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5 The Five Orange Pips from The Adventures of Sherlo · Sherlock Holmes

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Speaker 1: The Five Orange Pips. When I glance over my notes
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Speaker 1: and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years
0:10
Speaker 1: eighty two and ninety, I am faced by so many
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Speaker 1: which present strange and interesting features that it is no
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Speaker 1: easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however,
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Speaker 1: have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have
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Speaker 1: not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my
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Speaker 1: friend possessed in so high a degree, and which it
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Speaker 1: is the object of these papers to illustrate. Some too,
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Speaker 1: have baffled his analytical skill, and would be as narratives
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Speaker 1: beginnings without an ending, while others have been but partially
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Speaker 1: cleared up, and have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture
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Speaker 1: and surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was
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Speaker 1: so dear to him. There is, however, one of these last,
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Speaker 1: which were so remarkable in its details and so startling
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Speaker 1: in its results, that I am tempted to give some
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Speaker 1: account of it, in spite of the fact that there
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Speaker 1: are points in connection with it which never have been
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Speaker 1: and probably never will be entirely cleared up. The year
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Speaker 1: eighty seven furnished us with a long series of cases
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Speaker 1: of greater or less interest, of which I retain the
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Speaker 1: records among my headings under this one twelve months, I
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Speaker 1: find an account of the adventure of the Paradol Chamber
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Speaker 1: of the Amateur Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club
1:30
Speaker 1: in the lower vault of a furniture warehouse. Of the
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Speaker 1: facts connected with the loss of the British bark Sophie Anderson,
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Speaker 1: of the singular adventure of the Gris Pattersons in the
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Speaker 1: island of Uffa, And finally of the Camberwell poisoning case.
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Speaker 1: In the latter, as may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes was able,
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Speaker 1: by winding up the dead man's watch, to prove that
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Speaker 1: it had been wound up two hours ago, and that
1:55
Speaker 1: therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time,
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Speaker 1: auction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up
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Speaker 1: the case. All these I may sketch out at some
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Speaker 1: future date, but none of them present such singular features
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Speaker 1: as the strange train of circumstances which I have now
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Speaker 1: taken up my pen to describe. It was in the
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Speaker 1: latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales had set
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Speaker 1: in with exceptional violence. All the day the wind had
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Speaker 1: screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so
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Speaker 1: that even here in the heart of great handmade London,
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Speaker 1: we were forced to raise our minds for the instant
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Speaker 1: from the routine of life, and to recognize the presence
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Speaker 1: of those great elemental forces which shriek at mankind through
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Speaker 1: the bars of his civilization, like untamed beasts in a cage.
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Speaker 1: As evening drew in, the storm grew louder and louder,
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Speaker 1: and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in
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Speaker 1: the chimney. Sherlock Holms sat moodily at one side of
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Speaker 1: the fireplace, cross indexing his record of crime, whilst I
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Speaker 1: at the other, was deep in one of Clark Russell's
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Speaker 1: fine sea stories, until the howl of the gale from
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Speaker 1: without seemed to blend with the text, and the splash
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Speaker 1: of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash
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Speaker 1: of the sea waves. My wife was on a visit
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Speaker 1: to her aunt's, and for a few days I was
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Speaker 1: a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street.
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Speaker 1: Why said I, glancing up at my companion, That was
3:27
Speaker 1: surely the bell who could come to night some friend
3:30
Speaker 1: of yours, perhaps, except yourself. I have none, he answered,
3:34
Speaker 1: I do not encourage visitors a client. Then if so
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Speaker 1: it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a
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Speaker 1: man out on such a day and at such an hour.
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Speaker 1: But I take it that it is more likely to
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Speaker 1: be some crony of the landlady's Sherlock. Holmes was wrong
3:53
Speaker 1: in his conjecture, however, for there came a step in
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Speaker 1: the passage, and a tapping at the door. He stretched
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Speaker 1: out his long eye arm to turn the lamp away
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Speaker 1: from himself and towards the vacant chair upon which a
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Speaker 1: new comer must sit. Come in, said he. The man
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Speaker 1: who entered was young, some two and twenty at the outside,
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Speaker 1: well groomed and trimly clad, with something of refinement and
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Speaker 1: delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella which he held
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Speaker 1: in his hand, and the long shining waterproof told of
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Speaker 1: the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked
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Speaker 1: about him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and
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Speaker 1: I could see that his face was pale, and his
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Speaker 1: eyes heavy, like those of a man who is weighed
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Speaker 1: down with some great anxiety. I owe you an apology,
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Speaker 1: he said, raising his golden pans neeg to his eyes.
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Speaker 1: I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that
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Speaker 1: I have brought some traces of the storm and the
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Speaker 1: rain into your snug chamber. Give me your coat and umbrella,
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Speaker 1: said Holmes. They may rest here on the hook and
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Speaker 1: will be dry. Presently you have come up from the southwest.
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Speaker 1: I see, yes, from Horsham. That clay and chalk mixture
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Speaker 1: which I see upon your toe caps is quite distinctive.
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Speaker 1: I have come for advice that is easily god, and
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Speaker 1: help that is not always so easy. I have heard
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Speaker 1: of you, mister Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast how
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Speaker 1: you saved him in the Tankerville club scandal. Ah. Of
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Speaker 1: course he was wrongly accused of cheating at cards. He
5:24
Speaker 1: said that you could solve anything. He said too much,
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Speaker 1: that you are never beaten. I have been beaten four times,
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Speaker 1: three times by men and once by a woman. But
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Speaker 1: what is that compared with the number of your successes.
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Speaker 1: It is true that I have been generally successful, then
5:42
Speaker 1: you may be so with me. I beg that you
5:45
Speaker 1: will draw your chair up to the fire and favor
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Speaker 1: me with some details as to your case. It is
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Speaker 1: no ordinary one. None of those which come to me are.
