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The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes · The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

• 0:00
  Silver blaze. I am afraid, Watson, that I shall have to go,
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  said Holmes, as we sat down together to our breakfast one morning,
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  Go where to to Dartmoor, to King's Piland. I was not surprised,
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  Indeed, my only wonder was that he had not already been mixed up in
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  this extraordinary case, which was the one topic of conversation through the length and
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  breadth of England for a whole day. My companion had rambled about the room
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  with his chin upon his chest and his brows knitted, charging and recharging his
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  pipe with the strongest black tobacco, and absolutely deaf to any of my questions
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  or remarks. Fresh editions of every paper had been sent up by our newsagent,
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  only to be glanced over and tossed down into a corner. Yet,
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  silent as he was, I knew perfectly well what it was over which he
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  was brooding. There was but one problem before the public which could challenge his
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  powers of analysis, and that was the singular disappearance of the favorite for the
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  Wessex Cup and the tragic murder of its trainer. When therefore he suddenly announced
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  his intention of setting out for the scene of the drama it was only what
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  I had been expecting and hoped for. I should be most happy to go
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  down with you if I should not be in the way, said I,
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  my dear Watson. You would confer a great favor upon me by coming,
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  and I think that your time will not be misspent, for there are points
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  about the case which promised to make it an absolutely unique one. We have.
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  I think just time to catch our train at Pannington, and I will
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  go further into the matter upon our journey. You would oblige me by bringing
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  with you your very excellent field glass. And so it happened that an hour
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  or so later I found myself in the corner of a first class carriage flying
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  along en route for Exeter, while Sherlock Holmes, with his sharp, eager
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  face framed in his ear flapping traveling cap, dipped rapidly into the bundle of
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  fresh papers which he had procured at Paddington. We had left reading far behind
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  us before he thrust the last one of them under the seat and offered me
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  his cigar case. We are going well, said he, looking out the
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  window and glancing at his watch. Our rate at present is fifty three and
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  a half miles an hour, I have not observed the quarter mile posts,
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  said I. Nor have I. But the telegraph posts upon this line are
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  sixty yards apart, and the calculation is a simple one. I presume that
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  you have looked into this matter of the murder of John Straker and the disappearance
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  of silver Blaze. I have seen what the telegraph and the chronicle have to
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  say. It is one of those cases where the art of the reasoner should
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  be used rather for the sifting of details than for the acquiring of fresh evidence.
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  The tragedy has been so uncommon, so complete, and of such personal
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  importance to so many people, that we are suffering from a plethora of surmise,
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  conjecture and hypothesis. The difficulty is to detach the framework of fact,
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  of absolute undeniable fact, from the embellishments of theorists and reporters. Then,
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  having established ourselves upon this sound basis, it is our duty to see what
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  inferences may be drawn, and what are the special points upon which the whole
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  mystery turns. On Tuesday evening I received telegrams from both Colonel Ross, the
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  owner of the horse, and from Inspector Gregory, who is looking after the
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  case, inviting my cooperation. Tuesday evening, I exclaimed, and this is
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  Thursday morning. Why didn't you go down yesterday? Because I made a blunder,
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  my dear Watson, which is, I am afraid, a more common
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  occurrence than any one would think who only knew me through your memoirs. The
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  fact is that I could not believe it possible that the most remarkable horse in
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  England could long remain concealed, especially in so sparsely inhabited a place as the
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  north of Dartmoor. From hour to hour yesterday I expected to hear that he
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  had been found and that his abductor was the murderer of John Straker. When,
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  however, another morning had come and I found that, beyond the arrest
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  of young Fitzroy Simpson, nothing had been done. I felt that it was
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  time for me to take action. Yet in some ways I feel that yesterday
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  has not been wasted. You have formed a theory, then at least I
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  have got a grip of the essential facts of the case. I shall enumerate
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  them to you, for nothing clears upper case so much as stating it to
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  another person. And I can hardly expect your co operation if I do not
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  show you the position from which we start. I lay back against the cushions,
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  puffing at my cigar, while Holmes, leaning forward with his long,
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  thin forefinger, checking off the points upon the palm of his left hand,
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  gave me a sketch of the events which had led to our journey. Silver
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  Blaze said, he is from the Somomi stock and holds as brilliant a record
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  as his famous ancestor. He is now in his fifth year and has brought
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  in turn each of the prizes of the turf to Colonel Ross, his fortunate
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  owner. Up to the time of the catastrophe, he was the first favorite
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  for the Wessex Cup, the betting being three to one on him. He
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  has always, however, been a prime favorite with the racing public, and
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  has never yet disappointed them, so that even at those odds, enormous sums
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  of money have been laid upon him. It is obvious, therefore, that
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  there were many peace people who had the strongest interest in preventing Silver Blaze from
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  being there at the fall of the flag next Tuesday. The fact was of
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  course appreciated at King's Piland, where the Colonel's training stable is situated. Every
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  precaution was taken to guard the favourite. The trainer. John Straker is a
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  retired jockey who rode in Colonel Ross's colours before he became too heavy for the
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  weighing chair. He has served the Colonel for five years as jockey and for
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  seven as trainer, and has always shown himself to be a zealous and honest
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  servant. Under him were three lads, for the establishment was a small one,
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  containing only four horses in all. One of these lads sat up each
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  night in the stable, while the others slept in a loft. All three
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  bore excellent characters. John Straker, who is a married man, lived in
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  a small villa about two hundred yards from the stables, children, keeps one
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  maid servant, and is comfortably off. The country round is very lonely,
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  but about half a mile to the north there is a small cluster of villas
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  which have been built by a Tavistock contractor for the use of invalids and others
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  who may wish to enjoy the pure Dartmoor air. Tavistock itself lies two miles
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  to the west, while across the moor, also about two miles distant,
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  is the larger training establishment of Mapleton. Which belongs to Lord Backwater and is
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  managed by Silas Brown. In every other direction, the moor is a complete
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  wilderness, inhabited only by a few roaming gypsies. Such was the general situation
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  last Monday night when the catastrophe occurred. On that evening, the horses had
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  been exercised and watered as usual, and the stables were locked up. At
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  nine o'clock, two of the lads walked up to Traynor's house, where they
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  had supper in the kitchen, while the third ned hunter remained on guard.
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  At a few minutes after nine, the maid, Edith Baxter, carried down
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  to the stables his supper, which consisted of a dish of curried mutton.
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  She took no liquid, as there was a water tap in the stables and
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  it was the rule that the lad on duty should drink nothing else. The
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  maid carried a lantern with her, as it was very dark and the path
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  ran across the open moor. Edith Baxter was within thirty yards of the stables
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  when a man appeared out of the darkness and called to her to stop.
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  As he stepped into the circle of yellow light thrown by the lantern. She
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  saw that he was a person of gentlemanly bearing, dressed in a gray suit
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  of tweeds with a cloth cap. He wore gaiters and carried a heavy stick
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  with a knob to it. She was most impressed, however, by the
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  extreme pallor of his face, and by the nervousness of his manner. His
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  age, she thought, would be rather over thirty than under it. Can
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  you tell me where I am, he asked. I had almost made up
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  my mind to sleep on the moor when I saw the light of your lantern.
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  You are close to the King's piland training stables, said she. Oh,
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  indeed, what a stroke of luck, He cried, I understand that
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  a stable boy sleeps there alone every night. Perhaps that is his supper which
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  you are carrying to him. Now. I am sure that you would not
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  be too proud to earn the price of a new dress, would you.
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  He took a piece of white paper folded up out of his waistcoat pocket.
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  See that the boy has this to night, and you shall have the prettiest
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  frock that money can buy. She was frightened by the earnestness of his manner,
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  and ran past him to the window through which she was accustomed to hand
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  the meals. It was already opened, and Hunter was seated at the small
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  table inside. She had ben and to tell him of what had happened.
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  When the stranger came up again, good evening, said he, looking through
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  the window. I wanted to have a word with you. The girl has
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  sworn that. As he spoke, she noticed the corner of the little paper
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  packet protruding from his closed hand. What business have you here, asked the
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  lad. It's business that may put something into your pocket, said the other.
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  You've two horses in for the Wessex Cup, silver Blaze and Bayard.
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  Let me have the straight tip and you won't be a loser. Is it
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  a fact that at the weights Bayard could give the other a hundred yards in
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  five furlongs, and that the stable have put their money on him. So
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  you're one of those damned touts, cried the lad. I'll show you how
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  we serve them in King's Piland. He sprang up and rushed across the stable
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  to unloose the dog. The girl fled away to the house, but as
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  she ran, she looked back and saw that the string was leaning through the
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  window. A minute later, however, when Hunter rushed out with the hound.
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  He was gone, and though he ran all round the buildings, he
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  failed to find any trace of him. One moment I asked, did the
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  stable boy, when he ran out with the dog leave the door unlocked behind
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  him? Excellent? What's an excellent, murmured my companion. The importance of
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  the point struck me so forcibly that I sent a special wire to Dartmoor yesterday
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  to clear the matter up. The boy locked the door before he left it.
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  The window, i may add, was not large enough for a man
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  to get through. Hunter waited until his fellow grooms had returned when he sent
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  a message to the trainer and told him what had occurred. Straker was excited
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  at hearing the account, although he does not seem to have quite realized its
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  true significance. It left him, however, vaguely uneasy, and Missus Straker,
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  waking at one in the morning, found that he was dressing. In
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  reply to her inquiries, he said that he could not sleep on account of
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  his anxiety about the horses, and that he intended to walk down to the
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  stables to see that all was well. She begged him to remain at home,
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  as she could hear the rain pattering against the window, but in spite
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  of her entreaties, he pulled on his large mackintosh and left the house.
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  Missus Straker awoke at seven in the morning to find that her husband had not
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  yet returned. She dressed herself hastily, called the maid and set off for
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  the stables. The door was open. Inside, huddled together upon a chair,
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  Hunter was sunk in a state of absolute stupor. The favorite store was
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  empty, and there were no signs of his trainer. The two lads who
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  slept in the chaff cutting loft above the harness room were quickly aroused. They
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  had heard nothing during the night, for they are both sound sleepers. Hunter
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  was obviously under the influence of some powerful drug, and as no sense could
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  be got out of him, he was left to sleep it off while the
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  two lads and the two women ran out in search of the absentees. They
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  still had hopes that the trainer had for some reason taken out the horse for
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  early exercise, But on ascending the knoll near the house, from which all
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  the neighboring moors were visible, they not only could see no signs of the
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  missing favorite, but they perceived something which warned them that they were in the
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  presence of a tragedy. About a quarter of a mile from the stables,
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  John Straker's overcoat was flapping from a furze bush. Immediately beyond there was a
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  bowl shaped depression in the moor, and at the bottom of this was found
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  the dead body of the unfortunate trainer. His head had been shattered by a
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  savage blow from some heavy weapon, and he was wounded on the thigh,
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  where there was a long, clean cut, inflicted evidently by some very sharp
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  instrument. It was clear, however, that Straker had defended himself vigorously against
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  his assailants, for in his right hand he held a small knife which has
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  clotted with blood up to the handle, while in his left he clasped a
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  red and black silk cravat, which was recognized by the maid as having been
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  worn on the preceding evening by the stranger who had visited the stables. Hunter,
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  on recovering from his stupor, was also quite positive as to the ownership
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  of the cravat. He was equally certain that the same stranger had, while
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  standing at the window, drugged his curried mutton, and so deprived the stables
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  of their watchmen. As to the missing horse, there were abundant proofs in
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  the mud which lay at the bottom of the fatal hollow, that he had
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  been there at the time of the struggle. But from that morning he has
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  disappeared, and although a large reward has been offered and all the gyps of
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  Dartmoor are on the alert, no news has come of him. Finally,
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  an analysis has shown that the remains of his supper left by the stable lad
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  contained an appreciable quantity of powdered opium, while the people at the house partook
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  of the same dish on the same night without any ill effect. Those are
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  the main facts of the case, stripped of all surmise, and stated as
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  baldly as possible. I shall now recapitulate what the police have done in the
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  matter. Inspector Gregory, to whom the case has been committed, is an
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  extremely competent officer. Were he but gifted with imagination, he might rise to
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  great heights in his profession. On his arrival, he promptly found and arrested
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  the man upon whom suspicion naturally rested. There was little difficulty in finding him,
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  for he inhabited one of those villas which I have mentioned. His name,
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  it appears, was Fitzroy Simpson. He was a man of excellent birth
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  and education, who had squandered a fortune upon the turf, and who lived
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  now by doing a little quiet and genteel book making in the sporting clubs of
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  London. An examination of his betting book shows that betts to the amount of
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  five thousand pounds had been registered by him against the favorite. On being arrested,
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  he volunteered the statement that he had come down to Dartmoor in the hope
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  of getting some information about the King's piland horses, and also about Desborough,
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  the second favorite, which was in charge of Silas Brown at the Mapleton stables.
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  He did not attempt to deny that he had acted as described upon the
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  evening before, but declared that he had no sinister designs and had simply wished
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  to obtain first hand information. When confronted with his cravat, he turned very
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  pale and was utterly unable to account for its presence in the hand of the
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  murdered man. His wet clothing showed that he had been out in the storm
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  of the night before, and his stick which was a penang lawyer weighted with
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  lead, was just such a weapon as might my repeated blows have inflicted the
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  terrible injuries to which the trainer had succumbed. On the other hand, there
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  was no wound upon his person, while the state of Straker's knife would show
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  that one at least of his assailants must bear his mark upon him. There
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  you have it all in a nutshell, Watson, and if you can give
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  me any light, I shall be infinitely obliged to you. I had listened
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  with the greatest interest to the statement which Holmes, with characteristic clearness, had
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  laid before me. Though most of the facts were familiar to me, I
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  had not sufficiently appreciated their relative importance, nor their connection to each other.
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  Is it not possible, I suggested that the incised wound upon Straker may have
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  been caused by his own knife. In the convulsive struggles which follow any brain
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  injury. It is more than possible, it is probable, said Holmes.
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  In that case, one of the main points in favor of the accused disappears.
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  And yet said I, even now I fail to understand what the theory
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  of the police can be. I am afraid that whatever theory we state,
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  has very grave objections to it, returned my companion. The police imagine.
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  I take it that this Fitzroy Simpson, having drugged the lad and having in
• 18:33
  some way obtained a duplicate key, opened the stable door and took out the
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  horse with the intention apparently of kidnapping him altogether. His bridle is missing,
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  so that Simpson must have put this on. Then, having left the door
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  open behind him, he was leading the horse away over the moor when he
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  was either met or overtaken by the trainer. A row naturally ensued. Simpson
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  beat out the trainer's brains with his heavy stick, without receiving any injury from
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  the small knife which Straker used in self defense, and then the thief either
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  led the horse on to some secret hiding place, or else it may have
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  bolted during the struggle and be now wandering out on the moors. That is
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  the case as it appears to the police, and improbable as it is.
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  All other explanations are more improbable still. However, I shall very quickly test
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  the matter when I am once upon the spot, and until then I cannot
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  really see how we can get much further than our present position. It was
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  evening before we reached the little town of Tavistock, which lies like the boss
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  of a shield, in the middle of the huge circle of Dartmoor. Two
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  gentlemen were waiting us in the station. The one a tall fair man with
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  lion like hair and beard and curiously penetrating light blue eyes. Other a small,
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  alert person, very neat and dapper, in a frock coat and gaiters
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  with trim little side whiskers and an eyeglass. The latter was Colonel Ross,
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  the well known sportsman. The other Inspector Gregory, a man who was rapidly
• 20:17
  making his name in the English detective service. I am delighted that you have
• 20:22
  come down, mister Holmes, said the colonel. The inspector here has done
• 20:27
  all that could possibly be suggested, but I wish to leave no stone unturned
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  in trying to avenge poor Straker and in recovering my horse. Have there been
• 20:38
  any fresh developments, asked Holmes. I'm sorry to say that we have made
• 20:45
  very little progress, said the inspector. We have an open carriage outside,
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  and as you would no doubt like to see the place before the light falls,
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  we might talk it over as we drive a minute later, we were
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  all seated in a comfortable landown and were rattling through the quaint old Devonshire City
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  Inspector Gregory was full of his case and poured out a stream of remarks while
• 21:08
  Holmes threw in an occasional question or interjection. Colonel Ross leaned back with his
• 21:15
  arms folded and his hat tilted over his eyes. While I listened with interest
• 21:19
  to the dialogue of the two detectives. Gregory was formulating his theory, which
• 21:26
  was almost exactly what Holmes had foretold in the train. The net is drawn
• 21:30
  pretty close round Fitzroy Simpson, he remarked, and I believe myself that he
• 21:37
  is our man. At the same time, I recognize that the evidence is
• 21:40
  purely circumstantial, and that some new development may upset it. How about Straker's
• 21:47
  knife, we have quite come to the conclusion that he wounded himself in his
• 21:52
  fall. My dear friend, doctor Watson made that suggestion to me as we
• 21:56
  came down. If so, it would tell against this man Simpson. Undoubtedly
• 22:03
  he has neither a knife nor any sign of a wound. The evidence against
• 22:07
  him is certainly very strong. He had a great interest in the disappearance of
• 22:11
  the favorite. He lies under suspicion of having poisoned the stable boy. He
• 22:17
  was undoubtedly out in the storm. He was armed with a heavy stick when
• 22:22
  his cravat was found in the dead man's hand. I really think we have
• 22:26
  enough to go before a jury, Holmes shook his head. A clever counsel
• 22:32
  would tear it all to rags, said he. Why should he take the
• 22:36
  horse out of the stable if he wished to injure it? Why could he
• 22:40
  not do it? There has a duplicate key been found in his possession?
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  What chemists sold him the powdered opium? Above all, where could he,
• 22:48
  a stranger to the district, hide a horse, and such a horse as
• 22:52
  this? What is his own explanation as to the paper which he wished the
• 22:57
  maid to give to the stable boy. He says that it was a ten
• 23:03
  pound note, and one was found in his purse. But your other difficulties
• 23:07
  are not so formidable as they seem. He is not a stranger to the
• 23:11
  district. He has twice lodged at Tavistock in the summer. The opium was
• 23:15
  probably brought from London. The key, having served its purpose, will be
• 23:21
  hurled away. The horse may be at the bottom of one of the pits
• 23:25
  or old mines upon the moor. What does he say about the cravat?
• 23:30
  He acknowledges that it is his and declares that he had lost it. But
• 23:34
  a new element has been introduced into the case which may account for his leading
• 23:40
  the horse from the stable. Holmes pricked up his ears. We have found
• 23:45
  traces which show that a party of gypsies encamped on Monday night within a mile
• 23:51
  of the spot where the murder took place. On Tuesday they were gone.
• 23:56
  Now, presuming that there was some understanding between Simpson and these gypsies, might
• 24:03
  not have been leading the oars to them when he was overtaken, and may
• 24:07
  they not have him now? It is certainly possible the moor is being scoured
• 24:12
  for these gypsies. I've also examined every stable and outhouse in Tavistock, and
• 24:18
  for a radius of ten miles there is another training stable quite close. I
• 24:23
  understand, yes, and that is a factor which we must certainly not neglect.
• 24:30
  As Desper their horse was second in the betting, they had an interest
• 24:33
  in the disappearance of the favorite. Silas Brown, the trainer who is known
• 24:38
  to have had large bets upon the event, and he was no friend to
• 24:42
  poor Straker. We have, however, examined the stables, and there is
• 24:47
  nothing to connect him with the affair, and nothing to connect this man Simpson
• 24:52
  with the interests of the Mapleton Stables, nothing at all. Holmes leaned back
• 24:59
  in the carriage and the conversation ceased. A few minutes later, our driver
• 25:04
  pulled up at a neat, little red brick villa with overhanging eaves, which
• 25:07
  stood by the road. Some distance off across a paddock lay a long,
• 25:14
  gray tiled outbuilding. In every other direction, the low curves of the moor
• 25:19
  bronze colored from the fading ferns, stretched away to the sky line, broken
• 25:25
  only by the steeples of Tavistock, and by a cluster of houses away to
• 25:30
  the westward, which marked the Mapleton Stables. We all sprang out, with
• 25:34
  the exception of Homes, who continued to lean back with his eyes fixed upon
• 25:38
  the sky in front of him, entirely absorbed in his own thoughts. It
• 25:44
  was only when I touched his arm that he roused himself with a violent start
• 25:48
  and stepped out of the carriage. Excuse me, said he turning to Colonel
• 25:55
  Ross, who had looked at him in some surprise. I was daydreaming.
• 26:00
  There was a gleam in his eyes, and a suppressed excitement in his manner,
• 26:03
  which convinced me, used as I was to his ways, that his
• 26:07
  hand was upon a clew, though I could not imagine where he had found
• 26:11
  it. Perhaps you would prefer at once to go on to the scene of
• 26:15
  the cry, mister Elmes, said Gregory. I think that I should prefer
• 26:19
  to stay here a little and go into one or two questions of detail.
• 26:25
  Straker was brought back here. I presume, yes, Milahi is upstairs.
• 26:30
  The inquest is to morrow. He has been in your service some years,
• 26:34
  Colonel Ross. I have always found him an excellent servant. I presume that
• 26:41
  you made an inventory of what he had in his pockets at the time of
• 26:44
  his death. Inspector, I have the things themselves in the sitting room.
• 26:48
  If you had care to see them, I should be very glad. We
• 26:53
  all filed into the front room and sat round the central table while the inspector
• 26:57
  unlocked a square tin box and laid a small heap of things before us.
• 27:03
  There was a box of vestas, two inches of tallow candle, an a
• 27:07
  d P brier root pipe, a pouch of seal skin with half an ounce
• 27:12
  of long cut cavendish, a silver watch with a gold chain, five sovereigns
• 27:18
  in gold, an aluminium pencil case, a few papers, and an ivory
• 27:22
  handled knife with a very delicate inflexible blade marked Weissen Cooe, London. This
• 27:30
  is a very singular knife, said Holmes, lifting it up and examining it
• 27:34
  minutely. I presume, as I see bloodstains upon it, that it is
• 27:40
  the one which was found in the dead man's grasp. Watson, this knife
• 27:45
  is surely in your line. It's what we call a cataract knife, said
• 27:49
  I. I thought so. A very delicate blade devised for very delicate work.
• 27:57
  A strange thing for a man to cat with him upon a rough expedition,
• 28:02
  especially as it would not shut in his pocket. The tip was guarded
• 28:07
  by a disk of cork, which he found beside his body, said the
• 28:11
  inspector. His wife tells us that the knife had lain upon the dressing table
• 28:15
  and they had picked it up as he left the room. It was a
• 28:18
  poor weapon, but perhaps the best that he could lay his hands on.
• 28:22
  At the moment very possible. How about these papers? Three of them are
• 28:29
  a seated hay dealer's accounts. One of them is a letter of instructions from
• 28:33
  Colonel Ross. This other is a milliner's account for thirty seven pounds fifteen made
• 28:40
  out by Madame Lazuria of bond Streak to William Derbyshire. Missus Straker tells us
• 28:45
  that Derbyshire was a friend of her husband's, and that occasionally his letters were
• 28:49
  addressed here. Madame Derbyshire has somewhat expensive tastes, remarked Holmes, glancing down
• 28:56
  the account. Twenty two guineas is rather head for a single costume. However,
• 29:02
  there appears to be nothing more to learn, and we may now go
• 29:04
  down to the scene of the crime. As we emerged from the sitting room,
• 29:10
  a woman who had been waiting in the passage took a step forward and
• 29:14
  laid her hand upon the inspector's sleeve. Her face was haggard and thin and
• 29:18
  eager, stamped with the print of a recent horror. Have you got them?
• 29:25
  Have you found them? She panted? Now, Missus Striker, But
• 29:30
  mister Elme's ear has come from London to help us, and we shall do
• 29:33
  all that is possible. Surely I met you in Plymouth at a garden party
• 29:38
  some little time ago. Missus Straker said Holmes, No, sir, you
• 29:44
  are mistaken. Dear me, why I could have sworn to it. You
• 29:48
  wore a costume of dove colored silk with ostrich feather trimming. I never had
• 29:53
  such a dress, sir, answered the lady. Ah. That quite settled
• 29:59
  it, said Holmes, and with an apology, he followed the inspector outside.
• 30:03
  A short walk across the moor took us to the hollow in which the
• 30:07
  body had been found. At the brink of it was the furze bush upon
• 30:11
  which the coat had been hung. There was no wind that night, I
• 30:15
  understand, said Holmes, none, but very heavy rain. In that case,
• 30:21
  the overcoat was not blown against the furze bush, but placed there.
• 30:25
  Yes, it was laid across the bush. You fill me with interest.
• 30:30
  I perceive that the ground has been trampled up a good deal, no doubt.
• 30:33
  Many feet have been here since Monday night. A piece of man has
• 30:38
  been laid here at the side, and we have all stood upon it.
• 30:42
  Excellent. In this bag, I have one of the boots which strike a
• 30:47
  war one of Fitzroy Simpson's shoes and a cast horseshoe of silver. Blaze,
• 30:52
  My dear inspector, you surpass yourself. Holmes took the bag, and,
• 30:57
  descending into the hollow, he pushed the matting into a more central position.
• 31:03
  Then, stretching himself upon his face and leaning his chin upon his hands,
• 31:07
  he made a careful study of the trampled mud in front of him. Hullo
• 31:12
  said he suddenly, what's this? It was a wax vesta half burned,
• 31:19
  which was so coated with mud that it looked at first like a little chip
• 31:22
  of wood. I cannot think our kind to overlook it, said the inspector,
• 31:29
  with an expression of annoyance. It was invisible, buried in the mud.
• 31:34
  I only saw it because I was looking for it. What you expected
• 31:38
  to find it? I thought it not unlikely. He took the boots from
• 31:44
  the bag and compared the impressions of each of them with marks upon the ground.
• 31:48
  Then he clambered up to the rim of the hollow and crawled about among
• 31:52
  the ferns and bushes. I am afraid that there are no more tracks,
• 31:56
  said the inspector. I have examined the ground very carefully for a hundred yards
• 32:00
  in each direction. Indeed, said Holmes, rising, I should not have
• 32:07
  the impertinence to do it again after what you say, But I should like
• 32:10
  to take a little walk over the moor before it grows dark, that I
• 32:15
  may know my ground to morrow. And I think that I shall put this
• 32:19
  horse shoe into my pocket for luck. Colonel Ross, who had shown some
• 32:23
  signs of impatience at my companion's quiet and systematic method of work, glanced at
• 32:29
  his watch. I wish you would come back with me, inspector, said
• 32:34
  he. There are several points on which I should like your advice, and
• 32:37
  especially as to whether we do not owe it to the public to remove our
• 32:42
  horse's name from the entries for the cup. Certainly not, cried Holmes,
• 32:46
  with decision, I should let the name stand. The colonel bowed. I
• 32:52
  am very glad to have had your opinion, Sir, said he. You
• 32:58
  will find us that poor straker's when you have finished your walk, and we
• 33:01
  can drive together into Tavistock. He turned back with the inspector while Holmes and
• 33:07
  I walked slowly across the moor. The sun was beginning to sink behind the
• 33:13
  stables of Mapleton and the long sloping plain in front of us was tinged with
• 33:16
  gold, deepening into rich ruddy browns, where the faded ferns and brambles caught
• 33:22
  the evening light. But the glories of the landscape were all wasted upon my
• 33:28
  companion, who was sunk in the deepest thought. It's this way, Watson
• 33:34
  said he. At last we may leave the question of who killed John Straker
• 33:37
  for the instant, and confine ourselves to finding out what has become of the
• 33:42
  horse. Now, supposing that he broke away during or after the tragedy,
• 33:49
  where could he have gone to? The horse is a very gregarious creature.
• 33:52
  If left to himself, his instincts would have been either to return to King's
• 33:57
  Piland or go over to Mapleton. Why should he run wild upon the moor?
• 34:02
  He would surely have been seen by now, And why should gipsies kidnap
• 34:07
  him? These people always clear out when they hear of trouble, for they
• 34:12
  do not wish to be pestered by the police. They could not hope to
• 34:15
  sell such a horse. They would run a great risk and gain nothing by
• 34:19
  taking him. Surely that is clear. Where is he? Then? I
• 34:24
  have already said that he must have gone to King's Piland or to Mapleton.
• 34:29
  He is not at King's Piland. Therefore he is at Mapleton. Let us
• 34:35
  take that as a working hypothesis and see what it leads us to. This
• 34:39
  part of the moor, as the inspector remarked, is very hard and dry,
• 34:44
  but it falls away towards Mapleton. And you can see from here that
• 34:49
  there is a long hollow over Yonder, which must have been very wet on
• 34:52
  Monday night. If our supposition is correct, then the horse must have crossed
• 34:58
  that, and there is a po where we should look for his tracks.
• 35:02
  We had been walking briskly during this conversation, and a few more minutes brought
• 35:07
  us to the hollow in question. At Holmes's request, I walked down the
• 35:10
  bank to the right, and he to the left. But I had not
• 35:15
  taken fifty paces before I heard him give a shout and saw him waving his
• 35:19
  hand to me. The track of a horse was plainly outlined in the soft
• 35:23
  earth in front of him, and the shoe which he took from his pocket
• 35:28
  exactly fitted the impression. See the value of imagination, said Holmes. It
• 35:35
  is a one quality which Gregory lacks. We imagined what might have happened,
• 35:39
  acted upon the supposition, and find ourselves justified. Let us proceed. We
• 35:47
  crossed the marshy bottom and passed over a quarter of a mile of dry,
• 35:52
  hard turf. Again the ground sloped, and again we came on the tracks.
• 35:58
  Then we lost them for half a mile, but only to pick them
• 36:00
  up once more, quite close to Mapleton. It was Holmes who saw them
• 36:05
  first, and he stood pointing, with a look of triumph upon his face.
• 36:09
  A man's track was visible beside the horses. The horse was alone before,
• 36:15
  I cried, quite so it was alone before hullo, what is this?
• 36:23
  The double track turned sharp off and took the direction of King's Piland.
• 36:29
  Holmes whistled, and we both followed along after it. His eyes were on
• 36:34
  the trail, but I happened to look a little to one side and saw,
• 36:37
  to my surprise, the same tracks coming back again in the opposite direction.
• 36:43
  One for you, Watson, said Holmes, when I pointed it out.
• 36:45
  You have saved us a long walk which would have brought us back on
• 36:49
  our own traces. Let us follow the return track. We had not to
• 36:54
  go far. It ended at the paving of usphalt which led up to the
• 36:59
  gates of the Mapleton stables. As we approached, a groom ran out from
• 37:04
  them. We don't want any loiterers about here, said he. I only
• 37:08
  wish to ask a question, said Holmes, with his finger and thumb in
• 37:12
  his waistcoat pocket. Should I be too early to see your master, mister
• 37:16
  Silas Brown, if I were to call at five o'clock tomorrow morning, bless
• 37:22
  you, sir. If anyone is about, he will be, for he's
• 37:24
  always the first stir in. But here he is, sir, to answer
• 37:28
  your questions for himself. No, sir, no, it is as much
• 37:30
  as my place as were to let him see me. Touch your money afterwards
• 37:35
  if you like. As Sherlock Holmes replaced the half crown which he had drawn
• 37:39
  from his pocket. A fierce looking elderly man strode out from the gate with
• 37:44
  a hunting crop swinging in his hand. What's this, dawsum, he cried,
• 37:50
  No gossiping, Go about your business, and you, what the devil
• 37:53
  do you want here? Ten minutes? Talk with you, my good sir,
• 37:59
  said Holmes in the swing of voices. Oh, I've no time to
• 38:01
  talk. Every gun a boat We want no stranger ear be off, or
• 38:06
  you may find a dog at your eels. Holmes leaned forward and whispered something
• 38:09
  in the trainer's ear. He started violently and flushed to the temples. It's
• 38:15
  a lie, he shouted, an infernal lie. Very good. Shall we
• 38:21
  argue about it here in public or talk it over in your parlor? Oh,
• 38:25
  come in if you wish to Holmes smiled. I shall not keep you
• 38:30
  more than a few minutes, Watson said he Now, mister Brown, I
• 38:34
  am quite at your disposal. It was twenty minutes and the reds had all
• 38:39
  faded into graze before Holmes and the trainer reappeared. Never have I seen such
• 38:45
  a change as had been brought about in Silas Brown in that short time.
• 38:50
  His face was ashy, pale, beads of perspiration shone upon his brow,
• 38:55
  and his hands shook until the hunting crop wagged like a branch in the wind,
• 39:00
  and his bullying, overbearing manner was all gone too, and he cringed
• 39:06
  along at my companion's side, like a dog with its master. Your instructions
• 39:10
  will be done. It shall all be done, said he. There must
• 39:15
  be no mistake, said Holmes, looking round at him. The other winced
• 39:19
  as he read the menace in his eyes. Oh no, there shall be
• 39:22
  no mistake. It shall be here. Should I change it first or not?
• 39:27
  Holmes thought a little, and then burst out laughing. No, don't,
• 39:30
  said he. I shall write to you about it. No tricks now,
• 39:34
  or oh you can trust me? You can trust me? Yes,
• 39:37
  I think I can. Well, you shall hear from me to morrow.
• 39:42
  He turned upon his heel, disregarding the trembling hand which the other held out
• 39:45
  to him, and we set off for King's Piland. A more perfect compound
• 39:52
  of the bully, coward and sneak than Master Silas Brown I have seldom met
• 39:55
  with, remarked Holmes, as we trudged along together. He has the horse.
• 40:00
  Then he tried to bluster out of it. But I described to him
• 40:06
  so exactly what his actions had been upon that morning, that he is convinced
• 40:08
  that I was watching him. Of course you observed the peculiarly square toes in
• 40:14
  the impressions, and that his own boots exactly corresponded to them. Again,
• 40:20
  of course, no subordinate would have dared to do such a thing. I
• 40:23
  described to him how, when according to his custom, he was the first
• 40:28
  down, he perceived a strange horse, wondering over the moor, how he
• 40:31
  went out to it, and his astonishment at recognizing from the white forehead which
• 40:37
  has given the favorite its name, that chance had put in his power the
• 40:40
  only horse which could beat the one upon which he had put his money.
• 40:45
  Then I described how his first impulse had been to lead him back to King's
• 40:50
  Piland, and how the devil had shown him how he could hide the horse
• 40:53
  until the race was over, and how he had led it back and concealed
• 40:59
  it at Mapleton. When I told him every detail, he gave it up
• 41:04
  and thought only of saving his own skin. But his stables had been searched.
• 41:09
  Oh, an old horse faker like him has many a dodge. But
• 41:14
  are you not afraid to leave the horse in his power? Now? Since
• 41:16
  he has every interest in injuring it, My dear fellow, he will guard
• 41:22
  it as the apple of his eye. He knows that his only hope of
• 41:25
  mercy is to produce it safe. Colonel Ross did not impress me as a
• 41:30
  man who would be likely to show much mercy. In any case, the
• 41:35
  matter does not rest with Colonel Ross. I follow my own methods and tell
• 41:39
  as much or as little as I choose. That is the advantage of being
• 41:45
  unofficial. I don't know whether you observed it, Watson, but the Colonel's
• 41:50
  manner has been just a trifle cavalier to me. I am inclined now to
• 41:54
  have a little amusement at his expense. Say nothing to him about the horse,
• 42:00
  certainly not without your permission. And of course this is all quite a
• 42:06
  minor point compared to the question of who killed John Straker, and you will
• 42:12
  devote yourself to that. On the contrary, we both go back to London
• 42:16
  by the night train. I was thunderstruck by my friend's words we had only
• 42:22
  been a few hours in Devonshire, and that he should give up an investigation
• 42:27
  which he had begun so brilliantly was quite incomprehensible to me. Not a word
• 42:31
  more could I draw from him until we were back at the trainer's house.
• 42:37
  The colonel and the inspector were awaiting us in the parlor. My friend and
• 42:42
  I returned to town by the night express, said Holmes, we have had
• 42:45
  a charming little breath of your beautiful Dartmoor air. The inspector opened his eyes,
• 42:51
  and the Colonel's lip curled in a sneer, so you would despair of
• 42:57
  arresting the murderer of poor Straker. He Holmes shrugged his shoulders. There are
• 43:02
  certainly grave difficulties in the way, said he. I have every hope,
• 43:07
  however, that your horse will start upon Tuesday, and I beg that you
• 43:12
  will have your jockey in readiness. Might I ask for a photograph of mister
• 43:15
  John Straker. The inspector took one from an envelope and handed it to him.
• 43:22
  My dear Gregory, you anticipate all my wants. If I might ask
• 43:27
  you to wait here for an instant, I have a question which I should
• 43:30
  like to put to the maid. I must say that I am rather disappointed
• 43:35
  in our London consultant, said Colonel Ross bluntly. As my friend left the
• 43:38
  room. I do not see that we are any further than when he came.
• 43:45
  At least you have his assurance that your horse will run, said I.
• 43:49
  Yes, I have his assurance, said the colonel, with a shrug
• 43:52
  of his shoulders. I should prefer to have the horse. I was about
• 43:57
  to make some reply in defense of my friend when he entered the room again.
• 44:01
  Now, gentlemen, he said, I am quite ready for Tavistoc.
• 44:07
  As we stepped into the carriage. One of the stable lads held the door
• 44:10
  open for us. A sudden idea seemed to occur to Holmes, for he
• 44:15
  leaned forward and touched the lad upon the sleeve. You have a few sheep
• 44:20
  in the paddock, he said, Who attends to them? I do,
• 44:23
  sir? Have you noticed anything amiss with them? Of late? Well,
• 44:29
  sir, not of much account, but three of them have gone lame,
• 44:32
  sir. I could see that Holmes was extremely pleased, for he chuckled and
• 44:37
  rubbed his hands together. A long shot, Watson, A very long shot,
• 44:44
  said he, pinching my arm. Gregory, let me recommend to your
• 44:47
  attention this singular epidemic among the sheep drive on coachman. Colonel Ross still wore
• 44:54
  an expression which showed the poor opinion which he had formed of my companion's ability.
• 45:00
  But I saw by the inspector's face that his attention had been keenly aroused.
• 45:05
  You consider that to be important, he asked, exceedingly. So is
• 45:10
  there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention to the curious
• 45:15
  incident of the dog in the night time? The dog did nothing in an
• 45:21
  art time. That was the curious incident remarked Sherlock Holmes. Four days later,
• 45:29
  Holmes and I were again in the train bound for Winchester to see the
• 45:31
  race for the Wessex Cup. Colonel Ross met us by appointment outside the station,
• 45:37
  and we drove in his drag to the course beyond the town. His
• 45:42
  face was grave and his manner was cold in the extreme. I have seen
• 45:46
  nothing of my horse, said he. I suppose that you would know him
• 45:52
  when you saw him, asked Holmes. The colonel was very angry. I
• 45:55
  have been on the turf for twenty years and never was ask such a question
• 46:00
  as that before, said he. A child with no silver blaze with his
• 46:05
  white forehead and is mottled off fore leg. How is the betting well?
• 46:10
  And that is the curious part of it. You could have got fifteen to
• 46:15
  one yesterday, but the price has become shorter and shorter, until you can
• 46:20
  hardly get three to one now, hum said Holmes. Somebody knows something that
• 46:27
  is clear. As the drag drew up in the enclosure near the grandstand,
• 46:32
  I glanced at the card to see the entries Wessex plate. It ran fifty
• 46:38
  sovs each eh feet, with one thousand sovs added for four and five year
• 46:43
  olds, Second L three hundred, third L two hundred, New course one
• 46:47
  mile and five furlongs. Mister Heath Newton's the Negro red cap, cinnamon jacket,
• 46:53
  Colonel Wardlaw's Pugilist pink cap, blue and black jacket, Lord Backwater's Desbra
• 46:59
  yellow cap and sleeves, Colonel Ross's Silver Blaze, black cap, red jacket,
• 47:04
  Duke of Bellmoral's Iris, yellow and black stripes, Lord Singleford's Rasper purple
• 47:08
  cap, black sleeves. We scratched our other one and put all our hopes
• 47:15
  on your word, said the colonel. Why what is that silver Blaze favorite?
• 47:22
  Five to four against silver Blaze, roared the ring, five to four
• 47:27
  against silver Blaze, five to fifteen against Desbra, five to four. On
• 47:30
  the field, there are the numbers up, I cried. They are all
• 47:36
  six there, all six there. Then my horse is running, cried the
• 47:42
  Colonel, in great agitation. But I don't see him. My colors have
• 47:45
  not passed, only five have passed. This must be he As I spoke,
• 47:52
  a powerful bay horse swept out from the weighing enclosure and cantered past us,
• 47:58
  bearing on its back the well known black and red of the Colonel.
• 48:02
  That's not my horse, cried the owner. That beast has not a white
• 48:07
  hair upon his body. What is this that you have done, mister Holmes.
• 48:12
  Well, well, let us see how he gets on, said my
• 48:15
  friend, imperturbably. For a few minutes he gazed through my field glass capital.
• 48:21
  An excellent start, he cried. Suddenly, there they are, coming
• 48:24
  round the curve. From our drag, we had a superb view as they
• 48:29
  came up the strait. The six horses were so close together that a carpet
• 48:34
  could have covered them, but half way up the yellow of the Mapleton's stable
• 48:38
  showed to the front. Before they reached us, however, Desper's bolt was
• 48:43
  shot, and the Colonel's horse, coming away with a rush, passed the
• 48:46
  post a good six lengths before its rival, the Duke of Balmoral's iris making
• 48:52
  a bad third. It's my race, anyhow, gasped the Colonel, passing
• 48:58
  his hand over his eyes. I confess that I can make neither head nor
• 49:01
  tail of it. Don't you think that you've kept up your mystery long enough?
• 49:06
  Mister Holmes. Certainly, colonel, you shall know everything. Let us
• 49:12
  all go round and have a look at the horse together. Here he is
• 49:15
  he continued, as we made our way into the weighing enclosure, where only
• 49:19
  owners and their friends find admittance. You have only to wash his face and
• 49:23
  his leg in the spirits of wine, and you will find that he is
• 49:28
  the same old silver blaze as ever you take my breath away. I found
• 49:34
  him in the hands of a fakir and took the liberty of running him just
• 49:37
  as he was sent over. My dear sir, you have done wonders.
• 49:43
  The horse looks very fit and well. It never went better in his life.
• 49:46
  I owe you a thousand apologies for having doubted your ability. You have
• 49:52
  done me a great service by recovering my horse. You would do me a
• 49:54
  greater still if you could lay your hands on the murderer of John Straker.
• 50:00
  I have done so, said Holmes quietly. The Colonel and I stared at
• 50:06
  him in amazement. You've got him? Where is he? Then? He
• 50:10
  is here? Here? Where in my company at the present moment. The
• 50:19
  colonel flushed angrily. I quite recognize that I am under obligations to you,
• 50:23
  mister Holmes, said he, but I must regard what you have just said
• 50:29
  as either a very bad joke or an insult Sherlock Holmes laughed. I assure
• 50:35
  you that I have not associated you with the crime, Colonel said he.
• 50:39
  The real murderer is standing immediately behind you. He stepped past and laid his
• 50:46
  hand upon the glossy neck of the thoroughbred. The horse, cried both the
• 50:52
  Colonel and myself. Yes, the horse. And it may lessen his guilt
• 50:58
  if I say that it was done in so self defense, and that John
• 51:01
  Straker was a man who was entirely unworthy of your confidence. But there goes
• 51:07
  the bell, and as I stand to win a little on this next race,
• 51:09
  I shall defer a lengthy explanation until a more fitting time. We had
• 51:15
  the corner of a pullman car to ourselves that evening as we whirled back to
• 51:20
  London, and I fancy that the journey was a short one to Colonel Ross
• 51:23
  as well as to myself. As we listened to our companion's narrative of the
• 51:28
  events which had occurred at the Dartmoor training stables upon the Monday night, and
• 51:32
  the means by which he had unraveled them, I confess, said he that
• 51:38
  any theories which I had formed from the newspaper reports were entirely erroneous, and
• 51:44
  yet there were indications there, had they not been overlaid by other details which
• 51:49
  concealed their true import. I went to Devonshire with the conviction that Fitzroy Simpson
• 51:55
  was the true culprit, although of course I saw that the evidence Againstein,
• 52:00
  was by no means complete. It was while I was in the carriage,
• 52:05
  just as we reached the trainer's house, that the immense significance of the curried
• 52:08
  mutton occurred to me. You may remember that I was distray and remained sitting
• 52:15
  after you had all alighted. I was marveling in my own mind how I
• 52:19
  could possibly have overlooked so obvious a clue. I confess, said the Colonel,
• 52:24
  that even now I cannot see how it helps us. It was the
• 52:30
  first link in my chain of reasoning. Powdered opium is by no means tasteless.
• 52:36
  The flavor is not disagreeable, but it is perceptible. Were it mixed
• 52:40
  with any ordinary dish, the eater would undoubtedly detect it and would probably eat
• 52:45
  no more. A curry was exactly the medium which would disguise this taste.
• 52:52
  By no possible supposition, could this stranger Fitzroy Simpson have caused curry to be
• 52:57
  served in the trainer's family that night, and it is surely too monstrous a
• 53:01
  coincidence to suppose that he happened to come along with powdered opium upon the very
• 53:07
  night when a dish happened to be served, which would disguise the flavor.
• 53:12
  That is unthinkable. Therefore, Simpson becomes eliminated from the case, and our
• 53:17
  attention centers upon Straker and his wife, the only two people who could have
• 53:23
  chosen curried mutton for supper that night. The opium was added after the dish
• 53:29
  was set aside for the stable boy, for the others had the same for
• 53:32
  supper with no ill effects. Which of them then had access to that dish
• 53:37
  without the maid seeing them? Before deciding that question, I had grasped the
• 53:43
  significance of the silence of the dog, for one true inference invariably suggests others.
• 53:50
  The Simpson incident had shown me that a dog was kept in the stables,
• 53:54
  and yet though some one had been in and had fetched out a horse,
• 53:59
  he had not barked enough to arouse the two lads in the loft.
• 54:02
  Obviously, the midnight visitor was someone whom the dog knew well. I was
• 54:08
  already convinced, or almost convinced, that John Straker went down to the stables
• 54:14
  in the dead of the night and took out silver Blaze for what purpose?
• 54:20
  For a dishonest one, obviously, or why should he drug his own stable
• 54:24
  boy? And yet I was at a loss to know why. There have
• 54:29
  been cases before now where trainers have made sure of great sums of money by
• 54:34
  laying against their own horses through agents, and then preventing them from winning by
• 54:37
  fraud. Sometimes it is a pulling jockey, sometimes it is some surer and
• 54:44
  subtler means, what was it here? I hoped that the contents of his
• 54:49
  pockets might help me to form a conclusion, and they did so. You
• 54:54
  cannot have forgotten the singular knife which was found in the dead man's hand,
• 55:00
  a knife which certainly no sane man would choose for a weapon. It was,
• 55:04
  as Dr Watson told us, a form of knife which is used for
• 55:07
  the most delicate operations known in surgery, and it was to be used for
• 55:13
  a delicate operation that night. You must know, with your wide experience of
• 55:19
  turf matters, Colonel Ross, that it is possible to make a slight nick
• 55:22
  upon the tendons of a horse's ham, and to do it subcutaneously, so
• 55:28
  as to leave absolutely no trace. Our horse so treated would develop a slight
• 55:34
  lameness, which would be put down to a strain in exercise, or a
• 55:37
  touch of rheumatism, but never to foul play. Fillin scoundrel, cried the
• 55:45
  colonel. We have here the explanation of why John Straker wished to take the
• 55:50
  horse out onto the moor. So spirited a creature would have certainly roused the
• 55:54
  soundest of sleepers when it felt the prick of the knife. It was absolutely
• 56:00
  necessary to do it in the open air. I have been blind, cried
• 56:05
  the colonel. Of course, that was why he needed the candle and struck
• 56:08
  the match, undoubtedly. But in examining his belongings, I was fortunate enough
• 56:15
  to discover not only the method of the crime, but even its motives.
• 56:20
  As a man of the world, Colonel, you know that men do not
• 56:22
  carry other people's bills about in their pockets. We have, most of us
• 56:28
  quite enough to do to settle our own. I at once concluded that Straker
• 56:31
  was leading a double life and keeping a second establishment. The nature of the
• 56:37
  bill showed that there was a lady in the case, and one who had
• 56:40
  expensive tastes. Liberal as you are with your servants, one can hardly expect
• 56:46
  that they can buy twenty guineas walking dresses for their ladies. I questioned missus
• 56:52
  Straker as to the dress, without her knowing it, and having satisfied myself
• 56:55
  that it had never reached her, I made a note of the Milliner's address,
• 57:00
  and felt that by calling there with Straker's photograph I could easily dispose of
• 57:05
  the mythical Derbisher. From that time on all was plain. Straker had led
• 57:10
  out the horse to a hollow where his light would be invisible. Simpson,
• 57:15
  in his flight, had dropped his cravat, when Straker had picked it up,
• 57:19
  with some idea, perhaps that he might use it in securing the horse's
• 57:22
  leg. Once in the hollow, he had got behind the horse and had
• 57:27
  struck a light. But the creature, frightened at the sudden glare, and
• 57:31
  with a strange instinct of animals, feeling that some mischief was intended, had
• 57:37
  lashed out, and the steel shoe had struck Straker full on the forehead.
• 57:42
  He had already, in spite of the rain taken off his overcoat in order
• 57:45
  to do his delicate task, and so as he fell, his knife gashed
• 57:51
  his thigh. Do I make it clear? Wonderful? Cried the Colonel.
• 57:57
  Wonderful you might have been there. My final shot was, I confess a
• 58:01
  very long one. It struck me that so astute a man as Straker would
• 58:06
  not undertake this delicate tender nicking without a little practice. What could he practice
• 58:13
  on? My eyes fell upon the sheep, and I asked a question,
• 58:16
  which, rather to my surprise, showed that my surmise was correct. When
• 58:22
  I returned to London, I called upon the milliner who had recognized Straker as
• 58:25
  an excellent customer of the name of Derbyshire, who had a very dashing wife
• 58:30
  with a strong partiality for expensive dresses. I have no doubt that this woman
• 58:36
  had plunged him over head and ears in debt, and so led him into
• 58:39
  this miserable plot. You have explained all but one thing, cried the Colonel.
• 58:46
  Where was the horse? Ah, it bolted and was cared for by
• 58:52
  one of your neighbors. We must have an amnesty in that direction. I
• 58:55
  think this is Clapham junction. If I am not mistaken, and we shall
• 59:00
  be in Victoria in less than ten minutes. If you care to smoke a
• 59:04
  cigar in our rooms, Colonel, I shall be happy to give you any
• 59:07
  other details which might interest you. End of Silver Blaze, the Gloria Scott.
• 59:17
  I have some papers here, said my friend Shark Holmes, as we
• 59:21
  sat one winter's night on either side of the fire, which I really think,
• 59:25
  Watson, that it would be worth your while to glance over. These
• 59:30
  are the documents in the extraordinary case of the Glorious Scott. And this is
• 59:35
  the message which struck Justice of the Piece Trevor dead with horror when he read
• 59:39
  it. He had picked from a drawer a little tarnished cylinder, and undoing
• 59:45
  the tape, he handed me a short note scrawled upon a half sheet of
• 59:47
  slate gray paper. The supply of game for London is going steadily up,
• 59:53
  it ran head keeper Hudson. We believe has been now told to receive all
• 59:58
  orders for fly paper and for preservation of your hen pheasant's life. As I
• 1:00:02
  glanced up from reading this enigmatical message, I saw Holmes chuckling at the expression
• 1:00:08
  upon my face. You look a little bewildered, said he. I cannot
• 1:00:15
  see how such a message as this could inspire horror. It seems to me
• 1:00:19
  to be rather grotesque than otherwise very likely. Yet the fact remains that the
• 1:00:24
  reader, who was a fine, robust old man, was not cleaned down
• 1:00:29
  by it, as if it had been the butt end of a pistol.
• 1:00:32
  You arise my curiosity, said I, But why did you just say now
• 1:00:37
  that there were very particular reasons why I should study this case? Because it
• 1:00:42
  was the first in which I was ever engaged. I had often endeavored to
• 1:00:46
  elicit from my companion what had first turned his mind in the direction of criminal
• 1:00:52
  research, but had never caught him before in a communicative humor. Now he
• 1:00:57
  sat forward in this arm chair and spread out the documents upon his knees.
• 1:01:01
  Then he lit his pipe and sat for some time, smoking and turning them
• 1:01:06
  over. You never heard me talk of Victor Trevor, he asked. He
• 1:01:12
  was the only friend I made during the two years I was at college.
• 1:01:15
  I was never a very sociable fellow. Watson, always rather fond of moping
• 1:01:20
  in my rooms and working out my own little methods of thought, so that
• 1:01:23
  I never mixed much with the men of my year. Bar fencing and boxing.
• 1:01:30
  I had few athletic tastes, and then my line of study was quite
• 1:01:32
  distinct from that of the other fellows, so that we had no points of
• 1:01:37
  contact at all. Trevor was the only man I knew, and that only
• 1:01:43
  through the accident of his bull terrier freezing on to my ankle one morning as
• 1:01:45
  I went down to chapel. It was a prosaic way of forming a friendship,
• 1:01:51
  but it was effective. I was laid by the heels for ten days,
• 1:01:55
  but Trevor used to come in to inquire after me. It was only
• 1:02:00
  a minute's chat, but soon his visits lengthened, and before the end of
• 1:02:05
  the term we were close friends. He was a hearty, full blooded fellow,
• 1:02:09
  full of spirits and energy, the very opposite to me in most respects,
• 1:02:15
  but we had some subjects in common and it was a bond of union
• 1:02:17
  when I found that he was as friendless as I. Finally he invited me
• 1:02:22
  down to his father's place at Donnethorpe in Norfolk, and I accepted his hospitality
• 1:02:28
  for a month of the long vacation. Old Trevor was evidently a man of
• 1:02:34
  some wealth and consideration, A j P and a landed proprietor. Donnethorpe is
• 1:02:39
  a little hamlet just to the north of Langmere in the country of the Broads.
• 1:02:45
  The house was an old fashioned, widespread oak beamed brick building, with
• 1:02:50
  a fine lime lined avenue leading up to it. There was excellent wild duck
• 1:02:53
  shooting in the fens, remarkably good fishing, a small but select library,
• 1:03:00
  taken over, as I understand, from a former occupant, and a tolerable
• 1:03:04
  cook, so that he would be a fastidious man who could not put in
• 1:03:07
  a pleasant month there. Trevissena was a widower and my friend his only son.
• 1:03:15
  There had been a daughter, I heard, but she had died of
• 1:03:16
  diphtheria while on a visit to Birmingham. The father interested me extremely. He
• 1:03:22
  was a man of little culture, but with a considerable amount of rude strength,
• 1:03:28
  both physically and mentally. He knew hardly any books, but he had
• 1:03:32
  traveled far, had seen much of the world, and had remembered all that
• 1:03:37
  he had learned. In person. He was a thick set, burly man,
• 1:03:40
  with a shock of grizzled hair, a brown, weather beaten face,
• 1:03:45
  and blue eyes which were keen to the verge of fierceness. Yet he had
• 1:03:50
  a reputation for kindness and charity on the country side, and was noted for
• 1:03:53
  the leniency of his sentences from the bench. One evening after my arrival,
• 1:04:00
  we were sitting over a glass of port after dinner, when young Trevor began
• 1:04:04
  to talk about those habits of observation and inference, which I had already formed
• 1:04:10
  into a system, although I had not yet appreciated the part which they were
• 1:04:14
  to play in my life. The old man evidently thought that his son was
• 1:04:17
  exaggerating in his description of one or two trivial feats which I had performed.
• 1:04:23
  Come now, mister Holmes, said he, laughing good humoredly. I am
• 1:04:27
  an excellent subject. If you can deduce anything from me, I fear there
• 1:04:31
  is not very much, I answered, I might suggest that you have gone
• 1:04:35
  about in fear of some personal attack within the last twelve months. The laugh
• 1:04:41
  faded from his lips, and he stared at me in great surprise. Well
• 1:04:45
  that's true enough, said he, You know, Victor, turning to his
• 1:04:50
  son. When we broke up that poaching gang, they swore to Knyphus and
• 1:04:56
  Sir Edward Holly has actually been attacked I have always been on my guard since
• 1:05:00
  then, though I have no idea how you know it. You have a
• 1:05:03
  very handsome stick, I answered, by the inscription. I observed that you
• 1:05:08
  had not had it more than a year, but you have taken some pains
• 1:05:12
  to bore the head of it and pour melted lead into the hole, so
• 1:05:15
  as to make it a formidable weapon. I argued that you would not take
• 1:05:19
  such precautions unless you had some danger to fear. Anything else, he asked,
• 1:05:26
  smiling, you have boxed a good deal in your youth, right again?
• 1:05:31
  How did you know it? His might nose knocked a little out of
• 1:05:34
  the strait, No, said I. It is your ears. They have
• 1:05:40
  the peculiar flattening and thickening which marks the boxing man. Anything else. You
• 1:05:46
  have done a good deal of digging by your callosities made all my money at
• 1:05:50
  the goldfields. You have been in New Zealand right again. You have visited
• 1:05:57
  Japan, quite true, and you have been most intimately associated with some one
• 1:06:03
  whose initials were j A, and whom you afterwards were eager to entirely forget.
• 1:06:11
  Mister Trevor stood slowly up, fixed his large blue eyes upon me with
• 1:06:15
  a strange wild stare, and then pitched forward with his face among the nutshells,
• 1:06:19
  which strewed the cloth in a dead faint. You can imagine Watson how
• 1:06:25
  shocked both his son and I were. His attack did not last long,
• 1:06:29
  however, for when we undid his collar and sprinkled the water from one of
• 1:06:32
  the finger glasses over his face, he gave a gasp or two and sat
• 1:06:36
  up. Ah, boys, said he forcing a smile. I hope I
• 1:06:43
  haven't frightened you. Strong as I look, there is a weak place in
• 1:06:46
  my heart, and it does not take much to knock me over. I
• 1:06:51
  don't know how you managed this, mister Holmes, but it seems to me
• 1:06:55
  that all the detectives of fact and of fancy would be children in your hands.
• 1:07:00
  That's your line of life, sir, And you may take the word
• 1:07:02
  of a man who has seen something of the world, and that recommendation,
• 1:07:09
  with the exaggerated estimate of my ability with which he prefaced it was, if
• 1:07:14
  you will believe me, Watson, the very first thing which ever made me
• 1:07:16
  feel that a profession might be made out of what had up to that time
• 1:07:20
  been the merest hobby. At the moment, however, I was too much
• 1:07:26
  concerned at the sudden illness of my host to think of anything else. I
• 1:07:30
  hope that I have said nothing to pain you said, I, well,
• 1:07:34
  you certainly touched upon rather a tender point. Might I ask how you know
• 1:07:41
  and how much you know? He spoke now in a half jesting fashion,
• 1:07:45
  but a look of terror still lurked at the back of his eyes. It
• 1:07:49
  is simplicity itself, said I. When you bared your arm to draw that
• 1:07:54
  fish into the boat, I saw that J A had been tattooed in the
• 1:07:58
  bend of the elbow. The letters were still legible, but it was perfectly
• 1:08:02
  clear from their blurred appearance, and from the staining of the skin around them,
• 1:08:09
  that efforts have been made to obliterate them. It was obvious then that
• 1:08:14
  those initials had once been very familiar to you, and that you had afterwards
• 1:08:17
  wished to forget them. What an eye you have, he cried, with
• 1:08:23
  a sigh of relief. It is just as you say, but we won't
• 1:08:27
  talk of it. Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old lovers are
• 1:08:30
  the worst. Come into the billiard room and have a quiet cigar. From
• 1:08:36
  that day, amid all his cordiality, there was always a touch of suspicion
• 1:08:41
  in mister Trevor's manner towards me. Even his son remarked, it you've given
• 1:08:45
  the governor such a turn, said he, that you'll never be sure again
• 1:08:49
  of what you know and what you don't know. He did not mean to
• 1:08:54
  show it, I am sure, but it was so strongly in his mind
• 1:08:57
  that it peeped out at every action. At last, I became so convinced
• 1:09:02
  that I was causing him uneasiness that I drew my visit to a close on
• 1:09:06
  the very day. However, before I left, an incident occurred which proved
• 1:09:11
  in the sequel to be of importance. We were sitting out upon the lawn
• 1:09:15
  and garden chairs, the three of us, basking in the sun and admiring
• 1:09:19
  the view across the broads, when a maid came out to say that there
• 1:09:24
  was a man at the door who wanted to see mister Trevor. What is
• 1:09:28
  his name, asked my host. He would not give any What does he
• 1:09:32
  want? Then he says that you know him, and that he only wants
• 1:09:36
  a moment's conversation. Show him round here. An instant afterwards, there appeared
• 1:09:44
  a little wizened fellow with a cringing manner and the shambling style of walking.
• 1:09:48
  He wore an open jacket with a splotch of tar on the sleeve, a
• 1:09:51
  red and black check shirt, dungaree trousers, and heavy boots badly worn.
• 1:09:58
  His face was thin and brown and crafty, with a perpetual smile upon it,
• 1:10:02
  which showed an irregular line of yellow teeth, and his crinkled hands were
• 1:10:06
  half closed in a way that is distinctive of sailors. As he came slouching
• 1:10:13
  across the lawn, I heard mister Trevor made a sort of hiccuping noise in
• 1:10:16
  his throat, and jumping out of his chair, he ran into the house.
• 1:10:23
  He was back in a moment, and I smelt a strong reek of
• 1:10:26
  brandy as he passed me. Well, my man, said he, What
• 1:10:30
  can I do for you? The sailor stood looking at him with pucket eyes
• 1:10:34
  and with the same loose lipped smile upon his face. You don't know me,
• 1:10:40
  he asked, Why, dear me, it is surely Hudson, said
• 1:10:44
  mister Trevor, in a tone of surprise. Hudson, it is, sir,
• 1:10:47
  said the seaman. Why it's thirty year or more since I saw you
• 1:10:51
  last. Here you are in your house and me still picking my salt meat
• 1:10:56
  out of the harness cask. Tut. You will find that I have not
• 1:11:00
  forgotten old times, cried mister Trevor, and walking towards the sailor, he
• 1:11:05
  said something in a low voice. Go into the kitchen, he continued out
• 1:11:11
  loud, and you will get food and drink. I have no doubt that
• 1:11:15
  I shall find you a situation. Thank you, sir, said the seaman,
• 1:11:19
  touching his forelock. I am just off a two yearer in an eight
• 1:11:23
  knot tramp, short handed at that, and I want a rest. I
• 1:11:28
  thought i'd get it either with mister Bedders or with you. Ah, cried
• 1:11:31
  Trevor. You know where mister Bedrows is. Bless you, sir, I
• 1:11:36
  know where all my old friends are, said the fellow with a sinister smile,
• 1:11:42
  and he slouched off after the maid to the kitchen. Mister Trevor mumbled
• 1:11:46
  something to us about having been shipmate with the man when he was going back
• 1:11:50
  to the diggings, and then leaving us on the lawn he went indoors.
