent him half across
• 4:06:20
  Speaker 1: the road. You hound, he cried, shaking his stick at him.
• 4:06:26
  Speaker 1: I'll teach you to insult an honest girl. He was
• 4:06:29
  Speaker 1: so hot that I think he should have thrashed Dreba
• 4:06:32
  Speaker 1: with his cudgel, only that the curse staggered away down
• 4:06:35
  Speaker 1: the road as fast as his legs could carry him.
• 4:06:38
  Speaker 1: He ran as far as the corner, and then, seeing
• 4:06:41
  Speaker 1: my cab, he hailed me and jumped in drive me
• 4:06:46
  Speaker 1: to Holiday's private hotel, said he. When I had him
• 4:06:50
  Speaker 1: fairly inside my cab, my heart jumped so with joy
• 4:06:54
  Speaker 1: that I feared lest at this last moment my aneurism
• 4:06:57
  Speaker 1: might go wrong. I drove along, weighing in my own
• 4:07:01
  Speaker 1: mind what it was best to do. I might take
• 4:07:05
  Speaker 1: him right out into the country, and there in some
• 4:07:08
  Speaker 1: deserted lane, have my last interview with him. I had
• 4:07:12
  Speaker 1: almost decided upon this when he solved the problem for me.
• 4:07:17
  Speaker 1: The craze for drink had seized him again, and he
• 4:07:20
  Speaker 1: ordered me to pull up outside a gin palace. He
• 4:07:23
  Speaker 1: went in, leaving word that I should wait for him. There.
• 4:07:27
  Speaker 1: He remained until closing time, and when he came out,
• 4:07:31
  Speaker 1: he was so far gone that I knew the game
• 4:07:33
  Speaker 1: was in my own hands. Don't imagine that I intended
• 4:07:37
  Speaker 1: to kill him in cold blood. It would only have
• 4:07:40
  Speaker 1: been rigid justice if I had done so, But I
• 4:07:43
  Speaker 1: could not bring myself to do it. I had long
• 4:07:46
  Speaker 1: determined that he should have a show of his life
• 4:07:49
  Speaker 1: if he chose to take advantage of it. Among the
• 4:07:52
  Speaker 1: many billets which I have filled in America during my
• 4:07:55
  Speaker 1: wandering life, I was once janitor and sweeper out of
• 4:07:59
  Speaker 1: the laboratory York College. One day, the professor was lecturing
• 4:08:04
  Speaker 1: on poisons, and he showed his students some alkaloid, as
• 4:08:07
  Speaker 1: he called it, which he had extracted from some South
• 4:08:10
  Speaker 1: American arrow poison, and which was so powerful that the
• 4:08:14
  Speaker 1: least grain meant instant death. I spotted the bottle in
• 4:08:18
  Speaker 1: which this preparation was kept, and when they were all gone,
• 4:08:22
  Speaker 1: I helped myself to a little of it. I was
• 4:08:25
  Speaker 1: a fairly good dispenser, so I worked this alkaloid into
• 4:08:29
  Speaker 1: small soluble pills, and each pill I put in a
• 4:08:33
  Speaker 1: box with a similar pill made without the poison. I
• 4:08:36
  Speaker 1: determined at the time that, when I had my chance,
• 4:08:40
  Speaker 1: my gentlemen should each have a drawer out of one
• 4:08:42
  Speaker 1: of these boxes while I ate the pill that remained.
• 4:08:47
  Speaker 1: It would be quite as deadly and a good deal
• 4:08:49
  Speaker 1: less noisy than firing across a handkerchief. From that day
• 4:08:54
  Speaker 1: I had always my pill boxes about with me, and
• 4:08:57
  Speaker 1: the time had now come when I was to use them.
• 4:09:01
  Speaker 1: It was nearer one than twelve, and a wild, bleak night,
• 4:09:05
  Speaker 1: blowing hard and raining in torrents, dismal as it was outside,
• 4:09:10
  Speaker 1: I was glad within, so glad that I could have
• 4:09:14
  Speaker 1: shouted out from pure exultation. If any of you, gentlemen,
• 4:09:18
  Speaker 1: have ever pined for a thing and longed for it
• 4:09:20
  Speaker 1: during twenty long years, and then suddenly found it within
• 4:09:24
  Speaker 1: your reach, you would understand my feelings. I lit a
• 4:09:28
  Speaker 1: cigar and puffed at it to steady my nerves, but
• 4:09:32
  Speaker 1: my hands were trembling and my temples throbbing with excitement.
