WINMX Assorted Textfiles/Ebooks.tar/Text - Fiction - Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan - Return Of Sherlock Holmes, The.txt

Text File | 2003-12-20 | 647KB | 14,477 lines

               THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.
                   By ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.


{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


I. -- The Adventure of the Empty House.

IT was in the spring of the year 1894 that all London was
interested, and the fashionable world dismayed, by the
murder of the Honourable Ronald Adair under most unusual
and inexplicable circumstances.  The public has already
learned those particulars of the crime which came out in
the police investigation; but a good deal was suppressed
upon that occasion, since the case for the prosecution was
so overwhelmingly strong that it was not necessary to bring
forward all the facts.  Only now, at the end of nearly ten
years, am I allowed to supply those missing links which
make up the whole of that remarkable chain.  The crime was
of interest in itself, but that interest was as nothing to
me compared to the inconceivable sequel, which afforded me
the greatest shock and surprise of any event in my
adventurous life.  Even now, after this long interval,
I find myself thrilling as I think of it, and feeling once
more that sudden flood of joy, amazement, and incredulity
which utterly submerged my mind.  Let me say to that public
which has shown some interest in those glimpses which I
have occasionally given them of the thoughts and actions of
a very remarkable man that they are not to blame me if I
have not shared my knowledge with them, for I should have
considered it my first duty to have done so had I not been
barred by a positive prohibition from his own lips, which
was only withdrawn upon the third of last month.

It can be imagined that my close intimacy with Sherlock
Holmes had interested me deeply in crime, and that after
his disappearance I never failed to read with care the
various problems which came before the public, and I even
attempted more than once for my own private satisfaction to
employ his methods in their solution, though with
indifferent success.  There was none, however, which
appealed to me like this tragedy of Ronald Adair.  As I
read the evidence at the inquest, which led up to a verdict
of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown,
I realized more clearly than I had ever done the loss which
the community had sustained by the death of Sherlock
Holmes.  There were points about this strange business
which would, I was sure, have specially appealed to him,
and the efforts of the police would have been supplemented,
or more probably anticipated, by the trained observation
and the alert mind of the first criminal agent in Europe.
All day as I drove upon my round I turned over the case in
my mind, and found no explanation which appeared to me to
be adequate.  At the risk of telling a twice-told tale I
will recapitulate the facts as they were known to the
public at the conclusion of the inquest.

The Honourable Ronald Adair was the second son of the Earl
of Maynooth, at that time Governor of one of the Australian
Colonies.  Adair's mother had returned from Australia to
undergo the operation for cataract, and she, her son Ronald,
and her daughter Hilda were living together at 427, Park Lane.
The youth moved in the best society, had, so far as was known,
no enemies, and no particular vices.  He had been engaged to
Miss Edith Woodley, of Carstairs, but the engagement had been
broken off by mutual consent some months before, and there was
no sign that it had left any very profound feeling behind it.
For the rest the man's life moved in a narrow and conventional
circle, for his habits were quiet and his nature unemotional.
Yet it was upon this easy-going young aristocrat that death
came in most strange and unexpected form between the hours
of ten and eleven-twenty on the night of March 30, 1894.

Ronald Adair was fond of cards, playing continually, but
never for such stakes as would hurt him.  He was a member
of the Baldwin, the Cavendish, and the Bagatelle card
clubs.  It was shown that after dinner on the day of his
death he had played a rubber of whist at the latter club.
He had also played there in the afternoon.  The evidence
of those who had played with him -- Mr. Murray, Sir John
Hardy, and Colonel Moran -- showed that the game was whist,
and that there was a fairly equal fall of the cards.  Adair
might have lost five pounds, but not more.  His fortune was
a considerable one, and such a loss could not in any way
affect him.  He had played nearly every day at one club or
other, but he was a cautious player, and usually rose a
winner.  It came out in evidence that in partnership with
Colonel Moran he had actually won as much as four hundred
and twenty pounds in a sitting some weeks before from
Godfrey Milner and Lord Balmoral.  So much for his recent
history, as it came out at the inquest.

On the evening of the crime he returned from the club
exactly at ten.  His mother and sister were out spending
the evening with a relation.  The servant deposed that
she heard him enter the front room on the second floor,
generally used as his sitting-room.  She had lit a fire
there, and as it smoked she had opened the window.  No
sound was heard from the room until eleven-twenty, the hour
of the return of Lady Maynooth and her daughter.  Desiring
to say good-night, she had attempted to enter her son's
room.  The door was locked on the inside, and no answer
could be got to their cries and knocking.  Help was
obtained and the door forced.  The unfortunate young man
was found lying near the table.  His head had been horribly
mutilated by an expanding revolver bullet, but no weapon of
any sort was to be found in the room.  On the table lay two
bank-notes for ten pounds each and seventeen pounds ten in
silver and gold, the money arranged in little piles of
varying amount.  There were some figures also upon a sheet
of paper with the names of some club friends opposite to
them, from which it was conjectured that before his death
he was endeavouring to make out his losses or winnings at
cards.

A minute examination of the circumstances served only to
make the case more complex.  In the first place, no reason
could be given why the young man should have fastened the
door upon the inside.  There was the possibility that the
murderer had done this and had afterwards escaped by the
window.  The drop was at least twenty feet, however, and a
bed of crocuses in full bloom lay beneath.  Neither the
flowers nor the earth showed any sign of having been
disturbed, nor were there any marks upon the narrow strip
of grass which separated the house from the road.
Apparently, therefore, it was the young man himself who had
fastened the door.  But how did he come by his death?  No
one could have climbed up to the window without leaving
traces.  Suppose a man had fired through the window, it
would indeed be a remarkable shot who could with a revolver
inflict so deadly a wound.  Again, Park Lane is a
frequented thoroughfare, and there is a cab-stand within
a hundred yards of the house.  No one had heard a shot.
And yet there was the dead man, and there the revolver bullet,
which had mushroomed out, as soft-nosed bullets will, and
so inflicted a wound which must have caused instantaneous
death.  Such were the circumstances of the Park Lane
Mystery, which were further complicated by entire absence
of motive, since, as I have said, young Adair was not known
to have any enemy, and no attempt had been made to remove
the money or valuables in the room.

All day I turned these facts over in my mind, endeavouring
to hit upon some theory which could reconcile them all, and
to find that line of least resistance which my poor friend
had declared to be the starting-point of every investigation.
I confess that I made little progress.  In the evening I
strolled across the Park, and found myself about six o'clock
at the Oxford Street end of Park Lane.  A group of loafers
upon the pavements, all staring up at a particular window,
directed me to the house which I had come to see.  A tall,
thin man with coloured glasses, whom I strongly suspected
of being a plain-clothes detective, was pointing out some
theory of his own, while the others crowded round to listen
to what he said.  I got as near him as I could, but his
observations seemed to me to be absurd, so I withdrew again
in some disgust.  As I did so I struck against an elderly
deformed man, who had been behind me, and I knocked down
several books which he was carrying.  I remember that as I
picked them up I observed the title of one of them,
"The Origin of Tree Worship," and it struck me that the
fellow must be some poor bibliophile who, either as a trade
or as a hobby, was a collector of obscure volumes.
I endeavoured to apologize for the accident, but it was
evident that these books which I had so unfortunately
maltreated were very precious objects in the eyes of their
owner.  With a snarl of contempt he turned upon his heel,
and I saw his curved back and white side-whiskers disappear
among the throng.

My observations of No. 427, Park Lane, did little to clear
up the problem in which I was interested.  The house was
separated from the street by a low wall and railing, the
whole not more than five feet high.  It was perfectly easy,
therefore, for anyone to get into the garden, but the
window was entirely inaccessible, since there was no
water-pipe or anything which could help the most active man
to climb it.  More puzzled than ever I retraced my steps to
Kensington.  I had not been in my study five minutes when
the maid entered to say that a person desired to see me.
To my astonishment it was none other than my strange old
book-collector, his sharp, wizened face peering out from a
frame of white hair, and his precious volumes, a dozen of
them at least, wedged under his right arm.

"You're surprised to see me, sir," said he, in a strange,
croaking voice.

I acknowledged that I was.

"Well, I've a conscience, sir, and when I chanced to see
you go into this house, as I came hobbling after you,
I thought to myself, I'll just step in and see that kind
gentleman, and tell him that if I was a bit gruff in my
manner there was not any harm meant, and that I am much
obliged to him for picking up my books."

"You make too much of a trifle," said I.  "May I ask how
you knew who I was?"

"Well, sir, if it isn't too great a liberty, I am a
neighbour of yours, for you'll find my little bookshop at
the corner of Church Street, and very happy to see you,
I am sure.  Maybe you collect yourself, sir; here's 'British
Birds,' and 'Catullus,' and 'The Holy War' -- a bargain
every one of them.  With five volumes you could just fill
that gap on that second shelf.  It looks untidy, does it
not, sir?"

I moved my head to look at the cabinet behind me.  When I
turned again Sherlock Holmes was standing smiling at me
across my study table.  I rose to my feet, stared at him
for some seconds in utter amazement, and then it appears
that I must have fainted for the first and the last time
in my life.  Certainly a grey mist swirled before my eyes,
and when it cleared I found my collar-ends undone and the
tingling after-taste of brandy upon my lips.  Holmes was
bending over my chair, his flask in his hand.

"My dear Watson," said the well-remembered voice, "I owe
you a thousand apologies.  I had no idea that you would be
so affected."

I gripped him by the arm.

"Holmes!" I cried.  "Is it really you?  Can it indeed be
that you are alive?  Is it possible that you succeeded in
climbing out of that awful abyss?"

"Wait a moment," said he.  "Are you sure that you are
really fit to discuss things?  I have given you a serious
shock by my unnecessarily dramatic reappearance."

"I am all right, but indeed, Holmes, I can hardly believe
my eyes.  Good heavens, to think that you -- you of all men
-- should be standing in my study!"  Again I gripped him
by the sleeve and felt the thin, sinewy arm beneath it.
"Well, you're not a spirit, anyhow," said I.  "My dear chap,
I am overjoyed to see you.  Sit down and tell me how you came
alive out of that dreadful chasm."

He sat opposite to me and lit a cigarette in his old
nonchalant manner.  He was dressed in the seedy frock-coat
of the book merchant, but the rest of that individual lay
in a pile of white hair and old books upon the table.
Holmes looked even thinner and keener than of old, but
there was a dead-white tinge in his aquiline face which
told me that his life recently had not been a healthy one.

"I am glad to stretch myself, Watson," said he.  "It is no
joke when a tall man has to take a foot off his stature for
several hours on end.  Now, my dear fellow, in the matter
of these explanations we have, if I may ask for your
co-operation, a hard and dangerous night's work in front
of us.  Perhaps it would be better if I gave you an account
of the whole situation when that work is finished."

"I am full of curiosity.  I should much prefer to hear
now."

"You'll come with me to-night?"

"When you like and where you like."

"This is indeed like the old days.  We shall have time for
a mouthful of dinner before we need go.  Well, then, about
that chasm.  I had no serious difficulty in getting out of
it, for the very simple reason that I never was in it."

"You never were in it?"

"No, Watson, I never was in it.  My note to you was
absolutely genuine.  I had little doubt that I had come to
the end of my career when I perceived the somewhat sinister
figure of the late Professor Moriarty standing upon the
narrow pathway which led to safety.  I read an inexorable
purpose in his grey eyes.  I exchanged some remarks with
him, therefore, and obtained his courteous permission to
write the short note which you afterwards received.  I left
it with my cigarette-box and my stick and I walked along
the pathway, Moriarty still at my heels.  When I reached
the end I stood at bay.  He drew no weapon, but he rushed
at me and threw his long arms around me.  He knew that his
own game was up, and was only anxious to revenge himself
upon me.  We tottered together upon the brink of the fall.
I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese
system of wrestling, which has more than once been very
useful to me.  I slipped through his grip, and he with a
horrible scream kicked madly for a few seconds and clawed
the air with both his hands.  But for all his efforts he
could not get his balance, and over he went.  With my face
over the brink I saw him fall for a long way.  Then he
struck a rock, bounded off, and splashed into the water."

I listened with amazement to this explanation, which Holmes
delivered between the puffs of his cigarette.

"But the tracks!" I cried.  "I saw with my own eyes that
two went down the path and none returned."

"It came about in this way.  The instant that the Professor
had disappeared it struck me what a really extraordinarily
lucky chance Fate had placed in my way.  I knew that
Moriarty was not the only man who had sworn my death.
There were at least three others whose desire for vengeance
upon me would only be increased by the death of their
leader.  They were all most dangerous men.  One or other
would certainly get me.  On the other hand, if all the
world was convinced that I was dead they would take
liberties, these men, they would lay themselves open, and
sooner or later I could destroy them.  Then it would be
time for me to announce that I was still in the land of the
living.  So rapidly does the brain act that I believe I had
thought this all out before Professor Moriarty had reached
the bottom of the Reichenbach Fall.

"I stood up and examined the rocky wall behind me.  In your
picturesque account of the matter, which I read with great
interest some months later, you assert that the wall was
sheer.  This was not literally true.  A few small footholds
presented themselves, and there was some indication of a
ledge.  The cliff is so high that to climb it all was an
obvious impossibility, and it was equally impossible to
make my way along the wet path without leaving some tracks.
I might, it is true, have reversed my boots, as I have done
on similar occasions, but the sight of three sets of tracks
in one direction would certainly have suggested a
deception.  On the whole, then, it was best that I should
risk the climb.  It was not a pleasant business, Watson.
The fall roared beneath me.  I am not a fanciful person,
but I give you my word that I seemed to hear Moriarty's
voice screaming at me out of the abyss.  A mistake would
have been fatal.  More than once, as tufts of grass came
out in my hand or my foot slipped in the wet notches of the
rock, I thought that I was gone.  But I struggled upwards,
and at last I reached a ledge several feet deep and covered
with soft green moss, where I could lie unseen in the most
perfect comfort.  There I was stretched when you, my dear
Watson, and all your following were investigating in the
most sympathetic and inefficient manner the circumstances
of my death.

"At last, when you had all formed your inevitable and
totally erroneous conclusions, you departed for the hotel
and I was left alone.  I had imagined that I had reached
the end of my adventures, but a very unexpected occurrence
showed me that there were surprises still in store for me.
A huge rock, falling from above, boomed past me, struck the
path, and bounded over into the chasm.  For an instant I
thought that it was an accident; but a moment later,
looking up, I saw a man's head against the darkening sky,
and another stone struck the very ledge upon which I was
stretched, within a foot of my head.  Of course, the
meaning of this was obvious.  Moriarty had not been alone.
A confederate -- and even that one glance had told me how
dangerous a man that confederate was -- had kept guard
while the Professor had attacked me.  From a distance,
unseen by me, he had been a witness of his friend's death
and of my escape.  He had waited, and then, making his
way round to the top of the cliff, he had endeavoured to
succeed where his comrade had failed.

"I did not take long to think about it, Watson.  Again I
saw that grim face look over the cliff, and I knew that it
was the precursor of another stone.  I scrambled down on
to the path.  I don't think I could have done it in cold
blood.  It was a hundred times more difficult than getting
up.  But I had no time to think of the danger, for another
stone sang past me as I hung by my hands from the edge of
the ledge.  Halfway down I slipped, but by the blessing of
God I landed, torn and bleeding, upon the path.  I took to
my heels, did ten miles over the mountains in the darkness,
and a week later I found myself in Florence with the
certainty that no one in the world knew what had become of
me.

"I had only one confidant -- my brother Mycroft.  I owe you
many apologies, my dear Watson, but it was all-important
that it should be thought I was dead, and it is quite
certain that you would not have written so convincing an
account of my unhappy end had you not yourself thought that
it was true.  Several times during the last three years I
have taken up my pen to write to you, but always I feared
lest your affectionate regard for me should tempt you to
some indiscretion which would betray my secret.  For that
reason I turned away from you this evening when you upset
my books, for I was in danger at the time, and any show of
surprise and emotion upon your part might have drawn
attention to my identity and led to the most deplorable and
irreparable results.  As to Mycroft, I had to confide in
him in order to obtain the money which I needed.  The
course of events in London did not run so well as I had
hoped, for the trial of the Moriarty gang left two of its
most dangerous members, my own most vindictive enemies, at
liberty.  I travelled for two years in Tibet, therefore,
and amused myself by visiting Lhassa and spending some days
with the head Llama.  You may have read of the remarkable
explorations of a Norwegian named Sigerson, but I am sure
that it never occurred to you that you were receiving news
of your friend.  I then passed through Persia, looked in at
Mecca, and paid a short but interesting visit to the
Khalifa at Khartoum, the results of which I have
communicated to the Foreign Office.  Returning to France
I spent some months in a research into the coal-tar
derivatives, which I conducted in a laboratory at
Montpelier, in the South of France.  Having concluded this
to my satisfaction, and learning that only one of my
enemies was now left in London, I was about to return
when my movements were hastened by the news of this very
remarkable Park Lane Mystery, which not only appealed to
me by its own merits, but which seemed to offer some most
peculiar personal opportunities.  I came over at once to
London, called in my own person at Baker Street, threw Mrs.
Hudson into violent hysterics, and found that Mycroft had
preserved my rooms and my papers exactly as they had always
been.  So it was, my dear Watson, that at two o'clock
to-day I found myself in my old arm-chair in my own old
room, and only wishing that I could have seen my old friend
Watson in the other chair which he has so often adorned."

Such was the remarkable narrative to which I listened on
that April evening -- a narrative which would have been
utterly incredible to me had it not been confirmed by the
actual sight of the tall, spare figure and the keen, eager
face, which I had never thought to see again.  In some
manner he had learned of my own sad bereavement, and his
sympathy was shown in his manner rather than in his words.
"Work is the best antidote to sorrow, my dear Watson," said
he, "and I have a piece of work for us both to-night which,
if we can bring it to a successful conclusion, will in
itself justify a man's life on this planet."  In vain I
begged him to tell me more.  "You will hear and see enough
before morning," he answered.  "We have three years of the
past to discuss.  Let that suffice until half-past nine,
when we start upon the notable adventure of the empty house."

It was indeed like old times when, at that hour, I found
myself seated beside him in a hansom, my revolver in my
pocket and the thrill of adventure in my heart.  Holmes was
cold and stern and silent.  As the gleam of the
street-lamps flashed upon his austere features I saw that
his brows were drawn down in thought and his thin lips
compressed.  I knew not what wild beast we were about to
hunt down in the dark jungle of criminal London, but I was
well assured from the bearing of this master huntsman that
the adventure was a most grave one, while the sardonic
smile which occasionally broke through his ascetic gloom
boded little good for the object of our quest.

I had imagined that we were bound for Baker Street, but
Holmes stopped the cab at the corner of Cavendish Square.
I observed that as he stepped out he gave a most searching
glance to right and left, and at every subsequent street
corner he took the utmost pains to assure that he was not
followed.  Our route was certainly a singular one.
Holmes's knowledge of the byways of London was
extraordinary, and on this occasion he passed rapidly, and
with an assured step, through a network of mews and stables
the very existence of which I had never known.  We emerged
at last into a small road, lined with old, gloomy houses,
which led us into Manchester Street, and so to Blandford
Street.  Here he turned swiftly down a narrow passage,
passed through a wooden gate into a deserted yard, and then
opened with a key the back door of a house.  We entered
together and he closed it behind us.

The place was pitch-dark, but it was evident to me that it
was an empty house.  Our feet creaked and crackled over the
bare planking, and my outstretched hand touched a wall from
which the paper was hanging in ribbons.  Holmes's cold,
thin fingers closed round my wrist and led me forwards down
a long hall, until I dimly saw the murky fanlight over the
door.  Here Holmes turned suddenly to the right, and we
found ourselves in a large, square, empty room, heavily
shadowed in the corners, but faintly lit in the centre from
the lights of the street beyond.  There was no lamp near
and the window was thick with dust, so that we could only
just discern each other's figures within.  My companion put
his hand upon my shoulder and his lips close to my ear.

"Do you know where we are?"  he whispered.

"Surely that is Baker Street," I answered, staring through
the dim window.

"Exactly.  We are in Camden House, which stands opposite to
our own old quarters."

"But why are we here?"

"Because it commands so excellent a view of that
picturesque pile.  Might I trouble you, my dear Watson, to
draw a little nearer to the window, taking every precaution
not to show yourself, and then to look up at our old rooms
-- the starting-point of so many of our little adventures?
{1}  We will see if my three years of absence have entirely
taken away my power to surprise you."

I crept forward and looked across at the familiar window.
As my eyes fell upon it I gave a gasp and a cry of
amazement.  The blind was down and a strong light was
burning in the room.  The shadow of a man who was seated in
a chair within was thrown in hard, black outline upon the
luminous screen of the window.  There was no mistaking the
poise of the head, the squareness of the shoulders, the
sharpness of the features.  The face was turned half-round,
and the effect was that of one of those black silhouettes
which our grandparents loved to frame.  It was a perfect
reproduction of Holmes.  So amazed was I that I threw out
my hand to make sure that the man himself was standing
beside me.  He was quivering with silent laughter.

"Well?"  said he.

"Good heavens!" I cried.  "It is marvellous."

"I trust that age doth not wither nor custom stale my
infinite variety,'" said he, and I recognised in his voice
the joy and pride which the artist takes in his own creation.
"It really is rather like me, is it not?"

"I should be prepared to swear that it was you."

"The credit of the execution is due to Monsieur Oscar
Meunier, of Grenoble, who spent some days in doing the
moulding.  It is a bust in wax.  The rest I arranged myself
during my visit to Baker Street this afternoon."

"But why?"

"Because, my dear Watson, I had the strongest possible
reason for wishing certain people to think that I was there
when I was really elsewhere."

"And you thought the rooms were watched?"

"I _knew_ that they were watched."

"By whom?"

"By my old enemies, Watson.  By the charming society whose
leader lies in the Reichenbach Fall.  You must remember
that they knew, and only they knew, that I was still alive.
Sooner or later they believed that I should come back to my
rooms.  They watched them continuously, and this morning
they saw me arrive."

"How do you know?"