• 1:11:56
  An hour later, when we entered the house, we found him stretched dead,
• 1:12:00
  drunk upon the dining room's sofa. The whole instant left a most ugly
• 1:12:05
  impression upon my mind, and I was not sorry next day to leave Donithorpe
• 1:12:10
  behind me, for I felt that my presence must be a source of embarrassment
• 1:12:15
  to my friend. All this occurred during the first month of the long vacation.
• 1:12:20
  I went up to my London rooms, where I spent seven weeks working
• 1:12:24
  out a few experiments in organic chemistry. One day, however, when the
• 1:12:29
  autumn was far advanced and the vacation drawing to a close, I received a
• 1:12:33
  telegram from my friend imploring me to return to Donnithorpe, and saying that he
• 1:12:39
  was in great need of my advice and assistance. Of course, I dropped
• 1:12:44
  everything and set out for the North once more. He met me with a
• 1:12:48
  dog cart at the station, and I saw at a glance that the last
• 1:12:53
  two months had been very trying ones for him. He had grown thin and
• 1:12:57
  care worn, and had lost a loud, cheery manner for which he had
• 1:13:00
  been remarkable. The Governor is dying. With the first words he said,
• 1:13:05
  impossible, I cried, what is the matter? Apoplexy? Nervous shock?
• 1:13:13
  He's been on the verge all day. I doubt if we shall find him
• 1:13:15
  alive. I was, as you may think, Watson, horrified at this
• 1:13:19
  unexpected news. What has caused it? I asked, Ah, that is
• 1:13:26
  the point. Jump in and we can talk it over while we drive.
• 1:13:30
  You remember that fellow who came upon the evening before you left us perfectly?
• 1:13:35
  Do you know who it was that we let into the house that day?
• 1:13:40
  I have no idea. It was the devil Holmes, he cried. I
• 1:13:45
  stared at him in astonishment. Yes, it was the devil himself. We
• 1:13:50
  have not had a peaceful hour since, not one. The Governor has never
• 1:13:55
  held up his head from that evening, and now the life has been crushed
• 1:13:59
  out of him, and his heart broken all through this accursed Hudson. What
• 1:14:04
  power had he then? Ah, that is what I would give so much
• 1:14:09
  to know, the kindly, charitable, good old governor. How could he
• 1:14:15
  have fallen into the clutches of such a ruffian. But I am so glad
• 1:14:17
  that you have come, Homes. I trust very much to your judgment and
• 1:14:23
  discretion, and I know that you will advise me for the best. We
• 1:14:27
  were dashing along the smooth White country road with a long stretch of the broads
• 1:14:31
  in front of us, glimmering in the red light of the setting sun.
• 1:14:35
  From a grove upon our left, I could already see the high chimneys and
• 1:14:40
  the flag staff which marked the squire's dwelling. My father made the fellow gardener,
• 1:14:45
  said my companion, and then as that did not satisfy him, he
• 1:14:49
  was promoted to be butler. The house seemed to be at his mercy,
• 1:14:55
  and he wandered about and did what he chose in it. The maids complained
• 1:14:58
  of his drunken habits and his vile language. The dad raised their wages all
• 1:15:03
  round to recompense them for the annoyance. The fellow would take the boat and
• 1:15:08
  my father's best gun, and treat himself to little shooting trips, and all
• 1:15:13
  this with such a sneering, leering, insolent face that I would have knocked
• 1:15:16
  him down twenty times over if he'd been a man of my own age.
• 1:15:20
  I tell you, Holmes, I have had to keep a tight hold upon
• 1:15:24
  myself all this time, and now I am asking myself whether if I had
• 1:15:29
  let myself go a little more, I might not have been a wiser man.
• 1:15:33
  Well, matters went from bad to worse with us, and this animal
• 1:15:38
  Hudson became more and more intrusive, until at last, on making some insolent
• 1:15:43
  reply to my father in my presence one day, I took him by the
• 1:15:46
  shoulders and turned him out of the room. He slunk away with a livid
• 1:15:50
  face and two venomous eyes which uttered more threats than his tongue could do.
• 1:15:57
  I don't know what passed between the poor dad and him that, but the
• 1:16:00
  dad came to me next day and asked me whether I would mind apologizing to
• 1:16:04
  Hudson. I refused, as you can imagine, and asked my father how
• 1:16:10
  he could allow such a wretch to take such liberties with himself and his household.
• 1:16:15
  Ah, my boy, said he. It is all very well to
• 1:16:19
  talk, but you don't know how I am placed. But you shall know,
• 1:16:24
  Victor, I'll see that you shall know, come what may. You
• 1:16:28
  wouldn't believe harm of your poor old father, would you, lad. He
• 1:16:31
  was very much moved and shut himself up in the study all day, where
• 1:16:35
  I could see through the window that he was writing busily. That evening there
• 1:16:42
  came what seemed to me to be a grand release, for Hudson told us
• 1:16:45
  that he was going to leave us. He walked into the dining room as
• 1:16:49
  we sat after dinner, and announced his intention in the thick voice of a
• 1:16:54
  half drunken man. I've had enough of Norfolk, said he. I'll run
• 1:17:00
  down sir mister Bedrows in Hampshire. He'll be as glad to see me as
• 1:17:04
  you were. I daresay you're not going away in an unkind spirit, Hudson,
• 1:17:11
  I hope, said my father, with a tameness which made my blood
• 1:17:15
  boil. I've not ut my apology, said he sulkily, glancing in my
• 1:17:21
  direction. Victor, you will acknowledge that you have used this worthy fellow rather
• 1:17:27
  roughly, said the dad, turning to me. On the contrary, I
• 1:17:32
  think that we have both shown extraordinary patience towards him, I answered, Oh
• 1:17:39
  you do, do you? He snarls, Very good, mate, We'll
• 1:17:43
  see about that. He slauched out of the room, and half an hour
• 1:17:47
  afterwards left the house, leaving my father in a state of pitiable nervousness.
• 1:17:54
  Night after night I heard him pacing his room, and it was just as
• 1:17:58
  he was recovering his confidence that the blow did at last fall, And how
• 1:18:03
  I asked eagerly in a most extraordinary fashion. A letter arrived for my father
• 1:18:10
  yesterday evening, bearing the Fordingbridge post mark. My father read it, clapped
• 1:18:15
  both his hands to his head, and began running around the room in little
• 1:18:19
  circles, like a man who has been driven out of his senses. When
• 1:18:24
  I at last drew him down on to the sofa, his mouth and eyelids
• 1:18:28
  were all puckered on one side, and I saw that he had a stroke.
• 1:18:31
  Doctor Fordham came over at once. We put him to bed, but
• 1:18:35
  the paralysis has spread. He has shown no sign of returning consciousness, and
• 1:18:41
  I think that we shall hardly find him alive. You horrify me, Trevor,
• 1:18:46
  I cried, what then could have been in this letter to cause so
• 1:18:49
  dreadful a result? Nothing there lies the inexplicable part of it. The message
• 1:18:57
  was absurd and trivial. Ah, my god, it is as I feared.
• 1:19:03
  As he spoke. We came round the curve of the avenue and saw
• 1:19:06
  in the fading light that every blind in the house had been drawn down.
• 1:19:12
  As we dashed up to the door, my friend's face convulsed with grief.
• 1:19:16
  A gentleman in black emerged from it. When did it happen, doctor asked
• 1:19:21
  Trevor, almost immediately after you left, did he recover consciousness for an instant
• 1:19:29
  before the end? Any message for me? Only that the papers were in
• 1:19:33
  the back drawer of the Japanese cabinet. My friend ascended with the doctor to
• 1:19:39
  the chamber of death, while I remained in the study, turning the whole
• 1:19:44
  matter over and over in my head, and feeling as somber as ever I
• 1:19:48
  had done in my life. What was the past of this Trevor, pugilist,
• 1:19:54
  traveler and gold digger? And how had he placed himself in the power
• 1:19:58
  of this acid faced seen? Why too, should he faint at an allusion
• 1:20:02
  to the half effaced initials upon his arm and die of fright when he had
• 1:20:08
  a letter from Fordingham. Then I remembered that Fordingham was in Hampshire, and
• 1:20:13
  that this mister Bedows, whom the seamen had gone to visit and presumably to
• 1:20:17
  blackmail, had also been mentioned as living in Hampshire. The letter then might
• 1:20:23
  either come from Hudson, the seaman, saying that he had betrayed the guilty
• 1:20:27
  secret which appeared to exist, or it might come from Bedow's warning an old
• 1:20:32
  confederate that such a betrayal was imminent. So far it seemed clear enough.
• 1:20:39
  But then how could this letter be trivial and grotesque as described by the sun.
• 1:20:44
  He must have misread it. If so, it must have been one
• 1:20:46
  of those ingenious secret codes which mean one thing while they seemed to mean another.
• 1:20:53
  I must see this letter if there were a hidden meaning in it.
• 1:20:57
  I was confident that I could pluck it forth. For an hour I sat
• 1:21:00
  pondering over it in the gloom, until at last a weeping maid brought in
• 1:21:04
  a lamp, and close at her heels came my friend Trevor, pale but
• 1:21:09
  composed with these very papers which lie upon my knee held in his grasp.
• 1:21:15
  He sat down opposite to me, drew the lamp to the edge of the
• 1:21:18
  table, and handed me a short note scribbled as you see upon a single
• 1:21:24
  sheet of gray paper. The supply of game for London is going steadily up.
• 1:21:30
  It ran head keeper Hudson. We believe has been now told to receive
• 1:21:33
  all orders for fly paper and for preservation of your hen pheasant's life. I
• 1:21:41
  dare say my face looked as bewildered as yours did just now when first I
• 1:21:45
  read this message. Then I re read it very carefully. It was evidently
• 1:21:50
  as I had thought, and some secret meaning must lie buried in this strange
• 1:21:56
  combination of words. Or could it be that there was a pre arranged significance
• 1:22:00
  to such phrases as fly paper and hen pheasant. Such a meaning would be
• 1:22:06
  arbitrary and could not be deduced in any way. And yet I was loath
• 1:22:13
  to believe that this was the case. And the presence of the word Hudson
• 1:22:16
  seemed to show that the subject of the message was as I had guessed,
• 1:22:20
  and that it was from Bedow's rather than the sailor. I tried it backwards,
• 1:22:26
  but the combination life pheasant's hen was not encouraging. Then I tried alternate
• 1:22:32
  words, but neither thee or four nor supply game London promised to throw any
• 1:22:39
  light upon it. And then in an instant the key of the riddle was
• 1:22:44
  in my hands, and I saw that every third word beginning with the first
• 1:22:47
  would give a message which might well drive Old Trevor to despair. It was
• 1:22:54
  short and terse the warning, as I now read it to my companion.
• 1:22:59
  The game is up. Hudson has told all fly for your life, Victor
• 1:23:05
  Trevor sank his face into his shaking hands. It must be that, I
• 1:23:10
  suppose, said he, this is worse than death, for it means disgrace
• 1:23:15
  as well. But what is the meaning of these head keepers and hen pheasants.
• 1:23:21
  It means nothing to the message, but it might mean a good deal
• 1:23:25
  to us if we had no other means of discovering the sender. You see
• 1:23:29
  that he has begun by writing the game is and so on. Afterwards he
• 1:23:35
  had to fulfill the prearranged cipher. To fill in any two words in each
• 1:23:40
  space, he would naturally use the first words which came to his mind.
• 1:23:45
  And if there were so many which referred to sport among them, you may
• 1:23:48
  be tolerably sure that he is either an ardent shot or interested in breeding.
• 1:23:54
  Do you know anything of this, Beadows, Why now that you mention it,
• 1:23:59
  said he, I remember that my poor father used to have an invitation
• 1:24:02
  from him to shoot over his preserves every autumn. Then it is undoubtedly from
• 1:24:09
  him that the note comes, said I. It only remains for us to
• 1:24:13
  find out what this secret was which the sailor Hudson seems to have held over
• 1:24:17
  the heads of these two wealthy and respected men. Alas Holmes. I fear
• 1:24:24
  that it is one of sin and shame, cried my friend. But from
• 1:24:28
  you I shall have no secrets. Here is the statement which was drawn up
• 1:24:32
  by my father when he knew that the danger from Hudson had become imminent.
• 1:24:36
  I found it in the Japanese cabinet, as he told the doctor. Take
• 1:24:41
  it and read it to me, for I have neither the strength nor the
• 1:24:45
  courage to do it myself. These are the very papers Watson which he handed
• 1:24:49
  to me, and I will read them to you as I read them in
• 1:24:53
  the Old Study that night to him. They are endorsed outside as you see
• 1:24:59
  some particular killers of the voyage of the bark glorious Scott, from her leaving
• 1:25:02
  Falmouth on the eighth of October eighteen fifty five to her destruction in north latitude
• 1:25:09
  fifteen degrees twenty west long twenty five degrees fourteen on November sixth. It is
• 1:25:16
  in the form of a letter and runs in this way, My dear dear
• 1:25:21
  son, Now that approaching disgrace begins to darken the closing years of my life,
• 1:25:28
  I can write with all truth and honesty that it is not the terror
• 1:25:30
  of the law. It is not the loss of my position in the county,
• 1:25:35
  nor is it my fall in the eyes of all who have known me,
• 1:25:39
  which cuts me to the heart. But it is the thought that you
• 1:25:43
  should come to blush for me, you who love me, and who have
• 1:25:46
  seldom, I hope, had reason to do other than respect me. But
• 1:25:51
  if the blow falls, which is forever hanging over me, then I should
• 1:25:55
  wish you to read this, that you may know straight from me how far
• 1:25:59
  I have been to blame. On the other hand, if all should go
• 1:26:02
  well, which may kind God Almighty grant, then if by any chance this
• 1:26:09
  paper should be still undestroyed and should fall into your hands, I conjure you,
• 1:26:15
  by all you hold sacred, by the memory of your dear mother,
• 1:26:18
  and by the love which had been between us, to hurl it into the
• 1:26:21
  fire, and to never give one thought to it again. If then your
• 1:26:28
  eye goes on to read this line, I know that I shall already have
• 1:26:30
  been exposed and dragged from my home, or, as is more likely,
• 1:26:35
  for you, know that my heart is weak by lying with my tongue sealed
• 1:26:40
  forever in death. In either case, the time for suppression is past,
• 1:26:45
  and every word which I tell you is the naked truth, and this I
• 1:26:48
  swear as I hope for mercy. My name, dear lad is not Trevor.
• 1:26:56
  I was James Armitage in my younger days, and you can understand and
• 1:27:00
  now the shock that it was to me a few weeks ago when your college
• 1:27:03
  friend addressed me in words which seemed to imply that he had surprised my secret.
• 1:27:10
  As Armitage. It was that I entered a London banking house, and
• 1:27:14
  as Armitage I was convicted of breaking my country's laws and was sentenced to transportation.
• 1:27:20
  Do not think very harshly of me, laddie. It was a debt
• 1:27:24
  of honor, so called, which I had to pay, and I used
• 1:27:27
  money which was not my own to do it, in the certainty that I
• 1:27:30
  could replace it before there could be any possibility of its being missed. But
• 1:27:34
  the most dreadful ill luck pursued me. The money which I had reckoned upon
• 1:27:39
  never came to hand, and a premature examination of accounts exposed my deficit.
• 1:27:45
  The case might have been dealt leniently with, but the laws were more harshly
• 1:27:49
  administered thirty years ago than now. And on my twenty third birthday, I
• 1:27:54
  found myself chained as a felon with thirty seven other convicts in tween debts of
• 1:28:00
  the bark Gloria Scott bound for Australia. It was the year fifty five,
• 1:28:05
  when the Crimean War was at its height, and the old convict ships had
• 1:28:10
  been largely used as transports in the Black Sea. The government was compelled therefore
• 1:28:15
  to use smaller and less suitable vessels for sending out their prisoners. The Glorious
• 1:28:20
  Scott had been in the Chinese tea trade, but she was an old fashioned
• 1:28:25
  heavy bowed, broad beamed craft, and the new clippers had cut her out.
• 1:28:30
  She was a five hundred ton boat, and besides her thirty eight jail
• 1:28:33
  birds, she carried twenty six of a crew, eighteen soldiers, a captain,
• 1:28:39
  three mates, a doctor, a chaplain, and four warders. Nearly
• 1:28:45
  a hundred souls were in her all told. When we set sail from Falmouth,
• 1:28:48
  the partitions between the cells of the convicts, instead of being of thick
• 1:28:53
  oak, as is usual in convict ships, were quite thin and frail.
• 1:28:58
  The man next to me upon the aft side was one whom I had particularly
• 1:29:01
  noticed when we were led down the quay. He was a young man with
• 1:29:05
  a clear, pairless face, a long, thin nose, and rather nut
• 1:29:11
  cracker jaws. He carried his head very jauntily in the air, had a
• 1:29:15
  swaggering style of walking, and was, above all else remarkable for his extraordinary
• 1:29:20
  height. I don't think any of our heads would have come up to his
• 1:29:25
  shoulder, and I am sure that he could not have measured less than six
• 1:29:28
  and a half feet. It was strange, among so many sad and weary
• 1:29:32
  faces to see one which was full of energy and resolution. The sight of
• 1:29:36
  it was to me like a fire in a snow storm. I was glad
• 1:29:41
  then to find that he was my neighbor, and glader still when in the
• 1:29:45
  dead of night I heard a whisper close to my ear and found that he
• 1:29:48
  had managed to cut an opening in the board which separated us. Hallo,
• 1:29:53
  chummy, said he, what's your name and what are you here for?
• 1:29:59
  I answered him, and asked in turn who I was talking with. I
• 1:30:02
  am Jack Prendergast, said he, and by God, you'll learn to bless
• 1:30:06
  my name before you've done with me. I remembered hearing of his case,
• 1:30:12
  for it was one which had made an immense sensation throughout the country some time
• 1:30:15
  before my own arrest. He was a man of good family and of great
• 1:30:19
  ability, but of incurably vicious habits, who had, by an ingenious system
• 1:30:25
  of fraud, obtained huge sums of money from the leading London merchants. Ha
• 1:30:30
  ha, are you remember my case, said he proudly, Very well.
• 1:30:33
  Indeed, then maybe you remember something queer about it? What was that?
• 1:30:39
  Then? I'd had nearly a quarter of a million, hadn't I? So,
• 1:30:44
  it was said, but none was recovered. Eh. No, Well,
• 1:30:47
  where do you suppose the balances, he asked, I've no idea,
• 1:30:53
  said I. Right between my finger and thumb, he cried, By God,
• 1:30:59
  I've got more power to my name. Then you've had hairs on your
• 1:31:00
  head. And if you've money, my son, and know how to handle
• 1:31:04
  it and spread it, you can do anything. Now, you don't think
• 1:31:09
  it likely that a man who could do anything is going to wear his breeches
• 1:31:13
  out sitting in the stinking hole of a rat gutted, beetle ridden, moldy
• 1:31:15
  old coffin of a China coaster. No, sir, such a man will
• 1:31:20
  look after himself and will look after his chums. You may lay to that
• 1:31:26
  you hold on to him, and you may kiss the book that he'll haul
• 1:31:29
  you through. That was his style of talk, and at first I thought
• 1:31:33
  it meant nothing. But after a while, when he had tested me and
• 1:31:39
  sworn me in with all possible solemnity, he let me understand that there really
• 1:31:43
  was a plot to gain command of the vessel. A dozen of the prisoners
• 1:31:46
  had hatched it before they came aboard. Prendergast was the leader, and his
• 1:31:51
  money was the motive power. I'd a partner, said, he a rare
• 1:31:57
  good man, as true as a stocked barrel. He's got the DIBs he
• 1:32:01
  has. And where do you think he is at this moment? Why he's
• 1:32:05
  the chaplain of this ship. The chaplain no less. He came aboard with
• 1:32:10
  a black coat and his papers right, and money enough in his box to
• 1:32:14
  buy the thing right up from keel to main truck. The crew are his
• 1:32:18
  body and soul. He could buy em at so much a gross with a
• 1:32:21
  cash discount, and he did it before ever they signed on. He's got
• 1:32:27
  two of the warders, and Maria the second mate, and he'd get the
• 1:32:30
  captain himself if he thought him worth it. What are we to do.
• 1:32:34
  Then I asked, what do you think, said he. We'll make the
• 1:32:39
  coats of some of these soldiers redder than ever the tailor did. But they
• 1:32:43
  are armed, said I, and so shall we be, my boy.
• 1:32:46
  There's a brace of pistols for every mother's son of us. And if we
• 1:32:50
  can't carry this ship with the crew at our back, it's time we were
• 1:32:54
  all sent to a young missus boarding school. You speak to your mate upon
• 1:32:59
  the left to night and see if he is to be trusted. I did
• 1:33:02
  so, and found my other neighbor to be a young fellow in much the
• 1:33:05
  same position as myself, whose crime had been forgery. His name was Evans,
• 1:33:11
  but he afterwards changed it like myself, and he is now a rich
• 1:33:15
  and prosperous man in the south of England. He was ready enough to join
• 1:33:19
  the conspiracy as the only means of saving ourselves. And before we had crossed
• 1:33:24
  the bay there were only two of the prisoners who were not in the secret.
• 1:33:29
  One of these was of weak mind, and we did not dare to
• 1:33:31
  trust him, and the other was suffering from jaundice and could not be of
• 1:33:36
  any use to us. From the beginning, there was really nothing to prevent
• 1:33:41
  us from taking possession of the ship. The crew were a set of Ruffians
• 1:33:45
  specially picked for the job. The sham chaplain came into our cells to exhort
• 1:33:49
  us, carrying a black bag supposed to be full of tracts. And so
• 1:33:55
  often did he come that by the third day we had each stowed away at
• 1:33:59
  the foot of our beds a file, a brace of pistols, a pound
• 1:34:02
  of powder, and twenty slugs. Two of the warders were agents of Prendergast,
• 1:34:09
  and the second mate was his right hand man, the captain. The
• 1:34:13
  two mates, two warders, Lieutenant Martin, his eighteen soldiers, and the
• 1:34:17
  doctor were all that we had against us. Yet, safe as it was,
• 1:34:23
  we determined to neglect no precaution and to make our attack suddenly by night.
• 1:34:29
  It came, however, more quickly than we expected, and in this
• 1:34:31
  way, one evening, about the third week after our start, the doctor
• 1:34:36
  had come down to see one of the prisoners who was ill, and,
• 1:34:40
  putting his hand down on the bottom of his bunk, he felt the outline
• 1:34:44
  of the pistols. If he had been silent, he might have blown the
• 1:34:47
  whole thing. But he was a nervous little chap, so he gave a
• 1:34:53
  cry of surprise and turned so pale that the man knew what was up in
• 1:34:57
  an instant and seized him. He was gagged before he could give the alarm
• 1:35:00
  and tied down upon the bed. He had unlocked the door that led to
• 1:35:04
  the deck, and we were through it in a rush. The two sentries
• 1:35:09
  were shot down, and so was a corporal who came running to see what
• 1:35:12
  was the matter. There were two more soldiers at the door of the stateroom,
• 1:35:15
  and their muskets seemed not to be loaded, for they never fired upon
• 1:35:19
  us, and they were shot while trying to fix their bayonets. Then we
• 1:35:24
  rushed on into the captain's cabin, but as we pushed open the door,
• 1:35:28
  there was an explosion from within, and there he lay with his brains smeared
• 1:35:32
  over the chart of the Atlantic, which was pinned upon the table, while
• 1:35:36
  the chaplain stood with a smoking pistol in his hand at his elbow. The
• 1:35:42
  two mates had both been seized by the crew, and the whole business seemed
• 1:35:45
  to be settled. The stateroom was next to the cabin, and we flocked
• 1:35:49
  in there and flopped down on the settees, all speaking together, for we
• 1:35:54
  were just mad with the feeling that we were free once more. There were
• 1:35:58
  lockers all round, and Wilson, the sham Chaplain, knocked one of them
• 1:36:01
  in and pulled out a dozen of brown sherry. We cracked off the necks
• 1:36:06
  of the bottles, poured the stuff out into tumblers, and were just tossing
• 1:36:11
  them off when in an instant, without warning, there came the roar of
• 1:36:15
  muskets in our ears, and the saloon was so full of smoke that we
• 1:36:18
  couldn't see across the table. When it cleared again, the place was a
• 1:36:24
  shambles. Wilson and eight others were wriggling on the top of each other on
• 1:36:29
  the floor, and the blood and the brown sherry on that table turned me
• 1:36:32
  sick now when I think of it. We were so cowed by the sight
• 1:36:38
  that I think we should have given the job up if it had not been
• 1:36:40
  for Prendigast. He bellowed like a bull and rushed for the door, with
• 1:36:45
  all that were left alive at his heels. Out we ran, and there
• 1:36:47
  on the poop were the lieutenant and ten of his men. The swinging skylights
• 1:36:53
  above the saloon table had been a bit open, and they had fired on
• 1:36:56
  us through the slit. We got on them before they could load. When
• 1:37:00
  they stood to it like men, but we had the upper hand of them,
• 1:37:03
  and in five minutes it was all over. My God, was there
• 1:37:08
  ever a slaughter house like that ship. Prendigas was like a raging devil,
• 1:37:13
  and he picked the soldiers up as if they had been children, and threw
• 1:37:15
  them overboard, alive or dead. There was one sergeant that was horribly wounded,
• 1:37:21
  and yet kept on swimming for a surprising time, until some one in
• 1:37:26
  mercy blew out his brains. When the fighting was over, there was no
• 1:37:30
  one left of our enemies except just the warders, the mates, and the
• 1:37:33
  doctor. It was over them that the great quarrel arose. There were many
• 1:37:40
  of us who were glad enough to win back our freedom, and yet who
• 1:37:43
  had no wish to have murder on our souls. It was one thing to
• 1:37:46
  knock the soldiers over with their muskets in their hands, and it was another
• 1:37:49
  to stand by while men were being killed in cold blood. Eight of us,
• 1:37:55
  five convicts and three sailors, said that we would not see it done.
• 1:38:00
  But there was no moving Prendigast and those who were with him our only
• 1:38:03
  chance of safety lay in making a clean job of it, said he,
• 1:38:06
  and he would not leave a tongue with powet of wag in a witness box.
• 1:38:12
  It nearly came to our sharing the fate of the prisoners, but at
• 1:38:15
  last he said that if we wished, we might take a boat and go.
• 1:38:18
  We jumped at the offer, for we were already sick of these bloodthirsty
• 1:38:23
  doings, and we saw that there would be worse before it was done.
• 1:38:27
  We were given a suit of sailor togs each, a barrel of water,
• 1:38:30
  two casks, one of junk and one of biscuits, and a compass.
• 1:38:35
  Prendigas threw us over a chart told us that we were shipwrecked mariners whose ship
• 1:38:41
  had founded in latitude fifteen degrees and long twenty five degrees west, and then
• 1:38:45
  cut the painter and let us go. And now I come to the most
• 1:38:49
  surprising part of my story, my dear son. The seamen had hauled the
• 1:38:56
  four yard aback during the rising, but now as we left them, they
• 1:39:00
  brought it square again. And as there was a light wind from the north
• 1:39:03
  and east, the bark began to draw slowly away from us. Our boat
• 1:39:09
  lay rising and falling upon the long, smooth rollers, and Evans and I,
• 1:39:14
  who were the most educated of the party, were sitting in the sheets,
• 1:39:16
  working out our position and planning what coast we should make for. It
• 1:39:21
  was a nice question, for the Cape de Verdes were about five hundred miles
• 1:39:26
  to the north of us, and the African coast about seven hundred to the
• 1:39:30
  east. On the whole. As the wind was coming round to the north,
• 1:39:33
  we thought that Sierra Leone might be best, and turned our head in
• 1:39:38
  that direction. The bark being at that time nearly hulled down on our starboard
• 1:39:42
  quarter. Suddenly, as we looked at her, we saw a dense black
• 1:39:46
  cloud of smoke shoot up from her, which hung like a monstrous tree upon
• 1:39:50
  the sky line. A few seconds later, a roar like thunder burst upon
• 1:39:56
  our ears, and as the smoke thinned away, there was no sign left
• 1:40:00
  of the glorious Scott. In an instant we swept the boat's head round again
• 1:40:05
  and pulled with all our strength for the place where the haze still trailing over
• 1:40:10
  the water marked the scene of this catastrophe. It was a long hour before
• 1:40:15
  we reached it, and at first we feared that we had come too late
• 1:40:17
  to save anyone. A splintered boat and a number of crates and fragments of
• 1:40:23
  spars rising and falling on the waves showed us where the vessel had founded,
• 1:40:29
  But there was no sign of life, and we had turned away in despair
• 1:40:32
  when we heard a cry for help and saw at some distance a piece of
• 1:40:36
  wreckage with a man lying stretched across it. When we pulled him aboard the
• 1:40:42
  boat, he proved to be a young seaman of the name of Hudson,
• 1:40:45
  who was so burned and exhausted that he could give us no account of what
• 1:40:49
  had happened until the following morning. It seemed that after we had left,
• 1:40:56
  Prendergast and his gang had proceeded to put to death the five remaining prisoners.
• 1:41:00
  The two warders had been shot and thrown overboard, and so also had the
• 1:41:04
  third mate. Prendergast then descended into the tween decks and with his own hands,
• 1:41:11
  cut the throat of the unfortunate surgeon. There only remained the first mate,
• 1:41:15
  who was a bold and active man. When he saw the convict approaching
• 1:41:20
  him with the bloody knife in his hand, he kicked off his bonds,
• 1:41:25
  which he had somehow contrived to loosen and rushing down the deck, he plunged
• 1:41:30
  into the afterhold. A dozen convicts who descended with their pistols in search of
• 1:41:34
  him, found him with a match box in his hand, seated beside an
• 1:41:39
  open powder barrel, which was one of a hundred carried on board, and
• 1:41:44
  swearing that he would blow all hands up if he were in any way molested.
• 1:41:47
  An instant later the explosion occurred, though Hudson thought it was caused by
• 1:41:53
  the misdirected bullet of one of the convicts rather than the mate's match. Be
• 1:41:58
  the cause what it may, it was the end of the glorious Scott and
• 1:42:01
  of the rabble who held command of her. Such in a few words,
• 1:42:06
  my dear boy, is the history of this terrible business in which I was
• 1:42:10
  involved. Next day we were picked up by the brig Hotspur, bound for
• 1:42:15
  Australia, whose captain found no difficulty in believing that we were the survivors of
• 1:42:19
  a passenger ship which had founded the transport ship. Gloria Scott was set down
• 1:42:26
  by the Admiralty as being lost at sea, and no word has ever leaked
• 1:42:30
  out as to her true fate. After an excellent voyage, the Hotspur landed
• 1:42:35
  us at Sydney, where Evans and I changed our names and made our way
• 1:42:40
  to the Diggings, where among the crowds who were gathered from all nations,
• 1:42:44
  we had no difficulty in losing our former identities. The rest I need not
• 1:42:48
  relate. We prospered, we traveled, We came back as rich colonials to
• 1:42:54
  England, and we bought country estates. For more than twenty years we have
• 1:42:59
  led peace and useful lives, and we hoped that our past was forever buried
• 1:43:04
  imagined. Then my feelings when in the seamen who came to us, I
• 1:43:10
  recognized instantly the man who had been picked off the wreck. He had tracked
• 1:43:15
  us down somehow and had set himself to live upon our fears. You will
• 1:43:19
  understand now how it was that I strove to keep the peace with him,
• 1:43:24
  and you will, in some measure sympathize with me in the fears which fill
• 1:43:27
  me now that he has gone from me to his other victim, with threats
• 1:43:31
  upon his tongue underneath his written in a hand so shaky as to be hardly
• 1:43:36
  legible, Beddo's rites in cipher to say H as told all, sweet Lord,
• 1:43:43
  have mercy on our souls. That was the narrative which I read that
• 1:43:48
  night to young Trevor, and I think Watson that under the circumstances it was
• 1:43:54
  a dramatic one. The good fellow was heartbroken at it and went out to
• 1:43:58
  the Terai tea plant, where I hear that he is doing well. As
• 1:44:02
  to the sailor and Bedohs, neither of them was ever heard of again after
• 1:44:08
  that day on which the letter of warning was written. They both disappeared utterly
• 1:44:13
  and completely. No complaint had been lodged with the police, so that Beddos
• 1:44:17
  had mistaken a threat for a deed. Hudson had been seen lurking about,
• 1:44:23
  and it was believed by the police that he had done away with Bedows and
• 1:44:26
  had fled for myself. I believe that the truth was exactly the opposite.
• 1:44:31
  I think that it is most probable that Bedos, pushed to desperation, and
• 1:44:36
  believing himself to have been already betrayed, had revenged himself upon Hudson, and
• 1:44:42
  had fled from the country with as much money as he could lay his hands
• 1:44:45
  on. Those are the facts of the case, doctor, and if they
• 1:44:49
  are of any use to your collection, I am sure that they are very
• 1:44:54
  heartily at your service. End of the glorious Scott the Crooked Man. One
• 1:45:02
  summer night, a few months after my marriage, I was seated by my
• 1:45:06
  own hearth, smoking a last pipe and nodding over a novel. For my
• 1:45:11
  day's work had been an exhausting one. My wife had already gone upstairs,
• 1:45:15
  and the sound of the locking of the hall door some time before told me
• 1:45:19
  that the servants had also retired. I had risen from my seat and was
• 1:45:25
  knocking out the ashes of my pipe when I suddenly heard the clang of the
• 1:45:28
  bell. I looked at the clock. It was a quarter to twelve.
• 1:45:32
  This could not be a visitor at so late an hour, A patient,
• 1:45:36
  evidently, and possibly an all night. Sitting with a wry face, I
• 1:45:42
  went out into the hall and opened the door. To my astonishment, it
• 1:45:45
  was Sherlock Holmes who stood upon my step. Ah Watson said he. I
• 1:45:50
  hoped that I might not be too late to catch you, my dear fellow,
• 1:45:55
  pray come in. You look surprised, and no wonder relieved too.
• 1:46:00
  I fancy, hmm, you still smoke the Arcadia mixture of your bachelor days.
• 1:46:04
  Then there's no mistaking that fluffy ash upon your coat. It's easy to
• 1:46:10
  tell that you've been accustomed to wear a uniform, Watson, you'll never pass
• 1:46:14
  as a pure bred civilian as long as you keep that habit of carrying your
• 1:46:17
  handkerchief in your sleeve. Could you put me up to night with pleasure?
• 1:46:24
  You told me that you had bachelor quarters for one, and I see that
• 1:46:28
  you have no gentleman visitor at present. Your hat stand proclaims as much.
• 1:46:32
  I shall be delighted if you will stay. Thank you. I'll fill the
• 1:46:38
  vacant peg. Then. Sorry to see that you've had the British workman in
• 1:46:41
  the house. He's a token of evil. Not the drains, I hope,
• 1:46:45
  No, the gas ah. He has left two nail marks from his
• 1:46:50
  boot upon your lnoleum, just where the light strikes it. No, thank
• 1:46:55
  you. I had some supper at Waterloo, but i'll smoke a pipe with
• 1:46:59
  you with pleasure. I handed him my pouch, and he seated himself opposite
• 1:47:03
  to me and smoked for some time in silence. I was well aware that
• 1:47:08
  nothing but business of importance would have brought him to me at such an hour,
• 1:47:13
  so I waited patiently until he should come round to it. I see
• 1:47:16
  that you are professionally rather busy just now, said he, glancing very keenly
• 1:47:21
  across at me. Yes, I've had a busy day, I answered.
• 1:47:26
  It may seem very foolish in your eyes. I added, but really I
• 1:47:30
  don't know how you deduced it. Holmes chuckled to himself. I have the
• 1:47:34
  advantage of knowing your habits, my dear Watson, said he. When your
• 1:47:39
  round is a short one, you walk, and when it is a long
• 1:47:42
  one you use a hansom. As I perceive that your boots, although used,
• 1:47:46
  are by no means dirty, I cannot doubt that you are at present
• 1:47:50
  busy enough to justify the handsome excellent, I cried elementary, said he.
• 1:47:59
  It is one of those instances where the reasoner can produce an effect which seems
• 1:48:02
  remarkable to his neighbour, because the latter has missed the one little point which
• 1:48:08
  is the basis of the deduction. The same may be, said, my
• 1:48:11
  dear fellow, for the effect of some of these little sketches of yours,
• 1:48:15
  which is entirely meretricious, depending as it does, upon your retaining in your
• 1:48:19
  own hands some factors in the problem which are never imparted to the reader.
• 1:48:25
  Now, at present, I am in the position of these same readers.
• 1:48:30
  For I hold in this hand several threads of one of the strangest cases which
• 1:48:34
  ever perplexed a man's brain. And yet I lack the one or two which
• 1:48:39
  are needful to complete my theory. But I'll have them, Watson, I'll
• 1:48:45
  have them. His eyes kindled, and a slight flush sprang into his thin
• 1:48:49
  cheeks. For an instant. Only when I glanced again, his face had
• 1:48:55
  resumed that red Indian composure which had made so many regard him as an machine
• 1:49:00
  rather than a man. The problem presents features of interest, said he.
• 1:49:05
  I may even say exceptional features of interest. I have already looked into the
• 1:49:11
  matter and have come, as I think, within sight of my solution.
• 1:49:15
  If you could accompany me in the last step, you might be of considerable
• 1:49:17
  service to me. I should be delighted. Could you go as far as
• 1:49:24
  Aldershot tomorrow? I have no doubt Jackson would take my practice very good.
• 1:49:30
  I want to start by the eleven ten from Waterloo. That would give me
• 1:49:33
  time. Then, if you are not too sleepy, I will give you
• 1:49:38
  a sketch of what has happened, and of what remains to be done.
• 1:49:43
  I was sleepy before you came. I am quite wakeful now. I will
• 1:49:47
  compress the story as far as may be done without omitting anything vital to the
• 1:49:51
  case. It is conceivable that you may even have read some account of the
• 1:49:57
  matter. It is the suppose murder of Colonel Barclay of the Royal Munsters at
• 1:50:02
  Aldershot, which I am investigating. I've heard nothing of it. It has
• 1:50:09
  not excited much attention yet except locally. The facts are only two days old.
• 1:50:15
  Briefly they are these The Royal Monsters is, as you know, one
• 1:50:18
  of the most famous Irish regiments in the British Army. He did wonders both
• 1:50:24
  in the Crimea and the mutiny, and since that time distinguished itself upon every
• 1:50:29
  possible occasion. It was commanded up to Monday night by James Barclay, a
• 1:50:33
  gallant veteran who started as a full private, was raised to commission rank for
• 1:50:40
  his bravery at the time of the mutiny, and so lived to command the
• 1:50:43
  regiment in which he had once carried a musket. Colonel Barklay had married at
• 1:50:48
  the time when he was a sergeant, and his wife, whose maiden name
• 1:50:51
  was Miss Nancy Devoy, was the daughter of a former color sergeant in the
• 1:50:57
  same corps. There was, therefore, or as can be imagined, some
• 1:51:00
  little social friction, when the young couple, or they were still young,
• 1:51:05
  found themselves in their new surroundings. They appear, however, to have quickly
• 1:51:10
  adapted themselves, and missus Berkley, as always, I understand, been as
• 1:51:15
  popular with the ladies of the regiment as her husband was with his brother officers.
• 1:51:20
  I may add that she was a woman of great beauty, and as
• 1:51:24
  even now, when she has been married for upwards of thirty years, she
• 1:51:28
  is still of a striking and queenly appearance. Colonel Barkley's family life appears to
• 1:51:33
  have been a uniformly happy one. Major Murphy, to whom I owe most
• 1:51:38
  of my facts, assures me that he has never heard of any misunderstanding between
• 1:51:42
  the pair. On the whole, he thinks that Berkeley's devotion to his wife
• 1:51:46
  was greater than his wife's. To Berkeley, he was acutely uneasy if he
• 1:51:53
  were absent from her for a day. She, on the other hand,
• 1:51:57
  though devoted and faithful, was less obstruse affectionate. But they were regarded in
• 1:52:01
  the regiment as the very model of a middle aged couple. There was absolutely
• 1:52:05
  nothing in their mutual relations to prepare people for the tragedy which was to follow.
• 1:52:12
  Colonel Barklay himself seems to have had some singular traits in his character.
• 1:52:16
  He was a dashing, jovial old soldier in his usual mood, but there
• 1:52:20
  were occasions on which he seemed to show himself capable of considerable violence and vindictiveness.
• 1:52:28
  This side of his nature, however, appears never to have been turned
• 1:52:31
  towards his wife. Another fact which had struck Major Murphy and three out of
• 1:52:36
  five of the other officers with whom I conversed was the singular sort of depression
• 1:52:41
  which came upon him at times. As the Major expressed it, the smile
• 1:52:46
  had often been struck from his mouth, as if by some invisible hand,
• 1:52:50
  when he has been joining the gaieties and chaff of the mess table for days
• 1:52:56
  on end. When the mood was on him, he has been sunk in
• 1:52:59
  the deepest growdom. This and a certain tinge of superstition were the only unusual
• 1:53:04
  traits in his character which his brother officers had observed. The latter peculiarity took
• 1:53:11
  the form of a dislike to being left alone, especially after dark. This
• 1:53:15
  puerile feature in a nature which was conspicuously manly, had often given rise to
• 1:53:21
  comment and conjecture. The first Battalion of the Royal Munsters, which is the
• 1:53:28
  old one hundred seventeen, has been stationed at Aldershot for some years. The
• 1:53:32
  married officers live out of barracks, and the Colonel has during all this time
• 1:53:36
  occupied a villa called Lachene, about half a mile from the North camp.
• 1:53:42
  The house stands in its own grounds, but the west side of it is
• 1:53:45
  not more than thirty yards from the high road. A coachman and two maids
• 1:53:49
  formed the staff of servants. These, with their master and mistress, were
• 1:53:54
  the sole occupants of Lachine, for the Barclays had no children, nor was
• 1:53:59
  it usual for them to have resident visitors. Now for the events at Lachene
• 1:54:03
  between nine and ten on the evening of last Monday, Missus Berkeley was,
• 1:54:10
  it appears, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and had interested herself
• 1:54:14
  very much in the establishment of the Guild of Saint George, which was formed
• 1:54:18
  in connection with the Watt Street Chapel for the purpose of supplying the poor with
• 1:54:23
  cast off clothing. A meeting of the guild had been held that evening at
• 1:54:27
  eight, and Missus Berkley had hurried over her dinner in order to be present
• 1:54:30
  at it. When leaving the house, she was heard by the coachman to
• 1:54:35
  make some commonplace remark to her husband and to assure him that she would be
• 1:54:41
  back before very long. She then called for missus Morrison, a young lady
• 1:54:45
  who lives in the next villa, and the two went off together to their
• 1:54:49
  meeting. It lasted forty minutes, and at a quarter past nine, Missus
• 1:54:55
  Berkeley returned home, having left miss Morrison at her door as she passed.
• 1:55:00
  There's a room which is used as a morning room at Lachine. This faces
• 1:55:05
  the road and opens by a large glass folding door onto the lawn. The
• 1:55:11
  lawn is thirty yards across and is only divided from the highway by a low
• 1:55:15
  wall with an iron rail above it. It was into this room that Missus
• 1:55:19
  Berkley went upon her return. The blinds were not down, for the room
• 1:55:25
  was seldom used in the evening, but Missus Barkley herself lit the lamp and
• 1:55:30
  then rang the bell, asking Jane Stewart, the housemaid to bring her a
• 1:55:34
  cup of tea, which was quite contrary to her usual habits. The colonel
• 1:55:40
  had been sitting in the dining room, but hearing that his wife had returned,
• 1:55:44
  he joined her in the morning room. The coachman saw him cross the
• 1:55:47
  hall and enter it. He was never seen again alive. The tea,
• 1:55:54
  which had been ordered was brought up at the end of ten minutes, but
• 1:55:58
  the maid, as she approached the door, was surprised to hear the voices
• 1:56:00
  of her master and mistress in furious altercation. She knocked without receiving any answer,
• 1:56:08
  and even turned the handle, but only to find that the door was
• 1:56:12
  locked upon the inside. Naturally enough, she ran down to tell the cook,
• 1:56:16
  and the two women with the coachman came up into the hall and listened
• 1:56:20
  to the dispute, which was still raging. They all agreed that only two
• 1:56:25
  voices were to be heard, those of Berkeley and of his wife. Berkeley's
• 1:56:30
  remarks were subdued and abrupt, so that none of them were audible to the
• 1:56:33
  listeners. The ladies, on the other hand, were most bitter, and
• 1:56:38
  when she raised her voice could be plainly heard. You coward, she repeated,
• 1:56:43
  over and over again, what can be done, What can be done?
• 1:56:46
  Now, give me back my life. I will never so much as
• 1:56:50
  breathe the same air with you again, You coward, you coward. Those
• 1:56:56
  were scraps of her conversation, ending in a sudden, dreadful cry in the
• 1:57:00
  man's voice, with a crash and a piercing scream from the woman. Convinced
• 1:57:05
  that some tragedy had occurred, the coachman rushed to the door and strove to
• 1:57:10
  force it, while scream after scream issued from within. He was unable,
• 1:57:15
  however, to make his way in, and the maids were too distracted with
• 1:57:19
  fear to be of any assistance to him. A sudden thought struck him,
• 1:57:25
  however, and he ran through the hall door and round to the lawn upon
• 1:57:30
  which the long French windows open. One side of the window was open,
• 1:57:34
  which I understand was quite usual in the summer time, and he passed without
• 1:57:39
  difficulty into the room. His mistress had ceased to scream, and was stretched
• 1:57:45
  insensible upon a couch, while with his feet tilted over the side of an
• 1:57:49
  arm chair and his head upon the ground near the corner of the fender,
• 1:57:55
  was lying the unfortunate soldier Stone dead in a pool of his own blood.
• 1:58:00
  Naturally, the coachman's first thought, on finding that he could do nothing for
• 1:58:04
  his master, was to open the door. But here an unexpected and singular
• 1:58:10
  difficulty presented itself. The key was not in the inner side of the door,
• 1:58:15
  nor could he find it anywhere in the room. He went out again,
• 1:58:19
  therefore through the window, and having obtained the help of a policeman and
• 1:58:24
  of a medical man, he returned. The lady, against whom naturally the
• 1:58:29
  strongest suspicion rested, was removed to her room, still in a state of
• 1:58:33
  insensibility. The colonel's body was then placed upon the sofa, and a careful
• 1:58:39
  examination made of the scene of the tragedy. The injury from which the unfortunate
• 1:58:45
  veteran was suffering was found to be a jagged cut some two inches long at
• 1:58:49
  the back part of his head, which had evidently been caused by a violent
• 1:58:55
  blow from a blunt weapon. Nor was it difficult to guess what that weapon
• 1:59:00
  may have been. Upon the floor, close to the body was lying a
• 1:59:04
  singular club of hard carved wood with a bone handle. The colonel possessed a
• 1:59:11
  varied collection of weapons brought from the different countries in which he had fought,
• 1:59:15
  and it is conjectured by the police that his club was among his trophies.
• 1:59:21
  The servants deny having seen it before, but among the numerous curiosities in the
• 1:59:26
  house, it is possible that it may have been overlooked. Nothing else of
• 1:59:30
  importance was discovered in the room by the police, save the inexplicable fact that
• 1:59:36
  neither upon Missus Barclay's person, nor upon that of the victim, nor in
• 1:59:42
  any part of the room, was the missing key to be found. The
• 1:59:45
  door had eventually to be opened by a locksmith from Aldershot. That was the
• 1:59:50
  state of things, Watson, when upon the Tuesday morning, I, at
• 1:59:55
  the request of Major Murphy, went down to Aldershot to supplement the efforts of
• 2:00:00
  the police. I think that you will acknowledge that the problem was already one
• 2:00:03
  of interest, but my observations soon made me realize that it was, in
• 2:00:09
  truth much more extraordinary than would at first sight appear. Before examining the room,
• 2:00:15
  I cross questioned the servants, but only succeeded in eliciting the facts which
• 2:00:19
  I have already stated. One other detail of interest was remembered by Jane Stewart,
• 2:00:26
  the housemaid you will remember that, on hearing the sound of the quarrel,
• 2:00:30
  she descended and returned with the other servants. On that first occasion,
• 2:00:34
  when she was alone, she says that the voices of her master and mistress
• 2:00:40
  were sunk so low that she could hear hardly anything, and judged by their
• 2:00:44
  tones rather than their words, that they had fallen out on my pressing her.
• 2:00:48
  However, she remembered that she heard the word David uttered twice by the
• 2:00:54
  lady. The point is of the utmost importance as guiding us towards the reason
• 2:00:59
  of the sudden quarrel. The colonel's name, you remember, was James.
• 2:01:05
  There was one thing in the case which had made the deepest impression, both
• 2:01:09
  upon the servants and the police. This was the contortion of the colonel's face.
• 2:01:15
  It had set, according to their account, into the most dreadful expression
• 2:01:18
  of fear and horror which a human countenance is capable of assuming. More than
• 2:01:24
  one person fainted at the mere sight of him. So terrible was the effect,
• 2:01:29
  it was quite certain that he had foreseen his fate, and that it
• 2:01:32
  had caused him the utmost horror. This, of course, fitted in well
• 2:01:38
  enough with the police theory if the colonel could have seen his wife making a
• 2:01:43
  murderous attack upon him, Nor was the fact of the wound being on the
• 2:01:46
  back of his head a fatal objection to this, as he might have turned
• 2:01:50
  to avoid the blow. No information could be got from the lady herself,
• 2:01:56
  who was temporarily insane from an acute attack of brain fever. From the police,
• 2:02:01
  I learned that Miss Morrison, who you remember, went out that evening
• 2:02:04
  with Missus Barclay, denied having any knowledge of what it was which had caused
• 2:02:09
  the ill humor in which her companion had returned. Having gathered these facts,
• 2:02:15
  Watson I smoked several pipes over them, trying to separate those which were crucial
• 2:02:19
  from others which were merely incidental. There could be no question that the most
• 2:02:25
  distinctive and suggestive point in the case was the singular disappearance of the door key.
• 2:02:32
  A most careful search had failed to discover it in the room. Therefore
• 2:02:36
  it must have been taken from it, But neither the colonel nor the colonel's
• 2:02:42
  wife could have taken it. That was perfectly clear. Therefore, a third
• 2:02:47
  person must have entered the room, and that third person could only have come
• 2:02:51
  in through the window. It seemed to me that a careful examination of the
• 2:02:57
  room and the lawn might possibly reveal some traces of this mysterious individual. You
• 2:03:02
  know my methods, Watson. There was not one of them which I did
• 2:03:05
  not apply to the inquiry, and it ended by my discovering traces, but
• 2:03:11
  very different ones from those which I had expected. There had been a man
• 2:03:16
  in the room, and he had crossed the lawn coming from the road.
• 2:03:21
  I was able to obtain five very clear impressions of his footmarks, one in
• 2:03:27
  the roadway itself at the point where he had climbed the low wall, two
• 2:03:30
  on the lawn, and two very faint ones upon the stained boards near the
• 2:03:34
  window where he had entered. He had apparently rushed across the lawn, for
• 2:03:40
  his toe marks were much deeper than his heels. But it was not the
• 2:03:44
  man who surprised me. It was his companion. His companion Holmes pulled a
• 2:03:51
  large sheet of tissue paper out of his pocket and carefully unfolded it upon his
• 2:03:56
  knee. What do you make of that, he asked. The paper was
• 2:04:01
  covered with the tracings of the footmarks of some small animal. It had five
• 2:04:06
  well marked footpads an indication of long nails, and the whole print might be
• 2:04:13
  nearly as large as a dessert spoon. It's a dog, said I.
• 2:04:18
  Did you ever hear of a dog running up a curtain? I found distinct
• 2:04:24
  traces that this creature had done so a monkey, then, But it is
• 2:04:30
  not the print of a monkey. What can it be, then, neither
• 2:04:35
  dog, nor cat, nor monkey, nor any creature that we are familiar
• 2:04:40
  with. I have tried to reconstruct it from the measurements. Here are four
• 2:04:45
  prints where the beast has been standing motionless. You see that it is no
• 2:04:48
  less than fifteen inches from four foot to hind. Add to that the length
• 2:04:54
  of neck and head, and you get a creature not much less than two
• 2:04:57
  feet long, probably more as any tail. But now observe this other measurement.
• 2:05:04
  The animal has been moving, and we have the length of its stride.
• 2:05:09
  In each case it is only about three inches. You have an indication,
• 2:05:14
  you see of a long body with very short legs attached to it.
• 2:05:17
  It has not been considerate enough to leave any of its hair behind it,
• 2:05:21
  but its general shape must be what I have indicated, and it can run
• 2:05:26
  up a curtain, and it is carnivorous. How do you deduce that because
• 2:05:32
  it ran up the curtain a canary's cage was hanging in the window, and
• 2:05:38
  its aim seems to have been to get at the bird? Then what was
• 2:05:42
  the beast? Ah? If I could give it a name, it might
• 2:05:45
  go a long way towards solving the case. On the whole, it was
• 2:05:50
  probably some creature of the weasel and stoat tribe, And yet it is larger
• 2:05:56
  than any of these that I have seen. But what had it to do
• 2:05:59
  with the crime, That also is still obscure. But we have learned a
• 2:06:04
  good deal, you perceive. We know that a man stood in the road
• 2:06:09
  looking at the quarrel between the barclays, the blinds were up and the room
• 2:06:13
  lighted. We know also that he ran across the lawn, entered the room
• 2:06:17
  accompanied by a strange animal, and that he either struck the colonel, or,
• 2:06:21
  as is equally possible, that the colonel fell down from sheer fright at
• 2:06:27
  the sight of him and cut his head on the corner of the fender.
• 2:06:30
  Finally, we have the curious fact that the intruder carried away the key with
• 2:06:35
  him when he left. Your discoveries seem to have left the business more obscure
• 2:06:40
  than it was before, said I. Quite so, they undoubtedly showed that
• 2:06:45
  the affair was much deeper than was at first conjectured. I thought the matter
• 2:06:50
  over, and I came to the conclusion that I must approach the case from
• 2:06:55
  another aspect. But really, Watson, I am keeping you up, and
• 2:07:00
  I might just as well tell you all this on our way to Aldershot to
• 2:07:02
  morrow. Thank you, you've gone rather too far to stop. It is
• 2:07:09
  quite certain that when missus Barclay left the house at half past seven she was
• 2:07:14
  on good terms with her husband. She was never, as I think I've
• 2:07:16
  said, ostentatiously affectionate, but she was heard by the coachman chatting with the
• 2:07:21
  colonel in a friendly fashion. Now it was equally certain that immediately on her
• 2:07:28
  return she had gone to the room in which she was least likely to see
• 2:07:31
  her husband, had flown to tea as an agitated woman will, and finally,
• 2:07:38
  on his coming in to her, had broken into violent recriminations. Therefore,
• 2:07:43
  something had occurred between seven thirty and nine o'clock which had completely altered her
• 2:07:48
  feelings towards him. But Miss Morrison had been with her during the whole of
• 2:07:53
  that hour, and a half. It was absolutely certain. Therefore, in
• 2:07:58
  spite of her denial, that she must know something of the matter. My
• 2:08:03
  first conjecture was that possibly there had been some passages between this young lady and
• 2:08:07
  the old soldier, which the former had now confessed to the wife. That
• 2:08:11
  would account for the angry return, and also for the girl's denial that anything
• 2:08:16
  had occurred. Nor would it be entirely incompatible with most of the words overheard.
• 2:08:24
  But there was the reference to David, and there was the known affection
• 2:08:28
  of the colonel for his wife to weigh against it, to say nothing of
• 2:08:31
  the tragic intrusion of this other man, which might of course be entirely disconnected
• 2:08:35
  with what had gone before. It was not easy to pick one's steps,
• 2:08:41
  but on the whole I was inclined to dismiss the idea that there had been
• 2:08:45
  anything between the colonel and miss Morrison, but more than ever, convinced that
• 2:08:50
  the young lady held a clue as to what it was which had turned Missus
• 2:08:54
  Barclay to hatred of her husband, I took the obvious course therefore, of
• 2:08:58
  calling upon Miss m of explaining to her that I was perfectly certain that she
• 2:09:03
  held the facts in her possession, and of assuring her that her friend,
• 2:09:07
  missus Barclay, might find herself in the dock upon a capital charge unless the
• 2:09:13
  matter were cleared up. Miss Morrison is a little ethereal slip of a girl
• 2:09:18
  with timid eyes and blonde hair. But I found her by no means wanting
• 2:09:22
  in shrewdness and common sense. She sat thinking for some time after I had
• 2:09:28
  spoken, and then turning to me with a brisk air of resolution, she
• 2:09:31
  broke into a remarkable statement, which I'll condense for your benefit. I promise
• 2:09:39
  my friend that I would say nothing of the matter. And a promise is
• 2:09:43
  a promise, said she. But if I can really help her when so
• 2:09:48
  serious a charge is laid against her, and when her own mouth, poor
• 2:09:52
  darling, is closed by illness, then I think I am absolved from my
• 2:09:56
  promise. I will tell you exactly what happened. Upon Monday evening, we
• 2:10:01
  were returning from the Watt Street Mission about a quarter to nine o'clock. On
• 2:10:07
  our way, we had to pass through Hudson Street, which is a very
• 2:10:09
  quiet thoroughfare. There is only one lamp in it upon the left hand side,
• 2:10:15
  and as we approached this lamp I saw a man coming towards us,
• 2:10:20
  with his back very bent and something like a box slung over one of his
• 2:10:24
  shoulders. He appeared to be deformed, for he carried his head low and
• 2:10:28
  walked with his knees bent. We were passing him when he raised his face
• 2:10:33
  to look at us in the circle of light thrown by the lamp, and
• 2:10:37
  as he did so, he stopped and screamed out in a dreadful voice,
• 2:10:41
  My god, it's Nancy. Missus Berkley turned as white as death and would
• 2:10:48
  have fallen down had the dreadful looking creature not caught hold of her. I
• 2:10:52
  was going to call for the police, but she, to my surprise,
• 2:10:56
  spoke quite civilly to the fellow. I thought you'd been dead this thirty years,
• 2:11:01
  henry, said she in a shaking voice. So I have said he
• 2:11:07
  and it was awful to hear the tones that he said it in. He
• 2:11:11
  had a very dark, fearsome face and a gleam in his eyes that comes
• 2:11:16
  back to me in my dreams. His hair and whiskers were shot with gray,
• 2:11:20
  and his face was all crinkled and puckered like a withered apple. Just
• 2:11:26
  walk on a little way, dear, said missus Barclay, I won't have
• 2:11:30
  a word with this man. There's nothing to be afraid of. She tried
• 2:11:33
  to speak boldly, but she was still deadly pale, and could hardly get
• 2:11:37
  her words out for the trembling of her lips. I did as she asked
• 2:11:41
  me, and they talked together for a few minutes. Then she came down
• 2:11:46
  the street with her eyes blazing, and I saw the crippled wretch standing by
• 2:11:50
  the lamp post and shaking his clenched fists in the air, as if you
• 2:11:54
  were mad with rage. She never said a word until we were at the
• 2:11:58
  door again, when she took me by the hand and begged me to tell
• 2:12:03
  no one what had happened. It's an old acquaintance of mine who's come down
• 2:12:07
  in the world, said she. When I promised her I would say nothing,
• 2:12:13
  she kissed me, and I have never seen her since. I've told
• 2:12:18
  you now the whole truth. And if I withheld it from the police,
• 2:12:22
  it is because I did not realize then the danger which my dear friend stood.
• 2:12:26
  I know that it can only be to her advantage that everything should be
• 2:12:31
  known. There was her statement, Watson, and to me, as you
• 2:12:35
  can imagine, It was like a light on a dark night. Everything which
• 2:12:39
  had been disconnected before began at once to assume its true place, and I
• 2:12:45
  had a shadowy presentiment of the whole sequence of events. My next step,
• 2:12:50
  obviously, was to find the man who had produced such a remarkable impression upon
• 2:12:54
  missus Barclay. If he were still in Aldershot. Should not be a very
• 2:13:00
  difficult matter. There are not such a very great number of civilians, and
• 2:13:05
  a deformed man was sure to have attracted attention. I spent a day in
• 2:13:09
  the search, and by evening, this very evening Watson I had run him
• 2:13:15
  down. The man's name is Henry Wood, and he lives in lodgings in
• 2:13:20
  this same street in which the ladies met him. He has only been five
• 2:13:24
  days in the place. In the character of a registration agent, I had
• 2:13:28
  a most interesting gossip with his landlady. The man is by trade a conjurer
• 2:13:33
  and performer, going round the canteens after nightfall and giving a little entertainment at
• 2:13:39
  each He carries some creature about with him in that box, about which the
• 2:13:45
  landlady seemed to be in considerable trepidation, for she had never seen an animal
• 2:13:50
  like it. He uses it in some of his tricks. According to her
• 2:13:52
  account, so much the woman was able to tell me, And also that
• 2:13:58
  it was a wonder the man lived, seeing how twisted he was, and
• 2:14:01
  that he spoke in a strange tongue sometimes, and that for the last two
• 2:14:07
  nights she had heard him groaning and weeping in his bedroom. He was all
• 2:14:11
  right as far as money went. But in his deposit he had given her
• 2:14:16
  what looked like a bad florin. She showed it to me, Watson,
• 2:14:20
  and it was an Indian rupee. So now, my dear fellow, you
• 2:14:24
  see exactly how we stand, and why it is I want you. It
• 2:14:28
  is perfectly plain that after the ladies parted from this man, he followed them
• 2:14:33
  at a distance, that he saw the quarrel between husband and wife through the
• 2:14:37
  window, that he rushed in, and that the creature which he carried in
• 2:14:41
  his box got loose. That is all very certain. But he is the
• 2:14:46
  only person in this world who can tell us exactly what happened in that room.
• 2:14:52
  And you intend to ask him, most certainly, but in the presence
• 2:14:58
  of a witness, and I am the witness, if you will be so
• 2:15:03
  good, if he can clear the matter up well and good. If he
• 2:15:07
  refuses, we have no alternative but to apply for a warrant. But how
• 2:15:11
  do you know he'll be there when we return? You may be sure that
• 2:15:16
  I took some precautions. I have one of my Baker Street boys mounting guard
• 2:15:20
  over him, who would stick to him like a burr. Go where he
• 2:15:24
  might. We shall find him in Hudson Street to morrow, Watson. And
• 2:15:28
  meanwhile, I should be the criminal myself if I kept you out of bed
• 2:15:33
  any longer. It was midday when we found ourselves at the scene of the
• 2:15:39
  tragedy, and under my companion's guidance, we made our way at once to
• 2:15:43
  Hudson Street. In spite of his capacity for concealing his emotions, I could
• 2:15:48
  easily see that Holmes was in a state of suppressed excitement, while I was
• 2:15:54
  myself tingling with that half sporting, half intellectual pleasure which I invariably ax experienced
• 2:16:00
  when I associated myself with him in his investigations. This is a street,
• 2:16:05
  said he, as we turned into a short thoroughfare lined with plain two storied
• 2:16:11
  brick houses. Ah here is Simpson to report? Is in all right?