• 4:09:37
  Speaker 1: As I drove, I could see old John Ferrier and
• 4:09:41
  Speaker 1: sweet Lucy looking at me out of the darkness and
• 4:09:43
  Speaker 1: smiling at me, just as plain as I see you
• 4:09:46
  Speaker 1: all in this room. All the way they were ahead
• 4:09:50
  Speaker 1: of me, one on each side of the horse. Until
• 4:09:53
  Speaker 1: I pulled up at the house and the Brixton Road.
• 4:09:57
  Speaker 1: There was not a soul to be seen, nor a
• 4:09:59
  Speaker 1: sound to be heard, except the dripping of the rain.
• 4:10:03
  Speaker 1: When I looked in at the window, I found Drebber
• 4:10:06
  Speaker 1: all huddled together in a drunken sleep. I shook him
• 4:10:09
  Speaker 1: by the arm. It's time to get out, I said,
• 4:10:14
  Speaker 1: all right, Cabby, said he. I suppose he thought would
• 4:10:18
  Speaker 1: come to the hotel that he had mentioned, for he
• 4:10:21
  Speaker 1: got out without another word and followed me down the garden.
• 4:10:25
  Speaker 1: I had to walk beside him to keep him steady,
• 4:10:27
  Speaker 1: for he was still a little top heavy. When we
• 4:10:31
  Speaker 1: came to the door, I opened it and led him
• 4:10:34
  Speaker 1: into the front room. I give you my word that
• 4:10:37
  Speaker 1: all the way the father and the daughter were walking
• 4:10:40
  Speaker 1: in front of us. It's infernally dark, said he, stamping about.
• 4:10:46
  Speaker 1: We'll soon have a light, I said, striking a match
• 4:10:50
  Speaker 1: and putting it to a wax candle, which I brought
• 4:10:52
  Speaker 1: with me. Now, Enoch Drebber, I continued, turning to him
• 4:10:58
  Speaker 1: and holding the light to my own. Fo Who am I?
• 4:11:04
  Speaker 1: He gazed at me with bleared, drunken eyes. For a
• 4:11:07
  Speaker 1: moment and then I saw a horror springing up in
• 4:11:11
  Speaker 1: them and convulse his whole features, which show me that
• 4:11:15
  Speaker 1: he knew me. He staggered back with a livid face,
• 4:11:19
  Speaker 1: and I saw the perspiration break out upon his brow,
• 4:11:23
  Speaker 1: while his teeth chattered in his head. At the sight,
• 4:11:27
  Speaker 1: I leaned my back against the door and laughed loud
• 4:11:30
  Speaker 1: and long. I had always known that vengeance would be sweet,
• 4:11:35
  Speaker 1: but I had never hoped for the contentment of soul,
• 4:11:37
  Speaker 1: which now possessed me. You dog, I said, I have
• 4:11:43
  Speaker 1: hunted you from Salt Lake City to Saint Petersburg, and
• 4:11:47
  Speaker 1: you have always escaped me. Now at last your wanderings
• 4:11:51
  Speaker 1: have come to an end, for either you or I
• 4:11:54
  Speaker 1: shall never see to morrow's sunrise. He shrunk still further
• 4:11:58
  Speaker 1: away as I spoke, and I could see on his
• 4:12:01
  Speaker 1: face that he thought I was mad. So I was.
