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22 The Greek Interpreter from The Memoirs of Sherloc · Sherlock Holmes

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Speaker 1: The adventure of the Greek interpreter. During my long and
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Speaker 1: intimate acquaintance with mister Sherlock Holmes, I had never heard
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Speaker 1: him refer to his relations, and hardly ever to his
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Speaker 1: own early life. This reticence upon his part had increased
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Speaker 1: the somewhat inhuman effect which he produced upon me, until
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Speaker 1: sometimes I found myself regarding him as an isolated phenomenon,
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Speaker 1: a brain without a heart, as deficient in human sympathy
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Speaker 1: as he was pre eminent in intelligence. His aversion to
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Speaker 1: women and his disinclination to form new friendships were both
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Speaker 1: typical of his unemotional character, but not more so than
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Speaker 1: his complete suppression of every reference to his own people.
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Speaker 1: I had come to believe that he was an orphan
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Speaker 1: with no relatives living. But one day, to my very
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Speaker 1: great surprise, he began to talk to me about his brother.
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Speaker 1: It was after tea on a summer evening, and the conversation,
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Speaker 1: which had roamed in a desultory, spasmodic fashion from golf
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Speaker 1: clubs to the causes of change in the obliquity of
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Speaker 1: the ecliptic, came round at last to the question of
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Speaker 1: atavism and hereditary aptitudes. The point under discussion was how
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Speaker 1: far any singular gift in an individual was due to
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Speaker 1: his ancestry, and how far to his own early training.
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Speaker 1: In your own case, said I. From all that you
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Speaker 1: have told me, it seems obvious that your faculty of
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Speaker 1: observation and your peculiar facility for deduction are due to
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Speaker 1: your own sister domatic training. To some extent, he answered thoughtfully,
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Speaker 1: my ancestors were country squires, who appear to have led
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Speaker 1: much the same life as is natural to their class.
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Speaker 1: But nonetheless, my turn that way is in my veins,
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Speaker 1: and may have come with my grandmother, who was the
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Speaker 1: sister of Verney, the French artist. Art in the blood
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Speaker 1: is liable to take the strangest forms. But how do
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Speaker 1: you know that it is hereditary? Because my brother Micraft
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Speaker 1: possesses it in a larger degree than I do. This
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Speaker 1: was news to me. Indeed, if there were another man
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Speaker 1: with such singular powers in England, how was it that
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Speaker 1: neither police nor public had heard of him? I put
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Speaker 1: the question with a hint that it was my companion's
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Speaker 1: modesty which made him acknowledge his brother as his superior.
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Speaker 1: Holmes laughed at my suggestion, My dear Watson said he
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Speaker 1: I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues.
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Speaker 1: To the logician, all things should be seen exactly as
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Speaker 1: they are, and to underestimate oneself is as much a
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Speaker 1: departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own powers. When
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Speaker 1: I say, therefore, that my craft has better powers of
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Speaker 1: observation than I, you may take it that I am
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Speaker 1: speaking the exact and literal truth. Is he your junior,
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Speaker 1: seven years my senior? How comes it that he is unknown? Oh?
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Speaker 1: He is very well known in his own circle. Where then, well,
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Speaker 1: in the Diogenes Club, for example? I had never heard
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Speaker 1: of the institution, and my face must have proclaimed as much.
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Speaker 1: The Sherlock Holmes pulled out his watch. The Diogenes Club
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Speaker 1: is the queerest club in London, and Micraft one of
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Speaker 1: the queerest men. He's always there from quarter to five
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Speaker 1: to twenty to eight. It's six now, So if you
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Speaker 1: care for a stroll this beautiful evening, I shall be
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Speaker 1: very happy to introduce you to two curiosities. Five minutes later,
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Speaker 1: we were in the street, walking towards Regent's Circus. You wonder,
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Speaker 1: said my companion, why it is that Micraft does not
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Speaker 1: use his powers for detective work. He is incapable of it.
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Speaker 1: But I thought you said, I said that he was
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Speaker 1: my superior in observation and deduction. If the art of
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Speaker 1: the detective began and ended in reasoning from an arm chair,
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Speaker 1: my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived.
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Speaker 1: But he has no ambition and no energy. He will
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Speaker 1: not even go out of his way to verify his
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Speaker 1: own solutions, and would rather be considered wrong than take
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Speaker 1: the trouble to prove himself right. Again and again. I
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Speaker 1: have taken a problem to him, and have received an
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Speaker 1: explanation which has afterwards proved to be the correct one.
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Speaker 1: And yet he was absolutely incapable of working out the
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Speaker 1: practical points which must be gone into before a case
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Speaker 1: could be laid before a judge or jury. It is
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Speaker 1: not his profession, then, by no means. What is to
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Speaker 1: me a means of livelihood is to him the merest
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Speaker 1: hobby of a dilettante. He has an extraordinary faculty for
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Speaker 1: figures and audits the books in some of the government departments.
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Speaker 1: Micraft lodges in Pall Mall, and he walks round the
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Speaker 1: corner into Whitehall every morning and back every evening. From
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Speaker 1: year's end to year's end. He takes no other exercise
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Speaker 1: and is seen nowhere else except only in the Diogenes Club,
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Speaker 1: which is just opposite his rooms. I cannot recall the name,
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Speaker 1: very likely not. There are many men in London, you
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Speaker 1: know who, some from shyness, some from misanthropy, have no
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Speaker 1: wish for the company of their fellows. Yet they are
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Speaker 1: not averse to comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals. It
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Speaker 1: is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club
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Speaker 1: was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and
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Speaker 1: unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take
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Speaker 1: the least notice of any other one, save in the
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Speaker 1: stranger's room. No talking is under any circumstances allowed, and
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Speaker 1: three offenses, if brought to the notice of the committee,
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Speaker 1: render the talker liable to expulsion. My brother was one
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Speaker 1: of the founders, and I have myself found it a
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Speaker 1: very soothing atmosphere. We had reached Pall Mall as we talked,
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Speaker 1: and we were walking down it from the Saint James's end.