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Speaker 1: I am the last court of appeal. And yet I
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Speaker 1: question sir, whether, in all your experience you have ever
6:00
Speaker 1: listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of events
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Speaker 1: than those which have happened in my own family. You
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Speaker 1: fill me with interest, said Holmes. Pray, give us the
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Speaker 1: essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards question
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Speaker 1: you as to those details which seem to me to
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Speaker 1: be most important. The young man pulled his chair up
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Speaker 1: and pushed his wet feet out towards the blaze. My name, said,
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Speaker 1: he is John Openshaw. But my own affairs have, so
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Speaker 1: far as I can understand, it, little to do with
6:31
Speaker 1: this awful business. It is a hereditary matter. So in
6:35
Speaker 1: order to give you an idea of the facts, I
6:38
Speaker 1: must go back to the commencement of the affair. You
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Speaker 1: must know that my grandfather had two sons, my uncle
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Speaker 1: Elias and my father Joseph. My father had a small
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Speaker 1: factory at Coventry, which he enlarged at the time of
6:53
Speaker 1: the invention of bicycling. He was the patent tea of
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Speaker 1: the open shore unbreakable tire, and his business met with
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Speaker 1: such success that he was able to sell it and
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Speaker 1: to retire upon a handsome competence. My uncle Elias emigrated
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Speaker 1: to America when he was a young man and became
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Speaker 1: a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have
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Speaker 1: done very well. At the time of the war, he
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Speaker 1: fought in Jackson's army and afterwards under Hood, where he
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Speaker 1: rose to be a colonel. When Lee laid down his arms,
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Speaker 1: my uncle returned to his plantation, where he remained for
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Speaker 1: three or four years. About eighteen sixty nine or eighteen
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Speaker 1: seventy he came back to Europe and took a small
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Speaker 1: estate in Sussex, near Horsham. He had made a very
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Speaker 1: considerable fortune in the States, and his reason for leaving
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Speaker 1: them was his aversion to the Negroes and his dislike
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Speaker 1: of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to them.
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Speaker 1: He was a singular man, fierce and quick tempered, very
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Speaker 1: foul mouthed when he was angry, and of a most
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Speaker 1: retire hiring disposition. During all the years that he lived
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Speaker 1: at Horsham, I doubt if ever he set foot in
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Speaker 1: the town. He had a garden and two or three
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Speaker 1: fields round his house, and there he would take his exercise,
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Speaker 1: though very often for weeks on end he would never
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Speaker 1: leave his room. He drank a great deal of brandy
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Speaker 1: and smoked very heavily, but he would see no society
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Speaker 1: and did not want any friends, not even his own brother.
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Speaker 1: He didn't mind me, in fact, he took a fancy
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Speaker 1: to me, for at the time when he saw me first,
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Speaker 1: I was a youngster of twelve or so, that would
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Speaker 1: be in the year eighteen seventy eight, after he had
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Speaker 1: been eight or nine years in England. He begged my
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Speaker 1: father to let me live with him, and he was
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Speaker 1: very kind to me in his way. When he was sober.
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Speaker 1: He used to be fond of playing backgammon and drafts
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Speaker 1: with me, and he would make me his representative both
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Speaker 1: with the servants and with the tradespeople, so that by
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Speaker 1: the time that I was sixteen, I was quite master
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Speaker 1: of the house. I kept all the keys and could
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Speaker 1: go where I liked and do what I liked, so
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Speaker 1: long as I did not disturb him in his privacy.
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Speaker 1: There was one singular exception, however, for he had a
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Speaker 1: single room, a lumber room up among the attics, which
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Speaker 1: was invariably locked and which he would never permit either
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Speaker 1: me or any one else to enter. With a boy's curiosity,
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Speaker 1: I have peeped through the keyhole, but I was never
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Speaker 1: able to see more than such a collection of old
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Speaker 1: trunks and bundles as would be expected in such a room.
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Speaker 1: One day, it was in March eighteen eighty three, a
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Speaker 1: letter with a foreign stamp lay upon the table in
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Speaker 1: front of the colonel's plate. It was not a common
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Speaker 1: thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were
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Speaker 1: all paid in ready money, and he had no friends
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Speaker 1: of any sort from India, said he as he took
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Speaker 1: it up. Pond cherry postmark, What can this be? It
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Speaker 1: hurriedly out There jumped five little dried orange pips, which
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Speaker 1: pattered down upon his plate. I began to laugh at this,
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Speaker 1: but the laugh was struck from my lips at the
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Speaker 1: sight of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes
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Speaker 1: were protruding, his skin the color of putty, and he
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Speaker 1: glared at the envelope, which he still held in his
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Speaker 1: trembling hand. K k k, he shrieked. And then, my god,
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Speaker 1: my god, my sins have overtaken me. What is it? Uncle?
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Speaker 1: I cried? Death, said he, and rising from the table,
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Speaker 1: he retired to his room, leaving me palpitating with horror.
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Speaker 1: I took up the envelope and saw scrawled in red
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Speaker 1: ink upon the inner flap, just above the gum, the
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Speaker 1: letter K, three times repeated. There was nothing else save
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Speaker 1: the five dried pips. What could be the reason of
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Speaker 1: his overpowering terror? I left the breakfast table, and as
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Speaker 1: I ascended the stairs I met him coming down with
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Speaker 1: an old, rusty key which must have belonged to the attic,
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Speaker 1: in one hand, and a small brass box like a
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Speaker 1: cash box in the other. They may do what they like,
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Speaker 1: but I'll checkmate them, still said he, with an oath,
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Speaker 1: tell Mary that I should want a fire in my
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Speaker 1: room to day and send down to Fordham the Horsham lawyer.
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Speaker 1: I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived,
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Speaker 1: I was asked to step up to the room. The
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Speaker 1: fire was burning brightly, and in the grate there was
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Speaker 1: a mass of black, fluffy ashes as of burnt paper,
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Speaker 1: while the brass box stood open and empty beside it.