• 4:12:04
  Speaker 1: For the time, the pulses in my temples beat like
• 4:12:08
  Speaker 1: sledge hammers, and I believe I would have had a
• 4:12:11
  Speaker 1: fit of some sort if the blood had not gushed
• 4:12:13
  Speaker 1: from my nose. And relieve me, what do you think
• 4:12:17
  Speaker 1: of Lucy Ferrier? Now? I cried, locking the door and
• 4:12:21
  Speaker 1: shaking the key in his face punishment has been slow
• 4:12:25
  Speaker 1: in coming, but it has overtaken you at last. I
• 4:12:30
  Speaker 1: saw his coward lips tremble as I spoke. He would
• 4:12:33
  Speaker 1: have begged for his life, but he knew well that
• 4:12:36
  Speaker 1: it was useless. Wo. Wo, would you murder me? He stammered,
• 4:12:42
  Speaker 1: There is no murder, I answered, who talks of murdering
• 4:12:47
  Speaker 1: a mad dog? What mercy had you upon my poor
• 4:12:50
  Speaker 1: darling when you dragged her from her slaughtered father and
• 4:12:54
  Speaker 1: bore her away to your accursed and shameless harem? It
• 4:12:58
  Speaker 1: was not I who killed her father, he cried, But
• 4:13:03
  Speaker 1: it was you who broke her innocent heart. I shrieked,
• 4:13:07
  Speaker 1: thrusting the door before him. Let the High God judge
• 4:13:10
  Speaker 1: between us, choose and eat. There is death in one
• 4:13:15
  Speaker 1: and life in need the other. I shall take what
• 4:13:18
  Speaker 1: you leave. Let us see if there is justice upon
• 4:13:21
  Speaker 1: the earth, or if we are ruled by chance. He
• 4:13:26
  Speaker 1: cowered away with wild cries and prayers for mercy. But
• 4:13:31
  Speaker 1: I drew my knife and held it to his throat
• 4:13:33
  Speaker 1: until he had obeyed me. Then I swallowed the other,
• 4:13:37
  Speaker 1: and we stood facing one another in silence for a
• 4:13:41
  Speaker 1: minute or more, waiting to see which was to live
• 4:13:44
  Speaker 1: and which was to die. Shall I ever forget the
• 4:13:48
  Speaker 1: look which came over his face when the first warning
• 4:13:52
  Speaker 1: pangs told him that the poison was in his system.
• 4:13:57
  Speaker 1: I laughed as I saw it, and held Lucy's marriage
• 4:14:00
  Speaker 1: ring in front of his eyes. It was but for
• 4:14:03
  Speaker 1: a moment, for the action of the alkaloid is rapid.
• 4:14:08
  Speaker 1: A spasm of pain contorted his features. He threw his
• 4:14:11
  Speaker 1: hands out in front of him, staggered, and then, with
• 4:14:14
  Speaker 1: a hoarse cry, fell heavily upon the floor. I turned
• 4:14:18
  Speaker 1: him over with my foot and placed my hand upon
• 4:14:21
  Speaker 1: his heart. There was no movement. He was dead. The
• 4:14:28
  Speaker 1: blood had been streaming from my nose, but I had
• 4:14:31
  Speaker 1: taken no notice of it. I don't know what it
• 4:14:34
  Speaker 1: was that put it into my head to write upon
• 4:14:36
  Speaker 1: the wall with it. Perhaps there was some mischievous idea
• 4:14:39
  Speaker 1: of setting the police upon a wrong track, for I
• 4:14:43
  Speaker 1: felt light hearted and cheerful. I remembered a German being
• 4:14:47
  Speaker 1: found in New York with Racha written up above him,
• 4:14:51
  Speaker 1: and it was argued at the time in the newspapers
• 4:14:54
  Speaker 1: that the secret societies must have done it. I guessed
• 4:14:58
  Speaker 1: that what puzzled the New Yorker's would puzzle the Londonness.
• 4:15:03
  Speaker 1: So I dipped my finger in my own blood and
• 4:15:06
  Speaker 1: printed it on a convenient place on the wall. Then
• 4:15:09
  Speaker 1: I walked down to my cab and found that there
• 4:15:12
  Speaker 1: was nobody about, and that the night was still very wild.
• 4:15:16
  Speaker 1: I had driven some distance when I put my hand
• 4:15:18
  Speaker 1: into the pocket in which I usually kept Lucy's ring,
• 4:15:22
  Speaker 1: and found that it was not there. I was thunderstruck
• 4:15:25
  Speaker 1: at this, for it was the only memento that I
• 4:15:28
  Speaker 1: had of her, Thinking that I might have dropped it
• 4:15:31
  Speaker 1: when I stooped over Drev's body, I drove back, and,
• 4:15:34
  Speaker 1: leaving my cab in a side street, I went boldly
• 4:15:37
  Speaker 1: up to the house, for I was ready to dare
• 4:15:40
  Speaker 1: anything rather than lose the ring. When I arrived there,
• 4:15:45
  Speaker 1: I walked right into the arms of a police officer
• 4:15:48
  Speaker 1: who was coming out, and only managed to disarm his
• 4:15:51
  Speaker 1: suspicions by pretending to be hopelessly drunk. That was how
• 4:15:56
  Speaker 1: Enoch Drebber came to his end. All I had to
• 4:16:00
  Speaker 1: do then was to do as much for Stangerson and
• 4:16:03
  Speaker 1: so pay off John Ferry's debt. I knew that he
• 4:16:07
  Speaker 1: was staying at Halliday's private hotel, and I hung about
• 4:16:11
  Speaker 1: all day, but he never came out. I fancied that
• 4:16:15
  Speaker 1: he suspected something when dreb failed to put in an appearance.