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Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes stopped at Adore, some little distance from the Carlton,
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Speaker 1: and cautioning me not to speak. He led the way
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Speaker 1: into the hall. Through the glass paneling, I caught a
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Speaker 1: glimpse of a large and luxurious room in which a
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Speaker 1: considerable number of men were sitting about and reading papers,
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Speaker 1: each in his own little nook. Holmes showed me into
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Speaker 1: a small chamber which looked out into pow Mall, and
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Speaker 1: then leaving me for a minute, he came back with
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Speaker 1: a companion whom I knew could only be his brother, Mycroft.
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Speaker 1: Holmes was a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock.
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Speaker 1: His body was absolutely corpulent, but his face, though massive,
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Speaker 1: had preserved something of the sharpness of expression which was
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Speaker 1: so remarkable in that of his brother. His eyes, which
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Speaker 1: were of a peculiarly light, watery gray, seemed to always
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Speaker 1: retain that far away, introspective look which I had only
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Speaker 1: observed in Sherlock's when he was exerting his full powers.
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Speaker 1: I am glad to meet you, sir, said he putting
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Speaker 1: out a broad, fat hand like the flipper of a seal.
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Speaker 1: I hear of Sherlock everywhere since you became his chronicler.
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Speaker 1: By the way, Sherlock, I expected to see you round
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Speaker 1: last week to consult me over that manor house case.
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Speaker 1: I thought you might be a little out of your depth. No,
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Speaker 1: I solved it, said my friend, smiling. It was Adams.
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Speaker 1: Of course, Yes it was Adams. I was sure of
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Speaker 1: it from the first. The two sat down together in
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Speaker 1: the bow window of the club. To any one who
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Speaker 1: wishes to study mankind, this is the spot, said Mycraft.
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Speaker 1: Look at the magnificent types. Look at these two men
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Speaker 1: who are coming towards us, for example, the billiard maker
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Speaker 1: and the other. Precisely, what do you make of the other.
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Speaker 1: The two men had stopped opposite the window. Some chalk
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Speaker 1: marks over the waistcoat pocket were the only signs of
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Speaker 1: billiards which I could see in one of them. The
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Speaker 1: other was a very small, dark fellow, with his hat
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Speaker 1: pushed back and several packages under his arm. An old soldier,
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Speaker 1: I perceive, said Sherlock, and very recently discharged, remarked the
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Speaker 1: brother served in India, I see, And a non commissioned
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Speaker 1: officer Royal Artillery. I fancy, said Sherlock. And a widower,
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Speaker 1: but with a child. Children, My dear boy, children come,
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Speaker 1: said I laughing. This is a little too much, surely,
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Speaker 1: answered Holmes. It is not hard to say that a
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Speaker 1: man with that bearing expression of authority and sun baked
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Speaker 1: skin is a soldier, is more than a private, and
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Speaker 1: is not long from India. That he has not left
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Speaker 1: the service long is shown by his still wearing his
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Speaker 1: ammunition boots as they are called, observed Micraft. He had
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Speaker 1: not the cavalry stride, yet he wore his hat on
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Speaker 1: one side, as is shown by the lighter skin of
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Speaker 1: that side of his brow. His weight is against his
10:30
Speaker 1: being a sapper. He is in the artillery. Then, of course,
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Speaker 1: his complete mourning shows that he has lost someone very dear.
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Speaker 1: The fact that he is doing his own shopping looks
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Speaker 1: as though it were his wife. He has been buying
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Speaker 1: things for children. You perceive there is a rattle, which
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Speaker 1: shows that one of them is very young. The wife
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Speaker 1: probably died in child bed. The fact that he has
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Speaker 1: a picture book under him his arm shows that there
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Speaker 1: is another child to be thought of. I began to
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Speaker 1: understand what my friend meant when he said that his
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Speaker 1: brother possessed even keener faculties than he did himself. He
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Speaker 1: glanced across at me and smiled. Micraft took snuff from
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Speaker 1: a tortoise shell box and brushed away the wandering grains
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Speaker 1: from his coat front with a large red silk handkerchief.
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Speaker 1: By the way, Sherlock said he, I have had something
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Speaker 1: quite after your own heart, a most singular problem submitted
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Speaker 1: to my judgment. I really had not the energy to
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Speaker 1: follow it up, save in a very incomplete fashion, but
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Speaker 1: it gave me a basis for some pleasing speculation. If
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Speaker 1: you would care to hear the fact, my dear Micraft,
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Speaker 1: I should be delighted. The brother scribbled a note upon
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Speaker 1: a leaf of his pocket book, and ringing the bell,
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Speaker 1: he handed it to the waiter. I have asked mister
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Speaker 1: Melas to step across, said he. He lodges on the
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Speaker 1: floor above me, and I have some slight acquaintance with him,
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Speaker 1: which led him to come to me in his perplexity.
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Speaker 1: Mister Melass is a Greek by extraction, as I understand,
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Speaker 1: and he is a remarkable linguist. He earns his living
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Speaker 1: partly as interpreter in the law courts, and partly by
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Speaker 1: acting as guide to any wealthy Orientals who may visit
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Speaker 1: the Northumberland Avenue hotels. I think I will leave him
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Speaker 1: to tell his own very remarkable experience in his own fashion.
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Speaker 1: A few minutes later we were joined by a short,
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Speaker 1: stout man, whose olive face and cold black hair proclaimed
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Speaker 1: his Southern origin, though his speech was that of an
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Speaker 1: educated Englishman. He shook hands eagerly with Sherlock Holmes, and
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Speaker 1: his dark eyes sparkled with pleasure when he understood that
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Speaker 1: the specialist was anxious to hear his story. I do
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Speaker 1: not believe that the police credit me on my word.
