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The Final Problem - The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

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  Speaker 1: The final problem. It is with a heavy heart that
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  Speaker 1: I take up my pen to write these the last
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  Speaker 1: words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts
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  Speaker 1: by which my friend mister Sherlock Holmes was distinguished in
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  Speaker 1: an incoherent and, as I deeply feel, an entirely inadequate fashion.
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  Speaker 1: I have endeavored to give some account of my strange
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  Speaker 1: experiences in his company, from the chance which first brought
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  Speaker 1: us together at the period of the study in Scarlet,
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  Speaker 1: up to the time of his interference in the matter
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  Speaker 1: of the Naval Treaty, an interference which had the unquestionable
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  Speaker 1: effect of preventing a serious international complication. It was my
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  Speaker 1: intention to have stopped there and to have said nothing
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  Speaker 1: of that event, which has created a void in my
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  Speaker 1: life which the lapse of two years has done little
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  Speaker 1: to fill. My hand has been forced, however, by the
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  Speaker 1: recent letters in which Colonel James Moriarty defends the memory
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  Speaker 1: of his brother, no choice but to lay the facts
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  Speaker 1: before the public exactly as they occurred. I alone know
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  Speaker 1: the absolute truth of the matter, and I am satisfied
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  Speaker 1: that the time has come when no good purpose is
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  Speaker 1: to be served by its suppression. As far as I know,
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  Speaker 1: there have been only three accounts in the public press,
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  Speaker 1: that in the Jean Val de Geneve on May sixth,
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  Speaker 1: eighteen ninety one, the Reuter's Dispatch in the English papers
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  Speaker 1: on May seventh, and finally the recent letter to which
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  Speaker 1: I have alluded. Of these, the first and second were
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  Speaker 1: extremely condensed, while the last is, as I shall now show,
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  Speaker 1: an absolute perversion of the facts. It lies with me
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  Speaker 1: to tell for the first time what really took place
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  Speaker 1: between Professor Moriarty and mister Sherlock Holmes. It may be
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  Speaker 1: remembered that after my marriage and my subsequent start in
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  Speaker 1: private practice, the very intimate relations which had existed between
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  Speaker 1: Holmes and myself became, to some extent modified. He still
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  Speaker 1: came to me from time to time when he desired
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  Speaker 1: a companion in his investigation, but these occasions grew more
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  Speaker 1: and more seldom, until I found that in the year
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  Speaker 1: eighteen ninety there were only three cases of which I
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  Speaker 1: retain any record. During the winter of that year and
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  Speaker 1: the early spring of eighteen ninety one, I saw in
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  Speaker 1: the papers that he had been engaged by the French
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  Speaker 1: government upon a matter of supreme importance, and I received
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  Speaker 1: two notes from homes dated from Nalboonne and from Nim,
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  Speaker 1: from which I gathered that his stay in France was
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  Speaker 1: likely to be a long one. It was with some surprise, therefore,
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  Speaker 1: that I saw him walk into my consulting room upon
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  Speaker 1: the evening of April twenty fourth. It struck me that
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  Speaker 1: he was looking even paler and thinner than usual. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: I have been using myself up rather too freely, he remarked,
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  Speaker 1: in answer to my look, rather than to my words.
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  Speaker 1: I have been a little pressed of late. Have you
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  Speaker 1: any objection to my closing your shutters? The only light
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  Speaker 1: in the room came from the lamp upon the table
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  Speaker 1: at which I had been reading. Holmes edged his way
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  Speaker 1: round the wall, and, flinging the shutters together, he bolted
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  Speaker 1: them securely. You are afraid of something, I asked, well,
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  Speaker 1: I am of what of air guns? My dear Holmes,
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  Speaker 1: What do you mean? I think that you know me
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  Speaker 1: well enough Watson to understand that I am, by no
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  Speaker 1: means a nervous man. At the same time, it is stupidity,
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  Speaker 1: rather than courage, to refuse to recognize danger when it
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: is close upon you. Might I trouble you for a match?
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  Speaker 1: He drew in the smoke of his cigarette, as if
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  Speaker 1: the soothing influence was grateful to him. I must apologize
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  Speaker 1: for calling so late, said he. And I must further
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  Speaker 1: beg you to be so unconventional as to allow me
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  Speaker 1: to leave your house presently by scrambling over your back
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  Speaker 1: garden wall. But what does it all mean? I asked.