• 4:16:19
  Speaker 1: He was cunning with Stangerson, and always on his guard.
• 4:16:24
  Speaker 1: If he thought he could keep me off by stay
• 4:16:25
  Speaker 1: in doors, he was very much mistaken. I soon found
• 4:16:30
  Speaker 1: out which was the window his bedroom, and early next
• 4:16:33
  Speaker 1: morning I took advantage of some ladders which were lying
• 4:16:37
  Speaker 1: in the lane behind the hotel, and so made my
• 4:16:40
  Speaker 1: way into his room in the gray of the dawn.
• 4:16:44
  Speaker 1: I woke him up and told him that the hour
• 4:16:46
  Speaker 1: had come when he was to answer for the life
• 4:16:49
  Speaker 1: he had taken so long before. I described Dreba's death
• 4:16:53
  Speaker 1: to him, and I gave him the same choice of
• 4:16:56
  Speaker 1: the poisoned pills instead of grass. Been at the chance
• 4:17:00
  Speaker 1: of safety which that offered him. He sprang from his
• 4:17:04
  Speaker 1: bed and flew at my throat. In self defense, I
• 4:17:08
  Speaker 1: stabbed into the heart. It would have been the same
• 4:17:11
  Speaker 1: in any case, for Providence would never have allowed his
• 4:17:14
  Speaker 1: guilty hand to pick out anything but the poison. I
• 4:17:20
  Speaker 1: have little more to say, and it's as well, for
• 4:17:22
  Speaker 1: I'm about done up. I went on cabinet for a
• 4:17:26
  Speaker 1: day or so, intending to keep at it until I
• 4:17:28
  Speaker 1: could save enough to take me back to America. I
• 4:17:32
  Speaker 1: was standing in the yard when a ragged youngster asked
• 4:17:35
  Speaker 1: if there was a cabby there, called Jefferson Hope, and
• 4:17:38
  Speaker 1: said that his cab was wanted by a gentleman at
• 4:17:41
  Speaker 1: two twenty one b. Baker Street. I went round, suspecting
• 4:17:45
  Speaker 1: no harm, and the next thing I knew, this young
• 4:17:48
  Speaker 1: man here had the bracelets on my wrists, and as
• 4:17:52
  Speaker 1: neatly as snackled as ever I saw in my life.
• 4:17:56
  Speaker 1: That's the whole of my story. Gentlemen, you may consider
• 4:17:59
  Speaker 1: me be a murderer, but I hold that I am
• 4:18:02
  Speaker 1: just as much an officer of justice as you are.
• 4:18:07
  Speaker 1: So thrilling had the man's narrative been, and his manner
• 4:18:11
  Speaker 1: was so impressive, that we had sat silent and absorbed.
• 4:18:16
  Speaker 1: Even the professional detectives, blase as they were in every
• 4:18:20
  Speaker 1: detail of crime, appeared to be keenly interested in the
• 4:18:23
  Speaker 1: man's story. When he finished, we sat for some minutes
• 4:18:29
  Speaker 1: in a stillness which was only broken by the scratching
• 4:18:32
  Speaker 1: of Lestrade's pencil as he gave the finishing touches to
• 4:18:35
  Speaker 1: his shorthand account. There is only one point on which
• 4:18:40
  Speaker 1: I should like a little more information, Sherlock Holmes said,
• 4:18:44
  Speaker 1: at last, who was your accomplice who came for the
• 4:18:48
  Speaker 1: ring which I advertised? The prisoner winked at my friend jocosely.
• 4:18:55
  Speaker 1: I can tell my own secrets, he said, but I
• 4:18:59
  Speaker 1: don't get other peace pull into trouble. I saw your
• 4:19:02
  Speaker 1: advertisement and I thought it might be a plant, or
• 4:19:04
  Speaker 1: it might be the ring which I wanted. My friend
• 4:19:07
  Speaker 1: volunteered to go and see. I think you'll own He
• 4:19:10
  Speaker 1: did it smartly. Not a doubt of that, said Holmes heartily. Now, gentlemen,
• 4:19:18
  Speaker 1: the inspector remarked gravely, the forms of the law must
• 4:19:22
  Speaker 1: be complied with. On Thursday, the prisoner will be brought
• 4:19:25
  Speaker 1: before the magistrates, and your attendants will be required. Until
• 4:19:31
  Speaker 1: then I'll be responsible for him. He rang the bell
• 4:19:35
  Speaker 1: as he spoke, and Jefferson Hope was led off by
• 4:19:38
  Speaker 1: a couple of warders, while my friend and I made
• 4:19:41
  Speaker 1: our way out of the station and took a cab
• 4:19:44
  Speaker 1: back to Baker Street. End a Part two, Chapter six,
• 4:19:50
  Speaker 1: Part two, Chapter seven. The conclusion we had all been
• 4:19:57
  Speaker 1: worn to appear before the magistrates upon the third, but
• 4:20:01
  Speaker 1: when the Thursday came there was no occasion for our testimony.