"Because I recognised their sentinel when I glanced out of
my window.  He is a harmless enough fellow, Parker by name,
a garroter by trade, and a remarkable performer upon the
Jew's harp.  I cared nothing for him.  But I cared a great
deal for the much more formidable person who was behind
him, the bosom friend of Moriarty, the man who dropped the
rocks over the cliff, the most cunning and dangerous
criminal in London.  That is the man who is after me to-night,
Watson, and that is the man who is quite unaware that we are
after _him_."

My friend's plans were gradually revealing themselves.
From this convenient retreat the watchers were being
watched and the trackers tracked.  That angular shadow up
yonder was the bait and we were the hunters.  In silence we
stood together in the darkness and watched the hurrying
figures who passed and repassed in front of us.  Holmes was
silent and motionless; but I could tell that he was keenly
alert, and that his eyes were fixed intently upon the
stream of passers-by.  It was a bleak and boisterous night,
and the wind whistled shrilly down the long street.  Many
people were moving to and fro, most of them muffled in
their coats and cravats.  Once or twice it seemed to me
that I had seen the same figure before, and I especially
noticed two men who appeared to be sheltering themselves
from the wind in the doorway of a house some distance up
the street.  I tried to draw my companion's attention to
them, but he gave a little ejaculation of impatience and
continued to stare into the street.  More than once he
fidgeted with his feet and tapped rapidly with his fingers
upon the wall.  It was evident to me that he was becoming
uneasy and that his plans were not working out altogether
as he had hoped.  At last, as midnight approached and the
street gradually cleared, he paced up and down the room in
uncontrollable agitation.  I was about to make some remark
to him when I raised my eyes to the lighted window and
again experienced almost as great a surprise as before.
I clutched Holmes's arm and pointed upwards.

"The shadow has moved!"  I cried.

It was, indeed, no longer the profile, but the back, which
was turned towards us.

Three years had certainly not smoothed the asperities of
his temper or his impatience with a less active
intelligence than his own.

"Of course it has moved," said he.  "Am I such a farcical
bungler, Watson, that I should erect an obvious dummy and
expect that some of the sharpest men in Europe would be
deceived by it?  We have been in this room two hours, and
Mrs. Hudson has made some change in that figure eight
times, or once in every quarter of an hour.  She works it
from the front so that her shadow may never be seen.  Ah!"
He drew in his breath with a shrill, excited intake.
In the dim light I saw his head thrown forward, his whole
attitude rigid with attention.  Outside, the street was
absolutely deserted.  Those two men might still be
crouching in the doorway, but I could no longer see them.
All was still and dark, save only that brilliant yellow
screen in front of us with the black figure outlined upon
its centre.  Again in the utter silence I heard that thin,
sibilant note which spoke of intense suppressed excitement.
An instant later he pulled me back into the blackest corner
of the room, and I felt his warning hand upon my lips.  The
fingers which clutched me were quivering.  Never had I
known my friend more moved, and yet the dark street still
stretched lonely and motionless before us.

But suddenly I was aware of that which his keener senses
had already distinguished.  A low, stealthy sound came to
my ears, not from the direction of Baker Street, but from
the back of the very house in which we lay concealed.  A
door opened and shut.  An instant later steps crept down
the passage -- steps which were meant to be silent, but
which reverberated harshly through the empty house.  Holmes
crouched back against the wall and I did the same, my hand
closing upon the handle of my revolver.  Peering through
the gloom, I saw the vague outline of a man, a shade
blacker than the blackness of the open door.  He stood for
an instant, and then he crept forward, crouching, menacing,
into the room.  He was within three yards of us, this
sinister figure, and I had braced myself to meet his
spring, before I realized that he had no idea of our
presence.  He passed close beside us, stole over to the
window, and very softly and noiselessly raised it for half
a foot.  As he sank to the level of this opening the light
of the street, no longer dimmed by the dusty glass, fell
full upon his face.  The man seemed to be beside himself
with excitement.  His two eyes shone like stars and his
features were working convulsively.  He was an elderly man,
with a thin, projecting nose, a high, bald forehead, and a
huge grizzled moustache.  An opera-hat was pushed to the
back of his head, and an evening dress shirt-front gleamed
out through his open overcoat.  His face was gaunt and
swarthy, scored with deep, savage lines.  In his hand he
carried what appeared to be a stick, but as he laid it down
upon the floor it gave a metallic clang.  Then from the
pocket of his overcoat he drew a bulky object, and he
busied himself in some task which ended with a loud, sharp
click, as if a spring or bolt had fallen into its place.
Still kneeling upon the floor he bent forward and threw all
his weight and strength upon some lever, with the result
that there came a long, whirling, grinding noise, ending
once more in a powerful click.  He straightened himself
then, and I saw that what he held in his hand was a sort of
gun, with a curiously misshapen butt.  He opened it at the
breech, put something in, and snapped the breech-block.
Then, crouching down, he rested the end of the barrel upon
the ledge of the open window, and I saw his long moustache
droop over the stock and his eye gleam as it peered along
the sights.  I heard a little sigh of satisfaction as he
cuddled the butt into his shoulder, and saw that amazing
target, the black man on the yellow ground, standing clear
at the end of his fore sight.  For an instant he was rigid
and motionless.  Then his finger tightened on the trigger.
There was a strange, loud whiz and a long, silvery tinkle
of broken glass.  At that instant Holmes sprang like a
tiger on to the marksman's back and hurled him flat upon
his face.  He was up again in a moment, and with convulsive
strength he seized Holmes by the throat; but I struck him
on the head with the butt of my revolver and he dropped
again upon the floor.  I fell upon him, and as I held him
my comrade blew a shrill call upon a whistle.  There was
the clatter of running feet upon the pavement, and two
policemen in uniform, with one plain-clothes detective,
rushed through the front entrance and into the room.

"That you, Lestrade?"  said Holmes.

"Yes, Mr. Holmes.  I took the job myself.  It's good to see
you back in London, sir."

"I think you want a little unofficial help.  Three
undetected murders in one year won't do, Lestrade.  But you
handled the Molesey Mystery with less than your usual --
that's to say, you handled it fairly well."

We had all risen to our feet, our prisoner breathing hard,
with a stalwart constable on each side of him.  Already a
few loiterers had begun to collect in the street.  Holmes
stepped up to the window, closed it, and dropped the
blinds.  Lestrade had produced two candles and the
policemen had uncovered their lanterns.  I was able at last
to have a good look at our prisoner.

It was a tremendously virile and yet sinister face which
was turned towards us.  With the brow of a philosopher
above and the jaw of a sensualist below, the man must have
started with great capacities for good or for evil.  But
one could not look upon his cruel blue eyes, with their
drooping, cynical lids, or upon the fierce, aggressive nose
and the threatening, deep-lined brow, without reading
Nature's plainest danger-signals.  He took no heed of any
of us, but his eyes were fixed upon Holmes's face with an
expression in which hatred and amazement were equally
blended.  "You fiend!" he kept on muttering.  "You clever,
clever fiend!"

"Ah, Colonel!" said Holmes, arranging his rumpled collar;
"'journeys end in lovers' meetings,' as the old play says.
I don't think I have had the pleasure of seeing you since
you favoured me with those attentions as I lay on the ledge
above the Reichenbach Fall."

The Colonel still stared at my friend like a man in a
trance.  "You cunning, cunning fiend!" was all that he
could say.

"I have not introduced you yet," said Holmes.  "This,
gentlemen, is Colonel Sebastian Moran, once of Her
Majesty's Indian Army, and the best heavy game shot that
our Eastern Empire has ever produced.  I believe I am
correct, Colonel, in saying that your bag of tigers still
remains unrivalled?"

The fierce old man said nothing, but still glared at my
companion; with his savage eyes and bristling moustache he
was wonderfully like a tiger himself.

"I wonder that my very simple stratagem could deceive so
old a shikari," said Holmes.  "It must be very familiar to
you.  Have you not tethered a young kid under a tree, lain
above it with your rifle, and waited for the bait to bring
up your tiger?  This empty house is my tree and you are my
tiger.  You have possibly had other guns in reserve in case
there should be several tigers, or in the unlikely
supposition of your own aim failing you.  These," he
pointed around, "are my other guns.  The parallel is
exact."

Colonel Moran sprang forward, with a snarl of rage, but the
constables dragged him back.  The fury upon his face was
terrible to look at.

"I confess that you had one small surprise for me," said
Holmes.  "I did not anticipate that you would yourself make
use of this empty house and this convenient front window.
I had imagined you as operating from the street, where
my friend Lestrade and his merry men were awaiting you.
With that exception all has gone as I expected."

Colonel Moran turned to the official detective.

"You may or may not have just cause for arresting me," said
he, "but at least there can be no reason why I should
submit to the gibes of this person.  If I am in the hands
of the law let things be done in a legal way."

"Well, that's reasonable enough," said Lestrade.  "Nothing
further you have to say, Mr. Holmes, before we go?"

Holmes had picked up the powerful air-gun from the floor
and was examining its mechanism.

"An admirable and unique weapon," said he, "noiseless and
of tremendous power.  I knew Von Herder, the blind German
mechanic, who constructed it to the order of the late
Professor Moriarty.  For years I have been aware of its
existence, though I have never before had an opportunity
of handling it.  I commend it very specially to your
attention, Lestrade, and also the bullets which fit it."

"You can trust us to look after that, Mr. Holmes," said
Lestrade, as the whole party moved towards the door.
"Anything further to say?"

"Only to ask what charge you intend to prefer?"

"What charge, sir?  Why, of course, the attempted murder of
Mr. Sherlock Holmes."

"Not so, Lestrade.  I do not propose to appear in the
matter at all.  To you, and to you only, belongs the credit
of the remarkable arrest which you have effected.  Yes,
Lestrade, I congratulate you!  With your usual happy
mixture of cunning and audacity you have got him."

"Got him!  Got whom, Mr. Holmes?"

"The man that the whole force has been seeking in vain --
Colonel Sebastian Moran, who shot the Honourable Ronald
Adair with an expanding bullet from an air-gun through the
open window of the second-floor front of No. 427, Park
Lane, upon the 30th of last month.  That's the charge,
Lestrade.  And now, Watson, if you can endure the draught
from a broken window, I think that half an hour in my study
over a cigar may afford you some profitable amusement."


Our old chambers had been left unchanged through the
supervision of Mycroft Holmes and the immediate care of
Mrs. Hudson.  As I entered I saw, it is true, an unwonted
tidiness, but the old landmarks were all in their place.
There were the chemical corner and the acid-stained,
deal-topped table.  There upon a shelf was the row of
formidable scrap-books and books of reference which many of
our fellow-citizens would have been so glad to burn.  The
diagrams, the violin-case, and the pipe-rack -- even the
Persian slipper which contained the tobacco -- all met my
eyes as I glanced round me.  There were two occupants of
the room -- one Mrs. Hudson, who beamed upon us both as we
entered; the other the strange dummy which had played so
important a part in the evening's adventures.  It was a
wax-coloured model of my friend, so admirably done that
it was a perfect facsimile.  It stood on a small pedestal
table with an old dressing-gown of Holmes's so draped round
it that the illusion from the street was absolutely perfect.

"I hope you preserved all precautions, Mrs. Hudson?" said
Holmes.

"I went to it on my knees, sir, just as you told me."

"Excellent.  You carried the thing out very well.  Did you
observe where the bullet went?"

"Yes, sir.  I'm afraid it has spoilt your beautiful bust,
for it passed right through the head and flattened itself
on the wall.  I picked it up from the carpet.  Here it is!"

Holmes held it out to me.  "A soft revolver bullet, as you
perceive, Watson.  There's genius in that, for who would
expect to find such a thing fired from an air-gun.  All
right, Mrs. Hudson, I am much obliged for your assistance.
And now, Watson, let me see you in your old seat once more,
for there are several points which I should like to discuss
with you."

He had thrown off the seedy frock-coat, and now he was the
Holmes of old in the mouse-coloured dressing-gown which he
took from his effigy.

"The old shikari's nerves have not lost their steadiness
nor his eyes their keenness," said he, with a laugh, as he
inspected the shattered forehead of his bust.

"Plumb in the middle of the back of the head and smack
through the brain.  He was the best shot in India, and I
expect that there are few better in London.  Have you heard
the name?"

"No, I have not."

"Well, well, such is fame!  But, then, if I remember
aright, you had not heard the name of Professor James
Moriarty, who had one of the great brains of the century.
Just give me down my index of biographies from the shelf."

He turned over the pages lazily, leaning back in his chair
and blowing great clouds from his cigar.

"My collection of M's is a fine one," said he.  "Moriarty
himself is enough to make any letter illustrious, and here
is Morgan the poisoner, and Merridew of abominable memory,
and Mathews, who knocked out my left canine in the
waiting-room at Charing Cross, and, finally, here is our
friend of to-night."

He handed over the book, and I read: "_Moran, Sebastian,
Colonel_.  Unemployed.  Formerly 1st Bengalore Pioneers.
Born London, 1840.  Son of Sir Augustus Moran, C.B., once
British Minister to Persia.  Educated Eton and Oxford.
Served in Jowaki Campaign, Afghan Campaign, Charasiab
(despatches), Sherpur, and Cabul.  Author of 'Heavy Game of
the Western Himalayas,' 1881; 'Three Months in the Jungle,'
1884.  Address: Conduit Street.  Clubs: The Anglo-Indian,
the Tankerville, the Bagatelle Card Club."

On the margin was written, in Holmes's precise hand:
"The second most dangerous man in London."

"This is astonishing," said I, as I handed back the volume.
"The man's career is that of an honourable soldier."

"It is true," Holmes answered.  "Up to a certain point he
did well.  He was always a man of iron nerve, and the story
is still told in India how he crawled down a drain after a
wounded man-eating tiger.  There are some trees, Watson,
which grow to a certain height and then suddenly develop
some unsightly eccentricity.  You will see it often in
humans.  I have a theory that the individual represents in
his development the whole procession of his ancestors, and
that such a sudden turn to good or evil stands for some
strong influence which came into the line of his pedigree.
The person becomes, as it were, the epitome of the history
of his own family."

"It is surely rather fanciful."

"Well, I don't insist upon it.  Whatever the cause, Colonel
Moran began to go wrong.  Without any open scandal he still
made India too hot to hold him.  He retired, came to
London, and again acquired an evil name.  It was at this
time that he was sought out by Professor Moriarty, to whom
for a time he was chief of the staff.  Moriarty supplied
him liberally with money and used him only in one or two
very high-class jobs which no ordinary criminal could have
undertaken.  You may have some recollection of the death of
Mrs. Stewart, of Lauder, in 1887.  Not?  Well, I am sure
Moran was at the bottom of it; but nothing could be proved.
So cleverly was the Colonel concealed that even when the
Moriarty gang was broken up we could not incriminate him.
You remember at that date, when I called upon you in your
rooms, how I put up the shutters for fear of air-guns?  No
doubt you thought me fanciful.  I knew exactly what I was
doing, for I knew of the existence of this remarkable gun,
and I knew also that one of the best shots in the world
would be behind it.  When we were in Switzerland he
followed us with Moriarty, and it was undoubtedly he who
gave me that evil five minutes on the Reichenbach ledge.

"You may think that I read the papers with some attention
during my sojourn in France, on the look-out for any chance
of laying him by the heels.  So long as he was free in
London my life would really not have been worth living.
Night and day the shadow would have been over me, and
sooner or later his chance must have come.  What could I
do?  I could not shoot him at sight, or I should myself be
in the dock.  There was no use appealing to a magistrate.
They cannot interfere on the strength of what would appear
to them to be a wild suspicion.  So I could do nothing.
But I watched the criminal news, knowing that sooner or
later I should get him.  Then came the death of this Ronald
Adair.  My chance had come at last!  Knowing what I did,
was it not certain that Colonel Moran had done it?  He had
played cards with the lad; he had followed him home from
the club; he had shot him through the open window.  There
was not a doubt of it.  The bullets alone are enough to put
his head in a noose.  I came over at once.  I was seen by
the sentinel, who would, I knew, direct the Colonel's
attention to my presence.  He could not fail to connect my
sudden return with his crime and to be terribly alarmed.
I was sure that he would make an attempt to get me out of the
way _at once_, and would bring round his murderous weapon
for that purpose.  I left him an excellent mark in the
window, and, having warned the police that they might be
needed -- by the way, Watson, you spotted their presence
in that doorway with unerring accuracy -- I took up what
seemed to me to be a judicious post for observation, never
dreaming that he would choose the same spot for his attack.
Now, my dear Watson, does anything remain for me to
explain?"

"Yes," said I.  "You have not made it clear what was
Colonel Moran's motive in murdering the Honourable Ronald
Adair."

"Ah! my dear Watson, there we come into those realms of
conjecture where the most logical mind may be at fault.
Each may form his own hypothesis upon the present evidence,
and yours is as likely to be correct as mine."

"You have formed one, then?"

"I think that it is not difficult to explain the facts.
It came out in evidence that Colonel Moran and young Adair
had between them won a considerable amount of money.  Now,
Moran undoubtedly played foul -- of that I have long been
aware.  I believe that on the day of the murder Adair had
discovered that Moran was cheating.  Very likely he had
spoken to him privately, and had threatened to expose him
unless he voluntarily resigned his membership of the club
and promised not to play cards again.  It is unlikely that
a youngster like Adair would at once make a hideous scandal
by exposing a well-known man so much older than himself.
Probably he acted as I suggest.  The exclusion from his
clubs would mean ruin to Moran, who lived by his ill-gotten
card gains.  He therefore murdered Adair, who at the time
was endeavouring to work out how much money he should
himself return, since he could not profit by his partner's
foul play.  He locked the door lest the ladies should
surprise him and insist upon knowing what he was doing with
these names and coins.  Will it pass?"

"I have no doubt that you have hit upon the truth."

"It will be verified or disproved at the trial.  Meanwhile,
come what may, Colonel Moran will trouble us no more, the
famous air-gun of Von Herder will embellish the Scotland
Yard Museum, and once again Mr. Sherlock Holmes is free to
devote his life to examining those interesting little
problems which the complex life of London so plentifully
presents."

{--------------------------------------------------------}
{------------------- End of Text ------------------------}
{--------------------------------------------------------}
{------------------ Textual Notes -----------------------}
{Source: The Strand Magazine 26 (Oct. 1903)}

{1}   {"our little adventures": is "your little fairy-tales"}
{in Doub.}
{--------------------------------------------------------}
{--------------- End Textual Notes ----------------------}
{--------------------------------------------------------}




{NORW, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 3rd proofing}
{The Adventure of the Norwood Builder, Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 26 (Nov. 1903)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


II. -- The Adventure of the Norwood Builder.

"FROM the point of view of the criminal expert," said Mr.
Sherlock Holmes, "London has become a singularly
uninteresting city since the death of the late lamented
Professor Moriarty."

"I can hardly think that you would find many decent
citizens to agree with you," I answered.

"Well, well, I must not be selfish," said he, with a smile,
as he pushed back his chair from the breakfast-table.
"The community is certainly the gainer, and no one the loser,
save the poor out-of-work specialist, whose occupation has
gone.  With that man in the field one's morning paper
presented infinite possibilities.  Often it was only the
smallest trace, Watson, the faintest indication, and yet it
was enough to tell me that the great malignant brain was
there, as the gentlest tremors of the edges of the web
remind one of the foul spider which lurks in the centre.
Petty thefts, wanton assaults, purposeless outrage -- to
the man who held the clue all could be worked into one
connected whole.  To the scientific student of the higher
criminal world no capital in Europe offered the advantages
which London then possessed.  But now ----"  He shrugged
his shoulders in humorous deprecation of the state of
things which he had himself done so much to produce.

At the time of which I speak Holmes had been back for some
months, and I, at his request, had sold my practice and
returned to share the old quarters in Baker Street.
A young doctor, named Verner, had purchased my small
Kensington practice, and given with astonishingly little
demur the highest price that I ventured to ask -- an
incident which only explained itself some years later when
I found that Verner was a distant relation of Holmes's,
and that it was my friend who had really found the money.

Our months of partnership had not been so uneventful as he
had stated, for I find, on looking over my notes, that this
period includes the case of the papers of Ex-President
Murillo, and also the shocking affair of the Dutch
steamship _Friesland_, which so nearly cost us both our
lives.  His cold and proud nature was always averse,
however, to anything in the shape of public applause, and
he bound me in the most stringent terms to say no further
word of himself, his methods, or his successes -- a
prohibition which, as I have explained, has only now been
removed.

Mr. Sherlock Holmes was leaning back in his chair after his
whimsical protest, and was unfolding his morning paper in
a leisurely fashion, when our attention was arrested by a
tremendous ring at the bell, followed immediately by a
hollow drumming sound, as if someone were beating on the
outer door with his fist.  As it opened there came a
tumultuous rush into the hall, rapid feet clattered up the
stair, and an instant later a wild-eyed and frantic young
man, pale, dishevelled, and palpitating, burst into the
room.  He looked from one to the other of us, and under our
gaze of inquiry he became conscious that some apology was
needed for this unceremonious entry.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Holmes," he cried.  "You mustn't blame me.
I am nearly mad.  Mr. Holmes, I am the unhappy John Hector
McFarlane."

He made the announcement as if the name alone would explain
both his visit and its manner; but I could see by my
companion's unresponsive face that it meant no more to him
than to me.

"Have a cigarette, Mr. McFarlane," said he, pushing his
case across.  "I am sure that with your symptoms my friend
Dr. Watson here would prescribe a sedative.  The weather
has been so very warm these last few days.  Now, if you
feel a little more composed, I should be glad if you would
sit down in that chair and tell us very slowly and quietly
who you are and what it is that you want.  You mentioned
your name as if I should recognise it, but I assure you
that, beyond the obvious facts that you are a bachelor,
a solicitor, a Freemason, and an asthmatic, I know nothing
whatever about you."

Familiar as I was with my friend's methods, it was not
difficult for me to follow his deductions, and to observe
the untidiness of attire, the sheaf of legal papers, the
watch-charm, and the breathing which had prompted them.
Our client, however, stared in amazement.

"Yes, I am all that, Mr. Holmes, and in addition I am the
most unfortunate man at this moment in London.  For
Heaven's sake don't abandon me, Mr. Holmes!  If they come
to arrest me before I have finished my story, make them
give me time so that I may tell you the whole truth.  I
could go to gaol happy if I knew that you were working for
me outside."

"Arrest you!" said Holmes.  "This is really most grati --
most interesting.  On what charge do you expect to be
arrested?"