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Speaker 1: As I glanced at the box, I noticed with a
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Speaker 1: start that upon the lid were printed the treble K
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Speaker 1: which I had read in the morning on the envelope.
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Speaker 1: I wish you, John, said my uncle, to witness my will.
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Speaker 1: I leave my estate, with all its advantages and all
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Speaker 1: its disadvantages, to my brother, your father. Whence it will
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Speaker 1: no doubt descend to you if you can enjoy it
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Speaker 1: in peace, well and good. If you find you cannot
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Speaker 1: take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your
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Speaker 1: deadliest enemy, I am sorry to give you such a
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Speaker 1: two edged thing, but I can't say what turn things
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Speaker 1: are going to take. Kindly sign the paper where mister
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Speaker 1: Fordham shows you. I signed the paper as directed, and
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Speaker 1: the lawyer took it away with him. The singular incident made,
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Speaker 1: as you may think, the deepest impression upon me, and
12:31
Speaker 1: I pondered over it and turned it every way in
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Speaker 1: my mind, without being able to make anything of it.
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Speaker 1: Yet I could not shake off the vague feeling of
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Speaker 1: dread which it left behind it. Though the sensation grew
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Speaker 1: less keen as the weeks passed and nothing happened to
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Speaker 1: disturb the usual routine of our lives. I could see
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Speaker 1: a change in my uncle. However, he drank more than ever,
12:56
Speaker 1: and he was less inclined for any sort of society.
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Speaker 1: Most of his time, he would spend in his rooms
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Speaker 1: with the door locked upon the inside. But sometimes he
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Speaker 1: would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy, and would
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Speaker 1: burst out of the house and tear about the garden
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Speaker 1: with a revolver in his hand, screaming out that he
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Speaker 1: was afraid of no man, and that he was not
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Speaker 1: to be cooped up like a sheep in a pen
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Speaker 1: by man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however,
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Speaker 1: he would rush tumultuously in at the door, and lock
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Speaker 1: and bar it behind him, like a man who can
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Speaker 1: brazen it out no longer against the terror which lies
13:34
Speaker 1: at the roots of his soul. At such times I
13:37
Speaker 1: have seen his face, even on a cold day, glisten
13:40
Speaker 1: with moisture, as though it were new raised from a basin. Well,
13:45
Speaker 1: to come to an end of the matter, mister Holmes,
13:48
Speaker 1: and not to abuse your patience. There came a night
13:51
Speaker 1: when he made one of those drunken sallies, from which
13:54
Speaker 1: he never came back. We found him when we went
13:57
Speaker 1: to search for him, face down woods, in a little green,
14:01
Speaker 1: scummed pool which lay at the foot of the garden.
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Speaker 1: There was no sign of any violence, and the water
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Speaker 1: was but two feet deep, so that the jury, having
14:11
Speaker 1: regard to his known eccentricity, brought in a verdict of suicide.
14:16
Speaker 1: But I, who knew how he winced from the very
14:19
Speaker 1: thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself that
14:23
Speaker 1: he had gone out of his way to meet it.
14:26
Speaker 1: The matter passed, however, and my father entered into possession
14:29
Speaker 1: of the estate and of some fourteen thousand pounds which
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Speaker 1: lay to his credit at the bank. One moment, Holmes interposed,
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Speaker 1: your statement is I foresee, one of the most remarkabled
14:40
Speaker 1: which I have ever listened. Let me have the date
14:43
Speaker 1: of the reception by your uncle of the letter and
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Speaker 1: the date of his supposed suicide. The letter arrived on
14:50
Speaker 1: March tenth, eighteen eighty three. His death was seven weeks later,
14:54
Speaker 1: upon the night of the second of May. Thank you,
14:58
Speaker 1: pray proceed. When my father took over the Horsham property, he,
15:04
Speaker 1: at my request, made a careful examination of the attic,
15:07
Speaker 1: which had been always locked up. We found the brass
15:11
Speaker 1: box there, although its contents had been destroyed. On the
15:14
Speaker 1: inside of the cover was a paper label with the
15:18
Speaker 1: initials K K K repeated upon it, and letters memoranda receipts,
15:24
Speaker 1: and a register written beneath these, we presume indicated the
15:29
Speaker 1: nature of the papers which had been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw.
15:34
Speaker 1: For the rest, there was nothing of much importance in
15:36
Speaker 1: the attic, save a great many scattered papers and note
15:39
Speaker 1: books bearing upon my uncle's life in America. Some of
15:43
Speaker 1: them were of the war time and showed that he
15:46
Speaker 1: had done his duty well and had borne the repute
15:49
Speaker 1: of being a brave soldier. Others were of a date
15:52
Speaker 1: during the reconstruction of the Southern States, and were mostly
15:56
Speaker 1: concerned with politics, for he had evidently taken us strong
16:00
Speaker 1: part in opposing the carpet bag politicians who had been
16:03
Speaker 1: sent down from the North. Well. It was the beginning
16:07
Speaker 1: of eighty four when my father came to live at Horsham,
16:11
Speaker 1: and all went as well as possible with us until
16:14
Speaker 1: the January of eighty five. On the fourth day after
16:17
Speaker 1: the new year, I heard my father give a sharp
16:21
Speaker 1: cry of surprise as we sat together at the breakfast table.
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Speaker 1: There he was sitting with a newly opened envelope in
16:28
Speaker 1: one hand and five dried orange pips in the outstretched
16:33
Speaker 1: palm of the other one. He had always laughed at
16:37
Speaker 1: what he called my cock and bull story about the colonel.
16:41
Speaker 1: But he looked very puzzled and scared now that the
16:45
Speaker 1: same thing had come upon himself. Why what on earth
16:49
Speaker 1: does this mean, John, he stammered, My heart had turned
16:52
Speaker 1: to lead. It is K K K, said I. He
16:57
Speaker 1: looked inside the envelope. So it is, he cried. Here
17:02
Speaker 1: are the very letters, But what is this written above them?