• 4:20:05
  Speaker 1: A higher judge had taken the matter in hand, and
• 4:20:08
  Speaker 1: Jefferson Hope had been summoned before a tribunal where strict
• 4:20:11
  Speaker 1: justice would be meeted out to him. On the very
• 4:20:15
  Speaker 1: night after his capture, the aneurism burst, and he was
• 4:20:19
  Speaker 1: found in the morning, stretched upon the floor of the
• 4:20:21
  Speaker 1: cell with a placid smile upon his face, as though
• 4:20:25
  Speaker 1: he had been able in his dying moments to look
• 4:20:27
  Speaker 1: back upon a useful life and on work well done.
• 4:20:33
  Speaker 1: Gregson and Lestrade will be wild about his death, Holmes remarked,
• 4:20:38
  Speaker 1: as we chatted it over next evening, where will their
• 4:20:42
  Speaker 1: grand advertisement be now? I don't see that they had
• 4:20:46
  Speaker 1: very much to do with this capture, I answered, what
• 4:20:50
  Speaker 1: you do in this world is a matter of no consequence,
• 4:20:53
  Speaker 1: returned my companion bitterly. The question is what can you
• 4:20:58
  Speaker 1: make people believe that you have done? Never Mind, he
• 4:21:02
  Speaker 1: continued more brightly, after a pause. I would not have
• 4:21:05
  Speaker 1: missed the investigation for anything. There has been no better
• 4:21:09
  Speaker 1: case within my recollection. Simple as it was, there were
• 4:21:13
  Speaker 1: several most instructive points about it. Simple, I ejaculated. Well, really,
• 4:21:22
  Speaker 1: it can hardly be described as otherwise, said Sherlock Holmbs
• 4:21:25
  Speaker 1: smiling at my surprise. The proof of its intrinsic simplicity
• 4:21:30
  Speaker 1: is that, without any help, save a few very ordinary deductions,
• 4:21:35
  Speaker 1: I was able to lay my hand upon the criminal
• 4:21:37
  Speaker 1: within three days. That is true, said I. I have
• 4:21:44
  Speaker 1: already explained to you that what is out of the
• 4:21:47
  Speaker 1: common is usually a guide rather than a hindrance in
• 4:21:51
  Speaker 1: solving a problem of this sort. The grand thing is
• 4:21:54
  Speaker 1: to be able to reason backwards. That is a very
• 4:21:57
  Speaker 1: useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do
• 4:22:01
  Speaker 1: not practice it much in the every day affairs of life.
• 4:22:05
  Speaker 1: It is more useful to reason forwards, and so the
• 4:22:09
  Speaker 1: other comes to be neglected. There are fifty who can
• 4:22:12
  Speaker 1: reason synthetically, for one who can reason analytically. I confess,
• 4:22:18
  Speaker 1: said I, that I do not quite follow you. I
• 4:22:22
  Speaker 1: hardly expected that you would Let me see if I
• 4:22:26
  Speaker 1: can make it clearer. Most people, if you describe a
• 4:22:29
  Speaker 1: train of events to them, will tell you what the
• 4:22:33
  Speaker 1: result would be. They can put those events together in
• 4:22:36
  Speaker 1: their minds and argue from them that something will come
• 4:22:40
  Speaker 1: to pass. There are few people, however, who, if you
• 4:22:44
  Speaker 1: told them a result, would be able to evolve from
• 4:22:47
  Speaker 1: their own inner consciousness. What the steps were which led
• 4:22:50
  Speaker 1: up to that result. This power is what I mean
• 4:22:54
  Speaker 1: when I talk of reasoning backwards or analytically. I understand
• 4:23:00
  Speaker 1: and said, I, now, this was a case in which
• 4:23:04
  Speaker 1: you were given the result and had to find everything
• 4:23:08
  Speaker 1: else for yourself. Now let me endeavor to show you
• 4:23:11
  Speaker 1: the different steps in my reasoning. To begin at the beginning.