"Upon the charge of murdering Mr. Jonas Oldacre, of Lower
Norwood."

My companion's expressive face showed a sympathy which was
not, I am afraid, entirely unmixed with satisfaction.

"Dear me," said he; "it was only this moment at breakfast
that I was saying to my friend, Dr. Watson, that
sensational cases had disappeared out of our papers."

Our visitor stretched forward a quivering hand and picked
up the _Daily Telegraph_, which still lay upon Holmes's knee.

"If you had looked at it, sir, you would have seen at a
glance what the errand is on which I have come to you this
morning.  I feel as if my name and my misfortune must be in
every man's mouth."  He turned it over to expose the
central page.  "Here it is, and with your permission I will
read it to you.  Listen to this, Mr. Holmes.  The
head-lines are: 'Mysterious Affair at Lower Norwood.
Disappearance of a Well-known Builder.  Suspicion of Murder
and Arson.  A Clue to the Criminal.'  That is the clue
which they are already following, Mr. Holmes, and I know
that it leads infallibly to me.  I have been followed from
London Bridge Station, and I am sure that they are only
waiting for the warrant to arrest me.  It will break my
mother's heart -- it will break her heart!"  He wrung his
hands in an agony of apprehension, and swayed backwards and
forwards in his chair.

I looked with interest upon this man, who was accused of
being the perpetrator of a crime of violence.  He was
flaxen-haired and handsome in a washed-out negative
fashion, with frightened blue eyes and a clean-shaven face,
with a weak, sensitive mouth.  His age may have been about
twenty-seven; his dress and bearing that of a gentleman.
From the pocket of his light summer overcoat protruded the
bundle of endorsed papers which proclaimed his profession.

"We must use what time we have," said Holmes.  "Watson,
would you have the kindness to take the paper and to read
me the paragraph in question?"

Underneath the vigorous head-lines which our client had
quoted I read the following suggestive narrative:--


Late last night, or early this morning, an incident
occurred at Lower Norwood which points, it is feared, to a
serious crime.  Mr. Jonas Oldacre is a well-known resident
of that suburb, where he has carried on his business as a
builder for many years.  Mr. Oldacre is a bachelor,
fifty-two years of age, and lives in Deep Dene House, at
the Sydenham end of the road of that name.  He has had the
reputation of being a man of eccentric habits, secretive
and retiring.  For some years he has practically withdrawn
from the business, in which he is said to have amassed
considerable wealth.  A small timber-yard still exists,
however, at the back of the house, and last night, about
twelve o'clock, an alarm was given that one of the stacks
was on fire.  The engines were soon upon the spot, but the
dry wood burned with great fury, and it was impossible to
arrest the conflagration until the stack had been entirely
consumed.  Up to this point the incident bore the
appearance of an ordinary accident, but fresh indications
seem to point to serious crime.  Surprise was expressed at
the absence of the master of the establishment from the
scene of the fire, and an inquiry followed, which showed
that he had disappeared from the house.  An examination of
his room revealed that the bed had not been slept in, that
a safe which stood in it was open, that a number of
important papers were scattered about the room, and,
finally, that there were signs of a murderous struggle,
slight traces of blood being found within the room, and an
oaken walking-stick, which also showed stains of blood upon
the handle.  It is known that Mr. Jonas Oldacre had
received a late visitor in his bedroom upon that night, and
the stick found has been identified as the property of this
person, who is a young London solicitor named John Hector
McFarlane, junior partner of Graham and McFarlane, of 426,
Gresham Buildings, E.C.  The police believe that they have
evidence in their possession which supplies a very
convincing motive for the crime, and altogether it cannot
be doubted that sensational developments will follow.

LATER. -- It is rumoured as we go to press that Mr. John
Hector McFarlane has actually been arrested on the charge
of the murder of Mr. Jonas Oldacre.  It is at least certain
that a warrant has been issued.  There have been further
and sinister developments in the investigation at Norwood.
Besides the signs of a struggle in the room of the
unfortunate builder it is now known that the French windows
of his bedroom (which is on the ground floor) were found to
be open, that there were marks as if some bulky object had
been dragged across to the wood-pile, and, finally, it is
asserted that charred remains have been found among the
charcoal ashes of the fire.  The police theory is that a
most sensational crime has been committed, that the victim
was clubbed to death in his own bedroom, his papers rifled,
and his dead body dragged across to the wood-stack, which
was then ignited so as to hide all traces of the crime.
The conduct of the criminal investigation has been left in
the experienced hands of Inspector Lestrade, of Scotland
Yard, who is following up the clues with his accustomed
energy and sagacity. {1}


Sherlock Holmes listened with closed eyes and finger-tips
together to this remarkable account.

"The case has certainly some points of interest," said he,
in his languid fashion.  "May I ask, in the first place,
Mr. McFarlane, how it is that you are still at liberty,
since there appears to be enough evidence to justify your
arrest?"

"I live at Torrington Lodge, Blackheath, with my parents,
Mr. Holmes; but last night, having to do business very late
with Mr. Jonas Oldacre, I stayed at an hotel in Norwood,
and came to my business from there.  I knew nothing of this
affair until I was in the train, when I read what you have
just heard.  I at once saw the horrible danger of my
position, and I hurried to put the case into your hands.
I have no doubt that I should have been arrested either at my
City office or at my home.  A man followed me from London
Bridge Station, and I have no doubt ---- Great Heaven, what
is that?"

It was a clang of the bell, followed instantly by heavy
steps upon the stair.  A moment later our old friend
Lestrade appeared in the doorway.  Over his shoulder I
caught a glimpse of one or two uniformed policemen outside.

"Mr. John Hector McFarlane?" said Lestrade.

Our unfortunate client rose with a ghastly face.

"I arrest you for the wilful murder of Mr. Jonas Oldacre,
of Lower Norwood."

McFarlane turned to us with a gesture of despair, and sank
into his chair once more like one who is crushed.

"One moment, Lestrade," said Holmes.  "Half an hour more or
less can make no difference to you, and the gentleman was
about to give us an account of this very interesting
affair, which might aid us in clearing it up."

"I think there will be no difficulty in clearing it up,"
said Lestrade, grimly.

"None the less, with your permission, I should be much
interested to hear his account."

"Well, Mr. Holmes, it is difficult for me to refuse you
anything, for you have been of use to the force once or
twice in the past, and we owe you a good turn at Scotland
Yard," said Lestrade.  "At the same time I must remain with
my prisoner, and I am bound to warn him that anything he
may say will appear in evidence against him."

"I wish nothing better," said our client.  "All I ask is
that you should hear and recognise the absolute truth."

Lestrade looked at his watch.  "I'll give you half an
hour," said he.

"I must explain first," said McFarlane, "that I knew
nothing of Mr. Jonas Oldacre.  His name was familiar to me,
for many years ago my parents were acquainted with him, but
they drifted apart.  I was very much surprised, therefore,
when yesterday, about three o'clock in the afternoon, he
walked into my office in the City.  But I was still more
astonished when he told me the object of his visit.  He had
in his hand several sheets of a note-book, covered with
scribbled writing -- here they are -- and he laid them on
my table.

"'Here is my will,' said he. 'I want you, Mr. McFarlane,
to cast it into proper legal shape.  I will sit here while
you do so.'

"I set myself to copy it, and you can imagine my
astonishment when I found that, with some reservations,
he had left all his property to me.  He was a strange little,
ferret-like man, with white eyelashes, and when I looked up
at him I found his keen grey eyes fixed upon me with an
amused expression.  I could hardly believe my own senses as
I read the terms of the will; but he explained that he was
a bachelor with hardly any living relation, that he had
known my parents in his youth, and that he had always heard
of me as a very deserving young man, and was assured that
his money would be in worthy hands.  Of course, I could
only stammer out my thanks.  The will was duly finished,
signed, and witnessed by my clerk.  This is it on the blue
paper, and these slips, as I have explained, are the rough
draft.  Mr. Jonas Oldacre then informed me that there were
a number of documents -- building leases, title-deeds,
mortgages, scrip, and so forth -- which it was necessary
that I should see and understand.  He said that his mind
would not be easy until the whole thing was settled, and he
begged me to come out to his house at Norwood that night,
bringing the will with me, and to arrange matters.
'Remember, my boy, not one word to your parents about the
affair until everything is settled.  We will keep it as a
little surprise for them.'  He was very insistent upon this
point, and made me promise it faithfully.

"You can imagine, Mr. Holmes, that I was not in a humour
to refuse him anything that he might ask.  He was my
benefactor, and all my desire was to carry out his wishes
in every particular. I sent a telegram home, therefore, to
say that I had important business on hand, and that it was
impossible for me to say how late I might be.  Mr. Oldacre
had told me that he would like me to have supper with him
at nine, as he might not be home before that hour.  I had
some difficulty in finding his house, however, and it was
nearly half-past before I reached it.  I found him ----"

"One moment!" said Holmes.  "Who opened the door?"

"A middle-aged woman, who was, I suppose, his housekeeper."

"And it was she, I presume, who mentioned your name?"

"Exactly," said McFarlane.

"Pray proceed."

McFarlane wiped his damp brow and then continued his
narrative:--

"I was shown by this woman into a sitting-room, where a
frugal supper was laid out.  Afterwards Mr. Jonas Oldacre
led me into his bedroom, in which there stood a heavy safe.
This he opened and took out a mass of documents, which we
went over together.  It was between eleven and twelve when
we finished.  He remarked that we must not disturb the
housekeeper.  He showed me out through his own French
window, which had been open all this time."

"Was the blind down?" asked Holmes.

"I will not be sure, but I believe that it was only half
down.  Yes, I remember how he pulled it up in order to
swing open the window.  I could not find my stick, and he
said, 'Never mind, my boy; I shall see a good deal of you
now, I hope, and I will keep your stick until you come back
to claim it.'  I left him there, the safe open, and the
papers made up in packets upon the table.  It was so late
that I could not get back to Blackheath, so I spent the
night at the Anerley Arms, and I knew nothing more until I
read of this horrible affair in the morning."

"Anything more that you would like to ask, Mr. Holmes?"
said Lestrade, whose eyebrows had gone up once or twice
during this remarkable explanation.

"Not until I have been to Blackheath."

"You mean to Norwood," said Lestrade.

"Oh, yes; no doubt that is what I must have meant," said
Holmes, with his enigmatical smile.  Lestrade had learned
by more experiences than he would care to acknowledge that
that razor-like brain could cut through that which was
impenetrable to him.  I saw him look curiously at my
companion.

"I think I should like to have a word with you presently,
Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said he.  "Now, Mr. McFarlane, two of
my constables are at the door and there is a four-wheeler
waiting."  The wretched young man arose, and with a last
beseeching glance at us walked from the room.  The officers
conducted him to the cab, but Lestrade remained.

Holmes had picked up the pages which formed the rough draft
of the will, and was looking at them with the keenest
interest upon his face.

"There are some points about that document, Lestrade, are
there not?" said he, pushing them over.

The official looked at them with a puzzled expression.

"I can read the first few lines, and these in the middle of
the second page, and one or two at the end.  Those are as
clear as print," said he; "but the writing in between is
very bad, and there are three places where I cannot read it
at all."

"What do you make of that?" said Holmes.

"Well, what do _you_ make of it?"

"That it was written in a train; the good writing
represents stations, the bad writing movement, and the very
bad writing passing over points.  A scientific expert would
pronounce at once that this was drawn up on a suburban line,
since nowhere save in the immediate vicinity of a
great city could there be so quick a succession of points.
Granting that his whole journey was occupied in drawing up
the will, then the train was an express, only stopping once
between Norwood and London Bridge."

Lestrade began to laugh.

"You are too many for me when you begin to get on your theories,
Mr. Holmes," said he.  "How does this bear on the case?"

"Well, it corroborates the young man's story to the extent
that the will was drawn up by Jonas Oldacre in his journey
yesterday.  It is curious -- is it not? -- that a man should
draw up so important a document in so haphazard a fashion.
It suggests that he did not think it was going to be of
much practical importance.  If a man drew up a will which
he did not intend ever to be effective he might do it so."

"Well, he drew up his own death-warrant at the same time,"
said Lestrade.

"Oh, you think so?"

"Don't you?"

"Well, it is quite possible; but the case is not clear to
me yet."

"Not clear?  Well, if that isn't clear, what _could_ be
clear?  Here is a young man who learns suddenly that if a
certain older man dies he will succeed to a fortune.  What
does he do?  He says nothing to anyone, but he arranges
that he shall go out on some pretext to see his client that
night; he waits until the only other person in the house is
in bed, and then in the solitude of the man's room he
murders him, burns his body in the wood-pile, and departs
to a neighbouring hotel.  The blood-stains in the room and
also on the stick are very slight.  It is probable that he
imagined his crime to be a bloodless one, and hoped that if
the body were consumed it would hide all traces of the
method of his death -- traces which for some reason must
have pointed to him.  Is all this not obvious?"

"It strikes me, my good Lestrade, as being just a trifle
too obvious," said Holmes.  "You do not add imagination to
your other great qualities; but if you could for one moment
put yourself in the place of this young man, would you
choose the very night after the will had been made to
commit your crime?  Would it not seem dangerous to you to
make so very close a relation between the two incidents?
Again, would you choose an occasion when you are known to
be in the house, when a servant has let you in?  And,
finally, would you take the great pains to conceal the body
and yet leave your own stick as a sign that you were the
criminal?  Confess, Lestrade, that all this is very
unlikely."

"As to the stick, Mr. Holmes, you know as well as I do that
a criminal is often flurried and does things which a cool
man would avoid.  He was very likely afraid to go back to
the room.  Give me another theory that would fit the facts."

"I could very easily give you half-a-dozen," said Holmes.
"Here, for example, is a very possible and even probable
one.  I make you a free present of it.  The older man is
showing documents which are of evident value.  A passing
tramp sees them through the window, the blind of which is
only half down.  Exit the solicitor.  Enter the tramp!
He seizes a stick, which he observes there, kills Oldacre,
and departs after burning the body."

"Why should the tramp burn the body?"

"For the matter of that why should McFarlane?"

"To hide some evidence."

"Possibly the tramp wanted to hide that any murder at all
had been committed."

"And why did the tramp take nothing?"

"Because they were papers that he could not negotiate."

Lestrade shook his head, though it seemed to me that his
manner was less absolutely assured than before.

"Well, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, you may look for your tramp,
and while you are finding him we will hold on to our man.
The future will show which is right.  Just notice this
point, Mr. Holmes: that so far as we know none of the
papers were removed, and that the prisoner is the one man
in the world who had no reason for removing them, since he
was heir-at-law and would come into them in any case."

My friend seemed struck by this remark.

"I don't mean to deny that the evidence is in some ways
very strongly in favour of your theory," said he.  "I only
wish to point out that there are other theories possible.
As you say, the future will decide.  Good morning!  I dare
say that in the course of the day I shall drop in at
Norwood and see how you are getting on."

When the detective departed my friend rose and made his
preparations for the day's work with the alert air of a man
who has a congenial task before him.

"My first movement, Watson," said he, as he bustled into
his frock-coat, "must, as I said, be in the direction of
Blackheath."

"And why not Norwood?"

"Because we have in this case one singular incident coming
close to the heels of another singular incident.  The
police are making the mistake of concentrating their
attention upon the second, because it happens to be the one
which is actually criminal.  But it is evident to me that
the logical way to approach the case is to begin by trying
to throw some light upon the first incident -- the curious
will, so suddenly made, and to so unexpected an heir.  It
may do something to simplify what followed.  No, my dear
fellow, I don't think you can help me.  There is no
prospect of danger, or I should not dream of stirring out
without you.  I trust that when I see you in the evening
I will be able to report that I have been able to do
something for this unfortunate youngster who has thrown
himself upon my protection."

It was late when my friend returned, and I could see by a
glance at his haggard and anxious face that the high hopes
with which he had started had not been fulfilled.  For an
hour he droned away upon his violin, endeavouring to soothe
his own ruffled spirits.  At last he flung down the
instrument and plunged into a detailed account of his
misadventures.

"It's all going wrong, Watson -- all as wrong as it can go.
I kept a bold face before Lestrade, but, upon my soul, I
believe that for once the fellow is on the right track and
we are on the wrong.  All my instincts are one way and all
the facts are the other, and I much fear that British
juries have not yet attained that pitch of intelligence
when they will give the preference to my theories over
Lestrade's facts."

"Did you go to Blackheath?"

"Yes, Watson, I went there, and I found very quickly that
the late lamented Oldacre was a pretty considerable
black-guard.  The father was away in search of his son.
The mother was at home -- a little, fluffy, blue-eyed
person, in a tremor of fear and indignation.  Of course,
she would not admit even the possibility of his guilt.
But she would not express either surprise or regret over the
fate of Oldacre.  On the contrary, she spoke of him with
such bitterness that she was unconsciously considerably
strengthening the case of the police, for, of course, if
her son had heard her speak of the man in this fashion it
would predispose him towards hatred and violence.  'He was
more like a malignant and cunning ape than a human being,'
said she, 'and he always was, ever since he was a young man.'

"'You knew him at that time?' said I.

"'Yes, I knew him well; in fact, he was an old suitor of
mine.  Thank Heaven that I had the sense to turn away from
him and to marry a better, if a poorer, man.  I was engaged
to him, Mr. Holmes, when I heard a shocking story of how he
had turned a cat loose in an aviary, and I was so horrified
at his brutal cruelty that I would have nothing more to do
with him.'  She rummaged in a bureau, and presently she
produced a photograph of a woman, shamefully defaced and
mutilated with a knife.  'That is my own photograph,' she
said.  'He sent it to me in that state, with his curse,
upon my wedding morning.'

"'Well,' said I, 'at least he has forgiven you now, since
he has left all his property to your son.'

"'Neither my son nor I want anything from Jonas Oldacre,
dead or alive,' she cried, with a proper spirit.  'There is
a God in Heaven, Mr. Holmes, and that same God who has
punished that wicked man will show in His own good time
that my son's hands are guiltless of his blood.'

"Well, I tried one or two leads, but could get at nothing
which would help our hypothesis, and several points which
would make against it.  I gave it up at last and off I went
to Norwood.

"This place, Deep Dene House, is a big modern villa of
staring brick, standing back in its own grounds, with a
laurel-clumped lawn in front of it.  To the right and some
distance back from the road was the timber-yard which had
been the scene of the fire.  Here's a rough plan on a leaf
of my note-book.  This window on the left is the one which
opens into Oldacre's room.  You can look into it from the
road, you see.  That is about the only bit of consolation I
have had to-day.  Lestrade was not there, but his head
constable did the honours.  They had just made a great
treasure-trove.  They had spent the morning raking among
the ashes of the burned wood-pile, and besides the charred
organic remains they had secured several discoloured metal
discs.  I examined them with care, and there was no doubt
that they were trouser buttons.  I even distinguished that
one of them was marked with the name of 'Hyams,' who was
Oldacre's tailor.  I then worked the lawn very carefully
for signs and traces, but this drought has made everything
as hard as iron.  Nothing was to be seen save that some
body or bundle had been dragged through a low privet hedge
which is in a line with the wood-pile.  All that, of
course, fits in with the official theory.  I crawled about
the lawn with an August sun on my back, but I got up at
the end of an hour no wiser than before.

"Well, after this fiasco I went into the bedroom and
examined that also.  The blood-stains were very slight,
mere smears and discolorations, but undoubtedly fresh.
The stick had been removed, but there also the marks were
slight.  There is no doubt about the stick belonging to our
client.  He admits it.  Footmarks of both men could be made
out on the carpet, but none of any third person, which
again is a trick for the other side.  They were piling up
their score all the time and we were at a standstill.

"Only one little gleam of hope did I get -- and yet it
amounted to nothing.  I examined the contents of the safe,
most of which had been taken out and left on the table.
The papers had been made up into sealed envelopes, one or
two of which had been opened by the police.  They were not,
so far as I could judge, of any great value, nor did the
bank-book show that Mr. Oldacre was in such very affluent
circumstances.  But it seemed to me that all the papers
were not there.  There were allusions to some deeds --
possibly the more valuable -- which I could not find.
This, of course, if we could definitely prove it, would
turn Lestrade's argument against himself, for who would
steal a thing if he knew that he would shortly inherit it?

"Finally, having drawn every other cover and picked up no
scent, I tried my luck with the housekeeper.  Mrs.
Lexington is her name, a little, dark, silent person, with
suspicious and sidelong eyes.  She could tell us something
if she would -- I am convinced of it.  But she was as close
as wax.  Yes, she had let Mr. McFarlane in at half-past
nine.  She wished her hand had withered before she had done
so.  She had gone to bed at half-past ten.  Her room was at
the other end of the house, and she could hear nothing of
what passed.  Mr. McFarlane had left his hat, and to the
best of her belief his stick, in the hall.  She had been
awakened by the alarm of fire.  Her poor, dear master had
certainly been murdered.  Had he any enemies?  Well, every
man had enemies, but Mr. Oldacre kept himself very much to
himself, and only met people in the way of business.  She
had seen the buttons, and was sure that they belonged to
the clothes which he had worn last night.  The wood-pile
was very dry, for it had not rained for a month.  It burned
like tinder, and by the time she reached the spot nothing
could be seen but flames.  She and all the firemen smelled
the burned flesh from inside it.  She knew nothing of the
papers, nor of Mr. Oldacre's private affairs.

"So, my dear Watson, there's my report of a failure.  And
yet -- and yet ----" -- he clenched his thin hands in a
paroxysm of conviction -- "I _know_ it's all wrong.  I feel
it in my bones.  There is something that has not come out,
and that housekeeper knows it.  There was a sort of sulky
defiance in her eyes, which only goes with guilty
knowledge.  However, there's no good talking any more about
it, Watson; but unless some lucky chance comes our way I
fear that the Norwood Disappearance Case will not figure in
that chronicle of our successes which I foresee that a
patient public will sooner or later have to endure."

"Surely," said I, "the man's appearance would go far with
any jury?"

"That is a dangerous argument, my dear Watson.
You remember that terrible murderer, Bert Stevens,
who wanted us to get him off in '87?  Was there ever a more
mild-mannered, Sunday-school young man?"

"It is true."