17:06
Speaker 1: Put the papers on the sundial, I read, peeping over
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Speaker 1: his shoulder. What papers? What sundial? He asked, the sun
17:17
Speaker 1: dial in the garden. There is no other, said I.
17:20
Speaker 1: But the papers must be those that are destroyed. Pooh,
17:24
Speaker 1: said he, gripping hard at his courage. We are in
17:27
Speaker 1: a civilized land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of
17:30
Speaker 1: this kind. Where does the thing come from from? Dundee,
17:35
Speaker 1: I answered, glancing at the postmark. Some preposterous practical joke,
17:40
Speaker 1: said he. What have I to do with sundials and papers?
17:44
Speaker 1: I shall take no notice of such nonsense. I should
17:48
Speaker 1: certainly speak to the police, I said, and be laughed
17:51
Speaker 1: at for my pains. Nothing of the sort, then let
17:55
Speaker 1: me do so. No, I forbid you. I won't have
17:59
Speaker 1: a far made over such nonsense. It was in vain
18:03
Speaker 1: to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate man.
18:08
Speaker 1: I went about, however, with a heart which was full
18:11
Speaker 1: of forebodings. On the third day after the coming of
18:14
Speaker 1: the letter, my father went home to visit an old
18:17
Speaker 1: friend of his, Major Freebody, who was in command of
18:21
Speaker 1: one of the forts up portsdown Hill. I was glad
18:25
Speaker 1: that he should go, for it seemed to me that
18:27
Speaker 1: he was farther from danger when he was away from home.
18:31
Speaker 1: In that, however, I was in error. Upon the second
18:35
Speaker 1: day of his absence, I received a telegram from the
18:38
Speaker 1: Major imploring me to come at once. My father had
18:42
Speaker 1: fallen over one of the deep chalk pits which abound
18:46
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood, and was lying senseless with a shattered skull.
18:51
Speaker 1: I hurried to him, but he passed away without having
18:55
Speaker 1: ever recovered his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been
19:00
Speaker 1: returning from Fareham in the twilight, and as the country
19:04
Speaker 1: was unknown to him and the chalk pits unfenced, the
19:08
Speaker 1: jury had no hesitation in bringing in a verdict of
19:11
Speaker 1: death from accidental causes. Carefully, as I examined every fact
19:16
Speaker 1: connected with his death, I was unable to find anything
19:19
Speaker 1: which could suggest the idea of murder. There were no
19:23
Speaker 1: signs of violence, no footmarks, no robbery, no record of
19:27
Speaker 1: strangers having been seen upon the roads. And yet I
19:31
Speaker 1: need not tell you that my mind was far from
19:33
Speaker 1: at ease, and that I was well nigh certain that
19:36
Speaker 1: some foul plot had been woven round him. In this
19:41
Speaker 1: sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask
19:46
Speaker 1: me why I did not dispose of it. I answer
19:49
Speaker 1: because I was well convinced that our troubles were in
19:51
Speaker 1: some way dependent upon an incident in my uncle's life,
19:55
Speaker 1: and that the danger would be as pressing in one
19:57
Speaker 1: house as in another. It was in January eighty five
20:01
Speaker 1: that my poor father met his end, and two years
20:05
Speaker 1: and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time
20:10
Speaker 1: I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun
20:13
Speaker 1: to hope that this curse had passed away from the family,
20:15
Speaker 1: and that it had ended with the last generation. I
20:20
Speaker 1: had begun to take comfort too soon. However, yesterday morning
20:25
Speaker 1: the blow fell in the very shape in which it
20:27
Speaker 1: had come upon my father. The young man took from
20:31
Speaker 1: his waistcoat a crumpled envelope and turning to the table,
20:35
Speaker 1: he shook out upon it five little dried orange pips.
20:40
Speaker 1: This is the envelope, he continued. The postmark is London
20:43
Speaker 1: Eastern Division, within other very words which were upon my
20:47
Speaker 1: father's last message, K K K, and then put the
20:53
Speaker 1: papers on the sun dial. What have you done, asked Holmes. Nothing,
20:59
Speaker 1: nothing to tell the truth. He sank his face into
21:03
Speaker 1: his thin white hands. I have felt helpless. I have
21:07
Speaker 1: felt like one of those poor rabbits when the snake
21:10
Speaker 1: is writhing towards it. I seem to be in the
21:12
Speaker 1: grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil which no foresight and
21:17
Speaker 1: no precautions can guard against. Tut tut, cried Sherlock Holmes.
21:22
Speaker 1: You must act, man, or you are lost. Nothing but
21:25
Speaker 1: energy can save you. This is no time for despair.
21:29
Speaker 1: I have seen the police ah, but they listen to
21:32
Speaker 1: my story with a smile. I am convinced that the
21:36
Speaker 1: inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all
21:39
Speaker 1: practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were
21:43
Speaker 1: really accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to
21:46
Speaker 1: be connected with the warnings. Holmes shook his clenched hands
21:51
Speaker 1: in the air. Incredible imbecility, he cried. They have, however,
21:56
Speaker 1: allowed me a policeman who may remain in the house
21:59
Speaker 1: with me. Has he come with you tonight? No? His
22:04
Speaker 1: orders were to stay in the house again, Holmes raved
22:07
Speaker 1: in the air. Why did you come to me, he said,
22:11
Speaker 1: And above all, why did you not come at once?