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  Speaker 1: He held out his hand, and I saw in the
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  Speaker 1: light of the lamp that two of his knuckles were
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  Speaker 1: burst and bleeding. It is not an airy nothing, you see,
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  Speaker 1: said he, smiling. On the contrary, it is solid enough
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  Speaker 1: for a man to break his hand over is missus
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  Speaker 1: Watson in she is away upon a visit? Indeed, you
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  Speaker 1: are alone quite then it makes it easier for me
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  Speaker 1: to propose that you should come away with me for
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  Speaker 1: a week to the continent, where, oh anywhere. It's all
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  Speaker 1: the same to me. There was something very strange in
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  Speaker 1: all this. It was not Holmes's nature to take an
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  Speaker 1: aimless holiday, and something about his pale, worn face told
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  Speaker 1: me that his nerves were at their highest tension. He
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  Speaker 1: saw the question in my eyes, and, putting his finger
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  Speaker 1: tips together and his elbows upon his knees, he explained
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  Speaker 1: the situation. You have probably never heard of Professor Moriarty
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  Speaker 1: said he never Aye. There's the genius and the wonder
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  Speaker 1: of the thing, he cried. The man pervades London and
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  Speaker 1: no one has heard of him. That's what puts him
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  Speaker 1: on a pinnacle in the records of crime. I tell you, Watson,
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  Speaker 1: in all seriousness, that if I could beat that man,
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  Speaker 1: if I could free society of him, I should feel
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  Speaker 1: that my own career had reached its summit, and I
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  Speaker 1: should be prepared to turn to some more placid line
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  Speaker 1: in life between ourselves. The recent cases in which I
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  Speaker 1: have been of assistance to the Royal family of Scandinavia
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  Speaker 1: and to the French Republic have left me in such
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  Speaker 1: a position that I could continue to live in the
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  Speaker 1: quiet fashion which is most congenial to me, and to
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  Speaker 1: concentrate my attention upon my chemical researches. But I could
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  Speaker 1: not rest Watson. I could not sit quiet in my
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  Speaker 1: chair if I thought that such a man as Professor
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  Speaker 1: Moriarty were walking the streets of London unchallenged. What has
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  Speaker 1: he done? Then? His career has been an extraordinary one.
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  Speaker 1: He is a man of good birth and excellent education,
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  Speaker 1: endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the
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  Speaker 1: age of twenty one, he wrote a treatise upon the
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  Speaker 1: binomial theorem, which has had a European vogue. On the
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  Speaker 1: strength of it, he won the mathematical chair at one
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  Speaker 1: of our smaller universities, and had, to all appearances, a
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  Speaker 1: most brilliant career before him. But the man had hereditary
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  Speaker 1: tendencies of the most diabolical kind. A criminal strain ran
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  Speaker 1: in his blood, which, instead of being modified, was increased
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  Speaker 1: and rendered infinitely more dangerous by his extraordinary mental powers.
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  Speaker 1: Dark rumors gathered round him in the university town, and
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  Speaker 1: eventually he was compelled to resign his chair and to
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  Speaker 1: come down to London, where he set up as an
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  Speaker 1: army coach. So much is known to the world, but
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  Speaker 1: what I am telling you now is what I have
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  Speaker 1: myself discovered. As you are aware, Watson, there is no
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  Speaker 1: one who knows the higher criminal world of London so
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  Speaker 1: well as I do. For years past, I have continually
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  Speaker 1: been conscious of some power behind the malefactor, some deep
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  Speaker 1: organizing power which forever stands in the way of the
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  Speaker 1: law and throws its shield over the wrong doer again
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  Speaker 1: and again. In cases of the most varying sorts forgery cases, robberies, murders.
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  Speaker 1: I have felt the presence of this force, and I
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  Speaker 1: have deduced its action in many of those undiscovered crimes
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  Speaker 1: in which I have not been personally consulted. For years,
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  Speaker 1: I have endeavored to break through the veil which shrouded it.
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  Speaker 1: And at last the time came when I see my
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  Speaker 1: thread and followed it until it led me after a
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  Speaker 1: thousand cunning windings to ex Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity,
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  Speaker 1: he is the Napoleon of crime Watson. He is the
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  Speaker 1: organizer of half that is evil and nearly all that
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  Speaker 1: is undetected in this great city. He is a genius,
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  Speaker 1: a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of
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  Speaker 1: the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in
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  Speaker 1: the center of its web. But that web has a
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  Speaker 1: thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each
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  Speaker 1: of them. He does little himself, He only plans, but
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  Speaker 1: his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Is there a
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  Speaker 1: crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we
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  Speaker 1: will say, a house to be rifled, a man to
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  Speaker 1: be removed? The word is pasted to the Professor. The
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  Speaker 1: matter is organized and carried out. The agent may be caught.
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  Speaker 1: In that case money is found for his bail or
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  Speaker 1: his defense, but the central power which uses the agent
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  Speaker 1: is never caught, never so much as suspected. This was
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  Speaker 1: the organization which I deduced, Watson, and which I devoted
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  Speaker 1: my whole energy to exposing and breaking up. But the
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  Speaker 1: Professor was fenced around with safeguards so cunningly devised that
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  Speaker 1: do what I would, it seemed impossible to get evidence
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  Speaker 1: which would convict in a court of law. You know
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  Speaker 1: my powers, my dear Watson. And yet at the end
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  Speaker 1: of three months I was forced to confess that I
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  Speaker 1: had at last met an antagonist who was my intellectual equal.