"Unless we succeed in establishing an alternative theory
this man is lost.  You can hardly find a flaw in the case
which can now be presented against him, and all further
investigation has served to strengthen it.  By the way,
there is one curious little point about those papers which
may serve us as the starting-point for an inquiry.
On looking over the bank-book I found that the low state of
the balance was principally due to large cheques which have
been made out during the last year to Mr. Cornelius.
I confess that I should be interested to know who this
Mr. Cornelius may be with whom a retired builder has such very
large transactions.  Is it possible that he has had a hand
in the affair?  Cornelius might be a broker, but we have
found no scrip to correspond with these large payments.
Failing any other indication my researches must now take
the direction of an inquiry at the bank for the gentleman
who has cashed these cheques.  But I fear, my dear fellow,
that our case will end ingloriously by Lestrade hanging our
client, which will certainly be a triumph for Scotland Yard."

I do not know how far Sherlock Holmes took any sleep that
night, but when I came down to breakfast I found him pale
and harassed, his bright eyes the brighter for the dark
shadows round them.  The carpet round his chair was
littered with cigarette-ends and with the early editions of
the morning papers.  An open telegram lay upon the table.

"What do you think of this, Watson?" he asked, tossing it
across.

It was from Norwood, and ran as follows:--

"IMPORTANT FRESH EVIDENCE TO HAND.  MCFARLANE'S GUILT DEFINITELY
ESTABLISHED.  ADVISE YOU TO ABANDON CASE. -- LESTRADE." {2}

"This sounds serious," said I.

"It is Lestrade's little cock-a-doodle of victory," Holmes
answered, with a bitter smile.  "And yet it may be
premature to abandon the case.  After all, important fresh
evidence is a two-edged thing, and may possibly cut in a
very different direction to that which Lestrade imagines.
Take your breakfast, Watson, and we will go out together
and see what we can do.  I feel as if I shall need your
company and your moral support to-day."

My friend had no breakfast himself, for it was one of his
peculiarities that in his more intense moments he would
permit himself no food, and I have known him presume upon
his iron strength until he has fainted from pure inanition.
"At present I cannot spare energy and nerve force for
digestion," he would say, in answer to my medical
remonstrances.  I was not surprised, therefore, when this
morning he left his untouched meal behind him and started
with me for Norwood.  A crowd of morbid sightseers were
still gathered round Deep Dene House, which was just such
a suburban villa as I had pictured.  Within the gates
Lestrade met us, his face flushed with victory, his manner
grossly triumphant.

"Well, Mr. Holmes, have you proved us to be wrong yet?
Have you found your tramp?" he cried.

"I have formed no conclusion whatever," my companion
answered.

"But we formed ours yesterday, and now it proves to be
correct; so you must acknowledge that we have been a little
in front of you this time, Mr. Holmes."

"You certainly have the air of something unusual having
occurred," said Holmes.

Lestrade laughed loudly.

"You don't like being beaten any more than the rest of us
do," said he.  "A man can't expect always to have it his
own way, can he, Dr. Watson?  Step this way, if you please,
gentlemen, and I think I can convince you once for all that
it was John McFarlane who did this crime."

He led us through the passage and out into a dark hall beyond.

"This is where young McFarlane must have come out to get
his hat after the crime was done," said he.  "Now, look at
this."  With dramatic suddenness he struck a match and by
its light exposed a stain of blood upon the whitewashed
wall.  As he held the match nearer I saw that it was more
than a stain.  It was the well-marked print of a thumb.

"Look at that with your magnifying glass, Mr. Holmes."

"Yes, I am doing so."

"You are aware that no two thumb marks are alike?"

"I have heard something of the kind."

"Well, then, will you please compare that print with this
wax impression of young McFarlane's right thumb, taken by
my orders this morning?"

As he held the waxen print close to the blood-stain it did
not take a magnifying glass to see that the two were
undoubtedly from the same thumb.  It was evident to me that
our unfortunate client was lost.

"That is final," said Lestrade.

"Yes, that is final," I involuntarily echoed.

"It is final," said Holmes.

Something in his tone caught my ear, and I turned to look
at him.  An extraordinary change had come over his face.
It was writhing with inward merriment.  His two eyes were
shining like stars.  It seemed to me that he was making
desperate efforts to restrain a convulsive attack of laughter.

"Dear me!  Dear me!" he said at last.  "Well, now, who
would have thought it?  And how deceptive appearances may
be, to be sure!  Such a nice young man to look at!  It is
a lesson to us not to trust our own judgment, is it not,
Lestrade?"

"Yes, some of us are a little too much inclined to be
cocksure, Mr. Holmes," said Lestrade.  The man's insolence
was maddening, but we could not resent it.

"What a providential thing that this young man should press
his right thumb against the wall in taking his hat from the
peg!  Such a very natural action, too, if you come to think
of it."  Holmes was outwardly calm, but his whole body gave
a wriggle of suppressed excitement as he spoke.  "By the way,
Lestrade, who made this remarkable discovery?"

"It was the housekeeper, Mrs. Lexington, who drew the night
constable's attention to it."

"Where was the night constable?"

"He remained on guard in the bedroom where the crime was
committed, so as to see that nothing was touched."

"But why didn't the police see this mark yesterday?"

"Well, we had no particular reason to make a careful
examination of the hall.  Besides, it's not in a very
prominent place, as you see."

"No, no, of course not.  I suppose there is no doubt that
the mark was there yesterday?"

Lestrade looked at Holmes as if he thought he was going out
of his mind.  I confess that I was myself surprised both at
his hilarious manner and at his rather wild observation.

"I don't know whether you think that McFarlane came out of
gaol in the dead of the night in order to strengthen the
evidence against himself," said Lestrade.  "I leave it to any
expert in the world whether that is not the mark of his thumb."

"It is unquestionably the mark of his thumb."

"There, that's enough," said Lestrade.  "I am a practical
man, Mr. Holmes, and when I have got my evidence I come to
my conclusions.  If you have anything to say you will find
me writing my report in the sitting-room."

Holmes had recovered his equanimity, though I still seemed
to detect gleams of amusement in his expression.

"Dear me, this is a very sad development, Watson, is it not?"
said he.  "And yet there are singular points about it which
hold out some hopes for our client."

"I am delighted to hear it," said I, heartily.  "I was
afraid it was all up with him."

"I would hardly go so far as to say that, my dear Watson.
The fact is that there is one really serious flaw in this
evidence to which our friend attaches so much importance."

"Indeed, Holmes!  What is it?"

"Only this: that I _know_ that that mark was not there when
I examined the hall yesterday.  And now, Watson, let us
have a little stroll round in the sunshine."

With a confused brain, but with a heart into which some
warmth of hope was returning, I accompanied my friend in a
walk round the garden.  Holmes took each face of the house
in turn and examined it with great interest.  He then led
the way inside and went over the whole building from
basement to attics.  Most of the rooms were unfurnished,
but none the less Holmes inspected them all minutely.
Finally, on the top corridor, which ran outside three
untenanted bedrooms, he again was seized with a spasm of
merriment.

"There are really some very unique features about this
case, Watson," said he.  "I think it is time now that we
took our friend Lestrade into our confidence.  He has had
his little smile at our expense, and perhaps we may do as
much by him if my reading of this problem proves to be
correct.  Yes, yes; I think I see how we should approach it."

The Scotland Yard inspector was still writing in the
parlour when Holmes interrupted him.

"I understood that you were writing a report of this case,"
said he.

"So I am."

"Don't you think it may be a little premature?  I can't
help thinking that your evidence is not complete."

Lestrade knew my friend too well to disregard his words.
He laid down his pen and looked curiously at him.

"What do you mean, Mr. Holmes?"

"Only that there is an important witness whom you have not
seen."

"Can you produce him?"

"I think I can."

"Then do so."

"I will do my best.  How many constables have you?"

"There are three within call."

"Excellent!" said Holmes.  "May I ask if they are all
large, able-bodied men with powerful voices?"

"I have no doubt they are, though I fail to see what their
voices have to do with it."

"Perhaps I can help you to see that and one or two other
things as well," said Holmes.  "Kindly summon your men,
and I will try."

Five minutes later three policemen had assembled in the hall.

"In the outhouse you will find a considerable quantity of
straw," said Holmes.  "I will ask you to carry in two
bundles of it.  I think it will be of the greatest
assistance in producing the witness whom I require.  Thank
you very much.  I believe you have some matches in your
pocket, Watson.  Now, Mr. Lestrade, I will ask you all to
accompany me to the top landing."

As I have said, there was a broad corridor there, which ran
outside three empty bedrooms.  At one end of the corridor
we were all marshalled by Sherlock Holmes, the constables
grinning and Lestrade staring at my friend with amazement,
expectation, and derision chasing each other across his
features.  Holmes stood before us with the air of a
conjurer who is performing a trick.

"Would you kindly send one of your constables for two
buckets of water?  Put the straw on the floor here, free
from the wall on either side.  Now I think that we are all
ready."

Lestrade's face had begun to grow red and angry.

"I don't know whether you are playing a game with us, Mr.
Sherlock Holmes," said he.  "If you know anything, you can
surely say it without all this tomfoolery."

"I assure you, my good Lestrade, that I have an excellent
reason for everything that I do.  You may possibly remember
that you chaffed me a little some hours ago, when the sun
seemed on your side of the hedge, so you must not grudge me
a little pomp and ceremony now.  Might I ask you, Watson,
to open that window, and then to put a match to the edge of
the straw?"

I did so, and, driven by the draught, a coil of grey smoke
swirled down the corridor, while the dry straw crackled and
flamed.

"Now we must see if we can find this witness for you,
Lestrade.  Might I ask you all to join in the cry of
'Fire!'?  Now, then; one, two, three ----"

"Fire!" we all yelled.

"Thank you.  I will trouble you once again."

"Fire!"

"Just once more, gentlemen, and all together."

"Fire!"  The shout must have rung over Norwood.

It had hardly died away when an amazing thing happened.
A door suddenly flew open out of what appeared to be solid
wall at the end of the corridor, and a little, wizened man
darted out of it, like a rabbit out of its burrow.

"Capital!" said Holmes, calmly.  "Watson, a bucket of water
over the straw.  That will do!  Lestrade, allow me to
present you with your principal missing witness, Mr. Jonas
Oldacre."

The detective stared at the new-comer with blank amazement.
The latter was blinking in the bright light of the
corridor, and peering at us and at the smouldering fire.
It was an odious face -- crafty, vicious, malignant, with
shifty, light-grey eyes and white eyelashes.

"What's this, then?" said Lestrade at last.  "What have you
been doing all this time, eh?"

Oldacre gave an uneasy laugh, shrinking back from the
furious red face of the angry detective.

"I have done no harm."

"No harm?  You have done your best to get an innocent man
hanged.  If it wasn't for this gentleman here, I am not
sure that you would not have succeeded."

The wretched creature began to whimper.

"I am sure, sir, it was only my practical joke."

"Oh! a joke, was it?  You won't find the laugh on your
side, I promise you.  Take him down and keep him in the
sitting-room until I come.  Mr. Holmes," he continued, when
they had gone, "I could not speak before the constables,
but I don't mind saying, in the presence of Dr. Watson,
that this is the brightest thing that you have done yet,
though it is a mystery to me how you did it.  You have
saved an innocent man's life, and you have prevented a very
grave scandal, which would have ruined my reputation in the
Force."

Holmes smiled and clapped Lestrade upon the shoulder.

"Instead of being ruined, my good sir, you will find that
your reputation has been enormously enhanced.  Just make a
few alterations in that report which you were writing, and
they will understand how hard it is to throw dust in the
eyes of Inspector Lestrade."

"And you don't want your name to appear?"

"Not at all.  The work is its own reward.  Perhaps I shall
get the credit also at some distant day when I permit my
zealous historian to lay out his foolscap once more -- eh,
Watson?  Well, now, let us see where this rat has been
lurking."

A lath-and-plaster partition had been run across the
passage six feet from the end, with a door cunningly
concealed in it.  It was lit within by slits under the
eaves.  A few articles of furniture and a supply of food
and water were within, together with a number of books and
papers.

"There's the advantage of being a builder," said Holmes,
as we came out.  "He was able to fix up his own little
hiding-place without any confederate -- save, of course,
that precious housekeeper of his, whom I should lose no
time in adding to your bag, Lestrade."

"I'll take your advice.  But how did you know of this
place, Mr. Holmes?"

"I made up my mind that the fellow was in hiding in the
house.  When I paced one corridor and found it six feet
shorter than the corresponding one below, it was pretty
clear where he was.  I thought he had not the nerve to lie
quiet before an alarm of fire.  We could, of course, have
gone in and taken him, but it amused me to make him reveal
himself; besides, I owed you a little mystification,
Lestrade, for your chaff in the morning."

"Well, sir, you certainly got equal with me on that.  But how
in the world did you know that he was in the house at all?"

"The thumb-mark, Lestrade.  You said it was final; and so
it was, in a very different sense.  I knew it had not been
there the day before.  I pay a good deal of attention to
matters of detail, as you may have observed, and I had
examined the hall and was sure that the wall was clear.
Therefore, it had been put on during the night."

"But how?"

"Very simply.  When those packets were sealed up, Jonas
Oldacre got McFarlane to secure one of the seals by putting
his thumb upon the soft wax.  It would be done so quickly
and so naturally that I dare say the young man himself has
no recollection of it.  Very likely it just so happened,
and Oldacre had himself no notion of the use he would put
it to.  Brooding over the case in that den of his, it
suddenly struck him what absolutely damning evidence he
could make against McFarlane by using that thumb-mark.  It
was the simplest thing in the world for him to take a wax
impression from the seal, to moisten it in as much blood as
he could get from a pin-prick, and to put the mark upon the
wall during the night, either with his own hand or with
that of his housekeeper.  If you examine among those
documents which he took with him into his retreat I will
lay you a wager that you find the seal with the thumb-mark
upon it."

"Wonderful!" said Lestrade.  "Wonderful!  It's all as clear
as crystal, as you put it.  But what is the object of this
deep deception, Mr. Holmes?"

It was amusing to me to see how the detective's overbearing
manner had changed suddenly to that of a child asking
questions of its teacher.

"Well, I don't think that is very hard to explain.  A very
deep, malicious, vindictive person is the gentleman who is
now awaiting us downstairs.  You know that he was once
refused by McFarlane's mother?  You don't!  I told you that
you should go to Blackheath first and Norwood afterwards.
Well, this injury, as he would consider it, has rankled in
his wicked, scheming brain, and all his life he has longed
for vengeance, but never seen his chance.  During the last
year or two things have gone against him -- secret
speculation, I think -- and he finds himself in a bad way.
He determines to swindle his creditors, and for this
purpose he pays large cheques to a certain Mr. Cornelius,
who is, I imagine, himself under another name.  I have not
traced these cheques yet, but I have no doubt that they
were banked under that name at some provincial town where
Oldacre from time to time led a double existence.  He
intended to change his name altogether, draw this money,
and vanish, starting life again elsewhere."

"Well, that's likely enough."

"It would strike him that in disappearing he might throw
all pursuit off his track, and at the same time have an
ample and crushing revenge upon his old sweetheart, if he
could give the impression that he had been murdered by her
only child.  It was a masterpiece of villainy, and he
carried it out like a master.  The idea of the will, which
would give an obvious motive for the crime, the secret
visit unknown to his own parents, the retention of the
stick, the blood, and the animal remains and buttons in the
wood-pile, all were admirable.  It was a net from which it
seemed to me a few hours ago that there was no possible
escape.  But he had not that supreme gift of the artist,
the knowledge of when to stop.  He wished to improve that
which was already perfect -- to draw the rope tighter yet
round the neck of his unfortunate victim -- and so he
ruined all.  Let us descend, Lestrade.  There are just one
or two questions that I would ask him."

The malignant creature was seated in his own parlour with a
policeman upon each side of him.

"It was a joke, my good sir, a practical joke, nothing
more," he whined incessantly.  "I assure you, sir, that I
simply concealed myself in order to see the effect of my
disappearance, and I am sure that you would not be so
unjust as to imagine that I would have allowed any harm to
befall poor young Mr. McFarlane."

"That's for a jury to decide," said Lestrade.  "Anyhow, we
shall have you on a charge of conspiracy, if not for
attempted murder."

"And you'll probably find that your creditors will impound
the banking account of Mr. Cornelius," said Holmes.

The little man started and turned his malignant eyes upon
my friend.

"I have to thank you for a good deal," said he.  "Perhaps
I'll pay my debt some day."

Holmes smiled indulgently.

"I fancy that for some few years you will find your time
very fully occupied," said he.  "By the way, what was it
you put into the wood-pile besides your old trousers?  A
dead dog, or rabbits, or what?  You won't tell?  Dear me,
how very unkind of you!  Well, well, I dare say that a
couple of rabbits would account both for the blood and for
the charred ashes.  If ever you write an account, Watson,
you can make rabbits serve your turn."

{--------------------------------------------------------}
{----------------- End of Text --------------------------}
{--------------------------------------------------------}
{---------------- Textual Notes -------------------------}
{Source: The Strand Magazine 26 (Nov. 1903)}
{1}   {the entire newspaper article is in a smaller type-face,}
{while the letters "ATER" in "LATER" are in small caps}
{2}   {Lestrade's telegram is in small caps}
{--------------------------------------------------------}
{-------------- End Textual Notes -----------------------}
{--------------------------------------------------------}




{DANC, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 3rd proofing}
{The Adventure of the Dancing Men, Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 26 (Dec. 1903)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


III. -- The Adventure of the Dancing Men.

HOLMES had been seated for some hours in silence with his
long, thin back curved over a chemical vessel in which he
was brewing a particularly malodorous product.  His head
was sunk upon his breast, and he looked from my point of
view like a strange, lank bird, with dull grey plumage and
a black top-knot.

"So, Watson," said he, suddenly, "you do not propose to
invest in South African securities?"

I gave a start of astonishment.  Accustomed as I was to
Holmes's curious faculties, this sudden intrusion into my
most intimate thoughts was utterly inexplicable.

"How on earth do you know that?" I asked.

He wheeled round upon his stool, with a steaming test-tube
in his hand and a gleam of amusement in his deep-set eyes.

"Now, Watson, confess yourself utterly taken aback," said
he.

"I am."

"I ought to make you sign a paper to that effect."

"Why?"

"Because in five minutes you will say that it is all so
absurdly simple."

"I am sure that I shall say nothing of the kind."

"You see, my dear Watson" -- he propped his test-tube in
the rack and began to lecture with the air of a professor
addressing his class -- "it is not really difficult to
construct a series of inferences, each dependent upon its
predecessor and each simple in itself.  If, after doing so,
one simply knocks out all the central inferences and
presents one's audience with the starting-point and the
conclusion, one may produce a startling, though possibly a
meretricious, effect.  Now, it was not really difficult, by
an inspection of the groove between your left forefinger
and thumb, to feel sure that you did _not_ propose to
invest your small capital in the goldfields."

"I see no connection."

"Very likely not; but I can quickly show you a close
connection.  Here are the missing links of the very simple
chain: 1. You had chalk between your left finger and thumb
when you returned from the club last night.  2. You put
chalk there when you play billiards to steady the cue.  3.
You never play billiards except with Thurston.  4. You told
me four weeks ago that Thurston had an option on some South
African property which would expire in a month, and which
he desired you to share with him.  5. Your cheque-book is
locked in my drawer, and you have not asked for the key.
6. You do not propose to invest your money in this manner."

"How absurdly simple!" I cried.

"Quite so!" said he, a little nettled.  "Every problem
becomes very childish when once it is explained to you.
Here is an unexplained one.  See what you can make of that,
friend Watson."  He tossed a sheet of paper upon the table
and turned once more to his chemical analysis.

I looked with amazement at the absurd hieroglyphics upon
the paper.

"Why, Holmes, it is a child's drawing," I cried.

"Oh, that's your idea!"

"What else should it be?"

"That is what Mr. Hilton Cubitt, of Riding Thorpe Manor,
Norfolk, is very anxious to know.  This little conundrum
came by the first post, and he was to follow by the next
train.  There's a ring at the bell, Watson.  I should not
be very much surprised if this were he."

A heavy step was heard upon the stairs, and an instant
later there entered a tall, ruddy, clean-shaven gentleman,
whose clear eyes and florid cheeks told of a life led far
from the fogs of Baker Street.  He seemed to bring a whiff
of his strong, fresh, bracing, east-coast air with him as
he entered.  Having shaken hands with each of us, he was
about to sit down when his eye rested upon the paper with
the curious markings, which I had just examined and left
upon the table.

"Well, Mr. Holmes, what do you make of these?" he cried.
"They told me that you were fond of queer mysteries, and I
don't think you can find a queerer one than that.  I sent
the paper on ahead so that you might have time to study it
before I came."

"It is certainly rather a curious production," said Holmes.
"At first sight it would appear to be some childish prank.
It consists of a number of absurd little figures dancing
across the paper upon which they are drawn.  Why should you
attribute any importance to so grotesque an object?"

"I never should, Mr. Holmes.  But my wife does.  It is
frightening her to death.  She says nothing, but I can see
terror in her eyes.  That's why I want to sift the matter
to the bottom."

Holmes held up the paper so that the sunlight shone full
upon it.  It was a page torn from a note-book.  The
markings were done in pencil, and ran in this way:--

                       {GRAPHIC}

Holmes examined it for some time, and then, folding it
carefully up, he placed it in his pocket-book.

"This promises to be a most interesting and unusual case,"
said he.  "You gave me a few particulars in your letter,
Mr. Hilton Cubitt, but I should be very much obliged if you
would kindly go over it all again for the benefit of my
friend, Dr. Watson."

"I'm not much of a story-teller," said our visitor,
nervously clasping and unclasping his great, strong hands.
"You'll just ask me anything that I don't make clear.  I'll
begin at the time of my marriage last year; but I want to
say first of all that, though I'm not a rich man, my people
have been at Ridling Thorpe for a matter of five centuries,
and there is no better known family in the County of
Norfolk.  Last year I came up to London for the Jubilee,
and I stopped at a boarding-house in Russell Square,
because Parker, the vicar of our parish, was staying in it.
There was an American young lady there -- Patrick was the
name -- Elsie Patrick.  In some way we became friends,
until before my month was up I was as much in love as a man
could be.  We were quietly married at a registry office,
and we returned to Norfolk a wedded couple.  You'll think
it very mad, Mr. Holmes, that a man of a good old family
should marry a wife in this fashion, knowing nothing of her
past or of her people; but if you saw her and knew her it
would help you to understand.