22:15
Speaker 1: I did not know. It was only to day that
22:18
Speaker 1: I spoke to Major Prendergast about my trouble, and was
22:22
Speaker 1: advised by him to come to you. It is really
22:25
Speaker 1: two days since you had the letter. We should have
22:28
Speaker 1: acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose,
22:32
Speaker 1: than that which you have placed before us, no suggestive
22:35
Speaker 1: detail which might help us. There is one thing, said
22:39
Speaker 1: John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat pocket, and, drawing
22:44
Speaker 1: out a piece of discolored, blue tinted paper, he laid
22:48
Speaker 1: it out upon the table. I have some remembrance, said he,
22:52
Speaker 1: that on the day when my uncle burned the papers,
22:55
Speaker 1: I observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid
22:59
Speaker 1: the ashes were of this particular color. I found this
23:03
Speaker 1: single sheet upon the floor of his room, and I
23:06
Speaker 1: am inclined to think that it may be one of
23:08
Speaker 1: the papers which had perhaps fluttered out from among the others,
23:12
Speaker 1: and in that way had escaped destruction. Beyond the mention
23:17
Speaker 1: of pips, I do not see that it helps us much.
23:21
Speaker 1: I think myself that it is a page from some
23:24
Speaker 1: private diary. The writing is undoubtedly my uncle's. Holmes moved
23:29
Speaker 1: the lamp and we both bent over the sheet of paper,
23:32
Speaker 1: which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed
23:35
Speaker 1: been torn from a book. It was headed March eighteen
23:39
Speaker 1: sixty nine, and beneath were the following enigmatical notices. Fourth
23:46
Speaker 1: Hudson came same old platform. Seventh set the pips on
23:52
Speaker 1: mc cauley, Paramour and Swain of Saint Augustine ninth. Mac
23:58
Speaker 1: Caulay cleared, tenth, John Swain cleared twelve, visited Paramour. All well,
24:09
Speaker 1: thank you, said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning
24:13
Speaker 1: it to our visitor. And now you must, on no
24:15
Speaker 1: account lose another instant. We cannot spare time even to
24:19
Speaker 1: discuss what you have told me. You must get home
24:22
Speaker 1: instantly and act. What shall I do? There is but
24:26
Speaker 1: one thing to do. It must be done at once.
24:30
Speaker 1: You must put this piece of paper which you have
24:32
Speaker 1: shown us into the brass box which you have described.
24:35
Speaker 1: You must also put in a note to say that
24:38
Speaker 1: all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and
24:41
Speaker 1: that is the only one which remains. You must assert
24:44
Speaker 1: that in such words as will carry conviction with them.
24:48
Speaker 1: Having done this, you must at once put the box
24:50
Speaker 1: out upon the sun dial as directed. Do you understand entirely?
24:56
Speaker 1: Do not think of revenge or anything of that sort
24:59
Speaker 1: at present. I think that we may gain that by
25:02
Speaker 1: means of the law. But we have our web to weave,
25:06
Speaker 1: while theirs is already woven. The first consideration is to
25:10
Speaker 1: remove the pressing danger which threatens you. The second is
25:14
Speaker 1: to clear up the mystery and to punish the guilty parties.
25:18
Speaker 1: I thank you, said the young man, rising and pulling
25:21
Speaker 1: on his overcoat. You have given me fresh life and hope.
25:26
Speaker 1: I shall certainly do as you advise, do not lose
25:29
Speaker 1: an instant, and above all, take care of yourself in
25:32
Speaker 1: the meanwhile, For I do not think that there can
25:35
Speaker 1: be any doubt that you are threatened by a very
25:38
Speaker 1: real and imminent danger. How do you go back by
25:42
Speaker 1: train from Waterloo? It is not yet nine. The streets
25:46
Speaker 1: will be crowded, so I trust that you may be
25:49
Speaker 1: in safety and yet you cannot guard yourself too closely.
25:52
Speaker 1: I am armed. That is well. To morrow I shall
25:56
Speaker 1: set to work upon your case. I shall see you
25:59
Speaker 1: at Horsham. Then, no, your secret lies in London. It
26:04
Speaker 1: is there that I shall seek it. Then I shall
26:07
Speaker 1: call upon you in a day, or in two days,
26:10
Speaker 1: with news as to the box and the papers. I
26:12
Speaker 1: shall take your advice in every particular. He shook hands
26:17
Speaker 1: with us and took his leave. Outside, the wind still screamed,
26:21
Speaker 1: and the rain splashed and pattered against the windows. This strange,
26:25
Speaker 1: wild story seemed to have come to us from amid
26:28
Speaker 1: the mad elements, blown in upon us like a sheet
26:31
Speaker 1: of sea weed in a gale, and now to have
26:34
Speaker 1: been reabsorbed by them once more. Sherlock Holmes sat for
26:39
Speaker 1: some time in silence, with his head sunk forward and
26:43
Speaker 1: his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire.
26:46
Speaker 1: Then he lit his pipe, and, leaning back in his chair,
26:50
Speaker 1: he watched the blue smoke rings as they chased each
26:53
Speaker 1: other up to the ceiling. I think Watson. He remarked
26:57
Speaker 1: at last, that of all our cases we have had
27:01
Speaker 1: none more fantastic than this, save perhaps the sign of
27:05
Speaker 1: four well, yes, save perhaps that. And yet this John
27:11
Speaker 1: Openshare seems to me to be walking amid even greater
27:15
Speaker 1: perils than did the Sholtos. But have you, i asked,
27:20
Speaker 1: formed any definite conception as to what these perils are?
27:25
Speaker 1: There can be no question as to their nature? He answered,
27:29
Speaker 1: Then what are they? Who is this K K K?
27:33
Speaker 1: And why does he pursue this unhappy family? Sherlock Holmes
27:37
Speaker 1: closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the arms
27:41
Speaker 1: of his chair with his finger tips together. The ideal reasoner,
27:46
Speaker 1: he remarked, wood, when he has once been shown a
27:49
Speaker 1: single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not
27:54
Speaker 1: only all the chain of events which led up to it,
27:57
Speaker 1: but also all the results which would follow from it.