• 2:16:18
  Mister Ewmes? Cried? A small street Arab running up to us. Good
• 2:16:22
  Simpson, said Holmes, patting him on the head. Come along, Watson,
• 2:16:26
  this is the house. He sent in his card with a message that
• 2:16:30
  he had come on important business. And a moment later we were face to
• 2:16:35
  face with the man whom we had come to see. In spite of the
• 2:16:39
  warm weather. He was crouching over a fire, and the little room was
• 2:16:43
  like an oven. The man sat all twisted and huddled in his chair in
• 2:16:48
  a way which gave an indescribable impression of deformity. But the face which he
• 2:16:52
  turned towards us, though worn and swarthy, must at some time have been
• 2:16:56
  remarkable for its beauty. He looked suspiciously at us now out of yellow shot,
• 2:17:03
  bilious eyes, and without speaking or rising, he waved towards two chairs.
• 2:17:09
  Mister Henry Wood, late of India, I believe, said Holmes affably.
• 2:17:15
  I've come over this little matter of Colonel Barclay's death. What should I
• 2:17:20
  know about that? That's what I want to ascertain. You know. I
• 2:17:26
  suppose that unless the matter is cleared up, missus Barclay, who is an
• 2:17:30
  old friend of yours, will in all probability be tried for murder. The
• 2:17:35
  man gave a violent start. I don't know who you are, he cried,
• 2:17:39
  nor how you come to know what you do know. But will you
• 2:17:43
  swear that this is true, that you tell me why they are only waiting
• 2:17:48
  for her to come to her senses to arrest her. My god, are
• 2:17:52
  you in the police yourself? No? What business is it of yours?
• 2:17:56
  Then it's every man's business to see justice done. You can take my word
• 2:18:01
  that she is innocent, then you are guilty. No, I'm not who
• 2:18:09
  killed Colonel James Barclay. Then it was a just providence that killed him.
• 2:18:13
  But mind you this that if I had knocked his brains out, as it
• 2:18:18
  was in my heart to do, he would have had no more than his
• 2:18:20
  due from my hands. If his own guilty conscience had not struck him down.
• 2:18:26
  It is likely enough that I may have had his blood upon my soul.
• 2:18:30
  You want me to tell the story, Well, I don't know why
• 2:18:33
  I shouldn't, for there's no cause for me to be ashamed of it.
• 2:18:37
  It was in this way, sir, You see me now, with my
• 2:18:41
  back like a camel and my ribs all awry. But there was a time
• 2:18:45
  when Corporal Henry Wood was the smartest man in the one hundred and seventeenth foot.
• 2:18:50
  We were in India, then in cantonments, at a place we'll call
• 2:18:54
  Bertie. Berkeley, who died the other day, was sergeant in the same
• 2:18:58
  company as myself, and the bell of the regiment. Aye. And the
• 2:19:03
  finest girl that ever had the breath of life between her lips was Nancy Devoy,
• 2:19:07
  the daughter of the color sergeant. There were two men who loved her
• 2:19:11
  and one that she loved. And you'll smile when you look at this poor
• 2:19:16
  thing huddle before the fire and hear me say that it was for my good
• 2:19:22
  looks that she loved me. Well. Though I had her heart. Her
• 2:19:26
  father was set upon her marrying Berkley. I was a hare and scarem reckless
• 2:19:31
  lad, and he had had an education and was already marked for the sword
• 2:19:35
  belt. But the girl held true to me, and it seemed that I
• 2:19:41
  would have had her. When the mutiny broke out and all hell was loose
• 2:19:45
  in the country, we were shut up in Bertie, the regiment of us
• 2:19:50
  with half a battery of artillery, a company of Sikhs, and a lot
• 2:19:54
  of civilians and women folk. There were ten thousand rebels around us, and
• 2:19:58
  they were as keen as a set of terriers round a rack cage. About
• 2:20:03
  the second week of it, our water gave out, and it was a
• 2:20:05
  question whether we could communicate with General Neil's column, which was moving up country.
• 2:20:11
  It was our only chance, for we could not hope to fight our
• 2:20:15
  way out with all the women and children. So I volunteered to go out
• 2:20:18
  and to warn General Neil of our danger. My offer was accepted, and
• 2:20:24
  I talked it over with Sergeant Barclay, who was supposed to know the ground
• 2:20:28
  better than any other man, and who drew up a route by which I
• 2:20:31
  might get through the rebel lines. At ten o'clock the same night I started
• 2:20:37
  off upon my journey. There were a thousand lives to save, but it
• 2:20:41
  was of only one that I was thinking when I dropped over the wall that
• 2:20:45
  night. My way ran down a dried up water course, which we hoped
• 2:20:50
  would screen me from the enemy's sentries. But as I crept round the corner
• 2:20:54
  of it, I walked right into six of them, who were crouching down
• 2:20:58
  in the dark waiting for me. In an instant I was stunned with a
• 2:21:03
  blow and bound hand and foot. But the real blow was to my heart
• 2:21:07
  and not to my head. For as I came to and listened to as
• 2:21:11
  much as I could understand of their talk, I heard enough to tell me
• 2:21:16
  that my comrade, the very man who had arranged the way that I was
• 2:21:20
  to take, had betrayed me by means of a native servant, into the
• 2:21:24
  hands of the enemy. Well, there's no need for me to dwell on
• 2:21:28
  that part of it, you know now what James Berkley was capable of.
• 2:21:33
  Bertie was relieved by nil next day, but the rebels took me away with
• 2:21:37
  them in their retreat, and it was many a long year before ever I
• 2:21:41
  saw a white face again. I was tortured and tried to get away,
• 2:21:46
  and was captured and tortured again. You can see for yourselves the state in
• 2:21:52
  which I was left. Some of them that fled into Nepal took me with
• 2:21:56
  them, and then afterwards I was up past Argie. The hill folk up
• 2:22:01
  there murdered the rebels who had me, and I became their slave for a
• 2:22:05
  time until I escaped. But instead of going south, I had to go
• 2:22:09
  north until I found myself among the Afghans. There. I wandered about for
• 2:22:15
  many a year and at last came back to the Punjab, where I lived
• 2:22:20
  mostly among the natives, and picked up a living by the conjuring tricks that
• 2:22:24
  I had learned. What use was it for me, a wretched cripple,
• 2:22:28
  to go back to England, or to make myself known to my old comrades.
• 2:22:33
  Even my wish for revenge would not make me do that. I had
• 2:22:37
  rather that Nancy in my old pals, should think of Harry Wood as having
• 2:22:41
  died with a straight back, than see him living and crawling with a stick
• 2:22:46
  like a chimpanzee. They never doubted that I was dead, and I meant
• 2:22:52
  that they never should. I heard that Barclay had married Nancy, and that
• 2:22:56
  he was rising rapidly in the regiment, but even that did not make me
• 2:23:00
  speak. But when one gets old, one has a longing for home.
• 2:23:07
  For years, I've been dreaming of the bright green fields and the hedges of
• 2:23:09
  England. At last I determined to see them before I died. I saved
• 2:23:16
  enough to bring me across, and then I came here where the soldiers are,
• 2:23:20
  for I know their ways and how to amuse them, and so earn
• 2:23:24
  enough to keep me. Your narrative is most interesting said Sherlock Holmes. I
• 2:23:30
  have already heard of your meeting with missus Barclay and your mutual recognition. You
• 2:23:35
  then, as I understand, followed her home and saw through the window an
• 2:23:39
  altercation between her husband and her, in which she doubtless cast his conduct to
• 2:23:43
  you in his teeth your own feelings overcame you, and you ran across the
• 2:23:48
  lawn and broke in upon them. I did, sir, and at the
• 2:23:54
  sight of me, he looked as I have never seen a man look before.
• 2:23:58
  And over he went, with his head on the fence. But he
• 2:24:01
  was dead before he fell. I read death on his face as plain as
• 2:24:05
  I can read that text over the fire. The bare sight of me was
• 2:24:09
  like a bullet through his guilty heart. And then then Nancy fainted, and
• 2:24:16
  I caught up the key of the door from her hand, intending to unlock
• 2:24:18
  it and get help. But as I was doing it, it seemed to
• 2:24:22
  me better to leave it alone and get away, for the thing might look
• 2:24:26
  black against me, and anyway my secret would be out if I were taken.
• 2:24:31
  In my haste, I thrust the key into my pocket and dropped my
• 2:24:35
  stick while I was chasing Teddy, who had run up the curtain. When
• 2:24:39
  I got him into his box from which he had slipped, I was off
• 2:24:43
  as fast as I could run. Who's Teddy, asked Holmes. The man
• 2:24:48
  leaned over and pulled up the front of a kind of hutch in the corner.
• 2:24:52
  In an instant out there slipped a beautiful reddish brown creature, thin and
• 2:24:58
  lithe with a eggs of a stoat, a long, thin nose, and
• 2:25:01
  a pair of the finest red eyes that ever I saw in an animal's head.
• 2:25:07
  It's a mongoose, I cried. Well, some call them that,
• 2:25:11
  and some call them ick Newman said the man. Snake catcher is what I
• 2:25:16
  call them, and Teddy is amazing quick on Cobra's I have one here without
• 2:25:22
  the fangs, and Teddy catches it every night to please the folk in the
• 2:25:26
  canteen. Any other point, sir, well, we may have to apply
• 2:25:31
  to you again if missus Barclay should prove to be in serious trouble. In
• 2:25:35
  that case, of course I'd come forward. But if not, there is
• 2:25:41
  no object in raking up this scandal against a dead man, foully as he
• 2:25:46
  has acted. You have at least the satisfaction of knowing that for thirty years
• 2:25:50
  of his life. His conscience bitterly reproached him for this wicked deed. Ah,
• 2:25:56
  there goes Major Murphy on the other side of the street. Good,
• 2:26:00
  I would I want to learn if anything has happened since yesterday. We were
• 2:26:05
  in time to overtake the Major before he reached the corner. Ah, Holmes,
• 2:26:09
  he said, I suppose you've heard that all this fuss has come to
• 2:26:13
  nothing. What then the inquest is just over. The medical evidence shows conclusively
• 2:26:20
  that death was due to apoplexy. You see, it was quite a simple
• 2:26:24
  case, after all. Oh, remarkably superficial, said Holmes, smiling.
• 2:26:28
  Come, Watson, I don't think we shall be wanted in Aldershot anymore.
• 2:26:33
  There's one thing, said I, as we walked down to the station.
• 2:26:37
  If the husband's name was James and the other was Henry, what was this
• 2:26:43
  talk about, David? That one word, my dear Watson, should have
• 2:26:48
  told me the whole story. Had I been the ideal reasoner which you are
• 2:26:52
  so fond of depicting, it was evidently a term of reproach. Of reproach,
• 2:27:00
  David strayed a little occasionally, you know, and on one occasion in
• 2:27:03
  the same direction, as Sergeant James Barclay, you remember the small fare of
• 2:27:09
  Uriah and Bathsheba. My biblical knowledge is a trifle rusty, I fear,
• 2:27:15
  but you will find the story in the first or second of Samuel, end
• 2:27:20
  of the Crooked Man, the Final Problem. It is with a heavy heart
• 2:27:28
  that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I
• 2:27:31
  shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend mister Sherlock Holmes was distinguished
• 2:27:37
  in an incoherent and, as I deeply feel, an entirely inadequate fashion.
• 2:27:43
  I have endeavored to give some account of my strange experiences in his company,
• 2:27:48
  from the chance which first brought us together at the period of the study in
• 2:27:52
  Scarlet, up to the time of his interference in the matter of the Naval
• 2:27:56
  Treaty, an interference which had the unquestionable effect of preventing a serious international complication.
• 2:28:03
  It was my intention to have stopped there and to have said nothing of
• 2:28:07
  that event, which has created a void in my life, which the lapse
• 2:28:11
  of two years has done little to fill. My hand has been forced,
• 2:28:16
  however, by the recent letters in which Colonel James Moriarty defends the memory of
• 2:28:20
  his brother, and I have no choice but to lay the facts before the
• 2:28:24
  public exactly as they occurred. I alone know the absolute truth of the matter,
• 2:28:31
  and I am satisfied that the time has come when no good purpose is
• 2:28:35
  to be served by its suppression. As far as I know, there have
• 2:28:39
  been only three accounts in the public press, that in the Jean Val de
• 2:28:45
  Geneve on May sixth, eighteen ninety one, the Reuter's Dispatch in the English
• 2:28:50
  papers on May seventh, and finally the recent letter to which I have alluded
• 2:28:54
  of these, the first and second were extremely condensed. Why how the last
• 2:29:01
  is, as I shall now show, an absolute perversion of the facts.
• 2:29:05
  It lies with me to tell for the first time what really took place between
• 2:29:11
  Professor Moriarty and mister Sherlock Holmes. It may be remembered that after my marriage
• 2:29:16
  and my subsequent start in private practice, the very intimate relations which had existed
• 2:29:22
  between Holmes and myself became, to some extent modified. He still came to
• 2:29:28
  me from time to time when he desired a companion in his investigation, but
• 2:29:33
  these occasions grew more and more seldom, until I found that in the year
• 2:29:37
  eighteen ninety there were only three cases, of which I retain any record.
• 2:29:43
  During the winter of that year and the early spring of eighteen ninety one,
• 2:29:48
  I saw in the papers that he had been engaged by the French government upon
• 2:29:50
  a matter of supreme importance, and I received two notes from Homes dated from
• 2:29:56
  Nalbourne and from nim from which I get athered that his stay in France was
• 2:30:01
  likely to be a long one. It was with some surprise, therefore,
• 2:30:05
  that I saw him walk into my consulting room upon the evening of April twenty
• 2:30:09
  fourth. It struck me that he was looking even paler and thinner than usual.
• 2:30:16
  Yes, I have been using myself up rather too freely, he remarked,
• 2:30:18
  in answer to my look, rather than to my words. I have
• 2:30:22
  been a little pressed of late. Have you any objection to my closing your
• 2:30:26
  shutters? The only light in the room came from the lamp upon the table
• 2:30:31
  at which I had been reading. Holmes edged his way round the wall,
• 2:30:35
  and, flinging the shutters together, he bolted them securely. You are afraid
• 2:30:41
  of something, I asked, Well, I am of what of air guns?
• 2:30:48
  My dear Holmes, what do you mean? I think that you know
• 2:30:52
  me well enough Watson to understand that I am, by no means a nervous
• 2:30:56
  man. At the same time, it is stupidity, rather than courage,
• 2:31:01
  to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you. Might I trouble
• 2:31:07
  you for a match? He drew in the smoke of his cigarette, as
• 2:31:11
  if the soothing influence was grateful to him. I must apologize for calling so
• 2:31:16
  late, said he. And I must further beg you to be so unconventional
• 2:31:20
  as to allow me to leave your house presently by scrambling over your back garden
• 2:31:26
  wall. But what does it all mean, I asked. He held out
• 2:31:31
  his hand, and I saw in the light of the lamp that two of
• 2:31:33
  his knuckles were burst and bleeding. It is not an airy nothing, you
• 2:31:39
  see, said he, smiling. On the contrary, it is solid enough
• 2:31:45
  for a man to break his hand over, is missus Watson in she is
• 2:31:50
  away upon a visit? Indeed, you are alone quite then it makes it
• 2:31:56
  easier for me to propose that you should come away with me for a week
• 2:32:01
  to the continent, where, oh anywhere. It's all the same to me.
• 2:32:07
  There was something very strange in all this. It was not Holmes's nature
• 2:32:11
  to take an aimless holiday, and something about his pale, worn face told
• 2:32:16
  me that his nerves were at their highest tension. He saw the question in
• 2:32:20
  my eyes, and, putting his finger tips together and his elbows upon his
• 2:32:24
  knees, he explained the situation you have probably never heard of. Professor Moriarty
• 2:32:31
  said he never. Aye. There's the genius and the wonder of the thing,
• 2:32:37
  he cried. The man pervades London, and no one has heard of
• 2:32:41
  him. That's what puts him on a pinnacle in the records of crime.
• 2:32:46
  I tell you, Watson, in all seriousness, that if I could beat
• 2:32:50
  that man, if I could free society of him, I should feel that
• 2:32:54
  my own career had reached its summit, and I should be prepared to turn
• 2:32:58
  to some more placid life in life between ourselves. The recent cases in which
• 2:33:03
  I have been of assistance to the Royal family of Scandinavia and to the French
• 2:33:07
  Republic have left me in such a position that I could continue to live in
• 2:33:13
  the quiet fashion which is most congenial to me, and to concentrate my attention
• 2:33:18
  upon my chemical researches. But I could not rest Watson. I could not
• 2:33:24
  sit quiet in my chair if I thought that such a man as Professor Moriarty
• 2:33:28
  were walking the streets of London unchallenged. What has he done then? His
• 2:33:35
  career has been an extraordinary one. He is a man of good birth and
• 2:33:39
  excellent education, endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the age
• 2:33:46
  of twenty one, he wrote a treatise upon the binomial theorem, which has
• 2:33:50
  had a European vogue. On the strength of it. He won the mathematical
• 2:33:56
  chair at one of our smaller universities and had, to all appearances, a
• 2:34:00
  most brilliant career before him. But the man had hereditary tendencies of the most
• 2:34:05
  diabolical kind. A criminal strain ran in his blood, which, instead of
• 2:34:11
  being modified, was increased and rendered infinitely more dangerous by his extraordinary mental powers.
• 2:34:18
  Dark rumors gathered round him in the university town, and eventually he was
• 2:34:24
  compelled to resign his chair and to come down to London, where he set
• 2:34:28
  up as an army coach. So much is known to the world, but
• 2:34:33
  what I am telling you now is what I have myself discovered. As you
• 2:34:39
  are aware, Watson, there is no one who knows the higher criminal world
• 2:34:43
  of London so well as I do. For years past, I have continually
• 2:34:48
  been conscious of some power behind the malefactor, some deep, organizing power which
• 2:34:54
  forever stands in the way of the law and throws its shield over the wrong
• 2:34:58
  doer again and again. In cases of the most varying sorts forgery cases,
• 2:35:05
  robberies, murders, I have felt the presence of this force, and I
• 2:35:09
  have deduced its action in many of those undiscovered crimes in which I have not
• 2:35:13
  been personally consulted. For years, I have endeavored to break through the veil
• 2:35:18
  which shrouded it. And at last the time came when I seized my thread
• 2:35:24
  and followed it until it led me after a thousand cunning windings to ex Professor
• 2:35:30
  Moriarty of mathematical celebrity. He is the Napoleon of crime Watson. He is
• 2:35:37
  the organizer of half that is evil and nearly all that is undetected in this
• 2:35:41
  great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker.
• 2:35:48
  He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless like a spider
• 2:35:52
  in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations,
• 2:35:58
  and he knows well every quest of each of them. He does little himself.
• 2:36:03
  He only plans, but his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Is
• 2:36:09
  there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will
• 2:36:13
  say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed. The
• 2:36:16
  word is passed to the Professor, the matter is organized and carried out.
• 2:36:22
  The agent may be caught. In that case, money is found for his
• 2:36:26
  bail or his defense. But the central power which uses the agent is never
• 2:36:31
  caught, never so much as suspected. This was the organization which I deduced,
• 2:36:37
  Watson, and which I devoted my whole energy to exposing and breaking up.
• 2:36:43
  But the Professor was fenced around with safeguards so cunningly devised that do what
• 2:36:48
  I would, it seemed impossible to get evidence which would convict in a court
• 2:36:52
  of law. You know my powers, my dear Watson. And yet at
• 2:36:58
  the end of three months I was forced to confess that I had at last
• 2:37:03
  met an antagonist who was my intellectual equal. My horror at his crimes was
• 2:37:09
  lost in my admiration at his skill. But at last he made a trip,
• 2:37:13
  only a little, little trip, but it was more than he could
• 2:37:18
  afford. When I was so close upon him, I had my chance,
• 2:37:22
  and starting from that point I have woven my net around him, until now
• 2:37:26
  it is all ready to close. In three days, that is to say,
• 2:37:31
  on Monday, next matters will be ripe, and the Professor, with
• 2:37:35
  all the principal members of his gang, will be in the hands of the
• 2:37:39
  police. Then will come the greatest criminal trial of the century, the clearing
• 2:37:43
  up of over forty mysteries, and the rope for all of them. But
• 2:37:48
  if we move at all prematurely, you understand, they may slip out of
• 2:37:52
  our hands, even at the last moment. Now, if I could have
• 2:37:56
  done this without the knowledge of Professor Moriarty, all would have been well.
• 2:38:03
  But he was too wily for that. He saw every step which I took
• 2:38:07
  to draw my toils round him. Again and again he strove to break away,
• 2:38:13
  but I as often headed him off. I tell you, my friend,
• 2:38:16
  that if a detailed account of that silent contest could be written, it
• 2:38:20
  would take its place as the most brilliant bit of thrust and parry work in
• 2:38:24
  the history of detection. Never have I risen to such a height, and
• 2:38:30
  never have I been so hard pressed by an opponent. He cut deep,
• 2:38:35
  and yet I just undercut him. This morning, the last steps were taken,
• 2:38:39
  and three days only were wanted to complete the business. I was sitting
• 2:38:45
  in my room thinking the matter over when the door opened and Professor Moriarty stood
• 2:38:50
  before me. My nerves are fairly proof, Watson, but I must confess
• 2:38:56
  to a start. When I saw the very man who so much in my
• 2:39:01
  thoughts standing there on my threshold, his appearance was quite familiar to me.
• 2:39:07
  He is extremely tall and thin. His forehead domes out in a white curve,
• 2:39:11
  and his two eyes are deeply sunken in his head. He's clean shaven,
• 2:39:18
  pale, and acetic looking, retaining something of the Professor in his features.
• 2:39:24
  His shoulders are rounded from much study, and his face protrudes forward and
• 2:39:28
  is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion. He
• 2:39:35
  peered at me with great curiosity in his puckered eyes. You have less frontal
• 2:39:41
  development than I should have expected, said he at last. It is a
• 2:39:45
  dangerous habit to finger loaded firearms in the pocket of one's dressing gown. The
• 2:39:52
  fact is that upon his entrance I had instantly recognized the extreme personal danger in
• 2:39:58
  which I lay. The only conceivable escape for him lay in, silencing my
• 2:40:03
  tongue. In an instant, I had slipped the revolver from the drawer into
• 2:40:07
  my pocket and was covering him through the cloth. At this remark, I
• 2:40:13
  drew the weapon out and laid it cocked upon the table. He still smiled
• 2:40:18
  and blinked, but there was something about his eyes which made me feel very
• 2:40:22
  glad that I had it there. You evidently don't know me, said he.
• 2:40:28
  On the contrary, I answered, I think it is fairly evident that
• 2:40:33
  I do pray. Take a chair. I can spare you five minutes if
• 2:40:37
  you have anything to say. All that I have to say has already crossed
• 2:40:43
  your mind, said he. Then, possibly my answer has crossed yours,
• 2:40:48
  I replied, you stand fast. Absolutely. He clapped his hand into his
• 2:40:56
  pocket, and I raised the pistol from the table. He merely drew out
• 2:41:00
  a memorandum book in which she had scribbled some dates. You crossed my path
• 2:41:05
  on the fourth of January, said he. On the twenty third, you
• 2:41:11
  incommoded me. By the middle of February, I was seriously inconvenienced by you.
• 2:41:16
  At the end of March, I was absolutely hampered in my plans.
• 2:41:22
  And now, at the close of April, I find myself placed in such
• 2:41:24
  a position through your continual persecution, that I am in positive danger of losing
• 2:41:31
  my liberty. The situation is becoming an impossible one. Have you any suggestion
• 2:41:37
  to make? I asked, you must drop it, mister Holmes, said,
• 2:41:43
  he, swaying his face about you really must you know after Monday,
• 2:41:50
  said I. Tut tut, said he. I am quite sure that a
• 2:41:56
  man of your intelligence will see that there can be but one outcome to this
• 2:42:01
  affair. It is necessary that you should withdraw. You have worked things in
• 2:42:07
  such a fashion that we have only one resource left. It has been an
• 2:42:13
  intellectual treat to me to see the way in which you have grappled with this
• 2:42:16
  affair. And I say, unaffectedly that it would be a grief to me
• 2:42:22
  to be forced to take any extreme measure. You smile, sir, but
• 2:42:28
  I assure you that it really would. Danger is part of my trade.
• 2:42:33
  I remarked. That is not danger, said he, It is inevitable destruction.
• 2:42:41
  You stand in the way not merely of an individual, but of a
• 2:42:45
  mighty organization, the full extent of which you, with all your cleverness,
• 2:42:50
  have been unable to realize. You must stand clear, mister Holmes, or
• 2:42:56
  be trodden under foot. I am afraid, said I rising that in the
• 2:43:01
  pleasure of this conversation, I am neglecting business of importance which awaits me elsewhere.
• 2:43:09
  He rose also and looked at me in silence, shaking his head sadly.
• 2:43:16
  Well well, said he at last. It seems a pity, But
• 2:43:20
  I have done what I could. I know every move of your game.
• 2:43:26
  You can do nothing before Monday. It has been a duel between you and
• 2:43:31
  me. Mister Holmes. You hope to place me in the dock. I
• 2:43:35
  tell you that I will never stand in the dock. You hope to beat
• 2:43:39
  me. I tell you that you will never beat me. If you are
• 2:43:45
  clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as
• 2:43:50
  much to you. You have paid me several compliments, mister Moriarty, said,
• 2:43:56
  I let me pay you one in return. When I say that,
• 2:44:00
  if I were assured of the former eventuality, I would, in the interests
• 2:44:03
  of the public, cheerfully accept the latter. I can promise you the one,
• 2:44:11
  but not the other. He snarled, and so turned his rounded back
• 2:44:16
  upon me and went peering and blinking out of the room. That was my
• 2:44:22
  singular interview with Professor Moriarty. I confess that it left an unpleasant effect upon
• 2:44:28
  my mind. His soft, precise fashion of speech leaves a conviction of sincerity
• 2:44:33
  which a mere bully could not produce. Of course, you will say why
• 2:44:39
  not take police precautions against him? The reason is that I am well convinced
• 2:44:43
  that it is from his agents the blow will fall. I have the best
• 2:44:48
  proofs that it would be, so you have already been assaulted, my dear
• 2:44:52
  Watson. Professor Moriarty is not a man who lets the grass grow under his
• 2:44:58
  feet. I went out about midday to transact some business in Oxford Street.
• 2:45:05
  As I passed the corner which leads from Bentinck Street on to the Welbeck Street
• 2:45:09
  crossing, a two horse van furiously driven, whizzed round and was on me
• 2:45:13
  like a flash. I sprang for the footpath and saved myself by the fraction
• 2:45:18
  of a second. The van dashed round by Marlbourne Lane and was gone in
• 2:45:24
  an instant. I kept the pavement after that, Watson, But as I
• 2:45:28
  walked down Via Street, a brick came down from the roof of one of
• 2:45:31
  the houses and was shattered to fragments at my feet. I called the police
• 2:45:37
  and had the place examined. There were slates and bricks piled up on the
• 2:45:43
  roof, preparatory to some repairs, and they would of me believe that the
• 2:45:46
  wind had toppled over one of these. Of course I knew better, but
• 2:45:52
  I could prove nothing. I took a cab after that and reached my brother's
• 2:45:56
  rooms in Pall Mall, where I spent the day. Now I have come
• 2:46:00
  round to you, and on my way I was attacked by a ruff with
• 2:46:03
  a bludgeon. I knocked him down and the police have him in custody.
• 2:46:09
  But I can tell you with the most absolute confidence that no possible connection will
• 2:46:13
  ever be traced between the gentleman upon whose front teeth I have barked my knuckles,
• 2:46:18
  and the retiring mathematical coach, who is I dare say, working out
• 2:46:24
  problems upon a blackboard ten miles away. You will not wonder, Watson,
• 2:46:28
  that my first act on entering your rooms was to close your shutters, and
• 2:46:33
  that I have been compelled to ask your permission to leave the house by some
• 2:46:37
  less conspicuous exit than the front door. I had often admired my friend's courage,
• 2:46:45
  but never more than now, as he sat quietly checking off a series
• 2:46:48
  of incidents which must have combined to make up a day of horror. You
• 2:46:52
  will spend the night here, I said, no, my friend, you
• 2:46:58
  might find me a dangerous guest. I have my plans laid, and all
• 2:47:03
  will be well. Matters have gone so far now that they can move without
• 2:47:07
  my help as far as the arrest goes. Though my presence is necessary for
• 2:47:11
  a conviction. It is obvious therefore that I cannot do better than get away
• 2:47:18
  for the few days which remain before the police are at liberty to act.
• 2:47:22
  It would be a great pleasure to me. Therefore, if you would come
• 2:47:26
  on to the continent with me. The practice is quiet, said I,
• 2:47:31
  and I have an accommodating neighbor. I should be glad to come and to
• 2:47:35
  start to morrow morning if necessary. Oh, yes, it is most necessary.
• 2:47:43
  And these are your instructions, and I beg my dear Watson, that
• 2:47:46
  you will obey them to the letter, for you are now playing a double
• 2:47:50
  handed game with me against the cleverest rogue and the most powerful syndicate of criminals
• 2:47:56
  in Europe. Now listen, you will dispatch whatever luggage you intend to take
• 2:48:01
  by a trusting messenger, unaddressed to Victoria to night. In the morning you
• 2:48:07
  will send for a hansom, desiring your man to take neither the first nor
• 2:48:11
  the second which may present itself Into this hansom. You will jump, and
• 2:48:18
  you will drive to the strand end of the Louder arcade, handing the address
• 2:48:22
  to the cabman upon a slip of paper, with a request that you will
• 2:48:26
  not throw it away, have your fare ready, and the instant that your
• 2:48:31
  cab stops dashed through the arcade, timing yourself to reach the other side.
• 2:48:35
  At a quarter past nine, you will find a small brougham waiting close to
• 2:48:41
  the curb, driven by a fellow with a heavy black cloak tipped at the
• 2:48:45
  collar with red. Into this you will step, and you will reach Victoria
• 2:48:50
  in time for the Continental Express. Where shall I meet you at the station?
• 2:48:56
  The second first class carriage from the front will be reserved for us.
• 2:49:01
  The carriage is our rendezvous. Then, yes, it was in vain that
• 2:49:05
  I asked Holmes to remain for the evening. It was evident to me that
• 2:49:11
  he thought he might bring trouble to the roof he was under, and that
• 2:49:13
  that was the motive which impelled him to go. With a few hurried words
• 2:49:18
  as to our plans for the morrow, he rose and came out with me
• 2:49:22
  into the garden, clambering over the wall which leads into Mortimer Street, and
• 2:49:28
  immediately whistling for a hansom, in which I heard him drive away. In
• 2:49:33
  the morning. I obeyed Holmes's injunction to the letter, a hansom was procured
• 2:49:37
  with such precaution as would prevent its being one which was placed ready for us,
• 2:49:43
  and I drove immediately after breakfast to the louther arcade, through which I
• 2:49:48
  hurried at the top of my speed. Abruugham was waiting with a very massive
• 2:49:52
  driver wrapped in a dark cloak, who the instant that I had stepped in,
• 2:49:56
  whipped up the horse and rattled off to Victory Rhea station. On my
• 2:50:01
  alighting there, he turned the carriage and dashed away again without so much as
• 2:50:07
  a look in my direction. So far all had gone admirably. My luggage
• 2:50:13
  was waiting for me, and I had no difficulty in finding the carriage which
• 2:50:16
  Holmes had indicated, the less so as it was the only one in the
• 2:50:20
  train which was marked engaged. My only source of anxiety now was the non
• 2:50:28
  appearance of homes. The station clock marked only seven minutes from the time when
• 2:50:33
  we were due to start in Vain. I searched among the groups of travelers
• 2:50:37
  and leave takers for the lithe figure of my friend. There was no sign
• 2:50:43
  of him. I spent a few minutes in assisting a venerable Italian priest who
• 2:50:48
  was endeavoring to make a porter understand in his broken English that his luggage was
• 2:50:52
  to be booked through to Paris. Then, having taken another look around,
• 2:50:58
  I returned to my carriage, where I found that the porter, in spite
• 2:51:01
  of the ticket, had given me my decrepit Italian friend as a traveling companion.
• 2:51:09
  It was useless for me to explain to him that his presence was an
• 2:51:11
  intrusion, for my Italian was even more limited than his English, so I
• 2:51:18
  shrugged my shoulders resignedly, and continued to look out anxiously for my friend.
• 2:51:24
  A chill of fear had come over me, as I thought that his absence
• 2:51:28
  might mean that some blow had fallen during the night. Already the doors had
• 2:51:33
  all been shut and the whistle blown. When my dear Watson said a voice.
• 2:51:39
  You have not even condescended to say good morning. I turned in uncontrollable
• 2:51:45
  astonishment. The aged ecclesiastic had turned his face towards me. For an instant.
• 2:51:52
  The wrinkles were smoothed away, the nose drew away from the chin,
• 2:51:58
  the lower lips ceased to trude, and the mouth to mumble. The dull
• 2:52:03
  eyes regained their fire. The drooping figure expanded. The next the whole frame
• 2:52:09
  collapsed again, and Holmes had gone as quickly as he had come. Good
• 2:52:13
  Heavens, I cried, how you startle me. Every precaution is still necessary,
• 2:52:20
  he whispered. I have reason to think that they are hot upon our
• 2:52:24
  trail. Ah, there is Moriarty himself. The train had already begun to
• 2:52:31
  move as Holmes spoke. Glancing back, I saw a tall man pushing his
• 2:52:35
  way furiously through the crowd and waving his hand as if he desired to have
• 2:52:39
  the train stopped. It was too late, however, for we were rapidly
• 2:52:45
  gathering momentum, and an instant later had shot clear of the station. With
• 2:52:50
  all our precautions. You see that we have cut it rather fine, said
• 2:52:56
  Holmes, laughing. He rose and throwing off the black cassock and hat which
• 2:53:00
  had formed his disguise. He packed them away in a handbag. Have you
• 2:53:05
  seen the morning paper, Watson? No, you haven't seen about Baker Street.
• 2:53:11
  Then Baker Street. They set fire to our rooms last night. No
• 2:53:16
  great harm was done. Good Heavens, Holmes. This is intolerable. They
• 2:53:22
  must have lost my track completely after their bludgeon man was arrested. Otherwise they
• 2:53:28
  could not have imagined that I had returned to my rooms. They have evidently
• 2:53:31
  taken the precaution of watching you, however, and that is what has brought
• 2:53:35
  Moriarty to Victoria. You could not have made any slip in coming. I
• 2:53:43
  did exactly what you advised. Did you find your Brupham, Yes, it
• 2:53:48
  was waiting. Did you recognize your coachman, No, it was my brother
• 2:53:54
  Mycroft. It is an advantage to get about in such a case without taking
• 2:54:00
  a mercenary into your confidence. But we must plan what we are to do
• 2:54:03
  about Moriarty now. As this is an express, and as the boat runs
• 2:54:09
  in connection with it, I should think we've shaken him off very effectively.
• 2:54:13
  My dear Watson, you evidently did not realize my meaning when I said that
• 2:54:18
  this man may be taken as being quite on the same intellectual plane as myself.
• 2:54:24
  You do not imagine that if I were the pursuer, I should allow
• 2:54:28
  myself to be baffled by so slight an obstacle. Why then, should you
• 2:54:33
  think so meanly of him? What will he do? What I should do?
• 2:54:39
  What would you do? Then? Engage a special But it must be
• 2:54:45
  late by no means. This train stops at Canterbury, and there is always
• 2:54:50
  at least a quarter of an hour's delay at the boat. He will catch
• 2:54:54
  us there. One would think that we were the criminals. Let us have
• 2:55:00
  If him arrested on his arrival, it would be to ruin the work of
• 2:55:03
  three months. We should get the big fish, but the smaller would dart
• 2:55:09
  right and left out of the net on Monday. We should have them all.
• 2:55:13
  Nope, an arrest is inadmissible. What then we shall get out at
• 2:55:18
  Canterbury? And then well, then we must make a cross country journey to
• 2:55:24
  New Haven and so over to Dieppe. Moriarty will again do what I should
• 2:55:30
  do. He will get on to Paris, mark down our luggage and wait
• 2:55:35
  for two days at the depot. In the meantime we shall treat ourselves to
• 2:55:39
  a couple of carpet bags, encourage the manufacturers of the countries through which we
• 2:55:43
  travel, and make our way at our leisure into Switzerland via Luxembourg and Basel.
• 2:55:50
  At Canterbury, therefore, we are lighted, only to find that we
• 2:55:54
  should have to wait an hour before we could get a train to New Haven.
• 2:55:58
  I was still looking right mother ruefully after the rapidly disappearing luggage van which
• 2:56:03
  contained my wardrobe, when Holmes pulled my sleeve and pointed up the line.
• 2:56:09
  Already you see, said he. Far away from among the Kentish woods,
• 2:56:16
  there rose a thin spray of smoke. A minute later a carriage and engine
• 2:56:20
  could be seen flying along the open curve which leads to the station. We
• 2:56:26
  had hardly time to take our place behind a pile of luggage when it passed
• 2:56:30
  with a rattle and a roar, beating a blast of hot air into our
• 2:56:33
  faces. There he goes, said Holmes, as we watched the carriage swing
• 2:56:39
  and rock over the points. There are limits, you see, to our
• 2:56:43
  friend's intelligence. It would have been a kurummetre had he deduced what I would
• 2:56:50
  deduce and acted accordingly, And what would he have done. Had he overtaken
• 2:56:54
  us, there cannot be the least doubt that he would have made a murderous
• 2:56:58
  attack upon me. It is, however, a game at which two may
• 2:57:03
  play. The question now is whether we should take a premature lunch here or
• 2:57:09
  run our chance of starving. Before we reached the buffet at new Haven,
• 2:57:15
  we made our way to Brussels that night and spent two days there, moving
• 2:57:18
  on upon the third day as far as Strasbourg. On the Monday morning Holmes
• 2:57:24
  had telegraphed to the London police, and in the evening we found a reply
• 2:57:28
  waiting for us at our hotel. Holmes tore it open, and then,
• 2:57:33
  with a bitter curse, hurled it into the grate. I might have known
• 2:57:39
  it, he groaned. He has escaped, Moriarty. They have secured the
• 2:57:46
  whole gang, with the exception of him. He has given them the slip.
• 2:57:52
  Of course, when I had left the country there was no one to
• 2:57:54
  cope with him. But I did think that I had put the game in
• 2:57:58
  their hands. I think that you had better return to England, Watson,
• 2:58:03
  Why, because you will find me a dangerous companion. Now this man's occupation
• 2:58:09
  is gone. He is lost if he returns to London. If I read
• 2:58:15
  his character right, he will devote his whole energies to revenging himself upon me.
• 2:58:20
  He said us much in our short interview, and I fancy that he
• 2:58:24
  meant it. I should certainly recommend you to return to your practice. It
• 2:58:30
  was hardly an appeal to be successful with one who was an old campaigner as
• 2:58:33
  well as an old friend. We sat in the Strasbourg Sala Manges arguing the
• 2:58:39
  question for half an hour. But the same night we had resumed our journey
• 2:58:43
  and were well on our way to Geneva. For a charming week. We
• 2:58:48
  wandered up the valley of the Rhone, and then branching off at Luke,
• 2:58:52
  we made our way over the Gemmy Pass, still deep in snow, and
• 2:58:58
  so by way of inter Larkin to Meyringen. It was a lovely trip,
• 2:59:03
  the dainty green of the spring below, the virgin white of the winter above.
• 2:59:09
  But it was clear to me that never for one instant did Holmes forget
• 2:59:13
  the shadow which lay across him in the homely alpine villages or in the lonely
• 2:59:18
  mountain passes. I could tell by his quick glancing eyes and his sharp scrutiny
• 2:59:22
  of every face that passed us, that he was well convinced that walk where
• 2:59:28
  we would, we could not walk ourselves clear of the danger which was dogging
• 2:59:31
  our footsteps. Once I remember, as we passed over the Gemmi and walked
• 2:59:37
  along the border of the Melancholy Daubensee, a large rock which had been dislodged
• 2:59:43
  from the ridge upon our right, clattered down and roared into the lake behind
• 2:59:48
  us. In an instant, Holmes had raced up on to the ridge,
• 2:59:52
  and, standing upon a lofty pinnacle, craned his neck in every direction.
• 2:59:56
  It was in vain that our guide assured him that a fall of stones was
• 3:00:01
  a common chance in the spring time at that spot. He said nothing,
• 3:00:05
  but he smiled at me with the air of a man who sees the fulfillment
• 3:00:11
  of that which he had expected. And yet for all his watchfulness, he
• 3:00:16
  was never depressed. On the contrary, I can never recollect having seen him
• 3:00:22
  in such exuberant spirits. Again and again he recurred to the fact that if
• 3:00:28
  he could be assured that society was freed from Professor Moriarty, he would cheerfully
• 3:00:33
  bring his own career to a conclusion. I think that I may go as
• 3:00:37
  far as to say, Watson, that I have not lived wholly in vain.
• 3:00:41
  He remarked, if my record were closed to night, I could still
• 3:00:46
  survey it with equanimity. The air of London is the sweeter for my presence
• 3:00:52
  in over a thousand cases. I am not aware that I have ever used
• 3:00:54
  my powers upon the wrong side of late. I have been tempted to look
• 3:01:00
  into the problems furnished by nature, rather than those more superficial ones for which
• 3:01:05
  our artificial state of society is responsible. Your memoirs will draw to an end,
• 3:01:11
  Watson, upon the day that I crown my career by the capture or
• 3:01:16
  extinction of the most dangerous and capable criminal in Europe. I shall be brief
• 3:01:22
  and yet exact in the little which remains for me to tell. It is
• 3:01:26
  not a subject on which I would willingly dwell, and yet I am conscious
• 3:01:31
  that a duty devolved upon me to omit no detail. It was on the
• 3:01:37
  third of May that we reached the little village of Meyringen, where we put
• 3:01:41
  up at the englisher Hoof, then kept by Peter Steiler, the elder.
• 3:01:48
  Our landlord, was an intelligent man, and spoke excellent English, having served
• 3:01:52
  for three years as waiter at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. At his advice,
• 3:01:58
  on the afternoon of the fourth we set off together with the intention of
• 3:02:01
  crossing the hills and spending the night at the hamlet of ROSENLAUI we had strict
• 3:02:07
  injunctions, however, on no account to pass the falls of Reichenbach, which
• 3:02:13
  are about half way up the hill, without making a small detour to see
• 3:02:16
  them. It is indeed a fearful place. The torrent, swollen by the
• 3:02:24
  melting snow, plunges into a tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up
• 3:02:28
  like the smoke from a burning house. The shaft into which the river hurls
• 3:02:33
  itself is an immense chasm, lined by glistening coal, black rock, and
• 3:02:39
  narrowing into a creaming, boiling pit of incalculable depths, which brims over and
• 3:02:45
  shoots the stream onward over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green water
• 3:02:50
  roaring forever down, and the thick, flickering curtain of spray hissing forever upward,
• 3:02:56
  turn a man giddy with their constant whirlarl and clamor. We stood near
• 3:03:01
  the edge, peering down at the gleam of the breaking water far below us
• 3:03:05
  against the black rocks, and listening to the half human shout which came booming
• 3:03:11
  up with the spray out of the abyss. The path has been cut half
• 3:03:18
  way round the fall to afford a complete view, but it ends abruptly,
• 3:03:22
  and the traveler has to return as he came. We had turned to do
• 3:03:26
  so when we saw a Swiss lad come running along it with a letter in
• 3:03:31
  his hand. It bore the mark of the hotel which we had just left,
• 3:03:35
  and was addressed to me by the landlord. It appeared that within a
• 3:03:39
  very few minutes of our leaving, an English lady had arrived, who was
• 3:03:43
  in the last stage of consumption. She had wintered at Davos Platz and was
• 3:03:48
  journeying now to join her friends at Lucerne. When a sudden hemorrhage had overtaken
• 3:03:54
  her. It was thought that she could hardly live a few hours, but
• 3:03:58
  it would be a great consolation to her to see an English doctor, and
• 3:04:03
  if I would only return, et cetera. The good Stuyler assured me in
• 3:04:09
  a PostScript that he would himself look upon my compliance as a very great favor,
• 3:04:13
  since the lady absolutely refused to see a Swiss physician, and he could
• 3:04:18
  not but feel that he was incurring a great responsibility. The appeal was one
• 3:04:24
  which could not be ignored. It was impossible to refuse the request of a
• 3:04:28
  fellow country woman dying in a strange land. Yet I had my scruples about
• 3:04:35
  leaving homes. It was finally agreed, however, that he should retain the
• 3:04:39
  young Swiss messenger with him as guide and companion while I returned to Meydingen.
• 3:04:46
  My friend would stay some little time at the fall, he said, and
• 3:04:50
  would then walk slowly over the hill to Rosenlwy, where I was to rejoin
• 3:04:54
  him in the evening. As I turned away, I saw Holmes his back
• 3:05:00
  against a rock and his arms folded, gazing down at the rush of the
• 3:05:03
  waters. It was the last that I was ever destined to see of him
• 3:05:09
  in this world. When I was near the bottom of the descent, I
• 3:05:13
  looked back. It was impossible from that position to see the fall, but
• 3:05:18
  I could see the curving path which winds over the shoulder of the hill and
• 3:05:22
  leads to it. Along this a man was I remember, walking very rapidly.
• 3:05:28
  I could see this black figure clearly outlined against the green behind him.
• 3:05:33
  I noted him and the energy with which he walked, but he passed from
• 3:05:37
  my mind again as I hurried on upon my errand. It may have been
• 3:05:41
  a little over an hour before I reached meeringen Old Stuyler was standing at the
• 3:05:46
  porch of his hotel. Well, said I, as I came hurrying up.
• 3:05:52
  I trust that she is no worse. A look of surprise passed over
• 3:05:56
  his face, and at the first quiver of his eyebrows, my heart turned
• 3:06:01
  to lead in my breast. You did not write this, I said,
• 3:06:05
  pulling the letter from my pocket. There is no sick englishwoman in the hotel.
• 3:06:11
  Certainly not, he cried. But it has the hotel mark upon it.
• 3:06:16
  Ha. It must have been written by that tall Englishman who came in
• 3:06:22
  after you had gone, he said. But I waited for none of the
• 3:06:24
  landlord's explanations. In a tingle of fear, I was already running down the
• 3:06:30
  village street and making for the path which I had so lately descended. It
• 3:06:35
  had taken me an hour to come down. For all my efforts, two
• 3:06:39
  more had passed before I found myself at the fall of Reichenbach. Once more,
• 3:06:43
  there was Holme's alpine stock, still leaning against the rock by which I
• 3:06:48
  had left him. But there was no sign of him, and it was
• 3:06:52
  in vain that I shouted. My only answer was my own voice, reverberating
• 3:06:58
  in a rolling echo from the cliffs around me. It was the sight of
• 3:07:03
  that alpine stock which turned me cold and sick. He had not gone to
• 3:07:09
  rosen Lowie. Then. He had remained on that three foot path, with
• 3:07:13
  sheer wall on one side and sheer drop on the other, until his enemy
• 3:07:18
  had overtaken him. The young Swiss had gone too. He had probably been
• 3:07:24
  in the pay of Moriarty and had left the two men together. And then
• 3:07:28
  what had happened? Who was to tell us what had happened? Then I
• 3:07:35
  stood for a moment or two to collect myself, for I was dazed with
• 3:07:37
  the horror of the thing. Then I began to think of Holmes's own methods,
• 3:07:43
  and to try to practice them in reading this tragedy. It was alas
• 3:07:48
  only too easy to do. During our conversation, we had not gone to
• 3:07:52
  the end of the path, and the alpine stock marked the place where we
• 3:07:56
  had stood. The black soil is kept forever soft by the incessant drift of
• 3:08:03
  spray, and a bird would leave its tread upon it. Two lines of
• 3:08:07
  footmarks were clearly marked along the farther end of the path, both leading away
• 3:08:13
  from me. There were none returning. A few yards from the end,
• 3:08:18
  the soil was all plowed up into a patch of mud, and the branches
• 3:08:22
  and ferns which fringed the chasm were torn and bedraggled. I lay upon my
• 3:08:28
  face and peered over, with the spray spouting up all around me. It
• 3:08:33
  had darkened since I left, and now I could only see here and there
• 3:08:37
  the glistening of moisture upon the black walls, and far away down at the
• 3:08:41
  end of the shaft, the gleam of the broken water. I shouted,
• 3:08:46
  but only the same half human cry of the fall was borne back to my
• 3:08:52
  ears. But it was destined that I should, after all have a last
• 3:08:56
  word of greeting from my friend and comrade. I have said that his alpine
• 3:09:01
  stock had been left leaning against a rock which jutted onto the path from the
• 3:09:05
  top of this boulder. The gleam of something bright caught my eye, and
• 3:09:09
  raising my hand, I found that It came from the silver cigarette case which
• 3:09:15
  he used to carry. As I took it up, a small square of
• 3:09:18
  paper upon which it had lain fluttered down on to the ground. Unfolding it,
• 3:09:24
  I found that it consisted of three pages torn from his note book and
• 3:09:30
  addressed to me. It was characteristic of the man that the direction was as
• 3:09:35
  precise, and the writing as firm and clear, as though it had been
• 3:09:39
  written in his study. My dear Watson, it said, I write these
• 3:09:45
  few lines through the courtesy of mister Moriarty, who awaits my convenience for the
• 3:09:48
  final discussion of those questions which lie between us. He has been giving me
• 3:09:54
  a sketch of the methods by which he avoided the English police and kept himself
• 3:09:58
  informed, and of our movements. They certainly confirm the very high opinion which
• 3:10:03
  I had formed of his abilities. I am pleased to think that I shall
• 3:10:07
  be able to free society from any further effects of his presence, though I
• 3:10:13
  fear that it is at a cost which will give pain to my friends,
• 3:10:16
  and especially my dear Watson. To you, I have already explained to you,
• 3:10:22
  however, that my career had in any case reached its crisis, and
• 3:10:26
  that no possible conclusion to it could be more congenial to me than this.
• 3:10:31
  Indeed, if I may make a full confession to you, I was quite
• 3:10:35
  convinced that the letter from Meyringen was a hoax, and I allowed you to
• 3:10:39
  depart on that errand, under the persuasion that some development of this sort would
• 3:10:45
  follow. Tell Inspector Patterson that the papers which he needs to convict the gang
• 3:10:50
  are in Pigeonhole, m done up in a blue envelope and inscribed Moriarty.
• 3:10:58
  I made every disposition of my property before leaving England and handed it to my
• 3:11:03
  brother Microft. Pray, give my greetings to missus Watson, and believe me
• 3:11:07
  to be my dear fellow. Very sincerely, yours, Sherlock Holmes. A
• 3:11:15
  few words may suffice to tell the little that remains. An examination by experts
• 3:11:20
  leaves little doubt that a personal contest between the two men ended, as it
• 3:11:26
  could hardly fail to end. In such a situation, in their reeling over
• 3:11:31
  locked in each other's arms, any attempt at recovering the bodies was absolutely hopeless,
• 3:11:37
  and there deep down in that dreadful cauldron of swirling water and seething foam
• 3:11:43
  will lie for all time the most dangerous criminal and the foremost champion of the
• 3:11:48
  law of their generation. The Swiss youth was never found again, and there
• 3:11:54
  can be no doubt that he was one of the numerous agents whom Moriarty kept
• 3:11:58
  in his employer. As to the gang, it will be within the memory
• 3:12:03
  of the public how completely the evidence which Holmes had accumulated exposed their organization,
• 3:12:09
  and how heavily the hand of the dead man weighed upon them of their terrible
• 3:12:16
  chief. Few details came out during the proceedings, And if I have now
• 3:12:20
  been compelled to make a clear statement of his career, it is due to
• 3:12:24
  those injudicious champions who have endeavored to clear his memory by attacks upon him,
• 3:12:31
  whom I shall ever regard as the best and the wisest man whom I have
• 3:12:35
  ever known. End of the Final problem, the Greek interpreter. During my
• 3:12:46
  long and intimate acquaintance with mister Sherlock Holmes, I had never heard him refer
• 3:12:50
  to his relations, and hardly ever to his own early life. This reticence
• 3:12:56
  upon his part had increased the somewhat inhuman effect which he produced upon me,
• 3:13:01
  until sometimes I found myself regarding him as an isolated phenomenon, a brain without
• 3:13:07
  a heart, as deficient in human sympathy as he was pre eminent in intelligence.
• 3:13:13
  His aversion to women and his disinclination to form new friendships were both typical
• 3:13:18
  of his unemotional character, but not more so than his complete suppression of every
• 3:13:22
  reference to his own people. I had come to believe that he was an
• 3:13:26
  orphan with no relatives living. But one day, to my very great surprise,
• 3:13:31
  he began to talk to me about his brother. It was after tea
• 3:13:35
  on a summer evening, and the conversation, which had roamed in a desultory,
• 3:13:41
  spasmodic fashion from golf clubs to the causes of the change in the obliquity
• 3:13:46
  of the ecliptic, came round at last to the question of atavism and hereditary
• 3:13:50
  aptitudes. The point under discussion was how far any singular gift in an individual
• 3:13:58
  was due to his ancestry, and how far to his own early training.
• 3:14:03
  In your own case, said I, from all that you've told me,
• 3:14:05
  it seems obvious that your faculty of observation and your peculiar facility for deduction are
• 3:14:11
  due to your own systematic training. To some extent, he answered thoughtfully,
• 3:14:18
  My ancestors were country squires, who appear to have led much the same life
• 3:14:24
  as is natural to their class. But none the less my turn that way
• 3:14:28
  is in my veins, and may have come with my grandmother, who was
• 3:14:33
  the sister of Vernay, the French artist. Art in the blood is liable
• 3:14:37
  to take the strangest forms. But how do you know that its hereditary?
• 3:14:43
  Because my brother Mycroft possesses it in a larger degree than I do. This
• 3:14:48
  was news to me. Indeed, if there were another man with such singular
• 3:14:52
  powers in England, how was it that neither police nor public had heard of
• 3:14:58
  him? I put the question with a hint that it was my companion's modesty
• 3:15:03
  which made him acknowledge his brother as his superior. Holmes laughed at my suggestion.
• 3:15:09
  My dear Watson said he I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among
• 3:15:15
  the virtues. To the logician, all things should be seen exactly as they
• 3:15:20
  are, and to underestimate one's self is as much a departure from truth as
• 3:15:24
  to exaggerate one's own powers. When I say, therefore, that Mycroft has
• 3:15:31
  better powers of observation than I, you may take it that I am speaking
• 3:15:35
  the exact and literal truth. Is he your junior, seven years my senior?
• 3:15:41
  How comes it that he is unknown? Oh? He is very well
• 3:15:46
  known in his own circle. Where then well in the Diogenes Club, for
• 3:15:52
  example. I had never heard of the institution, and my face must have
• 3:15:56
  proclaimed as much, for Sherlock ho was pulled out his watch. The Diogenes
• 3:16:03
  Club is the queerest club in London, and Microft one of the queerest men.
• 3:16:09
  He's always there from quarter to five to twenty to eight. It's six
• 3:16:13
  now, So if you care for a stroll this beautiful evening, I shall
• 3:16:16
  be very happy to introduce you to two curiosities. Five minutes later, we
• 3:16:22
  were in the street, walking towards Regent's Circus. You wonder, said my
• 3:16:26
  companion, why it is that Microft does not use his powers for detective work.
• 3:16:33
  He is incapable of it. But I thought you said. I said
• 3:16:39
  that he was my superior in observation and deduction. If the art of the
• 3:16:43
  detective began and ended in reasoning from an arm chair, my brother would be
• 3:16:48
  the greatest criminal agent that ever lived. But he has no ambition and no
• 3:16:52
  energy. He will not even go out of his way to verify his own
• 3:16:56
  solutions, and would rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself
• 3:17:01
  right. Again and again. I've taken a problem to him and have received
• 3:17:07
  an explanation which has afterwards proved to be the correct one. And yet he
• 3:17:11
  was absolutely incapable of working out the practical points which must be gone into before
• 3:17:18
  a case could be laid before a judge or jury. It is not his
• 3:17:22
  profession, then, by no means. What is to me a means of
• 3:17:26
  livelihood is to him the merest hobby of a dilettante. He has an extraordinary
• 3:17:33
  faculty for figures, and audits the books in some of the government departments,
• 3:17:39
  microft lodges in Pall Mall, and he walks round the corner into Whitehall every
• 3:17:43
  morning and back every evening from year's end to year's end. He takes no
• 3:17:48
  other exercise and is seen nowhere else except only in the Diogenes Club, which
• 3:17:56
  is just opposite his rooms. I cannot recall the name, very likely not.
• 3:18:03
  There are many men in London, you know who, some from shyness,
• 3:18:07
  some from misanthropy, have no wish for the company of their fellows.
• 3:18:11
  Yet they are not averse to comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals. It is
• 3:18:16
  for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now
• 3:18:20
  contains the most unsociable and unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to
• 3:18:26
  take the least notice of any other one, save in the stranger's room.
• 3:18:31
  No talking ear is under any circumstances allowed, and three offenses, if brought
• 3:18:37
  to the notice of the Committee, render the talker liable to expulsion. My
• 3:18:43
  brother was one of the founders, and I had myself found it a very
• 3:18:46
  soothing atmosphere. We had reached Palmrle as we talked and were walking down it
• 3:18:52
  from the Saint James's end, Sherlock Holmes stopped at a door some little distance
• 3:18:58
  from the Carlton, and cautioning me not to speak, he led the way
• 3:19:03
  into the hall. Through the glass paneling, I caught a glimpse of a
• 3:19:07
  large and luxurious room in which a considerable number of men were sitting about and
• 3:19:11
  reading papers, each in his own little nook. Holmes showed me into a
• 3:19:16
  small chamber which looked out into pall Mall, and then leaving me for a
• 3:19:22
  minute he came back with a companion whom I knew could only be his brother.
• 3:19:28
  Mycroft Holmes was a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock. His body
• 3:19:33
  was absolutely corpulent, but his face, though massive, had preserved something of
• 3:19:39
  the sharpness of expression which was so remarkable in that of his brother. His
• 3:19:43
  eyes, which were of a peculiarly light, watery gray, seemed to have
• 3:19:48
  always retain that far away, introspective look which I had only observed in Sherlock's
• 3:19:54
  when he was exerting his full powers. I am glad to meet you,
• 3:19:58
  sir, said he, putting out a broad, fat hand like the flipper
• 3:20:03
  of a seal. I hear of Sherlock everywhere since you became his chronicler.
• 3:20:09
  By the way, Sherlock, I expected to see you round last week to
• 3:20:11
  consult me over that manor house case. I thought you might be a little
• 3:20:16
  out of your depth. No, I solved it, said my friend,
• 3:20:20
  smiling. It was Adams. Of course, Yes it was Adams. I
• 3:20:26
  was sure of it from the first The two sat down together in the bow
• 3:20:31
  window of the club. To any one who wishes to study mankind, this
• 3:20:35
  is the spot, said Mycroft. Look at the magnificent types. Look at
• 3:20:41
  those two men who are coming towards us, for example, the billiard marker
• 3:20:45
  and the other precisely, what do you make of the other. The two
• 3:20:50
  men had stopped opposite the window. Some chalk marks over the waistcoat pocket were
• 3:20:56
  the only signs of billiards which I could see in one of them. The
• 3:20:58
  other was a very small, dark fellow, with his hat pushed back and
• 3:21:03
  several packages under his arm. An old soldier, I perceive, said Sherlock,
• 3:21:09
  and very recently discharged, remarked the brother served in India, I see,
• 3:21:16
  And a non commissioned officer Royal Artillery. I fancy, said Sherlock.
• 3:21:22
  And a widower, but with a child. Children, My dear boy,
• 3:21:28
  children come, said I, laughing. This is a little too much,
• 3:21:33
  surely, answered Holmes. It is not hard to say that a man with
• 3:21:37
  that bearing expression of authority and sun baked skin is a soldier, is more
• 3:21:43
  than a private, and is not long from India. That he has not
• 3:21:46
  left the service long is shown by his still wearing his ammunition boots as they
• 3:21:50
  are called, observed Mycroft. He had not the cavalry stride, yet he
• 3:21:56
  wore his hat on one side, as is shown by the lighter skin of
• 3:22:00
  that side of his brow. His weight is against his being a sapper.
• 3:22:05
  He's in the artillery. Then, of course his complete mourning shows that he
• 3:22:09
  has lost some one very dear. The fact that he is doing his own
• 3:22:13
  shopping looks as though it were his wife. He's been buying things for children.
• 3:22:18
  You perceive there's a rattle, which shows that one of them is very
• 3:22:22
  young. The wife probably died in child bed. The fact that he has
• 3:22:26
  a picture book under his arm shows that there is another child to be thought
• 3:22:30
  of. I began to understand what my friend meant when he said that his
• 3:22:35
  brother possessed even keener faculties that he did himself. He glanced across at me
• 3:22:41
  and smiled. Microft, took snuff from a tortoise shell box and brushed away
• 3:22:46
  the wondering grains from his coat front with a large red silk handkerchief. By
• 3:22:52
  the way, Sherlock said, he I have had something quite after your own
• 3:22:56
  heart, a most singular problem submitted to my judgment. I really had not
• 3:23:03
  the energy to follow it up, save in a very incomplete fashion, but
• 3:23:05
  it gave me a basis for some pleasing speculation. If you would care to
• 3:23:11
  hear the facts, my dear mycroft, I should be delighted. The brother
• 3:23:16
  scribbled a note upon a leaf of his pocket book, and ringing the bell,
• 3:23:20
  he handed it to the waiter. I have asked mister Maelus to step
• 3:23:24
  across, said he me. Lodges on the floor above me, and I
• 3:23:28
  have some slight acquaintance with him, which led him to come to me in
• 3:23:33
  his perplexity. Mister Maelus is a Greek by extraction, as I understand,
• 3:23:39
  and he is a remarkable linguist. He earns his living partly as interpreter in
• 3:23:43
  the law courts, and partly by acting as guide to any wealthy Orientals who
• 3:23:48
  may visit the Northumberland Avenue hotels. I think I will leave him to tell
• 3:23:52
  his very remarkable experience in his own fashion. A few minutes later we were
• 3:23:58
  joined by a short, stout man, whose olive face and cold black hair
• 3:24:03
  proclaimed his Southern origin, though his speech was that of an educated Englishman.