"She was very straight about it, was Elsie.  I can't say
that she did not give me every chance of getting out of it
if I wished to do so.  'I have had some very disagreeable
associations in my life,' said she; 'I wish to forget all
about them.  I would rather never allude to the past, for
it is very painful to me.  If you take me, Hilton, you will
take a woman who has nothing that she need be personally
ashamed of; but you will have to be content with my word
for it, and to allow me to be silent as to all that passed
up to the time when I became yours.  If these conditions
are too hard, then go back to Norfolk and leave me to the
lonely life in which you found me.'  It was only the day
before our wedding that she said those very words to me.  I
told her that I was content to take her on her own terms,
and I have been as good as my word.

"Well, we have been married now for a year, and very happy
we have been.  But about a month ago, at the end of June, I
saw for the first time signs of trouble.  One day my wife
received a letter from America.  I saw the American stamp.
She turned deadly white, read the letter, and threw it into
the fire.  She made no allusion to it afterwards, and I
made none, for a promise is a promise; but she has never
known an easy hour from that moment.  There is always a
look of fear upon her face -- a look as if she were waiting
and expecting.  She would do better to trust me.  She would
find that I was her best friend.  But until she speaks I
can say nothing.  Mind you, she is a truthful woman, Mr.
Holmes, and whatever trouble there may have been in her
past life it has been no fault of hers.  I am only a simple
Norfolk squire, but there is not a man in England who ranks
his family honour more highly than I do.  She knows it
well, and she knew it well before she married me.  She
would never bring any stain upon it -- of that I am sure.

"Well, now I come to the queer part of my story.  About a
week ago -- it was the Tuesday of last week -- I found on
one of the window-sills a number of absurd little dancing
figures, like these upon the paper.  They were scrawled
with chalk.  I thought that it was the stable-boy who had
drawn them, but the lad swore he knew nothing about it.
Anyhow, they had come there during the night.  I had them
washed out, and I only mentioned the matter to my wife
afterwards.  To my surprise she took it very seriously, and
begged me if any more came to let her see them.  None did
come for a week, and then yesterday morning I found this
paper lying on the sun-dial in the garden.  I showed it to
Elsie, and down she dropped in a dead faint.  Since then
she has looked like a woman in a dream, half dazed, and
with terror always lurking in her eyes.  It was then that I
wrote and sent the paper to you, Mr. Holmes.  It was not a
thing that I could take to the police, for they would have
laughed at me, but you will tell me what to do.  I am not a
rich man; but if there is any danger threatening my little
woman I would spend my last copper to shield her."

He was a fine creature, this man of the old English soil,
simple, straight, and gentle, with his great, earnest blue
eyes and broad, comely face.  His love for his wife and his
trust in her shone in his features.  Holmes had listened to
his story with the utmost attention, and now he sat for
some time in silent thought.

"Don't you think, Mr. Cubitt," said he, at last, "that your
best plan would be to make a direct appeal to your wife,
and to ask her to share her secret with you?"

Hilton Cubitt shook his massive head.

"A promise is a promise, Mr. Holmes.  If Elsie wished to
tell me she would.  If not, it is not for me to force her
confidence.  But I am justified in taking my own line --
and I will."

"Then I will help you with all my heart.  In the first
place, have you heard of any strangers being seen in your
neighbourhood?"

"No."

"I presume that it is a very quiet place.  Any fresh face
would cause comment?"

"In the immediate neighbourhood, yes.  But we have several
small watering-places not very far away.  And the farmers
take in lodgers."

"These hieroglyphics have evidently a meaning.  If it is a
purely arbitrary one it may be impossible for us to solve
it.  If, on the other hand, it is systematic, I have no
doubt that we shall get to the bottom of it.  But this
particular sample is so short that I can do nothing, and
the facts which you have brought me are so indefinite that
we have no basis for an investigation.  I would suggest
that you return to Norfolk, that you keep a keen look-out,
and that you take an exact copy of any fresh dancing men
which may appear.  It is a thousand pities that we have not
a reproduction of those which were done in chalk upon the
window-sill.  Make a discreet inquiry also as to any
strangers in the neighbourhood.  When you have collected
some fresh evidence come to me again.  That is the best
advice which I can give you, Mr. Hilton Cubitt.  If there
are any pressing fresh developments I shall be always ready
to run down and see you in your Norfolk home."

The interview left Sherlock Holmes very thoughtful, and
several times in the next few days I saw him take his slip
of paper from his note-book and look long and earnestly at
the curious figures inscribed upon it.  He made no allusion
to the affair, however, until one afternoon a fortnight or
so later.  I was going out when he called me back.

"You had better stay here, Watson."

"Why?"

"Because I had a wire from Hilton Cubitt this morning --
you remember Hilton Cubitt, of the dancing men?  He was to
reach Liverpool Street at one-twenty.  He may be here at
any moment.  I gather from his wire that there have been
some new incidents of importance."

We had not long to wait, for our Norfolk squire came
straight from the station as fast as a hansom could bring
him.  He was looking worried and depressed, with tired eyes
and a lined forehead.

"It's getting on my nerves, this business, Mr. Holmes,"
said he, as he sank, like a wearied man, into an arm-chair.
"It's bad enough to feel that you are surrounded by unseen,
unknown folk, who have some kind of design upon you; but
when, in addition to that, you know that it is just killing
your wife by inches, then it becomes as much as flesh and
blood can endure.  She's wearing away under it -- just
wearing away before my eyes."

"Has she said anything yet?"

"No, Mr. Holmes, she has not.  And yet there have been
times when the poor girl has wanted to speak, and yet could
not quite bring herself to take the plunge.  I have tried
to help her; but I dare say I did it clumsily, and scared
her off from it.  She has spoken about my old family, and
our reputation in the county, and our pride in our
unsullied honour, and I always felt it was leading to the
point; but somehow it turned off before we got there."

"But you have found out something for yourself?"

"A good deal, Mr. Holmes.  I have several fresh dancing men
pictures for you to examine, and, what is more important, I
have seen the fellow."

"What, the man who draws them?"

"Yes, I saw him at his work.  But I will tell you
everything in order.  When I got back after my visit to
you, the very first thing I saw next morning was a fresh
crop of dancing men.  They had been drawn in chalk upon the
black wooden door of the tool-house, which stands beside
the lawn in full view of the front windows.  I took an
exact copy, and here it is."  He unfolded a paper and laid
it upon the table.  Here is a copy of the hieroglyphics:--

                       {GRAPHIC}

"Excellent!" said Holmes.  "Excellent!  Pray continue."

"When I had taken the copy I rubbed out the marks; but two
mornings later a fresh inscription had appeared.  I have a
copy of it here":--

                       {GRAPHIC}

Holmes rubbed his hands and chuckled with delight.

"Our material is rapidly accumulating," said he.

"Three days later a message was left scrawled upon paper,
and placed under a pebble upon the sun-dial.  Here it is.
The characters are, as you see, exactly the same as the
last one.  After that I determined to lie in wait; so I got
out my revolver and I sat up in my study, which overlooks
the lawn and garden.  About two in the morning I was seated
by the window, all being dark save for the moonlight
outside, when I heard steps behind me, and there was my
wife in her dressing-gown.  She implored me to come to bed.
I told her frankly that I wished to see who it was who
played such absurd tricks upon us.  She answered that it
was some senseless practical joke, and that I should not
take any notice of it.

"'If it really annoys you, Hilton, we might go and travel,
you and I, and so avoid this nuisance.'

"'What, be driven out of our own house by a practical
joker?' said I.  'Why, we should have the whole county
laughing at us.'

"'Well, come to bed,' said she, 'and we can discuss it in
the morning.'

"Suddenly, as she spoke, I saw her white face grow whiter
yet in the moonlight, and her hand tightened upon my
shoulder.  Something was moving in the shadow of the
tool-house.  I saw a dark, creeping figure which crawled
round the corner and squatted in front of the door.
Seizing my pistol I was rushing out, when my wife threw her
arms round me and held me with convulsive strength.  I
tried to throw her off, but she clung to me most
desperately.  At last I got clear, but by the time I had
opened the door and reached the house the creature was
gone.  He had left a trace of his presence, however, for
there on the door was the very same arrangement of dancing
men which had already twice appeared, and which I have
copied on that paper.  There was no other sign of the
fellow anywhere, though I ran all over the grounds.  And
yet the amazing thing is that he must have been there all
the time, for when I examined the door again in the morning
he had scrawled some more of his pictures under the line
which I had already seen."

"Have you that fresh drawing?"

"Yes; it is very short, but I made a copy of it, and here
it is."

Again he produced a paper.  The new dance was in this form:--

                        {GRAPHIC}

"Tell me," said Holmes -- and I could see by his eyes that
he was much excited -- "was this a mere addition to the
first, or did it appear to be entirely separate?"

"It was on a different panel of the door."

"Excellent!  This is far the most important of all for our
purpose.  It fills me with hopes.  Now, Mr. Hilton Cubitt,
please continue your most interesting statement."

"I have nothing more to say, Mr. Holmes, except that I was
angry with my wife that night for having held me back when
I might have caught the skulking rascal.  She said that she
feared that I might come to harm.  For an instant it had
crossed my mind that perhaps what she really feared was
that _he_ might come to harm, for I could not doubt that
she knew who this man was and what he meant by these
strange signals.  But there is a tone in my wife's voice,
Mr. Holmes, and a look in her eyes which forbid doubt, and
I am sure that it was indeed my own safety that was in her
mind.  There's the whole case, and now I want your advice
as to what I ought to do.  My own inclination is to put
half-a-dozen of my farm lads in the shrubbery, and when
this fellow comes again to give him such a hiding that he
will leave us in peace for the future."

"I fear it is too deep a case for such simple remedies,"
said Holmes.  "How long can you stay in London?"

"I must go back to-day.  I would not leave my wife alone
all night for anything.  She is very nervous and begged me
to come back."

"I dare say you are right.  But if you could have stopped I
might possibly have been able to return with you in a day
or two.  Meanwhile you will leave me these papers, and I
think that it is very likely that I shall be able to pay
you a visit shortly and to throw some light upon your
case."

Sherlock Holmes preserved his calm professional manner
until our visitor had left us, although it was easy for me,
who knew him so well, to see that he was profoundly
excited.  The moment that Hilton Cubitt's broad back had
disappeared through the door my comrade rushed to the
table, laid out all the slips of paper containing dancing
men in front of him, and threw himself into an intricate
and elaborate calculation.  For two hours I watched him as
he covered sheet after sheet of paper with figures and
letters, so completely absorbed in his task that he had
evidently forgotten my presence.  Sometimes he was making
progress and whistled and sang at his work; sometimes he
was puzzled, and would sit for long spells with a furrowed
brow and a vacant eye.  Finally he sprang from his chair
with a cry of satisfaction, and walked up and down the room
rubbing his hands together.  Then he wrote a long telegram
upon a cable form.  "If my answer to this is as I hope, you
will have a very pretty case to add to your collection,
Watson," said he.  "I expect that we shall be able to go
down to Norfolk to-morrow, and to take our friend some very
definite news as to the secret of his annoyance."

I confess that I was filled with curiosity, but I was aware
that Holmes liked to make his disclosures at his own time
and in his own way; so I waited until it should suit him to
take me into his confidence.

But there was a delay in that answering telegram, and two
days of impatience followed, during which Holmes pricked up
his ears at every ring of the bell.  On the evening of the
second there came a letter from Hilton Cubitt.  All was
quiet with him, save that a long inscription had appeared
that morning upon the pedestal of the sun-dial.  He
enclosed a copy of it, which is here reproduced:--

                       {GRAPHIC}

Holmes bent over this grotesque frieze for some minutes,
and then suddenly sprang to his feet with an exclamation of
surprise and dismay.  His face was haggard with anxiety.

"We have let this affair go far enough," said he.  "Is
there a train to North Walsham to-night?"

I turned up the time-table.  The last had just gone.

"Then we shall breakfast early and take the very first in
the morning," said Holmes.  "Our presence is most urgently
needed.  Ah! here is our expected cablegram.  One moment,
Mrs. Hudson; there may be an answer.  No, that is quite as
I expected.  This message makes it even more essential that
we should not lose an hour in letting Hilton Cubitt know
how matters stand, for it is a singular and a dangerous web
in which our simple Norfolk squire is entangled."

So, indeed, it proved, and as I come to the dark conclusion
of a story which had seemed to me to be only childish and
bizarre I experience once again the dismay and horror with
which I was filled.  Would that I had some brighter ending
to communicate to my readers, but these are the chronicles
of fact, and I must follow to their dark crisis the strange
chain of events which for some days made Ridling Thorpe
Manor a household word through the length and breadth of
England.

We had hardly alighted at North Walsham, and mentioned the
name of our destination, when the station-master hurried
towards us.  "I suppose that you are the detectives from
London?" said he.

A look of annoyance passed over Holmes's face.

"What makes you think such a thing?"

"Because Inspector Martin from Norwich has just passed
through.  But maybe you are the surgeons.  She's not dead --
or wasn't by last accounts.  You may be in time to save
her yet -- though it be for the gallows."

Holmes's brow was dark with anxiety.

"We are going to Ridling Thorpe Manor," said he, "but we
have heard nothing of what has passed there."

"It's a terrible business," said the station-master.  "They
are shot, both Mr. Hilton Cubitt and his wife.  She shot
him and then herself -- so the servants say.  He's dead and
her life is despaired of.  Dear, dear, one of the oldest
families in the County of Norfolk, and one of the most
honoured."

Without a word Holmes hurried to a carriage, and during the
long seven miles' drive he never opened his mouth.  Seldom
have I seen him so utterly despondent.  He had been uneasy
during all our journey from town, and I had observed that
he had turned over the morning papers with anxious
attention; but now this sudden realization of his worst
fears left him in a blank melancholy.  He leaned back in
his seat, lost in gloomy speculation.  Yet there was much
around us to interest us, for we were passing through as
singular a country-side as any in England, where a few
scattered cottages represented the population of to-day,
while on every hand enormous square-towered churches
bristled up from the flat, green landscape and told of the
glory and prosperity of old East Anglia.  At last the
violet rim of the German Ocean appeared over the green edge
of the Norfolk coast, and the driver pointed with his whip
to two old brick and timber gables which projected from a
grove of trees.  "That's Ridling Thorpe Manor," said he.

As we drove up to the porticoed front door I observed in
front of it, beside the tennis lawn, the black tool-house
and the pedestalled sun-dial with which we had such strange
associations.  A dapper little man, with a quick, alert
manner and a waxed moustache, had just descended from a
high dog-cart.  He introduced himself as Inspector Martin,
of the Norfolk Constabulary, and he was considerably
astonished when he heard the name of my companion.

"Why, Mr. Holmes, the crime was only committed at three
this morning.  How could you hear of it in London and get
to the spot as soon as I?"

"I anticipated it.  I came in the hope of preventing it."

"Then you must have important evidence of which we are
ignorant, for they were said to be a most united couple."

"I have only the evidence of the dancing men," said Holmes.
"I will explain the matter to you later.  Meanwhile, since
it is too late to prevent this tragedy, I am very anxious
that I should use the knowledge which I possess in order to
ensure that justice be done.  Will you associate me in your
investigation, or will you prefer that I should act
independently?"

"I should be proud to feel that we were acting together,
Mr. Holmes," said the inspector, earnestly.

"In that case I should be glad to hear the evidence and to
examine the premises without an instant of unnecessary
delay."

Inspector Martin had the good sense to allow my friend to
do things in his own fashion, and contented himself with
carefully noting the results.  The local surgeon, an old,
white-haired man, had just come down from Mrs. Hilton
Cubitt's room, and he reported that her injuries were
serious, but not necessarily fatal.  The bullet had passed
through the front of her brain, and it would probably be
some time before she could regain consciousness.  On the
question of whether she had been shot or had shot herself
he would not venture to express any decided opinion.
Certainly the bullet had been discharged at very close
quarters.  There was only the one pistol found in the room,
two barrels of which had been emptied.  Mr. Hilton Cubitt
had been shot through the heart.  It was equally
conceivable that he had shot her and then himself, or that
she had been the criminal, for the revolver lay upon the
floor midway between them.

"Has he been moved?" asked Holmes.

"We have moved nothing except the lady.  We could not leave
her lying wounded upon the floor."

"How long have you been here, doctor?"

"Since four o'clock."

"Anyone else?"

"Yes, the constable here."

"And you have touched nothing?"

"Nothing."

"You have acted with great discretion.  Who sent for you?"

"The housemaid, Saunders."

"Was it she who gave the alarm?"

"She and Mrs. King, the cook."

"Where are they now?"

"In the kitchen, I believe."

"Then I think we had better hear their story at once."

The old hall, oak-panelled and high-windowed, had been
turned into a court of investigation.  Holmes sat in a
great, old-fashioned chair, his inexorable eyes gleaming
out of his haggard face.  I could read in them a set
purpose to devote his life to this quest until the client
whom he had failed to save should at last be avenged.  The
trim Inspector Martin, the old, grey-headed country doctor,
myself, and a stolid village policeman made up the rest of
that strange company.

The two women told their story clearly enough.  They had
been aroused from their sleep by the sound of an explosion,
which had been followed a minute later by a second one.
They slept in adjoining rooms, and Mrs. King had rushed in
to Saunders.  Together they had descended the stairs.  The
door of the study was open and a candle was burning upon
the table.  Their master lay upon his face in the centre of
the room.  He was quite dead.  Near the window his wife was
crouching, her head leaning against the wall.  She was
horribly wounded, and the side of her face was red with
blood.  She breathed heavily, but was incapable of saying
anything.  The passage, as well as the room, was full of
smoke and the smell of powder.  The window was certainly
shut and fastened upon the inside.  Both women were
positive upon the point.  They had at once sent for the
doctor and for the constable.  Then, with the aid of the
groom and the stable-boy, they had conveyed their injured
mistress to her room.  Both she and her husband had
occupied the bed.  She was clad in her dress -- he in his
dressing-gown, over his night clothes.  Nothing had been
moved in the study.  So far as they knew there had never
been any quarrel between husband and wife.  They had always
looked upon them as a very united couple.

These were the main points of the servants' evidence.  In
answer to Inspector Martin they were clear that every door
was fastened upon the inside, and that no one could have
escaped from the house.  In answer to Holmes they both
remembered that they were conscious of the smell of powder
from the moment that they ran out of their rooms upon the
top floor.  "I commend that fact very carefully to your
attention," said Holmes to his professional colleague.
"And now I think that we are in a position to undertake a
thorough examination of the room."

The study proved to be a small chamber, lined on three
sides with books, and with a writing-table facing an
ordinary window, which looked out upon the garden.  Our
first attention was given to the body of the unfortunate
squire, whose huge frame lay stretched across the room.
His disordered dress showed that he had been hastily
aroused from sleep.  The bullet had been fired at him from
the front, and had remained in his body after penetrating
the heart.  His death had certainly been instantaneous and
painless.  There was no powder-marking either upon his
dressing-gown or on his hands.  According to the country
surgeon the lady had stains upon her face, but none upon
her hand.

"The absence of the latter means nothing, though its
presence may mean everything," said Holmes.  "Unless the
powder from a badly-fitting cartridge happens to spurt
backwards, one may fire many shots without leaving a sign.
I would suggest that Mr. Cubitt's body may now be removed.
I suppose, doctor, you have not recovered the bullet which
wounded the lady?"

"A serious operation will be necessary before that can be
done.  But there are still four cartridges in the revolver.
Two have been fired and two wounds inflicted, so that each
bullet can be accounted for."

"So it would seem," said Holmes.  "Perhaps you can account
also for the bullet which has so obviously struck the edge
of the window?"

He had turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was
pointing to a hole which had been drilled right through the
lower window-sash about an inch above the bottom.

"By George!" cried the inspector.  "How ever did you see
that?"

"Because I looked for it."

"Wonderful!" said the country doctor.  "You are certainly
right, sir.  Then a third shot has been fired, and
therefore a third person must have been present.  But who
could that have been and how could he have got away?"

"That is the problem which we are now about to solve," said
Sherlock Holmes.  "You remember, Inspector Martin, when the
servants said that on leaving their room they were at once
conscious of a smell of powder I remarked that the point
was an extremely important one?"

"Yes, sir; but I confess I did not quite follow you."

"It suggested that at the time of the firing the window as
well as the door of the room had been open.  Otherwise the
fumes of powder could not have been blown so rapidly
through the house.  A draught in the room was necessary for
that.  Both door and window were only open for a very short
time, however."

"How do you prove that?"

"Because the candle has not guttered."

"Capital!" cried the inspector.  "Capital!"

"Feeling sure that the window had been open at the time of
the tragedy I conceived that there might have been a third
person in the affair, who stood outside this opening and
fired through it.  Any shot directed at this person might
hit the sash.  I looked, and there, sure enough, was the
bullet mark!"

"But how came the window to be shut and fastened?"

"The woman's first instinct would be to shut and fasten the
window.  But, halloa! what is this?"

It was a lady's hand-bag which stood upon the study table --
a trim little hand-bag of crocodile-skin and silver.
Holmes opened it and turned the contents out.  There were
twenty fifty-pound notes of the Bank of England, held
together by an india-rubber band -- nothing else.

"This must be preserved, for it will figure in the trial,"
said Holmes, as he handed the bag with its contents to the
inspector.  "It is now necessary that we should try to
throw some light upon this third bullet, which has clearly,
from the splintering of the wood, been fired from inside
the room.  I should like to see Mrs. King, the cook, again.
You said, Mrs. King, that you were awakened by a _loud_
explosion.  When you said that, did you mean that it seemed
to you to be louder than the second one?"

"Well, sir, it wakened me from my sleep, and so it is hard
to judge.  But it did seem very loud."

"You don't think that it might have been two shots fired
almost at the same instant?"

"I am sure I couldn't say, sir."

"I believe that it was undoubtedly so.  I rather think,
Inspector Martin, that we have now exhausted all that this
room can teach us.  If you will kindly step round with me,
we shall see what fresh evidence the garden has to offer."