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  Speaker 1: My horror at his crimes was lost in my admiration
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  Speaker 1: at his skill. But at last he made a trip,
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  Speaker 1: only a little little trip, but it was more than
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  Speaker 1: he could afford. When I was so close upon him,
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  Speaker 1: I had my chance, And starting from that point I
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  Speaker 1: have woven my net around him, until now it is
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  Speaker 1: all ready to close. In three days, that is to say,
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  Speaker 1: on Monday, next matters will be ripe, and the Professor,
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  Speaker 1: with all the principal members of his gang will be
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  Speaker 1: in the hands of the police. Then will come the
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  Speaker 1: greatest criminal trial of the century, the clearing up of
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  Speaker 1: over forty mysteries, and the rope for all of them.
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  Speaker 1: But if we move at all prematurely, you understand, they
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  Speaker 1: may slip out of our hands, even at the last moment. Now,
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  Speaker 1: if I could have done this without the knowledge of
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  Speaker 1: Professor Moriarty, all would have been well. But he was
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  Speaker 1: too wily for that. He saw every step which I
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  Speaker 1: took to draw my toils round him. Again and again
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  Speaker 1: he strove to break away, but I as often headed
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  Speaker 1: him off. I tell you, my friend, that if a
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  Speaker 1: detailed account of that silent contest could be written, it
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  Speaker 1: would take its place as the most brilliant bit of
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: thrust and parry work in the history of detection. Never
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  Speaker 1: have I risen to such a height, and never have
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  Speaker 1: I been so hard pressed by an opponent. He cut deep,
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  Speaker 1: and yet I just undercut him. This morning, the last
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  Speaker 1: steps were taken, and three days only were wanted to
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  Speaker 1: complete the business. I was sitting in my room, thinking
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  Speaker 1: the matter over, when the door opened and Professor Moriarty
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  Speaker 1: stood before me. My nerves are fairly proof, Watson, but
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  Speaker 1: I must confess to a start. When I saw the
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  Speaker 1: very man who's been so much in my thoughts standing
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  Speaker 1: there on my threshold, his appearance was quite familiar to me.
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  Speaker 1: He is extremely tall and thin. His forehead domes out
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  Speaker 1: in a white curve, and his two eyes are deeply
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  Speaker 1: sunken in his head. He's clean shaven, pale, and acetic looking,
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  Speaker 1: retaining something of the professor in his feature. His shoulders
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  Speaker 1: around it from much study, and his face protrudes forward
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  Speaker 1: and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in
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  Speaker 1: a curiously reptilian fashion. He peered at me with great
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  Speaker 1: curiosity in his puckered eyes. You have less frontal development
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  Speaker 1: than I should have expected, said he at last. It
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  Speaker 1: is a dangerous habit to finger loaded firearms in the
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  Speaker 1: pocket of one's dressing gown. The fact is that upon
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  Speaker 1: his entrance I had instantly recognized the extreme personal danger
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  Speaker 1: in which I lay. The only conceivable escape for him
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  Speaker 1: lay in silencing my tongue. In an instant I had
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  Speaker 1: slipped the revolver from the drawer into my pocket and
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  Speaker 1: was covering him through the cloth. At this remark, I
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  Speaker 1: drew the weapon out and laid it cocked upon the table.
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  Speaker 1: He still smiled and blinked, but there was something about
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  Speaker 1: his eyes which made me feel very glad that I
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  Speaker 1: had it there. You evidently don't know me, said he.
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  Speaker 1: On the contrary, I answered, I think it is fairly
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  Speaker 1: evident that I do pray. Take a chair. I can
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  Speaker 1: spare you five minutes if you have anything to say.
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  Speaker 1: All that I have to say has already crossed your mind,
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  Speaker 1: said he. Then, possibly my answer has crossed yours, I replied,
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  Speaker 1: you stand fast. Absolutely. He clapped his hand into his pocket,
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  Speaker 1: and I raised the pistol from the table. But he
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  Speaker 1: merely drew out a memorandum book in which she had
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  Speaker 1: scribbled some dates. You crossed my path on the fourth
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  Speaker 1: of January, said he. On the twenty third, you incommoded me.
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  Speaker 1: By the middle of February, I was seriously inconvenienced by you.
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  Speaker 1: At the end of March I was absolutely hampered in
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  Speaker 1: my plans. And now at the c of April, I
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: find myself placed in such a position through your continual persecution,
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  Speaker 1: that I am in positive danger of losing my liberty.