• 3:24:09
  He shook hands eagerly with Sherlock Holmes, and his dark eyes sparkled with pleasure
• 3:24:13
  when he understood that the specialist was anxious to hear his story. I do
• 3:24:20
  not believe that the police credit me on my word. I do not,
• 3:24:24
  said he in a wailing voice, just because they have never heard of it
• 3:24:28
  before. They think that such a thing cannot be. But I know that
• 3:24:33
  I shall never be easy in my mind until I know what has become of
• 3:24:35
  my poor man with the sticking plaster upon his face. I am all attention,
• 3:24:41
  said Sherlock Holmes. This is Wednesday evening, said mister Maelis. Well,
• 3:24:48
  then it was Monday night, only two days ago. You understand that
• 3:24:52
  all this happened. I am an interpreter, as perhaps my neighbor there has
• 3:24:56
  told you, I interpret all langua, which is all nearly all. But
• 3:25:01
  as I am a Greek by birth and with a Grecian name, it is
• 3:25:05
  with that particular tongue that I am principally associated. For many years I have
• 3:25:09
  been the chief Greek interpreter in London, and my name is very well known
• 3:25:13
  in the hotels. It happens not unfrequently that I am sent for at strange
• 3:25:18
  hours by foreigners who get into difficulties, or by travelers who arrive late and
• 3:25:24
  wish my services. I was not surprised therefore, on Monday night, when
• 3:25:30
  a mister Latimer, a very fashionably dressed young man, came up to my
• 3:25:35
  rooms and asked me to accompany him in a cab which was waiting at the
• 3:25:39
  door. A Greek friend had come to see him upon business, he said,
• 3:25:43
  and as he could speak nothing but his own tongue, the services of
• 3:25:48
  an interpreter were indispensable. He gave me to understand that his house was some
• 3:25:54
  little distance off in Kensington, and he seemed to be in a great hurry,
• 3:25:58
  bustling me rapidly into the cab. When we had descended to the street,
• 3:26:05
  I say, into the cab, but I soon became doubtful as to
• 3:26:07
  whether it was not a carriage in which I found myself. It was certainly
• 3:26:11
  more roomy than the ordinary four wheel disgrace to London, and the fittings,
• 3:26:16
  though frayed, were of rich quality. Mister Latimer seated himself opposite to me,
• 3:26:22
  and we started off through Charing Cross and up the Shaftesbury Avenue. We
• 3:26:26
  had come out upon Oxford Street, and I had ventured some remark as to
• 3:26:31
  this being a roundabout way to Kensington, when my words were arrested by the
• 3:26:35
  extraordinary conduct of my companion. He began by drawing a most formidable looking bludgeon
• 3:26:43
  loaded with lead from his pocket, and switching it backward and forward several times,
• 3:26:48
  as if to test its weight and strength. Then he placed it,
• 3:26:52
  without a word, upon the seat beside him. Having done this, he
• 3:26:58
  drew up the windows on each side, and I found to my astonishment that
• 3:27:01
  they were covered with paper so as to prevent my seeing through them. I
• 3:27:07
  am sorry to cut off your view, mister Maelus, said he. The
• 3:27:11
  fact is that I have no intention that you should see what the place is
• 3:27:15
  to which we are driving. It might possibly be inconvenient to me if you
• 3:27:20
  could find your way there. Again, as you can imagine, I was
• 3:27:24
  utterly taken aback by such an address. My companion was a powerful, broad
• 3:27:28
  shouldered young fellow, and apart from the weapon, I should not have had
• 3:27:33
  the slightest chance in a struggle with him. This is a very extraordinary conduct,
• 3:27:41
  mister Latimer, I stammered. You must be aware that what you are
• 3:27:45
  doing is quite illegal. It is something of a liberty, no doubt,
• 3:27:50
  said he, but will make it up to you. I must warn you,
• 3:27:52
  however, mister Malus, that if at any time to night. You
• 3:27:56
  attempt to raise an alarm or do anything which is against my interests, you
• 3:28:01
  will find it a very serious thing. I beg you to remember that no
• 3:28:05
  one knows where you are, and that whether you are in this carriage or
• 3:28:09
  in my house, you are equally in my power. His words were quiet,
• 3:28:16
  but he had a rasping way of saying them, which was very menacing.
• 3:28:20
  I sat in silence, wondering what on earth could be his reason for
• 3:28:22
  kidnapping me in this extraordinary fashion. Whatever it might be, it was perfectly
• 3:28:28
  clear that there was no possible use in my resisting, and that I could
• 3:28:33
  only wait to see what might befall. For nearly two hours we drove without
• 3:28:37
  my having the least clue as to where we were going. Sometimes the rattle
• 3:28:43
  of the stones told of a paved causeway, and at others our smooth,
• 3:28:48
  silent course suggested usfalt. But save by this variation in sound, there was
• 3:28:54
  nothing at all which could, in the remotest way help me to form a
• 3:28:58
  guess as to where we were. The paper over each window was impenetrable to
• 3:29:03
  light, and a blue curtain was drawn across the glass work in front.
• 3:29:07
  It was a quarter past seven when we left Pall Mall, and my watch
• 3:29:11
  showed me that it was ten minutes to nine. When we at last came
• 3:29:16
  to a standstill. My companion let down the window and I caught a glimpse
• 3:29:22
  of a low arched doorway with a lamp burning above it. As I was
• 3:29:26
  hurried from the carriage, it swung open, and I found myself inside the
• 3:29:31
  house, with a vague impression of a lawn and trees on each side of
• 3:29:35
  me. As I entered whether these were private grounds, however, or bona
• 3:29:39
  fide a country was more than I could possibly venture to say. There was
• 3:29:45
  a colored gas lamp inside, which was turned so low that I could see
• 3:29:48
  little say that the hall was of some size and hung with pictures. In
• 3:29:54
  the dim light, I could make out that the person who had opened the
• 3:29:58
  door was a small mea looking middle aged man with rounded shoulders. As he
• 3:30:03
  turned towards us, the glint of the light showed me that he was wearing
• 3:30:07
  glasses. Is this mister Maelis, Harold said he yes, well done,
• 3:30:15
  well done. No ill will mister Maelis, I hope, but we could
• 3:30:18
  not get on without you. If you deal fair with us, you'll not
• 3:30:22
  regret it. But if you try any tricks, God help you. He
• 3:30:26
  spoke in a nervous, jerky fashion, and with little giggling laughs in between.
• 3:30:31
  But somehow he impressed me with fear more than the other. What do
• 3:30:35
  you want with me? I asked, only to ask a few questions of
• 3:30:39
  a Greek gentleman who is visiting us, and to let us have the answers,
• 3:30:45
  but say no more than you are told to say. Or here came
• 3:30:48
  the nervous giggle again, you had better never have been born. As he
• 3:30:52
  spoke, he opened a door and showed the way into a room which appeared
• 3:30:56
  to be very richly furnished, But again the only light was afforded by a
• 3:31:01
  single lamp half turned down. The chamber was certainly large, and the way
• 3:31:07
  which my feet sank into the carpet as I stepped across it told me of
• 3:31:11
  its richness. I caught glimpses of velvet chairs, a high white marble mantel
• 3:31:16
  piece, and what seemed to be a suit of Japanese armor. At one
• 3:31:20
  side of it. There was a chair just under the lamp, and the
• 3:31:24
  elderly man motioned that I should sit in it. The younger had left us,
• 3:31:28
  But he suddenly returned through another door, leading with him a gentleman clad
• 3:31:33
  in some sort of loose dressing gown, who moved slowly towards us. As
• 3:31:39
  he came into the circle of dim light which enables me to see him more
• 3:31:43
  clearly, I was thrilled with horror at his appearance. He was deadly pale
• 3:31:48
  and terribly emaciated, with the protruding, brilliant eyes of a man whose spirit
• 3:31:54
  was greater than his strength. But what shocked me more than any signs of
• 3:31:58
  physical weakness was that his face was grotesquely crisscrossed with sticking plaster, and that
• 3:32:05
  one large pad of it was fastened over his mouth. Have you the slate,
• 3:32:11
  Harold, cried the older man, as this strange being fell rather than
• 3:32:16
  sat down into a chair. Ah, his hands loose. Now, then
• 3:32:20
  give him the pencil. You are to ask the questions, mister Melice,
• 3:32:24
  and he will write the answers. Ask him, first of all whether he
• 3:32:28
  is prepared to sign the papers. The man's eyes flashed fire. Never,
• 3:32:35
  he wrote in Greek upon the slate, on no condition, I asked,
• 3:32:39
  at the bidding of our tyrant, only if I see her married in my
• 3:32:45
  presence by a Greek priest whom I know. The man giggled in his venomous
• 3:32:50
  way. You know what awaits you? Then I care nothing for myself.
• 3:32:56
  These are samples of the questions and answers which made up our strange, half
• 3:33:01
  spoken, half written conversation. Again and again I had to ask him whether
• 3:33:07
  he would give in and sign the documents. Again and again I had the
• 3:33:11
  same indignant reply. But soon a happy thought came to me. I took
• 3:33:16
  to adding on little sentences of my own to each question, innocent ones,
• 3:33:20
  at first to test whether either of our companions knew anything of the matter.
• 3:33:26
  And then as I found that they showed no signs, I played a more
• 3:33:31
  dangerous game. Our conversation ran something like this, You can do no good
• 3:33:37
  by this obstinacy. Who are you? I care not. I am a
• 3:33:41
  stranger in London. Your fate will be upon your own head. How long
• 3:33:46
  have you been here? Let it be so three weeks? The property can
• 3:33:52
  never be yours. What ails you? It shall not go to villains.
• 3:33:58
  They are starving me. You shall go free. If you sign what house
• 3:34:01
  is this? I will never sign. I do not know you are not
• 3:34:07
  doing her any service. What is your name? Let me hear her say
• 3:34:13
  so crati daies, you shall see her if you sign where are you from?
• 3:34:18
  Then I shall never see her Athens another five minutes, mister Holmes and
• 3:34:26
  I should have wormed out the whole story under their very noses. My very
• 3:34:30
  next question might have cleared the matter up. But at that instant the door
• 3:34:35
  opened and a woman stepped into the room. I could not see her clearly
• 3:34:39
  enough to know more than that she was tall and graceful, with black hair,
• 3:34:43
  and clad in some sort of loose white gown. Harold said she,
• 3:34:50
  speaking English with a broken accent. I could not stay away longer. It
• 3:34:54
  is so lonely up there with only Oh, my god, it is Paul.
• 3:35:00
  These last words were in Greek, and at the same instant the man,
• 3:35:03
  with a convulsive effort, tore the plaster from his lips, and,
• 3:35:07
  screaming out, soffhie, soffhie, rushed into the woman's arms. Their embrace
• 3:35:13
  was but for an instant, however, for the younger man seized the woman
• 3:35:18
  and pushed her out of the room, while the elder easily overpowered his emaciated
• 3:35:22
  victim and dragged him away through the other door. For a moment I was
• 3:35:28
  left alone in the room, and I sprang to my feet with some vague
• 3:35:31
  idea that I might in some way get a clue to what this house was
• 3:35:35
  in which I found myself. Fortunately, however, I took no steps for
• 3:35:41
  looking up, I saw that the older man was standing in the doorway with
• 3:35:45
  his eyes fixed upon me. That will do, mister Meelis, said he
• 3:35:50
  you perceive that we have taken you into our confidence. O wass some very
• 3:35:54
  private business. We should not have troubled you. Only that our friend,
• 3:35:58
  who speaks Greek, and who began these negotiations, has been forced to return
• 3:36:03
  to the east. It was quite necessary for us to find some one to
• 3:36:07
  take his place, and we were fortunate in hearing of your powers. I
• 3:36:13
  bowed. There are five sovereigns here, said he, walking up to me,
• 3:36:18
  Which will I hope be a sufficient fee. But remember, he added,
• 3:36:24
  tapping me lightly on the chest and giggling, if you speak to a
• 3:36:28
  human soul about this one human soul, mind, well, may God have
• 3:36:33
  mercy upon your soul. I cannot tell you the loathing and horror with which
• 3:36:37
  this insignificant looking man inspired me. I could see him better now. As
• 3:36:43
  the lamp light shone upon him. His features were piquey and sallow, and
• 3:36:48
  his little pointed beard was thready and ill nourished. He pushed his face forward
• 3:36:54
  as he spoke, and his lips and eyelids were continually twitching, like a
• 3:36:58
  man with Saint Vitus's dance. I could not help thinking that his strange,
• 3:37:03
  catchy little laugh was also a symptom of some nervous malady. The terror of
• 3:37:09
  his face lay in his eyes, however, steel gray and glistening coldly,
• 3:37:15
  with a malignant, inexorable cruelty in their depths. We shall now if you
• 3:37:20
  speak of this, said he. We have our own means of information.
• 3:37:26
  Now you'll find the carriage waiting, and my friend will see you on your
• 3:37:30
  way. I was hurried through the hall and into the vehicle, again,
• 3:37:33
  obtaining that momentary glimpse of trees and a garden. Mister Latimer followed closely at
• 3:37:41
  my heels and took his place opposite to me, without a word. In
• 3:37:45
  silence. We again drove for an interminable distance, with the windows raised,
• 3:37:50
  until at last, just after midnight, the carriage pulled up. You will
• 3:37:56
  get down here, mister Malis said my companion. I am sorry to leave
• 3:38:00
  you so far from your house, but there is no alternative. Any attempt
• 3:38:03
  upon your part to follow the carriage can only end in injury to yourself.
• 3:38:09
  He opened the door as he spoke, and I had hardly time to spring
• 3:38:13
  out when the coachman lashed the horse and the carriage rattled away. I looked
• 3:38:18
  around me in astonishment. I was on some sort of heathy common mottled over
• 3:38:24
  with dark clumps of furze bushes. Far away stretched a line of houses with
• 3:38:30
  a light here and there in the upper windows. On the other side,
• 3:38:33
  I saw the red signal lamps of a railway. The carriage which had brought
• 3:38:39
  me was already out of sight. I stood gazing round and wondering where on
• 3:38:43
  earth I might be when I saw some one coming towards me in the darkness.
• 3:38:48
  As he came up to me, I made out that he was a
• 3:38:50
  railway porter. Can you tell me what place this is? I asked,
• 3:38:56
  Wan'sworth Common, said he, When I get a train into town. If
• 3:39:01
  you walk on a mile or so to Clapham Junction, said he, you'll
• 3:39:05
  just be in time for the last of Victoria. So that was the end.
• 3:39:09
  Of my adventure, mister Holmes. I do not know where I was,
• 3:39:13
  nor whom I spoke with, nor anything save what I have told you.
• 3:39:18
  But I know that there is foul play going on, and I want
• 3:39:22
  to help that unhappy man if I can. I told the whole story to
• 3:39:26
  mister Microft Holmes next morning, and subsequently to the police. We all sat
• 3:39:33
  in silence for some little time after listening to this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock
• 3:39:39
  looked across at his brother, any steps, he asked. Microft picked up
• 3:39:45
  the daily news which was lying on the side table. Anybody supplying any information
• 3:39:50
  to the whereabouts of a Greek gentleman named Paul Crataids from Athens who is unable
• 3:39:54
  to speak English will be rewarded. A similar reward paid to any one giving
• 3:40:00
  information about a Greek lady whose first name is Sophie x two four seven three
• 3:40:07
  that was in all the dailies. No answer, how about the Greek legation
• 3:40:13
  I have inquired? They know nothing. A wire to the head of the
• 3:40:18
  Athens police. Then Sherlock has all the energy of the family, said Mycroft,
• 3:40:22
  turning to me, Well, you take the case up by all means
• 3:40:26
  and let me know if you do any good, certainly, answered my friend,
• 3:40:31
  rising from his chair, I'll let you know. And mister Melus also
• 3:40:37
  in the meantime, mister Meelus, I should certainly be on my guard if
• 3:40:41
  I were you, For of course they must know through these advertisements that you
• 3:40:45
  have betrayed them. As we walked home together, Holmes stopped at a telegraph
• 3:40:50
  office and sent off several wires. You see, Watson, he remarked,
• 3:40:56
  Our evening has been by no means wasted. Some of my most interesting cases
• 3:41:01
  have come to me in this way through mycroft. The problem which we have
• 3:41:05
  just listened to, although it can admit of but one explanation, has still
• 3:41:11
  some distinguishing features. You have hopes of solving it well, knowing as much
• 3:41:16
  as we do it will be singular. Indeed, if we fail to discover
• 3:41:20
  the rest, you must yourself have formed some theory which will explain the facts
• 3:41:26
  to which we have listened in a vague way. Yes, what was your
• 3:41:31
  idea? Then? It seemed to me to be obvious that this Greek girl
• 3:41:35
  had been carried off by the young englishman named Harold Latimer, carried off from
• 3:41:39
  where Athens? Perhaps Sherlock Holmes shook his head. This young man could not
• 3:41:46
  talk a word of Greek. The lady could talk English fairly well, inference
• 3:41:52
  that she had been in England some little time, but he had not been
• 3:41:56
  in Greece. Well, then we will presume that she had come on a
• 3:42:00
  visit to England, and that this Harald had persuaded her to fly with him.
• 3:42:05
  That is more probable then the brother, For that I fancy must be
• 3:42:09
  the relationship comes over from Greece into fear. He imprudently puts himself into the
• 3:42:15
  power of the young man and his older associate. They seize him and use
• 3:42:20
  violence towards him in order to make him sign some papers to make over the
• 3:42:24
  girl's fortune, of which he may be trustee to them. This he refuses
• 3:42:30
  to do. In order to negotiate with him, they have to get an
• 3:42:33
  interpreter, and they pitch upon this mister Maelis, having used some other one
• 3:42:37
  before. The girl is not told of the arrival of her brother, and
• 3:42:41
  finds it out by the merest accident. Excellent Watson cried Holmes, I really
• 3:42:48
  fancy that you are not far from the truth. You see that we hold
• 3:42:52
  all the cards, and we have only to fear some sudden act of violence
• 3:42:56
  on their part. If they give us time, we must have them.
• 3:43:00
  How can we find where this house lies? Well? If our conjecture is
• 3:43:05
  correct, and the girl's name is or was Sophie Catrides, we should have
• 3:43:11
  no difficulty in tracing her. That must be our main hope. For the
• 3:43:16
  brother is, of course a complete stranger. It is clear that some time
• 3:43:20
  has elapsed since this Harold established these relations with the girl, some weeks at
• 3:43:26
  any rate, since the brother in Greece has had time to hear of it
• 3:43:28
  and come across. If they have been living in the same place during this
• 3:43:33
  time, it is probable that we shall have some answer to Microft's advertisement.
• 3:43:39
  We had reached our house in Baker Street while we had been talking. Holmes
• 3:43:43
  ascended the stair first, and as he opened the door of our room,
• 3:43:46
  he gave a start of surprise. Looking over his shoulder, I was equally
• 3:43:52
  astonished. His brother, Microft, was sitting smoking in the arm chair.
• 3:43:56
  Come in, Sherlock, Come in, sir, said he blandly, smiling
• 3:44:01
  at our surprised faces. You don't expect such energy from me, do you,
• 3:44:05
  Sherlock? But somehow this case attracts me. How did you get here?
• 3:44:11
  I passed you in a hansom. There has been some new development.
• 3:44:18
  I had an answer to my advertisement. Ah, yes, it came within
• 3:44:22
  a few minutes of your leaving. And to what effect? Microft Holmes took
• 3:44:28
  out a sheet of paper here it is said he written with a j pen
• 3:44:33
  on royal cream paper by a middle aged man with a weak constitution, Sir,
• 3:44:39
  he says, in answer to your advertisement of to day's date, I
• 3:44:43
  beg to inform you that I know the young lady in question very well.
• 3:44:48
  If you should care to call upon me, I could give you some particulars
• 3:44:52
  as to her painful history. She is living at present at the Myrtles,
• 3:44:58
  Beckenham. Your's fate fully J. Davenport, he writes from Lower Brixton,
• 3:45:05
  said, Microft Holmes, do you not think that we might drive to him
• 3:45:07
  now, Sherlock and learn these particulars? My dear Microft, the brother's life
• 3:45:15
  is more valuable than the sister's story. I think we should call at Scotland
• 3:45:18
  Yard for Inspector Gregson and go straight out to Beckenham. We know that a
• 3:45:24
  man is being done to death, and every hour may be vital better pick
• 3:45:28
  up mister Maelis on our way. I suggested, we may need an interpreter.
• 3:45:33
  Excellent, said Sherlock Holmes. Send the boy for a four wheeler and
• 3:45:37
  we shall be off at once. He opened the table drawer as he spoke,
• 3:45:43
  and I noticed that he slipped his revolver into his pocket. Yes,
• 3:45:48
  said he in answer to my glance, I should say from what we have
• 3:45:50
  heard, as we are dealing with a particularly dangerous gang. It was almost
• 3:45:56
  dark before we found ourselves in Pall Mall the rooms of mister Maelis. A
• 3:46:01
  gentleman had just called for him, and he was gone. Can you tell
• 3:46:05
  me where, asked Microft Holmes. I don't know, sir, answered the
• 3:46:09
  woman who had opened the door. I only know that he drove away with
• 3:46:13
  a gentleman in a carriage. Did the gentleman give a name, now,
• 3:46:18
  sir. He wasn't a tall, handsome, dark young man. Oh no,
• 3:46:22
  sir. He was a little gentleman with glasses, thin in the face,
• 3:46:26
  but very pleasant in his ways, for he was laughing all the time
• 3:46:31
  that he was talking. Come along, cried Sherlock Holmes. Abruptly. This
• 3:46:35
  grows serious, he observed. As we drove to Scotland Yard. These men
• 3:46:39
  have got hold of Maelus again. He is a man of no physical courage,
• 3:46:45
  As they are well aware from their experience the other night, this villain
• 3:46:48
  was able to terrorize him the instant that he got into his presence. No
• 3:46:52
  doubt they want his professional services, but having used him, they may be
• 3:46:58
  inclined to punish him for what they were regard as his treachery. Our hope
• 3:47:03
  was that by taking the train we might get to Beckenham as soon or sooner
• 3:47:07
  than the carriage. On reaching Scotland Yard, however, it was more than
• 3:47:11
  an hour before we could get Inspector Gregson and comply with the legal formalities which
• 3:47:16
  would enable us to enter the house. It was a quarter to ten before
• 3:47:20
  we reached London Bridge, and half passed before the four of us alighted on
• 3:47:24
  the Beckenham platform. A drive of half a mile brought us to the Myrtles,
• 3:47:31
  a large dark house standing back from the road in its own grounds.
• 3:47:35
  Here we dismissed our cab and made our way up the drive together. The
• 3:47:41
  windows are all dark, remarked the Inspector Bahow, seems deserted. Our birds
• 3:47:46
  are flown and the nest empty, said Holmes. Why do you say so
• 3:47:52
  a carriage heavily loaded with luggage has passed out during the last hour, The
• 3:47:58
  inspector laughed. Ayes, all the wheel tracks in the light of the gate
• 3:48:01
  lamp. But where does the luggage come in. You may have observed the
• 3:48:05
  same wheel tracks going the other way, but the outward bound ones were very
• 3:48:09
  much deeper, so much so that we can say for a certainty that there
• 3:48:13
  was a very considerable weight on the carriage. You get a trifle beyond me
• 3:48:18
  there, said the inspector, shrugging his shoulder. It will not be an
• 3:48:22
  easy door to force, but we will try. If we cannot make some
• 3:48:26
  one near us. He hammered loudly at the knocker and pulled at the bell,
• 3:48:31
  but without any success. Holmes had slipped away, but he came back
• 3:48:35
  in a few minutes. I have a window open, said he. It
• 3:48:39
  is a mercy that you're on the side of the force and not against it,
• 3:48:43
  mister Olmes, remarked the inspector, as he noted the clever way in
• 3:48:46
  which my friend had forced back the catch. Well, I think that under
• 3:48:52
  the circumstances we may enter with our an invitation one after the other. We
• 3:48:56
  made our way into a large apartment, which it was evidently that in which
• 3:49:01
  mister Milis had found himself. The Inspector had lit his lantern, and by
• 3:49:05
  its light we could see the two doors, the curtain, the lamp,
• 3:49:09
  and the suit of Japanese mail as he had described them. On the table
• 3:49:13
  lay two glasses, an empty brandy bottle, and the remains of a meal.
• 3:49:20
  What is that? Asked Holmes. Suddenly we all stood still and listened.
• 3:49:24
  A low, moaning sound was coming from somewhere over our heads. Holmes
• 3:49:30
  rushed to the door and out into the hall. The dismal noise came from
• 3:49:35
  upstairs. He dashed up, the Inspector and I at his heels, while
• 3:49:39
  his brother Mycroft followed as quickly as his great bulk would permit. Three doors
• 3:49:45
  faced up upon the second floor, and it was from the central of these
• 3:49:48
  that the sinister sounds were issuing, sinking sometimes into a dull mumble and rising
• 3:49:54
  again into a shrill whine. It was locked, but the key had been
• 3:49:58
  left on the outside. Holmes flung open the door and rushed in, but
• 3:50:03
  he was out again in an instant. With his hand to his throat,
• 3:50:07
  it's charcoal, he cried, give it time, it'll clear. Peering in,
• 3:50:13
  we could see that the only light in the room came from a dull
• 3:50:16
  blue flame which flickered from a small brass tripod in the center. It threw
• 3:50:20
  a livid, unnatural circle upon the floor, while in the shadows beyond we
• 3:50:26
  saw the vague loom of two figures which crouched against the wall. From the
• 3:50:31
  open door, there reeked a horrible, poisonous exhulation, which set us gasping
• 3:50:35
  and coughing. Holmes rushed to the top of the stairs to draw in the
• 3:50:41
  fresh air, and then dashing into the room, he threw up the window
• 3:50:45
  and hurled the brazen tripod out into the garden. We can enter in a
• 3:50:50
  minute, he gasped, darting out again. Where is a candle? I
• 3:50:54
  doubt if we could strike a match in that atmosphere. Hold the light at
• 3:50:58
  the door and we shall get them out, my c Now, with a
• 3:51:01
  rush, we got to the poisoned men and dragged them out into the well
• 3:51:05
  lit hall. Both of them were blue lipped and insensible, with swollen,
• 3:51:09
  congested faces and protruding eyes. Indeed, so distorted were their features that save
• 3:51:16
  for his black beard and stout figure, we might have failed to recognize in
• 3:51:20
  one of them, the Greek interpreter who had parted from us only a few
• 3:51:24
  hours before at the Diogenes Club. His hands and feet were securely strapped together,
• 3:51:31
  and he bore over one eye the marks of a violent blow. The
• 3:51:33
  other, who was secured in a similar fashion, was a tall man in
• 3:51:37
  the last stage of emaciation, with several strips of sticking plaster arranged in a
• 3:51:43
  grotesque pattern over his face. He had ceased to moan as we laid him
• 3:51:48
  down, and a glance showed me that for him at least our aid had
• 3:51:52
  come too late. Mister Meelis, however, still lived, and in less
• 3:51:56
  than an hour, with the aid of ammonia and brandy, I had the
• 3:52:00
  satisfaction of seeing him open his eyes, and of knowing that my hand had
• 3:52:03
  drawn him back from that dark valley in which all paths meet. It was
• 3:52:09
  a simple story which we had to tell, and one which did not but
• 3:52:13
  confirm our own deductions. His visitor, on entering his rooms, had drawn
• 3:52:18
  a life preserver from his sleeve, and had so impressed him with the fear
• 3:52:22
  of instant and inevitable death, that he had kidnapped him for the second time.
• 3:52:28
  Indeed, it was almost mesmeric the effect which this giggling Ruffian had produced
• 3:52:33
  upon the unfortunate linguist, for he could not speak of him save with trembling
• 3:52:37
  hands and a blanched cheek. He'd been taken swiftly to Beckenham, and had
• 3:52:41
  acted as interpreter in a second interview even more dramatic than the first, in
• 3:52:46
  which the two englishmen had menaced their prisoner with instant death if he did not
• 3:52:50
  comply with their demands. Finally finding him proof against every threat, they had
• 3:52:58
  hurled him back into his prison, and after reproaching Melas with his treachery which
• 3:53:03
  appeared from the newspaper advertisement, they had stunned him with a blow from a
• 3:53:07
  stick, and he remembered nothing more until he found us bending over him.
• 3:53:13
  And this was a singular case of the Grecian interpreter, the explanation of which
• 3:53:16
  is still involved in some mystery. We were able to find out, by
• 3:53:20
  communicating with the gentleman who had answered the advertisement, that the unfortunate young lady
• 3:53:26
  came of a wealthy Grecian family, and that she had been on a visit
• 3:53:31
  to some friends in England. While there she had met a young man named
• 3:53:35
  Harold Latimer, who had acquired an ascendancy over her and had eventually persuaded her
• 3:53:41
  to fly with him. Her friends, shocked at the event, had contented
• 3:53:46
  themselves with informing her brother at Athens, and had then washed their hands of
• 3:53:50
  the matter. The brother, on his arrival in England, had imprudently placed
• 3:53:54
  himself in the power of Latimer and of his associate, whose name was Wilson
• 3:54:00
  Kemp, a man of the foulest antecedents. These two, finding that through
• 3:54:07
  his ignorance of the language, he was helpless in their hands, had kept
• 3:54:11
  him a prisoner, and had endeavored, by cruelty and starvation to make him
• 3:54:15
  sign away his own and his sister's property. They had kept him in the
• 3:54:20
  house without the girl's knowledge, and the plaster over the face had been for
• 3:54:24
  the purpose of making recognition difficult in case she should ever catch a glimpse of
• 3:54:28
  him. Her feminine perception, however, had instantly seen through the disguise when,
• 3:54:33
  on the occasion of the interpreter's visit, she had seen him for the
• 3:54:37
  first time. The poor girl, however, was herself a prisoner, for
• 3:54:43
  there was no one about the house except the man who acted as coachman and
• 3:54:46
  his wife, both of whom were tools of the conspirators. Finding that their
• 3:54:52
  secret was out and that their prisoner was not to be coerced, the two
• 3:54:56
  villains with the girl had fled away yet a few hours notice, from the
• 3:55:01
  furnished house which they had hired, having first, as they thought, taken
• 3:55:05
  vengeance upon both the man who had defied and the one who had betrayed them.
• 3:55:11
  Months afterwards, a curious newspaper cutting reached us from Buda Pest. It
• 3:55:18
  told how two Englishmen who had been traveling with a woman had met with a
• 3:55:22
  tragic end. They had each been stabbed, it seems, and the Hungarian
• 3:55:26
  police were of opinion that they had quarreled and had inflicted mortal injuries upon each
• 3:55:31
  other. Holmes, however, is I fancy of a different way of thinking,
• 3:55:37
  and holds to this day that if one could find the Grecian girl,
• 3:55:41
  one might learn how the wrongs of herself and her brother came to be avenged.
• 3:55:48
  End of the Greek interpreter the Musgrave ritual, an anomaly which often struck
• 3:55:54
  me in the character of my friend Sherlock Holmes, was that although in his
• 3:55:58
  methods of thought he was the neatest and most methodical of mankind, and although
• 3:56:03
  also he affected a certain quiet primness of dress, he was nonetheless in his
• 3:56:09
  personal habits one of the most untidy men that ever drove a fellow lodger to
• 3:56:13
  distraction. Not that I am in the least conventional in that respect myself.
• 3:56:18
  The rough and tumble work in Afghanistan, coming on the top of a natural
• 3:56:22
  bohemianism of disposition, has made rather more lax than befits a medical man.
• 3:56:28
  But with me there is a limit. And when I find a man who
• 3:56:31
  keeps his cigars in the coal scuttle his tobacco in the toe end of a
• 3:56:35
  Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jackknife into the very center
• 3:56:41
  of his wooden mantelpiece, then I begin to give myself virtuous airs. I
• 3:56:46
  have always held too, that pistol practice should be distinctly an open air pastime.
• 3:56:52
  And when Holmes, in one of his queer humors, would sit in
• 3:56:56
  an arm chair with his hair trigger and a hundred boxer car ortridges and proceed
• 3:57:01
  to adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic v R. Done in bullet pocks.
• 3:57:07
  I felt strongly that neither the atmosphere nor the appearance of our room was
• 3:57:11
  improved by it. Our chambers were always full of chemicals and of criminal relics,
• 3:57:16
  which had a way of wandering into unlikely positions, and of turning up
• 3:57:20
  in the butter dish or in even less desirable places. But his papers were
• 3:57:26
  my great crucks. He had a horror of destroying documents, especially those which
• 3:57:31
  were connected with his past cases. And yet it was only once in every
• 3:57:35
  year or two that he would muster energy to dock it and arrange them.
• 3:57:39
  For, as I have mentioned somewhere in these incoherent memoirs, the outbursts of
• 3:57:43
  passionate energy when he performed the remarkable feats with which his name is associated were
• 3:57:50
  followed by reactions of lethargy, during which he would lie about with his violin
• 3:57:54
  and his books, hardly moving save from the sofa to the table. Thus,
• 3:58:00
  month after month his papers accumulated, until every corner of the room was
• 3:58:05
  stacked with bundles of manuscript which were on no account to be burned, and
• 3:58:09
  which could not be put away save by their owner. One winter's night,
• 3:58:13
  as we sat together by the fire, I ventured to suggest to him that,
• 3:58:18
  as he had finished pasting extracts into his commonplace book, he might employ
• 3:58:22
  the next two hours in making our room a little more habitable. He could
• 3:58:28
  not deny the justice of my request, so with a rather rueful face,
• 3:58:31
  he went off to his bedroom, from which he returned presently pulling a large
• 3:58:37
  tin box behind him. This he placed in the middle of the floor,
• 3:58:41
  and squatting down upon a stool in front of it, he threw back the
• 3:58:45
  lid. I could see that it was already a third full of bundles of
• 3:58:48
  paper, tied up with red tape into separate packages. There are cases enough
• 3:58:54
  here, Watson said, he looking at me with mischievous eyes. I think
• 3:58:58
  that if you knew all that I had in this box, you would ask
• 3:59:01
  me to pull some out instead of putting others in. These are the records
• 3:59:07
  of your early work, then I asked. I often wished that I had
• 3:59:11
  notes of those cases. Yes, my boy, these were all done prematurely
• 3:59:16
  before my biographer had come to glorify me. He lifted bundle after bundle in
• 3:59:22
  a tender caressing sort of way. They are not all successes, Watson said,
• 3:59:28
  he, but there are some pretty little problems among them. Here is
• 3:59:31
  the record of the Tarltan murders, and the case of Vanbury the wine Merchant,
• 3:59:37
  and the adventure of the old Russian Woman, and the singular affair of
• 3:59:41
  the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti, of the
• 3:59:45
  club Foot and his abominable wife. And here, ah, now this really
• 3:59:50
  is something a little rich, are schet. He did his arm down to
• 3:59:54
  the bottom of the chest and brought up a small wooden box with a sliding
• 3:59:58
  lid, such as chill Drren's toys are kept in. From within, he
• 4:00:03
  produced a crumpled piece of paper, an old fashioned brass quy, a peg
• 4:00:07
  of wood with a ball of string attached to it, and three rusty old
• 4:00:11
  disks of metal. Well, my boy, what do you make of this
• 4:00:15
  lot, he asked, smiling at my expression. It is a curious collection,
• 4:00:20
  very curious, and the story that hangs round it will strike you as
• 4:00:24
  being more curious. Still. These relics have a history, then, so
• 4:00:30
  much so that they are history. What do you mean by that? Sherlock
• 4:00:35
  Holmes picked them up one by one, and laid them along the edge of
• 4:00:37
  the table. Then he reseated himself in his chair and looked them over with
• 4:00:43
  a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes. These said, he are all that
• 4:00:48
  I have left to remind me of the adventure of the musgrave ritual. I'd
• 4:00:54
  heard him mention the case more than once, though I had never been able
• 4:00:58
  to gather the details. I should be so glad, said I, if
• 4:01:01
  you'd give me an account of it and leave the litter as it is,
• 4:01:05
  He cried mischievously. Your tidiness won't bear much strain, after all, Watson.
• 4:01:13
  But I should be glad that you should add this case to your annals,
• 4:01:16
  for there are points in it which make it quite unique in the criminal
• 4:01:20
  records of this or, I believe, of any other country. A collection
• 4:01:24
  of my trifling achievements would certainly be incomplete, which contained no account of this
• 4:01:30
  very singular business. You may remember how the affair of the glorious Scott and
• 4:01:35
  my conversation with the unhappy man whose fate I told you of, first turned
• 4:01:41
  my attention in the direction of the profession which had become my life's work.
• 4:01:46
  You see me now, when my name has become known far and wide,
• 4:01:50
  and when I'm generally recognized both by the public and by the official force as
• 4:01:54
  being a final court of appeal in doubtful cases. Even when you knew me
• 4:02:01
  first at the time of the affair which you have commemorated in a study in
• 4:02:05
  Scarlet, I had already established a considerable, though not a very lucrative connection.
• 4:02:11
  You can hardly realize then, how difficult I found it at first,
• 4:02:16
  and how long I had to wait before I succeeded in making any headway.
• 4:02:20
  When I first came up to London, I had rooms in Montague Street,
• 4:02:24
  just round the corner from the British Museum, and there I waited, filling
• 4:02:28
  in my too abundant leisure time by studying all those branches of science which might
• 4:02:33
  make me more efficient. Now and again cases came in my way, principally
• 4:02:37
  through the introduction of old fellow students, for during my last years at the
• 4:02:43
  university there was a good deal of talk there about myself and my methods.
• 4:02:46
  The third of these cases was that of the Musgrave Ritual, and it is
• 4:02:52
  to the interest which was aroused by that singular chain of events and the large
• 4:02:56
  issues which proved to be at stake that I try my first stride towards the
• 4:03:01
  position which I now hold. Reginald Musgrave had been in the same college as
• 4:03:07
  myself, and I had some slight acquaintance with him. He was not generally
• 4:03:11
  popular among the undergraduates, though it always seemed to me that what was set
• 4:03:16
  down as pride was really an attempt to cover extreme natural diffidence. In appearance,
• 4:03:22
  he was a man of exceedingly aristocratic type, thin, high nosed and
• 4:03:28
  large eyed, with languid and yet courtly manners. He was indeed a scion
• 4:03:33
  of one of the very oldest families in the Kingdom, though his branch was
• 4:03:37
  a cadet one which had separated from the northern Musgraves some time in the sixteenth
• 4:03:41
  century and had established itself in western Sussex, where the manor House of Hurlstone
• 4:03:48
  is perhaps the oldest inhabited building in the county. Something of his birthplace seemed
• 4:03:54
  to cling to the man, and I never looked at his pale, keen
• 4:03:56
  face or the poise of his head without associating him with gray archways and mullioned
• 4:04:03
  windows, and all the venerable wreckage of a feudal keep. Once or twice
• 4:04:09
  we drifted into talk, and I can remember that more than once he expressed
• 4:04:13
  a keen interest in my methods of observation and inference. For four years I
• 4:04:20
  had seen nothing of him until one morning he walked into my room in Montague
• 4:04:24
  Street. He had changed little, was dressed like a young man of fashion.
• 4:04:28
  He was always a bit of a dandy, and preserved the same quiet,
• 4:04:31
  suave manner which had formerly distinguished him. How has all gone with you,
• 4:04:37
  Musgrave, I asked, after we had cordially shaken hands. You probably
• 4:04:43
  heard of my poor father's death, said he He was carried off about two
• 4:04:46
  years ago. Since then, I have, of course had the Hurlstone Estates
• 4:04:52
  to manage, and as I am member for my district as well, my
• 4:04:56
  life has been a busy one. But I understand, Holmes, that you
• 4:05:00
  are turning to practical ends those powers with which you used to amaze us.
• 4:05:05
  Yes, said I I have taken to living by my wits. I am
• 4:05:09
  delighted to hear it, for your advice at present would be exceedingly valuable to
• 4:05:15
  me. We have had some very strange doings at Hurlstone, and the police
• 4:05:18
  have been able to throw no light upon the matter. It is really the
• 4:05:22
  most extraordinary and inexplicable business. You can imagine with what eagerness I listened to
• 4:05:30
  him, Watson, for the very chance for which I had been panting during
• 4:05:33
  all those months of inaction seemed to have come within my reach. In my
• 4:05:39
  inmost heart, I believed that I could succeed where others failed, and now
• 4:05:43
  I had the opportunity to test myself. Pray, let me have the details,
• 4:05:48
  I cried. Reginald Musgrave sat down opposite to me and lit the cigarette
• 4:05:54
  which I had pushed towards him. You must know, said he, that
• 4:05:58
  though I am a bachelor, I have to keep up a considerable staff of
• 4:06:01
  servants at Hurlstone, for it is a rambling old place and takes a good
• 4:06:07
  deal of looking after. I preserve two and in the pheasant months I usually
• 4:06:13
  have a house party, so that it would not do to be short handed.
• 4:06:18
  Altogether, there are eight maids, the cook, the butler, two
• 4:06:22
  footmen, and a boy. The garden and the stables, of course,
• 4:06:26
  have a separate staff. Of those servants, the one who had been longest
• 4:06:31
  in our service was Brunton, the butler. He was a young schoolmaster,
• 4:06:35
  out of place when he first taken up by my father, But he was
• 4:06:39
  a man of great energy and character, and he soon became quite invaluable in
• 4:06:43
  the household. He was a well grown, handsome man with a splendid forehead.
• 4:06:50
  And though he has been with us for twenty years, he cannot be
• 4:06:52
  more than forty now. With his personal advantages and his extraordinary gifts, for
• 4:06:58
  he can speak several languages and play nearly every musical instrument. It is wonderful
• 4:07:05
  that he should have been satisfied so long in such a position. But I
• 4:07:09
  suppose that he was comfortable and lacked energy to make any change. The butler
• 4:07:13
  of Hurlstone is always a thing that is remembered by all who visit us.
• 4:07:18
  But this paragon has one fault. He is a bit of a Don Juan,
• 4:07:24
  and you can imagine that for a man like him, it is not
• 4:07:26
  a very difficult part to play in a quiet country district. When he was
• 4:07:31
  married it was all right. But since he has been a widower we have
• 4:07:33
  had no end of trouble with him. A few months ago we were in
• 4:07:37
  hopes that he was about to settle down again, for he became engaged to
• 4:07:41
  Rachel Howell's our second housemaid, but he has thrown her over since then and
• 4:07:48
  taken up with Janet drugellis the daughter of the head gamekeeper, Rachel, who
• 4:07:54
  is a very good girl but of an excitable Welsh temperament, had a sharp
• 4:07:58
  touch of brain fever, and goes about the house now, or did until
• 4:08:01
  yesterday, like a black eyed shadow of her former self. That was our
• 4:08:07
  first drama at Hurlstone, but a second one came to drive it from our
• 4:08:11
  minds, and it was prefaced by the disgrace and dismissal of Butler Brunton.
• 4:08:18
  This is how it came about. I have said that the man was intelligent,
• 4:08:22
  and this very intelligence has caused his ruin, for it seems to have
• 4:08:26
  led to an insatiable curiosity about things which did not in the least concern him.
• 4:08:31
  I had no idea of the lengths to which this would carry him until
• 4:08:35
  the merest accident opened my eyes to it. I have said that the house
• 4:08:41
  is a rambling one. One day last week, on Thursday night, to
• 4:08:46
  be more exact, I found that I could not sleep, having foolishly taken
• 4:08:50
  a cup of strong Cafe noir after my dinner. After struggling against it until
• 4:08:56
  two in the morning, I felt that it was quite hopeless, so I
• 4:09:00
  rose and lit the candle with the intention of continuing a novel which I was
• 4:09:03
  reading. The book, however, had been left in the billiard room,
• 4:09:07
  so I pulled on my dressing gown and started off to get it. In
• 4:09:13
  order to reach the billiard room, I had to descend a flight of stairs
• 4:09:16
  and then to cross the head of a passage which led to the library in
• 4:09:20
  the gun room. You can imagine my surprise when as I looked down this
• 4:09:24
  corridor I saw a glimmer of light coming from the open door of the library.
• 4:09:31
  I had myself extinguished the lamp and closed the door before coming to bed.
• 4:09:37
  Naturally, my first thought was of burglars. The corridors at Hurlstone of
• 4:09:41
  their walls largely decorated with trophies of old weapons. From one of these,
• 4:09:46
  I picked a battle axe, and then, leaving my candle behind me,
• 4:09:50
  I crept on tiptoe down the passage and peeped in at the open door.
• 4:09:56
  Brunton, the butler was in the light. He was sitting fully dressed in
• 4:10:03
  an easy chair with a slip of paper which looked like a map, upon
• 4:10:05
  his knee, and his forehead sunk forward upon his hand in deep thought.
• 4:10:11
  I stood dumb with astonishment, watching him from the darkness. A small taper
• 4:10:18
  on the edge of the table shed of feeble light, which sufficed to show
• 4:10:20
  me that he was fully dressed. Suddenly, as I looked, he rose
• 4:10:26
  from his chair, and, walking over to a bureau at the side,
• 4:10:31
  he unlocked it and drew out one of the drawers. From this he took
• 4:10:35
  a paper, and, returning to his seat, he flattened it out beside
• 4:10:39
  the taper on the edge of the table, and began to study it with
• 4:10:43
  minute attention. My indignation at this calm examination of our family documents overcame me
• 4:10:52
  so far that I took a step forward, and Brunton, looking up,
• 4:10:56
  saw me standing in the doorway. He sprang to his feet, his face
• 4:11:01
  turned livid with fear, and he thrust into his breast the chart like paper
• 4:11:05
  which he had been originally studying. So said I, this is how you
• 4:11:11
  repay the trust which we have reposed in you. You will leave my service
• 4:11:16
  to morrow. He bowed with the look of a man who is utterly crushed,
• 4:11:20
  and slunk past me without a word. The taper was still on the
• 4:11:24
  table, and by its light I glanced to see what the paper was which
• 4:11:30
  Brunton had taken from the bureau. To my surprise, it was nothing of
• 4:11:35
  any importance at all, but simply a copy of the questions and answers in
• 4:11:39
  the singular old observance called the Musgrave Ritual. It is a sort of ceremony
• 4:11:46
  peculiar to our family, which each musgrave for centuries past has gone through on
• 4:11:50
  his coming of age, a thing of private interest, and perhaps of some
• 4:11:54
  little importance to the archaeologist, like our own blazonings and charges, but of
• 4:12:01
  no practical use whatever. We had better come back to the paper afterwards,
• 4:12:05
  said I, if you think it really necessary, he answered, with some
• 4:12:11
  hesitation, to continue my statement. However, I relocked a bureau using the
• 4:12:18
  key which Brunton had left, and I had turned to go when I was
• 4:12:20
  surprised to find that the butler had returned and was standing before me. Mister
• 4:12:26
  Musgrave, Sir, he cried, in a voice which was hoarse with emotion.
• 4:12:31
  I cannot bear disgrace, sir, who have always been proud above my
• 4:12:37
  station in life, and disgrace would kill me, My blood will be on
• 4:12:41
  your head, sir, It will, indeed, if you drive me to
• 4:12:45
  despair. If you cannot keep me after what has passed, then for God's
• 4:12:48
  sake, let me give you notice and leave in a month, as if
• 4:12:52
  of my own free will. I could stand that, mister Musgrave, but
• 4:12:56
  not to be cast out before all the folk that I know so well.
• 4:13:01
  You don't deserve much consideration, Brunton, I answered, Your conduct has been
• 4:13:07
  most infamous. However, as you have been a long time in the family,
• 4:13:11
  I have no wish to bring public disgrace upon you. A month,
• 4:13:16
  however, is too long. Take yourself away in a week, and give
• 4:13:20
  what reason you like for going only a week, sir, he cried in
• 4:13:26
  a despairing voice. A fortnight, say at least a fortnight a week,
• 4:13:31
  I repeated, and you may consider yourself too in very leniently dealt with.
• 4:13:37
  He crept away, his face sunk upon his breast like a broken man,
• 4:13:41
  while I put out the light and returned to my room. For two days.
• 4:13:46
  After this, Brunton was most assiduous in his attention to his duties.
• 4:13:50
  I made no allusion to what had passed, and waited with some curiosity to
• 4:13:54
  see how you would cover his disgrace. On the third morning, however,
• 4:14:01
  he did not appear, as was his custom after breakfast to receive my instructions
• 4:14:05
  for the day. As I left the dining room, I happened to meet
• 4:14:09
  Rachel Howells, the maid. I have told you that she had only recently
• 4:14:15
  recovered from an illness and was looking so wretchedly pale and wan that I remonstrated
• 4:14:20
  with her for being at work. You should be in bed, I said,
• 4:14:24
  come back to your duties when you are stronger. She looked at me
• 4:14:28
  with so strange an expression that I began to suspect that her brain was affected.
• 4:14:35
  I am strong enough, mister Musgrave, said she. We will see
• 4:14:39
  what the doctor says. I answered, you must stop work now, and
• 4:14:43
  when you go downstairs, just say that I wished to see Brunton. The
• 4:14:48
  butler is gone, said she gone, gone Where he is gone? Now?
• 4:14:56
  And has seen him? He is not in his room. Oh,
• 4:14:58
  yes, he is gone. He's gone. She fell back against the wall
• 4:15:03
  with shriek after shriek of laughter. While I, horrified at this sudden hysterical
• 4:15:09
  attack, rushed to the bell to summon help. The girl was taken to
• 4:15:13
  her room, still screaming and sobbing, while I made inquiries about Brunton.
• 4:15:20
  There was no doubt about it that he had disappeared. His bed had not
• 4:15:22
  been slept in, he had been seen by no one since he had retired
• 4:15:26
  to his room the night before. And yet it was difficult to see how
• 4:15:31
  he could have left the house, as both windows and doors were found to
• 4:15:33
  be fastened in the morning. His clothes, his watch, and even his
• 4:15:39
  money were in his room, but the black suit which he usually wore was
• 4:15:43
  missing. His slippers too, were gone, but his boots were left behind.
• 4:15:48
  Where then could Butler Brunton have gone in the night, and what could
• 4:15:52
  have become of him? Now? Of course we searched the house from cellar
• 4:15:56
  to garret, but there was no trace of him. It is, as
• 4:16:02
  I have said, a labyrinth of an old house, especially the original wing,
• 4:16:07
  which is now practically uninhabited. But we ransacked every room and cellar without
• 4:16:11
  discovering the least sign of the missing man. It was incredible to me that
• 4:16:18
  he could have gone away, leaving all his property behind him, and yet
• 4:16:22
  where could he be? I called in the local police, but without success.
• 4:16:29
  Rain had fallen on the night before, and we examined the lawn and
• 4:16:32
  the paths all around the house, but in vain matters were in this state
• 4:16:37
  when a new development quite drew our attention away from the original mystery. For
• 4:16:42
  two days, Rachel Howells had been so ill, sometimes delirious, sometimes hysterical,
• 4:16:49
  that a nurse had been employed to sit up with her at night.
• 4:16:53
  On the third night after Brunton's disappearance, the nurse, finding her patient sleep
• 4:17:00
  nicely, had dropped into a nap in the arm chair. When she woke
• 4:17:03
  in the early morning to find the bed empty, the window open, and
• 4:17:08
  no signs of the invalid I was instantly aroused, and with the two footmen,
• 4:17:15
  started off at once in search of the missing girl. It was not
• 4:17:18
  difficult to tell the direction which she had taken, for starting from under her
• 4:17:22
  window, we could follow her footmarks easily across the lawn to the edge of
• 4:17:27
  the mire, where they vanished close to the gravel path which leads out of
• 4:17:32
  the grounds. The lake there is eight feet deep, and you can imagine
• 4:17:37
  our feelings when we saw that the trail of the poor demented girl came to
• 4:17:41
  an end at the edge of it. Of course, We had the drags
• 4:17:45
  at once and set to work to recover the remains, but no trace of
• 4:17:48
  the body could we find. On the other hand, we brought to the
• 4:17:53
  surface an object of a most unexpected kind. It was a linen bath,
• 4:18:00
  which contained within it a mass of old, rusted and discolored metal, and
• 4:18:04
  several dull colored pieces of pebble or glass. This strange find was all that
• 4:18:11
  we could get from the mere. And although we've made every possible search and
• 4:18:15
  inquiry yesterday, we know nothing of the fate either of Rachel Howells or of
• 4:18:21
  Richard Brunton. The county police are at their wits end, and I have
• 4:18:26
  come up to you as a last resource. You can imagine, Watson,
• 4:18:30
  with what eagerness I listened to this extraordinary sequence of events, and endeavored to
• 4:18:36
  piece them together, and to devise some common thread upon which they might all
• 4:18:40
  hang. The butler was gone, the maid was gone. The maid had
• 4:18:45
  loved the butler, but afterwards had cause to hate him. She was of
• 4:18:49
  Welsh blood, fiery and passionate. She had been terribly excited. Immediately after
• 4:18:55
  his disappearance. She had flung into the lake a bag containing some curious contents.
• 4:19:02
  These are all factors which had to be taken into consideration, and yet
• 4:19:06
  none of them got quite to the heart of the matter. What was the
• 4:19:10
  starting point of this chain of events? There lay the end of this tangled
• 4:19:15
  line. I must see that paper, Musgrave, said, I which this
• 4:19:21
  butler of yours thought it was worth his while to consult, even at the
• 4:19:25
  risk of the loss of his place. It is rather an absurd business,
• 4:19:30
  this ritual of ours, he answered, But it has at least the saving
• 4:19:33
  grace of antiquity to excuse it. I have a copy of the questions and
• 4:19:37
  answers here, if you care to run your eye over them. He handed
• 4:19:42
  me the very paper which I have here, Watson, And this is a
• 4:19:45
  strange catechism to which each Musgrave had to submit when he came to Man's estate.
• 4:19:52
  I will read you the questions and answers as they stand. Whose was
• 4:19:57
  it? Who is gone? Who shall have it? He who will come?
• 4:20:04
  Where was the sun over the oak? Where was the shadow under the
• 4:20:11
  elm? How is it stepped north by ten and by ten, east by
• 4:20:17
  five, and by five, south by two and by two, west by
• 4:20:21
  one and by one, and so under? What shall we give for it?
• 4:20:26
  All that is ours, Why should we give it for the sake of
• 4:20:30
  the trust. The original has no date, but is in the spelling of
• 4:20:36
  the middle of the seventeenth century, remarked Musgrave. I am afraid, however,
• 4:20:41
  that it can be of little help to you in solving this mystery.
• 4:20:45
  At least, said I. It gives us another mystery, and one which
• 4:20:49
  is even more interesting than the first. It may be that the solution of
• 4:20:53
  the one may prove to be the solution of the other. You will excuse
• 4:20:57
  me, Musgrave, if I say that your butler appears to me to have
• 4:21:00
  been a very clever man, and to have had a clearer insight than ten
• 4:21:04
  generations of his masters. I hardly follow you, said Musgrave. The paper
• 4:21:11
  seems to me to be of no practical importance. But to me it seems
• 4:21:17
  immensely practical. And I fancy that Brunton took the same view. He had
• 4:21:22
  probably seen it before that night on which he caught him. It is very
• 4:21:26
  possible we took no pains to hide it. He simply wished, I should
• 4:21:32
  imagine to refresh his memory upon that last occasion he had, as I understand,
• 4:21:37
  some sort of map or chart which he was comparing with the manuscript and
• 4:21:41
  which he thrust into his pocket when you appeared. That is true, But
• 4:21:47
  what could he have to do with this old family custom of ours? And
• 4:21:51
  what does this rigmarole mean? I don't think that we should have much difficulty
• 4:21:56
  in determining that, said I, with your permission, we will take the
• 4:22:00
  first train down to Sussex and go a little more deeply into the matter upon
• 4:22:03
  the spot. The same afternoon saw as both at Hurlstone possibly have seen pictures
• 4:22:10
  and red descriptions of the famous old building. So I will confine my account
• 4:22:15
  of it to saying that it is built in the shape of an el,
• 4:22:18
  the long arm being the more modern portion, and the shorter the ancient nucleus
• 4:22:22
  from which the other had developed over. The low, heavily linteled door in
• 4:22:27
  the center of this old part is chiseled a date sixteen o seven, but
• 4:22:33
  experts are agreed that the beams and stone work are really much older than this.
• 4:22:37
  The enormously thick walls and tiny windows of this part had in the last
• 4:22:42
  century driven the family into building the new wing, and the old one was
• 4:22:47
  used now as a storehouse and a cellar. When it was used at all,
• 4:22:52
  a splendid park with fine old timber surrounds the house, and the lake
• 4:22:56
  to which my client had referred lay close to the avenue, about two hundred
• 4:23:00
  yards from the building. I was already firmly convinced Watson that there were not
• 4:23:06
  three separate mistress here, but only one, and that if I could read
• 4:23:10
  the Musgrave Ritual aright, I should hold in my hand the clue which would
• 4:23:14
  lead me to the truth concerning both the butler Brunton and the maid Howls.
• 4:23:19
  To that then I turned all my energies. Why should this servant be so
• 4:23:23
  anxious to master this old formula? Evidently because he saw something in it which
• 4:23:30
  had escaped all those generations of country squires, and from which he expected some
• 4:23:34
  personal advantage. What was it, then, and how had it affected his
• 4:23:40
  fate? It was perfectly obvious to me, on reading the ritual that the
• 4:23:45
  measurements must refer to some spot to which the rest of the document eluded,
• 4:23:49
  and that if we could find that spot, we should be in a fair
• 4:23:52
  way towards finding what the secret was which the old Musgraves had thought it necessary
• 4:23:57
  to embalm in so curious a fashion. There were two guides given us to
• 4:24:03
  start with an oak and an elm. As to the oak, there can
• 4:24:07
  be no question at all. Right in front of the house, upon the
• 4:24:11
  left hand side of the drive, there stood a patriarch among oaks, one
• 4:24:15
  of the most magnificent trees that I have ever seen. That was there when
• 4:24:22
  your ritual was drawn up, said I, as we drove past it.
• 4:24:26
  It was there at the Norman conquest. In all probability, he answered.
• 4:24:30
  It has a girth of twenty three feet. Have you any old elms?
• 4:24:36
  I asked. There used to be a very old one over yonder, but
• 4:24:40
  it was struck by lightning ten years ago, and we cut down the stump.
• 4:24:45
  You can see where it used to be. Oh. Yes, there
• 4:24:48
  are no other elms, no old ones, but plenty of beeches. I
• 4:24:55
  should like to see where it grew. We had driven up in a dog
• 4:24:59
  cart and my it led me away at once without our entering the house,
• 4:25:03
  to the scar on the lawn where the elm had stood. It was nearly
• 4:25:07
  midway between the oak and the house. My investigation seemed to be progressing.
• 4:25:14
  I suppose it is impossible to find out how high the elm was, I
• 4:25:18
  asked, I can give you it at once. It was sixty four feet.
• 4:25:22
  How do you come to know it? I asked, in surprise.
• 4:25:26
  When my old tutor used to give me an exercise in trigonometry, it always
• 4:25:30
  took the shape of measuring heights. When I was a lad, I worked
• 4:25:36
  out every tree and building in the estate. This was an unexpected piece of
• 4:25:41
  luck. My data were coming more quickly than I could have reasonably hoped.
• 4:25:47
  Tell me, I asked, Did your butler ever ask you such a question?
• 4:25:52
  Reginald Musgrave looked at me in astonishment. Now that you call it my
• 4:25:56
  mind, he answered, Branton did ask me about the height of the tree
• 4:26:00
  some months ago, in connection with some little argument with the groom. This
• 4:26:07
  was excellent news, Watson, for it showed me that I was on the
• 4:26:10
  right road. I looked up at the sun. It was low in the
• 4:26:14
  heavens, and I calculated that in less than an hour it would lie just
• 4:26:18
  above the topmost branches of the old oak. One condition mentioned in the ritual
• 4:26:22
  would then be fulfilled, and the shadow of the elm must mean the farther
• 4:26:26
  end of the shadow, Otherwise the trunk would have been chosen as the guide.
• 4:26:32
  I had then to find out where the far end of the shadow would
• 4:26:36
  fall. When the sun was just clear of the oak. That must have
• 4:26:40
  been difficult homes when the elm was no longer there. Well, at least
• 4:26:44
  I knew that if Brunton could do it, I could also. Besides,
• 4:26:48
  there was no real difficulty. I went with Muskrae to his study and whittled
• 4:26:52
  myself this peg, to which I tied this long string with a knot at
• 4:26:56
  each yard. Then I took two length of a fishing rod, which came
• 4:27:00
  to just six feet, and I went back with my client to where the
• 4:27:04
  elm had been. The sun was just grazing the top of the oak.
• 4:27:10
  I fastened the rod on end, marked out the direction of the shadow,
• 4:27:14
  and measured it. It was nine feet in length. Of course, the
• 4:27:18
  calculation now was a simple one. If a rod of six feet through a
• 4:27:22
  shadow of nine a tree of sixty four feet would throw one of ninety six,
• 4:27:27
  and the line of the one would of course be the line of the
• 4:27:30
  other. I measured out the distance, which brought me almost to the wall
• 4:27:34
  of the house, and I thrust a peg into the spot. You can
• 4:27:40
  imagine my exultation, Watson, when within two inches of my peg. I
• 4:27:44
  saw a conical depression in the ground. I knew that it was the mark
• 4:27:48
  made by Brunton in his measurements, and that I was still upon his trail.
• 4:27:52
  From this starting point, I proceeded to step, having first taken the
• 4:27:56
  cardinal points of my pocket compass. Steps with each foot took me along parallel
• 4:28:02
  with the wall of the house, and again I marked my spot with a
• 4:28:06
  peg. Then I carefully paced off five to the east and two to the
• 4:28:10
  south. It brought me to the very threshold of the old door. Two
• 4:28:15
  steps to the west meant now that I was to go two paces down the
• 4:28:18
  stone flagged passage, and this was the place indicated by the ritual. Never
• 4:28:25
  have I felt such a cold chill of disappointment, Watson. For a moment
• 4:28:30
  it seemed to me that there must be some radical mistake in my calculations.
• 4:28:33
  The setting sun shone full upon the passage floor, and I could see that
• 4:28:38
  the old foot worn gray stones with which it was paved were firmly cemented together,
• 4:28:44
  and had certainly not been moved for many a long year. Brunton had
• 4:28:48
  not been at work here. I tapped upon the floor, but it sounded
• 4:28:52
  the same all over, and there was no sign of any crack or crevice.