28:01
Speaker 1: As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole animal by the
28:05
Speaker 1: contemplation of a single bone, so the observer, who has
28:10
Speaker 1: thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents should
28:14
Speaker 1: be able accurately to state all the other ones, both
28:17
Speaker 1: before and after. We have not yet grasped the results
28:22
Speaker 1: which the reason alone can attain to. Problems may be
28:26
Speaker 1: solved in the study which have baffled all those who
28:30
Speaker 1: have sought a solution by the aid of their senses
28:33
Speaker 1: to carry the art, however, to its highest pitch. It
28:36
Speaker 1: is necessary that the reasoner should be able to utilize
28:39
Speaker 1: all the facts which have come to his knowledge, and
28:42
Speaker 1: this in itself implies, as you will readily see, a
28:46
Speaker 1: possession of all knowledge, which, even in these days of
28:50
Speaker 1: free education and encyclopedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It
28:55
Speaker 1: is not so impossible, however, that a man should possess
28:58
Speaker 1: all knowledge which is likely to be useful to him
29:00
Speaker 1: in his work, and this I have endeavored in my
29:03
Speaker 1: case to do. If I remember rightly, you, on one
29:07
Speaker 1: occasion in the early days of our friendship, defined my
29:11
Speaker 1: limits in a very precise fashion. Yes, I answered, laughing.
29:16
Speaker 1: It was a singular document. Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were
29:20
Speaker 1: marked at zero. I remember botany variable, geology profound as
29:27
Speaker 1: regards the mud stains from any region within fifty miles
29:30
Speaker 1: of town, Chemistry, eccentric anatomy, unsystematic, sensational literature, and crime records,
29:39
Speaker 1: unique violin player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and self poisoner by
29:46
Speaker 1: cocaine and tobacco. Those I think were the main points
29:50
Speaker 1: of my analysis. Holmes grinned at the last item. Well,
29:54
Speaker 1: he said. I say now as I said then, that
29:58
Speaker 1: a man should keep his little brain attic stocked with
30:01
Speaker 1: all the furniture that he is likely to use, and
30:04
Speaker 1: the rest he can put away in the lumber room
30:06
Speaker 1: of his library, where he can get it if he
30:09
Speaker 1: wants it. Now, for such a case as the one
30:12
Speaker 1: which has been submitted to us tonight, we need certainly
30:15
Speaker 1: to muster all our resources. Kindly hand me down the
30:19
Speaker 1: letter K of the American Encyclopedia, which stands upon the
30:23
Speaker 1: shelf beside you. Thank you. Now, let us consider the
30:28
Speaker 1: situation and see what may be deduced from it. In
30:31
Speaker 1: the first place, we may start with a strong presumption
30:35
Speaker 1: that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for leaving America.
30:39
Speaker 1: Men at his time of life do not change all
30:42
Speaker 1: their habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida
30:46
Speaker 1: for the lonely life of an English provincial town. His
30:50
Speaker 1: extreme love of solitude in England suggests the idea that
30:54
Speaker 1: he was in fear of someone or something. So we
30:57
Speaker 1: may assume, as a working hypothesis that it was fear
31:01
Speaker 1: of some one or some thing which drove him from America.
31:05
Speaker 1: As to what it was, he feared. We can only
31:08
Speaker 1: deduce that by considering the formidable letters which were received
31:12
Speaker 1: by him and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks
31:15
Speaker 1: of those letters? The first was from Pondicherry, the second
31:20
Speaker 1: from Dundee, and the third from London from East London.
31:25
Speaker 1: What do you deduce from that? They are all seaports
31:29
Speaker 1: that the writer was on board a ship. Excellent, We
31:32
Speaker 1: have already a clue. There can be no doubt that
31:35
Speaker 1: the probability, the strong probability, is that the writer was
31:39
Speaker 1: on board a ship. And now let us consider another point.
31:43
Speaker 1: In the case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the
31:47
Speaker 1: threat and its fulfillment. In Dundee, it was only some
31:51
Speaker 1: three or four days. Does that suggest anything a greater
31:55
Speaker 1: distance to travel? But the letter had also greater distance
31:59
Speaker 1: to then I do not see the point. There is
32:03
Speaker 1: at least a presumption that the vessel in which the
32:06
Speaker 1: man or men are is a sailing ship. It looks
32:10
Speaker 1: as if they always sent their singular warning or token
32:13
Speaker 1: before them when starting upon their mission. You see how
32:17
Speaker 1: quickly the deed followed the sign when it came from Dundee.
32:21
Speaker 1: If they had come from Pondicherry in a steamer, they
32:24
Speaker 1: would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. But
32:28
Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think
32:31
Speaker 1: that those seven weeks represented the difference between the mail
32:34
Speaker 1: boat which brought the letter and the sailing vessel which
32:37
Speaker 1: brought the writer. It is possible, more than that, it
32:41
Speaker 1: is probable. And now you see the deadly urgency of
32:44
Speaker 1: this new case, and why I urged young Openshorter caution,
32:49
Speaker 1: the blow has always fallen at the end of the
32:52
Speaker 1: time which it would take the senders to travel the distance.
32:56
Speaker 1: But this one comes from London, and therefore we cannot
32:59
Speaker 1: come to pont de lay. Good God, I cried, what
33:03
Speaker 1: can it mean? This relentless persecution. The papers which open
33:08
Speaker 1: Shore carried are obviously of vital importance to the person
33:12
Speaker 1: or persons in the sailing ship. I think that it
33:15
Speaker 1: is quite clear that there must be more than one
33:18
Speaker 1: of them. A single man could not have carried out
33:21
Speaker 1: two deaths in such a way as to deceive a
33:24
Speaker 1: coroner's jury. There must have been several in it, and
33:28
Speaker 1: they must have been men of resource and determination. Their
33:32
Speaker 1: papers they mean to have be the holder of them,
33:35
Speaker 1: who it may in this way you see K. K.
33:39
Speaker 1: K ceases to be the initials of an individual and
33:43
Speaker 1: becomes the badge of a society. Have you never, said
33:48
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and sinking his voice, Have you
33:53
Speaker 1: never heard of the Ku Klux Klan? I never have Holmes,
34:00
Speaker 1: and over the leaves of the book upon his knee.