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Speaker 1: I do not, he said in a wailing voice, just
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Speaker 1: because they have never heard of it before. They think
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Speaker 1: that such a thing cannot be. But I know that
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Speaker 1: I shall never be easy in my mind until I
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Speaker 1: know what has become of my poor man with the
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Speaker 1: sticking plaster upon his face. I am all attention, said
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Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes. This is Wednesday evening, said mister melass Well,
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Speaker 1: then it was Monday night, only two days ago. You
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Speaker 1: understand that all this happened. I am an interpreter, as
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Speaker 1: perhaps my neighbor there has told you, I interpret all languages,
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Speaker 1: or nearly all, but as I am a Greek by
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Speaker 1: birth and with a Grecian name, it is with that
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Speaker 1: particular hung that I am principally associated. For many years
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Speaker 1: I have been the chief Greek interpreter in London, and
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Speaker 1: my name is very well known in the hotels. It
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Speaker 1: happens not unfrequently that I am sent for at strange
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Speaker 1: hours by foreigners who get into difficulties, or by travelers
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Speaker 1: who arrived late and the wish for my services. I
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Speaker 1: was not surprised therefore on Monday night when a mister Latimer,
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Speaker 1: a very fashionably dressed young man, came up to my
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Speaker 1: rooms and asked me to accompany him in a cab
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Speaker 1: which was waiting at the door. A Greek friend had
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Speaker 1: come to see him upon business, he said, and as
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Speaker 1: he could speak nothing but his own tongue, the services
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Speaker 1: of an interpreter were indispensable. He gave me to understand
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Speaker 1: that his house was some little distance off in Kensington,
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Speaker 1: and he seemed to be in a great hurry, bustling
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Speaker 1: me rapidly into the cab when we had descended to
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Speaker 1: the street. I say, into the cab, but I soon
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Speaker 1: became doubtful as to whether it was not a carriage
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Speaker 1: in which I found myself. It was certainly more roomy
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Speaker 1: than the ordinary four wheeled disgrace to London, and the fittings,
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Speaker 1: though fraid, were of rich quality. Mister Latimer seated himself
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Speaker 1: opposite to me, and we started off through Charing Cross
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Speaker 1: and up the Shaftsbury Avenue. We had come out upon
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Speaker 1: Oxford Street, and I had ventured some remark as to
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Speaker 1: this being a roundabout way to Kensington, when my words
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Speaker 1: were arrested by the extraordinary conduct of my companion. He
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Speaker 1: began by drawing a most formidable looking bludgeon loaded with
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Speaker 1: lead from his pocket, and switching it backward and forward
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Speaker 1: several times, as if to test its weight and strength.
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Speaker 1: Then he placed it, without a word, upon the seat
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Speaker 1: beside him. Having done this, he drew up the windows
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Speaker 1: on each side, and I found, to my astonishment that
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Speaker 1: they were covered with paper so as to prevent my
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Speaker 1: seeing through them. I am sorry to cut off your view,
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Speaker 1: mister Melas, said he. The fact is that I have
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Speaker 1: no intention that you should see what the place is
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Speaker 1: to which we are driving. It might possibly be inconvenient
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Speaker 1: to me if you could find your way there. Again,
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Speaker 1: as you can imagine, I was utterly taken aback by
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Speaker 1: such an address. My companion was a powerful, broad shouldered
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Speaker 1: young fellow, and apart from the weapon, I should not
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Speaker 1: have had the slightest chance in a struggle with him.
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Speaker 1: This is very extraordinary conduct, mister Latimer, I stammered. You
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Speaker 1: must be aware that what you are doing is quite illegal.
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Speaker 1: It is somewhat of a liberty, no doubt, said he.
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Speaker 1: But we'll make it up to you. I must warn you, however,
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Speaker 1: mister Melas, that if at any time tonight you attempt
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Speaker 1: to raise an alarm or do anything which is against
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Speaker 1: my interests, you will find it a very serious thing.
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Speaker 1: I beg you to remember that no one knows where
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Speaker 1: you are, and that whether you are in this carriage
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Speaker 1: or in my house, you are equally in my power.
17:15
Speaker 1: His words were quiet, but he had a rasping way
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Speaker 1: of saying them, which was very menacing. I sat in silence,
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Speaker 1: wondering what an earth could be his reason for kidnapping
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Speaker 1: me in this extraordinary fashion. Whatever it might be, it
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Speaker 1: was perfectly clear that there was no possible use in
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Speaker 1: my resisting. That I could only wait to see what
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Speaker 1: might befall. For nearly two hours we drove without my
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Speaker 1: having the least clue as to where we were going.
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Speaker 1: Sometimes the rattle of the stones told of a paved causeway,
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Speaker 1: and at others our smooth, silent course suggested asphalt, but
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Speaker 1: save by this variation in so there was nothing at
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Speaker 1: all which could, in the remotest way help me to
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Speaker 1: form a guess as to where we were. The paper
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Speaker 1: over each window was impenetrable to light, and a blue
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Speaker 1: curtain was drawn across the glass work in front. It
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Speaker 1: was a quarter past seven when we left Pall Mall,
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Speaker 1: and my watch showed me that it was ten minutes
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Speaker 1: to nine when we at last came to a standstill.
18:27
Speaker 1: My companion let down the window and I caught a
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Speaker 1: glimpse of a low arched doorway with a lamp burning
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Speaker 1: above it. As I was hurried from the carriage, it
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Speaker 1: swung open, and I found myself inside the house, with
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Speaker 1: a vague impression of a lawn and trees on each
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Speaker 1: side of me. As I entered whether these were private grounds, however,
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Speaker 1: or bona fide country, was more than I could possibly
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Speaker 1: venture to say. There was a colored gas lamp inside,
18:58
Speaker 1: which was turned so low that I could see little
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Speaker 1: save that the hall was of some size and hung
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Speaker 1: with pictures. In the dim light, I could make out
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Speaker 1: that the person who had opened the door was a small,
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Speaker 1: mean looking middle aged man, with rounded shoulders. As he
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Speaker 1: turned towards us, the glint of the light showed me
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Speaker 1: that he was wearing glasses. Is this mister Maelis, Harold
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Speaker 1: said he yes, well done, well done. No ill will,
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Speaker 1: mister Maelis, I hope, but we could not get on
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Speaker 1: without you. If you deal fair with us, you'll not
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Speaker 1: regret it. But if you try any tricks, God help you.
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Speaker 1: He spoke in a nervous, jerky fashion, and with little
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Speaker 1: giggling laughs in between, but somehow he impressed me with
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Speaker 1: fear more than the other. What do you want with me?
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Speaker 1: I asked, only to ask a few questions, have a
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Speaker 1: Greek gentleman who is visiting us, and to let us
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Speaker 1: have the answers. But say no more than you are
19:57
Speaker 1: told to say, or came the nervous giggle again. You
20:02
Speaker 1: had better never have been born. As he spoke, he
20:06
Speaker 1: opened a door and showed the way into a room
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Speaker 1: which appeared to be very richly furnished, but again the
20:13
Speaker 1: only light was afforded by a single lamp half turned down.
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Speaker 1: The chamber was certainly large, and the way in which
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Speaker 1: my feet sank into the carpet as I stepped across
20:25
Speaker 1: it told me of its richness. I caught glimpses of
20:30
Speaker 1: velvet chairs, a high white marble mantelpiece, and what seemed
20:33
Speaker 1: to be a suit of Japanese armor. At one side
20:37
Speaker 1: of it, there was a chair just under the lamp,
20:41
Speaker 1: and the elderly man motioned that I should sit in it.
20:45
Speaker 1: The younger had left us, but he suddenly returned through
20:49
Speaker 1: another door, leading with him a gentleman clad in some
20:53
Speaker 1: sort of loose dressing gown, who moved slowly towards us.
20:58
Speaker 1: As he came into the circle of dim light which
21:02
Speaker 1: enables me to see him more clearly, I was thrilled
21:06
Speaker 1: with horror at his appearance. He was deadly pale and
21:11
Speaker 1: terribly emaciated, with the protruding brilliant eyes of a man
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Speaker 1: whose spirit was greater than his strength. But what shocked
21:22
Speaker 1: me more than any signs of physical weakness was that
21:26
Speaker 1: his face was grotesquely criss crossed with sticking plaster, and
21:32
Speaker 1: that one large pad of it was fastened over his mouth.
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Speaker 1: Have you the slate, Harold, cried the older man, as
21:42
Speaker 1: this strange being fell rather than sat down into a chair.
21:46
Speaker 1: Are his hands and loose? Now? Then give him the pencil.
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Speaker 1: You are to ask the questions, mister Melas, and he
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Speaker 1: will write the answers. Ask him, first of all, whether
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Speaker 1: he is prepared to sign the papers. The man's eyes
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Speaker 1: flashed fire. Never he wrote in Greek upon the slate
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Speaker 1: on no condition, I asked, at the bidding of our tyrant,
22:15
Speaker 1: only if I see her married in my presence by
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Speaker 1: a Greek priest whom I know. The man giggled in
22:22
Speaker 1: his venomous way. You know, and what awaits you? Then
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Speaker 1: I care nothing for myself. These are samples of the
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Speaker 1: questions and answers which made up our strange, half spoken,
22:36
Speaker 1: half written conversation. Again and again I had to ask
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Speaker 1: him whether he would give in and sign the documents.
22:44
Speaker 1: Again and again I had the same indignant reply. But
22:49
Speaker 1: soon a happy thought came to me. I took to
22:54
Speaker 1: adding on little sentences of my own to each question,
22:58
Speaker 1: innocent ones, at first to test whether either of our
23:02
Speaker 1: companions knew anything of the matter. And then, as I
23:06
Speaker 1: found that they showed no signs, I played a more
23:09
Speaker 1: dangerous game. Our conversation ran something like this, you can
23:15
Speaker 1: do no good by this obstinacy. Who are you? I
23:18
Speaker 1: care not? I am a stranger in London. Your fate
23:22
Speaker 1: will be upon your head. How long have you been here?
23:26
Speaker 1: Let it be so three weeks. The property can never
23:29
Speaker 1: be yours. What ails you? It shall not go to villains.
23:34
Speaker 1: They are starving me. You shall go free. If you
23:37
Speaker 1: sign what house is this? I will never sign. I
23:42
Speaker 1: do not know. You are not doing her any service.
23:46
Speaker 1: What is your name? Let me hear her say so Kratidis,
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Speaker 1: You shall see her. If you sign where are you from?
23:54
Speaker 1: Then I shall never see her? Athens another five minutes,
23:59
Speaker 1: mister Holmes and I should have wormed out the whole
24:01
Speaker 1: story under their very noses. My very next question might
24:05
Speaker 1: have cleared the matter up. But at that instant the
24:09
Speaker 1: door opened and a woman stepped into the room. I
24:13
Speaker 1: could not see her clearly enough to know more than
24:15
Speaker 1: that she was tall and graceful, with black hair, and
24:19
Speaker 1: clad in some sort of loose white gown. Harold said she,
24:24
Speaker 1: speaking English with a broken accent. I could not stay
24:28
Speaker 1: away longer. It is so lonely up there with only Oh,
24:32
Speaker 1: my god, it is Paul. These last words were in Greek,
24:37
Speaker 1: and at the same instant the man, with a convulsive effort,
24:40
Speaker 1: tore the plaster from his lips and screaming out Sophie.
24:44
Speaker 1: Sophie rushed into the woman's arms. Their embrace was but
24:49
Speaker 1: for an instant, however, for the younger man seized the
24:52
Speaker 1: woman and pushed her out of the room, while the
24:55
Speaker 1: elder easily overpowered his emaciated victim and dragged him away
24:59
Speaker 1: through the other or. For a moment, I was left
25:02
Speaker 1: alone in the room, and I sprang to my feet
25:04
Speaker 1: with some vague idea that I might in some way
25:07
Speaker 1: get a clue to what this house was in which
25:09
Speaker 1: I found myself. Fortunately, however, I took no steps, for
25:14
Speaker 1: looking up, I saw that the older man was standing
25:16
Speaker 1: in the doorway with his eyes fixed upon me. That
25:20
Speaker 1: will do, mister Melas, said he you perceive that we
25:23
Speaker 1: have taken you into our confidence over some very private business.
25:29
Speaker 1: We should not have troubled you, only that our friend,
25:32
Speaker 1: who speaks Greek and who began these negotiations, has been
25:35
Speaker 1: forced to return to the east. It was quite necessary
25:40
Speaker 1: for us to find someone to take his place, and
25:43
Speaker 1: we were fortunate in hearing of your powers. I bowed.
25:48
Speaker 1: There are five sovereigns here, said he, walking up to me,
25:53
Speaker 1: Which will I hope be a sufficient fee. But remember,
25:57
Speaker 1: he added, tapping me lightly on the chest and giggling,
26:01
Speaker 1: if you speak to a human soul about this one
26:05
Speaker 1: human soul, mind, well, may God have mercy upon your soul.
26:14
Speaker 1: I cannot tell you the loathing and horror with which
26:18
Speaker 1: this insignificant looking man inspired me. I could see him
26:22
Speaker 1: better now, as the lamp light shone upon him. His
26:26
Speaker 1: features were peaky and sallow, and his little pointed beard
26:31
Speaker 1: was thready and ill nourished. He pushed his face forward
26:36
Speaker 1: as he spoke, and his lips and eyelids were continually twitching,
26:41
Speaker 1: like a man with Saint Vitus dance. I could not
26:45
Speaker 1: help thinking that his strange, catchy little laugh was also
26:50
Speaker 1: a symptom of some nervous malady. The terror of his
26:56
Speaker 1: face lay in his eyes, however, steel gray and glistening coldly,
27:04
Speaker 1: with a malignant, inexorable cruelty in their depths. We shall
27:10
Speaker 1: know if you speak of this, said he. We have
27:15
Speaker 1: our own means of information. Now you will find the
27:19
Speaker 1: carriage waiting, and my friend will see you on your way.
27:25
Speaker 1: I was hurried through the hall and into the vehicle, again,
27:28
Speaker 1: obtaining that momentary glimpse of the trees and the garden.
27:33
Speaker 1: Mister Latimer followed closely at my heels, and took his
27:37
Speaker 1: place opposite to me, without a word. In silence, we
27:40
Speaker 1: again drove for an interminable distance, with the windows raised,
27:45
Speaker 1: until at last, just after midnight, the carriage pulled up.
27:51
Speaker 1: You will get down here, mister Malass, said my companion.
27:57
Speaker 1: I am sorry to leave you so far from your house,
27:59
Speaker 1: but there is no alternative. Any attempt upon your part
28:03
Speaker 1: to follow the carriage can only end in injury to yourself.
28:09
Speaker 1: He opened the door as he spoke, and I had
28:12
Speaker 1: hardly time to spring out when the coachman lashed the
28:15
Speaker 1: horse and the carriage rattled away. I looked around me
28:19
Speaker 1: in astonishment. I was on some sort of a heathy
28:23
Speaker 1: common mottled over with dark clumps of furze bushes. Far
28:27
Speaker 1: away stretched a line of houses with a light here
28:30
Speaker 1: and there in the upper windows. On the other side,
28:33
Speaker 1: I saw the red signal lamps of a railway. The
28:37
Speaker 1: carriage which had brought me was already out of sight.
28:40
Speaker 1: I stood gazing round and wondering where on earth I
28:43
Speaker 1: might be when I saw some one coming towards me
28:47
Speaker 1: in the darkness. As he came up to me, I
28:50
Speaker 1: made out that he was a railway porter. Can you
28:54
Speaker 1: tell me what place this is? I asked, wan's Worth
28:57
Speaker 1: Common said he can I get a train into town
29:02
Speaker 1: if you walk on a mile or so to Clapham Junction,
29:06
Speaker 1: said he, You'll just be in time for the last
29:09
Speaker 1: to Victoria. So that was the end of my adventure.
29:13
Speaker 1: Mister Holmes, I do not know where I was, nor
29:16
Speaker 1: whom I spoke with, nor anything save what I have
29:19
Speaker 1: told you, but I know that there is foul play
29:21
Speaker 1: going on, and I want to help that unhappy man
29:25
Speaker 1: if I can. I told the whole story to mister
29:29
Speaker 1: Microft Holmes next morning, and subsequently to the police. We
29:34
Speaker 1: all sat in silence for some little time after listening
29:38
Speaker 1: to this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock looked across at his brother,
29:44
Speaker 1: any steps, he asked. Micraft picked up the daily News
29:49
Speaker 1: which was lying on the side table. Anybody supplying any
29:54
Speaker 1: information to the whereabouts of a Greek gentleman named Paul
29:59
Speaker 1: Cratidees from Athens who is unable to speak English will
30:04
Speaker 1: be rewarded. A similar reward paid to any one giving
30:09
Speaker 1: information about a Greek lady whose first name is sophie
30:14
Speaker 1: X two four seven three that was in all the dailies.
30:20
Speaker 1: No answer. How about the Greek legation I have inquired?
30:25
Speaker 1: They know nothing. A wire to the head of the
30:29
Speaker 1: Athens police. Then Sherlock has all the energy of the family,
30:34
Speaker 1: said Mycroft, turning to me, Well, you take the case
30:38
Speaker 1: up by all meetings and let me know if you
30:41
Speaker 1: do any good. Certainly, answered my friend, rising from his chair.
30:46
Speaker 1: I'll let you know. And mister Maelas also in the meantime,
30:50
Speaker 1: mister Maelas, I should certainly be on my guard if
30:53
Speaker 1: I were you, For of course they must know through
30:56
Speaker 1: these advertisements that you have betrayed them. As we walked
31:01
Speaker 1: home together, Holmes stopped at a telegraph office and sent
31:05
Speaker 1: off several wires. You see, Watson, he remarked, Our evening
31:09
Speaker 1: has been by no means wasted. Some of my most
31:12
Speaker 1: interesting cases have come to me in this way through
31:15
Speaker 1: my craft. The problem which we have just listened to,
31:19
Speaker 1: although it can admit of but one explanation, has still
31:23
Speaker 1: some distinguishing features. You have hopes of solving it well,
31:27
Speaker 1: knowing as much as we do it will be singular. Indeed,
31:31
Speaker 1: if we failed to discover the rest, you must yourself
31:34
Speaker 1: have formed some theory which will explain the facts to
31:37
Speaker 1: which we have listened in a vague way. Yes, what
31:42
Speaker 1: was your idea? Then? It seemed to me to be
31:45
Speaker 1: obvious that this Greek girl had been carried off by
31:49
Speaker 1: the young englishman named Harold Latimer, carried off from where Athens?
31:55
Speaker 1: Perhaps Sherlock Holmes shook his head. This young man could
31:59
Speaker 1: not talk a word of Greek. The lady could talk
32:02
Speaker 1: English fairly well. Inference that she had been in England
32:06
Speaker 1: some little time, but he had not been in Greece. Well,
32:10
Speaker 1: then we will presume that she had come on a
32:12
Speaker 1: visit to England, and that this Harold had persuaded her
32:16
Speaker 1: to fly with him. That is more probable then the brother,
32:21
Speaker 1: for that I fancy must be the relationship, comes over
32:24
Speaker 1: from Greece to interfere. He imprudently puts himself into the
32:29
Speaker 1: power of the young man and his older associate. They
32:33
Speaker 1: seize him and use violence towards him in order to
32:36
Speaker 1: make him sign some papers to make over the girl's fortune,
32:39
Speaker 1: of which he may be trustee to them. This he
32:42
Speaker 1: refuses to do. In order to negotiate with him, they
32:46
Speaker 1: have to get an interpreter, and they pitch upon this
32:49
Speaker 1: mister Maylass, having used some other one before. The girl
32:52
Speaker 1: is not told of the arrival of her brother, and
32:55
Speaker 1: finds it out by the merest accident. Excellent Watson cried, Holmes,
33:00
Speaker 1: Really fancy that you are not far from the truth.
33:03
Speaker 1: You see that we hold all the cards, and we
33:05
Speaker 1: have only to fear some sudden act of violence on
33:08
Speaker 1: their part. If they give us time, we must have them.
33:11
Speaker 1: But how can we find where this house lies? Well?
33:15
Speaker 1: If our conjecture is correct, and the girl's name is
33:19
Speaker 1: or was Sophie Kratides, we should have no difficulty in
33:23
Speaker 1: tracing her. That must be our main hope. For the
33:27
Speaker 1: brother is, of course a complete stranger. It is clear
33:30
Speaker 1: that some time has elapsed since this Harald established these
33:35
Speaker 1: relations with the girl, some weeks at any rate, since
33:39
Speaker 1: the brother in Greece has had time to hear of
33:41
Speaker 1: it and come across. If they have been living in
33:44
Speaker 1: the same place during this time, it is probable that
33:47
Speaker 1: we shall have some answer to Mycraft's advertisement. We had
33:52
Speaker 1: reached our house in Baker Street while we had been talking.
33:55
Speaker 1: Holmes ascended the stair first, and as he opened the
33:58
Speaker 1: door of our room, he gave a start of surprise.
34:02
Speaker 1: Looking over his shoulder. I was equally astonished. His brother, Micraft,
34:06
Speaker 1: was sitting smoking in the arm chair. Come in, Sherlock,
34:10
Speaker 1: Come in, sir, he said, blandly, smiling at our surprised faces.
34:15
Speaker 1: You don't expect such energy from me, do you, Sherlock?
34:19
Speaker 1: But somehow this case attracts me. How did you get here?
34:23
Speaker 1: I passed you in a hansom? There has been some
34:26
Speaker 1: new development. I had an answer to my advertisement. Ah, yes,
34:31
Speaker 1: it came within a few minutes of your leaving. And
34:33
Speaker 1: to what effect? Microft Holmes took out a sheet of paper.
34:38
Speaker 1: Here it is said he written with a J pen
34:43
Speaker 1: on royal cream paper by a middle aged man with
34:46
Speaker 1: a weak constitution. Sir, he says, in answer to your
34:53
Speaker 1: advertisement of to day's date, I beg to inform you
34:57
Speaker 1: that I know the young lady in question very well.
35:00
Speaker 1: If you should care to call upon me, I could
35:03
Speaker 1: give you some particulars as to her painful history. She
35:07
Speaker 1: is living at present at the Myrtles Beckenham, Yours faithfully, J. Davenport.
35:15
Speaker 1: He writes from Lower Brixton. Said, Mycroft Holmes, do you
35:19
Speaker 1: think that we might drive to him? Now? Sherlock and
35:23
Speaker 1: learn these particulars. My dear Microft, the brother's life is
35:27
Speaker 1: more valuable than the sister's story. I think we should
35:31
Speaker 1: call at Scotland Yard for Inspector Gregson and go straight
35:34
Speaker 1: out to Beckenham. We know that a man is being
35:37
Speaker 1: done to death, and every hour may be vital. Better
35:41
Speaker 1: pick up mister maelass on our way. I suggested we
35:44
Speaker 1: may need an interpreter. Excellent, said Sherlock Holmes. Send the
35:48
Speaker 1: boy for a four wheeler and we shall be off
35:50
Speaker 1: at once. He opened the table drawer as he spoke,
35:54
Speaker 1: and I noticed that he slipped his revolver into his pocket. Yes,
35:58
Speaker 1: said he, in answer to my glance. I should say,
36:01
Speaker 1: from what we have heard, that we are dealing with
36:03
Speaker 1: a particularly dangerous gang. It was almost dark before we
36:08
Speaker 1: found ourselves in Pall Mall at the rooms of mister
36:12
Speaker 1: Maelas a gentleman had just called for him, and he
36:15
Speaker 1: was gone. Can you tell me where, asked Mycroft Holmes.
36:20
Speaker 1: I don't know, sir, answered the woman who had opened
36:23
Speaker 1: the door. I only know that he drove away with
36:25
Speaker 1: the gentleman in a carriage. Did the gentleman give a name, No, sir,
36:30
Speaker 1: he wasn't a tall, handsome, dark young man. Oh no, sir,
36:34
Speaker 1: he was a little gentleman with glasses, thin in the face,
36:37
Speaker 1: but very pleasant in his ways, for he was laughing
36:40
Speaker 1: all the time that he was talking. Come along, cried
36:43
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes abruptly. This grows serious, he observed, as we
36:49
Speaker 1: drove to Scotland Yard. These men have got hold of
36:52
Speaker 1: Maelas again he is a man of no physical courage.
36:55
Speaker 1: As they are well aware from their experience the other night,
36:58
Speaker 1: this villain was able to terrorize him the instant that
37:02
Speaker 1: he got into his presence. No doubt they want his
37:05
Speaker 1: professional services, but having used him, they may be inclined
37:10
Speaker 1: to punish him for what they will regard as his treachery.
37:15
Speaker 1: Our hope was that by taking train we might get
37:18
Speaker 1: to Beckenham soon, or sooner than the carriage. On reaching
37:22
Speaker 1: Scotland Yard, however, it was more than an hour before
37:25
Speaker 1: we could get Inspector Gregson and comply with the legal
37:29
Speaker 1: formalities which would enable us to enter the house. It
37:32
Speaker 1: was a quarter to ten before we reached London Bridge,
37:36
Speaker 1: and half past before the four of us alighted on
37:39
Speaker 1: the Beckenham platform. A drive of half a mile brought
37:43
Speaker 1: us to the myrtles, a large dark house standing back
37:46
Speaker 1: from the road in its own grounds. Here we dismissed
37:50
Speaker 1: our cab and made our way up the drive together.
37:54
Speaker 1: The windows are all dark, remarked the inspector. The house
37:58
Speaker 1: seems deserted. Our herds are flown and the nest empty,
38:02
Speaker 1: said Holmes. Why do you say so? A carriage heavily
38:06
Speaker 1: loaded with luggage has passed out during the last hour,
38:10
Speaker 1: the inspector laughed. I saw the wheel tracks in the
38:13
Speaker 1: light of the gate lamp. But where does the luggage
38:16
Speaker 1: come in. You may have observed the same wheel tracks
38:19
Speaker 1: going the other way, but the outward bound ones were
38:22
Speaker 1: very much deeper, so much so that we can say
38:25
Speaker 1: for a certainty that there was a very considerable weight
38:28
Speaker 1: on the carriage. You get a trifle beyond me there,
38:32
Speaker 1: said the inspector, shrugging his shoulder. It will not be
38:36
Speaker 1: an easy door to force, but we will try. If
38:38
Speaker 1: we cannot make someone hear us, he hammered loudly at
38:42
Speaker 1: the knocker and pulled at the bell, but without any success.
38:46
Speaker 1: Holmes had slipped away, but he came back in a
38:48
Speaker 1: few minutes. I have a window open, said he It
38:52
Speaker 1: is a mercy that you are on the side of
38:54
Speaker 1: the force and not against it, mister Holmes remarked the inspector,
38:58
Speaker 1: as he noted the clever way in which my friend
39:00
Speaker 1: had forced back the catch. Well, I think that under
39:04
Speaker 1: the circumstances we may enter without an invitation. One after
39:08
Speaker 1: the other, we made our way into a large apartment,
39:12
Speaker 1: which was evidently that in which mister Maelis had found himself.
39:16
Speaker 1: The Inspector had lit his lantern, and by its light
39:20
Speaker 1: we could see the two doors, the curtain, the lamp,
39:23
Speaker 1: and the suit of Japanese mail as he had described them.
39:27
Speaker 1: On the table lay two glasses, an empty brandy bottle,
39:32
Speaker 1: and the remains of a meal. What is that? Asked Holmes.
39:35
Speaker 1: Suddenly we all stood still and listened. A low, moaning
39:40
Speaker 1: sound was coming from somewhere over our heads. Holmes rushed
39:45
Speaker 1: to the door and out into the hall. The dismal
39:48
Speaker 1: noise came from upstairs. He dashed up, the Inspector and
39:52
Speaker 1: I at his heels, while his brother Micraft followed as
39:55
Speaker 1: quickly as his great bulk would permit. Three door faced
40:00
Speaker 1: up upon the second floor, and it was from the
40:03
Speaker 1: central of these that the sinister sounds were issuing, sinking
40:07
Speaker 1: sometimes into a dull mumble, and rising again into a
40:11
Speaker 1: shrill whine. It was locked, but the key had been
40:16
Speaker 1: left on the outside. Holmes flung open the door and
40:19
Speaker 1: rushed in, but he was out again in an instant.
40:23
Speaker 1: With his hand to his throat. It's charcoal, he cried,
40:27
Speaker 1: give it time, it will clear. Peering in, we could
40:31
Speaker 1: see that the only light in the room came from
40:33
Speaker 1: a dull blue flame, which flickered from a small brass
40:36
Speaker 1: tripod in the center. It threw a livid, unnatural circle
40:40
Speaker 1: upon the floor, while in the shadows beyond we saw
40:44
Speaker 1: the vague loom of two figures which crouched against the wall.
40:49
Speaker 1: From the open door, there reeked a horrible, poisonous exhalation,
40:53
Speaker 1: which set us gasping and coughing. Homes rushed to the
40:57
Speaker 1: top of the stairs to draw in the fresh and
41:00
Speaker 1: then dashing into the room. He threw up the window
41:03
Speaker 1: and hurled the brazen tripod out into the garden. We
41:07
Speaker 1: can enter in a minute, he gasped, darting out, again.
41:11
Speaker 1: Where is a candle? I doubt if we could strike
41:14
Speaker 1: a match in that atmosphere. Hold the light at the door,
41:17
Speaker 1: and we shall get them out my craft. Now, with
41:22
Speaker 1: a rush, we got the poisoned men and dragged them
41:25
Speaker 1: out into the well lit hall. Both of them were
41:28
Speaker 1: blue lipped and insensible, with swollen, congested faces and protruding eyes. Indeed,
41:34
Speaker 1: so distorted were their features that, save for his black
41:37
Speaker 1: beard and stout figure, we might have failed to recognize
41:41
Speaker 1: in one of them, the Greek interpreter who had parted
41:45
Speaker 1: from us only a few hours before at the Diogenes Club.
41:50
Speaker 1: His hands and feet were securely strapped together, and he
41:54
Speaker 1: bore over one eye the marks of a violent blow.
41:58
Speaker 1: The other, who was secured in a similar fashion, was
42:01
Speaker 1: a tall man in the last stage of emaciation, with
42:06
Speaker 1: several strips of sticking plaster arranged in a grotesque pattern
42:10
Speaker 1: over his face. He had ceased to moan as we
42:14
Speaker 1: laid him down, and a glance showed me that for
42:17
Speaker 1: him at least our aid had come too late. Mister Maelas, however,
42:23
Speaker 1: still lived, and in less than an hour, with the
42:27
Speaker 1: aid of ammonia and brandy, I had the satisfaction of
42:31
Speaker 1: seeing him open his eyes, and of knowing that my
42:35
Speaker 1: hand had drawn him back from that dark valley. In
42:39
Speaker 1: which all paths meet. It was a simple story which
42:44
Speaker 1: he had to tell, and one which did but confirm
42:48
Speaker 1: our own deductions. His visitor, on entering his rooms, had
42:53
Speaker 1: drawn a life preserver from his sleeve, and had so
42:57
Speaker 1: impressed him with the fear of instant and inevitable death,
43:02
Speaker 1: that he had kidnapped him for the second time. Indeed,
43:06
Speaker 1: it was almost mesmeric the effect which this giggling Ruffian
43:11
Speaker 1: had produced upon the unfortunate linguist, for he could not
43:15
Speaker 1: speak of him save with trembling hands and a blanched cheek.
43:21
Speaker 1: He had been taken swiftly to Beckenham, and had acted
43:24
Speaker 1: as interpreter in a second interview even more dramatic than
43:28
Speaker 1: the first, in which the two englishmen had menaced their
43:32
Speaker 1: prisoner with instant death if he did not comply with
43:35
Speaker 1: their demands. Finally finding him proof against every threat, they
43:41
Speaker 1: had hurled him back into his prison, and after reproaching
43:45
Speaker 1: Melas with his treachery which appeared from the newspaper advertisement,
43:50
Speaker 1: they had stunned him with a blow from a stick,
43:54
Speaker 1: and he remembered nothing more until he found us bending
43:57
Speaker 1: over him. And this was the singular case of the
44:02
Speaker 1: Grecian interpreter, the explanation of which is still involved in
44:08
Speaker 1: some mystery. We were able to find out, by communicating
44:13
Speaker 1: with the gentleman who had answered the advertisement, that the
44:17
Speaker 1: unfortunate young lady came of a wealthy Grecian family, and
44:22
Speaker 1: that she had been on a visit to some friends
44:24
Speaker 1: in England. While there she had met a young man
44:27
Speaker 1: named Harold Latimer, who had acquired an ascendancy over her,
44:34
Speaker 1: and had eventually persuaded her to fly with him. Her friends,
44:39
Speaker 1: shocked at the event, had contented themselves with informing her
44:43
Speaker 1: brother at Athens, and had then washed their hands of
44:46
Speaker 1: the matter. The brother, on his arrival in England, had
44:52
Speaker 1: imprudently placed himself in the power of Latimer and of
44:56
Speaker 1: his associate, whose name was Wilson Kemp, a man of
45:01
Speaker 1: the foulest antecedents. These two, finding that through his ignorance
45:07
Speaker 1: of the language he was helpless in their hands, had
45:10
Speaker 1: kept him a prisoner, and had endeavored, by cruelty and
45:14
Speaker 1: starvation to make him sign away his own and his
45:17
Speaker 1: sister's property. They had kept him in the house without
45:21
Speaker 1: the girl's knowledge, and the plaster over the face had
45:25
Speaker 1: been for the purpose of making recognition difficult in case
45:29
Speaker 1: she should ever catch a glimpse of him. Her feminine perception, however,
45:35
Speaker 1: had instantly seen through the disguise when, on the occasion
45:39
Speaker 1: of the interpreter's visit, she had seen him for the
45:41
Speaker 1: first time. The poor girl, however, was herself a prisoner,
45:46
Speaker 1: for there was no one about the house except the
45:48
Speaker 1: man who acted as coachman and his wife, both of
45:52
Speaker 1: whom were tools of the conspirators. Finding that their secret
45:57
Speaker 1: was out and that their prisoner was not to be cast,
46:01
Speaker 1: the two villains with the girl had fled away at
46:04
Speaker 1: a few hours notice from the furnished house which they
46:08
Speaker 1: had hired, having first, as they thought, taken vengeance both
46:13
Speaker 1: upon the man who had defied and the one who
46:15
Speaker 1: had betrayed them. Months afterwards, a curious newspaper cutting reached
46:22
Speaker 1: us from Budapeste. It told how two Englishmen who had
46:27
Speaker 1: been traveling with a woman had met with a tragic end.
46:33
Speaker 1: They had each been stabbed, it seems, and the Hungarian
46:37
Speaker 1: police were of opinion that they had quarreled and had
46:42
Speaker 1: inflicted mortal injuries upon each other. Holmes, however, is I
46:49
Speaker 1: fancy of a different way of thinking and holds to
46:53
Speaker 1: this day that if one could find the Grecian Girl,
46:58
Speaker 1: one might learn how the wrongs of herself and her
47:01
Speaker 1: brother came to be avenged. That is the end of
47:08
Speaker 1: The Greek Interpreter by Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Greg
47:14
Speaker 1: Wagland for Magpie Audio, Copyright twenty nineteen.