• 4:28:57
  But fortunately Musgrave, who had begun to appreciate the meaning of my proceedings,
• 4:29:03
  and who was now as excited as myself, took out his manuscript to
• 4:29:06
  check my calculation. And under he cried, you have omitted the And under
• 4:29:14
  I had thought that it meant that we were to dig. But now,
• 4:29:18
  of course I saw at once that I was wrong. There is a cellar
• 4:29:22
  under this. Then I cried, yes, and as old as a house
• 4:29:26
  down here through this door we went down a winding stone stair, and my
• 4:29:33
  companion, striking a match, lit a large lantern which stood on a barrel
• 4:29:37
  in the corner. In an instant it was obvious that we had at last
• 4:29:41
  come upon the true place, and that we had not been the only people
• 4:29:45
  to visit the spot. Recently. It had been used for the storage of
• 4:29:49
  wood, but the billets, which had evidently been littered over the floor were
• 4:29:53
  now piled at the sides so as to leave a clear space in the middle.
• 4:29:59
  In this space lay a large and heavy flagstone with a rusted iron ring
• 4:30:03
  in the center, to which a thick shepherd's check muffler was attached. By
• 4:30:08
  jove, cried my client, that's Brunton's muffler. I've seen it on him
• 4:30:14
  and could swear to it. What has the villain been doing here? At
• 4:30:18
  my suggestion, a couple of the county police were summoned to be present,
• 4:30:22
  and I then endeavored to raise the stone by pulling on the cravat. I
• 4:30:26
  could only move it slightly, and it was with the aid of one of
• 4:30:30
  the constables that I succeeded at last in carrying it to one side. A
• 4:30:34
  black hole yawned beneath into which we all peered, while Musgrave, kneeling at
• 4:30:40
  the side, pushed down the lantern. A small chamber about seven feet deep
• 4:30:45
  and four feet square lay open to us. At one side of this was
• 4:30:49
  a squat brass bound wooden box, the lid of which was hinged upwards,
• 4:30:53
  with this curious old fashioned key projecting from the lock. It was third outside
• 4:31:00
  by a thick layer of dust, and dampened worms had eaten through the wood,
• 4:31:04
  so that a crop of livid fungi was growing on the inside of it.
• 4:31:08
  Several disks of metal old coins, apparently such as I hold here,
• 4:31:14
  were scattered over the bottom of the box, but it contained nothing else.
• 4:31:19
  At the moment, however, we had no thought for the old chest,
• 4:31:22
  for our eyes were riveted upon that which crouched beside it. It was the
• 4:31:27
  figure of a man clad in a suit of black, who squatted down upon
• 4:31:32
  his hands, with his forehead sunk upon the edge of the box, and
• 4:31:36
  his two arms thrown out on each side of it. The attitude had drawn
• 4:31:41
  all the stagnant blood to the face, and no man could have recognized that
• 4:31:45
  distorted, liver colored countenance. But his height, his dress, and his
• 4:31:49
  hair were all sufficient to show my client, when we had drawn the body
• 4:31:55
  up, that it was indeed his missing butler. He had been dead some
• 4:32:00
  days, but there was no wound or bruise upon his person to show how
• 4:32:03
  he had met his dreadful end. When his body had been carried from the
• 4:32:07
  cellar, we found ourselves still confronted with a problem which was almost as formidable
• 4:32:12
  as that which we had started. I confess that so far, Watson,
• 4:32:18
  I had been disappointed in my investigation. I had reckoned upon solving the matter
• 4:32:22
  when once I had found the place referred to in the ritual. But now
• 4:32:26
  I was there, and was apparently as far as ever from knowing what it
• 4:32:32
  was which the family had concealed with such elaborate precautions. It is true that
• 4:32:37
  I had thrown a light upon the fate of Brunton. But now I had
• 4:32:41
  to ascertain how that fate had come upon him, and what part had been
• 4:32:45
  played in the matter by the woman who had disappeared. I sat down upon
• 4:32:49
  a keg in the corner and thought the whole matter carefully over. You know
• 4:32:56
  my methods in such cases, Watson. I put myself in the man's place,
• 4:33:00
  and having first gaged his intelligence, I try to imagine how I should
• 4:33:04
  myself have proceeded under the same circumstances. In this case, the matter was
• 4:33:11
  simplified by Brunton's intelligence being quite first rate, so that it was unnecessary to
• 4:33:15
  make any allowance for the personal equation, as the astronomers have dubbed it.
• 4:33:21
  He knew that something valuable was concealed. He had spotted the place. He
• 4:33:26
  found that the stone which covered it was just too heavy for a man to
• 4:33:29
  move unaided. What would he do next? He could not get help from
• 4:33:33
  outside, even if he had someone whom he could trust. Without the unbarring
• 4:33:37
  of doors and considerable risk of detection. It was better if he could to
• 4:33:44
  have his helpmate inside the house. But whom could he ask? This girl
• 4:33:48
  had been devoted to him. A man always finds it hard to realize that
• 4:33:53
  he may have finally lost a woman's love, however badly he may have treated
• 4:33:57
  her. He would try, by a few attentions, to make his peace
• 4:34:00
  with the girl Howls, and then would engage her as his accomplice. Together
• 4:34:07
  they would come at night to the cellar, and their united force would suffice
• 4:34:11
  to raise the stone. So far I could follow their actions as if I
• 4:34:15
  had actually seen them. But for two of them and one a woman,
• 4:34:19
  it must have been heavy work the raising of that stone A burly Sussex policeman,
• 4:34:26
  and I had found it no light job. What would they do to
• 4:34:29
  assist them? Probably what I should have done myself. I rose and examined
• 4:34:34
  carefully the different billets of wood which were scattered round the floor. Almost at
• 4:34:40
  once I came upon what I expected. One piece about three feet in length,
• 4:34:45
  had a very marked indentation at one end, while several were flattened at
• 4:34:49
  the sides, as if they had been compressed by some considerable weight. Evidently,
• 4:34:55
  as they had dragged the stone up. They had thrust the chunks of
• 4:34:57
  wood into the chink until at l asked when the opening was large enough to
• 4:35:02
  crawl through. They would hold it open by a billet placed lengthwise, which
• 4:35:06
  might very well become indented at the lower end, since the whole weight of
• 4:35:10
  the stone would press it down to the edge of this other slab. So
• 4:35:14
  far I was still on safe ground. And now how was I to proceed
• 4:35:19
  to reconstruct this midnight drama? Clearly only one could fit into the hole,
• 4:35:26
  and that one was Brunton. The girl must have waited above. Brunton then
• 4:35:32
  unlocked the box, handed up the contents, presumably since they were not to
• 4:35:37
  be found. And then, and then what happened? What smoldering fire of
• 4:35:44
  vengeance had suddenly sprung into flame in this passionate Celtic woman's soul when she saw
• 4:35:49
  the man who had wronged her wronged her perhaps far more than we suspected in
• 4:35:55
  her power. Was it a chance that the wood had slipped and that the
• 4:35:59
  stone shut Brunton into what had become his sepulcher? Had she only been guilty
• 4:36:03
  of silence as to his fate, or had some sudden blow from her hand
• 4:36:08
  dashed the support away and sent the slab crashing down into its place. Be
• 4:36:15
  that as it might, I seemed to see that woman's figure still clutching at
• 4:36:18
  her treasure trove, and flying wildly up the winding stair, with her ears
• 4:36:23
  ringing, perhaps with the muffled screams from behind her, and with the drumming
• 4:36:27
  of frenzied hands against the slab of stone which was choking her faithless lover's life.
• 4:36:33
  Out Here was the secret of her blanched face, her shaken nerves,
• 4:36:40
  her peals of hysterical laughter. On the next morning, But what had been
• 4:36:44
  in the box? What had she done with that? Of course, it
• 4:36:49
  must have been the old metal and pebbles which my client had dragged from the
• 4:36:53
  mire. She had thrown them in there at the first opportunity to remove the
• 4:36:57
  last trace of her crime. For twenty minutes I had sat motionless, thinking
• 4:37:03
  the matter out. Musgrave still stood with a very pale face, swinging his
• 4:37:07
  lantern and peering down into the hole. These are the coins of Charles,
• 4:37:14
  the first, said he holding out the few which had been in the box.
• 4:37:18
  You see, we were right in fixing our date for the ritual.
• 4:37:22
  We may find something else of Charles the First, I cried, as the
• 4:37:26
  probable meaning of the first two questions of the ritual broke suddenly upon me.
• 4:37:32
  Let me see the contents of the bag which you fished from the mere.
• 4:37:36
  We ascended to his study, and he laid the debris before me. I
• 4:37:41
  could understand his regarding it as of small importance when I looked at it,
• 4:37:45
  for the metal was almost black, and the stones lustreless and dull. I
• 4:37:49
  rubbed one of them on my sleeve, however, and it glowed afterwards like
• 4:37:53
  a spark in the dark hollow of my hand. The metal work was in
• 4:37:59
  the form of a double ring, but it had been bent and twisted out
• 4:38:02
  of its original shape. You must bear in mind, said I, that
• 4:38:07
  the royal party made head in England even after the death of the king,
• 4:38:11
  and that when they at last fled, they probably left many of their most
• 4:38:15
  precious possessions buried behind them, with the intention of returning for them in more
• 4:38:19
  peaceful times. My ancestor, Sir Ralph Musgrave, was a prominent cavalier and
• 4:38:27
  the right hand man of Charles the Second. In his wonderings, said my
• 4:38:32
  friend Ah. Indeed, I answered, well, now I think that really
• 4:38:37
  should give us the last link that we wanted. I must congratulate you on
• 4:38:41
  coming into the possession, though in rather a tragic manner, of a relic
• 4:38:45
  which is of great intrinsic value, but of even greater importance as an historical
• 4:38:52
  curiosity. What is it, then, he gasped in astonishment. It is
• 4:38:57
  nothing less than the ancient crown of the Kings of England, the crown.
• 4:39:03
  Precisely Consider what the ritual says, How does it run? Whose was it?
• 4:39:11
  His? Who is gone? That was after the execution of Charles?
• 4:39:17
  Then who shall have it? He who will come? That was Charles the
• 4:39:22
  Second, whose advent was already foreseen. There can, I think, be
• 4:39:26
  no doubt that this batter than shapeless diadem once encircled the brows of the royal
• 4:39:33
  Stuarts. And how came it in the pond ah? That is a question
• 4:39:38
  that will take some time to answer. And with that I sketched out to
• 4:39:42
  him the whole long chain of surmise and of proof which I had constructed.
• 4:39:48
  The twilight had closed in and the moon was shining brightly in the sky before
• 4:39:52
  my narrative was finished. And how was it then that Charles did not get
• 4:39:57
  his crown when he returned and asked Musgrave, pushing back the relic into its
• 4:40:03
  linen bag. Ah, there you lay your finger upon the one point which
• 4:40:07
  we shall probably never be able to clear up. It is likely that the
• 4:40:12
  Musgrave who held the secret died in the interval, and by some oversight,
• 4:40:18
  left this guide to his descendant without explaining the meaning of it. From that
• 4:40:22
  day to this it has been handed down from father to son, until at
• 4:40:26
  last it came within reach of a man who tore its secret out of it
• 4:40:30
  and lost his life in the venture. And that's the story of the Musgrave
• 4:40:36
  Ritual. Watson. They have the crown down at Hurlstone, though they had
• 4:40:40
  some legal bother and a considerable sum to pay before they were allowed to retain
• 4:40:44
  it. I am sure that if you mentioned my name, they would be
• 4:40:48
  happy to show it to you. Of the woman, nothing was ever heard,
• 4:40:52
  and the probability is that she got away out of England and carried herself
• 4:40:56
  from the memory of her crime to some land beyond the seas. End of
• 4:41:03
  the Musgrave Ritual Adventure ten in the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan
• 4:41:10
  Doyle. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Adventure ten the Naval
• 4:41:17
  Treaty, Part one. The July, which immediately succeeded my marriage, was
• 4:41:25
  made memorable by three cases of interest in which I had the privilege of being
• 4:41:30
  associated with Sherlock Holmes and of studying his methods. I find them recorded in
• 4:41:34
  my notes under the headings of the Adventure of the Second Stain, the Adventure
• 4:41:40
  of the Naval Treaty, and the Adventure of the Tired Captain. The first
• 4:41:45
  of these, however, deals with interest of such importance and implicates so many
• 4:41:49
  of the first families in the Kingdom that for many years it will be impossible
• 4:41:53
  to make it public. No case, however, in which Holmes was engaged,
• 4:42:00
  ever illustrated the value of his analytical methods so clearly, or has impressed
• 4:42:04
  those who were associated with him so deeply. I still retain an almost verbatim
• 4:42:11
  report of the interview in which he demonstrated the true facts of the case to
• 4:42:15
  Monsieur de Bugue of the Paris Police and Fritz von Waltbaum, the well known
• 4:42:21
  specialist of Dancy, both of whom had wasted their energies upon what proved to
• 4:42:26
  be side issues. The new century will have come, however, before the
• 4:42:30
  story can be safely told. Meanwhile, I pass on to the second on
• 4:42:36
  my list, which promised also at one time to be of national importance,
• 4:42:40
  and was marked by several incidents which give it a quite unique character. During
• 4:42:45
  my school days I had been intimately associated with a lad named Percy Phelps,
• 4:42:52
  who was of much the same age as myself, though he was two classes
• 4:42:56
  ahead of me. He was a very brilliant boy and carried away every prize
• 4:43:02
  which the school had to offer. Finished his exploits by winning a scholarship which
• 4:43:06
  sent him on to continue his triumphant career at Cambridge. He was, I
• 4:43:11
  remember, extremely well connected, and even when we were all little boys together,
• 4:43:15
  we knew that his mother's brother was Lord Holthurst, the great Conservative politician.
• 4:43:22
  This gaudy relationship did him little good at school. On the contrary,
• 4:43:26
  it seemed rather a piquant thing to us to chevy him about the playground and
• 4:43:30
  hit him over the shins with a wicket. But it was another thing when
• 4:43:34
  he came out into the world. I heard vaguely that his abilities and the
• 4:43:38
  influences which he commanded had won him a good position at the Foreign Office,
• 4:43:44
  and then he passed completely out of my mind until the following letter recalled his
• 4:43:48
  existence. Briar Bray Woking, My dear Watson, I have no doubt that
• 4:43:56
  you can remember Tadpole Phelps, who in the fifth form when you were in
• 4:44:00
  the third. It is possible even that you may have heard that, through
• 4:44:03
  my uncle's influence, I obtained a good appointment at the Foreign Office, and
• 4:44:08
  that I was in a situation of trust and honor until a horrible misfortune came
• 4:44:14
  suddenly to blast my career. There is no use writing of the details of
• 4:44:18
  that dreadful event. In the event of your acceding to my request, it
• 4:44:23
  is probable that I shall have to narrate them to you. I have only
• 4:44:27
  just recovered from nine weeks of brain fever, and am still exceedingly weak.
• 4:44:33
  Do you think that you could bring your friend mister Holmes down to see me.
• 4:44:37
  I should like to have his opinion of the case. Though the authorities
• 4:44:41
  assure me that nothing more can be done, do try to bring him down
• 4:44:45
  and as soon as possible. Every minute seems an hour while I live in
• 4:44:49
  this state of horrible suspense. Assure him that if I have not asked his
• 4:44:55
  advice sooner, it was not because I did not appreciate his talents, but
• 4:45:00
  because I have been off my head ever since the blow fell. Now I
• 4:45:04
  am clear again, though I dare not think of it too much for fear
• 4:45:07
  of a relapse, I am still so weak that I have to write,
• 4:45:12
  as you see by dictating, do try to bring him your old schoolfellow,
• 4:45:18
  Percy Phelps. There was something that touched me as I read this letter,
• 4:45:25
  something pitiable in the reiterated appeals to bring Holmes. So moved was I that
• 4:45:30
  even had it been a difficult matter, I should have tried it. But
• 4:45:33
  of course I knew well that Holmes loved his art, so that he was
• 4:45:37
  ever as ready to bring his aid as his client could be to receive it.
• 4:45:42
  My wife agreed with me that not a moment should be lost in laying
• 4:45:45
  the matter before him, and so within an hour of breakfast time, I
• 4:45:51
  found myself back once more in the old rooms in Baker Street. Holmes was
• 4:45:56
  seated at his side table, clad in his dressing gown and working hard over
• 4:46:00
  a chemical investigation. A large curved retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame
• 4:46:07
  of a Bunsen burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two liter
• 4:46:11
  measure. My friend hardly glanced up as I entered, and I, seeing
• 4:46:17
  that his investigation must be of importance, seated myself in an arm chair and
• 4:46:22
  waited. He dipped into this bottle or that, drawing out a few drops
• 4:46:27
  of each with his glass pipette, and finally brought a test tube containing a
• 4:46:32
  solution over to the table. In his right hand he held a slip of
• 4:46:37
  litmus paper. You come at a crisis, Watson said he. If this
• 4:46:42
  paper remains blue, all is well. If it turns red, it means
• 4:46:48
  a man's life. He dipped it into the test tube, and it flushed
• 4:46:52
  at once into a dull, dirty crimson. Hum I thought as much.
• 4:46:57
  He cried, I will be your service in an instant, Watson, you
• 4:47:02
  will find tobacco in the Persian slipper. He turned to his desk and scribbled
• 4:47:07
  off several telegrams, which were handed over to the page boy. Then he
• 4:47:11
  threw himself down into the chair opposite and drew up his knees until his fingers
• 4:47:15
  clasped round his long, thin shins a very commonplace. Little murder said he
• 4:47:22
  you've got something better. I fancy you are the stormy petrel of crime.
• 4:47:27
  Watson, what is it? I handed him the letter, which he read
• 4:47:32
  with the most concentrated attention. It does not tell us very much, does
• 4:47:37
  it, he remarked, as he handed it back to me, hardly anything.
• 4:47:42
  And yet the writing is of interest. But the writing is not his
• 4:47:47
  own. Precisely, it is a woman's a man, surely, I cried,
• 4:47:53
  no, a woman's, and a woman of rare character. You see,
• 4:47:59
  at the commence of an investigation, it is something to know that your
• 4:48:03
  client is in close contact with someone who, for good or evil, has
• 4:48:07
  an exceptional nature. My interest is already awakened in the case. If you
• 4:48:12
  are ready, we will start at once for Woking and see this diplomatist who
• 4:48:17
  is in such evil case, and the lady to whom he dictates his letter.
• 4:48:23
  We were fortunate enough to catch an early train at Waterloo, and in
• 4:48:27
  a little under an hour we found ourselves among the fir woods and the heather
• 4:48:32
  of Woking. Briarbray proved to be a large detached house standing in extensive grounds.
• 4:48:37
  Within a few minutes walk of the station. On sending in our cards,
• 4:48:42
  we were shown into an elegantly appointed drawing room, where we were joined
• 4:48:47
  in a few minutes by a rather stout man who received us with much hospitality.
• 4:48:52
  His age may have been nearer forty than thirty, but his cheeks were
• 4:48:56
  so ruddy and his eyes so merry. He still conveyed the impression of a
• 4:49:02
  plump and mischievous boy. I am so glad that you've come, said he,
• 4:49:07
  shaking our hands with effusion. Percy has been inquiring for you all morning.
• 4:49:12
  Ah, poor old chap he clings to any straw. His father and
• 4:49:17
  his mother asked me to see you, for the mere mention of the subject
• 4:49:19
  is very painful to them. We have no details yet, observed Holmes.
• 4:49:26
  I perceive that you are not yourself a member of the family. Our acquaintance
• 4:49:30
  looked surprised, and then, glancing down, he began to laugh. Of
• 4:49:36
  course, you saw the j H monogram on my locket, said he.
• 4:49:40
  For a moment I thought you had done something clever. Joseph Harrison is my
• 4:49:44
  name, and as Percy is to marry my sister Annie, I shall at
• 4:49:48
  least be a relation by marriage. You will find my sister in his room,
• 4:49:52
  for she has nursed him hand and foot this two months back. Perhaps
• 4:49:56
  we'd better go in at once, for I know, oh how impatient he
• 4:50:00
  is. The chamber in which we were shown was on the same floor as
• 4:50:04
  the drawing room. It was furnished partly as a sitting and partly as a
• 4:50:08
  bedroom, with flowers arranged daintily in every nook and corner. A young man,
• 4:50:15
  very pale and worn, was lying upon a sofa near the open window,
• 4:50:21
  through which came the rich scent of the garden and the balmy summer air.
• 4:50:26
  A woman was sitting beside him, who rose as we entered. Shall
• 4:50:30
  I leave, Percy, she asked. He clutched her hand to detain her.
• 4:50:36
  How are you, Watson, said he cordially. I should never have
• 4:50:40
  known you under that mustache, and I dare say you would not be prepared
• 4:50:44
  to swear to me. This, I presume is your celebrated friend, mister
• 4:50:48
  Sherlock Holmes. I introduced him in a few words, and we both sat
• 4:50:53
  down. The stout young man had left us, but his sister still remained,
• 4:50:57
  with her hand in that of the invalid. She was a striking looking
• 4:51:03
  woman, a little short and thick for symmetry, but with a beautiful olive
• 4:51:07
  complexion, large dark Italian eyes, and a wealth of deep black hair.
• 4:51:14
  Her rich tints made the white face of her companion the more worn and haggard
• 4:51:18
  by the contrast. I won't waste your time, said he, raising himself
• 4:51:23
  upon the sofa. I'll plunge into the matter without further preamble. I was
• 4:51:30
  a happy and successful man, mister Holmes, and on the eve of being
• 4:51:33
  married, when a sudden and dreadful misfortune wrecked all my prospects in life.
• 4:51:40
  I was, as Watson may have told you, in the Foreign Office,
• 4:51:44
  and through the influences of my uncle, Lord Holthurst, I rose rapidly to
• 4:51:48
  a responsible position. When my uncle became Foreign Minister in this administration, he
• 4:51:53
  gave me several missions of trust, and as I always brought them to a
• 4:51:57
  successful conclusion, he came at last to have the utmost confidence in my ability
• 4:52:03
  and tact. Nearly ten weeks ago, to be more accurate, on the
• 4:52:08
  twenty third of May, he called me into his private room, and after
• 4:52:14
  complimenting me on the good work which I had done, he informed me that
• 4:52:18
  he had a new commission of trust for me to execute. This, said
• 4:52:23
  he, taking a gray roll of paper from his bureau, is the original
• 4:52:29
  of that secret treaty between England and Italy, of which I regret to say
• 4:52:33
  some rumors have already got into the public press. It is of enormous importance
• 4:52:40
  that nothing further should leak out. The French or the Russian embassy would pay
• 4:52:45
  an immense sum to learn the contents of these papers. I should not leave
• 4:52:49
  my bureau were it not that it is absolutely necessary to have them copied.
• 4:52:56
  You have a desk in your office, yes, sir, then take the
• 4:53:00
  treaty and lock it up there. I shall give directions that you may remain
• 4:53:04
  behind when the others go, so that you may copy it at your leisure
• 4:53:10
  without fear of being overlooked. When you have finished, relock both the original
• 4:53:15
  and the draft in the desk, and hand them over to me personally to
• 4:53:19
  morrow morning. I took the papers, and excuse me an instant, said
• 4:53:26
  Holmes. Were you alone during this conversation, absolutely in a large room thirty
• 4:53:33
  feet each way in the center, Yes, about it, and speaking low.
• 4:53:41
  My uncle's voice is always remarkably low. I hardly spoke at all.
• 4:53:47
  Thank you, said Holmes, shutting his eyes, pray go on. I
• 4:53:52
  did exactly what he indicated, and waited until the other clerks had departed.
• 4:53:57
  One of them in my room, Charles Gorro, had some arrears of work
• 4:54:03
  to make up, so I left him there and went out to dine.
• 4:54:07
  When I returned, he was gone. I was anxious to hurry my work,
• 4:54:11
  for I knew that Joseph, the mister Harrison whom you saw just now,
• 4:54:17
  was in town, and that he would travel down to Woking by the
• 4:54:19
  eleven o'clock train, and I wanted, if possible to catch it. When
• 4:54:25
  I came to examine the treaty, I saw at once that it was of
• 4:54:29
  such importance that my uncle had been guilty of no exaggeration in what he had
• 4:54:34
  said. Without going into details, I may say that it defined the position
• 4:54:40
  of Great Britain towards the Triple Alliance, and foreshadowed the policy which this country
• 4:54:47
  would pursue in the event of a French fleet gaining a complete ascendency over that
• 4:54:52
  of Italy in the Mediterranean. The questions treated in it were purely naval at
• 4:54:57
  the end, with the signature of the high dignitaries who had signed it.
• 4:55:02
  I glanced my eyes over it, and then settled down to make my task
• 4:55:07
  of copying. It was a long document, written in the French language and
• 4:55:12
  containing twenty six separate articles. I copied as quickly as I could, but
• 4:55:18
  at nine o'clock I had only done nine articles, and it seemed hopeless for
• 4:55:22
  me to attempt to catch my train. I was feeling drowsy and stupid,
• 4:55:29
  partly from my dinner and also from the effects of a long day's work.
• 4:55:33
  A cup of coffee would clear my brain. A commissionaire remains all night in
• 4:55:37
  a little lodge at the foot of the stairs, and is in the habit
• 4:55:41
  of making coffee at his spirit lamp for any of the officials who may be
• 4:55:45
  working over time. I rang the bell therefore to summon him. To my
• 4:55:52
  surprise, it was a woman who answered the summons, a large, coarse
• 4:55:56
  faced, elderly woman in an apron. She explained that she was the commissionaire's
• 4:56:03
  wife who did the charring, and I gave her the order for the coffee.
• 4:56:07
  I wrote two more articles, and then, feeling more drowsy than ever,
• 4:56:14
  I rose and walked up and down the room to stretch my legs.
• 4:56:18
  My coffee had not yet come, and I wondered what the cause of the
• 4:56:22
  delay could be opening the door. I started down the corridor to find out.
• 4:56:29
  There was a straight passage, dimly lighted, which led from the room
• 4:56:33
  in which I had been working, and was the only exit from it.
• 4:56:37
  It ended in a curving staircase with the Commissionaire's lodge in the passage at the
• 4:56:41
  bottom. Half Way down the staircase is a small landing with another passage running
• 4:56:48
  into it at right angles. This second one leads by means of a second
• 4:56:52
  small stair to a side door used by servants and also as a short cut
• 4:56:57
  by clerk's when coming from Charles Street. Here is a rough chart of the
• 4:57:02
  place. Thank you, I think that I quite follow you, said Sherlock
• 4:57:07
  Holmes. It is of the utmost importance that you should notice this point.
• 4:57:14
  I went down the stairs and into the hall, where I found the Commissionaire
• 4:57:18
  fast asleep in his box, with the kettle boiling furiously upon the spirit lamp.
• 4:57:23
  I took off the kettle and blew out the lamp, for the water
• 4:57:27
  was spurting over the floor. Then I put out my hand and was about
• 4:57:32
  to shake the man who was still sleeping soundly, when a bell over his
• 4:57:37
  head rang loudly, and he woke with a start. Mister Phelps, Sir,
• 4:57:41
  said, he looking at me in bewilderment. I came down to see
• 4:57:47
  if my coffee was ready. I was boiling the kettle when I fell asleep,
• 4:57:51
  Sir. He looked at me, and then up at the still quivering
• 4:57:55
  bell, with an ever growing astonishment upon his face. If you was here,
• 4:58:00
  sir, then who rang the bell? He asked the bell? I
• 4:58:06
  cried, what bell is it? It's the bell of the room you were
• 4:58:10
  working in. A cold hand seemed to close round my heart. Some one
• 4:58:15
  then, was in that room where my precious treaty lay upon the table.
• 4:58:19
  I ran frantically up the stair and along the passage. There was no one
• 4:58:25
  in the corridors, mister Holmes, there was no one in the room.
• 4:58:29
  All was exactly as I left it, save only that the papers which had
• 4:58:33
  been committed to my care had been taken from the desk on which they lay.
• 4:58:37
  The copy was there, and the original was gone. Holmes sat up
• 4:58:44
  in his chair and rubbed his hands. I could see that the problem was
• 4:58:48
  entirely to his heart. Pray what did you do? Then, he murmured.
• 4:58:53
  I recognized in an instant that the thief must have come up the stairs
• 4:58:56
  from the side door of horse. I must have met him if he had
• 4:59:02
  come the other way. You were satisfied that he could not have been concealed
• 4:59:06
  in the room all the time, or in the corridor, which you have
• 4:59:08
  just described as dimly lighted. It is absolutely impossible a rat could not conceal
• 4:59:15
  himself, either in the room or the corridor. There is no cover at
• 4:59:18
  all. Thank you, pray proceed. The Commissionaire, seeing by my pale
• 4:59:26
  face that something was to be feared, had followed me upstairs. Now we
• 4:59:30
  both rushed along the corridor and down the steep steps which led to Charles Street.
• 4:59:37
  The door at the bottom was closed but unlocked. We flung it open
• 4:59:41
  and rushed out. I can distinctly remember that as we did so, there
• 4:59:45
  came three chimes from a neighboring clock. It was quarter to ten. That
• 4:59:52
  is of enormous importance, said Holmes, making a note upon his shirt cuff.
• 4:59:56
  The night was very dark, and the thing when warm rain was falling.
• 5:00:02
  There was no one in Charles Street, but a great traffic was going
• 5:00:04
  on as usual in Whitehall at the extremity. We rushed along the pavement,
• 5:00:11
  bareheaded as we were, and at the far corner we found a policeman standing.
• 5:00:17
  A robbery has been committed, I gasped. A document of immense value
• 5:00:21
  has been stolen from the Foreign Office. Has anyone passed this way? I've
• 5:00:26
  been standing here for a quarter of an hour, Sir said he. Only
• 5:00:30
  one person has passed during that time, a woman, tall and elderly with
• 5:00:34
  a Paisley shawl. Ah, that is only my wife, cried the Commissionaire.
• 5:00:40
  As no one else passed, No one, then it must be the
• 5:00:45
  other way that the thief took, cried the fellow, tugging at my sleeve.
• 5:00:49
  But I was not satisfied, and the attempt which he made to draw
• 5:00:52
  me away increased my suspicions. Which way did the woman go? I cried,
• 5:01:00
  no, Sir. I noticed her pass, but I had no special
• 5:01:03
  reason for watching her. She seemed to be in hurry. How long ago
• 5:01:07
  was it? Oh, not very many minutes, within the last five Well,
• 5:01:12
  it could not be more than five. You're only wasting your time,
• 5:01:17
  sir, And every minute now as of importance, cried the Commissionaire. Take
• 5:01:21
  my word for it, that my old woman has nothing to do with it,
• 5:01:25
  and come down to the other end of the street. Well, if
• 5:01:26
  you won't, I will. And with that he rushed off in the other
• 5:01:30
  direction. But I was after him in an instant and caught him by the
• 5:01:34
  sleeve. Where do you live? Said I sixteen ivy line, Brixton,
• 5:01:41
  He answered, But don't let yourself be drawn away upon a false scent,
• 5:01:45
  mister Phelps. Come to the other end of the street and let us see
• 5:01:48
  if we can hear of anything. Nothing was to be lost by following his
• 5:01:52
  advice with the policemen. We both hurried down, but only to find the
• 5:01:56
  street full of traffic, many people coming and going, but all only too
• 5:02:02
  eager to get to a place of safety. Upon so wet a night,
• 5:02:06
  there was no lounger who could tell us who had passed. Then we returned
• 5:02:11
  to the office and searched the stairs and the passage without result. The corridor
• 5:02:17
  which led to the room was laid down with a kind of creamy linoleum which
• 5:02:21
  shows an impression very easily. We examined it very carefully, but found no
• 5:02:26
  outline of any footmark. Had it been raining all evening since about seven.
• 5:02:33
  How is it then that the woman who came into the room about nine left
• 5:02:37
  no traces with her muddy boots. I am glad you raised that point.
• 5:02:42
  It occurred to me at the time. The charwomen are in the habit of
• 5:02:48
  taking off their boots at the Commissionaire's office and putting on list slippers. That
• 5:02:53
  is very clear. There were no marks then, though the night was a
• 5:02:57
  wet one. The chain of events is certainly one of extraordinary interest. What
• 5:03:03
  did you do next? We examined the room also. There is no possibility
• 5:03:07
  of a secret door, and the windows are quite thirty feet from the ground.
• 5:03:12
  Both of them were fastened on the inside. The carpet prevents any possibility
• 5:03:17
  of a trap door, and the ceiling is of the ordinary whitewashed kind.
• 5:03:22
  I will pledge my life that whoever stole my papers could only have come through
• 5:03:26
  the door. How about the fireplace they use none. There is a stove.
• 5:03:33
  The bell rope hangs from the wire just to the right of my desk.
• 5:03:37
  Whoever rang it must have come right up to the desk to do it.
• 5:03:41
  But why should any criminal wish to ring the bell? It is a
• 5:03:45
  most insoluble mystery. Certainly the incident was unusual. What were your next steps?
• 5:03:52
  You examined the room, I presume to see if the intruder had left
• 5:03:56
  any traces, any cigar end or drop, glove, or hairpin or other
• 5:04:02
  trifle. There was nothing of the sort. No smell. Well, we
• 5:04:07
  never thought of that. Ah assent of tobacco would have been worth a great
• 5:04:12
  deal to us in such an investigation. I never smoke myself, so I
• 5:04:18
  think I should have observed if there had been any smell of tobacco. There
• 5:04:22
  was absolutely no clue of any kind. The only tangible fact was that the
• 5:04:26
  Commissionaire's wife, Missus Tangy was the name, had hurried out of the place.
• 5:04:33
  He could give no explanation, say that it was about the time when
• 5:04:37
  the woman always went home. The policeman and I agreed that our best plan
• 5:04:42
  would be to seize the woman before she could get rid of the papers,
• 5:04:45
  presuming that she had them. The alarm had reached Scotland Yard by this time,
• 5:04:52
  and mister Forbes, the detective, came round at once and took up
• 5:04:56
  the case with a great deal of energy. We hired a hansom, and
• 5:05:00
  in half an hour we were at the address which had been given to us.
• 5:05:03
  A young woman opened the door who proved to be Missus Tangy's eldest daughter.
• 5:05:08
  Her mother had not come back yet, and we were shown into the
• 5:05:12
  front room to wait. About ten minutes later a knock came at the door,
• 5:05:19
  and here we made the one serious mistake for which I blame myself.
• 5:05:25
  Instead of opening the door ourselves, we allowed the girl to do so.
• 5:05:30
  We heard her say, mother, there are two men in the house waiting
• 5:05:33
  to see you, And an instant afterwards we heard the patter of feet rushing
• 5:05:38
  down the passage. Forbes flung open the door and we both ran into the
• 5:05:44
  back room or kitchen, but the woman had got there before us. She
• 5:05:48
  stared at us with defiant eyes, and then, suddenly recognizing me, an
• 5:05:53
  expression of absolute astonishment came over her face. Why if it isn't mister Phelps
• 5:06:00
  of the office, she cried, Come, come, Who did you think
• 5:06:06
  we were when you ran away from us? Asked my companion, Ah,
• 5:06:08
  I thought you were the brokers, said she. We've had some trouble with
• 5:06:12
  a tradesman. That's not quite good enough, answered Forbes. We have reason
• 5:06:18
  to believe that you have taken a paper of importance from the Foreign Office,
• 5:06:23
  and that you ran in here to dispose of it. He must come back
• 5:06:26
  with us to Scotland Yard to be searched. It was in vain that she
• 5:06:32
  protested and resisted. A four wheeler was brought and we all three drove back
• 5:06:37
  in it. We had first made an examination of the kitchen, and especially
• 5:06:41
  of the kitchen fire, to see whether she might have made away with the
• 5:06:45
  papers during the instant that she was alone. There were no signs, however,
• 5:06:48
  of any ashes or scraps. When we reached Scotland Yard, she was
• 5:06:53
  handed over at once to the female searcher. I waited in an agony of
• 5:06:59
  suspense until she came back with her report. There were no signs of the
• 5:07:03
  papers. Then, for the first time, the horror of my situation came
• 5:07:10
  in its full force. Hitherto I had been acting, and action had none
• 5:07:15
  thought. I had been so confident of regaining the treaty at once that I
• 5:07:19
  had not dared to think of what would be the consequence if I failed to
• 5:07:23
  do so. But now there was nothing more to be done, and I
• 5:07:27
  had leisure to realize my position. It was horrible. Watson there would tell
• 5:07:34
  you that I was a nervous, sensitive boy at school. It is my
• 5:07:38
  nature. I thought of my uncle and of his colleagues in the cabinet,
• 5:07:44
  of the shame which I had brought upon him, upon myself, upon every
• 5:07:48
  one connected with me. What though I was a victim of an extraordinary accident,
• 5:07:56
  no allowances made for accidents where diplomatic interests are at stake. I was
• 5:08:00
  ruined, shamefully, hopelessly ruined. I don't know what I did. I
• 5:08:07
  fancy I must have made a scene. I have a dim recollection of a
• 5:08:11
  group of officials who crowded round me, endeavoring to soothe me. One of
• 5:08:15
  them drove down with me to Waterloo and saw me into the Woking train.
• 5:08:22
  I believed that he would have come all the way had it not been that
• 5:08:25
  Doctor Ferrier, who lives near me, was going down by that very train.
• 5:08:30
  The doctor most kindly took charge of me, and it was well he
• 5:08:33
  did so, for I had a fit in the station, and before we
• 5:08:37
  reached home I was practically a raving maniac. You can imagine the state of
• 5:08:42
  things here when they were roused from their beds by the doctor's ringing and found
• 5:08:47
  me in this condition. Poor Annie here and my mother were broken hearted.
• 5:08:52
  Doctor Ferrier had just heard enough from the detective at the station to be able
• 5:08:57
  to give an idea of what had happened, and his story did not mend
• 5:09:02
  matters. It was evident to all that I was in for a long illness.
• 5:09:07
  So Joseph was bundled out of this cheery bedroom and it was turned into
• 5:09:11
  a sick room for me. Here I have lain mister Holmes for over nine
• 5:09:15
  weeks, unconscious and raving with brain fever. If it had not been for
• 5:09:22
  missus Harrison here and for the doctor's care, I should not be speaking to
• 5:09:26
  you now. She has nursed me by day, and a hired nurse has
• 5:09:30
  looked after me by night, for in my mad fits I was capable of
• 5:09:34
  anything. Slowly my reason has cleared, but it is only during the last
• 5:09:41
  three days that my memory has quite returned. Sometimes I wish that it never
• 5:09:45
  had. The first thing that I did was to wire to mister Forbes,
• 5:09:51
  who had the case in hand. He came out and assures me that though
• 5:09:56
  everything has been done, no trace of a clue has been discus. The
• 5:10:00
  Commissionaire and his wife have been examined in every way without any light being thrown
• 5:10:06
  upon the matter. The suspicions of the police then rested upon young Goro,
• 5:10:11
  who, as you may remember, stayed over time in the office that night.
• 5:10:15
  His remaining behind and his French name were really the only two points which
• 5:10:19
  could suggest suspicion. But as a matter of fact, I did not begin
• 5:10:25
  work until he had gone, and his people are of Huguenot extraction. But
• 5:10:30
  as English in sympathy and tradition as you and I are, nothing was found
• 5:10:34
  to implicate him in any way, and there the matter dropped. I turned
• 5:10:40
  to you, mister Holmes, as absolutely my last hope. If you fail
• 5:10:45
  me, then my honor, as well as my position, are forever forfeited.
• 5:10:52
  The invalid sank back upon his cushions, tired out by this long recital,
• 5:10:56
  while his nurse poured him out a glass of some stimulating medicine. Holmes
• 5:11:02
  sat silently with his head thrown back and his eyes closed, in an attitude
• 5:11:06
  which might seem listless to a stranger, but which I knew betokened the most
• 5:11:10
  intense self absorption. Your statement has been so explicit, said he at last,
• 5:11:17
  that you have really left me very few questions to ask there is one
• 5:11:21
  of the very utmost importance. However, did you tell any one that you
• 5:11:26
  had this special task to perform? No one, not Miss Harrison here for
• 5:11:33
  example. No, I had not been back to Woking between getting the order
• 5:11:37
  and executing the commission, and none of your people had by chance been to
• 5:11:42
  see you. None. Did any of them know their way about in the
• 5:11:48
  office. Oh? Yes, all of them had been shown over it.
• 5:11:52
  Still, of course, if you said nothing to any one about the treaty,
• 5:11:56
  these inquiries are irrelevant. I said nothing. Do you know anything of
• 5:12:02
  the commissionaire? Nothing except that he is an old soldier? What regiment?
• 5:12:08
  Oh? I have heard cold Stream Guards? Thank you. I have no
• 5:12:14
  doubt I can get details from Forbes. The authorities are excellent at amassing facts,
• 5:12:19
  though they do not always use them to advantage. What a lovely thing
• 5:12:23
  a roses. He walked past the couch to the open window and held up
• 5:12:29
  the drooping stalk of a moss rose, looking down at the dainty blend of
• 5:12:33
  crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me,
• 5:12:37
  for I'd never seen him show any keen interest in natural objects. There is
• 5:12:42
  nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion, said he, leaning
• 5:12:48
  with his back against the shutters. It can be built up as an exact
• 5:12:52
  science by the reasoner. Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to
• 5:12:56
  me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our
• 5:13:02
  desires, our food are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance.
• 5:13:07
  But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its color are an
• 5:13:12
  embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which
• 5:13:17
  gives extras. And so I say again that we have much to hope from
• 5:13:21
  the flowers. Percy Phelps and his nurse looked at Holmes during this demonstration with
• 5:13:26
  surprise and a good deal of disappointment written upon their faces. He had fallen
• 5:13:33
  into a reverie with the moss rose between his fingers. It had lasted some
• 5:13:37
  minutes before the young lady broke in upon it. Do you see any prospect
• 5:13:42
  of solving this mystery, mister Holmes, she asked, with a touch of
• 5:13:45
  asperity in her voice. Oh the mystery, he answered, coming back with
• 5:13:52
  a start to the realities of life. Well, it would be absurd to
• 5:13:56
  deny that the case is a very abstruse and complicated one. But I can
• 5:14:00
  promise you that I will look into the matter and let you know any points
• 5:14:04
  which may strike me. Do you see any clue? You have furnished me
• 5:14:10
  with seven, but of course I must test them before I can pronounce upon
• 5:14:15
  their value. You suspect some one, I suspect myself. What of coming
• 5:14:23
  to conclusions too rapidly? Then go to London and test your conclusions. Your
• 5:14:30
  advice is very excellent, Miss Harrison, said Holmes, rising, I think
• 5:14:34
  Watson, we cannot do better. Do not allow yourself to indulge in false
• 5:14:40
  hopes, mister Phelps. The affair is a very tangled one. I shall
• 5:14:45
  be in a fever until I see you again, cried the diplomatist. Well,
• 5:14:49
  i'll come out by the same train to morrow, though it's more than
• 5:14:52
  likely that my report will be a negative one. God bless you for promising
• 5:14:57
  to come, cried our client. It gives me fresh life to know that
• 5:15:02
  something is being done by the way. I have had a letter from Lord
• 5:15:06
  Holdhurst. Ha What did he say? He was cold, but not harsh.
• 5:15:12
  I dare say my severe illness prevented him from being that. He repeated
• 5:15:17
  that the matter was of the utmost importance. And added that no steps would
• 5:15:21
  be taken about my future, by which he means, of course, my
• 5:15:25
  dismissal, until my health was restored and I had an opportunity of repairing my
• 5:15:30
  misfortune. Well that was reasonable and considerate, said Holmes. Come Watson,
• 5:15:37
  for we have a good day's work before us in town. Mister Joseph Harrison
• 5:15:41
  drove us down to the station, and we were soon whirling up in a
• 5:15:45
  Portsmouth train. Holmes was sunk in profound thought and hardly opened his mouth until
• 5:15:51
  we had passed Clapham Junction. It's a very cheery thing to come into London
• 5:15:56
  by any of these lines which run high, and you to look down upon
• 5:16:00
  the houses like this. I thought he was joking, for the view was
• 5:16:04
  sordid enough, but he soon explained himself. Look at those big, isolated
• 5:16:11
  clumps of building rising up above the slates, like brick islands in a lead
• 5:16:15
  colored sea. The board schools, lighthouses, my boy, beacons of the
• 5:16:22
  future, capsules with hundreds of bright little seeds in each, out of which
• 5:16:26
  will spring the wise, better England of the future. I suppose that man
• 5:16:30
  Phelps does not drink, I should not think so, nor should I but
• 5:16:37
  we are bound to take every possibility into account. The poor devil has certainly
• 5:16:41
  got himself into very deep water, and it's a question whether we shall ever
• 5:16:45
  be able to get him ashore. What did you think of miss Harrison?
• 5:16:51
  A girl of strong character? Yes, but she is a good sort,
• 5:16:56
  or I am mistaken. She and her brother are the only children of an
• 5:16:59
  iron master somewhere up Northumberland Way. He got engaged to her when traveling last
• 5:17:03
  winter, and she came down to be introduced to his people, with her
• 5:17:07
  brother as escort. Then came the smash, and she stayed on to nurse
• 5:17:14
  her lover, while brother Joseph, finding himself pretty snug, stayed on too.
• 5:17:18
  I've been making a few independent inquiries, you see, But to day
• 5:17:22
  must be a day of inquiries my practice, I began. Oh, if
• 5:17:29
  you find your own cases more interesting than mine, said Holmes with some asperity.
• 5:17:34
  I was going to say that my practice could get along very well for
• 5:17:37
  a day or two, since it is the slackest time in the year.
• 5:17:41
  Excellent, said he, recovering his good humor. Then we'll look into this
• 5:17:45
  matter together. I think that we should begin by seeing Forbes. He can
• 5:17:52
  probably tell us all the details we want until we know from what side the
• 5:17:56
  case is to be approached. You said he had a clue, Well,
• 5:18:00
  we have several, but we can only test their value by further inquiry.
• 5:18:06
  The most difficult crime to track is the one which is purposeless. Now this
• 5:18:10
  is not purposeless. Who is it who profits by it? There is the
• 5:18:15
  French ambassador, there is the Russian. There is whoever might sell it to
• 5:18:19
  either of these, And there is Lord Holdhurst. Lord Holdhurst, Well,
• 5:18:26
  it is just conceivable that a statesman might find himself in a position where he
• 5:18:32
  was not sorry to have such a document accidentally destroyed, Not a statesman with
• 5:18:37
  the honorable record of Lord Holthurst. It is a possibility, and we cannot
• 5:18:42
  afford to disregard it. We shall see the noble Lord today and find out
• 5:18:48
  if he can tell us anything. Meanwhile, I have already set inquiries on
• 5:18:52
  foot already. Yes, I sent wires from Woking Station to every evening paper
• 5:18:59
  in London. This advertisement will appear in each of them. He handed over
• 5:19:04
  a sheet torn from a note book. On it was scribbled in pencil ten
• 5:19:10
  pounds reward the number of the cab which dropped a fare at or about the
• 5:19:14
  door of the Foreign Office in Charles Street at quarter to ten in the evening
• 5:19:18
  of May twenty third, Apply to twenty one B Baker Street. You're confident
• 5:19:25
  that the thief came in a cab. If not, there is no harm
• 5:19:29
  done. But if mister Phelps is correct in stating that there is no hiding
• 5:19:33
  place, either in the room or the corridors, then the person must have
• 5:19:37
  come from outside. If he came from outside on so wet a night,
• 5:19:41
  and yet left no trace of damp upon the linoleum, which was examined within
• 5:19:47
  a few minutes of his passing, then it is exceeding probable that he came
• 5:19:52
  in a cab. Yes, I think that we may safely deduce a cab.
• 5:19:57
  It sounds plausible. That is one of the clues of which I spoke.
• 5:20:03
  It may lead us to something. And then, of course there is
• 5:20:07
  the bell, which is the most distinctive feature of the case. Why should
• 5:20:11
  the bell ring? Was it the thief who did it out of bravado or
• 5:20:17
  was it someone who was with the thief who did it in order to prevent
• 5:20:19
  the crime, or was it an accident or was it he sank back into
• 5:20:26
  the state of intense and silent thought from which he had emerged. But it
• 5:20:30
  seemed to me, accustomed as I was, to his every mood, that
• 5:20:33
  some new possibility had dawned suddenly upon him. Part two. It was twenty
• 5:20:41
  past three when we reached our terminus, and after a hasty luncheon at the
• 5:20:45
  buffet, we pushed on at once to Scotland Yard. Holmes had already wired
• 5:20:49
  to Forbes, and we found him waiting to receive us, A small,
• 5:20:53
  foxy man with a sharp but by no means amiable expression. He was decidedly
• 5:20:59
  frigid in his manner to us, especially when he heard the errand upon which
• 5:21:03
  we had come. I have heard of your methods before now, mister Olmes,
• 5:21:07
  said he tartly. You are ready enough to use all the information that
• 5:21:11
  the police can lay at your disposal, and then you try to finish the
• 5:21:14
  case yourself and bring discredit on him. On the contrary, said Holmes.
• 5:21:19
  Out of my last fifty three cases, my name has only appeared in four,
• 5:21:23
  and the police have had all the credit in forty nine. I don't
• 5:21:27
  blame you for not knowing this, for you are young and inexperienced. But
• 5:21:33
  if you wish to get on in your new duties. You will work with
• 5:21:34
  me and not against me. I'll be very glad of a hint or two,
• 5:21:38
  said the detective, changing his manner. I have certainly had no credit
• 5:21:42
  from the case so far. What steps have you taken? Tangy, a
• 5:21:48
  commissionaire has been shadowed. He left the guards with a good character, and
• 5:21:53
  we can find nothing against him. His wife is a bad lot, though
• 5:21:57
  I fancy she knows more about this than appears. Have you shadowed her?
• 5:22:03
  We have set one of our women on to her. Missus Tangy drinks and
• 5:22:07
  our woman has been with her twice when she was well, on which she
• 5:22:11
  could get nothing out of her. I understand that they have brokers in the
• 5:22:15
  house. Yes, but they were paid off. Where did the money come
• 5:22:19
  from? And that was all right? His pension was due. They have
• 5:22:23
  not shown any sign of being in funds. What explanation did she give of
• 5:22:29
  having answered the bell when mister Phelps rang for the coffee? She said that
• 5:22:33
  her husband was very tired and she wished to relieve him. Well, certainly
• 5:22:38
  that would agree with his being found a little later asleep in his chair.
• 5:22:42
  There is nothing against them, then, but the woman's character. Did you
• 5:22:47
  ask her why she hurried away that night? Her haste attracted the attention of
• 5:22:51
  the police constable, She was lighter than usual and wanted to go home.
• 5:22:56
  Did you point out to her that you and mister fan ELPs, who started
• 5:23:00
  at least twenty minutes after her, got home before her. She explains that
• 5:23:07
  by the difference between a bus and a hansom. Did she make it clear
• 5:23:11
  why, on reaching her house she ran into the back kitchen because she had
• 5:23:15
  the money there with which to pay off the brokers. She has at least
• 5:23:19
  an answer for everything. Did you ask her whether in leaving she met anyone
• 5:23:23
  or saw anyone loitering about Charles Street? She saw no one but the constable.
• 5:23:30
  Well, you seem to have cross examined her pretty thoroughly. What else
• 5:23:33
  have you done? The clerk Goro has been shadowed all these nine weeks,
• 5:23:38
  but without result we can show nothing against him. Anything else. Well,
• 5:23:45
  we have nothing else to go upon, no evidence of any kind. Have
• 5:23:49
  you formed a theory about how that bell rang? Well, I must confess
• 5:23:55
  that it beats me. It was a cool land whoever it was to go
• 5:23:57
  and give the alarm like that app Yes, it was a queer thing to
• 5:24:03
  do. Many thanks to you for what you've told me. If I can
• 5:24:07
  put the man into your hands, you shall hear from me. Come along,
• 5:24:10
  Watson, where are we going to now, I asked as we left
• 5:24:14
  the office. We are now going to interview Lord Holthurst, the Cabinet Minister
• 5:24:18
  and future Premiere of England. We were fortunate in finding that Lord Holthurst was
• 5:24:25
  still in his chambers in Downing Street, and on Holmes sending in his card,
• 5:24:29
  we were instantly shown up. The Statesman received us with that old fashioned
• 5:24:33
  courtesy for which he is remarkable, and seated us on the two luxuriant loungers
• 5:24:38
  on either side of the fireplace, standing on the rug between us. With
• 5:24:44
  his slight, tall figure, his sharp features, thoughtful face, and curling
• 5:24:48
  hair prematurely tinged with gray, he seemed to represent that not too common type,
• 5:24:53
  a nobleman who is, in truth noble. Your name is very familiar
• 5:25:00
  to me, mister Holmes, said he smiling, And of course I cannot
• 5:25:03
  pretend to be ignorant of the object of your visit. There has only been
• 5:25:08
  one occurrence in these offices which could call for your attention. In whose interest
• 5:25:14
  are you acting, may I ask in that of mister Percy. Phelps answered
• 5:25:18
  Holmes, Ah, my unfortunate nephew. You can understand that our kinship makes
• 5:25:26
  it the more impossible for me to screen him in any way. I fear
• 5:25:32
  that the incident must have a very prejudicial effect upon his career. But if
• 5:25:37
  the document is found, Ah, that of course would be different. I
• 5:25:42
  had one or two questions which I wish to ask you, Lord Holthurst.
• 5:25:47
  I shall be happy to give you any information in my power. Was it
• 5:25:52
  in this room that you gave your instructions as to the copying of the document?
• 5:25:56
  It was then you could hardly have been over he heard. It is
• 5:26:00
  out of the question. Did you ever mention to any one that it was
• 5:26:04
  your intention to give any one the treaty to be copied? Never? You
• 5:26:11
  are certain of that absolutely well, Since you never said so, and mister
• 5:26:17
  Phelps never said so, and nobody else knew anything of the matter, then
• 5:26:22
  the thief's presence in the room was purely accidental. He saw his chance,
• 5:26:26
  and he took it. The statesman smiled, you take me out of my
• 5:26:32
  province, there, said he. Holmes considered for a moment, there is
• 5:26:37
  another very important point which I wished to discuss with you, said he You
• 5:26:41
  feared, as I understand that very grave results might follow from the details of
• 5:26:45
  this treaty becoming known. A shadow passed over the expressive face of the statesman.
• 5:26:52
  Very grave results, indeed, and have they occurred? Not yet?
• 5:27:00
  If the treaty had reached let us say, the French or Russian Foreign Office,
• 5:27:04
  you would expect to hear of it, I should, said Lord Holthurst,
• 5:27:08
  with a wry face. Since nearly ten weeks have elapsed then and nothing
• 5:27:14
  has been heard. It is not unfair to suppose that, for some reason,
• 5:27:18
  the treaty has not reached them. Lord Holthurst shrugged his shoulders. We
• 5:27:23
  can hardly suppose, mister Holmes, that the thief took the treaty in order
• 5:27:27
  to frame it and hang it up. Perhaps he's waiting for a better price.
• 5:27:33
  If he waits a little longer, he will get no price at all.
• 5:27:38
  The treaty will cease to be secret in a few months. That is
• 5:27:42
  most important, said Holmes. Of course, it is a possible supposition that
• 5:27:48
  the thief has had a sudden illness, an attack of brain fever, for
• 5:27:52
  example, asked the statesman, flashing a swift glance at him. I did
• 5:27:57
  not say so, said Holmes imperturbably. And now, Lord Holthurst, we
• 5:28:03
  have already taken up too much of your valuable time, and we shall wish
• 5:28:07
  you good day every success to your investigation. Be the criminal who it may,
• 5:28:14
  answered the nobleman, as he bowed us out the door. He is
• 5:28:18
  a fine fellow, said Holmes, as we came out into Whitehall. But
• 5:28:22
  he has a struggle to keep up his position. He is far from rich
• 5:28:26
  and has many calls. You noticed, of course, that his boots had
• 5:28:30
  been resold. Now, Watson, I won't detain you from your legitimate work
• 5:28:34
  any longer. I shall do nothing more to day unless I have an answer
• 5:28:40
  to my cab advertisement. But I should be extremely obliged to you if you
• 5:28:44
  would come down with me to Woking tomorrow by the same train which we took
• 5:28:48
  yesterday. I met him accordingly next morning, and we traveled down to Woking
• 5:28:53
  together. He had had no answer to his advertisement, he said, and
• 5:28:57
  no fresh light had been thrown upon the case. He had when he so
• 5:29:02
  willed it the utter immobility of countenance of a red Indian, And I could
• 5:29:07
  not gather from his appearance, whether he was satisfied or not with the position
• 5:29:10
  of the case. His conversation, I remember, was about the Beertilent system
• 5:29:15
  of measurements, and he expressed his enthusiastic admiration of the French savant. We
• 5:29:22
  found our clients, still under the charge of his devoted nurse, but looking
• 5:29:26
  considerably better than before. He rose from the sofa and greeted us without difficulty.
• 5:29:30
  When we entered any news, he asked eagerly. My report, as
• 5:29:37
  I expected, is a negative one, said Holmes. I have seen Forbes,
• 5:29:41
  and I have seen your uncle, and I have set one or two
• 5:29:44
  trains of inquiry upon foot which may lead to something. You have not lost
• 5:29:48
  heart. Then, by no means, God bless you for saying that,
• 5:29:53
  cried Miss Harrison. If we keep our courage and our patience, the truth
• 5:29:59
  must come out. We have more to tell you than you have for us,
• 5:30:03
  said Phelps, reseating himself upon the couch. I hoped you might have
• 5:30:07
  something. Yes, we have had an adventure during the night, and one
• 5:30:11
  which might have proved to be a serious one. His expression grew very grave
• 5:30:15
  as he spoke, and the look of something akin to fear sprang up in
• 5:30:19
  his eyes. Do you know, said he that I begin to believe that
• 5:30:23
  I am the unconscious center of some monstrous conspiracy, and that my life is
• 5:30:29
  aimed at as well as my honor. Ah cried Holmes. It sounds incredible,
• 5:30:34
  for I have not, as far as I know, an enemy in
• 5:30:37
  the world. Yet from last night's experience I can come to no other conclusion.
• 5:30:42
  Pray, let me hear it. You must know that last night was
• 5:30:47
  the very first night that I have ever slept without a nurse in the room.
• 5:30:51
  I was so much better that I thought I could dispense with one.
• 5:30:55
  I had a night light burning. However, well about two in the morning,
• 5:31:00
  I had sunk into a light sleep when I was suddenly aroused by a
• 5:31:03
  slight noise. It was like the sound which a mouse makes when it is
• 5:31:07
  gnawing a plank, and I lay listening to it for some time, under
• 5:31:11
  the impression that it must come from that cause. Then it grew louder,
• 5:31:18
  and suddenly there came from the window a sharp, metallic snick. I sat
• 5:31:22
  up in amazement. There could be no doubt what the sounds were. Now
• 5:31:26
  the first ones had been caused by some one forcing an instrument through the slit
• 5:31:32
  between the sashes, and the second by the catch being pressed back. There
• 5:31:37
  was a pause then for about ten minutes, as if the person were waiting
• 5:31:41
  to see whether the noise had awakened me. Then I heard a gentle creaking
• 5:31:47
  as the window was very slowly opened. I could stand it no longer,
• 5:31:52
  for my nerves are not what they used to be. I sprang out of
• 5:31:55
  bed and flung open the shutters. A man was crouching at the window.
• 5:32:00
  I could see little of him, for he was gone like a flash.
• 5:32:03
  He was wrapped in some sort of cloak which came across the lower part of
• 5:32:07
  his face. One thing only I am sure of, and that is he
• 5:32:11
  had some weapon in his hand. It looked to me like a long knife.
• 5:32:17
  I distinctly saw the gleam of it as he turned to run. This
• 5:32:21
  is most interesting, said Holmes. Pray, What did you do? Then?
• 5:32:26
  I should have followed him through the open window, if I'd been stronger.
• 5:32:30
  As it was, I rang the bell and roused the house. It
• 5:32:33
  took me some little time, for the bell rings in the kitchen, and
• 5:32:37
  the servants all asleep upstairs. I shouted, however, and that brought Joseph
• 5:32:41
  down, and he roused the others. Joseph and the groom found marks on
• 5:32:47
  the bed outside the window. But the weather has been so dry lately that
• 5:32:52
  they found it hopeless to follow the trail across the grass. There's a place,
• 5:32:56
  however, on the wooden fence which skirts the road, which showed signs.
• 5:33:00
  They tell me as if some one had got over and had snapped the
• 5:33:03
  top of the rail in doing so. I have said nothing to the local
• 5:33:07
  police yet, for I thought i'd best have your opinion first. This tale
• 5:33:12
  of our clients appeared to have an extraordinary effect upon Sherlock Holmes. He rose
• 5:33:18
  from his chair and paced about the room in uncontrollable excitement. Misfortunes never come,
• 5:33:25
  single, said Phelps, smiling, though it was evident that his adventure
• 5:33:29
  had somewhat shaken him. You have certainly had your share, said Holmes.
• 5:33:34
  Do you think you could walk round the house with me? Oh? Yes,
• 5:33:38
  I should like a little sunshine. Joseph will come too, and I
• 5:33:44
  also said miss Harrison. I am afraid not, said Holmes, shaking his
• 5:33:48
  head. I think I must ask you to remain sitting exactly where you are.
• 5:33:53
  The young lady resumed her seat with an air of displeasure. Her brother,
• 5:33:57
  however, had joined us, and we set off, All four together.
• 5:34:02
  We passed round the lawn to the outside of the young diplomatist's window.
• 5:34:06
  They were, as he had said, marks upon the bed, but they
• 5:34:10
  were hopelessly blurred and vague. Holmes stooped over them for an instant and then
• 5:34:15
  rose, shrugging his shoulders. I don't think any one could make much of
• 5:34:19
  this, said he. Let us go round the house and see why this
• 5:34:23
  particular room was chosen by the burglar. I should have thought those larger windows
• 5:34:30
  of the drawing room and dining room would have had more attractions for him.
• 5:34:34
  They are more visible from the road, suggested mister Joseph Harrison. Ah.
• 5:34:40
  Yes, of course there is a door here which he might have attempted.
• 5:34:44
  What is it for? It is a side entrance for tradespeople. Of course
• 5:34:48
  it is locked at night. Have you ever had an alarm like this before?
• 5:34:52
  Never, said our client. Do you keep plate in the house or
• 5:34:57
  anything to attract burglars? Nothing of value? Holmes strolled round the house with
• 5:35:03
  his hands in his pockets and a negligent air, which was unusual with him
• 5:35:08
  by the way, said he to Joseph Harrison. You found some place I
• 5:35:12
  understand where the fellow scaled the fence. Let us have a look at it.
• 5:35:18
  The plump young man led us to a spot where the top of one
• 5:35:22
  of the wooden rails had been cracked. A small fragment of the wood was
• 5:35:26
  hanging down. Holmes pulled it off and examined it critically. Do you think
• 5:35:33
  that was done last night? It looks rather old, does it not?
• 5:35:37
  Well? Possibly so, there are no marks of any one jumping down upon
• 5:35:41
  the other side. No, I fancy we shall get no help here.