34:03
Speaker 1: Here it is said he presently ku Klux Clan, a
34:08
Speaker 1: name derived from a fanciful resemblance to the sound produced
34:12
Speaker 1: by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret society was formed
34:17
Speaker 1: by some ex Confederate soldiers in the Southern States after
34:20
Speaker 1: the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local branches in
34:25
Speaker 1: different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia,
34:31
Speaker 1: and Florida. Its power was used for political purposes, principally
34:37
Speaker 1: for the terrorizing of the Negro voters and the murdering
34:40
Speaker 1: or driving from the country of those who were opposed
34:43
Speaker 1: to its views. Its outrages were usually preceded by a
34:47
Speaker 1: warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic but
34:51
Speaker 1: generally recognized shape a sprig of oak leaves in some parts,
34:56
Speaker 1: melon seeds, or orange pips in un On receiving this,
35:02
Speaker 1: the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or
35:06
Speaker 1: might fly from the country. If he braved the matter out,
35:10
Speaker 1: death would unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some
35:14
Speaker 1: strange and unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organization of
35:19
Speaker 1: the society, and so systematic its methods, that there is
35:22
Speaker 1: hardly a case upon record where any man succeeded in
35:25
Speaker 1: braving it with impunity, or in which any of its
35:28
Speaker 1: outrages were traced home to the perpetrators. For some years
35:33
Speaker 1: the organization flourished, in spite of the efforts of the
35:36
Speaker 1: United States government and of the better classes of the
35:39
Speaker 1: community in the South. Eventually, in the year eighteen sixty nine,
35:44
Speaker 1: the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have been sporadic
35:49
Speaker 1: outbreaks of the same sort since that date. You will observe,
35:53
Speaker 1: said Holmes, laying down the volume, that the sudden breaking
35:57
Speaker 1: up of the society was coincident with the disappearance of
36:00
Speaker 1: Open Shore from America with their papers. It may well
36:05
Speaker 1: have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that
36:08
Speaker 1: he and his family have some of the more implacable
36:10
Speaker 1: spirits upon their track. You can understand that this register
36:15
Speaker 1: and diary may implicate some of the first men in
36:18
Speaker 1: the south, and that there may be many who will
36:21
Speaker 1: not sleep easy at night until it is recovered. Then
36:24
Speaker 1: the page which we have seen is such as we
36:27
Speaker 1: might expect it ran If I remember right, sent the
36:31
Speaker 1: pips to A, B and C, that is, sent the
36:34
Speaker 1: society's warning to them. Then there are successive entries that
36:38
Speaker 1: A and B cleared or left the country, and finally
36:42
Speaker 1: that C was visited with I fear a sinister result
36:45
Speaker 1: for C. Well, I think, doctor, that we may let
36:49
Speaker 1: some light into this dark place. And I believe that
36:52
Speaker 1: the only chance young Openshow has in the meantime is
36:56
Speaker 1: to do what I have told him. There is nothing
36:59
Speaker 1: more to be said or done tonight. So hand me
37:02
Speaker 1: over my violin, and let us try to forget for
37:05
Speaker 1: half an hour the miserable weather and the still more
37:09
Speaker 1: miserable ways of our fellow men. It had cleared in
37:16
Speaker 1: the morning, and the sun was shining with a subdued
37:19
Speaker 1: brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the great city.
37:24
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came down.
37:28
Speaker 1: You will excuse me for not waiting for you, said he.
37:31
Speaker 1: I have I foresee a very busy day before me
37:33
Speaker 1: in looking into the case of young Openshores. What steps
37:37
Speaker 1: will you take? I asked, It will very much depend
37:40
Speaker 1: upon the results of my first inquiries. I may have
37:43
Speaker 1: to go down to Horsham. After all, you will not
37:46
Speaker 1: go there first, No, I shall commence with the city.
37:49
Speaker 1: Just ring the bell and the maid will bring up
37:51
Speaker 1: your coffee. As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper
37:56
Speaker 1: from the table and glanced my eye over it. It
38:00
Speaker 1: rested upon a heading which sent a chill to my heart. Holmes,
38:03
Speaker 1: I cried, you're too late, ah, said he, laying down
38:07
Speaker 1: his cup. I feared as much. How was it done?
38:11
Speaker 1: He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was
38:14
Speaker 1: deeply moved. My eye caught the name of Open Shore
38:18
Speaker 1: and the heading tragedy near Waterloo Bridge. Here is the account.
38:25
Speaker 1: Between nine and ten last night, police Constable Cook of
38:29
Speaker 1: the h Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a
38:32
Speaker 1: cry for help and a splash in the water. The night, however,
38:37
Speaker 1: was extremely dark and stormy, so that in spite of
38:40
Speaker 1: the help of several passers by, it was quite impossible
38:43
Speaker 1: to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was given and
38:47
Speaker 1: by the aid of the water police. The body was
38:49
Speaker 1: eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman,
38:53
Speaker 1: whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was
38:56
Speaker 1: found in his pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose readyce
39:00
Speaker 1: is near Horsham. It is conjectured that he may have
39:04
Speaker 1: been hurrying down to catch the last train from Waterloo station,
39:07
Speaker 1: and that in his haste and the extreme darkness, he
39:10
Speaker 1: missed his path and walked over the edge of one
39:12
Speaker 1: of the small landing places for river steamboats. The body
39:16
Speaker 1: exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no
39:20
Speaker 1: doubt that the deceased had been a victim of an
39:22
Speaker 1: unfortunate accident, which should have the effect of calling the
39:26
Speaker 1: attention of the authorities to the condition of the riverside
39:29
Speaker 1: landing stages. We sat in silence for some minute, Holmes
39:34
Speaker 1: more depressed and shaken than I had ever seen him.
39:38
Speaker 1: That hurts my pride, Watson, he said, at last, It
39:42
Speaker 1: is a petty feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride.