• 4:23:16
  Speaker 1: I approached the house, as you know, on foot and
• 4:23:20
  Speaker 1: with my mind entirely free from all impressions. I naturally
• 4:23:25
  Speaker 1: began by examining the roadway, and there, as I have
• 4:23:28
  Speaker 1: already explained to you, I saw clearly the marks of
• 4:23:31
  Speaker 1: a cab, which I ascertained by inquiry must have been
• 4:23:36
  Speaker 1: there during the night. I satisfied myself that it was
• 4:23:39
  Speaker 1: a cab and not a private carriage. By the narrow
• 4:23:42
  Speaker 1: gage of the wheels. The ordinary London growler is considerably
• 4:23:46
  Speaker 1: less wide than a gentleman's brofen. This was the first
• 4:23:50
  Speaker 1: point gained. I then walked slowly down the garden path,
• 4:23:54
  Speaker 1: which happened to be composed of a clay soil peculiarly
• 4:23:58
  Speaker 1: suitable for taking impresson. No doubt, it appeared to you
• 4:24:02
  Speaker 1: to be a mere trampled line of slush. But to
• 4:24:06
  Speaker 1: my trained eyes, every mark upon its surface had a meaning.
• 4:24:10
  Speaker 1: There is no branch of detective science which is so
• 4:24:13
  Speaker 1: important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps.
• 4:24:18
  Speaker 1: Happily I have always laid great stress upon it, and
• 4:24:22
  Speaker 1: much practice has made its second nature to me. I
• 4:24:26
  Speaker 1: saw the heavy footmarks of the constables, but I saw
• 4:24:29
  Speaker 1: also the track of the two men who had first
• 4:24:31
  Speaker 1: passed through the garden. It was easy to tell that
• 4:24:35
  Speaker 1: they had been before the others, because in places their
• 4:24:39
  Speaker 1: marks had been entirely obliterated by the others coming upon
• 4:24:43
  Speaker 1: the top of them. In this way, my second link
• 4:24:47
  Speaker 1: was formed, which told me that the nocturnal visitors were
• 4:24:50
  Speaker 1: two in number, one remarkable for his height, as I
• 4:24:55
  Speaker 1: calculated from the length of his stride, and the other
• 4:24:58
  Speaker 1: fashionably dressed, to judge from the small and elegant impression
• 4:25:02
  Speaker 1: left by his boots on entering the house. This last
• 4:25:08
  Speaker 1: inference was confirmed my well booted man lay before me.
• 4:25:13
  Speaker 1: The tall one then had done the murder. If murder
• 4:25:17
  Speaker 1: there was, there was no wound upon the dead man's person,
• 4:25:23
  Speaker 1: but the agitated expression upon his face assured me that
• 4:25:26
  Speaker 1: he had foreseen his fate before it came upon him.
• 4:25:30
  Speaker 1: Men who die from heart disease or any sudden natural cause, never,
• 4:25:36
  Speaker 1: by any chance, exhibit agitation upon their features. Having sniffed
• 4:25:41
  Speaker 1: the dead man's lips, I detected a slightly sour smell,
• 4:25:44
  Speaker 1: and I came to the conclusion that he had had
• 4:25:47
  Speaker 1: poison forced upon him. Again, I argued that it had
• 4:25:52
  Speaker 1: been forced upon him from the hatred and fear expressed
• 4:25:55
  Speaker 1: upon his face. By the method of exclusion. I had
• 4:25:59
  Speaker 1: arrived at this result, for no other hypothesis would meet
• 4:26:02
  Speaker 1: the facts. Do not imagine that it was a very
• 4:26:05
  Speaker 1: unheard of idea. The forcible administration of poison is by
• 4:26:10
  Speaker 1: no means a new thing in criminal annals. The cases
• 4:26:13
  Speaker 1: of Dolsky in Odessa and of Leturier in Montpellier will
• 4:26:18
  Speaker 1: occur at once to any toxicologist. And now came the
• 4:26:23
  Speaker 1: great question as to the reason why robbery had not
• 4:26:27
  Speaker 1: been the object of the murder, for nothing was taken.