• 5:35:47
  Let us go back to the bedroom and talk the matter over. Percy Phelps
• 5:35:52
  was walking very slowly, leaning upon the arm of his future brother in law.
• 5:35:56
  Holmes walked swiftly across the lawn, and we were at the open window
• 5:36:00
  of the bedroom long before the others came. Miss Harrison, said Holmes,
• 5:36:04
  speaking with the utmost intensity of manner. You must stay where you are all
• 5:36:08
  day. Let nothing prevent you from staying where you are all day. It
• 5:36:12
  is of the utmost importance, certainly if you wish it, mister Holmes,
• 5:36:18
  said the girl in astonishment. When you go to bed lock the door of
• 5:36:22
  this room on the outside and keep the key. Promise to do this,
• 5:36:27
  but Percy, he will come to London with us, and am I to
• 5:36:33
  remain here? It is for his sake. You can serve him quick promise.
• 5:36:40
  She gave a quick nod of assent, just as the other two came
• 5:36:42
  up. Why do you sit moping there, Annie cried her brother. Come
• 5:36:48
  out into the sunshine. No, thank you, Joseph. I have a
• 5:36:52
  slight headache, and this room is deliciously cool and soothing. What do you
• 5:36:56
  propose now, mister Holmes, asked our clan. Well in investigating this minor
• 5:37:03
  affair, we must not lose sight of our main inquiry. It would be
• 5:37:07
  a very great help to me if you would come up to London with us
• 5:37:11
  at once, well as soon as you conveniently can say in an hour.
• 5:37:15
  I feel quite strong enough if I can really be of any help the greatest
• 5:37:22
  possible. Perhaps you would like me to stay there to night. I was
• 5:37:26
  just going to propose it. Then if my friend of the night comes to
• 5:37:30
  revisit me, he will find the bird flown. We are all in your
• 5:37:34
  hands, mister Holmes, and you must tell us exactly what you would like
• 5:37:37
  done. Perhaps you would prefer that Joseph came with us so as to look
• 5:37:41
  after me. Oh no, my friend Watson is a medical man, you
• 5:37:45
  know, and he'll look after you. We'll have our lunch here if you
• 5:37:49
  will permit us, and then we shall all three set off for town together.
• 5:37:55
  It was arranged as he suggested, though Miss Harrison excused herself from leaving
• 5:37:59
  the bedroom in accordance with Holmes's suggestion. What the object of my friend's maneuvers
• 5:38:03
  was I could not conceive unless it were to keep the lady away from Phelps,
• 5:38:08
  who, rejoiced by his returning health and by the prospect of action,
• 5:38:14
  lunched with us in the dining room. Holmes had a still more startling surprise
• 5:38:18
  for us, however, for after accompanying us down to the station and seeing
• 5:38:22
  us into our carriage, he calmly announced that he had no intention of leaving
• 5:38:27
  Woking. There are one or two small points which I should desire to clear
• 5:38:32
  up before I go, said he. Your absence, mister Phelps will in
• 5:38:37
  some ways rather assist me. Watson when you reached London, you would oblige
• 5:38:41
  me by driving at once to bake a street with our friend here and remaining
• 5:38:45
  with him until I see you again. It is fortunate that you are old
• 5:38:49
  schoolfellows, as you must have much to talk over. Mister Phelps can have
• 5:38:55
  the spare bedroom to night, and I will be with you in time for
• 5:38:57
  breakfast, for there is a train which will take me into Waterloo at eight.
• 5:39:03
  But how about our investigation in London, asked Phelps ruefully. We can
• 5:39:07
  do that to morrow. I think that just at present I can be of
• 5:39:11
  more immediate use here. You might tell them at Briarbray that I hope to
• 5:39:15
  be back to morrow night, cried Phelps, as we began to move from
• 5:39:19
  the platform. I hardly expect to go back to Briarbray, answered Holmes,
• 5:39:25
  and waved his hand to us cheerily as we shut out from the station.
• 5:39:30
  Phelps and I talked it over on our journey, but neither of us could
• 5:39:33
  devise a satisfactory reason for this new development. I suppose he wants to find
• 5:39:38
  out some clue as to the burglary last night. If a burglary it was
• 5:39:44
  for myself, I don't believe it was an ordinary thief. What is your
• 5:39:48
  own idea? Then? Upon my word, you may put it down to
• 5:39:52
  my weak nerves or not, but I believe there is some deep political intrigue
• 5:39:56
  going on around me, and that, for some reason passes my understanding,
• 5:40:00
  my life is aimed at by the conspirators. It sounds high flown and absurd,
• 5:40:07
  but consider the facts. Why should a thief try to break in at
• 5:40:10
  a bedroom window where there could be no hope of any plunder? And why
• 5:40:15
  should he come with a long knife in his hand? You're sure it was
• 5:40:18
  not a housebreaker's Jimmy, Oh no, it was a knife. I saw
• 5:40:23
  the flash of the blade quite distinctly. But why on earth should you be
• 5:40:27
  pursued with such animosity? Ah, that is the question. Well, if
• 5:40:33
  Holmes takes the same view, that would account for his action, would it
• 5:40:36
  not? Presuming that your theory is correct, if he can lay his hands
• 5:40:40
  upon the man who threatened you last night, he will have gone a long
• 5:40:42
  way toward finding who took the naval treaty. Tis absurd to suppose that you
• 5:40:47
  have two enemies, one of whom robs you while the other threatens your life.
• 5:40:52
  But Holmes said that he was not going to Briarbray. I have known
• 5:40:56
  him for some time said I, but I never know him to do anything
• 5:41:00
  yet without a very good reason. And with that our conversation drifted off on
• 5:41:04
  to other topics. But it was a weary day for me. Phelps was
• 5:41:10
  still weak after his long illness, and his misfortune made him querulous and nervous
• 5:41:15
  in vain. I endeavored to interest him in Afghanistan, in India, in
• 5:41:18
  social questions, in anything which might take his mind out of the groove.
• 5:41:23
  He would always come back to his lost treaty, wondering, guessing, speculating
• 5:41:30
  as to what Holmes was doing, what steps Lord Holthurst was taking, what
• 5:41:33
  news we should have in the morning. As the evening wore on, his
• 5:41:37
  excitement became quite painful. You have implicit faith in homes, he asked.
• 5:41:44
  I have seen him do some remarkable things, but he never brought light into
• 5:41:48
  anything quite so dark as this. Oh. Yes, I have known him
• 5:41:51
  solve questions which presented fewer clues than yours, but not where such large interests
• 5:41:56
  are at stake. I don't know that to my certain knowledge, he has
• 5:42:00
  acted on behalf of three of the reigning houses of Europe in very vital matters.
• 5:42:06
  But you know him well, Watson, He is such an inscrutable fellow
• 5:42:10
  that I never quite know what to make of him. Do you think he
• 5:42:12
  is hopeful? Do you think he expects to make a success of it?
• 5:42:17
  He has said nothing that is a bad sign. On the contrary, I
• 5:42:22
  have noticed that when he is off the trail he generally says so. It
• 5:42:26
  is when he is on ascent and is not quite absolutely sure yet that it
• 5:42:29
  is the right one that he is most taciturn. Now, my dear fellow,
• 5:42:33
  we can't help matters by making ourselves nervous about them. So let me
• 5:42:37
  implore you to go to bed and so be fresh for whatever may await us
• 5:42:41
  to morrow. I was able at last to persuade my companion to take my
• 5:42:45
  advice, though I knew from his excited manner that there was not much hope
• 5:42:49
  of sleep for him. Indeed, his mood was infectious. For I lay
• 5:42:55
  tossing half the night, myself, brooding over this strange problem, and inventing
• 5:43:00
  a hundred theories, each of which was more impossible than the last. Why
• 5:43:04
  at Holmes remained at Woking? Why had he asked Miss Harrison to remain in
• 5:43:08
  the sick room all day? Why had he been so careful not to inform
• 5:43:12
  the people at Briarbray that he intended to remain near them. I cudgeled my
• 5:43:18
  brains until I fell asleep in the endeavor to find some explanation which would cover
• 5:43:22
  all these facts. It was seven o'clock when I awoke, and I set
• 5:43:26
  off at once for Phelps's room to find him haggard and spent after a sleepless
• 5:43:30
  night. His first question was whether the homes had arrived yet. He'll be
• 5:43:36
  here when he promised, said I, and not an instant sooner or later.
• 5:43:41
  And my words were true, for shortly after eight a hansom dashed up
• 5:43:45
  to the door, and our friend got out of it. Standing in the
• 5:43:48
  window, we saw that his left hand was swathed in a bandage, and
• 5:43:51
  that his face was very grim and pale. He entered the house, but
• 5:43:56
  it was some little time before he came upstairs. He looks like a beaten
• 5:44:00
  man, cried Phelps. I was forced to confess that he was right after
• 5:44:04
  all, said I. The clue of the matter lies probably here in town.
• 5:44:10
  Phelps gave a groan. I don't know how it is, said he
• 5:44:14
  But I had hoped for so much from his return. But surely his hand
• 5:44:18
  was not tied up like that yesterday. What can be the matter? You
• 5:44:22
  are not wounded, Holmes, I asked, as my friend entered the room.
• 5:44:26
  Tut, it is only a scratch through my own clumsiness, he answered,
• 5:44:30
  nodding his good mornings to us. This case of yours, mister Phelps,
• 5:44:34
  is certainly one of the darkest which I have ever investigated. I feared
• 5:44:38
  that you would find it beyond you. It has been a most remarkable experience
• 5:44:45
  that bandage tells adventures, said, I won't you tell us what has happened
• 5:44:49
  after breakfast, My dear Watson, remember that I have breathed thirty miles of
• 5:44:53
  surry air this morning. I suppose that there has been no answer from my
• 5:44:57
  cabman advertisement. Well, well, we cannot expect to score every time.
• 5:45:03
  The table was all laid, and just as I was about to ring,
• 5:45:06
  Missus Hudson entered with the tea and coffee. A few minutes later she brought
• 5:45:11
  in three covers, and we all drew up to the table. Holmes ravenous,
• 5:45:15
  I curious, and Phelps in the gloomiest state of depression. Missus husband
• 5:45:22
  has risen to the occasion, said Holmes uncovering a dish of curried chicken.
• 5:45:26
  Her cuisine is a little limited, but she has as good an idea of
• 5:45:30
  breakfast as a scotchwoman. What have you here, Watson? Have an eggs?
• 5:45:34
  I answered? Good? What are you going to take, mister Phelps,
• 5:45:38
  curried fowl or eggs? Or will you help yourself? Thank you?
• 5:45:42
  I can eat nothing, said Phelps. Oh, come try the dish before
• 5:45:48
  you, thank you. I would really rather not well, then, said
• 5:45:52
  Holmes, with a mischievous twinkle. I suppose that you have no objection to
• 5:45:56
  helping me. Phelps raised the cover, and as he did so, he
• 5:46:00
  uttered a scream, and sat there staring with a face as white as the
• 5:46:04
  plate upon which he looked. Across the center of it was lying a little
• 5:46:10
  cylinder of blue gray paper. He caught it up, devoured it with his
• 5:46:14
  eyes, and then danced madly about the room, pressing it to his bosom
• 5:46:18
  and shrieking out in his delight. Then he fell back into an arm chair,
• 5:46:22
  so limp and exhausted with his own emotions that we had to pour brandy
• 5:46:26
  down his throat to keep him from fainting. There there, said Holmes,
• 5:46:32
  soothing patting him upon the shoulder. It was too bad to spring it on
• 5:46:36
  you like this, But Watson here will tell you that I never can resist
• 5:46:40
  a touch of the dramatic. Phelps seized his hand and kissed it. God
• 5:46:45
  bless you, he cried, You have saved my honor. Well, my
• 5:46:48
  own was at stake, you know, said Holmes. I assure you it
• 5:46:52
  is just as hateful to me to fail in a case as it can be
• 5:46:56
  to you to blunder over a commission. Phelps thrust away the precious document into
• 5:47:00
  the innermost pocket of his coat. I have not the heart to interrupt your
• 5:47:06
  breakfast any further, and yet I am dying to know how you got it
• 5:47:08
  and where it was. Sherlock Holmes swallowed a cup of coffee and turned his
• 5:47:14
  attention to the Hammond eggs. Then he rose, lit his pipe and settled
• 5:47:18
  himself down into his chair. I'll tell you what I did first, and
• 5:47:22
  how I came to do it afterwards, said he. After leaving her at
• 5:47:26
  the station, I went for a charming walk through some admirable Surrey scenery to
• 5:47:30
  a pretty little village called Ripley, where I had my tea at an inn
• 5:47:34
  and took the precaution of filling my flask and of putting a paper of sandwiches
• 5:47:38
  in my pocket. There I remained until evening, when I set off for
• 5:47:44
  Woking again, and found myself in the high road outside Briarbray just after sunset.
• 5:47:49
  Well, I waited until the road was clear, tis never a very
• 5:47:53
  frequent one at any time I fancy, and then I clambered over the fence
• 5:47:57
  into the grounds. Surely the gate was open, ejaculated phelps, Yes,
• 5:48:03
  but I have a peculiar taste in these matters. I chose the place where
• 5:48:07
  the three fir trees stand, and behind their screen, I got over without
• 5:48:11
  the least chance of any one in the house being able to see me.
• 5:48:17
  I crouched down among the bushes on the other side and crawled from one to
• 5:48:21
  the other, witnessed the distributable state of my trousines until I had reached the
• 5:48:26
  clump of rhododendrons just opposite to your bedroom window. There I squatted down and
• 5:48:32
  awaited developments. The blind was not down in your room, and I could
• 5:48:36
  see Miss Harrison sitting there reading by the table. It was quarter past ten
• 5:48:41
  when she closed her book, fastened the shutters and retired. I heard her
• 5:48:47
  shut the door and felt quite sure that she had turned the key in the
• 5:48:49
  lock. The key ejaculated, Phelps. Yes, I had given miss Harrison
• 5:48:56
  instructions to lock the door on the outside and take the key with her when
• 5:49:00
  she went to bed. She carried out every one of my injunctions to the
• 5:49:06
  letter, and certainly without her co operation you would not have that paper in
• 5:49:10
  your coat pocket. She departed then, and the lights went out, and
• 5:49:15
  I was left squatting in the rhododendron bush. The night was fine, but
• 5:49:19
  still it was a very weary vigil. Of course, it has the sort
• 5:49:23
  of excitement about it that the sportsman feels when he lies beside the water course
• 5:49:29
  and waits for the big game. It was very long, though almost as
• 5:49:33
  long, Watson, as when you and I waited in that deadly room when
• 5:49:37
  we looked into the little problem of the speckled band. There was a church
• 5:49:42
  clock down at Woking which struck the quarters, and I thought more than once
• 5:49:48
  that it had stopped at last. However, about two in the morning,
• 5:49:52
  I suddenly heard the gentle sound of a bolt being pushed back and the creaking
• 5:49:56
  of a key. A moment later, the surfvant's door was opened, and
• 5:50:00
  mister Joseph Harrison stepped out into the moonlight. Joseph ejaculated phelps. He was
• 5:50:08
  bare headed, but he had a black coat thrown over his shoulder, so
• 5:50:12
  that he could conceal his face in an instant if there were any alarm.
• 5:50:17
  He walked on tiptoe under the shadow of the wall, and when he reached
• 5:50:22
  the window, he worked a long bladed knife through the sash and pushed back
• 5:50:26
  the catch. Then he flung open the window, and, putting his knife
• 5:50:30
  through the crack in the shutters, he thrust the bar up and swung them
• 5:50:33
  open. From where I lay, I had a perfect view of the inside
• 5:50:38
  of the room and of every one of his movements. He lit the two
• 5:50:42
  candles which stood upon the mantelpiece, and then he proceeded to turn back the
• 5:50:47
  corner of the carpet in the neighborhood of the door. Presently, he stopped
• 5:50:52
  and picked out a square piece of board, such as is usually left to
• 5:50:56
  enable plumbers to get at the joints of the gas pipes. This one covered,
• 5:51:00
  as a matter of fact, the tea joint which gives off the pipe
• 5:51:04
  which supplies the kitchen underneath. Out of this hiding place, he drew that
• 5:51:11
  little cylinder of paper, pushed down the board, re arranged the carpet,
• 5:51:15
  blew out the candles, and walked straight into my arms as I stood waiting
• 5:51:19
  for him outside the window. Well, he has rather more viciousness than I
• 5:51:25
  gave him credit for. As Master Joseph. He flew at me with his
• 5:51:30
  knife, and I had to grasp him twice and got a cut over the
• 5:51:33
  knuckles before I had the upper hand of him. He looked murder out of
• 5:51:37
  the only eye he could see with when we had finished, but he listened
• 5:51:41
  to reason and gave up the papers having got them. I let my man
• 5:51:45
  go, but I wired full particulars to Forbes this morning. If he is
• 5:51:49
  quick enough to catch his bird, well and good. But if, as
• 5:51:53
  I shrewdly suspect, he finds the nest empty before he gets there, why
• 5:51:59
  all the better for the government. I fancy that Lord Holthurst, for one,
• 5:52:03
  and mister Percy Phelps for another, would very much rather that the affair
• 5:52:07
  never got as far as a police court. My God, gasped our client.
• 5:52:12
  Do you tell me that during these long ten weeks of agony the stolen
• 5:52:17
  papers were within the very room with me all the time. So it was,
• 5:52:22
  and Joseph, Joseph a villain and a thief. Hm, I am
• 5:52:26
  afraid Joseph's character is a rather deeper and more dangerous one than one might judge
• 5:52:30
  from his appearance. From what I have heard from him this morning, I
• 5:52:36
  gather that he has lost heavily in dabbling with stocks, and that he is
• 5:52:40
  ready to do anything on earth to better his fortunes, being an absolutely selfish
• 5:52:45
  man. When a chance presented itself, he did not allow either his sister's
• 5:52:48
  happiness or your reputation to hold his hand. Percy Phelps sank back in his
• 5:52:55
  chair. My head whirls, said he, Your word have dazed me.
• 5:53:02
  The principal difficulty in your case, remarked Holmes, in his didactic fashion,
• 5:53:07
  lay in the fact there being too much evidence. What was vital was overlaid
• 5:53:11
  and hidden by what was irrelevant. Of all the facts which were presented to
• 5:53:15
  us, we had to pick just those which we deemed to be essential,
• 5:53:19
  and then piece them together in their order, so as to reconstruct this very
• 5:53:23
  remarkable chain of events. I had already begun to suspect Joseph, from the
• 5:53:30
  fact that you had intended to travel home with him that night, and that
• 5:53:33
  therefore it was a likely enough thing that he should call for you, knowing
• 5:53:37
  the foreignenough is well upon his way. When I heard that someone had been
• 5:53:42
  so anxious to get into the bedroom in which no one but Joseph could have
• 5:53:47
  concealed anything, you told us in your narrative how you had turned Joseph out
• 5:53:51
  when you arrived with the doctor, my suspicions all changed to certainties, especially
• 5:53:56
  as the attempt was made on the first night, upon wid which the nurse
• 5:54:00
  was absent, showing that the intruder was well acquainted with the ways of the
• 5:54:03
  house. How blind I have been. The facts of the case, as
• 5:54:10
  far as I have worked them out, are these this. Joseph Harrison entered
• 5:54:14
  the office through the Charles Street door, and knowing his way, he walked
• 5:54:18
  straight into your room the instant after you left it. Finding no one there,
• 5:54:23
  he promptly rang the bell, and at the instant that he did so,
• 5:54:27
  his eyes caught the paper upon the table. A glance showed him that
• 5:54:33
  chance had put in his way a state document of immense value, and in
• 5:54:37
  an instant he had thrust it into his pocket and was gone. A few
• 5:54:41
  minutes elapsed, as you remember, before the sleepy commissionaire drew your attention to
• 5:54:45
  the bell, and those were just enough to give the thief time to make
• 5:54:49
  his escape. He made his way to Woking by the first train, and,
• 5:54:55
  having examined his booty and assured himself that it really was of immense value,
• 5:55:00
  he had concealed it in what he thought was a very safe place,
• 5:55:03
  with the intention of taking it out again in a day or two and carrying
• 5:55:07
  it to the French embassy or wherever he thought that a long price was to
• 5:55:11
  be had. Then came your sudden return. He, without a moment's warning,
• 5:55:18
  was bundled out of his room, and from that time onward there were
• 5:55:22
  always at least two of you there to prevent him from regaining his treasure.
• 5:55:26
  The situation to him must have been a maddening one, but at last he
• 5:55:30
  thought he saw his chance. He tried to steal in, but was baffled
• 5:55:33
  by your wakefulness. You remember that you did not take your usual draft that
• 5:55:38
  night. I remember I fancy that he had taken steps to make that draft
• 5:55:44
  efficacious, and that he quite relied upon you being unconscious. Of course,
• 5:55:49
  I understood that he would repeat the attempt whenever it could be done with safety.
• 5:55:53
  Your leaving the room gave him the chance he wanted. I kept miss
• 5:55:59
  Harrison in it all day so that he might not anticipate us. Then,
• 5:56:03
  having given him the idea that the coast was clear, I kept guard.
• 5:56:07
  As I have described. I already knew that the papers were probably in the
• 5:56:11
  room, but I had no desire to rip up all the planking and skirting
• 5:56:15
  in search of them. I let him take them, therefore, from the
• 5:56:18
  hiding place, and so saved myself an infinity of trouble. Is there any
• 5:56:23
  other point which I can make clear? Why did he try the wind on
• 5:56:27
  the first occasion? I asked? When he might have entered by the door.
• 5:56:33
  In reaching the door, he would have to pass seven bedrooms. On
• 5:56:37
  the other hand, he could get out onto the lawn with ease. Anything
• 5:56:41
  else, you do not think, asked Phelps, that he had any murderous
• 5:56:45
  intention. The knife was only meant as a tool. It may be so,
• 5:56:51
  answered Holmes, shrugging his shoulders. I can only say for certain that
• 5:56:56
  mister Joseph Harrison is a gentleman to whose mercy, I should be extremely unwilling
• 5:57:00
  to trust end of the naval treaty the resident patient. Glancing over the somewhat
• 5:57:10
  incoherent series of memoirs with which I have endeavored to illustrate a few of the
• 5:57:14
  mental peculiarities of my friend mister Sherlock Holmes, I have been struck by the
• 5:57:19
  difficulty which I have experienced in picking out examples which shall in every way answer
• 5:57:25
  my purpose. For in those cases in which Holmes has performed some toward a
• 5:57:30
  force of analytical reasoning, and has demonstrated the value of his peculiar methods of
• 5:57:34
  investigation, the facts themselves have often been so slight or so commonplace, that
• 5:57:40
  I could not feel justified in laying them before the public. On the other
• 5:57:44
  hand, it has frequently happened that he has been concerned in some research where
• 5:57:48
  the facts have been of the most remarkable and dramatic character, but where the
• 5:57:53
  share which he has himself taken in determining their causes has been less pronounced than
• 5:57:59
  I, as his biographer, could wish. The small matter which I have
• 5:58:03
  chronicled under the heading of a study in Scarlet, and that other later one
• 5:58:08
  connected with the loss of the glorious Scott may serve as examples of this Scylla
• 5:58:15
  and Charybdis, which are forever threatening the historian. It may be that,
• 5:58:19
  in the business of which I am now about to write, the part which
• 5:58:22
  my friend played is not sufficiently accentuated. And yet the whole train of circumstances
• 5:58:30
  is so remarkable that I cannot bring myself to omit it entirely from this series.
• 5:58:36
  It had been a close, rainy day in October. Our blinds were
• 5:58:40
  half drawn, and homes lay curled upon the sofa, reading and rereading a
• 5:58:45
  letter which she had received by the morning post. For myself, my term
• 5:58:49
  of service in India had trained me to stand heat better than cold, and
• 5:58:55
  a thermometer of ninety was no hardship. But the paper was uninteresting. Parliament
• 5:59:00
  had risen, everybody was out of town, and I yearned for the glades
• 5:59:06
  of the New Forest or the shingle of Southsea. A depleted bank account had
• 5:59:10
  caused me to postpone my holiday. And as to my companion, neither the
• 5:59:15
  country nor the sea presented the slightest attraction to him. He loved to lie
• 5:59:19
  in the very center of five millions of people, with his filaments, stretching
• 5:59:25
  out and running through them, responsive to every little rumor or suspicion of unsolved
• 5:59:30
  crime. Appreciation of nature found no place among his many gifts, and his
• 5:59:36
  only change was when he turned his mind from the evil doer of the town
• 5:59:40
  to track down his brother of the country. Finding that Holmes was too absorbed
• 5:59:45
  for conversation, I had tossed aside the barren paper, and leaning back in
• 5:59:49
  my chair, I fell into a brown study. Suddenly my companion's voice broke
• 5:59:56
  in upon my thoughts. You are right, Watson, said he. It
• 6:00:02
  does seem a very preposterous way of settling a dispute. Most preposterous, I
• 6:00:07
  exclaimed, and then, suddenly realizing how he had echoed the inmost thought of
• 6:00:12
  my soul, I sat up in my chair and stared at him in blank
• 6:00:17
  amazement. What is this, Holmes, I cried, This is beyond anything
• 6:00:22
  which I could have imagined. He laughed heartily at my perplexity. You remember,
• 6:00:29
  said he that, some little time ago, when I read you the
• 6:00:33
  passage in one of Poe's sketches, in which a close reasoner follows the unspoken
• 6:00:37
  thought of his companion, you were inclined to treat the matter as a mere
• 6:00:41
  towrdive force of the author. On my remarking that I was constantly in the
• 6:00:47
  habit of doing the same thing, you expressed incredulity. Oh no, perhaps
• 6:00:53
  not with your tongue, my dear Watson, but certainly with your eyebrows.
• 6:01:00
  When I saw you throw down your paper and enter upon a train of thought,
• 6:01:03
  I was very happy to have the opportunity of reading it off, and
• 6:01:07
  eventually of breaking into it, as a proof that I had been in rapport
• 6:01:11
  with you. But I was still far from satisfied in the example which you
• 6:01:17
  read to me, said I. The reasoner drew his conclusions from the actions
• 6:01:21
  of the man whom he observed. If I remember right, he stumbled over
• 6:01:25
  a heap of stones, looked up at the stars, and so on.
• 6:01:29
  But I've been seated quietly in my chair, And what clues can I have
• 6:01:33
  given you. You do yourself an injustice. The features are given to man
• 6:01:38
  as the means by which he shall express his emotions, and yours are faithful
• 6:01:44
  servants. Do you mean to say that you read my train of thoughts from
• 6:01:48
  my features? Your features, and especially your eyes. Perhaps you cannot yourself
• 6:01:55
  recall how your reverie commenced. No, I cannot, then, I will
• 6:02:00
  tell you. After throwing down your paper, which was the action which drew
• 6:02:07
  my attention to you, you sat for half a minute with a vacant expression.
• 6:02:12
  Then your eyes fixed themselves upon your newly framed picture of General Gordon,
• 6:02:18
  and I saw by the alteration in your face that a train of thought had
• 6:02:22
  been started, but it did not lead very far. Your eyes turned across
• 6:02:26
  to the unframed portrait of Henry Ward Beecher, which stands upon the top of
• 6:02:30
  your books. You then glanced up at the wall, and of course your
• 6:02:36
  meaning was obvious. You were thinking that if the portrait were framed, it
• 6:02:41
  would just cover that bare space and correspond with Gordon's picture over there. You
• 6:02:47
  followed me wonderfully, I exclaimed, so far I could hardly have gone astray.
• 6:02:52
  But now your thoughts went back to Beecher, and you looked hard across,
• 6:02:56
  as if you were studying the character in his features. Then your eyes
• 6:03:00
  ceased to pucker, but you continue to look across, and your face was
• 6:03:06
  thoughtful. You were recalling the incidents of Beecher's career. I was well aware
• 6:03:11
  that you could not do this without thinking of the mission which he undertook on
• 6:03:15
  behalf of the North at the time of the Civil War. For I remember
• 6:03:19
  you expressing your passionate indignation at the way in which he was received by the
• 6:03:23
  more turbulent of our people. You felt so strongly about it that I knew
• 6:03:30
  you could not think of Beecher without thinking of that. Also, when a
• 6:03:34
  moment later I saw your eyes wander away from the picture, I suspected that
• 6:03:38
  your mind had now turned to the Civil War. And when I observed that
• 6:03:44
  your lips set, your eyes sparkled, and your hands clinched, I was
• 6:03:48
  positive that you were indeed thinking of the gallantry which was shown by both sides
• 6:03:53
  in that desperate struggle. But then again your face grew sadder. You shook
• 6:04:00
  go ahead. You were dwelling upon the sadness and horror and useless waste of
• 6:04:03
  life. Your hands stole towards your own old wound, and a smile quivered
• 6:04:10
  on your lips, which showed me that the ridiculous side of this method of
• 6:04:14
  settling international questions had forced itself upon your mind. At this point I agreed
• 6:04:21
  with you that it was preposterous, and was glad to find that all my
• 6:04:25
  deductions had been correct, absolutely, said I. And now that you've explained
• 6:04:32
  it, I confess that I am as amazed as before. It was very
• 6:04:37
  superficial, My dear Watson. I assure you I should not have intruded it
• 6:04:41
  upon your attention, had you not shown some incredulity the other day. But
• 6:04:45
  the evening has brought a breeze with it. What do you say to a
• 6:04:48
  ramble through London? I was weary of our little sitting room and gladly acquiesced.
• 6:04:56
  For three hours. We strolled about together, watching the ever changing Collidas
• 6:05:00
  scope of life as it ebbs and flows through Fleet Street and the Strand.
• 6:05:03
  His characteristic talk, with its keen observance of detail and subtle power of inference,
• 6:05:10
  held me amused and enthralled. It was ten o'clock before we reached Baker
• 6:05:14
  Street again. A Bruham was waiting at our door. Hum a doctor's general
• 6:05:21
  practitioner, I perceive, said Holmes, not been long in practice, but
• 6:05:26
  has a good deal to do. Come to consult us. I fancy lucky
• 6:05:30
  we came back. I was sufficiently conversant with Holmes's methods to be able to
• 6:05:36
  follow his reasoning, and to see that the nature and state of the various
• 6:05:40
  medical instruments in the wicker basket which hung in the lamp light inside the brupham
• 6:05:45
  had given him the data for his swift deduction. The light in our window
• 6:05:49
  above showed that his late visit was indeed intended for us. With some curiosity
• 6:05:56
  as to what could have sent a brother medico to us at such an hour,
• 6:06:00
  I followed Holmes into our sanctum. A pale, taper faced man with
• 6:06:06
  sandy whiskers rose up from a chair by the fire as we entered. His
• 6:06:11
  age may not have been more than three or four and thirty, but his
• 6:06:15
  haggard expression and unhealthy hue told of a life which has sapped his strength and
• 6:06:21
  robbed him of his youth. His manner was nervous and shy, like that
• 6:06:26
  of a sensitive gentleman, and the thin white hand which he laid on the
• 6:06:30
  mantel piece as he rose was that of an artist rather than of a surgeon.
• 6:06:34
  His dress was quiet and somber, a black frock coat, dark trousers,
• 6:06:40
  and a touch of color about his necktie. Good evening, doctor,
• 6:06:45
  said Holmes cheerily. I am glad to see that you have only been waiting
• 6:06:48
  a very few minutes. You spoke to my coachman. Then. Now it
• 6:06:55
  was the candle on the side table that told me, pray, resume your
• 6:06:59
  seat and let me know how I can serve you. My name is doctor
• 6:07:03
  Percy Trevallian, said our visitor, and I live at four O three Brook
• 6:07:08
  Street. Are you not the author of a monograph upon Obscure Nervous Lesions?
• 6:07:14
  I asked his pale cheeks flushed with pleasure at hearing that his work was known
• 6:07:18
  to me. I so seldom hear of the work that I thought it was
• 6:07:22
  quite dead, said he. My publishers gave me a most discouraging account of
• 6:07:27
  its sale. You are, yourself, I presume, a medical man,
• 6:07:33
  a retired Army surgeon. My own hobby has always been nervous disease. I
• 6:07:38
  should wish to make it an absolute specialty, but of course a man must
• 6:07:41
  take what he can get at first. This, however, is beside the
• 6:07:45
  question. Mister Sherlock Holmes, and I quite appreciate how valuable your time is.
• 6:07:51
  The fact is that a very singular train of events has occurred recently at
• 6:07:55
  my house in Brook Street, and to night they came to such a head
• 6:07:59
  as I felt it was quite impossible for me to wait another hour before asking
• 6:08:03
  for your advice and assistance. Sherlock Holmes sat down and lit his pipe.
• 6:08:08
  You are very welcome to both, said he pray. Let me have a
• 6:08:12
  detailed account of what the circumstances are which have disturbed you. One or two
• 6:08:18
  of them are so trivial, said Doctor Trevallian. That really I am almost
• 6:08:22
  ashamed to mention them. But the matter is so inexplicable, and the recent
• 6:08:27
  turn which it has taken is so elaborate, that I shall lay it all
• 6:08:30
  before you, and you shall judge what is essential and what is not.
• 6:08:37
  I am compelled to begin with to say something of my own college career.
• 6:08:41
  I am a London University man, you know, and I am sure that
• 6:08:45
  you will not think that I am unduly singing my own praises if I say
• 6:08:48
  that my student career was considered by my professors to be a very promising one.
• 6:08:53
  After I graduated, I continue to devote myself to research, occupying a
• 6:08:59
  minor position in King's College Hospital, and I was fortunate enough to excite considerable
• 6:09:04
  interest by my research into the Pathology of catalepsy, and finally to win the
• 6:09:10
  Bruce Pinkton Prize and medle by the monograph on Nervous Lesions to which your friend
• 6:09:15
  has just alluded. I should not go too far if I were to say
• 6:09:21
  that there was a general impression at the time that a distinguished career lay before
• 6:09:25
  me. But the one great stumbling block lay in my want of capital.
• 6:09:30
  As you will readily understand, a specialist who aims high is compelled to start
• 6:09:34
  in one of a dozen streets in the Cavendish Square Quarter, all of which
• 6:09:40
  entail enormous rents and furnishing expenses. Besides this preliminary outlay, he must be
• 6:09:45
  prepared to keep himself for some years, and to hire a presentable carriage and
• 6:09:51
  horse. To do this was quite beyond my power, and I could only
• 6:09:56
  hope that by economy I might in ten years time save enough to enable me
• 6:10:00
  to put up my plate. Suddenly, however, an unexpected incident opened up
• 6:10:06
  quite a new prospect to me. This was a visit from a gentleman of
• 6:10:11
  the name of Blessington, who was a complete stranger to me. He came
• 6:10:15
  up to my room one morning and plunged into business in an instant. You
• 6:10:21
  are the same Percy Trevallion who has had so distinguished a career and won a
• 6:10:26
  great prize lately, said he. I bowed answer me frankly, he continued,
• 6:10:33
  for you'll find it's your interest to do so. You have all the
• 6:10:36
  cleverness which makes a successful man, have you the tact? I could not
• 6:10:41
  help smiling at the abruptness of the question. I trust that I have my
• 6:10:47
  share, I said, Any bad habits not drawn towards drink care? Really,
• 6:10:52
  sir, I cried, quite right, that's all right. But I
• 6:10:57
  was bound to ask, with all these qualities, why are you not in
• 6:11:02
  practice? I shrugged my shoulders. Come, come, said he in his
• 6:11:07
  bustling way. It's the old story. More in your brains than in your
• 6:11:12
  pocket. Eh, What would you say if I were to start you in
• 6:11:17
  brook Street? I stared at him in astonishment. Oh, it's for my
• 6:11:22
  sake, not for yours, he cried. I'll be perfectly frank with you,
• 6:11:26
  and if it suits you, it'll suit me very well. I have
• 6:11:30
  a few thousands to invest, you see, and I think I'll sink them
• 6:11:33
  in you. But why, I gasped, Well, it's just like any
• 6:11:40
  other speculation, and safer than most. What am I to do? Then,
• 6:11:45
  I'll tell you. I'll take the house, furnish it, pay the
• 6:11:49
  maids, and run the whole place. All you have to do is just
• 6:11:52
  to wear out your chair in the consulting room. I'll let you have pocket
• 6:11:56
  money and everything, and you and over to me three quarters of what you
• 6:12:02
  earn, and you keep the other quarter for yourself. This was the strange
• 6:12:07
  proposal, mister Holmes, with which the man Blessington approached me. I won't
• 6:12:11
  weary you with the account of how we bargained and negotiated. It ended in
• 6:12:17
  my moving into the house next lady day and starting in practice on very much
• 6:12:22
  the same conditions as he had suggested. He came himself to live with me
• 6:12:26
  in the character of a resident patient. His heart was weak, it appears,
• 6:12:32
  and he needed constant medical supervision. He turned the two best rooms of
• 6:12:37
  the first floor into a sitting room and bedroom for himself. He was a
• 6:12:41
  man of singular habits, shunning company and very seldom going out. His life
• 6:12:47
  was irregular, but in one respect he was regularity itself. Every evening,
• 6:12:52
  at the same hour he walked into the consulting room, examined the books,
• 6:12:57
  put down five and threats for every guinea that I had earned, and carry
• 6:13:03
  the rest off to the strong box in his own room. I may say
• 6:13:07
  with confidence that he never had occasion to regret his speculation. From the first
• 6:13:11
  it was a success. A few good cases, and the reputation which I
• 6:13:17
  had won in the hospital brought me rapidly to the front, and during the
• 6:13:21
  last few years I have made him a rich man. So much, mister
• 6:13:26
  Holmes, for my past history and my relations with mister Blessington, it only
• 6:13:30
  remains for me now to tell you what has occurred to bring me here to
• 6:13:34
  night. Some weeks ago mister Blessington came down to me, in as it
• 6:13:40
  seemed to me, a state of considerable agitation. He spoke of some burglary
• 6:13:45
  which he said had been committed in the West End, and he appeared,
• 6:13:49
  i remember, to be quite unnecessarily excited about it, declaring that a day
• 6:13:53
  should not pass before we should add stronger bolts to our windows and doors.
• 6:13:59
  For a while, he continued to be in a peculiar state of restlessness,
• 6:14:03
  peering continually out of the windows and ceasing to take the short walk which had
• 6:14:07
  usually been the prelude to his dinner. From his manner, it struck me
• 6:14:12
  that he was in mortal dread of something or somebody. But when I questioned
• 6:14:17
  him upon the point, he became so offensive that I was compelled to drop
• 6:14:22
  the subject. Gradually, as time passed, his fears appeared to die away,
• 6:14:27
  and he had renewed his former habits, when a fresh event reduced him
• 6:14:32
  to the pitiable state of prostration in which he now lies. What happened was
• 6:14:37
  this. Two days ago I received the letter which I now read to you.
• 6:14:42
  Neither address nor date is attached to it. A Russian nobleman, who
• 6:14:48
  is now resident in England, it runs, would be glad to avail himself
• 6:14:52
  of the professional assistance of doctor Percy Trevallian. He has been for some years
• 6:14:57
  a victim to cataleptic attack, on which, as is well known, doctor
• 6:15:03
  Trevallian is an authority. He proposes to call at about quarter past six tomorrow
• 6:15:07
  evening, if Doctor Trevallian will make it convenient to be at home. This
• 6:15:14
  letter interested me deeply, because the chief difficulty in the study of catalepsy is
• 6:15:19
  the rareness of the disease. You may believe then that I was in my
• 6:15:23
  consulting room, when at the appointed hour the page showed in the patient.
• 6:15:30
  He was an elderly man, thin, demure, and commonplace, by no
• 6:15:36
  means the conception one forms of a Russian nobleman. I was much more struck
• 6:15:41
  by the appearance of his companion. This was a tall young man, surprisingly
• 6:15:47
  handsome, with a dark, fierce face and the lips and chest of a
• 6:15:51
  Hercules. He had his hand under the other's arm as they entered, and
• 6:15:56
  helped him to a chair with a tenderness which one would hardly have expected from
• 6:16:00
  his appearance. You will excuse me coming in, doctor, said he to
• 6:16:06
  me, speaking English with a slight lisp. This is my father, and
• 6:16:10
  his health is a matter of the most overwhelming importance to me. I was
• 6:16:15
  touched by his filial anxiety. You would perhaps care to remain during the consultation,
• 6:16:22
  said I, Not for the world, he cried, with a gesture
• 6:16:26
  of horror. It is more painful to me than I can express. If
• 6:16:30
  I were to see my father in one of those dreadful seizures, I am
• 6:16:36
  convinced that I should never survive it. My own nervous system is an exceptionally
• 6:16:41
  sensitive one. With your permission, I will remain in the waiting room while
• 6:16:45
  you go into my father's case. To this, of course, I assented,
• 6:16:51
  and the young man withdrew the patient, and I then plunged into a
• 6:16:56
  discussion of his case, of which I took exhaustive notes. He was not
• 6:17:00
  remarkable for intelligence, and his answers were frequently obscure, which I attributed to
• 6:17:06
  his limited acquaintance with our language. Suddenly, however, as I sat writing,
• 6:17:11
  he ceased to give any answer at all to my inquiries, and on
• 6:17:15
  my turning towards him, I was shocked to see that he was sitting bolt
• 6:17:21
  upright in his chair, staring at me with a perfectly blank and rigid face.
• 6:17:26
  He was again in the grip of his mysterious malady. My first feeling,
• 6:17:32
  as I have just said, was one of pity and horror. My
• 6:17:36
  second, I fear, was rather one of professional satisfaction. I made notes
• 6:17:41
  of my patient's pulse and temperature, tested the rigidity of his muscles, and
• 6:17:45
  examined his reflexes. There was nothing markedly abnormal in any of these conditions,
• 6:17:52
  which harmonized with my former experiences. I had obtained good results in such cases
• 6:17:57
  by the inhalation of night trite of amyl, and the presence seemed an admirable
• 6:18:03
  opportunity of testing its virtues. The bottle was downstairs in my laboratory, so
• 6:18:08
  leaving my patient seated in his chair, I ran down to get it.
• 6:18:14
  There was some little delay in finding it five minutes, let us say,
• 6:18:18
  and then I returned. Imagine my amazement to find the room empty and the
• 6:18:23
  patient gone. Of course, my first act was to run into the waiting
• 6:18:29
  room. The sun had gone also. The hall door had been closed,
• 6:18:33
  but not shut. My page, who admits patience, is a new boy,
• 6:18:38
  and by no means quick he waits downstairs and runs up to show patients
• 6:18:44
  out. When I ring the consulting room bell, he had heard nothing,
• 6:18:48
  and the affair remained a complete mystery. Mister Blessington came in from his walk
• 6:18:53
  shortly afterwards, but I did not say anything to him upon the subject,
• 6:18:59
  for to tell the truth, I have got in the way of late of
• 6:19:02
  holding as little communication with him as possible. Well, I never thought that
• 6:19:07
  I should see anything more of the Russian than his son. So you can
• 6:19:11
  imagine my amazement when, at the very same hour this evening they both came
• 6:19:17
  marching into my consulting room, just as they had done before. I feel
• 6:19:22
  that I owe you a great many apologies for my abrupt departure yesterday, doctor,
• 6:19:29
  said my patient. I confess that I was very much surprised at it,
• 6:19:33
  said I. Well, the fact is, he remarked, that when
• 6:19:40
  I recover from these attacks, my mind is always very clouded as to all
• 6:19:45
  that has gone before. I woke up in a strange room, as it
• 6:19:48
  seemed to me, and made my way out into the street in a sort
• 6:19:53
  of dazed way. When you were absent, and I said, the sun
• 6:19:59
  see my father past the door of the waiting room, naturally thought that the
• 6:20:03
  consultation had come to an end. It was not until we had reached home
• 6:20:10
  that I began to realize the true state of affairs. Well, said I,
• 6:20:15
  laughing. There is no harm done except that you puzzled me terribly.
• 6:20:19
  So if you, sir, would kindly step into the waiting room, I
• 6:20:23
  shall be happy to continue our consultation, which was brought to so abrupt an
• 6:20:29
  ending. For half an hour or so, I discussed that old gentleman's symptoms
• 6:20:33
  with him, and then, having prescribed for him, I saw him go
• 6:20:37
  off upon the arm of his son. I have told you that mister Blessington
• 6:20:42
  generally chose this hour of the day for his exercise. He came in shortly
• 6:20:48
  afterwards and passed upstairs. An instant later I heard him running down, and
• 6:20:52
  he burst into my consulting room like a man who is mad with panic.
• 6:20:57
  Who has been in my room? He cried, No, one said I,
• 6:21:03
  it's a lie, he yelled, come up and look. I passed
• 6:21:07
  over the grossness of his language, as he seemed half out of his mind
• 6:21:11
  with fear. When I went upstairs with him, he pointed to several footprints
• 6:21:15
  upon the light carpet. Do you mean to say those are mine? He
• 6:21:21
  cried. They were certainly very much larger than any which he could have made,
• 6:21:26
  and were evidently quite fresh. It rained hard this afternoon, as you
• 6:21:30
  know, and my patients were the only people who called. It must have
• 6:21:34
  been the case, then, that the man in the waiting room had,
• 6:21:38
  for some unknown reason, while I was busy with the other ascended to the
• 6:21:42
  room of my resident patient. Nothing had been touched or taken, but there
• 6:21:48
  were the footprints to prove that the intrusion was an undoubted fact. Mister Blessington
• 6:21:53
  seemed more excited over the matter than I should have thought possible, though of
• 6:21:57
  course it was enough to disturb anybody's peace of mind. He actually sat crying
• 6:22:03
  in an arm chair, and I could hardly get him to speak coherently.
• 6:22:08
  It was his suggestion that I should come round to you, and of course
• 6:22:14
  I at once saw the propriety of it, For certainly the incident is a
• 6:22:18
  very singular one, though he appears to completely overrate its importance. If you
• 6:22:23
  would only come back with me, my Brotherham, you would at least be
• 6:22:26
  able to soothe him, though I can hardly hope that you will be able
• 6:22:30
  to explain this remarkable occurrence. Sherlock Holmes had listened to this long narrative with
• 6:22:37
  an intentness which showed me that his interest was keenly aroused. His face was
• 6:22:42
  as impassive as ever, but his lids had dropped more heavily over his eyes,
• 6:22:48
  and his smoke had curled up more thickly from his pipe to emphasize each
• 6:22:52
  curious episode in the doctor's tale. As our visitor concluded, Holmes sprang up
• 6:22:59
  without a word, hand him in my hat, picked his own from the
• 6:23:02
  table, and followed doctor Trevallian to the door. Within a quarter of an
• 6:23:06
  hour we had been dropped at the door of the physician's residence in Brook Street,
• 6:23:11
  one of those somber, flat faced houses which one associates with the West
• 6:23:15
  End practice. A small page admitted us, and we began at once to
• 6:23:19
  ascend the broad well carpeted stare, but a singular interruption brought us to a
• 6:23:26
  standstill. The light at the top was suddenly whisked out, and from the
• 6:23:30
  darkness came a reedy, quivering voice. I have a pistol, it cried.
• 6:23:37
  I give you my word that I'll fire if you come any nearer.
• 6:23:41
  This really grows outrageous, mister Blessington, cried doctor trevallion Oh then it is
• 6:23:48
  you, doctor, said the voice, with a great heave of relief.
• 6:23:52
  But those other gentlemen, are they what they pretend to be? We were
• 6:23:56
  conscious of a long scrutiny out of the darkness. Yes, yes, it's
• 6:24:02
  all right, said the voice. At last, you can come up,
• 6:24:06
  and I am sorry if my precautions have annoyed you. He reel at the
• 6:24:10
  stair gas as he spoke, and we saw before us a singular looking man
• 6:24:15
  whose appearance as well as his voice, testified to his jangled nerves. He
• 6:24:19
  was very fat, but had apparently at some time been much fatter, so
• 6:24:25
  that the skin hung about his face in loose pouches, like the cheeks of
• 6:24:29
  a bloodhound. He was of a sickly color, and his thin, sandy
• 6:24:33
  hair seemed to bristle up with the intensity of his emotion. In his hand
• 6:24:37
  he held a pistol, but he thrust it into his pocket as we advanced
• 6:24:42
  good evening, mister Holmes said he I am sure, I am very much
• 6:24:47
  obliged to you for coming round. No one ever needed your advice more than
• 6:24:51
  I do. I suppose that doctor Trevallian has told you of this most unwarrantable
• 6:24:56
  intrusion into my rooms. Quite so, said Holmes. Who are these two
• 6:25:02
  men, mister Blessington, and why do they wish to molest you? Well?
• 6:25:07
  Well, said the resident patient in a nervous fashion. Of course,
• 6:25:11
  it is hard to say that. You can hardly expect me to answer that,
• 6:25:15
  mister Holmes. Do you mean that you don't know? Come in here,
• 6:25:19
  if you please, just have the kindness to step in here. He
• 6:25:23
  led the way into his bedroom, which was large and comfortably furnished. You
• 6:25:29
  see that, said he, pointing to a big black box at the end
• 6:25:32
  of his bed. I have never been a very rich man, mister Holmes,
• 6:25:37
  never made but one investment in my life, as doctor Trevallian would tell
• 6:25:41
  you. But I don't believe in bankers. I would never trust a banker,
• 6:25:45
  mister Holmes. Between ourselves, what little I have is in that box.
• 6:25:49
  So you can understand what it means to me when unknown people forced themselves
• 6:25:55
  into my rooms. Holmes looked at Blessington in his questioning way and shook head.
• 6:26:00
  I cannot possibly advise you if you try to deceive me, said he.
• 6:26:06
  But I have told you everything. Holmes turned on his heel with a
• 6:26:10
  gesture of disgust. Good Night, doctor Trevallion said he and no advice for
• 6:26:15
  me, cried Blessington in a breaking voice. My advice to you, sir,
• 6:26:22
  is to speak the truth. A minute later, we were in the
• 6:26:26
  street and walking for home. We had crossed Oxford Street and were half way
• 6:26:30
  down Harley Street before I could get a word from my companion. Sorry to
• 6:26:36
  bring you out on such a fool's errand Watson, he said, at last,
• 6:26:40
  it is an interesting case too. At the bottom of it, I
• 6:26:44
  can make little of it. I confessed, well, it is quite evident
• 6:26:48
  that there are two men more perhaps, but at least two, who are
• 6:26:52
  determined for some reason to get at this fellow Blessington. I have no doubt
• 6:26:56
  in my mind that both on the first and on the second occasion, that
• 6:27:02
  young man penetrated to Blessington's room, while his confederate, by an ingenious device,
• 6:27:07
  kept the doctor from interfering, and the catalepsy a fraudulent imitation, Watson,
• 6:27:15
  though I should hardly dare to hint as much to our specialist, it
• 6:27:21
  is a very easy complaint to imitate. I have done it myself. And
• 6:27:26
  then, by the purest chance, Blessington was out on each occasion. Their
• 6:27:32
  reason for choosing so unusual an hour for a consultation was obviously to ensure that
• 6:27:37
  there should be no other patient in the waiting room. It just happened,
• 6:27:41
  however, that this hour coincided with Blessington's constitutional, which seems to show that
• 6:27:47
  they were not very well acquainted with his daily routine. Of course, if
• 6:27:52
  they had been merely after plunder, they would at least have made some attempt
• 6:27:56
  to search for it. Besides, I can read in a man's arm when
• 6:28:00
  it is his own skin, that he is frightened. For it is inconceivable
• 6:28:03
  that this fellow could have made two such vindictive enemies as these appear to be
• 6:28:07
  without knowing of it. I hold it, therefore, to be certain that
• 6:28:12
  he does know who these men are, and that, for reasons of his
• 6:28:17
  own, he suppresses it. It is just possible that to morrow may find
• 6:28:22
  him in a more communicative mood. Is there not one alternative? I suggested?
• 6:28:27
  Grotesquely improbable, no doubt, but still just conceivable. Might the whole
• 6:28:33
  story of the cataleptic Russian and his son be a concoction of doctor Trevallion's,
• 6:28:37
  who has, for his own purposes, been in Blessington's rooms. I saw
• 6:28:41
  in the gaslight that Holmes wore an amused smile at this brilliant departure of mine,
• 6:28:48
  my dear fellow, said he. It was one of the first solutions
• 6:28:52
  which occurred to me. But I was soon able to corroborate the doctor's tale.
• 6:28:56
  This young man has left Prince upon the stair carpet, which made it
• 6:29:02
  quite superfluous for me to ask to see those which he had made in the
• 6:29:06
  room. When I tell you that his shoes were square toed instead of being
• 6:29:11
  pointed like Blessington's, and were quite an inch and a third longer than the
• 6:29:15
  doctor's, you will acknowledge that there can be no doubt as to his individuality.
• 6:29:21
  But we may sleep on it now, for I shall be surprised if
• 6:29:23
  we do not hear something further from Brook Street in the morning. Sherlock Holmes's
• 6:29:30
  prophecy was soon fulfilled, and in a dramatic fashion. At half past seven
• 6:29:34
  next morning, in the first glimmer of daylight, I found him standing by
• 6:29:40
  my bedside in his dressing gown. There's a brughon waiting for us, Watson,
• 6:29:44
  said he. What's the matter? Then, the brook Street business?
• 6:29:49
  Any fresh news? Tragic but ambiguous, said he, pulling up the blind.
• 6:29:56
  Look at this a sheet from a note book with for God's Sake,
• 6:30:00
  come at once p t scrawled upon it in pencil. Our friend, the
• 6:30:07
  doctor was hard put to it when he wrote this, Come along, my
• 6:30:11
  dear fellow, for it's an urgent call. In a quarter of an hour
• 6:30:15
  or so we were back at the physician's house. He came running out to
• 6:30:18
  meet us with a face of horror. Oh, such a business, he
• 6:30:22
  cried, with his hands to his temples. What then, Blessington has committed
• 6:30:26
  suicide? Holmes whistled, Yes, he hanged himself during the night. We
• 6:30:33
  had entered, and the doctor had preceded us into what was evidently his waiting
• 6:30:37
  room. I really hardly know what I'm doing, he cried. The police
• 6:30:44
  are already upstairs. It has shaken me most dreadfully. When did you find
• 6:30:48
  out? He has a cup of tea taken in to him early every morning?
• 6:30:53
  When the maid entered about seven there the unfortunate fellow was hanging in the
• 6:30:57
  middle of the room. He had tied his cord to the hook on which
• 6:31:02
  the heavy lamp used to hang, and he had jumped off from the top
• 6:31:04
  of the very box that he showed us yesterday. Holmes stood for a moment
• 6:31:10
  in deep thought. With your permission, said he, at last, I
• 6:31:15
  should like to go upstairs and look into the matter. We both ascended,
• 6:31:19
  followed by the doctor. It was a dreadful sight which met us as we
• 6:31:23
  entered the bedroom door. I have spoken of the impression of flabbiness which this
• 6:31:29
  man Blessington conveyed as he dangled from the hook. It was exaggerated and intensified
• 6:31:36
  until he was scarce human in his appearance. The neck was drawn out like
• 6:31:40
  a plucked chicken's, making the rest of him seem the more obese and unnatural.
• 6:31:45
  By contrast, he was clad only in his long night dress, and
• 6:31:48
  his swollen ankles and ungainly feet protruded starkly from beneath it. Beside him stood
• 6:31:56
  a smart looking police inspector who was taking notes in a pocket book. Ah,
• 6:32:02
  mister Elmes, said he heartily as my friend entered. I'm delighted to
• 6:32:06
  see you. Good morning, Leanna answered Holmes. You won't think me an
• 6:32:11
  intruder. I am sure. Have you heard of the events which led up
• 6:32:15
  to this affair? Yeah, I heard something of them. Have you formed
• 6:32:19
  any opinion? As far as I can see, the man has been driven
• 6:32:23
  out of his senses by fright. The bed has been well slept in.
• 6:32:27
  You see, there's his impression deep enough. It's about five in the morning.
• 6:32:32
  You know that suicides are most common. That would be about his time
• 6:32:36
  for hanging himself. It seems to have been a very deliberate affair. I
• 6:32:41
  should say that he has been dead about three hours. Judging by the rigidity
• 6:32:45
  of the muscles, said, I noticed anything peculiar about the room, asked
• 6:32:49
  Holmes, found a screwdriver and some screws on the washhand stand. Seems to
• 6:32:56
  have smoked heavily during the night too. Here are four cigars that I've picked
• 6:33:00
  out of the fireplace, hm said Holmes. Have you got his cigar holder?
• 6:33:07
  No, I have, say none his cigar case? Then, yes,
• 6:33:11
  it was in his coat pocket. Holmes opened it and smelled the single
• 6:33:15
  cigar which it contained. Oh, this is an Havana, and these others
• 6:33:22
  are cigars of the peculiar sort, which are imported by the Dutch from their
• 6:33:26
  East Indian colonies. They are usually wrapped in straw, you know, and
• 6:33:30
  are thinner for their length than any other brand. He picked up the four
• 6:33:34
  ends and examined them with his pocket lens. Two of these have been smoked
• 6:33:38
  from a holder, and two without, said he. Two have been cut
• 6:33:42
  by a not very sharp knife, and two have had the ends bitten off
• 6:33:47
  by a set of excellent teeth. This is no suicide, mister Lanna.
• 6:33:52
  It is a very deeply planned and cold blooded murder. Impossible, cried the
• 6:33:57
  inspector. And why why should any one murder a man in so clumsy a
• 6:34:03
  fashion as by hanging him. That is what we have to find out.
• 6:34:08
  How could they gain through the front door? It was barred in the morning,
• 6:34:15
  then it was barred after them. How do you know I saw their
• 6:34:21
  traces. Excuse me a moment, and I may be able to give you
• 6:34:25
  some further information about it. He went over to the door, and turning
• 6:34:30
  the lock, he examined it in his methodical way. Then he took out
• 6:34:33
  the key, which was on the inside, and inspected that. Also the
• 6:34:37
  bed, the carpet, the chairs, the mantel piece, the dead body,
• 6:34:42
  and the rope were each in turn examined, until at last he professed
• 6:34:47
  himself satisfied, and, with my aid and that of the inspector, cut
• 6:34:52
  down the wretched object and laid it reverently under a sheet. How about this
• 6:34:56
  rope, he asked, It is cut off. This said doctor Trevellian,
• 6:35:02
  drawing a large coil from under the bed. He was morbidly nervous of fire,
• 6:35:07
  and always kept this beside him so that he might escape by the window
• 6:35:11
  in case the stairs were burning. That must have saved them trouble, said
• 6:35:15
  Holmes thoughtfully. Yes, the actual facts are very plain, and I shall
• 6:35:22
  be surprised if by the afternoon I cannot give you the reasons for them as
• 6:35:25
  well. I will take this photograph of Blessington, which I see upon the
• 6:35:30
  mantelpiece, as it may help me in my inquiries. But you have told
• 6:35:34
  us nothing, cried the doctor. Oh, there can be no doubt as
• 6:35:38
  the sequence of events, said Holmes. There were three of them, minute
• 6:35:44
  the young man, the old man, and a third to whose identity I
• 6:35:48
  have no clue. The first two, I need hardly remark, are the
• 6:35:52
  same who masqueraded as the Russian count and his son, so we can give
• 6:35:56
  a very full description of them. They were admitted by a confederate inside the
• 6:36:02
  house. If I might offer you a word of advice, Inspector, it
• 6:36:07
  would be to arrest the page, who, as I understand, has only
• 6:36:11
  recently come into your service. Doctor. The young imp cannot be found,
• 6:36:15
  said Doctor Trevallion. The maid and the cook have just been searching for him.
• 6:36:22
  Holmes shrugged his shoulders. He has played a not unimportant part in this
• 6:36:26
  drama, said he. The three men having ascended the stairs, which they
• 6:36:30
  did on tiptoe, the elder man first, the younger man second, and
• 6:36:36
  the unknown man in the rear. My dear Holmes, I ejaculated. Oh,
• 6:36:41
  there could be no question as to the superimposing of the footmarks. I
• 6:36:45
  had the advantage of learning which was which last night. They ascended then to
• 6:36:51
  mister Blessington's room, the door of which they found to be locked. With
• 6:36:55
  the help of a wire. However, they forced round the key even without
• 6:36:59
  the lends. You will perceive by the scratches on this ward where the pressure
• 6:37:03
  was applied. On entering the room. Their first proceeding must have been to
• 6:37:07
  gag mister Blessington. He may have been asleep, or he may have been
• 6:37:11
  so paralyzed with terror as to have been unable to cry out. These walls
• 6:37:17
  are thick, and it is conceivable that his shriek, if he had time
• 6:37:21
  to utter one, was unheard. Having secured him, it is evident to
• 6:37:26
  me that a consultation of some sort was held. Probably it was something in
• 6:37:30
  the nature of a judicial proceeding. It must have lasted for some time,
• 6:37:36
  for it was then that these cigars were smoked. The older man sat in
• 6:37:41
  that wicker chair. It was he who used the cigar holder. The younger
• 6:37:45
  man sat over yonder, he knocked his ash off against the chest of drawers.
• 6:37:51
  The third fellow paced up and down. Blessington I think sat upright in
• 6:37:55
  the bed, but of that I cannot be absolutely certain. Well it ended
• 6:38:00
  by their taking Blessington and hanging him. The matter was so prearranged that it
• 6:38:06
  is my belief that they brought with them some sort of block or pulley which
• 6:38:10
  might serve as a gallows. That screwdriver and those screws were, as I
• 6:38:15
  conceive, for fixing it up. Seeing the hook, however, they naturally
• 6:38:19
  saved themselves the trouble. Having finished their work, they made off, and
• 6:38:23
  the door was barred behind them by their confederate. We had all listened with
• 6:38:29
  the deepest interest to this sketch of the Knight's doings, which Holmes had deduced
• 6:38:33
  from signs so subtle and minute that even when he had pointed them out to
• 6:38:37
  us, we could scarcely follow him in his reasoning. The inspector hurried away
• 6:38:44
  on the instant to make inquiries about the page, while Holmes and I returned
• 6:38:48
  to Baker Street for breakfast. I'll be back by three, said he,
• 6:38:52
  When we'd finished our meal. Both the inspector and the doctor will meet me
• 6:38:56
  here at that hour, and I hope by that time to have cleared up
• 6:39:00
  any little obscurity which the case may still present. Our visitors arrived at the
• 6:39:07
  appointed time, but it was a quarter to four before my friend put in
• 6:39:11
  an appearance. From his expression as he entered, however, I could see
• 6:39:15
  that all had gone well with him. Any news, Inspector. We've got
• 6:39:22
  the boy, sir, excellent, and I have got the men. You
• 6:39:27
  have got them, we cried, all three. Well, at least I
• 6:39:32
  have got their identity. This so called Blessington is, as I expected,
• 6:39:37
  well known at headquarters, and so are his assailants. Their names are Biddle,
• 6:39:42
  Haywood and Moffatt. The Worthingdon Bank gang, cried the inspector. Precisely,
• 6:39:49
  said Holmes. Then Blessington must have been satin exactly, said Holmes.
• 6:39:56
  Why that makes it as clear as crystal, said the inspector. But Trevellion
• 6:40:03
  and I looked at each other in bewilderment. You must surely remember the great
• 6:40:08
  Worthingdon Bank business, said Holmes. Five men were in it, these four
• 6:40:15
  and a fifth called Cartwright. Tobin. The caretaker was murdered, and the
• 6:40:18
  thieves got away with seven thousand pounds. This was in eighteen seventy five.
• 6:40:25
  They were all five arrested, but the evidence against them was by no means
• 6:40:29
  conclusive. This Blessington or Sutton, who was the worst of the gang,
• 6:40:33
  turned informer on his evidence. Cartwright was hanged and the other three got fifteen
• 6:40:40
  years apiece. When they got out the other day, which was some years
• 6:40:44
  before their full term, they set themselves, as you perceive, to hunt
• 6:40:48
  down the traitor and to avenge the death of their comrade upon him. Twice
• 6:40:52
  they tried to get at him and failed. A third time. You see
• 6:40:57
  it came off. Is there any anything further which I can explain, doctor
• 6:41:00
  Trevallian. I think you've made it all remarkably clear, said the doctor,
• 6:41:07
  no doubt. The day on which he was perturbed was the day when he
• 6:41:10
  had seen of their release in the newspapers. Quite so, his talk about
• 6:41:15
  a burglary was the merest blind. But why could he not tell you this?
• 6:41:22
  Well, my dear sir, knowing the vindictive character of his old associates,
• 6:41:26
  he was trying to hide his own identity from everybody as long as he
• 6:41:30
  could. His secret was a shameful one, and he could not bring himself
• 6:41:34
  to divulge it. However, wretch as he was, he was still living
• 6:41:38
  under the shield of British law. And I have no doubt, Inspector,
• 6:41:42
  that you will see that though that shield might fail to guard, the sword
• 6:41:47
  of justice is still there to avenge. Such were the singular circumstances in connection
• 6:41:53
  with the Resident Patient and the brook Street doctor. From that night. Nothing
• 6:42:00
  has been seen of the three murderers by the police, and it is surmised
• 6:42:03
  at Scotland Yard that they were among the passengers of the ill fated steamer Norah
• 6:42:08
  Creina, which was lost some years ago with all hands upon the Portuguese coast,
• 6:42:15
  some leagues to the north of a Porta. The proceedings against the page
• 6:42:19
  broke down for want of evidence, and the brook Street mystery, as it
• 6:42:23
  was called, has never until now been fully dealt with in any public print.
• 6:42:30
  End of the Resident Patient, the Reigate puzzle. It was some time
• 6:42:37
  before the health of my friend mister Sherlock Holmes recovered from the strain caused by
• 6:42:41
  his immense exertions. In the spring of eighty seven, the whole question of
• 6:42:45
  the Netherlands Sumatra company, and of the colossal schemes of Barra Moupetaus are too
• 6:42:52
  recent in the minds of the public, and are too intimately concerned with politics
• 6:42:56
  and finance to be fitting subjects for this series of ties sketches. They led,
• 6:43:02
  however, in an indirect fashion, to a singular and complex problem,
• 6:43:06
  which gave my friend an opportunity of demonstrating the value of a fresh weapon among
• 6:43:11
  the many with which he waged his lifelong battle against crime. On referring to
• 6:43:17
  my notes, I see that it was upon the fourteenth of April that I
• 6:43:19
  received a telegram from Lyons which informed me that Holmes was lying ill in the
• 6:43:26
  Hotel Dulon. Within twenty four hours I was in his sick room, and
• 6:43:30
  was relieved to find that there was nothing formidable in his symptoms. Even his
• 6:43:36
  iron constitution, however, had broken down under the strain of an investigation which
• 6:43:41
  had extended over two months, during which period he had never worked less than
• 6:43:45
  fifteen hours a day, and had more than once, as he assured me,
• 6:43:51
  kept to his task for five days at a stretch. Even the triumphant
• 6:43:56
  issue of his labours could not save him from reaction to so terrible an exertion,
• 6:44:02
  and at a time when Europe was ringing with his name, and when
• 6:44:04
  his room was literally ankled deep with congratulatory telegrams, I found him a prey
• 6:44:11
  to the blackest depression. Even the knowledge that he had succeeded where the police
• 6:44:15
  of three countries had failed, and that he had out maneuvered at every point
• 6:44:21
  the most accomplished swindler in Europe was insufficient to rouse him from his nervous prostration.
• 6:44:27
  Three days later we were back in Baker Street together, but it was
• 6:44:32
  evident that my friend would be much the better for a change, and the
• 6:44:36
  thought of a week of springtime in the country was full of attractions to me.
• 6:44:38
  Also, my old friend, Colonel Hayter, who had come under my
• 6:44:42
  professional care in Afghanistan, had now taken a house near Reigate in Surrey,
• 6:44:48
  and had frequently asked me to come down to him. Upon a visit,
• 6:44:52
  on the last occasion, he had remarked that if my friend would only come
• 6:44:56
  with me, he would be glad to extend his hospitality to him. Also,
• 6:45:00
  a little diplomacy was needed, but when Holmes understood that the establishment was
• 6:45:06
  a bachelor one and that he would be allowed the fullest freedom. He fell
• 6:45:10
  in with my plans, and a week after our return from Lyons, we
• 6:45:14
  were under the colonel's roof. Hayter was a fine old soldier who had seen
• 6:45:18
  much of the world, and he soon found as I had expected, that
• 6:45:22
  Holmes and he had much in common. On the evening of our arrival,
• 6:45:27
  we were sitting in the colonel's gun room after dinner. Holmes stretched upon the
• 6:45:32
  sofa while Hayter and I looked over his little armory of Eastern weapons. By
• 6:45:37
  the way, said he suddenly, I think I'll take one of these pistols
• 6:45:41
  upstairs with me in case we have an alarm. An alarm, said I.
• 6:45:47
  Yes, we have had a scare in this part lately. Old Acton,
• 6:45:51
  who was one of our county magnates, had his house broken into last
• 6:45:55
  Monday. No great damage done, but the fellows are still at large.
• 6:46:00
  No clue, asked Holmes, cocking his eye at the Colonel. None as
• 6:46:04
  yet. But the affair is a petty one, one of our little country
• 6:46:08
  crimes, which must seem too small for your attention, mister Holmes, after
• 6:46:14
  this great international affair. Holmes waved away the compliment, though his smile showed
• 6:46:19
  that it had pleased him. Was there any feature of interest? I fancy
• 6:46:25
  not? The thieves ransacked the library and got very little for their pains.
• 6:46:30
  The whole place was turned upside down, draws burst open, and presses ransacked,
• 6:46:36
  with the result that an odd volume of Pope's homer, two plaited candlesticks,
• 6:46:41
  an ivory letterweight, a small oak barometer, and a ball of twine
• 6:46:45
  are all that have vanished. What an extraordinary assortment, I exclaimed. Oh,
• 6:46:52
  the fellows evidently grabbed hold of everything they could get. Holmes grunted from
• 6:46:56
  the sofa. The county sought to make something of that, said he,
• 6:47:03
  Why it is surely obvious that, but I held up a warning finger.
• 6:47:07
  You are here for a rest, my dear fellow. For Heaven's sake,
• 6:47:10
  don't get started on a new problem when your nerves are all in shreds.
• 6:47:15
  Holmes shrugged his shoulders with a glance of comic resignation towards the Colonel, and
• 6:47:19
  the talk drifted away into less dangerous channels. It was destined, however,
• 6:47:25
  that all my professional caution should be wasted for next morning. The problem obtruded
• 6:47:30
  itself upon us in such a way that it was impossible to ignore it,
• 6:47:34
  and our country visit took a turn which neither of us could have anticipated.
• 6:47:40
  We were at breakfast when the colonel's butler rushed in with all his propriety shaken
• 6:47:45
  out of him. Have you heard the news, sir? He gasped at
• 6:47:48
  the Cunningham. Sir. Burglary cried the Colonel, with his coffee cup in
• 6:47:53
  mid air. Murder. The colonel, whistled by jove, said he who's
• 6:48:00
  killed? Then? The j P or his son, nor either, Sir?
• 6:48:04
  It was William, the coachman shot through the art, Sir, and
• 6:48:08
  never spoke again. Who shot him? Then? The burglar? Sir?
• 6:48:15
  He was off like a shot and got clean away. He just broke in
• 6:48:18
  at the pantry window when William came on him and met his end in saving
• 6:48:22
  his master's property. What time it was late last night, sir? Somewhere
• 6:48:29
  about twelve ah. Then we'll step over afterwards, said the Colonel, coolly,
• 6:48:34
  settling down to his breakfast again. It's a barish business, he added,
• 6:48:40
  when the butler had gone. He's our leading man about here. Is
• 6:48:44
  old Cunningham, a very decent fellow too. He'll be cut up over this
• 6:48:49
  for the man has been in his service for years and was a good servant.
• 6:48:53
  It's evidently the same villains who broke into Acton's and stole that very singular
• 6:49:00
  collection, said Holmes, thoughtfully, precisely hum It may prove the simplest matter
• 6:49:07
  in the world, but all the same, at first glance, this is
• 6:49:10
  just a little curious, is it not. A gang of burglars acting in
• 6:49:15
  the country might be expected to vary the scene of their operations, and not
• 6:49:19
  to crack two cribs in the same district within a few days. When you
• 6:49:23
  spoke last night of taking precautions, I remember that it passed through my mind
• 6:49:29
  that this was probably the last parish in England to which the thief or thieves
• 6:49:33
  would be likely to turn their attention, which shows that I have still much
• 6:49:37
  to learn. I fancy it some local practitioner, said the colonel. In
• 6:49:42
  that case, of course, Acton's and Cunningham's are just the places you would
• 6:49:48
  go for, since they are far the largest about here and richest. Well
• 6:49:53
  they ought to be, but they've had a law suit for some years which
• 6:49:57
  has sucked the blood out of both of them. I fancy Old Acton has
• 6:50:02
  some claim on half of Cunningham's estate, and the lawyers have been at it
• 6:50:07
  with both hands. If it's a local villain, there should not be much
• 6:50:11
  difficulty in running him down, said Holmes with a yawn. All right,
• 6:50:15
  Watson, I don't intend to meddle, Inspector Forester, Sir, said the
• 6:50:22
  butler, throwing open the door. The official, a smart, keen faced
• 6:50:26
  young fellow, stepped into the room. Good morning, colonel, said he.
• 6:50:32
  I hope I don't intrude, but we hear that mister Holmes of Baker
• 6:50:36
  Street is here. The colonel waved his hand towards my friend, and the
• 6:50:40
  inspector bowed. We thought that perhaps you would care to step across, mister
• 6:50:45
  Holmes. The fates are against you, Watson said, he laughing. We
• 6:50:49
  were chatting about the matter when you came in, Inspector. Perhaps you can
• 6:50:53
  let us have a few details. As he leaned back in his chair in
• 6:50:57
  the familiar attitude, I knew that the case was hopeless. We had no
• 6:51:02
  clue in the acton affair, but here we have plenty to go on,
• 6:51:06
  and there's no doubt it is the same party in each case. The man
• 6:51:10
  was seen, Ah, yes, sir, but he was off like a
• 6:51:14
  deer. After the shot that killed poor William Kerwin was fired, mister Cunningham
• 6:51:18
  saw him from the bedroom window, and mister Alec Cunningham saw him from the
• 6:51:22
  back passage. It was quarter to twelve when the alarm broke out. Mister
• 6:51:26
  Cunningham had just got into bed and mister Alick was smoking a pipe in his
• 6:51:32
  dressing gown. They both heard William the coachman calling for help, and mister
• 6:51:36
  Alick ran down to see what was the matter. The back door was open,
• 6:51:40
  and as he came to the foot of the stairs he saw two men
• 6:51:42
  wrestling together outside. One of them fired a shot, the other dropped,
• 6:51:48
  and the murderer rushed across the garden and over the hedge. Mister Cunningham,
• 6:51:53
  looking out of his bedroom, saw the fellow as he gained the road,
• 6:51:56
  but lost sight of him at once. Mister Alick stopped to see if he
• 6:52:00
  could help the dying man, and so the villain got clean away. Beyond
• 6:52:06
  the fact that he was a middle sized man and dressed in some dark stuff,
• 6:52:10
  we have no personal clue, but we're making energetic inquiries, and if
• 6:52:15
  he is a stranger, we shall soon find him out. What was this
• 6:52:18
  William doing there. Did he say anything before he died? Not a word.
• 6:52:25
  He lives at the lodge with his mother, and as he was a
• 6:52:26
  very faithful fellow, we imagine that he walked up to the house with the
• 6:52:30
  intention of seeing that all was right there. Of course, this acting business
• 6:52:36
  has put everyone on their guard. The robber must have just burst open the
• 6:52:40
  door. The lock has been forced when William came upon him. Did William
• 6:52:45
  say anything to his mother before going out? She is very old and deaf,
• 6:52:51
  and we can get no information from her. The shock has made her
• 6:52:53
  half witted, but I understand that she was never very bright. There is
• 6:52:57
  one very important, sir, circumstance, however, look at this. He
• 6:53:03
  took a small piece of torn paper from a notebook and spread it out upon
• 6:53:07
  his knee. This was found between the finger and thumb of the dead man.
• 6:53:12
  It appears to be a fragment torn from a larger sheet. You will
• 6:53:17
  observe that they, how are mentioned upon it is the very time at which
• 6:53:19
  the poor fellow met his fate. You see that his murderer might have torn
• 6:53:26
  the rest of the sheet from him, or he might have taken this fragment
• 6:53:27
  from the murderer. It reads almost as though it were an appointment. Holmes
• 6:53:33
  took up the scrap of paper and facsimile of which is here produced d at
• 6:53:41
  quarter to twelve. Learn what may be presuming that is an appointment, continued
• 6:53:47
  the inspector. It is of course a conceivable theory that this William Kerwin,
• 6:53:52
  though he had the reputation of being an honest man, may have been in
• 6:53:56
  league with the thief. He may have met him there, may even have
• 6:54:00
  helped him to break in the door, and then they may have fallen out
• 6:54:03
  between themselves. This writing is of extraordinary interest, said Holmes, who had
• 6:54:08
  been examining it with intense concentration. These are much deeper waters than I had
• 6:54:15
  thought. He sank his head upon his hands, while the inspector smiled at
• 6:54:19
  the effect which his case had had upon the famous London specialist. Your last
• 6:54:25
  remark, said Holmes, presently, as to the possibility of there being an
• 6:54:30
  understanding between the burglar and the servant, and this being a note of appointment
• 6:54:34
  from one to the other, is an ingenious and not entirely impossible supposition.
• 6:54:41
  But this writing opens up. He sank his head into his hands again and
• 6:54:45
  remained for some minutes in the deepest thought. When he raised his face again,
• 6:54:49
  I was surprised to see that his cheek was tinged with color, and
• 6:54:53
  his eyes as bright as before his illness. He sprang to his feet with
• 6:54:59
  all his old energy. I'll tell you what, said he I should like
• 6:55:03
  to have a quiet little glance into the details of this case. There is
• 6:55:07
  something in it which fascinates me extremely. If you will permit me, Colonel,
• 6:55:14
  I will leave my friend Watson and you and I will step around with
• 6:55:17
  the inspector to test the truth of one or two little fancies of mine.
• 6:55:22
  I'll be with you again in half an hour. An hour and a half
• 6:55:26
  had elapsed before the inspector returned alone. Mister Holmes is walking up and down
• 6:55:30
  in the field outside, said he. He wants us all four to go
• 6:55:34
  up to the house together to mister Cunningham's Yes, sir, what for?
• 6:55:41
  The inspector shrugged his shoulders. I don't quite know, sir. Between ourselves,
• 6:55:48
  I think mister Holmes had not quite got over his illness yet. He's
• 6:55:52
  been behaving very queerly, and he is very much excited. I don't think
• 6:55:57
  you need alarm yourself, said I I have usually found that there was method
• 6:56:02
  in his madness. Some folks might say there was madness in his method,
• 6:56:07
  muttered the inspector. But he's all on fire to start, Colonel, so
• 6:56:11
  we'd best go out, if you're ready. We found Holmes pacing up and
• 6:56:15
  down in the field, his chin sunk upon his breast and his hands thrust
• 6:56:18
  into his trousers pockets. The matter grows in interest, said he Watson.
• 6:56:26
  Your country trip has been a distinct success. I've had a charming morning.
• 6:56:30
  You've been up to the scene of the crime, I understand, said the
• 6:56:33
  colonel. Yes, the inspector and I have made quite a little reconnaissance together.
• 6:56:41
  Any success. Well, we've seen some very interesting things. I'll tell
• 6:56:45
  you what we did as we walk. First of all, we saw the
• 6:56:48
  body of this unfortunate man. He certainly died from a revolver wound, as
• 6:56:53
  reported. Had you doubted it, then, oh it is as well to
• 6:56:59
  test everything. Our inspection was not wasted. We then had an interview with
• 6:57:03
  mister Cunningham and his son, who were able to point out the exact spot
• 6:57:07
  where the murderer had broken through the garden hedge in his flight. That was
• 6:57:11
  of great interest. Naturally, then we had a look at this poor fellow's
• 6:57:17
  mother. We could get no information from her, however, as she is
• 6:57:21
  very old and feeble. And what is the result of your investigations the conviction
• 6:57:27
  that the crime is a very peculiar one. Perhaps our visit now may do
• 6:57:32
  something to make it less obscure. I think that we are both agreed,
• 6:57:36
  Inspector, that the fragment of paper in the dead man's hand, bearing as
• 6:57:40
  it does the very hour of his death written upon it, is of extreme
• 6:57:44
  importance. It should give a clue, mister Olmes. It does give a
• 6:57:49
  clue whoever wrote that note was the man who brought William Kerwin out of his
• 6:57:55
  bed at that hour? But where is the rest of that sheet of paper?
• 6:58:00
  I examined the ground carefully in the ope of finding it, said the
• 6:58:03
  inspector. It was torn out of the dead man's hand. Why was some
• 6:58:08
  one so anxious to get possession of it because it incriminated him? And what
• 6:58:14
  would he do with it? Thrust it into his pocket, most likely never
• 6:58:18
  noticing that a corner of it had been left in the grip of the corpse.
• 6:58:22
  If we could get the rest of that sheet, it is obvious that
• 6:58:26
  we should have gone a long way towards solving the mystery. Yes, but
• 6:58:30
  how can we get at the criminal's pocket before we catched a criminal? Well,
• 6:58:36
  well it was worth thinking over. Then there is another obvious point.
• 6:58:41
  The note was sent to William. The man who wrote it could not have
• 6:58:45
  taken it otherwise, of course he might have delivered his own message by word
• 6:58:48
  of mouth. Who brought the note then? Or did it come through the
• 6:58:52
  post? I have made inquiries, said the inspector. William received a letter
• 6:58:59
  by the afternoon post yesterday. The envelope was destroyed by him. Excellent,
• 6:59:04
  cried Holmes, clapping the inspector on the back. You've seen the postman.
• 6:59:10
  It is a pleasure to work with you. Well, here is the lodge,
• 6:59:12
  and if you will come up, colonel, I will show you the
• 6:59:15
  scene of the crime. We passed the pretty cottage where the murdered man had
• 6:59:21
  lived, and walked up an oak lined avenue to the fine old Queen Anne
• 6:59:25
  house, which bears the date of Malplaquey upon the lintel of the door.
• 6:59:30
  Holmes and the inspector led us round it until we came to the side gate,
• 6:59:33
  which is separated by a stretch of garden from the hedge which lines the
• 6:59:37
  road. A constable was standing at the kitchen door. Throw the door open,
• 6:59:42
  officer, said Holmes. Now it was on these stairs that young mister
• 6:59:48
  Cunningham stood and saw the two men struggling just where we are. Old mister
• 6:59:53
  Cunningham was at that window, the second on the left, and he saw
• 6:59:57
  the fellow get away just to the left of that bush. Then mister Alec
• 7:00:03
  ran out and knelt beside the wounded man. The ground is very hard,
• 7:00:07
  you see, and there are no marks to guide us. As he spoke,
• 7:00:11
  two men came down to the garden path from round the angle of the
• 7:00:15
  house. The one was an elderly man with a strong, deep lined,
• 7:00:19
  heavy eyed face, the other a dashing young fellow, whose bright, smiling
• 7:00:23
  expression and showy dress were in strange contrast with the business which had brought us
• 7:00:29
  there. Still at it, then, said he to Holmes. I thought
• 7:00:33
  you Londoners were never at fault. You don't seem to disso very quick after
• 7:00:37
  all. Ah, you must give us a little time, said Holmes,
• 7:00:41
  good humoredly. You'll want it, said young Alec Cunningham. Why I don't
• 7:00:48
  see that we have any clue at all. There's only one, answered the
• 7:00:52
  inspector. We thought that if we could only find good heavens, mister Holmes,
• 7:00:57
  what is the matter? My poor friend's face had suddenly assumed the most
• 7:01:02
  dreadful expression, his eyes rolled upwards, his features writhed in agony, and
• 7:01:08
  with a suppressed groan, he dropped on his face upon the ground. Horrified
• 7:01:14
  at the suddenness and severity of the attack. We carried him into the kitchen,
• 7:01:18
  where he lay back in a large chair and breathed heavily for some minutes.
• 7:01:22
  Finally, with a shamefaced apology for his weakness, he rose once more.
• 7:01:29
  Watson would tell you that I have only just recovered from a severe illness,
• 7:01:32
  he explained, I am liable to these sudden nervous attacks. Shall I
• 7:01:37
  send you home in my trap? Asked Old Cunningham. Well, since I
• 7:01:44
  am here, there is one point on which I should like to feel sure
• 7:01:48
  we can very easily verify it. What was it? Well, it seems
• 7:01:52
  to me that it is just possible that the arrival of this poor fellow William
• 7:01:56
  was not before, but after the entrance of the burglar into the house.
• 7:02:03
  You appeared to take it for granted that although the door was forced, the
• 7:02:06
  robber never got in. I fancy that is quite obvious, said mister Cunningham,
• 7:02:11
  gravely. Why my son Alec had not yet gone to bed, and
• 7:02:17
  he would certainly have heard any one moving about. Where was he sitting?
• 7:02:22
  I was smoking in my dressing room. Which window is that? The last
• 7:02:27
  on the left next to my father's? Both of your lamps were lit.
• 7:02:32
  Of course, undoubtedly there are some very singular points here, said Holmes,
• 7:02:37
  smiling. Is it not extraordinary that a burglar, and a burglar who had
• 7:02:42
  had some previous experience should deliberately break into a house at a time when he
• 7:02:48
  could see from the lights that two of the family were still afoot He must
• 7:02:52
  have been a cool hand. Well, of course, if the case were
• 7:02:57
  not an odd one, we should not have been driven to ask you for
• 7:03:00
  an explanation, said young mister Alec. But as to your ideas that the
• 7:03:06
  man has robbed the house before William tackled him, I think it a most
• 7:03:10
  absurd notion. Wouldn't we have found the place disarranged and missed the things which
• 7:03:15
  he had taken. It depends on what the things were, said Holmes.
• 7:03:19
  You must remember that we are dealing with a burglar who is a very peculiar
• 7:03:23
  fellow, and who appears to work on lines of his own. Look,
• 7:03:29
  for example at the queer lot of things which he took from Acton's What was
• 7:03:33
  it? A ball of string, a letter? Wait, and I don't
• 7:03:36
  know what other ods and ends. Well, we are quite in your hands,
• 7:03:41
  mister Holmes, said old Cunningham. Anything which you or the inspector may
• 7:03:45
  suggest, will most certainly be done. In the first place, said Holmes,
• 7:03:52
  I should like you to offer a reward coming from yourself, for the
• 7:03:56
  officials may take a little time before they would agree upon the and these things
• 7:04:02
  cannot be done too promptly. I have jotted down the form here, if
• 7:04:07
  you would not mind signing it. Fifty pounds was quite enough, I thought
• 7:04:11
  I would willingly give you five hundred, said the j P, taking the
• 7:04:15
  slip of paper and the pencil which Holmes handed to him. This is not
• 7:04:19
  quite correct, however, he added, glancing over the document. I wrote
• 7:04:26
  it rather hurriedly. You see. You begin whereas at about a quarter to
• 7:04:32
  one on Tuesday morning an attempt was made, and so on it was at
• 7:04:37
  a quarter to twelve as a matter of fact, I was pained at the
• 7:04:41
  mistake, for I knew how keenly homes would feel any slip of the kind.
• 7:04:45
  It was his speciality to be accurate as to fact. But his recent
• 7:04:49
  illness had shaken him, and this one little incident was enough to show me
• 7:04:55
  that he was still far from being himself. He was obviously embarrassed for an
• 7:04:59
  instant while the inspector raised his eyebrows and Alec Cunningham burst into a laugh.
• 7:05:06
  The old gentleman corrected the mistake, however, and handed the paper back to
• 7:05:11
  Holmes get it printed as soon as possible. He said, I think your
• 7:05:17
  idea is an excellent one. Holmes put the slip of paper carefully away into
• 7:05:22
  his pocket book, and now said he it really would be a good thing
• 7:05:26
  that we should all go over the house together and make certain that this rather
• 7:05:30
  erratic burglar did not, after all carry anything away with him. Before entering,
• 7:05:37
  Holmes made an examination of the door which had been forced. It was
• 7:05:41
  evident that a chisel or strong knife had been thrust in and the lock forced
• 7:05:45
  back with it. We could see the marks in the wood where it had
• 7:05:48
  been pushed in. You don't use bars, then, he asked, we
• 7:05:55
  have never found it necessary. You don't keep a dog, yes, but
• 7:06:00
  he is chained on the other side of the house. When do your servants
• 7:06:03
  go to bed? About ten? I understand that William was usually in bed
• 7:06:08
  also at that hour. Yes, it is singular that on this particular night
• 7:06:15
  he should have been up. Now I should be very glad if you would
• 7:06:18
  have the kindness to show us over the house, mister Cunningham. A stone
• 7:06:22
  flagged passage with the kitchens branching away from it, led by a wooden staircase
• 7:06:27
  directly to the first floor of the house. It came out upon the landing
• 7:06:32
  opposite to a second, more ornamental stair which came up from the front hall.
• 7:06:37
  Out of this landing opened the drawing room and several bedrooms, including those
• 7:06:42
  of mister Cunningham and his son. Holmes walked slowly, taking keen note of
• 7:06:48
  the architecture of the house. I could tell from his expression that he was
• 7:06:52
  on a hot scent, and yet I could not in the least imagine in
• 7:06:56
  what direction his inferences were leading him. My good sir, said mister Cunningham,
• 7:07:03
  with some impatience. This is surely very unnecessary. That is my room
• 7:07:07
  at the end of the stairs, and my son's is the one beyond it.
• 7:07:11
  I leave it to your judgment whether it was possible for the thief to
• 7:07:15
  have come up here without disturbing us. You must try round and get on
• 7:07:19
  a fresh scent. I fancy, said the son, with a rather malicious
• 7:07:22
  smile. Still, I must ask you to humor me a little further.
• 7:07:29
  I should like, for example, to see how far the windows of the
• 7:07:32
  bedrooms command the front. This, I understand is your son's room, he
• 7:07:37
  pushed open the door, and that I presume is the dressing room in which
• 7:07:41
  he sat smoking when the alarm was given. Where does the window of that
• 7:07:47
  look out to He stepped across the bedroom, pushed open the door, and
• 7:07:51
  glanced around the other chamber. I hope that you are satisfied now, said
• 7:07:56
  mister Cunningham, tartly. Thanks. I think I have seen all that I
• 7:08:00
  wished. Then, if it is really necessary, we can go into my
• 7:08:04
  room. If it is not too much trouble. The JP shrugged his shoulders
• 7:08:11
  and led the way into his own chamber, which was a plainly furnished and
• 7:08:15
  commonplace room. As we moved across it in the direction of the window.
• 7:08:19
  Holmes fell back until he and I were the last of the group. Near
• 7:08:23
  the foot of the bed stood a dish of oranges and a carafe of water.
• 7:08:29
  As we passed it, Holmes, to my unutterable astonishment, leaned over
• 7:08:33
  in front of me and deliberately knocked the whole thing over. The glass smashed
• 7:08:38
  into a thousand pieces, and the fruit rolled about into every corner of the
• 7:08:42
  room. You've done it now, Watson said he coolly. A pretty mess
• 7:08:48
  you've made of the carpet. I stooped in some confusion, and began to
• 7:08:52
  pick up the fruit, understanding for some reason my companion desired me to take
• 7:08:56
  the blame upon myself. The others did the same, and set the table
• 7:09:02
  on its legs again. Hullo, cried the inspector. Where's he's got to?
• 7:09:07
  Holmes had disappeared. Wait here, an instant, said young Alec Cunningham.
• 7:09:14
  A fellow is off his head my opinion, Come with me, father,
• 7:09:18
  and see where he has got to. They rushed out of the room,
• 7:09:22
  leaving the inspector, the colonel, and me staring at each other.
• 7:09:27
  Upon my word, I'm inclined to agree with Master Alick, said the official
• 7:09:33
  It may be the effect of his illness, but it seems to me that
• 7:09:36
  his words were cut short by a sudden scream of help, help, murder.
• 7:09:41
  With a thrill, I recognized the voice of that of my friend.
• 7:09:45
  I rushed madly from the room on to the landing. The cries, which
• 7:09:49
  had sunk down into a hoarse, inarticulate shouting, came from the room which
• 7:09:53
  we had first visited. I dashed in and on into the dressing room beyond
• 7:10:00
  the two Cunninghams were bending over the prostrate figure of Sherlock Holmes, the younger
• 7:10:06
  clutching his throat with both hands, while the elder seemed to be twisting one
• 7:10:08
  of his wrists. In an instant, the three of us had torn them
• 7:10:12
  away from him, and Holmes staggered to his feet, very pale and evidently
• 7:10:18
  greatly exhausted. Arrest these men, Inspector, he gasped, on what charge,
• 7:10:25
  that of murdering their coachman William Kerwin. The inspector stared about him in
• 7:10:30
  bewilderment. Oh come now, mister Holmes, said he at last, Ah,
• 7:10:36
  I'm sure you don't really mean to tut man. Look at their faces,
• 7:10:40
  cried Holmes, curtly. Never certainly have I seen a plainer confession of
• 7:10:45
  guilt upon human countenances. The older man seemed numbed and dazed, with a
• 7:10:51
  heavy, sullen expression upon his strongly marked face. The sun, on the
• 7:10:55
  other hand, had dropped all that jaunty, dashing style which had characterized him,
• 7:11:00
  and the ferocity of a dangerous wild beast gleamed in his dark eyes and
• 7:11:04
  distorted his handsome features. The inspector said nothing, but stepping to the door,
• 7:11:11
  he blew his whistle. Two of his constables came at the call.
• 7:11:15
  I have no alternative, mister Cunningham, said he. I trust that this
• 7:11:19
  may all prove to be an absurd mistake, but you can see that.
• 7:11:23
  Ah, would you drop it? He struck out with his hand, and
• 7:11:26
  a revolver which the younger man was in the act of cocking, clattered down
• 7:11:30
  upon the floor. Keep that, said Holmes, quietly, putting his foot
• 7:11:36
  upon it. You will find it useful at the trial. But this is
• 7:11:40
  what we really wanted. He held up a little crumpled piece of paper.
• 7:11:45
  The remainder of the sheet, cried the inspector. Precisely, and where was
• 7:11:51
  it? Where I was sure it must be. I'll make the whole matter
• 7:11:56
  clear to you presently, I think, Colonel to you and Watson might return
• 7:12:00
  now, and I will be with you again in an hour at the furthest.
• 7:12:06
  The inspector and I must have a word with the prisoners, but you
• 7:12:08
  will certainly see me back at luncheon time. Sherlock Holmes was as good as
• 7:12:14
  his word, for about one o'clock he rejoined us in the colonel's smoking room.
• 7:12:18
  He was accompanied by a little elderly gentleman who was introduced to me as
• 7:12:22
  the mister Acton, whose house had been the scene of the original burglary.
• 7:12:29
  I wish mister Acton to be present while I demonstrated this small matter to you,
• 7:12:33
  said Holmes, for it is natural that he should take a keen interest
• 7:12:37
  in the details. I am afraid, my dear Colonel, that you must
• 7:12:41
  regret the hour that you took in such a stormy petrol as I am.
• 7:12:47
  On the contrary, answered the Colonel warmly, I consider it the greatest privilege
• 7:12:52
  to have been permitted to study your methods of working. I confess that they
• 7:12:56
  quite surpass my expectations, and I am utterly unable to account for your result
• 7:13:02
  I have not yet seen the vestige of a clue. I am afraid that
• 7:13:06
  my explanation may disillusion you, but it has always been my habit to hide
• 7:13:10
  none of my methods, either from my friend Watson or from any one who
• 7:13:15
  might take an intelligent interest in them. But first, as I am rather
• 7:13:18
  shaken by the knocking about which I had in the dressing room, I think
• 7:13:22
  that I shall help myself to a dash of your brandy. Colonel, my
• 7:13:26
  strength had been rather tired of late. I trust that you are no more
• 7:13:30
  of those nervous attacks. Sherlock Holmes laughed heartily. We will come to that
• 7:13:37
  in its turn, said he. I will lay an account of the case
• 7:13:41
  before you in its due order, showing you the various points which guided me
• 7:13:45
  in my decision. Pray interrupt me if there is any inference which is not
• 7:13:49
  perfectly clear to you. It is of the highest importance in the art of
• 7:13:55
  detection to be able to recognize out of a number of facts which which are
• 7:14:00
  incidental and which vital. Otherwise your energy and attention must be dissipated instead of
• 7:14:06
  being concentrated. Now, in this case, there was not the slightest doubt
• 7:14:11
  in my mind from the first that the key of the whole matter must be
• 7:14:14
  looked for in the scrap of paper in the dead man's hand. Before going
• 7:14:18
  to this, I would draw your attention to the fact that if Alec Cunningham's
• 7:14:23
  narrative was correct, and if the assailant, after shooting William Kerwin had instantly
• 7:14:29
  fled, then it obviously could not be he who tore the paper from the
• 7:14:33
  dead man's hand. But if it was not he, it must have been
• 7:14:38
  Alec Cunningham himself, for by the time that the old man had descended,
• 7:14:44
  several servants were upon the scene. The point is a simple one, but
• 7:14:48
  the inspector had overlooked it because he had started with the supposition that these county
• 7:14:53
  magnates had had nothing to do with the matter. Now I make a point
• 7:14:57
  of never having any prejudices, and of following docile wherever fact may lead me.
• 7:15:03
  And so in the very first stage of the investigation I found myself looking
• 7:15:07
  a little askance at the part which had been played by mister Alec Cunningham.
• 7:15:12
  And now I made a very careful examination of the corner of paper which the
• 7:15:17
  inspector had submitted to us. It was at once clear to me that it
• 7:15:21
  formed part of a very remarkable document. Here it is. Do you not
• 7:15:26
  now observe something very suggestive about it? It has a very irregular look,
• 7:15:32
  said the colonel. My dear sir, cried Holmes. There cannot be the
• 7:15:37
  least doubt in the world that it has been written by two persons doing alternate
• 7:15:41
  words. When I draw your attention to the strong tease of at and two
• 7:15:48
  and ask you to compare them with the weak ones of quarter and twelve,
• 7:15:52
  you will instantly recognize the fact a very brief analysis of these four words would
• 7:15:57
  enable you to say with the utmost confividence that the learn and the maybe are
• 7:16:03
  written in the stronger hand, and that the what in the weaker. By
• 7:16:07
  jove, it's as clear as day, cried the colonel. Why on earth
• 7:16:11
  should two men write a letter in such a fashion? Obviously the business was
• 7:16:17
  a bad one, and one of the men, who distrusted the other,
• 7:16:21
  was determined that whatever was done, each should have an equal hand in it.
• 7:16:26
  Now, of the two men, it is clear that the one who
• 7:16:29
  wrote the act and two was the ringleader. How do you get at that
• 7:16:36
  we might deduce it from the mere character of the one hand as compared with
• 7:16:38
  the other. But we have more assured reasons than that for supposing it.
• 7:16:44
  If you examine this scrap with attention, you will come to the conclusion that
• 7:16:48
  the man with the stronger hand wrote all his words first, leaving blanks for
• 7:16:52
  the other to fill up. These blanks were not always sufficient, and you
• 7:16:57
  can see that the second man had a squeak ease to fit his quarter in
• 7:17:00
  between the at and the two, showing that the latter was already written.
• 7:17:06
  The man who wrote all his words first is undoubtedly the man who planned the
• 7:17:10
  affair. Excellent, cried mister Acton, But very superficial, said Holmes.
• 7:17:18
  We come now, however, to a point which is of importance. You
• 7:17:22
  may not be aware that the deduction of a man's age from his writing is
• 7:17:26
  one which has been brought to considerable accuracy by experts. In normal cases,
• 7:17:30
  one can place a man in his true decade with tolerable confidence. I say
• 7:17:34
  normal cases, because ill health and physical weakness reproduce the signs of old age,
• 7:17:41
  even when the invalid is a youth. In this case, looking at
• 7:17:45
  the bold, strong hand of the one and the rather broken back to appearance
• 7:17:49
  of the other, which still retains its legibility. Although the tees have begun
• 7:17:53
  to lose their crossing. We can say that the one was a young man,
• 7:17:59
  and the other words advanced in years without being positively decrepit. Excellent,
• 7:18:03
  cried mister Acton again. There is a further point, however, which is
• 7:18:08
  subtler and of greater interest. There is something in common between these hands.
• 7:18:15
  They belong to men who are blood relatives. It may be most obvious to
• 7:18:18
  you in the Greek ease, but to me there are many small points which
• 7:18:22
  indicate the same thing. I have no doubt at all that a family mannerism
• 7:18:27
  can be traced in these two specimens of writing. I am only, of
• 7:18:32
  course, giving you the leading results now of my examination of the paper.
• 7:18:37
  There were twenty three other deductions which would be of more interest to experts than
• 7:18:41
  to you. They all tend to deepen the impression upon my mind that the
• 7:18:45
  Cunninghams father and son had written this letter. Having got so far, my
• 7:18:52
  next step was, of course to examine into the details of the crime,
• 7:18:56
  and to see how far they would help us. I went up to the
• 7:19:00
  house for the inspector and saw all that was to be seen. The wound
• 7:19:03
  upon the dead man was, as I was able to determine with absolute confidence,
• 7:19:07
  fired from a revolver at the distance of something over four yards. There
• 7:19:14
  was no powder blackening on the clothes. Evidently, therefore, Alec Cunningham had
• 7:19:18
  lied when he said that the two men were struggling when the shot was fired.
• 7:19:23
  Again, both father and son agreed as to the place where the man
• 7:19:26
  escaped into the road. At that point, however, as it happens,
• 7:19:32
  there is a broadish ditch moist at the bottom. As there were no indications
• 7:19:37
  of boot marks about this ditch, I was absolutely sure, not only that
• 7:19:41
  the Cunninghams had again lied, but that there had never been any unknown man
• 7:19:45
  upon the scene at all. And now I have to consider the motive of
• 7:19:49
  this singular crime. To get at this, I endeavored, first of all,
• 7:19:55
  to solve the reason of the original burglar. At mister Acton's I understood
• 7:20:00
  from something which the Colonel told us, that a law suit had been going
• 7:20:03
  on between you, mister Acton, and the Cunninghams. Of course, it
• 7:20:07
  instantly occurred to me that they had broken into your library with the intention of
• 7:20:11
  getting at some document which might be of importance in the case precisely so,
• 7:20:18
  said mister Acton. There can be no possible doubt as to their intentions.
• 7:20:22
  I have the clearest claim upon half of their present estate, and if they
• 7:20:26
  could have found a single paper, which fortunately was in the strong box of
• 7:20:32
  my solicitors, they would undoubtedly have crippled our case. There you are,
• 7:20:37
  said Holmes, smiling. It was a dangerous, reckless attempt in which I
• 7:20:44
  seemed to trace the influence of young Alec. Having found nothing, they tried
• 7:20:49
  to divert suspicion by making it appear to be an ordinary burglary, to which
• 7:20:55
  end they carried off whatever they could lay their hands upon. That is all
• 7:20:59
  clear enough, but there was much that was still obscure. What I wanted,
• 7:21:03
  above all was to get the missing part of that note. I was
• 7:21:07
  certain that Alec had torn it out of the dead man's hand, and almost
• 7:21:11
  certain that he must have thrust it into the pocket of his dressing gown.
• 7:21:15
  Where else could he have put it. The only question was whether it was
• 7:21:18
  still there. It was worth an effort to find out, and for that
• 7:21:22
  object we all went up to the house. The Cunninghams joined us, as
• 7:21:27
  you doubtless remember, outside the kitchen door. It was, of course,
• 7:21:32
  of the very first importance that they should not be reminded of the existence of
• 7:21:36
  this paper, otherwise they would naturally destroy it without delay. The Inspector was
• 7:21:41
  about to tell them the importance which we attached to it, when by the
• 7:21:45
  luckiest chance in the world, I tumbled down in a sort of fit,
• 7:21:49
  and so changed the conversation. Good Heavens, cried the colonel, laughing,
• 7:21:55
  do you mean to say all our sympathy was wasted and your fit and impostile
• 7:22:00
  speaking professionally? It was admirably done, cried I, looking in amazement at
• 7:22:06
  this man who was forever confounding me with some new phase of his astuteness.
• 7:22:11
  It is an art which is often useful, said he. When I recovered,
• 7:22:15
  I managed, by a device which had perhaps some little merit of ingenuity,
• 7:22:18
  to get old Cunningham to write the word twelve so that I might compare
• 7:22:22
  it with the twelve upon the paper. Oh what an ass I have been,
• 7:22:27
  I exclaimed. I could see that you were commiserating me over my weakness,
• 7:22:33
  said Holmes, laughing, I was sorry to cause you the sympathetic pain
• 7:22:37
  which I know that you felt. We then went upstairs together, and having
• 7:22:41
  entered the room and seen the dressing gown hanging up behind the door, I
• 7:22:47
  contrived by upsetting a table to engage their attention for the moment, and slipped
• 7:22:52
  back to examine the pockets. I had hardly got the paper, however,
• 7:22:56
  which was as I had expected in one of them, when the two Cunninghams
• 7:23:00
  were on me, and would I verily believe have murdered me then and there
• 7:23:03
  but for your prompt and friendly aid. As it is, I feel that
• 7:23:08
  young man's grip on my throat now, and the father has twisted my wrist
• 7:23:12
  round in the effort to get the paper out of my hand. They saw
• 7:23:17
  that I must know all about it, you see, and the sudden change
• 7:23:19
  from absolute security to complete despair made them perfectly desperate. I had a little
• 7:23:26
  talk with old Cunningham afterwards as to the motive of the crime. He was
• 7:23:30
  tractable enough, though his son was a perfect demon, ready to blow out
• 7:23:36
  his own or anybody else's brains if he could have got to his revolver.
• 7:23:40
  When Cunningham saw that the case against him was so strong, he lost all
• 7:23:44
  heart and made a clean breast of everything. It seems that William had secretly
• 7:23:49
  followed his two masters on the night when they made their raid upon mister Acton's,
• 7:23:53
  and having thus got them into his power, proceeded under threats of exposure
• 7:24:00
  to levy blackmail upon them. Mister Alick, however, was a dangerous man
• 7:24:04
  to play games of that sort with. It was a stroke of positive genius
• 7:24:08
  on his part to see in the burglary scare which was convulsing the countryside,
• 7:24:14
  an opportunity of plausibly getting rid of the man whom he feared. William was
• 7:24:18
  decoyed up and shot. And had they only got the whole of the note
• 7:24:22
  and paid a little more attention to detail in the accessories, it is very
• 7:24:27
  possible that suspicion might never have been aroused. And a note. I asked
• 7:24:33
  Sherlock Holmes placed the subjoined paper before us. If you will only come around
• 7:24:40
  to the east Gate, it will very much surprise you and be of the
• 7:24:42
  greatest service to you and also to Annie Morrison. But say nothing to any
• 7:24:48
  one upon the matter. It is very much the sort of thing that I
• 7:24:52
  expected, said he. Of course, we do not yet know what the
• 7:24:56
  relations may have been between Alec Cunningham William Kerwe and Annie Morrison. The result
• 7:25:03
  shows that the trap was skillfully baited. I am sure that you cannot fail
• 7:25:07
  to be delighted with the traces of heredity shown in the Peas and in the
• 7:25:11
  Tales of the Ges. The absence of the ie dots in the old man's
• 7:25:15
  writing is also more characteristic Watson. I think our quiet rest in the country
• 7:25:22
  has been a distinct success, and I shall certainly return much invigorated to Baker
• 7:25:29
  Street tomorrow. End of the Reigate Puzzle the Stockbroker's Clerk. Shortly after my
• 7:25:38
  marriage, I had bought a connection in the Paddington district. Old mister Farquhar,
• 7:25:44
  from whom I purchased it, had at one time an excellent general practice,
• 7:25:48
  but his age and an affliction of the nature of Saint Vitus's dance from
• 7:25:52
  which he suffered, had very much thinned it. The public not unnaturally goes
• 7:25:57
  on the principle that he who would heal others must himself be whole, and
• 7:26:02
  looks askance at the curative powers of the man whose own case is beyond the
• 7:26:07
  reach of his drugs. Thus, as my predecessor weakened, his practice declined,
• 7:26:14
  until when I purchased it from him, it had sunk from twelve hundred
• 7:26:18
  to little more than three hundred a year. I had confidence, however,
• 7:26:22
  in my own youth and energy, and was convinced that in a very few
• 7:26:26
  years the concern would be as flourishing as ever. For three months after taking
• 7:26:30
  over the practice, I was kept very closely at work and saw little of
• 7:26:34
  my friend Sherlock Holmes, for I was too busy to visit Baker Street,
• 7:26:38
  and he seldom went anywhere himself save upon professional business. I was surprised,
• 7:26:45
  therefore, when one morning in June, as I sat reading the British Medical
• 7:26:48
  Journal after breakfast, I heard a ring at the bell, followed by the
• 7:26:52
  high, somewhat strident tones of my old companion's voice. Ah, my dear
• 7:26:59
  Watson, said he striding into the room. I am very delighted to see
• 7:27:03
  you. I trust that missus Watson has entirely recovered from all the little excitements
• 7:27:08
  connected with our adventure of the Sign of the Foe. Thank you, we're
• 7:27:12
  both doing very well, said I, shaking him warmly by the hand.
• 7:27:17
  And I hope also, he continued, sitting down in the rocking chair,
• 7:27:22
  that the cares of medical practice. Have not entirely obliterated the interest to which
• 7:27:26
  you used to take in our little deductive problems. On the contrary, I
• 7:27:32
  answered, it was only last night that I was looking over my old notes
• 7:27:36
  and classifying some of our past results. I trust that you don't consider your
• 7:27:41
  collection closed, not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have
• 7:27:45
  some more of such experiences to day, for example, yes, to day
• 7:27:51
  if you like. And as far off as Birmingham, certainly if you wish
• 7:27:56
  it. And the practice I do my neighbors when he goes, he's always
• 7:28:03
  ready to work off the debt. Ah, nothing could be better, said
• 7:28:07
  Holmes, leaning back in his chair and looking keenly at me from under his
• 7:28:11
  half closed lids. I perceive that you have been unwell lately. Summer colds
• 7:28:17
  are always a little trying. I was confined to the house by a severe
• 7:28:21
  chill for three days last week. I thought, however, that I had
• 7:28:25
  cast off every trace of it. So you have you look remarkably robust.
• 7:28:30
  How then did you know it, my dear fellow, You know my methods.
• 7:28:37
  You deduced it, then, certainly? And from what from your slippers?
• 7:28:45
  I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing. How
• 7:28:49
  on earth I began? But Holmes answered my question before it was asked.
• 7:28:56
  Your slippers are new, he said, you could not have had them more
• 7:29:00
  than a few weeks. The souls which you are at this moment presenting to
• 7:29:04
  me are slightly scorched. For a moment I thought they might have got wet
• 7:29:10
  and been burned in the drying. But near the instep there is a small
• 7:29:14
  circular wafer of paper with the shopman's hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of course
• 7:29:19
  have removed this. You had then been sitting with your feet outstretched to the
• 7:29:23
  fire, which a man would hardly do, even in so wet a june
• 7:29:29
  as this, if he were in his full health. Like all Holmes's reasoning,
• 7:29:34
  the thing seemed simplicity itself. When it was once explained, he read
• 7:29:38
  the thought upon my features, and his smile had a tinge of bitterness.
• 7:29:45
  I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain, said he,
• 7:29:49
  results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come to
• 7:29:55
  Birmingham, then, certainly what is the case? You shall hear it all
• 7:30:00
  in the train. My client is outside in a four wheeler. Can you
• 7:30:04
  come at once? In an instant, I scribbled a note to my neighbor,
• 7:30:11
  rushed upstairs to explain the matter to my wife, and joined homes upon
• 7:30:15
  the doorstep. Your neighbor is a doctor, said he, nodding at the
• 7:30:18
  brass plate. Yes, he bought a practice as I did, an old
• 7:30:23
  established one, just the same as mine. Both have been ever since the
• 7:30:29
  houses were built. Ah, then you got hold of the best of the
• 7:30:33
  two. I think I did. But how do you know by the steps
• 7:30:38
  my boy, Yours are worn three inches deeper than his. But this gentleman
• 7:30:44
  in the cab is my client, mister hall Pyecroft. Allow me to introduce
• 7:30:47
  you to him. Whip your horse up, cabby, for we have only
• 7:30:51
  just time to catch our train. The man whom I found myself facing was
• 7:30:56
  a well built, fresh complexioned young fellow with a rank, honest face and
• 7:31:00
  a slight, crisp yellow mustache. He wore a very shiny top hat and
• 7:31:06
  a neat suit of sober black, which made him look what he was,
• 7:31:10
  A smart, young city man of the class who had been labeled Cockney's But
• 7:31:15
  who give us our crack volunteer regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes
• 7:31:21
  and sportsmen than any body of men in these islands. His round, ruddy
• 7:31:26
  face was naturally full of cheeriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to
• 7:31:30
  me to be pulled down in a half comical distress. It was not,
• 7:31:34
  however, until we were all in our first class carriage and well started upon
• 7:31:40
  our journey to Birmingham, that I was able to learn what the trouble was
• 7:31:42
  which had driven him to Sherlock Holmes. We have a clear run here of
• 7:31:48
  seventy minutes. Holmes remarked, I want you, mister hall Pyecroft, to
• 7:31:52
  tell my friend your very interesting experience exactly as you have told it to me,
• 7:31:59
  or with more detail, if possible. It will be of use to
• 7:32:02
  me to hear the succession of events again. It is a case, Watson,
• 7:32:06
  which may prove to have something in it, or may prove to have
• 7:32:10
  nothing, but which at least presents those unusual and utree features which are as
• 7:32:15
  dear to you as they are to me. Now, mister Pycroft, I
• 7:32:19
  shall not interrupt you again. Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle
• 7:32:25
  in his eye. The worst of the story is said he that I should
• 7:32:30
  show myself up as such a confounded fool. Of course, it may work
• 7:32:36
  out all right, and I don't see that I could have done otherwise.
• 7:32:38
  But if I have lost my crib and got nothing in exchange, I shall
• 7:32:42
  feel what a soft johnny I've been. I'm not very good at telling a
• 7:32:45
  story, Dr Watson, but it is like this with me. I used
• 7:32:51
  to have a billet at Coxs and woodhouses of Draper's Gardens, but they were
• 7:32:56
  lay in early in the spring through the Venezuelan low, there's no doubt you
• 7:33:00
  remember, and came a nasty cropper. I've been with him five years,
• 7:33:06
  and old Coxon gave me a ripping good testimonial when the smash came. But
• 7:33:11
  of course weet clerks were all turned adrift for twenty seven of us. I
• 7:33:15
  tried here and tried there, but there were lots of other chaps on the
• 7:33:18
  same layer as myself, and it was a perfect frost. For a long
• 7:33:22
  time. I've been taking three pounds a week at Coxin's, and I'd saved
• 7:33:26
  about seventy of them. But I soon worked my way through that and out
• 7:33:30
  the other end. I was fairly at the end of my tether at last,
• 7:33:34
  and could hardly find the stamps to answer the advertisements, all the envelopes
• 7:33:37
  to stick them to. I'd worn up my boots paddling up off his stairs,
• 7:33:41
  and I've seen just as far from getting a billet as ever. At
• 7:33:45
  last I saw vacancy at Mawson and Williams, the great stockbroking firm in Lombard
• 7:33:52
  Street. I dare say e c is not much in your line, but
• 7:33:56
  I can tell you that this is about the richest house in London. The
• 7:34:00
  advertisement was to be answered by a letter only. I sent him my testimonial
• 7:34:06
  an application, but without the least hope of getting in back. Came an
• 7:34:11
  answer by return, saying that if I would appear next Monday, I might
• 7:34:14
  take over my new duties at once, provided that my appearance was satisfactory.
• 7:34:19
  No one knows how these things are worked. Some people say that the manager
• 7:34:23
  just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first that comes. Anyhow,
• 7:34:29
  it was my innings that time, and I don't have a wish to
• 7:34:32
  feel better pleased. The screw was a pound of weak rise, and the
• 7:34:36
  duty is just about the same as at Coxon's and now I come to the
• 7:34:40
  queer part of the business. I was in Diggings out Amstead Way, seventeen
• 7:34:45
  potters Terrace. Well. I was sitting doing a smoke that very evening,
• 7:34:49
  after I had been promised the appointment, when up came my landlady with a
• 7:34:55
  card which had Arthur Pinner, financial Agent print upon it. I never heard
• 7:35:02
  the name before. We could not imagine what he wanted with me, but
• 7:35:06
  of course I asked her to show him up. In he walked a middle
• 7:35:10
  size, dark haired, dark eyed, black bearded man with a touch of
• 7:35:15
  the sheeny about his nose. He had a brisk kind of way with him,
• 7:35:18
  and he spoke sharply, like a man who knew the valley of time.
• 7:35:22
  Mister old by Craft, I believe, said he. Yes, sir,
• 7:35:26
  I answered, pushing a chair towards him. Lately engaged at Coxon and
• 7:35:32
  Woodhouse's. Yes, sir, and now on the staff of Mowson's. Quite
• 7:35:37
  so will, said he. The fact is that I have heard some really
• 7:35:42
  extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember Parker who used to be Coxon's
• 7:35:49
  manager. He can never say enough about it. Of course, I was
• 7:35:53
  pleased to hear this. I had always been pretty sharp in the office,
• 7:35:57
  but I never dreamed that I was talked about in this city in this fashion.
• 7:36:02
  You have a good memory, said he pretty fair, I answered modestly.
• 7:36:07
  Have you kept in touch with the market while you've been out of work?
• 7:36:11
  He asked, yes, I read the stock exchange list every morning.
• 7:36:17
  Now that shows real application, he cried. This is the way to prosper.
• 7:36:22
  You won't mind me testing you, will you let me see our airshes
• 7:36:27
  one hundred and six and a quarter two hundred and five and seven eighths a
• 7:36:32
  New Zealand consolidated one hundred and four and British Broken Hills seven to seven and
• 7:36:38
  six. Wonderful, he cried, with his hands up. This quite fits
• 7:36:44
  in with all that i'd heard. My boy, my boy, you are
• 7:36:48
  very much too good to be a clerk at Morson's. This outburst rather astonish
• 7:36:52
  me. As you can think, well, said I. Other people don't
• 7:36:56
  think quite so much of me as you seem to do, mister Pinner.
• 7:37:00
  I had hard enough fight to get this berth, and I'm very glad to
• 7:37:03
  have it. Pooh man, you should soar above it. You're not in
• 7:37:07
  your true sphere now, I'll tell you how it stands with me. What
• 7:37:12
  I have to offer is little enough when measured by your ability, but when
• 7:37:18
  compared with Morsons, it's light to dark. Let me see, when do
• 7:37:22
  you go to Mawson's on Monday? A ha, I think I would risk
• 7:37:27
  a little sporting flutter that you don't go there at all, not go to
• 7:37:32
  Morson's. No, sir, By that day you'll be the business manager of
• 7:37:36
  the Franco Midland Hardware Company Limited, with one hundred and thirty four branches in
• 7:37:41
  the towns and villages of France, not counting one in Brussels and one in
• 7:37:45
  San Remo. This took my breath away. I never heard of it,
• 7:37:49
  said I very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for the
• 7:37:55
  capital was all privately subscribed, and it's too good a thing to let the
• 7:37:59
  public too. My brother Harry Pinner is promoter and joins the board after allotment
• 7:38:06
  as managing director. He knew I was in the swim down here and asked
• 7:38:10
  me to pick up a good man, cheap, a young pushing man with
• 7:38:14
  a plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought
• 7:38:18
  me here to night. We can only offer you a beggarly five hundred to
• 7:38:22
  start with five hundred a year. I shouted, only that at the beginning.
• 7:38:27
  But you ought to have an overriding commission of one percent on all business
• 7:38:30
  done by your agents. And you may take my word for it, for
• 7:38:34
  this will come to more than your salary. But I know nothing about hardware,
• 7:38:40
  tuck, my boy, you know about figures. My head buzzed and
• 7:38:45
  I could hardly sit still in my chair. But suddenly a little chill of
• 7:38:49
  doubt came upon me. I must be frank with you, said I.
• 7:38:55
  Mawson only gives me two hundred. But Mawson is safe now, rear.
• 7:39:00
  I know so little about your company that ah, smart, smart, he
• 7:39:06
  cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight. You are the very man
• 7:39:10
  for us. You're not to be talked over, and quite right too.
• 7:39:15
  Now here's a note for one hundred pounds, and if you think that we
• 7:39:18
  can do business, you may just slip it into your pocket as an advance
• 7:39:22
  upon your salary. This is very handsome, said I. When should I
• 7:39:27
  take over my new duties? Be in Birmingham tomorrow at one? Said he.
• 7:39:33
  I have a note in my pocket here which you will take to my
• 7:39:36
  brother. You'll find him at one twenty six B Corporation Street, where the
• 7:39:41
  temporary offices of the company are situated. Of course you must confirm your engagement,
• 7:39:47
  but between ourselves it will be all right. Really, I hardly know
• 7:39:51
  how to express my gratitude, mister Pinner said, I not at all,
• 7:39:55
  my boy. You've only got your desserts. There are one or two small
• 7:39:59
  things, mere formalities, which I must arrange with you. You have a
• 7:40:03
  bit of paper beside you there, kindly write upon it. I am perfectly
• 7:40:08
  willing to act as business manager to the Franco Midland Hardware Company Limited at a
• 7:40:14
  minimum salary of five hundred pounds. I did as he asked, and he
• 7:40:18
  put the paper in his pocket. There is one other detail, said he,
• 7:40:26
  What do you intend to do about Morsons. I had forgotten all about
• 7:40:30
  Morsons in my joy. I'll write and resign, said I precisely what I
• 7:40:36
  don't want you to do. I had a row over you with Mawson's manager.
• 7:40:41
  I've gone up to ask him about you, and he was very offensive,
• 7:40:45
  accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm and that
• 7:40:48
  sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper. If you want
• 7:40:52
  good men, you should pay them a good price, said I. He
• 7:40:56
  would rather have our small price than your big one, said he. I'll
• 7:41:03
  lay you a fiver, said I. That when he has my offer,
• 7:41:07
  you'll never so much as hear from him again. Done, said he.
• 7:41:12
  We picked him out of the gutter, and he won't leave us so easily.
• 7:41:17
  Those were his very words, The impudent scoundrel. I cried, I've
• 7:41:22
  never so much as seen him in my life. Why should I consider him
• 7:41:26
  in any way? I shall certainly not write if you would rather I didn't.
• 7:41:30
  Good that's a promise, said he, rising from his chair. Well,
• 7:41:37
  I'm delighted to have got so good a man from our brother. Here's
• 7:41:40
  your advance of a hundred pounds, and here is a lower. Make a
• 7:41:44
  note of the address one twenty six B Corporation Street, and remember that one
• 7:41:48
  o'clock to morrow is your appointment. Good night, and may have all a
• 7:41:52
  fortune that you deserve. That's just about all that passed between us, as
• 7:41:59
  Nina I can remember. You can imagine Dr Watson, how pleased I was
• 7:42:03
  at such an extraordinary bit a good fortune. I sat up after night ugive
• 7:42:08
  myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train
• 7:42:12
  that would take me in plenty time for my appointment. I took my things
• 7:42:17
  to a hotel in New Street, and then I made my way to the
• 7:42:19
  address which had given me. It was a quarter of an hour before my
• 7:42:23
  time. I thought that would make no difference. One twenty six B was
• 7:42:29
  a passage between two large shops which led to a winding stone stair, from
• 7:42:34
  which there were many flats letters offices to companies or professional men. The names
• 7:42:40
  of the occupants were painted at the bottom on the wall, but there was
• 7:42:42
  no such name as the Franco Midland Hardware Company. I stood for a few
• 7:42:48
  minutes with my eye in my boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an
• 7:42:52
  elaborate oaks or not. When up came a man and addressed me. He
• 7:42:56
  was very like the chap i'd seen the night before, the same figure and
• 7:43:00
  voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was lighter. Are you
• 7:43:06
  mister all Piecraft? He asked? Yes, said I oh, I was
• 7:43:11
  expecting you, but you're a trifle before your time. I had a note
• 7:43:15
  from my brother this morning in which he sang your praises very loudly. I
• 7:43:21
  was just looking for the offices when you came. We have not got our
• 7:43:25
  name up yet, for we only secured these temporary premises last week. Come
• 7:43:30
  up with me and we'll talk the matter over. I followed him to the
• 7:43:33
  top of a very lofty stair, and there, right under the slates were
• 7:43:37
  a couple of empty, dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and uncurtained, into which
• 7:43:42
  he led me. I thought of a great office with shining tables and rows
• 7:43:48
  of clerks, such as I was used to, and I dare say I
• 7:43:52
  stayed rather straight at the two deal chairs and one little table, which,
• 7:43:56
  with a ledger and a waste paper basket made up the whole furniture. Don't
• 7:44:00
  be disheartened, mister Pyecroft, said my new acquaintance, seeing the length of
• 7:44:06
  my face. Rome was not built in a day, and we have lots
• 7:44:10
  of money at our backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices.
• 7:44:15
  Pray, sit down and let me have your letter. I gave it
• 7:44:18
  to him, and he read it over very carefully. You seem to have
• 7:44:23
  made a vast impression upon my brother, Arthur, said he, and I
• 7:44:27
  know that he is a pretty shrewd judge. He swears by London, you
• 7:44:33
  know, and I by Birmingham. But this time I shall follow his advice.
• 7:44:37
  Pray, consider yourself definitely engaged. What are my duties, I asked,
• 7:44:45
  You will eventually manage the great depot in Paris, which will pour a
• 7:44:48
  flood of English crockery into the shops of one hundred and thirty four agents in
• 7:44:52
  France. The purchase will be completed in a week, and meanwhile, you
• 7:44:56
  remain in Birmingham. May make yourself you how For answer, he took a
• 7:45:03
  big red book out of a drawer. This is a directory of Paris,
• 7:45:08
  said he, with the trades after the names of the people. I'll want
• 7:45:12
  you to take it own with you and to mark off all the hardware sellers
• 7:45:15
  with their addresses. It will be of the greatest use to me to have
• 7:45:18
  them. Surely they are classified lists, I suggested, not reliable ones.
• 7:45:26
  Their system is different from ours. Stick at it and let me have the
• 7:45:30
  list by Monday at twelve. Good day, mister Pyecroft. If you continue
• 7:45:34
  to show zeal And intelligence, you'll find the company a good master. I
• 7:45:40
  went back to the hotel with a big book under my arm, and with
• 7:45:44
  very conflicting feelings in my breast. On the one hand, I was definitely
• 7:45:48
  engaged, and I had hundred pounds in my pocket. On the other,
• 7:45:52
  the look at the offices, the absence of name on the wall, another
• 7:45:56
  of the points which would strike a business man, had left a bad impression
• 7:46:00
  as to the position of my employers. However, come what might, I
• 7:46:06
  had my money, so I settled down to my task. All Sunday I
• 7:46:10
  was kept hard at work, and yet by Monday I had only got as
• 7:46:14
  far as h I went round to my employer, found him in the same
• 7:46:18
  dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at it until Wednesday and
• 7:46:22
  then come again. On Wednesday it was still unfinished. So I am at
• 7:46:26
  aay until Friday, that is yesterday. Then I brought it round to mister
• 7:46:30
  Harry Pinner. Thank you very much, said he. I fear that I
• 7:46:36
  underrated the difficulty of the task. This list will be a very material assistance
• 7:46:41
  to me. It took some time, said I, and now said he,
• 7:46:47
  I want you to make a list of the furniture shops, for they
• 7:46:51
  all sell crockery very good, and you can come up tomorrow evening at seven,
• 7:46:56
  and let me know how you're getting on. Don't overwork yourself. A
• 7:47:00
  couple of hours at day's music all in the evening would do you no arm
• 7:47:03
  after your labors. He laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a
• 7:47:07
  thrill that his second tooth, upon the left hand side, had been very
• 7:47:11
  badly stuffed with gold. Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I
• 7:47:17
  stared with astonishment at our client. You may well look surprised, doctor Watson,
• 7:47:23
  but it is this way, said he, when I speaking to the
• 7:47:27
  other chap in London at a time that he laughed at my not going to
• 7:47:30
  Morson's. I apm to notice that his tooth was stuffed in this very identical
• 7:47:36
  fashion. The glint of the gold in each case caught my eye. You
• 7:47:40
  see, when I put that, with the voice and figure being the same,
• 7:47:44
  and only those things altered which might be changed by a razor or a
• 7:47:47
  wig, I could not doubt that it was the same man. Of course,
• 7:47:52
  you expect two brothers to be alike, but not that they should have
• 7:47:56
  the same tooth stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out, and
• 7:48:00
  I found myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head
• 7:48:03
  or my heels back I went to my hotel, put my head in a
• 7:48:07
  basin of cold water and try to think it out. Why had he sent
• 7:48:12
  me from London to Birmingham, Why had he got there before me, and
• 7:48:17
  why had he written a letter from himself to himself. It was altogether too
• 7:48:22
  much for me, and I could make no sense of it. And then
• 7:48:26
  suddenly it struck me that what was dark to me might be very light to
• 7:48:32
  mister Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to town by the
• 7:48:34
  night train, to see him this morning, and to bring you both back
• 7:48:38
  with me to Birmingham. There was a pause after the stockbroker's clerk had concluded
• 7:48:44
  his surprising experience. Then Sherlock Holmes cocked his eye at me, leaning back
• 7:48:51
  on the cushions with a pleased and yet critical face, like a connoisseur who
• 7:48:56
  has just taken his first sip of a Comet vintage Rather fine Watson, is
• 7:49:02
  it not said? He? There are points in it which please me.
• 7:49:06
  I think that you will agree with me that an interview with mister Arthur Harry
• 7:49:10
  Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco Midland Hardware Company Limited. Would be
• 7:49:15
  a rather interesting experience for both of us. But how can we do it,
• 7:49:21
  I asked? Oh easily enough, said hall Pyecroft, cheerily. You
• 7:49:26
  are two friends of mine who are in one of a billet, and what
• 7:49:30
  could be more natural than that I should bring you both round to the managing
• 7:49:33
  director. Quite so, of course, said Holmes. I should like to
• 7:49:38
  have a look at the gentleman and see if I can make anything of his
• 7:49:41
  little game. What qualities have you, my friend, which would make your
• 7:49:45
  services so valuable? Or is it possible that he began biting his nails and
• 7:49:52
  staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly drew another word from him
• 7:49:56
  until we were in New Street at seven o'clock. We were walking the three
• 7:50:00
  of us down Corporation Street to the company's offices. It is no use our
• 7:50:07
  being at all before our time, said our client. He only comes there
• 7:50:11
  to see me, apparently, for the place is deserted up to the very
• 7:50:15
  hour he names. That is suggestive, remarked Holmes. By Jove, I
• 7:50:21
  told you so, cried the clerk. That's ay, walk an ahead of
• 7:50:25
  us there he pointed to a smallish, dark, well dressed man who was
• 7:50:30
  bustling along the other side of the road. As we watched him, he
• 7:50:36
  looked across at a boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the evening
• 7:50:40
  paper and running over among the cabs and buses. He bought one from him,
• 7:50:47
  then, clutching it in his hand, he vanished through a doorway.
• 7:50:51
  There he goes, cried haor Pyecroft. These are the company's offices into which
• 7:50:55
  he is gone. Come with me and I'll fix it up as easily as
• 7:50:59
  possible. Following his lead, we ascended five stories until we found ourselves outside
• 7:51:04
  a half open door, at which our client tapped a voice within bade us
• 7:51:11
  enter, and we entered a bare, unfurnished room, such as hall Pyecroft
• 7:51:15
  had described. At the single table sat the man whom we had seen in
• 7:51:19
  the street, with his evening paper spread out in front of him, And
• 7:51:23
  as he looked up at us, it seemed to me that I had never
• 7:51:26
  looked upon a face which bore such marks of grief, and of something beyond
• 7:51:30
  grief, of a horror such as comes to a few men in a lifetime.
• 7:51:36
  His brow glistened with perspiration. His cheeks were of the dull, dead
• 7:51:41
  white of a fish's belly, and his eyes were wild and staring. He
• 7:51:45
  looked at his clerk as though he failed to recognize him, and I could
• 7:51:48
  see by the astonishment depicted upon our conductor's face that this was, by no
• 7:51:53
  means the usual appearance of his employer. You look ill, mister Pinna,
• 7:52:00
  he exclaimed. Yes, I'm not very well, answered the other, making
• 7:52:04
  obvious efforts to pull himself together and licking his dry lips before he spoke.
• 7:52:11
  Who are these gentlemen whom you've brought with you? One is mister Harris of
• 7:52:15
  Bermondsey, and the other is mister Price of this town, said our clerk
• 7:52:21
  glibly. They're friends of mine and gentlemen of experience, but they've been out
• 7:52:26
  of a place for some little time, and they hope that perhaps you might
• 7:52:30
  find an opening for them in the company's employment. Very possibly, very possibly,
• 7:52:36
  cried mister Pinner, with a ghastly smile. Yes, I have no
• 7:52:40
  doubt that we shall be able to do something for you. What is your
• 7:52:42
  particular, lie, mister Harris, I am an accountant, said Holmes.
• 7:52:48
  Ah, Yes, we shall want something of the sort. And you,
• 7:52:51
  mister price a clerk, said I. I have every hope that the company
• 7:52:56
  may accommodate you. I will let you know about you to as soon as
• 7:53:00
  we come to any conclusion. And now I beg that you will go,
• 7:53:03
  for God's sake, leave me to myself. These last words were shut out
• 7:53:07
  of him, as though the constraint which he was evidently setting upon himself had
• 7:53:11
  suddenly and utterly burst asunder. Holmes and I glanced at each other, and
• 7:53:17
  Aul Pyecroft took a step towards the table. You forget, mister Pinner,
• 7:53:22
  the army, and by appointment to receive some directions from you, said he,
• 7:53:26
  certainly, mister Pyecroft, certainly, the other resumed in a calmer tone.
• 7:53:32
  You may wait here a moment, and there is no reason why your
• 7:53:36
  friends should not wait with you. I will be entire at your service in
• 7:53:40
  three minutes, if I may tresp us upon your patience. So far,
• 7:53:45
  he rose with a very courteous air, and bowing to us, he passed
• 7:53:48
  through a door at the farther end of the room, which he closed behind
• 7:53:52
  him. What now, whispered Holmes, is he giving us a slip.
• 7:53:59
  Impossible, answered Pyecroft. Why so that door leads into an inner room.
• 7:54:06
  There is no exit, none, is it furnished, It was empty yesterday.
• 7:54:12
  Then what on earth can he be doing? There is something which I
• 7:54:15
  don't understand in this manner. If ever a man was three parts mad with
• 7:54:19
  terror, that's man's name is Pinna. What can have put the shivers on
• 7:54:25
  him? He suspects that we're detectives. I suggested, see it, I
• 7:54:30
  croft. Holmes shook his head. He did not turn pale. He was
• 7:54:37
  pale when we entered the room, said he. It is just possible that
• 7:54:41
  his words were interrupted by a sharp rat tat from the direction of the inner
• 7:54:45
  door. What the deuce is he knocking his own door for, cried the
• 7:54:51
  clerk again, and much louder came the rat tat tat. We all gazed
• 7:54:56
  expectantly at the closed door, glancing at Holmes. I saw his face turn
• 7:55:02
  rigid, and he leaned forward in intense excitement. Then suddenly came a low,
• 7:55:07
  guggling, gargling sound and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang frantically
• 7:55:15
  across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on the inner
• 7:55:18
  side. Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with all our weight.
• 7:55:25
  One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the door,
• 7:55:27
  with a crash rushing over it. We found ourselves in the inner room.
• 7:55:33
  It was empty, but it was only for a moment that we were at
• 7:55:37
  fault. At one corner, the corner nearest the room which we had left,
• 7:55:41
  there was a second door. Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open.
• 7:55:45
  A coat and waistcoat were lying on the floor, and from a hook
• 7:55:49
  behind the door, with his own braces round his neck, was hanging the
• 7:55:53
  managing director of the Franco Midland Hardware Company. His knees were drawn up,
• 7:56:00
  his head hung at a dreadful angle to his body, and the clatter of
• 7:56:03
  his heels against the door made the noise which had broken in upon our conversation.
• 7:56:10
  In an instant I had caught him round the waist and held him up,
• 7:56:12
  while Holmes and Pyecroft untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid
• 7:56:18
  creases of skin, and we carried him into the other room, where he
• 7:56:22
  lay with a clay colored face, puffing his purple lips in and out with
• 7:56:26
  every breath, a dreadful wreck of all that he had been but five minutes
• 7:56:30
  before. What do you think of him, Watson asked Holmes. I stooped
• 7:56:37
  over him and examined him. His pulse was feeble and intermittent, but his
• 7:56:41
  breathing grew longer, and there was a little shivering of his eyelids, which
• 7:56:45
  showed a thin white slit of ball beneath. It has been touch and go
• 7:56:49
  with him, said I. But he'll live now. Just open that window
• 7:56:53
  and hand me the water. Craff. I undid his collar, poured the
• 7:56:59
  cold water over his face, and raised and sank his arms until he drew
• 7:57:03
  a long, natural breath. It's only a question of time now, said
• 7:57:07
  I, as I turned away from him. Holmes stood by the table,
• 7:57:12
  with his hands deep in his trousers pockets and his chin upon his breast.
• 7:57:18
  I suppose we ought to call the police in now, said he. And
• 7:57:22
  yet I confess that I'd like to give them a complete case when they come.
• 7:57:26
  It's a blessed mystery to me, cried Pyecroft, scratching his head.
• 7:57:32
  Whyever they wanted to bring me all the way up here for? And then
• 7:57:34
  pooh, All that is clear enough, said Holmes impatiently. It is this
• 7:57:41
  last sudden move you can understand the rest. Then, I think that it
• 7:57:45
  is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson? I shrugged my shoulders.
• 7:57:52
  I must confess that I'm out of my debts, said I. Oh.
• 7:57:56
  Surely if you consider the events at first, they can own point to
• 7:58:00
  one conclusion. What do you make of them? Well, the whole thing
• 7:58:04
  hinges upon two points. The first is the making of pyecroft right declaration by
• 7:58:11
  which he entered the service of this preposterous company. Do you not see how
• 7:58:15
  very suggestive that is? I'm afraid I miss the point. Well? Why
• 7:58:21
  did they want him to do it? Not as a business matter? For
• 7:58:25
  these arrangements are usually verbal, and there was no earthly business reason why this
• 7:58:29
  should be an exception. Don't you see, my young friend, that they
• 7:58:33
  were very anxious to obtain a specimen of your handwriting and had no other way
• 7:58:37
  of doing it. And why? Quite so? Why when we answer that
• 7:58:45
  we have made some progress with our little problem? Why there can be only
• 7:58:49
  one adequate reason someone wanted to learn to imitate your writing and had to procure
• 7:58:56
  a specimen of it first. And now if we pass on to the second
• 7:59:00
  point, we find that each throws light upon the other. That point is
• 7:59:06
  the request made by Pinner that you should not resign your place, but should
• 7:59:11
  leave the manager of his important business in the full expectation that a mister hall
• 7:59:15
  Pyecroft, whom he had never seen, was about to enter the office upon
• 7:59:19
  the Monday morning. My God, cried our client. What a blind beat
• 7:59:25
  love been. Now you see the point about the handwriting. Suppose that some
• 7:59:30
  one turned up in your place who wrote a completely different hand from that in
• 7:59:36
  which you had applied for the vacancy, of course the game would have been
• 7:59:38
  up. But in the interval the rogue had learned to imitate you, and
• 7:59:42
  his position was therefore secure. As I presume that nobody in the office had
• 7:59:48
  ever set eyes upon you, not a soul, groaned hall Pyecroft. Very
• 7:59:55
  good. Of course, it was of the utmost importance to prevent you from
• 7:59:59
  thinking better of it, and also to keep you from coming into contact with
• 8:00:03
  any one who might tell you that your double was at work in Mawson's office.
• 8:00:07
  Therefore, they gave you a handsome advance on your salary and ran you
• 8:00:12
  off to the Midlands, where they gave you enough work to do to prevent
• 8:00:17
  you going to London, where you might have burst their little game up.
• 8:00:21
  That is all plain enough. But why should this man pretend to be his
• 8:00:26
  own brother? Well, that is pretty clear also. There are evidently only
• 8:00:32
  two of them in it. The other is impersonating you at the office.
• 8:00:36
  This one acted as your engager, and then found that he could not find
• 8:00:40
  you an employer without admitting a third person into his plot, that he was
• 8:00:45
  most unwilling to do. He changed his appearance as far as he could,
• 8:00:49
  and trusted that the likeness which you could not fail to observe would be put
• 8:00:53
  down to a family resemblance. But for the happy chance of the gold stuffing,
• 8:01:00
  your suspicions would probably never have been aroused. Hall Pyecroft shook his clinched
• 8:01:04
  hands in the air. Good lord, he cried, while I've been fooled
• 8:01:10
  in this way? What has this other Hall Pyecroft been doing at Mawson's.
• 8:01:14
  What shall we do, mister Holmes, tell me what to do. We
• 8:01:18
  must wire to Mawson's. They shut at twelve on Saturdays. Never mind,
• 8:01:25
  there may be some door keeper or attendant. Ah, yes, and they
• 8:01:30
  keep a permanent guard there on account of the valley of the securities that they
• 8:01:33
  old. I remember hearing it talked of in the city. Very good.
• 8:01:37
  We shall wire to him and see if all is well. And if a
• 8:01:41
  clerk of your name is working there, that is clear enough. But what
• 8:01:45
  is not so clear as why, at the sight of us one of the
• 8:01:48
  rogues should instantly walk out of the room and hang himself, the paper,
• 8:01:55
  croaked a voice behind us. The man was sitting up, blanched and ghastly,
• 8:02:00
  with returning reason in his eyes and hands, which rubbed nervously at the
• 8:02:04
  broad red band which still encircled his throat. The paper, of course,
• 8:02:11
  yelled Holmes, in a paroxysm of excitement. Idiot that I was. I
• 8:02:17
  thought so much of our visit that the paper had never entered my head for
• 8:02:21
  an instant. To be sure the secret must be there, he flattened it
• 8:02:26
  upon the table, and a cry of triumph burst from his lips. Look
• 8:02:32
  at this, Watson, he cried. It is a London paper, an
• 8:02:36
  early edition of the Evening Standard. Here is what we want. Look at
• 8:02:41
  the headlines crime in the city, murder at Mawson and Williams gigantic attempted robbery,
• 8:02:48
  capture of the criminal. Hear Watson, We are all equally anxious to
• 8:02:52
  hear it, so kindly read it aloud to us. It appeared, from
• 8:02:56
  its position in the paper to have been the one event of imports in town,
• 8:03:00
  and the account of it ran in this way. A desperate attempt at
• 8:03:04
  robbery culminating in the death of one man and the capture of the criminal occurred
• 8:03:10
  this afternoon in the city. For some time back, Mawson and Williams,
• 8:03:14
  the famous financial house, have been the guardians of securities which amount in the
• 8:03:18
  aggregate to a sum of considerably over a million sterling. So conscious was the
• 8:03:22
  manager of the responsibility which devolved upon him in consequence of the great interest at
• 8:03:27
  stake, that safes of the very latest construction have been employed, and an
• 8:03:32
  armed watchman has been left day and night in the building. It appears that
• 8:03:37
  last week a new clerk named hall Pyecroft was engaged by the firm. This
• 8:03:42
  person appears to have been none other than Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman,
• 8:03:48
  who, with his brother, had only recently emerged from a five year
• 8:03:52
  spell of penal servitude by some means which are not yet clear, he succeeded
• 8:03:57
  in winning, under a false name, this official position in the office,
• 8:04:02
  which he utilized in order to obtain moldings of various locks and a thorough knowledge
• 8:04:07
  of the position of the strong room and the safes. It is customary at
• 8:04:11
  Mawson's for the clerks to leave at midday on Saturday. Sergeant Tuson of the
• 8:04:17
  city Police was somewhat surprised, therefore to see a gentleman with a carpet bag
• 8:04:21
  come down the steps at twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being aroused,
• 8:04:26
  the sergeant followed the man, and with the aid of Constable Pollock, succeeded
• 8:04:30
  after a most desperate resistance, in arresting him. It was at once clear
• 8:04:36
  that a daring and gigantic robbery had been committed. Nearly one hundred thousand pounds
• 8:04:40
  worth of American Railway bonds, with a large amount of scrip in mines and
• 8:04:45
  other companies, was discovered in the bag. On examining the premises, the
• 8:04:49
  body of the unfortunate watchman was found doubled up and thrust into the largest of
• 8:04:55
  the safes, where it would not have been discovered until Monday morning had it
• 8:04:59
  not been for the prompt of Sergeant Tewson. The man's skull had been shattered
• 8:05:03
  by a blow from a poker delivered from behind. There could be no doubt
• 8:05:07
  that Beddington had obtained entrance by pretending that he had left something behind him,
• 8:05:12
  and having murdered the watchman, rapidly rifled a large safe and then made off
• 8:05:17
  with his booty. His brother, who usually works with him, has not
• 8:05:22
  appeared in this job as far as can at present be ascertained, although the
• 8:05:26
  police are making energetic inquiries as to his whereabouts. Well, we may save
• 8:05:32
  the police some little trouble in that direction, said Holmes, glancing at the
• 8:05:36
  haggard figure huddled up by the window. Human nature is a strange mixture,
• 8:05:41
  Watson. You see that even a villain and murderer can inspire such affection that
• 8:05:47
  his brother turns to suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeited. However,
• 8:05:52
  we have no choice as to our action. The doctor and I will
• 8:05:56
  remain on guard. Mister Pyecroft, if you will have the kindness to step
• 8:06:00
  out for the police. End of the adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk the Yellow
• 8:06:08
  Face. In publishing these short sketches based upon the numerous cases in which my
• 8:06:15
  companion's singular gifts have made us the listeners to and eventually the actors in some
• 8:06:22
  strange drama, it is only natural that I should dwell rather upon his successes
• 8:06:26
  than upon his failures. And this not so much for the sake of his
• 8:06:30
  reputation. For indeed, it was when he was at his wits end that
• 8:06:36
  his energy and his versatility were most admirable. But because where he failed,
• 8:06:41
  it happened too often that no one else succeeded, and that the tale was
• 8:06:45
  left forever without a conclusion. Now and again, however, it chanced that
• 8:06:49
  even when he erred, the truth was still discovered. I have noted of
• 8:06:55
  some half dozen cases of the kind. The adventure of the Musgrave Ritual and
• 8:07:00
  that which are about to recount are the two which present the strongest features of
• 8:07:03
  interest Sherlock Holmes was a man who seldom took exercise. For exercise's sake,
• 8:07:11
  Few men were capable of greater muscular effort, and he was undoubtedly one of
• 8:07:15
  the finest boxers of his weight that I have ever seen. But He looked
• 8:07:19
  upon aimless bodily exertion as a waste of energy, and he seldom bestirred himself,
• 8:07:26
  save when there was some professional object to be served. Then he was
• 8:07:30
  absolutely untiring and indefatigable. That he should have kept himself in training under such
• 8:07:36
  circumstances is remarkable. But his diet was usually of the spairest, and his
• 8:07:41
  habits were simple to the verge of austerity. Save for the occasional use of
• 8:07:45
  cocaine, he had no vices, and he only turned to the drug as
• 8:07:49
  a protest against the monotony of existence when cases were scanty and the papers uninteresting.
• 8:07:57
  One day in early spring, he had so far relaxed as to go
• 8:08:00
  for a walk with me in the park, where the first faint shoots of
• 8:08:03
  green were breaking out upon the elms, and the sticky spear heads of the
• 8:08:08
  chestnuts were just beginning to burst into their fivefold leaves. For two hours we
• 8:08:15
  rambled about together in silence, for the most part, as befits two men
• 8:08:18
  who know each other intimately. It was nearly five before we were back in
• 8:08:22
  Baker Street. Once more. Beg pardon, sir, said our page boy,
• 8:08:29
  as he opened the door there's been a gentleman here. Ask him for
• 8:08:33
  you, sir. Holmes glanced reproachfully at me. So much for afternoon,
• 8:08:37
  Walks said, he has this gentleman gone? Then, yes, sir,
• 8:08:44
  didn't you ask him in? Yes, sir, he came in. How
• 8:08:48
  long did he wait? Half an hour? Sir? He was a very
• 8:08:52
  restless gentleman, a walking and a stamp in all the time he was here.
• 8:08:56
  I was waiting outside the door, sir, and I could hear him.
• 8:09:00
  At last he outs into the passage and he cries, is that man
• 8:09:04
  never going to come? Those were his very words, Sir. You only
• 8:09:10
  need to wait a little longer, says I. Then I'll wait in the
• 8:09:14
  open air, for I feel half choked, says he. I'll be back
• 8:09:18
  before long. And with that he apsen the outs, and all I could
• 8:09:22
  say wouldn't hold him back. Well, well you did your best, said
• 8:09:26
  Holmes as we walked into our room. It's very annoying, though, Watson.
• 8:09:32
  I was badly in need of a case, and this looks from the
• 8:09:34
  man's impatience as if it were of importance. Hello, that's not your pipe
• 8:09:40
  on the table. He must have left his behind him. A nice old
• 8:09:44
  briar with a good long stem of what the tobacconists call amber. I wonder
• 8:09:48
  how many real amber mouthpieces there are in London. Some people think that a
• 8:09:52
  fly in it is a sign. Well, he must have been disturbed in
• 8:09:56
  his mind to leave a pipe behind him which he evidently values highly. How
• 8:10:02
  do you know that he values it highly? I asked, Well, I
• 8:10:06
  should put the original cost of the pipe at seven and sixpence. Now it
• 8:10:11
  has, you see, been twice mended, once in the wooden stem and
• 8:10:15
  once in the amber. Each of these mends, done as you observe,
• 8:10:19
  with silver brands, must have cost more than the pipe did originally. The
• 8:10:23
  man must value the pipe highly when he prefers to patch it up rather than
• 8:10:27
  buy a new one with the same money. Anything else I asked for.
• 8:10:33
  Holmes was turning the pipe about in his hand and staring at it in his
• 8:10:37
  peculiar, pensive way. He held it up and tapped on it with his
• 8:10:41
  long, thin forefinger, as a professor might who is lecturing on a bone.
• 8:10:48
  Pipes are occasionally of extraordinary interest, said he. Nothing has more individuality,
• 8:10:55
  save perhaps watches and boot laces. The indications here, however, are
• 8:11:00
  neither very marked nor very important. The owner is obviously a muscular man,
• 8:11:06
  left handed, with an excellent set of teeth, careless in his habits,
• 8:11:10
  and with no need to practice economy. My friend threw out the information in
• 8:11:15
  a very offhand way, but I saw that he cocked his eye at me
• 8:11:18
  to see if I had followed his reasoning. You think a man must be
• 8:11:22
  well to do if he smokes a seven shilling pipe, said I. This
• 8:11:27
  is grove and a mixture at eightpence an ounce. Holmes answered, knocking a
• 8:11:33
  little out on his palm, as he might get an excellent smoke for half
• 8:11:37
  the price. He has no need to practice economy. And the other points.
• 8:11:42
  He has been in the habit of lighting his pipe at lamps and gas
• 8:11:47
  jets, and you can see that it is quite charred, all down one
• 8:11:49
  side. Of course, a match could not have done that. Why should
• 8:11:53
  a man hold a match to the side of his pipe? But you cannot
• 8:11:57
  light it at a lamp without getting the bowl chard, and it is all
• 8:12:02
  on the right side of the pipe. From that I gather that he is
• 8:12:06
  a left handed man. You hold your own pipe to the lamp, and
• 8:12:11
  see how naturally you, being right handed hold the left side to the flame.
• 8:12:17
  You might do it once the other way, but not as a constancy.
• 8:12:22
  This has always been held. So then he has bitten through his amber.
• 8:12:26
  It takes a muscular, energetic fellow, and one with a good set
• 8:12:30
  of teeth to do that. But if I am not mistaken, I hear
• 8:12:33
  him upon the stair, so we shall have something more interesting than his pipe
• 8:12:37
  to study. An instant later our door opened and a tall young man entered
• 8:12:42
  the room. He was well but quietly dressed in a dark gray suit,
• 8:12:47
  and carried a brown wide awake in his hand. I should have put him
• 8:12:51
  at about thirty, though he is really some years older. I beg your
• 8:12:56
  pardon, said he, with some embarrassment. I suppose I should have not.
• 8:13:00
  Yes, of course I should have not. The fact is that I
• 8:13:03
  am a little upset, and you must put it all down to that.
• 8:13:07
  He passed his hand over his forehead like a man who is half dazed,
• 8:13:11
  and then fell rather than sat down upon a chair. I can see that
• 8:13:15
  you have not slept for a night or two, said Holmes, in his
• 8:13:19
  easy, genial way that tries the man's nerves more than work, and more
• 8:13:25
  even than pleasure. May I ask how I can help you. I wanted
• 8:13:30
  your advice, sir. I don't know what to do, and my whole
• 8:13:33
  life seems to have gone to pieces. You wish to employ me as a
• 8:13:37
  consulting detective, not that only I want your opinion as a judicious man,
• 8:13:42
  as a man of the world. I want to know what I ought to
• 8:13:45
  do next. I hope to God you'll be able to tell me. He
• 8:13:51
  spoke in little, sharp, jerky outbursts, and it seemed to me that
• 8:13:55
  to speak at all was very painful to him, and that his will all
• 8:13:59
  through was overright his inclinations. It's a very delicate thing, said he.
• 8:14:04
  One does not like to speak of one's domestic affairs to strangers. It seems
• 8:14:07
  dreadful to discuss the conduct of one's wife with two men whom I have never
• 8:14:11
  seen before. It's horrible to have to do it. But I've got to
• 8:14:17
  the end of my tether, and I must have advice. My dear mister
• 8:14:21
  Grant Monroe, began Holmes, our visitor, sprang from his chair what he
• 8:14:26
  cried. You know my name. If you wish to preserve your incognito,
• 8:14:33
  said Holmes, smiling, I would suggest that you cease to write your name
• 8:14:37
  upon the lining of your hat, or else that you turn the crown towards
• 8:14:41
  the person whom you are addressing. I was about to say that my friend
• 8:14:45
  and I have listened to a good many strange secrets in this room, and
• 8:14:48
  that we have had the good fortune to bring peace to many troubled souls.
• 8:14:52
  I trust that we may do as much for you might. I beg you,
• 8:14:56
  as time may prove to be of importance, to furnish me with the
• 8:15:00
  facts of your case without further delay. Our visitor again passed his hand over
• 8:15:06
  his forehead, as if he found it bitterly hard. From every gesture and
• 8:15:10
  expression I could see that he was a reserved, self contained man, with
• 8:15:15
  a dash of pride in his nature, more likely to hide his wounds than
• 8:15:18
  to expose them. Then suddenly, with a fierce gesture of his closed hand,
• 8:15:23
  like one who throws reserve to the winds, he began The facts are
• 8:15:29
  these, said he. I am a married man, and have been so
• 8:15:33
  for three years. During that time, my wife and I have loved each
• 8:15:37
  other as fondly and lived as happily as any two that ever were joined.
• 8:15:41
  We have not had a difference, not one in thought or word or deed.
• 8:15:45
  And now since last Monday, there has suddenly sprung up a barrier between
• 8:15:51
  us, and I find that there is something in her life and in her
• 8:15:55
  thought of which I know as little as if she were the woman who brushes
• 8:15:57
  by me in the street. Are stranged, and I want to know why.
• 8:16:03
  Now, there is one thing that I want to impress upon you before
• 8:16:06
  I go any further, mister Holmes, Effie loves me. Don't let there
• 8:16:11
  be any mistake about that. She loves me with her whole heart and soul,
• 8:16:15
  and never more than now I know it, I feel it. I
• 8:16:19
  don't want to argue about that. A man can tell easy enough when a
• 8:16:22
  woman loves him, But there's this secret between us, and we can never
• 8:16:26
  be the same until it is cleared. Kindly, let me have the facts,
• 8:16:32
  mister Monroe, said Holmes, with some impatience. I'll tell you what
• 8:16:36
  I know about Effie's history. She was a widow when I met her first,
• 8:16:41
  though quite young, only twenty five. Her name then was missus Hebron.
• 8:16:45
  She went out to America when she was young and lived in the town
• 8:16:48
  of Atlanta, where she married this Hebron, who was a lawyer with a
• 8:16:52
  good practice. They had one child, but the yellow fever broke out badly
• 8:16:57
  in the place, and both husbands child died of it. I have seen
• 8:17:02
  his death certificate. This sickened her of America, and she came back to
• 8:17:06
  live with a maiden aunt at Pinner in Middlesex. I may mention that her
• 8:17:10
  husband had left her comfortably off, and that she had a capital of about
• 8:17:15
  four thousand, five hundred pounds, which had been so well invested by him
• 8:17:18
  that it returned an average of seven percent. She had only been six months
• 8:17:22
  at Pinner when I met her. We fell in love with each other,
• 8:17:26
  and we married a few weeks afterwards. I am a hot merchant myself,
• 8:17:30
  and as I have an income of seven or eight hundred, we found ourselves
• 8:17:34
  comfortably off and took a nice eighty pound a year villa at Norbury. Our
• 8:17:38
  little place was very countrified, considering that it is so close to town.
• 8:17:44
  We had an inn and two houses a little above us, and a single
• 8:17:48
  cottage at the other side of the field which faces us, and except those
• 8:17:52
  there were no houses until you got half way to the station. My business
• 8:17:56
  took me into town at certain seasons, but in summer I had less to
• 8:18:00
  do, and then in our country home, my wife and I were just
• 8:18:04
  as happy as could be wished. I tell you that there never was a
• 8:18:07
  shadow between us until this a cursed affair began. There's one thing I ought
• 8:18:12
  to tell you before I go further. When we married, my wife made
• 8:18:17
  over all her property to me, rather against my will, for I saw
• 8:18:21
  how awkward it would be if my business affairs went wrong. However, she
• 8:18:26
  would have it so, and it was done well. About six weeks ago
• 8:18:30
  she came to me, Jack, said she. When you took my money,
• 8:18:33
  you said that if ever I wanted any I was to ask you for
• 8:18:37
  it, certainly, said I. It's all your own. Well, said
• 8:18:41
  she, I want a hundred pounds. I was a bit staggered at this,
• 8:18:48
  for I had imagined it was simply a new dress or something of the
• 8:18:51
  kind. That she was after What on earth for, I asked, Oh,
• 8:18:56
  said she, in her playful way. You said that you only my
• 8:19:00
  banker, and bankers never ask questions. You know, if you really mean
• 8:19:04
  it, of course you shall have the money. Said I. Oh,
• 8:19:08
  yes, I really mean it, and you won't tell me what you want
• 8:19:12
  it for some day perhaps, but not just at present. Jack, so
• 8:19:19
  I had to be content with that, though it was the first time that
• 8:19:22
  there had ever been any secret between us. I gave her a check and
• 8:19:27
  never thought any more of the matter. It may have nothing to do with
• 8:19:32
  what came afterwards, but I thought it only right to mention it. Well.
• 8:19:37
  I told you just now that there is a cottage not far from our
• 8:19:38
  house. There is just a field between us, but to reach it you
• 8:19:44
  have to go along the road and then turn down a lane. Just beyond
• 8:19:48
  it is a nice little grove of Scotch firs, and I used to be
• 8:19:51
  very fond of strolling down there, for trees are always a neighborly kind of
• 8:19:55
  thing. The cottage had been standing empty this eight months, and it was
• 8:20:00
  a pity, for it was a pretty two storied place, with an old
• 8:20:03
  fashioned porch and honeysuckle about it. I had stood many a time and thought
• 8:20:08
  what a neat little homestead it would make. Well. Last Monday evening I
• 8:20:14
  was taking a stroll down that way when I met an empty van coming up
• 8:20:18
  the lane and saw a pile of carpets and things lying about on the grass
• 8:20:21
  plot beside the porch, it was clear that the cottage had at last been
• 8:20:26
  let. I walked past it and wondered what sort of folk they were who
• 8:20:30
  had come to live so near us. And as I looked, I suddenly
• 8:20:33
  became aware that a face was watching me out of one of the upper windows.
• 8:20:38
  I don't know what there was about that face, mister Holmes, but
• 8:20:41
  it seemed to send a chill right down my back. I was some little
• 8:20:45
  way off so that I could not make out the features, but there was
• 8:20:48
  something unnatural and inhuman about the face. That was the impression that I had,
• 8:20:55
  and I moved quickly forwards to get a nearer view of the person who
• 8:20:57
  was watching me. But as I did so, the face suddenly disappeared,
• 8:21:03
  so suddenly that it seemed to have been plucked away into the darkness of the
• 8:21:07
  room. I stood for five minutes, thinking the business over and trying to
• 8:21:11
  analyze my impressions. I could not tell of the face with that of a
• 8:21:15
  man or a woman, it had been too far from me for that.
• 8:21:19
  But its color was what had impressed me most. It was of a livid,
• 8:21:25
  chalky white, and with something set and rigid about it, which was
• 8:21:29
  shockingly and natural. So disturbed was I that I determined to see a little
• 8:21:33
  more of the new inmates of the cottage. I approached and knocked at the
• 8:21:37
  door, which was instantly opened by a tall, gaunt woman with a harsh
• 8:21:42
  forbidding face. What may you be want in, she asked, in a
• 8:21:48
  northern accent. I am your neighbor over yonder, said I, nodding towards
• 8:21:52
  my house. I see that you have only just moved in, so I
• 8:21:56
  thought that if I could be of any help to you in any ay,
• 8:22:00
  we'll just ask you when we want, ye, said she, and shut
• 8:22:03
  the door in my face. Annoyed at the churlish rebuff, I turned my
• 8:22:08
  back and walked home. All evening, though I tried to think of other
• 8:22:12
  things, my mind would still turn to the apparition at the window and the
• 8:22:18
  rudeness of the woman. I determined to say nothing about the former to my
• 8:22:22
  wife, for she is a nervous, highly strung woman, and I had
• 8:22:26
  no wish that she should share the unpleasant impression which had been produced upon myself.
• 8:22:30
  I remarked to her, however, before I fell asleep, that the
• 8:22:34
  cottage was now occupied, to which she returned no reply. I am usually
• 8:22:41
  an extremely sound sleeper. It has been a standing jest in the family that
• 8:22:45
  nothing could ever wake me during the night. And yet somehow on that particular
• 8:22:51
  night, Whether it may have been the slight excitement produced by my little adventure
• 8:22:55
  or not, I know not, but I slept much more lightly than usual.
• 8:23:00
  Half in my dreams, I was dimly conscious that something was going on
• 8:23:03
  in the room, and gradually became aware that my wife had dressed herself and
• 8:23:08
  was slipping on her mantle and her bonnet. My lips were parted to murmur
• 8:23:12
  out some sleepy words of surprise or remonstrance at this untimely preparation, when suddenly
• 8:23:18
  my half opened eyes fell upon her face, illuminated by the candle light,
• 8:23:23
  and astonishment held me dumb. She wore an expression such as I had never
• 8:23:29
  seen before, such as I should have thought her incapable of, assuming she
• 8:23:34
  was deadly pale and breathing fast, glancing furtively towards the bed as she fastened
• 8:23:41
  her mantle to see if she had disturbed me. Then, thinking that I
• 8:23:45
  was still asleep, she slipped noiselessly from the room, and an instant later
• 8:23:51
  I heard a sharp creaking which could only come from the hinges of the front
• 8:23:53
  door. I sat up in bed and wrapped my knuckles against the rail to
• 8:23:59
  make certain that I was truly awake. Then I took my watch from under
• 8:24:03
  the pillow. It was three in the morning. What on this earth could
• 8:24:07
  my wife be doing out on the country road at three in the morning.
• 8:24:11
  I had sat for about twenty minutes, turning the thing over in my mind
• 8:24:15
  and trying to find some possible explanation. The more I thought, the more
• 8:24:21
  extraordinary and inexplicable did it appear. I was still puzzling over it when I
• 8:24:26
  heard the door gently close again and her footsteps coming up the stairs. Where
• 8:24:32
  in the world have you been, Effie, I asked? As she entered.
• 8:24:36
  She gave a violent start and a kind of gasping cry when I spoke,
• 8:24:40
  And that cry and start troubled me more than all the rest, for
• 8:24:45
  there was something indescribably guilty about them. My wife had always been a woman
• 8:24:49
  of a frank and open nature, and it gave me a chill to see
• 8:24:53
  her slinking into her own room and crying out and wincing. When her own
• 8:24:57
  husband spoke to her, you wake Jack, She cried with a nervous laugh.
• 8:25:03
  Why I thought that nothing could wake you? Where have you been?
• 8:25:08
  I asked more sternly. I don't wonder that you're surprised, said she,
• 8:25:14
  and I could see that her fingers were trembling as she undid the fastenings of
• 8:25:17
  her mantle. Why I never remember having done such a thing in my life
• 8:25:22
  before. The fact is that I felt as though I were choking and had
• 8:25:26
  a perfect longing for a breath of fresh air. I really think that I
• 8:25:30
  should have fainted if I had not gone out. I stood at the door
• 8:25:33
  for a few minutes, and now I am quite myself again. All the
• 8:25:38
  time she was telling me this story, she never once looked in my direction,
• 8:25:44
  and her voice was quite unlike her usual tones. It was evident to
• 8:25:48
  me that she was saying what was false. I said nothing in reply,
• 8:25:52
  but turned my face to the wall, sick at heart, with my mind
• 8:25:56
  filled with a thousand venomous doubts and suspicions. What was it that my wife
• 8:26:03
  was concealing from me? Where had she been during that strange expedition? I
• 8:26:07
  felt that I should have no peace until I knew, And yet I shrank
• 8:26:11
  from asking her again after once she had told me what was false. All
• 8:26:17
  the rest of the night I tossed and tumbled, framing theory after theory,
• 8:26:21
  each more unlikely than the last. I should have gone to the city that
• 8:26:26
  day, but I was too disturbed in my mind to be able to pay
• 8:26:29
  attention to business matters. My wife seemed to be as upset as myself,
• 8:26:34
  and I could see from the little questioning glances which she kept shooting at me
• 8:26:40
  that she understood that I disbelieved her statement, and that she was at her
• 8:26:44
  wits end what to do. We hardly exchanged a word during breakfast, and
• 8:26:48
  immediately afterwards I went out for a walk that I might think the matter out
• 8:26:53
  in the fresh morning air. I went as far as the Crystal Palace,
• 8:26:57
  spent an hour in the grounds, and was back in Nwbury by one o'clock.
• 8:27:03
  It happened that my way took me past the cottage, and I stopped
• 8:27:06
  for an instant to look at the windows and to see if I could catch
• 8:27:08
  a glimpse of the strange face which had looked out at me on the day
• 8:27:11
  before. As I stood there, imagine my surprise, mister Holmes, when
• 8:27:18
  the door suddenly opened and my wife walked out. I was struck dumb with
• 8:27:22
  astonishment at the sight of her, But my emotions were nothing to those which
• 8:27:26
  showed themselves upon her face. When our eyes met, she seemed for an
• 8:27:30
  instant to wish to shrink back inside the house again, and then, seeing
• 8:27:36
  how useless all concealment must be, she came forward with a very white face
• 8:27:41
  and frightened eyes which belied the smile upon her lips. Ah, Jack,
• 8:27:47
  she said, I have just been in to see if I can be of
• 8:27:49
  any assistance to our new neighbors. Why do you look at me like that?
• 8:27:53
  Jack? You are not angry with me, so said I. This
• 8:28:00
  is where you went during the night. What do you mean, she cried,
• 8:28:04
  you came here. I am sure of it. Who are these people
• 8:28:10
  that you should visit them at such an hour? I have not been here
• 8:28:12
  before. How can you tell me what you know is false? I cried?
• 8:28:18
  Your very voice changes as you speak. When have I ever had a
• 8:28:22
  secret from you? I shall enter that cottage and I shall probe the matter
• 8:28:26
  to the bottom. No, No, Jack, for God's sake, she
• 8:28:30
  gasped in uncontrollable emotion. Then, as I approached the door, she seized
• 8:28:37
  my sleeve and pulled me back with convulsive strength. I implore you not to
• 8:28:41
  do this, Jack, she cried. I swear that I will tell you
• 8:28:47
  everything some day, but nothing but misery can come of it if you enter
• 8:28:51
  that cottage. Then, as I tried to shake her off, she clung
• 8:28:56
  to me in a frenzy of entreaty. Trust me, Jack, she cried,
• 8:29:00
  Trust me only this once. You will never have cause to regret it.
• 8:29:04
  You know that I would not have a secret from you if it were
• 8:29:07
  not for your own sake. Our whole lives are at stake in this.
• 8:29:12
  If you come home with me, all will be well. If you force
• 8:29:17
  your way into that cottage, all is over between us. There was such
• 8:29:22
  an earnestness, such despair in her manner, that her words arrested me,
• 8:29:26
  and I stood irresolute before the door. I will trust you on one condition,
• 8:29:32
  and on one condition only, said I. At last, it is
• 8:29:34
  that this mystery comes to an end. From now you are at liberty to
• 8:29:38
  preserve your secret. But you must promise me that there shall be no more
• 8:29:42
  knightly visits, no more doings which are kept from my knowledge. I am
• 8:29:47
  willing to forget those which are past, if you will promise that there shall
• 8:29:51
  be no more in the future. I was sure that you would trust me,
• 8:29:55
  she cried, with a great sigh of relief. It shall be just
• 8:29:59
  as you wish. Come away, oh, come away, up to the
• 8:30:02
  house. Still pulling at my sleeve, she led me away from the cottage.
• 8:30:07
  As we went, I glanced back, and there was that yellow,
• 8:30:11
  livid face watching us out of the upper window. What link could there be
• 8:30:17
  between that creature and my wife? Or how could the coarse rough woman whom
• 8:30:21
  I had seen the day before be connected with her? It was a strange
• 8:30:25
  puzzle, and yet I knew that my mind could never know ease again until
• 8:30:30
  I had solved it. For two days after this, I stayed at home,
• 8:30:34
  and my wife appeared to abide loyally by our engagement. For as far
• 8:30:40
  as I know, she never stirred out of the house. On the third
• 8:30:44
  day, however, I had ample evidence that her solemn promise was not enough
• 8:30:48
  to hold her back from this secret influence which drew her away from her husband
• 8:30:52
  and her duty. I had gone into town on that day, but I
• 8:30:57
  returned by the two forty and stead of the three thirty six, which is
• 8:31:00
  my usual train. As I entered the house, the maid ran into the
• 8:31:06
  hall with a startled face. Where is your mistress, I asked, I
• 8:31:11
  think that she's gone out for a walk, she answered. My mind was
• 8:31:15
  instantly filled with suspicion. I rushed upstairs to make sure that she was not
• 8:31:19
  in the house. As I did so, I happened to glance out of
• 8:31:23
  one of the upper windows and saw the maid with whom I had just been
• 8:31:26
  speaking running across the field in the direction of the cottage. Then, of
• 8:31:33
  course I saw exactly what it all meant. My wife had gone over there
• 8:31:37
  and had asked the servant to call her if I should return. Tingling with
• 8:31:41
  anger, I rushed down and hurried across, determined to end the matter once
• 8:31:45
  and for ever. I saw my wife and the maid hurrying back along the
• 8:31:51
  lane, but I did not stop to speak with them. In the cottage
• 8:31:56
  lay the secret which was casting a shadow over my life. I vowed that
• 8:32:00
  come what might, it should be a secret no longer. I did not
• 8:32:04
  even knock when I reached it, but turned the handle and rushed into the
• 8:32:07
  passage. It was all still and quiet upon the ground floor. In the
• 8:32:13
  kitchen, a kettle was singing on the fire, and a large black cat
• 8:32:15
  lay coiled up in the basket, but there was no sign of the woman
• 8:32:20
  whom I had seen before. I ran into the other room, but it
• 8:32:23
  was equally deserted. Then I rushed up the stairs, only to find two
• 8:32:29
  other rooms empty and deserted. At the top, there was no one at
• 8:32:31
  all in the whole house. The furniture and pictures were of the most common
• 8:32:37
  and vulgar description, save in the one chamber, at the window of which
• 8:32:40
  I had seen the strange face that was comfortable and elegant. And all my
• 8:32:46
  suspicions rose into a fierce, bitter flame when I saw that on the mantel
• 8:32:51
  piece stood a copy of a full length photograph of my wife, which had
• 8:32:55
  been taken at my request only three months ago. I stayed long enough to
• 8:33:00
  make certain that the house was absolutely empty. Then I left it, feeling
• 8:33:06
  a weight at my heart such as I had never had before. My wife
• 8:33:10
  came out into the hall as I entered my house, but I was too
• 8:33:15
  hurt and angry to speak with her, and pushing past her, I made
• 8:33:19
  my way into my study. She followed me. However, before I could
• 8:33:22
  close the door, I am so sorry that I broke my promise, Jack,
• 8:33:27
  said she. But if you knew all the circumstances, I am sure
• 8:33:31
  that you would forgive me tell me everything, then, said I. I
• 8:33:37
  can not, Jack, I cannot, she cried, Until you tell me
• 8:33:42
  who it is that has been living in that cottage, and who it is
• 8:33:45
  to whom you have given that photograph. There can never be any confidence between
• 8:33:50
  us, said I, and breaking away from her, I left the house
• 8:33:54
  that was yesterday, mister Holmes, and I have not seen her since,
• 8:33:59
  nor do I know anything more about this strange business. It is the first
• 8:34:02
  shadow that has come between us, and it has so shaken me that I
• 8:34:07
  do not know what I should do for the best. Suddenly this morning it
• 8:34:12
  occurred to me that you were the man to advise me. So I have
• 8:34:15
  hurried to you now, and I place myself unreservedly in your hands. If
• 8:34:21
  there is any point which I have not made clear, pray question me about
• 8:34:24
  it, but above all, tell me quickly what I am to do,
• 8:34:30
  for this misery is more than I can bear. Holmes and I had listened
• 8:34:35
  with the utmost interest to this extraordinary statement which have been delivered in the jerky
• 8:34:40
  broken fashion of a man who is under the influence of extreme emotions. My
• 8:34:45
  companion sat silent for some time, with his chin upon his hand, lost
• 8:34:51
  in thought. Tell me, said he at last. Could you swear that
• 8:34:55
  this was a man's face which you saw at the window? Each time that
• 8:35:00
  I saw it, I was some distance away from it, so that it
• 8:35:04
  is impossible for me to say. You appear, however, to have been
• 8:35:08
  disagreeably impressed by it. It seemed to be of an unnatural color, and
• 8:35:14
  to have a strange rigidity about the features. When I approached it vanished with
• 8:35:19
  a jerk. How long is it since your wife asked you for a hundred
• 8:35:23
  pounds? Nearly two months? Have you ever seen a photograph of her first
• 8:35:30
  husband? No? There was a great fire at Atlanta very shortly after his
• 8:35:35
  death, and all her papers were destroyed, And yet she had a certificate
• 8:35:38
  of death. You say that you saw it. Yes, she got a
• 8:35:44
  duplicate after the fire. Did you ever meet any one who knew her in
• 8:35:49
  America? No? Did she ever talk of revisiting the place? No?
• 8:35:57
  Or get letters from it? No? Thank you. I should like to
• 8:36:01
  think over the matter a little now. If the cottage is now permanently deserted,
• 8:36:06
  we may have some difficulty. If, on the other hand, as
• 8:36:09
  I fancy, is more likely the inmates were warned of your coming and left
• 8:36:15
  before you entered yesterday, then they may be back now, and we should
• 8:36:19
  clear it all up easily. Let me advise you then to return to Norbury
• 8:36:23
  and to examine the windows of the cottage again. If you have reason to
• 8:36:28
  believe that it is inhabited, do not force your way in, but send
• 8:36:31
  a wire to my friend and me. We shall be with you within an
• 8:36:35
  hour of receiving it, and we shall then very soon get to the bottom
• 8:36:38
  of the business. And if it is still empty, in that case,
• 8:36:45
  I shall come out to morrow and talk it over with you. Good Bye,
• 8:36:49
  and above all, do not fret until you know that you really have
• 8:36:52
  a cause for it. I am afraid that this is a bad business,
• 8:36:57
  Watson, said my companion, as he turned after accompanying mister Grant Munroe to
• 8:37:01
  the door. What do you make of it? It had an ugly sound,
• 8:37:07
  I answered, Yes, there's blackmail in it, or I am much
• 8:37:12
  mistaken. And who is the blackmailer? Well, it must be the creature
• 8:37:16
  who lives in the only comfortable room in the place, and has her photograph
• 8:37:21
  above his fireplace. Upon my word, Watson, there is something very attractive
• 8:37:27
  about that livid face at the window, and I would not have missed the
• 8:37:30
  case for worlds. You have a theory, yes, a provisional one,
• 8:37:36
  but I shall be surprised if it does not turn out to be correct.
• 8:37:38
  This woman's first husband is in that cottage. Why do you think so?
• 8:37:45
  How else can we explain her frenzied anxiety that her second one should not enter
• 8:37:51
  it. The facts as I read them are something like this. This woman
• 8:37:55
  was married in America. Her husband developed some hateful or shall we say that
• 8:38:01
  he contracted some loathsome disease, and became a leper or an imbecile. She
• 8:38:07
  flies from him at last, returns to England, changes her name, and
• 8:38:12
  starts her life as she thinks afresh. She has been married three years and
• 8:38:16
  believes that her position is quite secure, having shown her husband the death certificate
• 8:38:22
  of some man whose name she has assumed. When suddenly her whereabouts is discovered
• 8:38:28
  by her first husband, or we may suppose, by some unscrupulous woman who
• 8:38:32
  has attached herself to the invalid. They write to the wife and threaten to
• 8:38:37
  come and expose her. She asks for one hundred pounds and endeavors to buy
• 8:38:43
  them off. They come in spite of it, and when the husband mentions
• 8:38:46
  casually to the wife that there are newcomers in the cottage, she knows in
• 8:38:52
  some way that they are her pursuers. She waits until her husband is asleep,
• 8:38:57
  and then she rushes down to endeavor to persuade them to leave her in
• 8:39:00
  peace. Having no success, she goes again next morning, and her husband
• 8:39:07
  meets her as he has told us. As she comes out, she promises
• 8:39:12
  him then not to go there again. But two days afterwards the hope of
• 8:39:15
  getting rid of those dreadful neighbors was too strong for her, and she made
• 8:39:20
  another attempt, taking down with her the photograph which had probably been demanded from
• 8:39:23
  her. In the midst of this interview, the maid rushed in to say
• 8:39:29
  that the master had come home, on which the wife, knowing that he
• 8:39:32
  would come straight down to the cottage, hurried the inmates out the back door
• 8:39:37
  into the grove of fir trees, probably which was mentioned as standing near.
• 8:39:43
  In this way, he found the place deserted. I shall be very much
• 8:39:46
  surprised, however, if it is still so when he reconnoiters it this evening.
• 8:39:52
  What do you think of my theory? It is all surmise, but
• 8:39:55
  at least it covers all the facts. When new facts come to our knowledge
• 8:40:00
  which cannot be covered by it, it will be time enough to reconsider it.
• 8:40:05
  We can do nothing more until we have a message from our friend at
• 8:40:07
  Norbury. But we had not very long time to wait for that. It
• 8:40:13
  came just as we had finished our tea. The cottage is still tenanted,
• 8:40:17
  it said, have seen the face again at the window. We'll meet the
• 8:40:22
  seven o'clock train and will take no steps until you arrive. He was waiting
• 8:40:28
  on the platform when we stepped out, and we could see in the light
• 8:40:30
  of the station lamps that he was very pale and quivering with agitation. They
• 8:40:36
  are still there, mister Holmes said, he laying his hand hard upon my
• 8:40:39
  friend's sleeve. I saw lights in the cottage as I came down. We
• 8:40:44
  shall settle it now, once and for all. What is your plan,
• 8:40:47
  then asked Holmes, as he walked down the dark tree lined road. I
• 8:40:52
  am going to force my way in and see for myself who is in the
• 8:40:55
  house. I wish you both to be there as witnesses. You are quite
• 8:41:00
  determined to do this, in spite of your wife's warning that it is better
• 8:41:05
  that you should not solve the mystery. Yes, I am determined. Well,
• 8:41:09
  I think that you are in the right. Any truth is better than
• 8:41:13
  indefinite doubt. We had better go up at once. Of course, legally
• 8:41:19
  we are putting ourselves hopelessly in the wrong, but I think that it is
• 8:41:22
  worth it. It was a very dark night, and a thin rain began
• 8:41:27
  to fall as we turned from the high road into a narrow lane, deeply
• 8:41:30
  rutted, with hedges on either side. Mister Grant Monroe pushed impatiently forward,
• 8:41:37
  however, and we stumbled after him as best we could. There are the
• 8:41:40
  lights of my house, he murmured, pointing to a glimmer among the trees.
• 8:41:45
  And here is the cottage which I am going to enter. We turned
• 8:41:50
  a corner in the lane as he spoke, and there was the building close
• 8:41:52
  beside us. A yellow bar falling across the black foreground showed that the door
• 8:41:59
  was not quite close, and one window in the upper story was brightly illuminated.
• 8:42:04
  As we looked, we saw a dark blur moving across the blind there
• 8:42:09
  is that creature, cried Grant Monroe. You can see for yourselves that some
• 8:42:15
  one is there. Now follow me, and we shall soon know all.
• 8:42:19
  We approached the door, but suddenly a woman appeared out of the shadow and
• 8:42:23
  stood in the golden track of the lamp light. I could not see her
• 8:42:27
  face in the darkness, but her arms were thrown out in an attitude of
• 8:42:30
  entreaty. For God's sake, don't jack, she cried, I had a
• 8:42:37
  presentiment that you would come this evening. Think better of it. Dear,
• 8:42:42
  trust me again, and you will never have cause to regret it. I
• 8:42:46
  have trusted you too long, effie, he cried sternly. Leave go of
• 8:42:51
  me. I must pass through my friends, and I are going to settle
• 8:42:54
  this matter once and for ever. He pushed her to one side, and
• 8:42:59
  we followed cla after him. As he threw the door open, an old
• 8:43:02
  woman ran out in front of him and tried to bar his passage, but
• 8:43:07
  he thrust her back, and an instant afterwards we were all upon the stairs.
• 8:43:12
  Grant Monroe rushed into the lighted room at the top, and we entered
• 8:43:15
  at his heels. It was a cozy well furnished apartment, with two candles
• 8:43:22
  burning upon the table and two upon the mantelpiece. In the corner, stooping
• 8:43:27
  over a desk, there sat what appeared to be a little girl. Her
• 8:43:30
  face was turned away as we entered, but we could see that she was
• 8:43:35
  dressed in a red frock, and that she had long white gloves on.
• 8:43:38
  As she whisked round to us, I gave a cry of surprise and horror.
• 8:43:44
  The face which she turned towards us was of the strangest livid tint,
• 8:43:49
  and the features were absolutely devoid of any expression. An instant later the mystery
• 8:43:55
  was explained Holmes, with a laugh, passed his hat behind the child's ear.
• 8:44:01
  Her mask peeled off from her countenance, and there was a little coal
• 8:44:05
  black negress with all her white teeth flashing in amusement at our amazed faces.
• 8:44:12
  I burst out, laughing out of sympathy with her merriment. But grantman Rose
• 8:44:15
  stood staring with his hand clutching his throat. My God, he cried,
• 8:44:22
  what can be the meaning of this? I will tell you the meaning of
• 8:44:27
  it, cried the lady, sweeping into the room with a proud set face.
• 8:44:30
  You have forced me against my own judgment to tell you, and now
• 8:44:35
  we must both make the best of it. My husband died at Atlanta.
• 8:44:40
  My child survived your child. She drew a large silver locket from her bosom.
• 8:44:47
  You have never seen this open. I understood that it did not open.
• 8:44:52
  She touched a spring, and the front hinged back. There was a
• 8:44:57
  portrait within of a man, strikingly handsome and intelligent looking, but bearing unmistakable
• 8:45:02
  signs upon his features of his African descent. This is John Hebron of Atlanta,
• 8:45:09
  said the lady, and a nobler man never walked the earth. I
• 8:45:14
  cut myself off from my race in order to wed him, But never once
• 8:45:17
  while he lived did I for an instant regret it. It was our misfortune
• 8:45:22
  that our only child took after his people rather than mine. It is often
• 8:45:28
  so in such matches. And little Lucy is darker far than ever her father
• 8:45:32
  was, but dark or fair. She is my own dear little girlie,
• 8:45:37
  and her mother's pet. The little creature ran across at the words and nestled
• 8:45:43
  up against the lady's dress. When I left her in America, she continued,
• 8:45:47
  it was only because her health was weak, and the change might have
• 8:45:52
  done her harm. She was given to the care of a faithful scotchwoman who
• 8:45:55
  had once been our servant. Never for an instant did I dream of disowning
• 8:46:00
  her as my child. But when chance threw you in my way, Jack,
• 8:46:06
  and I learned to love you, I feared to tell you about my
• 8:46:08
  child. God forgive me. I feared that I should lose you, and
• 8:46:14
  I had not the courage to tell you. I had to choose between you,
• 8:46:17
  and in my weakness, I turned away from my own little girl.
• 8:46:22
  For three years, I have kept her existence a secret from you, but
• 8:46:27
  I heard from the nurse, and I knew that all was well with her.
• 8:46:30
  At last, however, there came an overwhelming desire to see the child
• 8:46:35
  once more. I struggled against it, but in vain though I knew the
• 8:46:39
  danger, I determined to have the child over if it were but for a
• 8:46:44
  few weeks. I sent a hundred pounds to the nurse, and I gave
• 8:46:47
  her instructions about this cottage, so that she might come as a neighbor without
• 8:46:52
  my appearing to be in any way connected with her. I pushed my precautions
• 8:46:58
  so far as to order her to keep child in the house during the daytime,
• 8:47:01
  and to cover up her little face and hands, so that even those
• 8:47:05
  who might see her at the window should not gossip about there being a black
• 8:47:08
  child in the neighborhood. If I had been less cautious, I might have
• 8:47:14
  been more wise, But I was half crazy with fear that you should learn
• 8:47:17
  the truth. It was you who told me first that the cottage was occupied.
• 8:47:23
  I should have waited for the morning, but I could not sleep for
• 8:47:27
  excitement, and so at last I slipped out, knowing how difficult it is
• 8:47:31
  to awake you. But you saw me go, and that was the beginning
• 8:47:37
  of my troubles. Next day you had my secret at your mercy, but
• 8:47:43
  you nobly refrained from pursuing your advantage. Three days later, however, the
• 8:47:47
  nurse and child only just escaped from the back door as you rushed in at
• 8:47:52
  the front. One. And now to night, you at last know all.
• 8:47:57
  And I ask you, what is to become of us, my child
• 8:48:00
  than me? She clasped her hands and waited for an answer. It was
• 8:48:06
  a long ten minutes before Grant Monroe broke the silence, and when his answer
• 8:48:10
  came, it was one of which I loved to think. He lifted the
• 8:48:15
  little child kissed her, and then, still carrying her, he held his
• 8:48:20
  other hand out to his wife and turned towards the door. We can talk
• 8:48:24
  it over more comfortably at home, said he. I am not a very
• 8:48:29
  good man, Effie, but I think that I am a better one than
• 8:48:32
  you have given me credit for. Holmes and I followed them down the lane,
• 8:48:37
  and my friend plucked up my sleeve as we came out. I think,
• 8:48:43
  said he, that we shall be of more use in London than in
• 8:48:45
  Norbury. Not another word did he say of the case until late that night,
• 8:48:51
  when he was turning away with his lighted candle for his bedroom. Watson
• 8:48:57
  said he, if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little
• 8:49:00
  overconfident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves,
• 8:49:06
  kindly whisper gnawbery in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to
• 8:49:10
  you. End of the Yellow Face