39:46
Speaker 1: It becomes a personal matter with me now, and if
39:50
Speaker 1: God sends me health, I shall set my hand upon
39:53
Speaker 1: this gang that he should come to me for help,
39:57
Speaker 1: and that I should send him away to his death.
40:00
Speaker 1: He sprang from his chair and paced about the room
40:02
Speaker 1: in uncontrollable agitation, with a flush upon his sallow cheeks,
40:07
Speaker 1: and a nervous clasping and unclasping of his long, thin hands.
40:11
Speaker 1: They must be cunning devils, he exclaimed at last. How
40:15
Speaker 1: could they have decoyed him down there? The embankment is
40:18
Speaker 1: not on the direct line to the station. The bridge,
40:21
Speaker 1: no doubt, was too crowded even on such a night
40:23
Speaker 1: for their purposes. Well, Watson, we shall see who will
40:27
Speaker 1: win in the long run. I am going out now
40:31
Speaker 1: to the police. No, I shall be my own police.
40:35
Speaker 1: When I have spun the web, they may take the flies,
40:38
Speaker 1: but not before. All day I was engaged in my
40:43
Speaker 1: professional work, and it was late in the evening before
40:46
Speaker 1: I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes had not come
40:50
Speaker 1: back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he entered.
40:54
Speaker 1: Looking pale and worn, he walked out to the sideboard, and,
40:58
Speaker 1: tearing a piece from the loaf, he devoured it voraciously,
41:02
Speaker 1: washing it down with a long draft of water. You
41:05
Speaker 1: are hungry, I remarked, starving it had escaped my memory.
41:10
Speaker 1: I have had nothing since breakfast, nothing, not a bite.
41:13
Speaker 1: I had no time to think of it. And how
41:15
Speaker 1: have you succeeded? Well, you have a clue. I have
41:20
Speaker 1: them in the hollow of my hand, Young Openshaw, shall
41:23
Speaker 1: not remain long unavenged. Why Watson let us put their
41:27
Speaker 1: own devilish trade mark upon them? It is well thought of.
41:31
Speaker 1: What do you mean? He took an orange from the cupboard,
41:34
Speaker 1: and tearing it to pieces, he squeezed out the pips
41:37
Speaker 1: upon the table. Of these he took five and thrust
41:40
Speaker 1: them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap,
41:44
Speaker 1: he wrote s H for j O. Then he sealed
41:48
Speaker 1: it and addressed it to Captain James Calhoun bark lone
41:51
Speaker 1: Star Savannah, Georgia. That will await him when he enters port,
41:57
Speaker 1: said he, chuckling. It may give him a sleepless night.
42:01
Speaker 1: He will find it as sure a precursor of his
42:04
Speaker 1: fate as open Shore did before him. And who is this,
42:07
Speaker 1: Captain Calhoun, the leader of the gang? I shall have
42:11
Speaker 1: the others? But he first? How did you trace it?
42:14
Speaker 1: Then he took a large sheet of paper from his pocket,
42:18
Speaker 1: all covered with dates and names. I have spent the
42:21
Speaker 1: whole day, said he over Lloyd's registers and the files
42:24
Speaker 1: of old papers following the future career of every vessel
42:27
Speaker 1: which touched at Pondicherry. In January and in February eighty three,
42:31
Speaker 1: there were thirty six ships of fair tonnage which were
42:34
Speaker 1: reported there during those months. Of these, the Lone Star
42:38
Speaker 1: instantly attracted my attention, since although it was reported as
42:42
Speaker 1: having cleared from London, the name is that which is
42:45
Speaker 1: given to one of the states of the Union, Texas.
42:48
Speaker 1: I think I was not and am not sure which,
42:51
Speaker 1: but I knew that the ship must have an American origin.
42:54
Speaker 1: What then I searched the Dundee records, and when I
42:58
Speaker 1: found that the bark Loans Star was there in January
43:01
Speaker 1: eighty five, my suspicions became a certainty. I then inquired
43:05
Speaker 1: as to vessels which lay at present in the Port
43:07
Speaker 1: of London. Yes, the Lone Star had arrived there last week.
43:13
Speaker 1: I went down to the Albert Dock and found that
43:15
Speaker 1: she had been taken down the river by the early tide.
43:17
Speaker 1: This morning, homeward bound to Savannah, I wired to Gravesend
43:22
Speaker 1: and learned that she had passed some time ago, and
43:25
Speaker 1: as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that
43:27
Speaker 1: she has now passed the goodwinds, and not very far
43:30
Speaker 1: from the Isle of Wight. What will you do, then, oh,
43:34
Speaker 1: I have my hand upon him. He and the two
43:37
Speaker 1: mates are, as I learned, the only native born Americans
43:39
Speaker 1: in the ship. The others are Finns and Germans. I
43:44
Speaker 1: also know that they were all three away from the
43:46
Speaker 1: ship last night. I had it from the Stevador, who
43:49
Speaker 1: has been loading their cargo. By the time their sailing
43:52
Speaker 1: ship reaches Savannah, the mail boat will have carried this letter,
43:56
Speaker 1: and the cable will have informed the police of Savannah
43:59
Speaker 1: that these three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a
44:03
Speaker 1: charge of murder. There is ever a flow. However, in
44:08
Speaker 1: the best laid of human plans, and the murderers of
44:11
Speaker 1: John Openshaw were never to receive the orange pips which
44:15
Speaker 1: would show them that another as cunning and as resolute
44:18
Speaker 1: as themselves was on their track. Very long and severe
44:23
Speaker 1: were the Equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for
44:27
Speaker 1: news of the lone Star of Savannah, but none ever
44:30
Speaker 1: reached us. We did, at last hear that somewhere far
44:34
Speaker 1: out in the Atlantic, a shattered stern post of a
44:37
Speaker 1: boat was seen swinging in the trough of a wave,
44:40
Speaker 1: with the letters air Less carved upon it. And that
44:44
Speaker 1: is all which we shall ever know of the fate
44:47
Speaker 1: of the Lone Star.