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  Speaker 1: The situation is becoming an impossible one. Have you any
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  Speaker 1: suggestion to make I asked, you must drop it, mister Holmes,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: said he, swaying his face about you really must you
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  Speaker 1: know after Monday, said I. Tut tut, said he. I
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: am quite sure that a man of your intelligence will
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  Speaker 1: see that there can be but one outcome to this affair.
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  Speaker 1: It is necessary that you should withdraw. You have worked
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: things in such a fashion that we have only one
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  Speaker 1: resource left. It has been an intellectual treat to me
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: to see the way in which you have grappled with
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: this affair. And I say, unaffectedly that it would be
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  Speaker 1: a grief to me to be forced to take any
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: extreme measure. You smile, sir, but I assure you that
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  Speaker 1: it really would. Danger is part of my trade. I remarked.
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  Speaker 1: That is not danger, said he, It is inevitable destruction.
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  Speaker 1: You stand in the way, not merely of an individual,
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  Speaker 1: but of a mighty organization, the full extent of which you,
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: with all your cleverness, have been unable to realize. You
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: must stand clear, mister Holmes, or be trodden under foot.
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  Speaker 1: I am afraid, said I, rising, as in the pleasure
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  Speaker 1: of this conversation, I am neglecting business of importance which
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: awaits me elsewhere. He rose also and looked at me
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: in silence, shaking his head sadly. Well well, said he
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: at last. It seems a pity, But I have done
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  Speaker 1: what I could. I know every move of your game.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: You can do nothing before Monday. It has been a
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: duel between you and me. Mister Holmes. You hope to
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: place me in the dock. I tell you that I
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: will never stand in the dock. You hope to beat me.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: I tell you that you will never beat me. If
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me. Rest
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: assured that I shall do as much to you. You
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: have paid me several compliments, mister Moriarty, said, I let
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: me pay you one in return. When I say that,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: if I were assured of the former eventuality, I would,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: in the interests of the public, cheerfully accept the latter.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: I can promise you the one, but not the other.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: He snarled, and so turned his rounded back upon me
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: and went peering and blinking out of the room. That
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: was my singular interview with Professor Moriarty. I confess that
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: it left an unpleasant effect upon my mind. His soft,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: precise fashion of speech leaves a conviction of sincerity which
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: a mere bully could not produce. Of course, you will
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: say why not take police precautions against him? The reason
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: is that I am well convinced that it is from
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: his agents the blow will fall. I have the best
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: proofs that it would be, so you've already been assaulted,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: my dear Watson. Professor Moriarty is not a man who
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: lets the grass grow under his feet. I went out
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: about midday to transact some business in Oxford Street. As
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: I passed the corner which leads from Bentinck Street on
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: to the Welbeck Street crossing, a two horse van furiously driven,
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: whizzed round and was on me like a flash. I
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: sprang for the footpath and saved myself by the fraction
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: of a second. The van dashed round by Marlburne Lay
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: and was gone in an instant. I kept the pavement
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: after that, Watson, But as I walked down Via Street,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: a brick came down from the roof of one of
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: the houses and was shattered to fragments at my feet.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: I called the police and had the place examined. There
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: were slates and bricks piled up on the roof preparatory
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: to some repairs, and they would of me believe that
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: the wind had toppled over one of these. Of course
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: I knew better, but I could prove nothing. I took
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: a cab after that and reached my brother's rooms in
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Pall Mall, where I spent the day. Now I have
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: come round to you, and on my way I was
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: attacked by a ruff with a bludgeon. I knocked him down,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: and the police have him in custody. But I can
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: tell you with the most absolute confidence that no possible
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: connection will ever be traced between the gentlemen upon whose
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: front teeth I have barked my knuckles, and the retiring
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: mathematical coach who is I dare say, working out problems
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: upon a blackboard ten miles away. You will not wonder, Watson,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: that my first act on entering your rooms was to
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: close your shutters, and that I have been compelled to
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: ask your permission to leave the house by some less
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: conspicuous exit than the front door. I had often admired
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: my friend's courage, but never more than now, as he
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: sat quietly checking off a series of incidents which must
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: have combined to make up a day of horror. You
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: will spend the night here, I said, no, My friend,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: you might find me a dangerous guest. I have my
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: plans laid, and all will be well. Matters have gone
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: so far now that they can move without my help
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: as far as the arrest goes. Though my presence is
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: necessary for a conviction. It is obvious therefore that I
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: cannot do better than get away for the few days
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: which remain before the police are at liberty to act.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: It would be a great pleasure to me. Therefore, if
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: you would come on to the continent with me. The
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: practice is quiet, said I, and I have an accommodating neighbor.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: I shall be glad to come and to start to
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: morrow morning if necessary. Oh, yes, it is most necessary.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: Then these are your instructions, and I beg my dear Watson,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: that you will obey them to the letter, for you
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: are now playing a double handed game with me against
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: the cleverest rogue and the most powerful syndicate of criminals
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: in Europe. Now listen, you will despatch whatever luggage you
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: intend to take by a trusty messenger unaddressed to Victoria