• 4:26:31
  Speaker 1: Was it politics, then, or was it a woman? That
• 4:26:36
  Speaker 1: was the question which confronted me. I was inclined from
• 4:26:40
  Speaker 1: the first to the latter supposition. Political assassins are only
• 4:26:44
  Speaker 1: too glad to do their work and to fly. This
• 4:26:48
  Speaker 1: murder had on the contrary, been done most deliberately, and
• 4:26:53
  Speaker 1: the perpetrator had left his tracks all over the room
• 4:26:57
  Speaker 1: showing that he had been there all the time. It
• 4:27:00
  Speaker 1: must have been a private wrong, and not a political one,
• 4:27:03
  Speaker 1: which called for such a methodical revenge. When the inscription
• 4:27:08
  Speaker 1: was discovered upon the wall, I was more inclined than
• 4:27:11
  Speaker 1: ever to my opinion the thing was too evidently a blind.
• 4:27:16
  Speaker 1: When the ring was found, however, it settled the question clearly.
• 4:27:21
  Speaker 1: The murderer had used it to remind his victim of
• 4:27:23
  Speaker 1: some dead or absent woman. It was at this point
• 4:27:27
  Speaker 1: that I asked Gregson whether he had inquired in his
• 4:27:30
  Speaker 1: telegram to Cleveland as to any particular point in mister
• 4:27:33
  Speaker 1: Drebber's former career. He answered, you remember in the negative.
• 4:27:40
  Speaker 1: I then proceeded to make a careful examination of the room,
• 4:27:44
  Speaker 1: which confirmed me in my opinion as to the murderer's height,
• 4:27:47
  Speaker 1: and furnished me with the additional details as to the
• 4:27:50
  Speaker 1: trichinopoly cigar and the length of his nails. I had
• 4:27:55
  Speaker 1: already come to the conclusion, since there were no signs
• 4:27:58
  Speaker 1: of a struggle, that the blood which covered the floor
• 4:28:01
  Speaker 1: had burst from the murderer's nose in his excitement, I
• 4:28:05
  Speaker 1: could perceive that the track of blood coincided with the
• 4:28:08
  Speaker 1: track of his feet. It is seldom that any man,
• 4:28:12
  Speaker 1: unless he is very full blooded, breaks out in this
• 4:28:15
  Speaker 1: way through emotion. So I hazarded the opinion that the
• 4:28:18
  Speaker 1: criminal was probably a robust and ruddy faced man. Events
• 4:28:23
  Speaker 1: proved that I had judged correctly. Having left the house,
• 4:28:28
  Speaker 1: I proceeded to do what Gregson had neglected. I telegraphed
• 4:28:32
  Speaker 1: to the head of the people at Cleveland, limiting my
• 4:28:34
  Speaker 1: inquiry to this circumstances connected with the marriage of Enoch Drebber.
• 4:28:40
  Speaker 1: The answer was conclusive. It told me that Drebber had
• 4:28:44
  Speaker 1: already applied for the protection of the law against an
• 4:28:47
  Speaker 1: old rival in love named Jefferson Hope, and that this
• 4:28:51
  Speaker 1: same Hope was at present in Europe. I knew now
• 4:28:56
  Speaker 1: that I held the clue to the mystery in my hand,
• 4:28:58
  Speaker 1: and all that remained was to secure the murderer. I
• 4:29:02
  Speaker 1: had already determined in my own mind that the man
• 4:29:05
  Speaker 1: who had walked into the house with Drebber was none
• 4:29:07
  Speaker 1: other than the man who had driven the cab. The
• 4:29:11
  Speaker 1: marks in the road showed me that the horse had
• 4:29:13
  Speaker 1: wandered on in a way, which had been impossible had
• 4:29:16
  Speaker 1: there been anyone in charge of it. Where then could
• 4:29:20
  Speaker 1: the driver be unless he were inside the house. Again,
• 4:29:25
  Speaker 1: it is absurd to suppose that any sane man would
• 4:29:29
  Speaker 1: carry out a deliberate crime under the very eyes, as
• 4:29:32
  Speaker 1: it were, of a third person who was sure to
• 4:29:35
  Speaker 1: betray him. Lastly, supposing one man wished to dog another
• 4:29:40
  Speaker 1: through London, what better means could he adopt than to
• 4:29:43
  Speaker 1: turn cab driver. All these considerations led me to the
• 4:29:50
  Speaker 1: irresistible conclusion that Jefferson Hope was to be found among
• 4:29:54
  Speaker 1: the Javis of the metropolis. If he had been one,
• 4:29:59
  Speaker 1: there was no reason to believe that he had ceased
• 4:30:01
  Speaker 1: to be. On the contrary, from his point of view,
• 4:30:05
  Speaker 1: any sudden change would be likely to draw attention to himself.