A flower-bed extended up to the study window, and we all
broke into an exclamation as we approached it.  The flowers
were trampled down, and the soft soil was imprinted all
over with footmarks.  Large, masculine feet they were, with
peculiarly long, sharp toes.  Holmes hunted about among the
grass and leaves like a retriever after a wounded bird.
Then, with a cry of satisfaction, he bent forward and
picked up a little brazen cylinder.

"I thought so," said he; "the revolver had an ejector, and
here is the third cartridge.  I really think, Inspector
Martin, that our case is almost complete."

The country inspector's face had shown his intense
amazement at the rapid and masterful progress of Holmes's
investigation.  At first he had shown some disposition to
assert his own position; but now he was overcome with
admiration and ready to follow without question wherever
Holmes led.

"Whom do you suspect?" he asked.

"I'll go into that later.  There are several points in this
problem which I have not been able to explain to you yet.
Now that I have got so far I had best proceed on my own
lines, and then clear the whole matter up once and for
all."

"Just as you wish, Mr. Holmes, so long as we get our man."

"I have no desire to make mysteries, but it is impossible
at the moment of action to enter into long and complex
explanations.  I have the threads of this affair all in my
hand.  Even if this lady should never recover consciousness
we can still reconstruct the events of last night and
ensure that justice be done.  First of all I wish to know
whether there is any inn in this neighbourhood known as
'Elrige's'?"

The servants were cross-questioned, but none of them had
heard of such a place.  The stable-boy threw a light upon
the matter by remembering that a farmer of that name lived
some miles off in the direction of East Ruston.

"Is it a lonely farm?"

"Very lonely, sir."

"Perhaps they have not heard yet of all that happened here
during the night?"

"Maybe not, sir."

Holmes thought for a little and then a curious smile played
over his face.

"Saddle a horse, my lad," said he.  "I shall wish you to
take a note to Elrige's Farm."

He took from his pocket the various slips of the dancing
men.  With these in front of him he worked for some time at
the study-table.  Finally he handed a note to the boy, with
directions to put it into the hands of the person to whom
it was addressed, and especially to answer no questions of
any sort which might be put to him.  I saw the outside of
the note, addressed in straggling, irregular characters,
very unlike Holmes's usual precise hand.  It was consigned
to Mr. Abe Slaney, Elrige's Farm, East Ruston, Norfolk.

"I think, inspector," Holmes remarked, "that you would do
well to telegraph for an escort, as, if my calculations
prove to be correct, you may have a particularly dangerous
prisoner to convey to the county gaol.  The boy who takes
this note could no doubt forward your telegram.  If there
is an afternoon train to town, Watson, I think we should do
well to take it, as I have a chemical analysis of some
interest to finish, and this investigation draws rapidly to
a close."

When the youth had been dispatched with the note, Sherlock
Holmes gave his instructions to the servants.  If any
visitor were to call asking for Mrs. Hilton Cubitt no
information should be given as to her condition, but he was
to be shown at once into the drawing-room.  He impressed
these points upon them with the utmost earnestness.
Finally he led the way into the drawing-room with the
remark that the business was now out of our hands, and that
we must while away the time as best we might until we could
see what was in store for us.  The doctor had departed to
his patients, and only the inspector and myself remained.

"I think that I can help you to pass an hour in an
interesting and profitable manner," said Holmes, drawing
his chair up to the table and spreading out in front of him
the various papers upon which were recorded the antics of
the dancing men.  "As to you, friend Watson, I owe you
every atonement for having allowed your natural curiosity
to remain so long unsatisfied.  To you, inspector, the
whole incident may appeal as a remarkable professional
study.  I must tell you first of all the interesting
circumstances connected with the previous consultations
which Mr. Hilton Cubitt has had with me in Baker Street."
He then shortly recapitulated the facts which have already
been recorded.  "I have here in front of me these singular
productions, at which one might smile had they not proved
themselves to be the fore-runners of so terrible a tragedy.
I am fairly familiar with all forms of secret writings, and
am myself the author of a trifling monograph upon the
subject, in which I analyze one hundred and sixty separate
ciphers; but I confess that this is entirely new to me.
The object of those who invented the system has apparently
been to conceal that these characters convey a message, and
to give the idea that they are the mere random sketches of
children.

"Having once recognised, however, that the symbols stood
for letters, and having applied the rules which guide us in
all forms of secret writings, the solution was easy enough.
The first message submitted to me was so short that it was
impossible for me to do more than to say with some
confidence that the symbol

                       {GRAPHIC}

stood for E.  As you are aware, E is the most common letter
in the English alphabet, and it predominates to so marked
an extent that even in a short sentence one would expect to
find it most often.  Out of fifteen symbols in the first
message four were the same, so it was reasonable to set
this down as E.  It is true that in some cases the figure
was bearing a flag and in some cases not, but it was
probable from the way in which the flags were distributed
that they were used to break the sentence up into words.  I
accepted this as a hypothesis, and noted that E was
represented by

                      {GRAPHIC}

"But now came the real difficulty of the inquiry.  The
order of the English letters after E is by no means well
marked, and any preponderance which may be shown in an
average of a printed sheet may be reversed in a single
short sentence.  Speaking roughly, T, A, O, I, N, S, H, R,
D, and L are the numerical order in which letters occur;
but T, A, O, and I are very nearly abreast of each other,
and it would be an endless task to try each combination
until a meaning was arrived at.  I, therefore, waited for
fresh material.  In my second interview with Mr. Hilton
Cubitt he was able to give me two other short sentences and
one message, which appeared -- since there was no flag --
to be a single word.  Here are the symbols.  Now, in the
single word I have already got the two E's coming second
and fourth in a word of five letters.  It might be 'sever,'
or 'lever,' or 'never.'  There can be no question that the
latter as a reply to an appeal is far the most probable,
and the circumstances pointed to its being a reply written
by the lady.  Accepting it as correct, we are now able to
say that the symbols

                      {GRAPHIC}

stand respectively for N, V, and R.

"Even now I was in considerable difficulty, but a happy
thought put me in possession of several other letters.  It
occurred to me that if these appeals came, as I expected,
from someone who had been intimate with the lady in her
early life, a combination which contained two E's with
three letters between might very well stand for the name
'ELSIE.'  On examination I found that such a combination
formed the termination of the message which was three times
repeated.  It was certainly some appeal to 'Elsie.'  In
this way I had got my L, S, and I.  But what appeal could
it be?  There were only four letters in the word which
preceded 'Elsie,' and it ended in E.  Surely the word must
be 'COME.'  I tried all other four letters ending in E, but
could find none to fit the case.  So now I was in
possession of C, O, and M, and I was in a position to
attack the first message once more, dividing it into words
and putting dots for each symbol which was still unknown.
So treated it worked out in this fashion:--

.M  .ERE  ..E  SL.NE.

"Now the first letter _can_ only be A, which is a most
useful discovery, since it occurs no fewer than three times
in this short sentence, and the H is also apparent in the
second word.  Now it becomes:--

AM  HERE  A.E  SLANE.

Or, filling in the obvious vacancies in the name:--

AM  HERE  ABE  SLANEY.

I had so many letters now that I could proceed with
considerable confidence to the second message, which worked
out in this fashion:--

A.  ELRI.ES.

Here I could only make sense by putting T and G for the
missing letters, and supposing that the name was that of
some house or inn at which the writer was staying."

Inspector Martin and I had listened with the utmost
interest to the full and clear account of how my friend had
produced results which had led to so complete a command
over our difficulties.

"What did you do then, sir?" asked the inspector.

"I had every reason to suppose that this Abe Slaney was an
American, since Abe is an American contraction, and since a
letter from America had been the starting-point of all the
trouble.  I had also every cause to think that there was
some criminal secret in the matter.  The lady's allusions
to her past and her refusal to take her husband into her
confidence both pointed in that direction.  I therefore
cabled to my friend, Wilson Hargreave, of the New York
Police Bureau, who has more than once made use of my
knowledge of London crime.  I asked him whether the name of
Abe Slaney was known to him.  Here is his reply:  'The most
dangerous crook in Chicago.'  On the very evening upon
which I had his answer Hilton Cubitt sent me the last
message from Slaney.  Working with known letters it took
this form:--

ELSIE  .RE.ARE  TO  MEET  THY  GO.

The addition of a P and a D completed a message which
showed me that the rascal was proceeding from persuasion to
threats, and my knowledge of the crooks of Chicago prepared
me to find that he might very rapidly put his words into
action.  I at once came to Norfolk with my friend and
colleague, Dr. Watson, but, unhappily, only in time to find
that the worst had already occurred."

"It is a privilege to be associated with you in the
handling of a case," said the inspector, warmly.  "You will
excuse me, however, if I speak frankly to you.  You are
only answerable to yourself, but I have to answer to my
superiors.  If this Abe Slaney, living at Elrige's, is
indeed the murderer, and if he has made his escape while I
am seated here, I should certainly get into serious
trouble."

"You need not be uneasy.  He will not try to escape."

"How do you know?"

"To fly would be a confession of guilt."

"Then let us go to arrest him."

"I expect him here every instant."

"But why should he come?"

"Because I have written and asked him."

"But this is incredible, Mr. Holmes!  Why should he come
because you have asked him?  Would not such a request
rather rouse his suspicions and cause him to fly?"

"I think I have known how to frame the letter," said
Sherlock Holmes.  "In fact, if I am not very much mistaken,
here is the gentleman himself coming up the drive."

A man was striding up the path which led to the door.  He
was a tall, handsome, swarthy fellow, clad in a suit of
grey flannel, with a Panama hat, a bristling black beard,
and a great, aggressive hooked nose, and flourishing a cane
as he walked.  He swaggered up the path as if the place
belonged to him, and we heard his loud, confident peal at
the bell.

"I think, gentlemen," said Holmes, quietly, "that we had
best take up our position behind the door.  Every
precaution is necessary when dealing with such a fellow.
You will need your handcuffs, inspector.  You can leave the
talking to me."

We waited in silence for a minute -- one of those minutes
which one can never forget.  Then the door opened and the
man stepped in.  In an instant Holmes clapped a pistol to
his head and Martin slipped the handcuffs over his wrists.
It was all done so swiftly and deftly that the fellow was
helpless before he knew that he was attacked.  He glared
from one to the other of us with a pair of blazing black
eyes.  Then he burst into a bitter laugh.

"Well, gentlemen, you have the drop on me this time.  I
seem to have knocked up against something hard.  But I came
here in answer to a letter from Mrs. Hilton Cubitt.  Don't
tell me that she is in this?  Don't tell me that she helped
to set a trap for me?"

"Mrs. Hilton Cubitt was seriously injured and is at death's
door."

The man gave a hoarse cry of grief which rang through the
house.

"You're crazy!" he cried, fiercely.  "It was he that was
hurt, not she.  Who would have hurt little Elsie?  I may
have threatened her, God forgive me, but I would not have
touched a hair of her pretty head.  Take it back -- you!
Say that she is not hurt!"

"She was found badly wounded by the side of her dead
husband."

He sank with a deep groan on to the settee and buried his
face in his manacled hands.  For five minutes he was
silent.  Then he raised his face once more, and spoke with
the cold composure of despair.

"I have nothing to hide from you, gentlemen," said he.  "If
I shot the man he had his shot at me, and there's no murder
in that.  But if you think I could have hurt that woman,
then you don't know either me or her.  I tell you there was
never a man in this world loved a woman more than I loved
her.  I had a right to her.  She was pledged to me years
ago.  Who was this Englishman that he should come between
us?  I tell you that I had the first right to her, and that
I was only claiming my own."

"She broke away from your influence when she found the man
that you are," said Holmes, sternly.  "She fled from
America to avoid you, and she married an honourable
gentleman in England.  You dogged her and followed her and
made her life a misery to her in order to induce her to
abandon the husband whom she loved and respected in order
to fly with you, whom she feared and hated.  You have ended
by bringing about the death of a noble man and driving his
wife to suicide.  That is your record in this business, Mr.
Abe Slaney, and you will answer for it to the law."

"If Elsie dies I care nothing what becomes of me," said the
American.  He opened one of his hands and looked at a note
crumpled up in his palm.  "See here, mister," he cried,
with a gleam of suspicion in his eyes, "you're not trying
to scare me over this, are you?  If the lady is hurt as bad
as you say, who was it that wrote this note?"  He tossed it
forwards on to the table.

"I wrote it to bring you here."

"You wrote it?  There was no one on earth outside the Joint
who knew the secret of the dancing men.  How came you to
write it?"

"What one man can invent another can discover," said
Holmes.  "There is a cab coming to convey you to Norwich,
Mr. Slaney.  But, meanwhile, you have time to make some
small reparation for the injury you have wrought.  Are you
aware that Mrs. Hilton Cubitt has herself lain under grave
suspicion of the murder of her husband, and that it was
only my presence here and the knowledge which I happened to
possess which has saved her from the accusation?  The least
that you owe her is to make it clear to the whole world
that she was in no way, directly or indirectly, responsible
for his tragic end."

"I ask nothing better," said the American.  "I guess the
very best case I can make for myself is the absolute naked
truth."

"It is my duty to warn you that it will be used against
you," cried the inspector, with the magnificent fair-play
of the British criminal law.

Slaney shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll chance that," said he.  "First of all, I want you
gentlemen to understand that I have known this lady since
she was a child.  There were seven of us in a gang in
Chicago, and Elsie's father was the boss of the Joint.  He
was a clever man, was old Patrick.  It was he who invented
that writing, which would pass as a child's scrawl unless
you just happened to have the key to it.  Well, Elsie
learned some of our ways; but she couldn't stand the
business, and she had a bit of honest money of her own, so
she gave us all the slip and got away to London.  She had
been engaged to me, and she would have married me, I
believe, if I had taken over another profession; but she
would have nothing to do with anything on the cross.  It
was only after her marriage to this Englishman that I was
able to find out where she was.  I wrote to her, but got no
answer.  After that I came over, and, as letters were no
use, I put my messages where she could read them.

"Well, I have been here a month now.  I lived in that farm,
where I had a room down below, and could get in and out
every night, and no one the wiser.  I tried all I could to
coax Elsie away.  I knew that she read the messages, for
once she wrote an answer under one of them.  Then my temper
got the better of me, and I began to threaten her.  She
sent me a letter then, imploring me to go away and saying
that it would break her heart if any scandal should come
upon her husband.  She said that she would come down when
her husband was asleep at three in the morning, and speak
with me through the end window, if I would go away
afterwards and leave her in peace.  She came down and
brought money with her, trying to bribe me to go.  This
made me mad, and I caught her arm and tried to pull her
through the window.  At that moment in rushed the husband
with his revolver in his hand.  Elsie had sunk down upon
the floor, and we were face to face.  I was heeled also,
and I held up my gun to scare him off and let me get away.
He fired and missed me.  I pulled off almost at the same
instant, and down he dropped.  I made away across the
garden, and as I went I heard the window shut behind me.
That's God's truth, gentlemen, every word of it, and I
heard no more about it until that lad came riding up with a
note which made me walk in here, like a jay, and give
myself into your hands."

A cab had driven up whilst the American had been talking.
Two uniformed policemen sat inside.  Inspector Martin rose
and touched his prisoner on the shoulder.

"It is time for us to go."

"Can I see her first?"

"No, she is not conscious.  Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I only
hope that if ever again I have an important case I shall
have the good fortune to have you by my side."

We stood at the window and watched the cab drive away.  As
I turned back my eye caught the pellet of paper which the
prisoner had tossed upon the table.  It was the note with
which Holmes had decoyed him.

"See if you can read it, Watson," said he, with a smile.

It contained no word, but this little line of dancing men:--

                       {GRAPHIC}

"If you use the code which I have explained," said Holmes,
"you will find that it simply means 'Come here at once.'  I
was convinced that it was an invitation which he would not
refuse, since he could never imagine that it could come
from anyone but the lady.  And so, my dear Watson, we have
ended by turning the dancing men to good when they have so
often been the agents of evil, and I think that I have
fulfilled my promise of giving you something unusual for
your note-book.  Three-forty is our train, and I fancy we
should be back in Baker Street for dinner.


Only one word of epilogue.  The American, Abe Slaney, was
condemned to death at the winter assizes at Norwich; but
his penalty was changed to penal servitude in consideration
of mitigating circumstances, and the certainty that Hilton
Cubitt had fired the first shot.  Of Mrs. Hilton Cubitt I
only know that I have heard she recovered entirely, and
that she still remains a widow, devoting her whole life to
the care of the poor and to the administration of her
husband's estate.

{--------------------------------------------------------}
{----------------------- End of Text --------------------}
{--------------------------------------------------------}
{------------------ Textual Notes -----------------------}
{Dancing Men graphics are indicated by the term {GRAPHIC}}
{---------------- End Textual Notes ---------------------}
{--------------------------------------------------------}




{SOLI, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 4th proofing}
{The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist, Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 27 (Jan. 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


IV. -- The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist.

FROM the years 1894 to 1901 inclusive Mr. Sherlock Holmes
was a very busy man.  It is safe to say that there was no
public case of any difficulty in which he was not consulted
during those eight years, and there were hundreds of
private cases, some of them of the most intricate and
extraordinary character, in which he played a prominent
part.  Many startling successes and a few unavoidable
failures were the outcome of this long period of continuous
work.  As I have preserved very full notes of all these
cases, and was myself personally engaged in many of them,
it may be imagined that it is no easy task to know which I
should select to lay before the public.  I shall, however,
preserve my former rule, and give the preference to those
cases which derive their interest not so much from the
brutality of the crime as from the ingenuity and dramatic
quality of the solution.  For this reason I will now lay
before the reader the facts connected with Miss Violet
Smith, the solitary cyclist of Charlington, and the curious
sequel of our investigation, which culminated in unexpected
tragedy.  It is true that the circumstances did not admit
of any striking illustration of those powers for which my
friend was famous, but there were some points about the
case which made it stand out in those long records of crime
from which I gather the material for these little
narratives.

On referring to my note-book for the year 1895 I find that
it was upon Saturday, the 23rd of April, that we first
heard of Miss Violet Smith.  Her visit was, I remember,
extremely unwelcome to Holmes, for he was immersed at the
moment in a very abstruse and complicated problem
concerning the peculiar persecution to which John Vincent
Harden, the well-known tobacco millionaire, had been
subjected.  My friend, who loved above all things precision
and concentration of thought, resented anything which
distracted his attention from the matter in hand.  And yet
without a harshness which was foreign to his nature it was
impossible to refuse to listen to the story of the young
and beautiful woman, tall, graceful, and queenly, who
presented herself at Baker Street late in the evening and
implored his assistance and advice.  It was vain to urge
that his time was already fully occupied, for the young
lady had come with the determination to tell her story, and
it was evident that nothing short of force could get her
out of the room until she had done so.  With a resigned air
and a somewhat weary smile, Holmes begged the beautiful
intruder to take a seat and to inform us what it was that
was troubling her.

"At least it cannot be your health," said he, as his keen
eyes darted over her; "so ardent a bicyclist must be full
of energy."

She glanced down in surprise at her own feet, and I
observed the slight roughening of the side of the sole
caused by the friction of the edge of the pedal.

"Yes, I bicycle a good deal, Mr. Holmes, and that has
something to do with my visit to you to-day."

My friend took the lady's ungloved hand and examined it
with as close an attention and as little sentiment as a
scientist would show to a specimen.

"You will excuse me, I am sure.  It is my business," said
he, as he dropped it.  "I nearly fell into the error of
supposing that you were typewriting.  Of course, it is
obvious that it is music.  You observe the spatulate
finger-end, Watson, which is common to both professions?
There is a spirituality about the face, however" -- he
gently turned it towards the light -- "which the typewriter
does not generate.  This lady is a musician."

"Yes, Mr. Holmes, I teach music."

"In the country, I presume, from your complexion."

"Yes, sir; near Farnham, on the borders of Surrey."

"A beautiful neighbourhood and full of the most interesting
associations.  You remember, Watson, that it was near there
that we took Archie Stamford, the forger.  Now, Miss Violet,
what has happened to you near Farnham, on the borders of Surrey?"

The young lady, with great clearness and composure, made
the following curious statement:--

"My father is dead, Mr. Holmes.  He was James Smith,
who conducted the orchestra at the old Imperial Theatre.
My mother and I were left without a relation in the world
except one uncle, Ralph Smith, who went to Africa
twenty-five years ago, and we have never had a word from
him since.  When father died we were left very poor, but
one day we were told that there was an advertisement in the
_Times_ inquiring for our whereabouts.  You can imagine how
excited we were, for we thought that someone had left us a
fortune.  We went at once to the lawyer whose name was
given in the paper.  There we met two gentlemen, Mr.
Carruthers and Mr. Woodley, who were home on a visit from
South Africa.  They said that my uncle was a friend of
theirs, that he died some months before in great poverty in
Johannesburg, and that he had asked them with his last
breath to hunt up his relations and see that they were in
no want.  It seemed strange to us that Uncle Ralph, who
took no notice of us when he was alive, should be so
careful to look after us when he was dead; but Mr.
Carruthers explained that the reason was that my uncle had
just heard of the death of his brother, and so felt
responsible for our fate."

"Excuse me," said Holmes; "when was this interview?"

"Last December -- four months ago."

"Pray proceed."

"Mr. Woodley seemed to me to be a most odious person.
He was for ever making eyes at me -- a coarse, puffy-faced,
red-moustached young man, with his hair plastered down on
each side of his forehead.  I thought that he was perfectly
hateful -- and I was sure that Cyril would not wish me to
know such a person."

"Oh, Cyril is his name!" said Holmes, smiling.

The young lady blushed and laughed.

"Yes, Mr. Holmes; Cyril Morton, an electrical engineer, and
we hope to be married at the end of the summer.  Dear me,
how _did_ I get talking about him?  What I wished to say
was that Mr. Woodley was perfectly odious, but that Mr.
Carruthers, who was a much older man, was more agreeable.
He was a dark, sallow, clean-shaven, silent person; but he
had polite manners and a pleasant smile.  He inquired how
we were left, and on finding that we were very poor he
suggested that I should come and teach music to his only
daughter, aged ten.  I said that I did not like to leave my
mother, on which he suggested that I should go home to her
every week-end, and he offered me a hundred a year, which
was certainly splendid pay.  So it ended by my accepting,
and I went down to Chiltern Grange, about six miles from
Farnham.  Mr. Carruthers was a widower, but he had engaged
a lady-housekeeper, a very respectable, elderly person,
called Mrs. Dixon, to look after his establishment.
The child was a dear, and everything promised well.
Mr. Carruthers was very kind and very musical, and we had most
pleasant evenings together.  Every week-end I went home to
my mother in town.