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: to night. In the morning you will send for a hansom,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: desiring your man to take neither the first nor the second,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: which may present itself into this hansom. You will jump,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: and you will drive to the strand end of the
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: louther arcade, handing the addressed the cabman upon a slip
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: of paper, with a request that you will not throw
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: it away, have your fare ready, and the instant that
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: your cab stops. Dashed through the arcade, timing yourself to
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: reach the other side. At a quarter past nine, you
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: will find a small brougham waiting close to the curb,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: driven by a fellow with a heavy black cloak tipped
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: at the collar with red. Into this you will step,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: and you will reach Victoria in time for the Continental Express.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: Where shall I meet you at the station? The second
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: first class carriage from the front will be reserved for us.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: The carriage is our rendezvous. Then, yes, it was in
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: vain that I asked Holmes to remain for the evening.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: It was evident to me that he thought he might
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: bring trouble to the roof he was under, and that
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: that was the motive which impelled him to go. With
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: a few hurried words as to our plans for the morrow,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: he rose and came came out with me into the garden,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: clambering over the wall which leads into Mortimer Street and
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: immediately whistling for a hansom, in which I heard him
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: drive away. In the morning. I obeyed Holmes's injunction to
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: the letter, a hansom was procured with such precaution as
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: would prevent its being one which was placed ready for us,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: and I drove immediately after breakfast to the louther arcade,
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: through which I hurried at the top of my speed.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Abruugham was waiting with a very massive driver wrapped in
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: a dark cloak, who the instant that I had stepped in,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: whipped up the horse and rattled off to Victoria station.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: On my alighting there, he turned the carriage and dashed
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: away again without so much as a look in my direction.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: So far all had gone admirably. My luggage was waiting
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: for me, and I had no difficulty in finding the
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: carriage which Holmes had indicated, the less so as it
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: was the only one in the train which was my engaged.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: My only source of anxiety now was the non appearance
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: of homes. The station clock marked only seven minutes from
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: the time when we were due to start in Vain.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: I searched among the groups of travelers and leave takers
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: for the lithe figure of my friend, there was no
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: sign of him. I spent a few minutes in assisting
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: a venerable Italian priest who was endeavoring to make a
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: porter understand in his broken English that his luggage was
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: to be booked through to Paris. Then, having taken another
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: look around, I returned to my carriage, where I found
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: that the porter, in spite of the ticket, had given
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: me my decrepit Italian friend as a traveling companion. It
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: was useless for me to explain to him that his
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: presence was an intrusion, for my Italian was even more
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: limited than his English. So I shrugged my shoulders resignedly,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: and continued to look out anxiously for my friend. A
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: chill of fear had come over me, as I thought
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: that his absence might mean that some blow had fallen
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: during the night. Already the doors had all been shut
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: and the whistle blown. When my dear Watson said a
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: voice you have not even condescended to say good morning.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: I turned in uncontrollable astonishment. The aged ecclesiastic had turned
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: his face towards me for an instant. The wrinkles were
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: smoothed away, the nose drew away from the chin. The
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: lower lips ceased to protrude, and the mouth to mumble.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: The dull eyes regained their fire. The drooping figure expanded.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: The next the whole frame collapsed again, and Holmes had
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: gone as quickly as he had come. Good Heavens, I cried,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: how you startle me? Every precaution is still necessary, he whispered.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: I have reason and to think that they are hot
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: upon our trail. Ah, there is Moriarty himself. The train
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: had already begun to move as Holmes spoke. Glancing back,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: I saw a tall man pushing his way furiously through
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: the crowd, and waving his hand as if he desired
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: to have the train stopped. It was too late, however,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: for we were rapidly gathering momentum, and an instant later
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: had shot clear of the station. With all our precautions.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: You see that we have cut it rather fine, said Holmes, laughing.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: He rose, and throwing off the black cassock and hat
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: which had formed his disguise, he packed them away in
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: a hand bag. Have you seen the morning paper, Watson? No,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: you haven't seen about Baker Street. Then Baker Street. They
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: set fire to our rooms last night. No great harm
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: was done. Good Heavens Holmes. This is intolerable. They must
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: have lost my track completely after their bludgeon man was arrested.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Otherwise they could not have imagined that I had returned
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: to my rooms. They have evidently taken the precaution of
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: watching you, however, and that is what has brought Moriarty
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: to Victoria. You could not have made any slip in coming.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: I did exactly what you advised. Did you find your Brupham, Yes,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: it was waiting. Did you recognize your coachman, No, it
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: was my brother Microft. It is an advantage to get
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: about in such a case without taking a mercenary into
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: your confidence. But we must plan what we are to
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: do about Moriarty. Now. As this is an express and
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: as the boat runs in connection with it, I should
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: think we've shaken him off very effectively. My dear Watson,
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: you evidently did not realize my meaning when I said
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: that this man may be taken as being quite on
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: the same intellectual place as myself. You do not imagine
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: that if I were the pursuer, I should allow myself
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: to be baffled by so slight an obstacle. Why then,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: should you think so meanly of him? What will he
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: do what I should do? What would you do? Then?