• 4:30:10
  Speaker 1: He would, probably, for a time at least, continue to
• 4:30:12
  Speaker 1: perform his duties. There was no reason to suppose that
• 4:30:16
  Speaker 1: he was going under an assumed name. Why should he
• 4:30:20
  Speaker 1: change his name in a country where no one knew
• 4:30:22
  Speaker 1: his original one. I therefore organized my street Arab detective
• 4:30:27
  Speaker 1: Corps and sent them systematically to every cab proprietor in
• 4:30:31
  Speaker 1: London until they ferreted out the man that I wanted.
• 4:30:35
  Speaker 1: How well they succeeded, and how quickly I took advantage
• 4:30:38
  Speaker 1: of it, are still fresh in your recollection. The murder
• 4:30:42
  Speaker 1: of Stangerson was an incident which was entirely unexpected, but
• 4:30:46
  Speaker 1: which could hardly, in any case, have been prevented. Through it,
• 4:30:50
  Speaker 1: as you know, I came into possession of the pills,
• 4:30:54
  Speaker 1: the existence of which I had already surmised. You see,
• 4:30:57
  Speaker 1: the whole thing is a chain of logical sequetes, without
• 4:31:00
  Speaker 1: a break or flaw. It is wonderful. I cried. Your
• 4:31:06
  Speaker 1: merits should be public recognized. You should publish an account
• 4:31:09
  Speaker 1: of the case. If you won't, I will for you.
• 4:31:14
  Speaker 1: You may do what you like. Doctor, he answered, see here,
• 4:31:19
  Speaker 1: he continued, handing a paper over to me. Look at this.
• 4:31:24
  Speaker 1: It was the echo for the day, and the paragraph
• 4:31:26
  Speaker 1: to which he pointed was devoted to the case in question.
• 4:31:31
  Speaker 1: The public, it said, have lost a sensational treat through
• 4:31:34
  Speaker 1: the sudden death of the man Hope, who was suspected
• 4:31:37
  Speaker 1: of the murder of mister Enoch Drebber and of mister
• 4:31:40
  Speaker 1: Joseph Stangerson. The details of the case will probably be
• 4:31:43
  Speaker 1: never known now, though we are informed upon good authority
• 4:31:47
  Speaker 1: that the crime was the result of an old standing
• 4:31:49
  Speaker 1: and romantic feud in which love and Mormonism bore a part.
• 4:31:55
  Speaker 1: It seems that both the victims belonged, in their younger
• 4:31:58
  Speaker 1: days to the latter day Saints, and hope the deceased
• 4:32:03
  Speaker 1: prisoner hails also from Salt Lake City. If the case
• 4:32:06
  Speaker 1: has had no other effect, it at least brings out,
• 4:32:09
  Speaker 1: in the most striking manner the efficiency of our detective
• 4:32:12
  Speaker 1: police force, and will serve as a lesson to all
• 4:32:15
  Speaker 1: foreigners that they will do wisely to settle their feuds
• 4:32:18
  Speaker 1: at home, and not to carry them on to British soil.
• 4:32:22
  Speaker 1: It is an open secret that the credit of this
• 4:32:24
  Speaker 1: smart capture belongs entirely to the well known Scotland Yard officials,
• 4:32:29
  Speaker 1: Messrs Lestrade and Gregson. The man was apprehended it appears
• 4:32:34
  Speaker 1: in the rooms of a certain mister Sherlock Holmes, who
• 4:32:37
  Speaker 1: has himself, as an amateur, shown some talent in the
• 4:32:40
  Speaker 1: detective line, and who, with such instructors, may hope in
• 4:32:44
  Speaker 1: time to attain to some degree of their skill. It
• 4:32:48
  Speaker 1: is expected that a testimonial of some sort will be
• 4:32:51
  Speaker 1: presented to the two officers as a fitting recognition of
• 4:32:55
  Speaker 1: their services. Didn't I tell you so when we started,
• 4:33:00
  Speaker 1: cried Sherlock Holmes with a laugh. That's the result of
• 4:33:04
  Speaker 1: all our study in scarlet to get them a testimonial.
• 4:33:10
  Speaker 1: Never mind, I answered, I have all the facts in
• 4:33:13
  Speaker 1: my journal, and the public shall know them. In the meantime,
• 4:33:17
  Speaker 1: you must make yourself contented by the consciousness of success,
• 4:33:22
  Speaker 1: like the Roman miser Populace may sibylat et mihi plaudo
• 4:33:28
  Speaker 1: ipse domi simul ac numos contemplore in arca, end of
• 4:33:37
  Speaker 1: Book two, Chapter seven, The end of a Study in
• 4:33:41
  Speaker 1: Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle