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The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle - Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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  Speaker 1: The adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. I had called upon
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second morning after Christmas,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: with the intention of wishing him the compliments of the season.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: He was lounging upon the sofa in a purple dressing gown,
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  Speaker 1: a pipe rack within his reach upon the right, and
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  Speaker 1: a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly studied near
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  Speaker 1: at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: on the angle of the back hung a very seedy
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: and disreputable, hard felt hat, much the worse for wear
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  Speaker 1: and cracked in several places. A linbs and afore SIPs
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: lying upon the seat of the chair suggested that the
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  Speaker 1: hat had been suspended in this manner for the purpose
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  Speaker 1: of examination. You are engaged, said I, perhaps I interrupt
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: you not at all. I am glad to have a
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  Speaker 1: friend with whom I can discuss my results. The matter
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  Speaker 1: is a perfectly trivial one. He jerked his thumb in
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  Speaker 1: the direction of the old hat, But there are points
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  Speaker 1: in connection with it which are not entirely devoid of
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  Speaker 1: interest and even of instruction. I seated myself in his
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  Speaker 1: arm chair and warmed my hands before his crackling fire,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: were thick with the ice crystals. I suppose, I remarked
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: that homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: story linked on to it. That it is the clue
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: which will guide you in the solution of some mystery
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  Speaker 1: and the punishment of some crime. No, no, no crime,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: said Sherlock Holmes, laughing, Only one of those whimsical little
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: incidents which will happen when you have four million human
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: beings all jostling each other within the space of a
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  Speaker 1: few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so
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  Speaker 1: dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events
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  Speaker 1: may be expected to take place, and many a little
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  Speaker 1: problem will be presented, which may be striking and bizarre
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  Speaker 1: without being criminal. We have already had experience of such.
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  Speaker 1: So much so I remarked that of the last six
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  Speaker 1: cases which I have added to my notes, three have
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  Speaker 1: been entirely free of any illegal crime. Precisely allude to
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: my attempt to recover the Irene Adler papers, to the
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  Speaker 1: singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the adventure
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  Speaker 1: of the man with a twisted lip. Well, I have
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  Speaker 1: no doubt that this small matter will fall into the
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  Speaker 1: same innocent category. You know Peterson the Commissionaire. Yes, it
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  Speaker 1: is to him that this trophy belongs. It is his hat. No, no,
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  Speaker 1: he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that
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  Speaker 1: you will look upon it not as a battered billy cock,
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  Speaker 1: but as an intellectual problem. And first, as to how
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  Speaker 1: it came here. It arrived upon Christmas morning in company
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  Speaker 1: with a good fat goose, which is I have no
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  Speaker 1: doubt roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's fire.
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  Speaker 1: The facts of these About four o'clock on Christmas morning, Peterson,
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  Speaker 1: who as you know, is a very honest fellow, was
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  Speaker 1: returning from some small jollification, and was making his way
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  Speaker 1: homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he
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  Speaker 1: saw in the gas light a tallish man walking with
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  Speaker 1: a slight stagger and carrying a white goose slung over
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  Speaker 1: his shoulder. As he reached the corner of Good Street,
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  Speaker 1: a row broke out between this stranger and a little
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  Speaker 1: knot of ruffs. One of the latter knocked off the
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  Speaker 1: man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself,
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  Speaker 1: and swinging it over his head smashed the shop window
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  Speaker 1: behind him. Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger
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  Speaker 1: from his assailants. But the man, shocked at having broken
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  Speaker 1: the window and seeing an official looking person in uniform
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  Speaker 1: rushing towards him, dropped his goose, took to his heels,
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  Speaker 1: and vanished amid the labyrinth of small streets which lie
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  Speaker 1: at the back of Tottenham Court Road. The Roffs had
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  Speaker 1: also fled at the appearance of Peterson, so that he
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  Speaker 1: was left in possession of the field of battle, and
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  Speaker 1: also of the spoils of victory in the shape of
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  Speaker 1: this battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose, which
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  Speaker 1: surely he restored to their owner, My dear fellow, there
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  Speaker 1: lies the problem. It is true that for missus Henry
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  Speaker 1: Baker was printed upon a small card which had been
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  Speaker 1: tied to the bird's left leg, and it is also
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  Speaker 1: true that the initial h B are legible upon the
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  Speaker 1: lining of this hat. But as there are some thousands
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  Speaker 1: of Bakers and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in this
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  Speaker 1: city of ours, it's not easy to restore lost property
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  Speaker 1: to any one of them. What then did Peterson do?
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  Speaker 1: He brought round both hat and goose to me on
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  Speaker 1: Christmas morning, knowing that even the smallest problems are of
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  Speaker 1: interest to me. The goose re retained until this morning,
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  Speaker 1: when there were signs that in spite of the slight frost,
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  Speaker 1: it would be well that it should be eaten without
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  Speaker 1: unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried it off there for
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  Speaker 1: to fulfill the ultimate destiny of a goose, while I
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  Speaker 1: continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: lost his Christmas dinner? Did he not advertise? No? Then?
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  Speaker 1: What clue could you have as to his identity? Only
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  Speaker 1: as much as we can deduce from his hat precisely?
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  Speaker 1: But you are joking? What can you gather from this old,
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  Speaker 1: battered felt Here is my lens, you know my methods.
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  Speaker 1: What can you gain rather yourself as to the individuality
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  Speaker 1: of the man who has worn this article? I took
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  Speaker 1: the tattered object in my hands and turned it over
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  Speaker 1: rather ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat, of
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  Speaker 1: the usual round shape, hard and much the worse for wear.
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  Speaker 1: The lining had been of red silk, but was a
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  Speaker 1: good deal discolored. There was no maker's name, but as
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  Speaker 1: Holmes had remarked, the initials H B were scrawled upon
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  Speaker 1: one side. It was pierced in the brim for a
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  Speaker 1: hat secure, but the elastic was missing. For the rest.
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  Speaker 1: It was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places,
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  Speaker 1: although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide
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  Speaker 1: the discolored patches by smearing them with ink. I can
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  Speaker 1: see nothing, said I handing it back to my friend.
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  Speaker 1: On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however,
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  Speaker 1: to reason from what you see. You are too timid
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  Speaker 1: in drawing your inferences. Then, pray, tell me what it
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  Speaker 1: is that you can infer from this hat. He picked
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  Speaker 1: it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective
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  Speaker 1: fashion which was characteristic of him. It is perhaps less
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  Speaker 1: suggestive than it might have been, he remarked. And yet
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  Speaker 1: there are a few inferences which are very distinct, and
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  Speaker 1: a few others which represent at least a small balance
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  Speaker 1: of probability. That the man was highly intellectual is of
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  Speaker 1: course obvious upon the face of it, and also that
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  Speaker 1: he was fairly well to do within the last three years,
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  Speaker 1: although he has now fallen upon evil days. He had foresight,
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  Speaker 1: but has less now than formerly. Pointing to a moral retrogression, which,
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  Speaker 1: when taken with the decline of his fortune, seems to
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  Speaker 1: indicate some evil influence, probably drink, at work upon him.
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  Speaker 1: This may account also for the obvious fact that his
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  Speaker 1: wife has ceased to love him, My dear Holmes, He has, however,
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  Speaker 1: retained some degree of self respect, he continued, disregarding my remonstrance.
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  Speaker 1: He is a man who leads a sedentary life, goes
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  Speaker 1: out little, is out of training, entirely, is middle aged,
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  Speaker 1: has grizzled hair, which he has had cut within the
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  Speaker 1: last few days, and which he annoints with lime cream.
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  Speaker 1: These are the more patent facts which may be deduced
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  Speaker 1: from his hat. Also by the way that it is
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  Speaker 1: extremely improbable that he has had gas laid on in
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  Speaker 1: his house. You are certainly joking homes. On the least,
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  Speaker 1: is it possible that, even now, when I gave you
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  Speaker 1: these results, you are unable to see how they are attained.
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  Speaker 1: I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but
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  Speaker 1: I must confess that I am unable to follow you.
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  Speaker 1: For example, how did you deduce that this man was intellectual?
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  Speaker 1: For answer, Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It
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  Speaker 1: came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge
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  Speaker 1: of his nose. It is a question of cubic capacity,
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  Speaker 1: said he. A man with so large a brain must
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  Speaker 1: have something in it the decline in his fortunes. Then
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  Speaker 1: this hat is three years old. These flat brims, curled
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  Speaker 1: at the edge, came in. Then it is a hat
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  Speaker 1: of the very best quality. Look at the band of
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  Speaker 1: ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could
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  Speaker 1: afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago
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  Speaker 1: and has had no hat since then, he has assuredly
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  Speaker 1: gone down in the world. Well, that is clear enough, certainly,
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  Speaker 1: But how about the foresight and the moral retrogression? Sherlock
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  Speaker 1: Holmes laughed. Here is the foresight, said he, putting his
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  Speaker 1: finger upon the little disk and loop of the hat.
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  Speaker 1: Secure they are never sold upon hats. If this man
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  Speaker 1: ordered one, it is a sign of a certain amount
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  Speaker 1: of foresight, since he went out of his way to
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  Speaker 1: take this precaution against the wind. But since we see
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  Speaker 1: that he has broken the elastic and is not troubled
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  Speaker 1: to replace it, it is obvious that he has less
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  Speaker 1: foresight now than formerly, which is a distinct proof of
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  Speaker 1: a weakening nature. On the other hand, he has endeavored
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  Speaker 1: to conceal some of these stains upon the felt by
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  Speaker 1: daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he
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  Speaker 1: has not entirely lost his self respect. Your reasoning is
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  Speaker 1: certainly plausible. The further points that he is middle aged,
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  Speaker 1: that his hair is grizzled, that it has has been
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  Speaker 1: recently cut, and that he uses lime cream are all
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  Speaker 1: to be gathered From a close examination of the lower
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  Speaker 1: part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number
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  Speaker 1: of hair ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber.
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  Speaker 1: They all appear to be adhesive, and there is a
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  Speaker 1: distinct odor of lime cream. This dust, as you will observe,
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  Speaker 1: is not the gritty gray dust of the street, but
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  Speaker 1: the fluffy brown dust of the house, showing that it
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  Speaker 1: has been hung up indoors most of the time, while
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: the marks of moisture upon the inside are proved positive
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  Speaker 1: that the wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore hardly
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  Speaker 1: be in the best of training. But his wife, you
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  Speaker 1: said that she had ceased to love him. This hat
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  Speaker 1: has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you,
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  Speaker 1: my dear Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon
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  Speaker 1: your hat, and when your wife allows you to go
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  Speaker 1: out in such a state, I shall fear that you
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  Speaker 1: also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's affection.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: But he might be a bachelor. Nay, he was bringing
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  Speaker 1: home the goose as a peace offering to his wife.
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  Speaker 1: Remember the card upon the bird's leg. You have an
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  Speaker 1: answer for everything. But how on earth do you deduce
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  Speaker 1: that the gas is not laid on in his house?
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: One tallow stain or even two might come by chance,
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  Speaker 1: But when I see no less than five, I think
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  Speaker 1: that there can be little doubt that the individual must
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  Speaker 1: be brought into frequent contact with burning tallow walks upstairs
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  Speaker 1: at night, probably with his hat in one hand and
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never got
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: tallow stains from a gas jet. Are you satisfied? Well,
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  Speaker 1: it is very ingenious, said I, laughing. But since, as
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  Speaker 1: you said just now, there has been no crime committed
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  Speaker 1: and no harm done save the loss of a goose,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: all this seems to be rather a waste of energy.
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  Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply when the
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  Speaker 1: door flew open, and Peterson, the Commissionaire rushed into the
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  Speaker 1: apartment with flushed cheeks, and the face of a man
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  Speaker 1: who is dazed with astonishment. The goose, mister Holmes, the goose, sir,
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  Speaker 1: He gasped, Eh, what of it? Then, as it returned
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  Speaker 1: to life and flapped off through the kitchen window, Holmes
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  Speaker 1: twisted himself round upon the sofa to get a fairer
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  Speaker 1: view of the man's excited face. See here, sir, see
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  Speaker 1: what my wife found in its crop. He held out
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  Speaker 1: his hand and displayed upon the center of the palm
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  Speaker 1: a brilliantly scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean
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  Speaker 1: in size, but of such purity and radiance that it
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  Speaker 1: twinkled like an electric point in the dark hollow of
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  Speaker 1: his hand. Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle by jove.
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  Speaker 1: Peterson said he this is a treasure trove. Indeed, I
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  Speaker 1: suppose you know what you've got? A diamond, sir, A
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: precious stone. It cuts into glasses though it were putty.
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  Speaker 1: It's more than a precious stone. It's the precious stone,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: not the Countess of more Car's blue carbuncle. I ejaculated precisely,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: so I ought to know its size and shape, seeing
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  Speaker 1: that I have read the advertisement about it in the Times.
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  Speaker 1: Every day lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: can only be conjectured. But the reward offered of a
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: thousand pounds is certainly not within a twentieth part of
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: the market price. A thousand pounds, Great Lord a Mercy,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: the Commissionaire plumped down into a chair and stared from
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  Speaker 1: one to the other of us. That is the reward.
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  Speaker 1: And I have reason to know that there are sentimental
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: considerations in the background which could induce the Countess to
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: part with half her fortune if she could just recover
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: the gem it was lost. If I remember arride at
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: the Hotel Cosmopolitan, I remarked precisely so. On the twenty
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: second of December, just five days ago, John Horner, a plumber,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's jewel case.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: The evidence against him was so strong that the case
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: of the matter here. I believe he rummaged amid his newspapers,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: doubled it over, and read the following paragraph. Hotel Cosmopolitan
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Jewel robbery. John On Horner, twenty six, plumber was brought
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: up upon the charge of having, upon the twenty second instant,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: abstracted from the jewel case of the Countess of Morcar
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: the valuable gem known as the blue Carbuncle. James Ryder,
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: upper attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: effect that he had shown Horner up to the dressing
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: room of the Countess of Morcar upon the day of
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: the robbery, in order that he might solder the second
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: bar of the grate, which was loose. He had remained
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: with Horner some little time, but had finally been called away.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, that the
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: bureau had been forced open, and that the small Morocco casket,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was accustomed
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the dressing table.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Rider instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was arrested the
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: same evening, but the stone could not be found either
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack made
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: of the Countess deposed to having heard writer's cry of
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: dismay on discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: the room where she found matters as described by the
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: last witness, Inspector Bradstreet, b Division, gave evidence as to
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: the arrest of Horner, who struggled frantically and protested his
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: innocence in the strongest terms, evidence of a previous conviction
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: for robbery having been given against the prisoner. The magistrate
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: refused to deal summarily with the offense, but referred it
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: to the assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: emotion during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: was carried out of court. Hmm, so much for the
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: police court, said Holmes, thoughtfully, tossing aside the paper. The
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: question for us now to solve is the sequence of
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: events leading from a rifle jewel case at one end
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: to the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: at the other. You see, Watson, our little deductions have
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: suddenly assumed a much more important and less innocent aspect.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Here is the stone. The stone came from the goose,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: and the goose came from mister Henry Baker, the gentleman
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: with a bad hat, and all the other characteristics with
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: which I have bored you. So now we must set
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman, and ascertaining what
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: part he has played in this little mystery. To do this,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: we must try the simplest means first, and these lie
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: this fail, I have recourse to other methods. What will
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: you say, give me a pencil in that slip of
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: paper now then found at the corner of Good Street,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: a goose and a black felt hat. Mister Henry Baker
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: can have the same by applying at six thirty this
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: evening at two twenty one B Baker Street. That's clear
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: and concise. Very, but will he see it well? He
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: to a poor man the loss was a heavy one.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: He was clearly so scared by his mischance in breaking
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: the window and by the approach of Peterson, that he
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: thought of nothing but flight. But since then he must
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: his bird. And then again the introduction of his name
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: will cause him to see it for or everyone who
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: knows him will direct his attention to it. Here you are, Peterson,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: run down to the advertising agency and have this put
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: in the evening papers. In which sir, oh in the Globe, Star,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Pall Mall, Saint James, Evening News, Standard Echo, and any
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: others that occur. To you very well, sir, and this stone. Ah, yes,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: I shall keep the stone, thank you. And I say, Peterson,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: just buy a goose on your way back and leave
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: it here with me, for we must have one to
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: give to this gentleman in place of the one which
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: your family is now devouring. When the Commissionaire had gone,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Holmes took up the stone and held it against the light.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: It's a bonny thing, said he. Just see how it
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: glints and sparkles. Of course, it is a nucleus and
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: devil's pet baits. In the larger and older jewels, every
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: facet may stand for a bloody deed. This stone is
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: not yet twenty years old. It was found in the
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: banks of the Amoy River in southern China, and is
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: remarkd argable in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: In spite of its youth, it is already a sinister history.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: There have been two murders, a vitrial throwing a suicide
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: and several robberies brought about for the sake of this
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: forty grain weight of crystallized charcoal. Who would ever think
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: that so pretty a toy could be a purveyor of
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: the gallows in the prison. I'll lock it up in
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: my strong box now and drop a line to the
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Countess to say that we have it. Do you think
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: that this man Horner is innocent? I cannot tell. Well,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: then do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: had anything to do with the matter. It is I
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: think much more likely that Henry Baker is an absolutely
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: innocent man who had no idea that the bird which
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: he was carrying was of considerable more value than if
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: it were made of solid gold. That, however, I shall
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: determine by a very simple test. If we have an
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: answer to our advertisement, and you can do nothing till,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: then nothing. In that case I shall continue my professional round.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: But I shall come back in the evening at the
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: hour you have mentioned, for I would like to see
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: the solution of so tangled a business. Very glad to
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: have you, I dine at seven. There is a woodcock,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: I believe, by the way, in view of recent occurrences.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Perhaps I ought to ask missus Hudson to examine its crop.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: I had been delayed a case, and it was a
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: little after half past six when I found myself in
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: Baker Street once more. As I approached the house, I
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: coat which was buttoned up to his chin, waiting outside
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: in the bright semicircle which was thrown from the fan light.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Just as I arrived, the door was opened and we
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: were shown up together to Holmes's room. Mister Henry Baker,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: I believe, said he rising from his arm chair and
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: he could so readily assume. Pray, take this chair by
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: the fire, mister Baker. It's a cold night, and I
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: observed that your circulation is more adapted for summer than
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: for winter. Ah Watson, you have just come at the
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: right time. Is that your hat, mister Baker, Yes, sir,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: that is undoubtedly my hat. He was a large man
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a broad, intelligent
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: face sloping down to a pointed beard of grizzled brown,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: a touch of red in nose, and cheeks with a
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: slight trimmer in his extended hand, recalled Holmes's surmise as
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: to his habits. His rusty brown frock coat was buttoned
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: right up in front, with the collar turned up, and
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: his lank wrists protruded from his sleeves without a sign
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a slow, staccato fashion,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: choosing his words with care, and gave the impression generally
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: of a man of learning and letters who had had
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: ill usage at the hands of fortune. We have retained
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: these things for some days, said Holmes, because we expected
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: to see an advertisement from you giving your address. I
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: am at a loss to know now why you did
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: not advertise. Our visitor gave a rather shame faced laugh.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Shillings have not been so plentiful with me as they
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: once were, he remarked. I had no doubt that the
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: gang of ruffs who assaulted me had carried off both
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: my hat and the bird. I did not care to
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: spend more money in a hopeless attempt to recover them.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: Very naturally, by the way, about the bird, we were
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: compelled to eat it. To eat it, our visitor half
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: rose from his chair in his excitement. Yes, it would
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: have been no use to anyone had we not done so.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard,
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: which is about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: answer your purpose equally. Well. Oh, certainly certainly, answered mister Baker,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: with a sigh of relief. Of course, we still have
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: the feathers, legs, crop and so on of your own bird.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: So if you wish, the man burst into a hearty laugh,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: they might be useful to me as relics of my adventure,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: said he. But beyond that, I can hardly see what
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: use the dejective member of my late acquaintance are going
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: your permission, I will confine my attentions to the excellent
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: bird which I perceive upon the sideboard. Sherlock Holmes glanced
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: sharply across at me with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: There is your hat, then, and there your bird, said he.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: By the way, what it bore you to tell me
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: where you got the other one from? I am somewhat
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: of a foul fancier, and I have seldom seen a
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: better grown goose. Certainly, sir, said Baker, who had risen
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: and tucked his newly gained property under his arm. There
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: are a few of us who frequently alpha nne near
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: the museum. We are to be found in the museum
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: itself during the day. You understand. This year, our good host,
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: Windygate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, on
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: consideration of some few pence every week, we were each
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: to receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: and the rest is familiar to you. I am much
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: indebted to you, sir, for a Scotch bonnet is fitted
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: neither to my years nor my gravity. With a comical
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: pomposity of manner, he bowed solemnly to both of us,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: and strode off upon his way. So much for mister
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: Henry Baker, said Holmes, when he had closed the door
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: behind him. It is quite certain that he knows nothing
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson, not particularly? Then?
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: and follow up this clue while it is still hot. Yes,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: by all means. It was a bitter night, so we
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: drew on our ulsters and wrapped cravats around our throats. Outside,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: the stars were shining coldly in a cloudless sky, and
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: the breath of the passers by blew out into smoke
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out crisply
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: and loudly as we swung through the Doctor's Quarter, Wimpole Street,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into Oxford Street.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: at the Alpha Inn, which is a small public house
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: at the corner of one of the streets that runs
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open the door of the
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from the
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: ruddy faced, white aproned landlord. Your beer should be excellent
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: if it is as good as your geese, said he
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: my geese. The man seems surprised. Yes, I was speaking
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: only half an hour ago to mister Henry Baker, who
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: was a member of your goose club. Ah, yes, I see,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: But you see, sir, them's not our geese. Indeed, who's then? Well,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Indeed I know some of them. Which one was it?
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Breckinridge is his name? Ah? I don't know him. Well,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: here's your good health, Landlord, and prosperity to your house.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: Good night now for mister Breckinridge. He continued buttoning up
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: his coat as we came into the frosty air. Remember Watson,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: that though we have so homely a thing as a goose,
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: at one end of this chain, we have at the
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: other a man who will certainly get seven years penal
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt. But in
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: any case we have a line of investigation which has
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: been missed by the police, and which a singular chance
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: has placed into our hands. Let us follow it out
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: to the bitter end faces to the south. Then, and
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: quick march we passed across Holborn down Dull Street, and
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: so threw a zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: One of the largest stalls bore the name of Breckinridge
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: upon it, and the proprietor, a horsey looking man with
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: a sharp face and trim side whiskers, was helping a
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: boy to put up the shutters. Good evening, it's a
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: cold night, said Holmes. The salesman nodded and shot a
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: questioning glance at my companion sold out of geese. I see,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: continued Holmes, pointing at the bare slabs of marble, that
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: you have five hundred tomorrow morning. That's no good. Well,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: there are some on the stall with the gas flare. Ah.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: But I was recommended to you Huby, the landlord of
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: the Alpha. Oh, yes, I sent him a couple of
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: dozen fine birds. They were too Now where did you
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: get them from? To my surprise, the question provoked a
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: burst of anger from the salesman. Now, then, mister said he,
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: with his head cocked in his arms. Akimbo, what are
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: you driving at? Let's have it straight now out, it's
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: straight enough. I should like to know who sold you
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: the geese which you supplied to the Alpha. Well, then
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: I shan't tell you so now, Oh, it's a matter
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: of no importance. But I don't know why you should
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: be so warm over such a trifle. Warm. You'd be
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: as warm maybe if you were pestered as I am.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: When I pay good money for a good article, there
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: should be an end of the business. But it's where
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: the geese? And who did you sell the geese to?
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: And what will you take for the geese? One would
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: think they're the only geese in the world to hear
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: the fuss that's made over them. Well, I have no
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: connection with any other people who have been making inquiries,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: said Holmes carelessly. If you won't tell us, the BET's off,
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: that's all. But I'm always ready to back my opinion
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiber
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: on it that the bird I ate is country bread. Well,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: then you've lost your fiber, for it's town bread, snapped
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: the salesman. It's nothing of the kind I say it is.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: I don't believe it. Do you think you know more
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: about fowls than I, who have handled them every since
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: I was a nipper. I tell you all those birds
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: that went to the Alpha were town bred. You'll never
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: persuade me to believe that, will you. Bet, then it's
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: merely taking your money, for I know that I am right.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: But I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: teach you not to be obstinate. The salesman chuckled grimly.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Bring me the books, bill, said he. The small boy
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: brought round a small, thin volume and a great greasy
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging light.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Now then, mister cocksure, said the salesman. I thought that
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: I was out of geese, but before I finish, you'll
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: find that there's still one left in my shop. You
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: see this little book, Well, that's the list of the
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: folk from whom I buy. You see, well, then here
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: on this page of the country folk, and the numbers
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: after the names are where their accounts are in the
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: big ledger. Now then you see this other page in
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: read ink. Well that's a list of my town suppliers.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Now look at that third name. Just read it out
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: to me, Missus Oakshot one seventeen Brixton Road, two forty nine,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: read Holmes. Quite so, now turn that up in the ledger.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: Holmes turned to the page indicated There you are, missus
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Oakshot one seventeen Brixton Road, Egg and poultry supplier. Now then,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: what's the last entry? December twenty second, twenty four geese
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: at seven shillings sixpence. Quite so, there you are, and
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: underneath sold to mister Windygate of the Alpha at twelve shillings.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: What do you have to say now, Sherlock Holmes looked
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from his pocket, and
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: A few yards off he stopped under a lamp post
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: and laughed in the hearty, noiseless fashion which was peculiar
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: to him. When you see a man with whiskers of
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: that cut and the pink un protruding out of his pocket,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: you can always draw him by a bet, said he.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I dare say that if I had put a hundred
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: pounds down in front of him, that man would not
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: have given me such complete information as was drawn from
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: him by the idea that he was doing me on
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: a wager. Well, Watson, we are I fancy nearing the
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: end of our quest, and the only point which remains
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: to be determined is whether we should go on to
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: this missus oakshot to night, or whether we should reserve
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: it for tomorrow. It is clear from what that surly
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: fellow said that there are others besides ourselves who are
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: anxious about this matter, and I should His remarks were
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke out
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: from the stall which we had just left. Turning round,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: we saw a little rat faced fellow standing in the
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: center of the circle of yellow light which was thrown
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: by the swinging lamp, while Breckinridge, the salesman framed in
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: the door of his stall, was shaking his fists fiercely
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: at the cringing figure. I've got enough of you and
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: your geese, he shouted. I wish you were all at
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: the Devil together. If you come pestering me any more
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: with your silly talk, I'll set the dog at you.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: You bring Missus Oakshot here and I'll answer to her.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: But what do you have to do with it? Did
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: I buy the geese off you? No, but one of
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: them was mine all the same, whined the little man. Well,
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: then ask Missus Oakshott for it. She told me to
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: ask you where you can ask the King of Prussia
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: for all I care. I've had enough of it. Get
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: out o this, he rushed fiercely forward, and the inquirer
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: flitted away into the darkness. Huh, this may save us
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: a visit to Brixton Road, whispered Holmes. Come with me
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: and we will see what is to be made of
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: this fellow striding through the scattered knots of people who
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: lounged round the flaring stalls. My companion speedily overtook the
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang round,
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: and I could see in the gas light that every
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: vestige of color had been driven from his face. Who
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: are you then? What do you want? He asked in
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: a quavering voice. You will excuse me, said Sherlock Holmes blandly,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: But I could not help overhearing the questions which you
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: put to the salesman. Just now, I think that I
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: could be of assistance to you. You Who are you?
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: How could you know any of the matter? My name
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: other people don't know. But you can know nothing of this.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavoring
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: to trace some geese which were sold by missus Oakshot
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: of Brixton Road to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: in turn to mister Windegate of the Alpha, and by
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: him to his club of which mister Henry Baker is
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: a member. Oh sir, you are the very man whom
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: I have longed to meet, cried the little fellow, with
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: outstretched arms and quivering fingers. I can hardly explain to
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: you how interested I am in this matter. Sherlock Holmes
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: hailed a four wheeler which was passing. In that case,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: we had better discuss it in a cozy room rather
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: than in this wind swept market place, said he. But
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: pray tell me before we go further. Who is it
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: that I have the pleasure of assisting? The man hesitated
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: for an instant. My name is John Robinson, he answered,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: with a sidelong glance. No, No, the real name, said
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: Holmes sweetly. It is always awkward doing business with an alias.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. Well,
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: then said he, My real name is James Rider. Precisely so,
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: head attendant of the hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray step into the cab,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: and I shall soon be able to tell you everything
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: which you would wish to know. The little man stood
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: glancing from one to the other of us with half frightened,
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: half hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure whether
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: he is on the verge of a windfall or a catastrophe.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: hour we were back in the sitting room at Baker Street.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: Nothing had been said during our drive. But the high,
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: thin breathing of our new companion in the claspings and
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: unclaspings of his hands spoke of the nervous tension within him.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: Here we are, said Holmes cheerily, as we filed into
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: the room. The fire looks very seasonable in this weather.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: You look cold, mister Rider. Pray take the basket chair.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: I will just put on my slippers before we settle
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: this little matter of yours. Now, then you want to
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: know what became of those geese, yes, sir, Or rather
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: I fancy of that goose. It was one bird I
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: imagine in which you were interested, white with a black
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: bar across the tail. Rider quivered with emotion. Oh, sir,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: he cried, Can you tell me where it went to?
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: It came here here? Yes, and a most remarkable bird,
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: it proved. I don't wonder that you should take an
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: interest in it. It laid an egg after it was dead,
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: I have it here in my museum, our visitors. Staggered
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece with his right hand.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Holmes unlocked his strong box and held up the blue carbuncle,
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: which shone out like a star with a cold, brilliant,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: many pointed radiance. Rider stood glaring with a drawn face,
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. The game's up, Rider,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: said Holmes quietly. Hold up, man, or you'll be into
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: the fire. Give him an arm back into his chair, Watson,
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: he's not got blood enough to go in for felony
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: with impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So now
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: he looks a little more human. What a shrimp it is,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: to be sure. For a moment he had staggered and
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: nearly fallen. But the brandy brought a tinge of color
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: into his cheeks, and he sat staring with frightened eyes
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: at his accuser. I have almost every link in my hands,
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: and all the proofs which I could possibly need, So
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: there is little which you need. Tell me still, that
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: little may as well be cleared up to make your
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: case complete. You had heard Rider of this blue stone,
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: of the Countess of more Cars. It was Katherine Cousac
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: who told me of it, said he, in a crackling voice.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: I see her Ladyship's waiting maid. Well, the temptation of
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you,
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: as it has been for better men before you. But
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: you were not very scrupulous, and the means you used
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: it seems to me writer that there is the making
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: this man Horner the plumber, had been concerned in some
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: such matter before, and that suspicion would rest more readily
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: upon him. What did you do? Then? You made some
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: small job in my lady's room, you and your confederate Cusack,
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: and you managed that he should be the man sent for.
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: And then when he had left, you rifled the jewel case,
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man arrested. You.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: Then Rider threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: clutched at my companion's knees. For God's sake, have mercy,
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: he shrieked. Think of my father, of my mother. It
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: would break their hearts. I never went wrong before, I
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: never will again. I swear it. I swear it on
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: a bible. Oh don't bring it into court. For Christ's sake,
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: don't get back into your chair, said Holmes sternly. It
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: is very well to cringe and crawl now, But you
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: thought little enough of this poor Horner in the dock
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: for a crime of which he knew nothing. I I
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: will fly, mister Holmes, I will leave the country, sir.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Then the charge against him will break down. HM. We
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: will talk about that. And now let us hear a
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: true account of the next act. How came the stone
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: into the goose, and how came the goose into the
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies your
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: only hope and safety. Rider passed his tongue over his
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: parched lips. I will tell you it just as it happened, sir,
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: said he. When Horner had been arrested, it seemed to
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: me that it would be best for me to get
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: away with the stone at once, for I did not
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: know at what moment the police might not take it
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: into their heads to search me and my room. There
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: was no place about the hotel where it would be safe.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: I made out, as if on some commission, and I
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: made for my sister's house. She had married a man
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: named Oakshot and lived in Brixton Road, where she fattened
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: fowls for the market. All the way there, every man
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: I met seemed to me to be a policeman or
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: a detective, and for all that it was a cold night,
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: the sweat was pouring down my face. Before I came
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me what was
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: the matter and why I was so pale, But I
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: told her that I had been upset by the jewel
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: robbery at the hotel. Then I went back into the
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: backyard and smoked a pipe and wondered what would be
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: the best to do. I had a friend once called Maudsley,
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: who went to the bad and had just been serving
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: his time in Pentonville. One day he had met me
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: and fallen to talk about the way of thieves and
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: how they could get rid of what they stole. I
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: knew that he would be true to me, for I
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: knew one or two things about him. So I made
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: up my mind to go right on to Kilburn, where
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: he lived, and take him into my confidence. He would
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: show me how to turn the stone into money, but
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: how to get to him in safety. I thought of
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: the agonies I had gone through, and coming from the hotel,
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: I might at any moment be seized and searched, and
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: there would be the stone in my waistcoat pocket. I
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: was leaning against the wall at the time and looking
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: at the geese which were waddling about round my feet,
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: and suddenly an idea came into my head which showed
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: me how I could beat the best detective that ever lived.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: My sister had told me some weeks before that I
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: might have the pick of her geese for a Christmas present,
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: and I knew that she was always as good as
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: her word. I could take my goose now, and in
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: a little shed in the yard, and behind this I
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: drove one of the birds, a fine, big one, white
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: with a barred tail. I caught it, and prising its
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: bill opened, I thrust the stone down its throat as
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: far as my finger could reach. The bird gave a gulp,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: and I felt the stone pass along its gullet and
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: down into its crop. But the creature flapped and struggled,
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: and out came my sister to know what was the matter.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: As I turned to speak to her, the brute broke
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: loose and fluttered off among the others. Whatever were you
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: doing with that bird, Jim, says, she well said, I
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: you said you'd give me one for Christmas. And I
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: was feeling which was the fattest Oh says she. We've
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: set yours aside for you, Jem's bird, we call it.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty six
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: of them, which makes one for you and one for us,
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: and two dozen for the market. Thank you, Maggie, says I.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: But if it's all the same to you, I'd rather
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: have that one I was handling just now. The other
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: is a good three pounds heavier, said she, and we
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: fattened it expressly for you. Never mind, I'll have the other,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: and I'll take it now, said I. Oh, just as
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: you like, said she a little huffed. Which is it
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: you want, then, that white one with the barred tail,
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: right in the middle of the flock, Oh, very well,
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: kill it and take it with you. Well. I did
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: what she had, said, mister Holmes, and I carried the
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: bird all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: what I had done, for he was a man that
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: it was easy to tell a thing like that too.
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: He laughed until he choked, and we got a knife
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: and opened the goose. My heart turned to water, for
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: there was no sign of the stone, and I knew
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: rushed back to my sisters and hurried into the back yard.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: There was not a bird to be seen there. Where
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: are they all, Maggie, I cried, gone to the dealer's Jim,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: which dealers Breckinridge of Covent Garden. But was there another
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: with a barred taale? I asked, the same as the
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: one I chose. Yes, Jim, there were two barred tailed ones,
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: and I could never tell them apart. Well, then, of
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: course I saw it all, and I ran off as
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: hard as my feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: But he had sold the lot at once, and not
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: one word would he tell me as to where they
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: had gone. You hurt him yourselves tonight. Well, he has
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: always answered me like that. My sister thinks that I'm
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: going mad. Sometimes I think that I am myself and
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: now and now I am myself a branded thief, without
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: ever having touched the wealth for which I sold my character.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: God help me, God help me. He burst into convulsive sobbing,
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: with his face buried in his hands. There was a
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and by
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes's finger tips upon the
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: open the door. Get out, said he, what sir, Oh,
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: Heaven bless you. No more words? Get out, And no
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: upon the stairs, the bang of a door, and the
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: crisp rattle of running footfalls from the street. After all,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: Watson said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his clay pipe.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: If Horner were in danger, it would be another thing.
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: But this fellow will not appear against him, and the
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: case must collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony,
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: but it is just possible that I am saving a soul.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: This fellow will not go wrong again. He is too
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: terribly frightened. Send him to Gale now, and you make
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: him a Gale bird for life. Besides, it's the season
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: of forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: singular and whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: If you will have the goodness to touch the bell, doctor,
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: we will begin another investigation, in which also a bird
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: will be the chief feature. End of the Adventure of
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: the Blue carbuncle,