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: Engage a special But it must be late by no means.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: This train stops at Canterbury, and there is always at
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: least a quarter of an hour's delay at the boat.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: He will catch us there. One would think that we
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: were the criminals. Let us have him arrested on his arrival.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: It would be to ruin the work of three months.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: We should get the big fish, but the smaller would
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: dart right and left out of the net on Monday.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: We should have them all. Nope, an arrest is inadmissible.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: What then we shall get out at Canterbury. And then well,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: then we must make a cross country journey to new
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: Haven and so over to Dieppe. Moriarty will again do
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: what I should do. He will get on to Paris,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: mark down our luggage and wait for two days at
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: the depot. In the meantime, we shall treat ourselves to
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: a couple of carpet bags, encourage the manufacturers of the
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: countries through which we travel, and make our way at
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: our leisure into Switzerland via Luxembourg and Basel. At Canterbury. Therefore,
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: we alighted, only to find that we should have to
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: wait an hour before we could get a train to
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: New Haven. I was still looking rather ruefully after the
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: rapidly disappearing luggage van which contained my wardrobe, when Holmes
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: pulled my sleeve and pointed up the line. Already, you see,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: said he. Far away from among the Kentish woods, there
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: rose a thin spray of smoke. A minute later a
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: carriage and engine could be seen flying along the open
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: curve which leads to the station. We had hardly time
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: to take our place behind a pile of luggage when
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: it passed with a rattle and a roar, beating a
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: blast of hot air into our faces. There he goes,
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: said Holmes, as we watched the carriage swing and rock
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: over the points. There are limits, you see, to our
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: friend's intelligence. It would have been a kurummehtre had he
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: deduced what I would deduce and acted accordingly. And what
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: would he have done had he overtaken us? There cannot
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: be the least doubt that he would have made a
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: murderous attack upon me. It is, however, a game at
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: which two may play. The question now is whether we
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: should take a premature lunch here or run our chance
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: of starving. Before we reached the buffet at new Haven,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: we made our way to Brussels that night and spent
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: two days there, moving on upon the third day as
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: far as Strasbourg. On the Monday morning. Holmes had telegraphed
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: to the London police, and in the evening we found
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: a reply waiting for us at our hotel. Holmes tore
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: it open and then, with a bitter curse, hurled it
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: into the grate. I might have known it, he groaned.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: He has escaped Moriarty. They have secured the whole gang,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: with the exception of him. He has given them the slip.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Of course, when I had left the country there was
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: no one to cope with him. But I did think
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: that I had put the game in their hands. I
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: think that you had better return to England, Watson. Why
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: because you will find me a dangerous companion. Now this
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: man's occupation is gone. He is lost if he returns
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: to London. If I read his character right, he will
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: devote his whole energies to revenging himself upon me. He
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: said as much in our short interview, and I fancy
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: that he meant it. I should certainly recommend you to
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: return to your practice. It was hardly an appeal to
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: be successful with one who was an old campaigner as
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: well as an old friend. We sat in the Strasbourg
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: Sala Manges arguing the question for half an hour. But
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: the same night we had resumed our journey and were
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: well on our way to Geneva for a charming week.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: We wandered up the valley of the Rhone, and then
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: branching off at Luke, we made our way over the
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: Gemmy Pass, still deep in snow, and so by way
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: of Interlaken to Meyringen. It was a lovely trip, the
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: dainty green of the spring below, the virgin white of
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: the winter above. But it was clear to me that
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: never for one instant did Holmes forget the shadow which
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: lay across him in the homely alpine villages or in
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: the lonely mountain passes. I could tell, by his quick
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: glancing eyes and his sharp scrutiny of every face that
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: passed us, that he was well convinced that walk where
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: we would, we could not walk ourselves clear of the
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: danger which was dogging our footsteps. Once I remember, as
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: we passed over the Gemmi and walked along the border
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: of the melancholy Daubensee. A large rock which had been
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: dislodged from the ridge upon our right, clattered down and
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: roared into the lake behind us. In an instant, Holmes
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: had raced up on to the ridge, and, standing upon
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: a lofty pinnacle, craned his neck in every direction. It
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: was in vain that our guide assured him that a
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: fall of stones was a common chance in the springtime
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: at that spot. He said nothing, but he smiled at
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: me with the air of a man who sees the
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: fulfillment of that which he had expected. And yet for
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: all his watchfulness, he was never depressed. On the contrary,
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: I could never recollect having seen him in such exuberant spirits.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: Again and again he recurred to the fact that if
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: he could be assured that society was freed from Professor Moriarty,
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: he would cheerfully bring his own career to a conclusion.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: I think that I may go as far as to say, Watson,
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: that I have not lived wholly in vain. He remarked.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: If my record were closed to night, I could still
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: survey it with equanimity. The air of London is the
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: sweeter for my presence in over a thousand cases. I
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: am not aware that I have ever used my powers
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: upon the wrong side of late. I have been tempted
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: to look into the problems furnished by nature rather than
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: those more superficial ones for which our artificial state of
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: society is responsible. Your memoirs will draw to an end, Watson,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: upon the day that I crown my career by the
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: capture or extinction of the most dangerous and capable criminal
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: in Europe. And I shall be brief and yet exact
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: in the little which remains for me to tell. It
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: is not a subject on which I would willingly dwell,
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: and yet I am conscious that a duty devolves upon
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: me to omit no detail. It was on the third
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: of May that we reached the little village of Meyringen,
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: where we put up at the englisher Hoof, then kept
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: by Peter Steiler, the elder. Our landlord was an intelligent
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: man and spoke excellent English, having served for three years
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: as waiter at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. At his advice,
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: on the afternoon of the fourth we set off together
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: with the intention of crossing the hills and spending the
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: night at the hamlet of Rosenlauis. We had strict injunctions, However,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: on no account to pass the falls of Reichenbach, which
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: are about half way up the hill, without making a
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: small detour to see them. It is indeed a fearful place.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: The torrent, swollen by the melting snow, plunges into a
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up like the
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: smoke from a burning house. The shaft into which the
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: river hurls itself is an immense chasm, lined by glistening
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: coal black rock, and narrowing into a creaming, boiling pit
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: of incalculable depth, which brims over and shoots the stream
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: onward over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: water roaring forever down, and the thick, flickering curtain of
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: spray hissing forever upward, turn a man giddy with their
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: constant whirl and clamor We stood near the edge, peering
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: down at the gleam of the breaking water far below us,
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: against the black rocks, and listening to the half human
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: shout which came booming up with the spray out of
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: the abyss. The path has been cut half way round
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: the fall to afford a complete view, but it ends
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: abruptly and the traveler has to return as he came.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: We had turned to do so when we saw a
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: Swiss lad come running along it with a letter in
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: his hand. It bore the mark of the hotel which
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: we had just left, and was addressed to me by
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: the landlord. It appeared that within a very few minutes
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: of our leaving, an English lady had arrived, who was
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: in the last stage of consumption. She had wintered at
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: Davos Platz and was journeying now to join her friends
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: at Lucerne. When a sudden hemorrhage had overtaken her. It
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: was thought that she could hardly live a few hours,
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: but it would be a great consolation to her to
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: see an English doctor, and if I would only return,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: et cetera. The good Stuyler assured me in a PostScript
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: that he would himself look upon my compliance as a
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: very great favor. Since the lady absolutely refused to see
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: a Swiss physician, and he could not but feel that
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: he was incurring a great responsibility, the appeal was one
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: which could not be ignored. It was impossible to refuse
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: the request of a fellow country woman dying in a
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: strange land. Yet I had my scruples about leaving homes.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: It was finally agreed, however, that he should retain the
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: young Swiss messenger with him as guide and companion while
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: I returned to Meydringen. My friend would stay some little
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: time at the fall, he said, and would then walk
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: slowly over the hill to Rosenlowey, where I was to
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: rejoin him in the evening. As I turned away, I
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: saw Holmes with his back against a rock and his
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: arms folded, gazing down at the rush of the waters.
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: It was the last that I was ever destined to
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: see of him in this world. When I was near
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: the bottom of the descent, I looked back. It was
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: impossible from that position to see the fall, but I
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: could see the curving path which winds over the shoulder
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: of the hill and lead to it. Along this a
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: man was, I remember, walking very rapidly. I could see
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: this black figure clearly outlined against the green behind him.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: I noted him and the energy with which he walked,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: but he passed from my mind again as I hurried
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: on upon my errand it may have been a little
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: over an hour before I reached myringhen Old Stuyler was
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: standing at the porch of his hotel. Well, said I,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: as I came hurrying up, I trust that she is
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: no worse. A luck of surprise passed over his face,
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: and at the first quiver of his eyebrows, my heart
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: turned to lead in my breast. You did not write this,
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: I said, pulling the letter from my pocket. There is
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: no sick englishwoman in the hotel. Certainly not, he cried.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: But it has the hotel mark upon it. Ha. It
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: must have been written by that tall Englishman who came
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: in after you had gone, he said. But I waited
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: for none of the landlord's explanations. In a tingle of fear,
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: I was already running down the village street and making
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: for the path which I had so lately descended. It
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: had taken me an hour to come down. For all
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: my efforts, two more had passed before I found myself
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: at the fall of Reichenbach. Once more. There was Holme's
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: alpine stock, still leaning against the rock by which I
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: had left him. But there was no sign of him,
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: and it was in vain that I shouted. My only
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: answer was my own voice. Reverberating in a rolling echo
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: from the cliffs around me. It was the sight of
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: that alpine stock which turned me cold and sick. He
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: had not gone to rosen Lowy. Then he had remained
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: on that three foot path, with sheer wall on one
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: side and sheer drop on the other, until his enemy
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: had overtaken him. The young Swiss had gone too. He
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: had probably been in the pay of Moriarty, and had
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: left the two men together. And then what had happened?
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: Who was to tell us what had happened? Then I
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: stood for a moment or two to collect myself, for
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: I was dazed with the horror of the thing. Then
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: I began to think of Holmes's own methods, and to
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: try to practice them in reading this tragedy. It was alas,
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: only too easy to do. During our conversation, we had
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: not gone to the end of the path, and the
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: alpine stock marked the place where we had stood. The
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: blackish soil is kept forever soft by the incessant drift
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: of spray, and a bird would leave its tread upon it.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: Two lines of footmarks were clearly marked along the farther
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: end of the path, both leading away from me. There
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: were none. Returning a few yards from the end, the
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: soil was all plowed up into a patch of mud,
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: and the branches and ferns which fringed the chasm were
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: torn and bedraggled. I lay upon my face and peered over,
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: with the spray spouting up all around me. It had
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: darkened since I left, and now I could only see
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: here and there the glistening of moisture upon the black walls,
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: and far away down at the end of the shaft,
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: the gleam of the broken water. I shouted, but only
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: the same half human cry of the fall was borne
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: back to my ears. But it was destined that I
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: should after all have a last word of greeting from
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: my friend and comrade. I have said that his alpine
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: stock had been left leaning against a rock which jutted
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: on to the path from the top of this boulder.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: The gleam of something bright caught my eye, and raising
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: my hand, I found that it came from the silver
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: cigarette case which he used to carry. As I took
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: it up, a small square of paper upon which it
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: had lain fluttered down on to the ground, and unfolding it,
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: I found that it consisted of three pages torn from
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: his note book and addressed to me. It was characteristic
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: of the man that the direction was as precise and
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: the writing as firm and clear, as though it had
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: been written in his study. My dear Watson, it said,
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: I write these few lines through the courtesy of mister Moriarty,
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: who awaits my convenience for the final discussion of those
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: questions which lie between us. He has been giving me
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: a sketch of the methods by which he avoided the
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: English police and kept himself informed of our movements. They
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: certainly confirmed the very high opinion which I had formed
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: of his abilities. I am pleased to think that I
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: shall be able to free society from any further effects
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: of his presence, though I fear that it is at
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: a cost which will give pain to my friends, and
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: especially my dear Watson. To you, I have already explained
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: to you, however, that my career had in any case
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: reached its crisis, and that no possible conclusion to it
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: could be more congenial to me than this. Indeed, if
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: I may make a full confession to you, I was
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: quite convinced that the letter from Meyringen was a hoax,
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: and I allowed you to depart on that errand under
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: the persuasion that some development of this sort would follow,
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: tell Inspector Patterson that the papers which he needs to
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: convict the gang are in Pigeonhole, m done up in
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: a blue envelope and inscribed Moriarty. I made every disposition
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: of my property before leaving England and handed it to
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: my brother Microft. Pray, give my greetings to missus Watson,
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: and believe me to be my dear fellow. Very sincerely yours,
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes. A few words may suffice to tell the
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: little that remains. An examination by experts leaves little doubt
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: that a person contest between the two men ended, as
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: it could hardly fail to end in such a situation,
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: in their reeling over locked in each other's arms, any
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: attempt at recovering the bodies was absolutely hopeless, and there,
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: deep down in that dreadful cauldron of swirling water and
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: seething foam, will lie for all time the most dangerous
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: criminal and the foremost champion of the law of their generation.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: The Swiss youth was never found again, and there can
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: be no doubt that he was one of the numerous
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: agents whom Moriarty kept in his employ. As to the gang,
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: it will be within the memory of the public how
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: completely the evidence which Holmes had accumulated exposed their organization,
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: and how heavily the hand of the dead man weighed
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: upon them of their terrible chief. Few details came out
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: during the proceedings, And if I have now been compelled
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: to make a clear stateatement of his career, it is
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: due to those injudicious champions who have endeavored to clear
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: his memory by attacks upon him, whom I shall ever
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: regard as the best and the wisest man whom I
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: have ever known. End of the final problem