"The first flaw in my happiness was the arrival of the
red-moustached Mr. Woodley.  He came for a visit of a week,
and oh, it seemed three months to me!  He was a dreadful
person, a bully to everyone else, but to me something
infinitely worse.  He made odious love to me, boasted of
his wealth, said that if I married him I would have the
finest diamonds in London, and finally, when I would have
nothing to do with him, he seized me in his arms one day
after dinner -- he was hideously strong -- and he swore
that he would not let me go until I had kissed him.  Mr.
Carruthers came in and tore him off from me, on which he
turned upon his own host, knocking him down and cutting his
face open.  That was the end of his visit, as you can
imagine.  Mr. Carruthers apologized to me next day, and
assured me that I should never be exposed to such an insult
again.  I have not seen Mr. Woodley since.

"And now, Mr. Holmes, I come at last to the special thing
which has caused me to ask your advice to-day.  You must
know that every Saturday forenoon I ride on my bicycle to
Farnham Station in order to get the 12.22 to town.  The
road from Chiltern Grange is a lonely one, and at one spot
it is particularly so, for it lies for over a mile between
Charlington Heath upon one side and the woods which lie
round Charlington Hall upon the other.  You could not find
a more lonely tract of road anywhere, and it is quite rare
to meet so much as a cart, or a peasant, until you reach
the high road near Crooksbury Hill.  Two weeks ago I was
passing this place when I chanced to look back over my
shoulder, and about two hundred yards behind me I saw a
man, also on a bicycle.  He seemed to be a middle-aged man,
with a short, dark beard.  I looked back before I reached
Farnham, but the man was gone, so I thought no more about
it.  But you can imagine how surprised I was, Mr. Holmes,
when on my return on the Monday I saw the same man on the
same stretch of road.  My astonishment was increased when
the incident occurred again, exactly as before, on the
following Saturday and Monday.  He always kept his distance
and did not molest me in any way, but still it certainly
was very odd.  I mentioned it to Mr. Carruthers, who seemed
interested in what I said, and told me that he had ordered
a horse and trap, so that in future I should not pass over
these lonely roads without some companion.

"The horse and trap were to have come this week, but for
some reason they were not delivered, and again I had to
cycle to the station.  That was this morning.  You can
think that I looked out when I came to Charlington Heath,
and there, sure enough, was the man, exactly as he had been
the two weeks before.  He always kept so far from me that I
could not clearly see his face, but it was certainly
someone whom I did not know.  He was dressed in a dark suit
with a cloth cap.  The only thing about his face that I
could clearly see was his dark beard.  To-day I was not
alarmed, but I was filled with curiosity, and I determined
to find out who he was and what he wanted.  I slowed down
my machine, but he slowed down his.  Then I stopped
altogether, but he stopped also.  Then I laid a trap for
him.  There is a sharp turning of the road, and I pedalled
very quickly round this, and then I stopped and waited.
I expected him to shoot round and pass me before he could
stop.  But he never appeared.  Then I went back and looked
round the corner.  I could see a mile of road, but he was
not on it.  To make it the more extraordinary, there was no
side road at this point down which he could have gone."

Holmes chuckled and rubbed his hands.  "This case certainly
presents some features of its own," said he.  "How much
time elapsed between your turning the corner and your
discovery that the road was clear?"

"Two or three minutes."

"Then he could not have retreated down the road, and you
say that there are no side roads?"

"None."

"Then he certainly took a footpath on one side or the
other."

"It could not have been on the side of the heath or I
should have seen him."

"So by the process of exclusion we arrive at the fact that
he made his way towards Charlington Hall, which, as I
understand, is situated in its own grounds on one side of
the road.  Anything else?"

"Nothing, Mr. Holmes, save that I was so perplexed that I
felt I should not be happy until I had seen you and had
your advice."

Holmes sat in silence for some little time.

"Where is the gentleman to whom you are engaged?" he asked,
at last.

"He is in the Midland Electrical Company, at Coventry."

"He would not pay you a surprise visit?"

"Oh, Mr. Holmes!  As if I should not know him!"

"Have you had any other admirers?"

"Several before I knew Cyril."

"And since?"

"There was this dreadful man, Woodley, if you can call him
an admirer."

"No one else?"

Our fair client seemed a little confused.

"Who was he?" asked Holmes.

"Oh, it may be a mere fancy of mine; but it has seemed to
me sometimes that my employer, Mr. Carruthers, takes a
great deal of interest in me.  We are thrown rather
together.  I play his accompaniments in the evening.
He has never said anything.  He is a perfect gentleman.
But a girl always knows."

"Ha!"  Holmes looked grave.  "What does he do for a living?"

"He is a rich man."

"No carriages or horses?"

"Well, at least he is fairly well-to-do.  But he goes into
the City two or three times a week.  He is deeply
interested in South African gold shares."

"You will let me know any fresh development, Miss Smith.
I am very busy just now, but I will find time to make some
inquiries into your case.  In the meantime take no step
without letting me know.  Good-bye, and I trust that we
shall have nothing but good news from you."

"It is part of the settled order of Nature that such a girl
should have followers," said Holmes, as he pulled at his
meditative pipe, "but for choice not on bicycles in lonely
country roads.  Some secretive lover, beyond all doubt.
But there are curious and suggestive details about the
case, Watson."

"That he should appear only at that point?"

"Exactly.  Our first effort must be to find who are the
tenants of Charlington Hall.  Then, again, how about the
connection between Carruthers and Woodley, since they
appear to be men of such a different type?  How came they
_both_ to be so keen upon looking up Ralph Smith's
relations?  One more point.  What sort of a _menage_ {1} is
it which pays double the market price for a governess, but
does not keep a horse although six miles from the station?
Odd, Watson -- very odd!"

"You will go down?"

"No, my dear fellow, _you_ will go down.  This may be some
trifling intrigue, and I cannot break my other important
research for the sake of it.  On Monday you will arrive
early at Farnham; you will conceal yourself near
Charlington Heath; you will observe these facts for
yourself, and act as your own judgment advises.  Then,
having inquired as to the occupants of the Hall, you will
come back to me and report.  And now, Watson, not another
word of the matter until we have a few solid stepping-stones
on which we may hope to get across to our solution."

We had ascertained from the lady that she went down upon
the Monday by the train which leaves Waterloo at 9.50, so I
started early and caught the 9.13.  At Farnham Station I
had no difficulty in being directed to Charlington Heath.
It was impossible to mistake the scene of the young lady's
adventure, for the road runs between the open heath on one
side and an old yew hedge upon the other, surrounding a
park which is studded with magnificent trees.  There was a
main gateway of lichen-studded stone, each side pillar
surmounted by mouldering heraldic emblems; but besides this
central carriage drive I observed several points where
there were gaps in the hedge and paths leading through
them.  The house was invisible from the road, but the
surroundings all spoke of gloom and decay.

The heath was covered with golden patches of flowering
gorse, gleaming magnificently in the light of the bright
spring sunshine.  Behind one of these clumps I took up my
position, so as to command both the gateway of the Hall and
a long stretch of the road upon either side.  It had been
deserted when I left it, but now I saw a cyclist riding
down it from the opposite direction to that in which I had
come.  He was clad in a dark suit, and I saw that he had a
black beard.  On reaching the end of the Charlington
grounds he sprang from his machine and led it through a gap
in the hedge, disappearing from my view.

A quarter of an hour passed and then a second cyclist
appeared.  This time it was the young lady coming from the
station.  I saw her look about her as she came to the
Charlington hedge.  An instant later the man emerged from
his hiding-place, sprang upon his cycle, and followed her.
In all the broad landscape those were the only moving
figures, the graceful girl sitting very straight upon her
machine, and the man behind her bending low over his
handle-bar, with a curiously furtive suggestion in every
movement.  She looked back at him and slowed her pace.  He
slowed also.  She stopped.  He at once stopped too, keeping
two hundred yards behind her.  Her next movement was as
unexpected as it was spirited.  She suddenly whisked her
wheels round and dashed straight at him!  He was as quick
as she, however, and darted off in desperate flight.
Presently she came back up the road again, her head
haughtily in the air, not deigning to take any further
notice of her silent attendant.  He had turned also, and
still kept his distance until the curve of the road hid
them from my sight.

I remained in my hiding-place, and it was well that I did
so, for presently the man reappeared cycling slowly back.
He turned in at the Hall gates and dismounted from his
machine.  For some few minutes I could see him standing
among the trees.  His hands were raised and he seemed to be
settling his necktie.  Then he mounted his cycle and rode
away from me down the drive towards the Hall.  I ran across
the heath and peered through the trees.  Far away I could
catch glimpses of the old grey building with its bristling
Tudor chimneys, but the drive ran through a dense
shrubbery, and I saw no more of my man.

However, it seemed to me that I had done a fairly good
morning's work, and I walked back in high spirits to
Farnham.  The local house-agent could tell me nothing about
Charlington Hall, and referred me to a well-known firm in
Pall Mall.  There I halted on my way home, and met with
courtesy from the representative.  No, I could not have
Charlington Hall for the summer.  I was just too late.
It had been let about a month ago.  Mr. Williamson was
the name of the tenant.  He was a respectable elderly
gentleman.  The polite agent was afraid he could say no
more, as the affairs of his clients were not matters which
he could discuss.

Mr. Sherlock Holmes listened with attention to the long
report which I was able to present to him that evening,
but it did not elicit that word of curt praise which I
had hoped for and should have valued.  On the contrary,
his austere face was even more severe than usual as he
commented upon the things that I had done and the things
that I had not.

"Your hiding-place, my dear Watson, was very faulty.  You
should have been behind the hedge; then you would have had
a close view of this interesting person.  As it is you were
some hundreds of yards away, and can tell me even less than
Miss Smith.  She thinks she does not know the man; I am
convinced she does.  Why, otherwise, should he be so
desperately anxious that she should not get so near him as
to see his features?  You describe him as bending over the
handle-bar.  Concealment again, you see.  You really have
done remarkably badly.  He returns to the house and you
want to find out who he is.  You come to a London
house-agent!"

"What should I have done?" I cried, with some heat.

"Gone to the nearest public-house.  That is the centre of
country gossip.  They would have told you every name, from
the master to the scullery-maid.  Williamson!  It conveys
nothing to my mind.  If he is an elderly man he is not this
active cyclist who sprints away from that athletic young
lady's pursuit.  What have we gained by your expedition?
The knowledge that the girl's story is true.  I never
doubted it.  That there is a connection between the cyclist
and the Hall.  I never doubted that either.  That the Hall
is tenanted by Williamson.  Who's the better for that?
Well, well, my dear sir, don't look so depressed.  We can
do little more until next Saturday, and in the meantime I
may make one or two inquiries myself."

Next morning we had a note from Miss Smith, recounting
shortly and accurately the very incidents which I had seen,
but the pith of the letter lay in the postscript:--

"I am sure that you will respect my confidence, Mr. Holmes,
when I tell you that my place here has become difficult
owing to the fact that my employer has proposed marriage to
me.  I am convinced that his feelings are most deep and
most honourable.  At the same time my promise is, of
course, given.  He took my refusal very seriously, but also
very gently.  You can understand, however, that the
situation is a little strained."

"Our young friend seems to be getting into deep waters,"
said Holmes, thoughtfully, as he finished the letter.  "The
case certainly presents more features of interest and more
possibility of development than I had originally thought.
I should be none the worse for a quiet, peaceful day in the
country, and I am inclined to run down this afternoon and
test one or two theories which I have formed."

Holmes's quiet day in the country had a singular
termination, for he arrived at Baker Street late in the
evening with a cut lip and a discoloured lump upon his
forehead, besides a general air of dissipation which would
have made his own person the fitting object of a Scotland
Yard investigation.  He was immensely tickled by his own
adventures, and laughed heartily as he recounted them.

"I get so little active exercise that it is always a
treat," said he.  "You are aware that I have some
proficiency in the good old British sport of boxing.
Occasionally it is of service.  To-day, for example,
I should have come to very ignominious grief without it."

I begged him to tell me what had occurred.

"I found that country pub which I had already recommended
to your notice, and there I made my discreet inquiries.
I was in the bar, and a garrulous landlord was giving me all
that I wanted.  Williamson is a white-bearded man, and he
lives alone with a small staff of servants at the Hall.
There is some rumour that he is or has been a clergyman;
but one or two incidents of his short residence at the Hall
struck me as peculiarly unecclesiastical.  I have already
made some inquiries at a clerical agency, and they tell me
that there _was_ a man of that name in orders whose career
has been a singularly dark one.  The landlord further
informed me that there are usually week-end visitors --
'a warm lot, sir' -- at the Hall, and especially one gentleman
with a red moustache, Mr. Woodley by name, who was always
there.  We had got as far as this when who should walk in
but the gentleman himself, who had been drinking his beer
in the tap-room and had heard the whole conversation.
Who was I?  What did I want?  What did I mean by asking
questions?  He had a fine flow of language, and his
adjectives were very vigorous.  He ended a string of abuse
by a vicious back-hander which I failed to entirely avoid.
The next few minutes were delicious.  It was a straight
left against a slogging ruffian.  I emerged as you see me.
Mr. Woodley went home in a cart.  So ended my country trip,
and it must be confessed that, however enjoyable, my day on
the Surrey border has not been much more profitable than
your own."

The Thursday brought us another letter from our client.

"You will not be surprised, Mr. Holmes," said she, "to hear
that I am leaving Mr. Carruthers's employment.  Even the
high pay cannot reconcile me to the discomforts of my
situation.  On Saturday I come up to town and I do not
intend to return.  Mr. Carruthers has got a trap, and so
the dangers of the lonely road, if there ever were any
dangers, are now over.

"As to the special cause of my leaving, it is not merely
the strained situation with Mr. Carruthers, but it is the
reappearance of that odious man, Mr. Woodley.  He was
always hideous, but he looks more awful than ever now,
for he appears to have had an accident and he is much
disfigured.  I saw him out of the window, but I am glad
to say I did not meet him.  He had a long talk with Mr.
Carruthers, who seemed much excited afterwards.  Woodley
must be staying in the neighbourhood, for he did not sleep
here, and yet I caught a glimpse of him again this morning
slinking about in the shrubbery.  I would sooner have a
savage wild animal loose about the place.  I loathe and
fear him more than I can say.  How _can_ Mr. Carruthers
endure such a creature for a moment?  However, all my
troubles will be over on Saturday."

"So I trust, Watson; so I trust," said Holmes, gravely.
"There is some deep intrigue going on round that little
woman, and it is our duty to see that no one molests her
upon that last journey.  I think, Watson, that we must
spare time to run down together on Saturday morning, and
make sure that this curious and inconclusive investigation
has no untoward ending."

I confess that I had not up to now taken a very serious
view of the case, which had seemed to me rather grotesque
and bizarre than dangerous.  That a man should lie in wait
for and follow a very handsome woman is no unheard-of
thing, and if he had so little audacity that he not only
dared not address her, but even fled from her approach, he
was not a very formidable assailant.  The ruffian Woodley
was a very different person, but, except on one occasion,
he had not molested our client, and now he visited the
house of Carruthers without intruding upon her presence.
The man on the bicycle was doubtless a member of those
week-end parties at the Hall of which the publican had
spoken; but who he was or what he wanted was as obscure as
ever.  It was the severity of Holmes's manner and the fact
that he slipped a revolver into his pocket before leaving
our rooms which impressed me with the feeling that tragedy
might prove to lurk behind this curious train of events.

A rainy night had been followed by a glorious morning, and
the heath-covered country-side with the glowing clumps of
flowering gorse seemed all the more beautiful to eyes which
were weary of the duns and drabs and slate-greys of London.
Holmes and I walked along the broad, sandy road inhaling
the fresh morning air, and rejoicing in the music of the
birds and the fresh breath of the spring.  From a rise of
the road on the shoulder of Crooksbury Hill we could see
the grim Hall bristling out from amidst the ancient oaks,
which, old as they were, were still younger than the
building which they surrounded.  Holmes pointed down the
long tract of road which wound, a reddish yellow band,
between the brown of the heath and the budding green of
the woods.  Far away, a black dot, we could see a vehicle
moving in our direction.  Holmes gave an exclamation of
impatience.

"I had given a margin of half an hour," said he.
"If that is her trap she must be making for the earlier train.
I fear, Watson, that she will be past Charlington before we
can possibly meet her."

From the instant that we passed the rise we could no longer
see the vehicle, but we hastened onwards at such a pace
that my sedentary life began to tell upon me, and I was
compelled to fall behind.  Holmes, however, was always in
training, for he had inexhaustible stores of nervous energy
upon which to draw.  His springy step never slowed until
suddenly, when he was a hundred yards in front of me, he
halted, and I saw him throw up his hand with a gesture of
grief and despair.  At the same instant an empty dog-cart,
the horse cantering, the reins trailing, appeared round
the curve of the road and rattled swiftly towards us.

"Too late, Watson; too late!" cried Holmes, as I ran
panting to his side.  "Fool that I was not to allow for
that earlier train!  It's abduction, Watson -- abduction!
Murder!  Heaven knows what!  Block the road!  Stop the
horse!  That's right.  Now, jump in, and let us see if I
can repair the consequences of my own blunder."

We had sprung into the dog-cart, and Holmes, after turning
the horse, gave it a sharp cut with the whip, and we flew
back along the road.  As we turned the curve the whole
stretch of road between the Hall and the heath was opened up.
I grasped Holmes's arm.

"That's the man!" I gasped.

A solitary cyclist was coming towards us.  His head was
down and his shoulders rounded as he put every ounce of
energy that he possessed on to the pedals.  He was flying
like a racer.  Suddenly he raised his bearded face, saw us
close to him, and pulled up, springing from his machine.
That coal-black beard was in singular contrast to the
pallor of his face, and his eyes were as bright as if
he had a fever.  He stared at us and at the dog-cart.
Then a look of amazement came over his face.

"Halloa!  Stop there!" he shouted, holding his bicycle to
block our road.  "Where did you get that dog-cart?  Pull
up, man!" he yelled, drawing a pistol from his side pocket.
"Pull up, I say, or, by George, I'll put a bullet into your
horse."

Holmes threw the reins into my lap and sprang down from the
cart.

"You're the man we want to see.  Where is Miss Violet
Smith?" he said, in his quick, clear way.

"That's what I am asking you.  You're in her dog-cart.
You ought to know where she is."

"We met the dog-cart on the road.  There was no one in it.
We drove back to help the young lady."

"Good Lord!  Good Lord! what shall I do?" cried the
stranger, in an ecstasy of despair.  "They've got her, that
hellhound Woodley and the blackguard parson.  Come, man,
come, if you really are her friend.  Stand by me and we'll
save her, if I have to leave my carcass in Charlington Wood."

He ran distractedly, his pistol in his hand, towards a gap
in the hedge.  Holmes followed him, and I, leaving the
horse grazing beside the road, followed Holmes.

"This is where they came through," said he, pointing to the
marks of several feet upon the muddy path.  "Halloa!  Stop
a minute!  Who's this in the bush?"

It was a young fellow about seventeen, dressed like an
ostler, with leather cords and gaiters.  He lay upon his
back, his knees drawn up, a terrible cut upon his head.
He was insensible, but alive.  A glance at his wound told
me that it had not penetrated the bone.

"That's Peter, the groom," cried the stranger.  "He drove
her.  The beasts have pulled him off and clubbed him.  Let
him lie; we can't do him any good, but we may save her from
the worst fate that can befall a woman."

We ran frantically down the path, which wound among the
trees.  We had reached the shrubbery which surrounded the
house when Holmes pulled up.

"They didn't go to the house.  Here are their marks on the
left -- here, beside the laurel bushes!  Ah, I said so!"

As he spoke a woman's shrill scream -- a scream which
vibrated with a frenzy of horror -- burst from the thick
green clump of bushes in front of us.  It ended suddenly on
its highest note with a choke and a gurgle.

"This way!  This way!  They are in the bowling alley,"
cried the stranger, darting through the bushes.  "Ah, the
cowardly dogs!  Follow me, gentlemen!  Too late! too late!
by the living Jingo!"

We had broken suddenly into a lovely glade of greensward
surrounded by ancient trees.  On the farther side of it,
under the shadow of a mighty oak, there stood a singular
group of three people.  One was a woman, our client,
drooping and faint, a handkerchief round her mouth.
Opposite her stood a brutal, heavy-faced, red-moustached
young man, his gaitered legs parted wide, one arm akimbo,
the other waving a riding-crop, his whole attitude
suggestive of triumphant bravado.  Between them an elderly,
grey-bearded man, wearing a short surplice over a light
tweed suit, had evidently just completed the wedding
service, for he pocketed his prayer-book as we appeared and
slapped the sinister bridegroom upon the back in jovial
congratulation.

"They're married!" I gasped.

"Come on!" cried our guide; "come on!"  He rushed across
the glade, Holmes and I at his heels.  As we approached,
the lady staggered against the trunk of the tree for
support.  Williamson, the ex-clergyman, bowed to us with
mock politeness, and the bully Woodley advanced with a
shout of brutal and exultant laughter.

"You can take your beard off, Bob," said he.  "I know you
right enough.  Well, you and your pals have just come in
time for me to be able to introduce you to Mrs. Woodley."

Our guide's answer was a singular one.  He snatched off the
dark beard which had disguised him and threw it on the
ground, disclosing a long, sallow, clean-shaven face below
it.  Then he raised his revolver and covered the young
ruffian, who was advancing upon him with his dangerous
riding-crop swinging in his hand.

"Yes," said our ally, "I _am_ Bob Carruthers, and I'll see
this woman righted if I have to swing for it.  I told you
what I'd do if you molested her, and, by the Lord, I'll be
as good as my word!"

"You're too late.  She's my wife!"

"No, she's your widow."

His revolver cracked, and I saw the blood spurt from the
front of Woodley's waistcoat.  He spun round with a scream
and fell upon his back, his hideous red face turning
suddenly to a dreadful mottled pallor.  The old man, still
clad in his surplice, burst into such a string of foul
oaths as I have never heard, and pulled out a revolver of
his own, but before he could raise it he was looking down
the barrel of Holmes's weapon.

"Enough of this," said my friend, coldly.  "Drop that
pistol!  Watson, pick it up!  Hold it to his head!  Thank
you.  You, Carruthers, give me that revolver.  We'll have
no more violence.  Come, hand it over!"

"Who are you, then?"

"My name is Sherlock Holmes."

"Good Lord!"

"You have heard of me, I see.  I will represent the
official police until their arrival.  Here, you!" he
shouted to a frightened groom who had appeared at the edge
of the glade.  "Come here.  Take this note as hard as you
can ride to Farnham."  He scribbled a few words upon a leaf
from his note-book.  "Give it to the superintendent at the
police-station.  Until he comes I must detain you all under
my personal custody."

The strong, masterful personality of Holmes dominated the
tragic scene, and all were equally puppets in his hands.
Williamson and Carruthers found themselves carrying the
wounded Woodley into the house, and I gave my arm to the
frightened girl.  The injured man was laid on his bed, and
at Holmes's request I examined him.  I carried my report to
where he sat in the old tapestry-hung dining-room with his
two prisoners before him.

"He will live," said I.

"What!" cried Carruthers, springing out of his chair.
"I'll go upstairs and finish him first.  Do you tell me
that that girl, that angel, is to be tied to Roaring Jack
Woodley for life?"

"You need not concern yourself about that," said Holmes.
"There are two very good reasons why she should under no
circumstances be his wife.  In the first place, we are very
safe in questioning Mr. Williamson's right to solemnize a
marriage."

"I have been ordained," cried the old rascal.

"And also unfrocked."

"Once a clergyman, always a clergyman."

"I think not.  How about the license?"

"We had a license for the marriage.  I have it here in my
pocket."

"Then you got it by a trick.  But in any case a forced
marriage is no marriage, but it is a very serious felony,
as you will discover before you have finished.  You'll have
time to think the point out during the next ten years or
so, unless I am mistaken.  As to you, Carruthers, you would
have done better to keep your pistol in your pocket."

"I begin to think so, Mr. Holmes; but when I thought of all
the precaution I had taken to shield this girl -- for I
loved her, Mr. Holmes, and it is the only time that ever I
knew what love was -- it fairly drove me mad to think that
she was in the power of the greatest brute and bully in
South Africa, a man whose name is a holy terror from
Kimberley to Johannesburg.  Why, Mr. Holmes, you'll hardly
believe it, but ever since that girl has been in my
employment I never once let her go past this house, where I
knew these rascals were lurking, without following her on
my bicycle just to see that she came to no harm.  I kept my
distance from her, and I wore a beard so that she should
not recognise me, for she is a good and high-spirited girl,
and she wouldn't have stayed in my employment long if she
had thought that I was following her about the country
roads."

"Why didn't you tell her of her danger?"

"Because then, again, she would have left me, and I
couldn't bear to face that.  Even if she couldn't love me
it was a great deal to me just to see her dainty form about
the house, and to hear the sound of her voice."

"Well," said I, "you call that love, Mr. Carruthers, but I
should call it selfishness."

"Maybe the two things go together.  Anyhow, I couldn't let
her go.  Besides, with this crowd about, it was well that
she should have someone near to look after her.  Then when
the cable came I knew they were bound to make a move."

"What cable?"

Carruthers took a telegram from his pocket.

"That's it," said he.

It was short and concise:--

"The old man is dead."

"Hum!" said Holmes.  "I think I see how things worked, and
I can understand how this message would, as you say, bring
them to a head.  But while we wait you might tell me what
you can."

The old reprobate with the surplice burst into a volley of
bad language.

"By Heaven," said he, "if you squeal on us, Bob Carruthers,
I'll serve you as you served Jack Woodley.  You can bleat
about the girl to your heart's content, for that's your own
affair, but if you round on your pals to this plain-clothes
copper it will be the worst day's work that ever you did."

"Your reverence need not be excited," said Holmes, lighting
a cigarette.  "The case is clear enough against you, and
all I ask is a few details for my private curiosity.
However, if there's any difficulty in your telling me I'll
do the talking, and then you will see how far you have a
chance of holding back your secrets.  In the first place,
three of you came from South Africa on this game -- you
Williamson, you Carruthers, and Woodley."

"Lie number one," said the old man; "I never saw either of
them until two months ago, and I have never been in Africa
in my life, so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it,
Mr. Busybody Holmes!"

"What he says is true," said Carruthers.

"Well, well, two of you came over.  His reverence is our
own home-made article.  You had known Ralph Smith in South
Africa.  You had reason to believe he would not live long.
You found out that his niece would inherit his fortune.
How's that -- eh?"

Carruthers nodded and Williamson swore.

"She was next-of-kin, no doubt, and you were aware that the
old fellow would make no will."

"Couldn't read or write," said Carruthers.

"So you came over, the two of you, and hunted up the girl.
The idea was that one of you was to marry her and the other
have a share of the plunder.  For some reason Woodley was
chosen as the husband.  Why was that?"

"We played cards for her on the voyage.  He won."

"I see.  You got the young lady into your service, and
there Woodley was to do the courting.  She recognised the
drunken brute that he was, and would have nothing to do
with him.  Meanwhile, your arrangement was rather upset by
the fact that you had yourself fallen in love with the
lady.  You could no longer bear the idea of this ruffian
owning her."

"No, by George, I couldn't!"

"There was a quarrel between you.  He left you in a rage,
and began to make his own plans independently of you."

"It strikes me, Williamson, there isn't very much that we
can tell this gentleman," cried Carruthers, with a bitter
laugh.  "Yes, we quarreled, and he knocked me down.  I am
level with him on that, anyhow.  Then I lost sight of him.
That was when he picked up with this cast padre here.
I found that they had set up house-keeping together at this
place on the line that she had to pass for the station.
I kept my eye on her after that, for I knew there was some
devilry in the wind.  I saw them from time to time, for I
was anxious to know what they were after.  Two days ago
Woodley came up to my house with this cable, which showed
that Ralph Smith was dead.  He asked me if I would stand by
the bargain.  I said I would not.  He asked me if I would
marry the girl myself and give him a share.  I said I would
willingly do so, but that she would not have me.  He said,
'Let us get her married first, and after a week or two she
may see things a bit different.'  I said I would have
nothing to do with violence.  So he went off cursing, like
the foul-mouthed blackguard that he was, and swearing that
he would have her yet.  She was leaving me this week-end,
and I had got a trap to take her to the station, but I was
so uneasy in my mind that I followed her on my bicycle.
She had got a start, however, and before I could catch her
the mischief was done.  The first thing I knew about it was
when I saw you two gentlemen driving back in her dog-cart."

Holmes rose and tossed the end of his cigarette into the
grate.  "I have been very obtuse, Watson," said he.  "When
in your report you said that you had seen the cyclist as
you thought arrange his necktie in the shrubbery, that
alone should have told me all.  However, we may
congratulate ourselves upon a curious and in some respects
a unique case.  I perceive three of the county constabulary
in the drive, and I am glad to see that the little ostler
is able to keep pace with them; so it is likely that
neither he nor the interesting bridegroom will be
permanently damaged by their morning's adventures.
I think, Watson, that in your medical capacity you might wait
upon Miss Smith and tell her that if she is sufficiently
recovered we shall be happy to escort her to her mother's
home.  If she is not quite convalescent you will find that
a hint that we were about to telegraph to a young
electrician in the Midlands would probably complete the
cure.  As to you, Mr. Carruthers, I think that you have
done what you could to make amends for your share in an
evil plot.  There is my card, sir, and if my evidence can
be of help to you in your trial it shall be at your disposal."


In the whirl of our incessant activity it has often been
difficult for me, as the reader has probably observed, to
round off my narratives, and to give those final details
which the curious might expect.  Each case has been the
prelude to another, and the crisis once over the actors
have passed for ever out of our busy lives.  I find,
however, a short note at the end of my manuscripts dealing
with this case, in which I have put it upon record that
Miss Violet Smith did indeed inherit a large fortune,
and that she is now the wife of Cyril Morton, the senior
partner of Morton & Kennedy, the famous Westminster
electricians.  Williamson and Woodley were both tried for
abduction and assault, the former getting seven years and
the latter ten.  Of the fate of Carruthers I have no
record, but I am sure that his assault was not viewed very
gravely by the Court, since Woodley had the reputation of
being a most dangerous ruffian, and I think that a few
months were sufficient to satisfy the demands of justice.

{-------------------------------------------------------}
{------------------- End of Text -----------------------}
{-------------------------------------------------------}
{------------------ Textual Notes ----------------------}
{1}   {_menage_: there is a forward (/) accent over the first e.}
{---------------- End Textual Notes --------------------}
{-------------------------------------------------------}




{PRIO, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 4th proofing}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 27 (Feb. 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


V. -- The Adventure of the Priory School.

WE have had some dramatic entrances and exits upon our
small stage at Baker Street, but I cannot recollect
anything more sudden and startling than the first
appearance of Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable, M.A., Ph.D., etc.
His card, which seemed too small to carry the weight
of his academic distinctions, preceded him by a few seconds,
and then he entered himself -- so large, so pompous, and so
dignified that he was the very embodiment of self-possession
and solidity.  And yet his first action when the door had
closed behind him was to stagger against the table, whence
he slipped down upon the floor, and there was that majestic
figure prostrate and insensible upon our bearskin hearthrug.

We had sprung to our feet, and for a few moments we stared
in silent amazement at this ponderous piece of wreckage,
which told of some sudden and fatal storm far out on the
ocean of life.  Then Holmes hurried with a cushion for his
head and I with brandy for his lips.  The heavy white face
was seamed with lines of trouble, the hanging pouches under
the closed eyes were leaden in colour, the loose mouth
drooped dolorously at the corners, the rolling chins were
unshaven.  Collar and shirt bore the grime of a long journey,
and the hair bristled unkempt from the well-shaped head.
It was a sorely-stricken man who lay before us.

"What is it, Watson?" asked Holmes.

"Absolute exhaustion -- possibly mere hunger and fatigue,"
said I, with my finger on the thready pulse, where the
stream of life trickled thin and small.

"Return ticket from Mackleton, in the North of England,"
said Holmes, drawing it from the watch-pocket.
"It is not twelve o'clock yet.  He has certainly been
an early starter."

The puckered eyelids had begun to quiver, and now a pair of
vacant, grey eyes looked up at us.  An instant later the man
had scrambled on to his feet, his face crimson with shame.

"Forgive this weakness, Mr. Holmes; I have been a little
overwrought.  Thank you, if I might have a glass of milk
and a biscuit I have no doubt that I should be better.
I came personally, Mr. Holmes, in order to ensure that you
would return with me.  I feared that no telegram would
convince you of the absolute urgency of the case."

"When you are quite restored ----"

"I am quite well again.  I cannot imagine how I came to be
so weak.  I wish you, Mr. Holmes, to come to Mackleton with
me by the next train."

My friend shook his head.

"My colleague, Dr. Watson, could tell you that we are very
busy at present.  I am retained in this case of the Ferrers
Documents, and the Abergavenny murder is coming up for trial.
Only a very important issue could call me from London at present."

"Important!"  Our visitor threw up his hands.  "Have you
heard nothing of the abduction of the only son of the Duke
of Holdernesse?"

"What! the late Cabinet Minister?"

"Exactly.  We had tried to keep it out of the papers,
but there was some rumour in the _Globe_ last night.
I thought it might have reached your ears."

Holmes shot out his long, thin arm and picked out Volume "H"
in his encyclopaedia {1} of reference.

"'Holdernesse, 6th Duke, K.G., P.C.' -- half the alphabet!
'Baron Beverley, Earl of Carston' -- dear me, what a list!
'Lord Lieutenant of Hallamshire since 1900.  Married Edith,
daughter of Sir Charles Appledore, 1888.  Heir and only
child, Lord Saltire.  Owns about two hundred and fifty
thousand acres.  Minerals in Lancashire and Wales.
Address: Carlton House Terrace; Holdernesse Hall,
Hallamshire; Carston Castle, Bangor, Wales.
Lord of the Admiralty, 1872; Chief Secretary of State for ----'
Well, well, this man is certainly one of the greatest subjects
of the Crown!"

"The greatest and perhaps the wealthiest.  I am aware,
Mr. Holmes, that you take a very high line in professional
matters, and that you are prepared to work for the work's
sake.  I may tell you, however, that his Grace has already
intimated that a cheque for five thousand pounds will be
handed over to the person who can tell him where his son is,
and another thousand to him who can name the man, or men,
who have taken him."

"It is a princely offer," said Holmes.  "Watson, I think
that we shall accompany Dr. Huxtable back to the North of
England.  And now, Dr. Huxtable, when you have consumed
that milk you will kindly tell me what has happened,
when it happened, how it happened, and, finally,
what Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable, of the Priory School,
near Mackleton, has to do with the matter, and why he comes
three days after an event -- the state of your chin gives the
date -- to ask for my humble services."

Our visitor had consumed his milk and biscuits.  The light
had come back to his eyes and the colour to his cheeks as
he set himself with great vigour and lucidity to explain
the situation.

"I must inform you, gentlemen, that the Priory is a
preparatory school, of which I am the founder and
principal.  'Huxtable's Sidelights on Horace' may possibly
recall my name to your memories.  The Priory is, without
exception, the best and most select preparatory school
in England.  Lord Leverstoke, the Earl of Blackwater,
Sir Cathcart Soames -- they all have entrusted their sons to me.
But I felt that my school had reached its zenith when,
three weeks ago, the Duke of Holdernesse sent Mr. James
Wilder, his secretary, with the intimation that young Lord
Saltire, ten years old, his only son and heir, was about to
be committed to my charge.  Little did I think that this would
be the prelude to the most crushing misfortune of my life.

"On May 1st the boy arrived, that being the beginning of
the summer term.  He was a charming youth, and he soon fell
into our ways.  I may tell you -- I trust that I am not
indiscreet, but half-confidences are absurd in such a
case -- that he was not entirely happy at home.  It is an
open secret that the Duke's married life had not been a
peaceful one, and the matter had ended in a separation by
mutual consent, the Duchess taking up her residence in the
South of France.  This had occurred very shortly before,
and the boy's sympathies are known to have been strongly
with his mother.  He moped after her departure from
Holdernesse Hall, and it was for this reason that the Duke
desired to send him to my establishment.  In a fortnight
the boy was quite at home with us, and was apparently
absolutely happy.

"He was last seen on the night of May 13th -- that is, the
night of last Monday.  His room was on the second floor,
and was approached through another larger room in which
two boys were sleeping.  These boys saw and heard nothing,
so that it is certain that young Saltire did not pass out that
way.  His window was open, and there is a stout ivy plant
leading to the ground.  We could trace no footmarks below,
but it is sure that this is the only possible exit.

"His absence was discovered at seven o'clock on Tuesday
morning.  His bed had been slept in.  He had dressed
himself fully before going off in his usual school suit of
black Eton jacket and dark grey trousers.  There were no
signs that anyone had entered the room, and it is quite
certain that anything in the nature of cries, or a struggle,
would have been heard, since Caunter, the elder boy in the
inner room, is a very light sleeper.

"When Lord Saltire's disappearance was discovered I at once
called a roll of the whole establishment, boys, masters,
and servants.  It was then that we ascertained that Lord
Saltire had not been alone in his flight.  Heidegger,
the German master, was missing.  His room was on the second
floor, at the farther end of the building, facing the same
way as Lord Saltire's.  His bed had also been slept in;
but he had apparently gone away partly dressed, since his shirt
and socks were lying on the floor.  He had undoubtedly let
himself down by the ivy, for we could see the marks of his
feet where he had landed on the lawn.  His bicycle was kept
in a small shed beside this lawn, and it also was gone.

"He had been with me for two years, and came with the best
references; but he was a silent, morose man, not very
popular either with masters or boys.  No trace could be
found of the fugitives, and now on Thursday morning we are
as ignorant as we were on Tuesday.  Inquiry was, of course,
made at once at Holdernesse Hall.  It is only a few miles
away, and we imagined that in some sudden attack of
home-sickness he had gone back to his father; but nothing
had been heard of him.  The Duke is greatly agitated -- and
as to me, you have seen yourselves the state of nervous
prostration to which the suspense and the responsibility
have reduced me.  Mr. Holmes, if ever you put forward your
full powers, I implore you to do so now, for never in your
life could you have a case which is more worthy of them."

Sherlock Holmes had listened with the utmost intentness to
the statement of the unhappy schoolmaster.  His drawn brows
and the deep furrow between them showed that he needed no
exhortation to concentrate all his attention upon a problem
which, apart from the tremendous interests involved, must
appeal so directly to his love of the complex and the unusual.
He now drew out his note-book and jotted down one or two
memoranda.

"You have been very remiss in not coming to me sooner,"
said he, severely.  "You start me on my investigation with
a very serious handicap.  It is inconceivable, for example,
that this ivy and this lawn would have yielded nothing to
an expert observer."

"I am not to blame, Mr. Holmes.  His Grace was extremely
desirous to avoid all public scandal.  He was afraid
of his family unhappiness being dragged before the world.
He has a deep horror of anything of the kind."

"But there has been some official investigation?"

"Yes, sir, and it has proved most disappointing.
An apparent clue was at once obtained, since a boy and a young
man were reported to have been seen leaving a neighbouring
station by an early train.  Only last night we had news
that the couple had been hunted down in Liverpool, and they
prove to have no connection whatever with the matter in
hand.  Then it was that in my despair and disappointment,
after a sleepless night, I came straight to you by the
early train."

"I suppose the local investigation was relaxed while this
false clue was being followed up?"

"It was entirely dropped."

"So that three days have been wasted.  The affair has been
most deplorably handled."

"I feel it, and admit it."

"And yet the problem should be capable of ultimate solution.
I shall be very happy to look into it.  Have you been able
to trace any connection between the missing boy and this
German master?"

"None at all."

"Was he in the master's class?"

"No; he never exchanged a word with him so far as I know."

"That is certainly very singular.  Had the boy a bicycle?"

"No."

"Was any other bicycle missing?"

"No."

"Is that certain?"

"Quite."

"Well, now, you do not mean to seriously suggest that this
German rode off upon a bicycle in the dead of the night
bearing the boy in his arms?"

"Certainly not."

"Then what is the theory in your mind?"

"The bicycle may have been a blind.  It may have been
hidden somewhere and the pair gone off on foot."

"Quite so; but it seems rather an absurd blind, does it not?
Were there other bicycles in this shed?"

"Several."

"Would he not have hidden _a couple_ had he desired to give
the idea that they had gone off upon them?"

"I suppose he would."

"Of course he would.  The blind theory won't do.
But the incident is an admirable starting-point for an
investigation.  After all, a bicycle is not an easy thing
to conceal or to destroy.  One other question.
Did anyone call to see the boy on the day before he disappeared?"

"No."

"Did he get any letters?"

"Yes; one letter."

"From whom?"

"From his father."

"Do you open the boys' letters?"

"No."

"How do you know it was from the father?"

"The coat of arms was on the envelope, and it was addressed
in the Duke's peculiar stiff hand.  Besides, the Duke
remembers having written."

"When had he a letter before that?"

"Not for several days."

"Had he ever one from France?"

"No; never.

"You see the point of my questions, of course.  Either the
boy was carried off by force or he went of his own free
will.  In the latter case you would expect that some
prompting from outside would be needed to make so young a
lad do such a thing.  If he has had no visitors, that
prompting must have come in letters.  Hence I try to find
out who were his correspondents."

"I fear I cannot help you much.  His only correspondent,
so far as I know, was his own father."

"Who wrote to him on the very day of his disappearance.
Were the relations between father and son very friendly?"

"His Grace is never very friendly with anyone.
He is completely immersed in large public questions,
and is rather inaccessible to all ordinary emotions.
But he was always kind to the boy in his own way."

"But the sympathies of the latter were with the mother?"

"Yes."

"Did he say so?"

"No."

"The Duke, then?"

"Good heavens, no!"

"Then how could you know?"

"I have had some confidential talks with Mr. James Wilder,
his Grace's secretary.  It was he who gave me the
information about Lord Saltire's feelings."

"I see.  By the way, that last letter of the Duke's -- was it
found in the boy's room after he was gone?"

"No; he had taken it with him.  I think, Mr. Holmes,
it is time that we were leaving for Euston."

"I will order a four-wheeler.  In a quarter of an hour we
shall be at your service.  If you are telegraphing home,
Mr. Huxtable, it would be well to allow the people in your
neighbourhood to imagine that the inquiry is still going on
in Liverpool, or wherever else that red herring led your
pack.  In the meantime I will do a little quiet work at
your own doors, and perhaps the scent is not so cold but that
two old hounds like Watson and myself may get a sniff of it."


That evening found us in the cold, bracing atmosphere of
the Peak country, in which Dr. Huxtable's famous school is
situated.  It was already dark when we reached it.  A card
was lying on the hall table, and the butler whispered
something to his master, who turned to us with agitation
in every heavy feature.

"The Duke is here," said he.  "The Duke and Mr. Wilder are
in the study.  Come, gentlemen, and I will introduce you."

I was, of course, familiar with the pictures of the famous
statesman, but the man himself was very different from his
representation.  He was a tall and stately person,
scrupulously dressed, with a drawn, thin face, and a nose
which was grotesquely curved and long.  His complexion was
of a dead pallor, which was more startling by contrast with
a long, dwindling beard of vivid red, which flowed down
over his white waistcoat, with his watch-chain gleaming
through its fringe.  Such was the stately presence who
looked stonily at us from the centre of Dr. Huxtable's
hearthrug.  Beside him stood a very young man, whom I
understood to be Wilder, the private secretary.  He was
small, nervous, alert, with intelligent, light-blue eyes
and mobile features.  It was he who at once, in an incisive
and positive tone, opened the conversation.

"I called this morning, Dr. Huxtable, too late to prevent
you from starting for London.  I learned that your object
was to invite Mr. Sherlock Holmes to undertake the conduct
of this case.  His Grace is surprised, Dr. Huxtable, that
you should have taken such a step without consulting him."

"When I learned that the police had failed ----"

"His Grace is by no means convinced that the police have
failed."

"But surely, Mr. Wilder ----"

"You are well aware, Dr. Huxtable, that his Grace is
particularly anxious to avoid all public scandal.
He prefers to take as few people as possible into his
confidence."

"The matter can be easily remedied," said the brow-beaten
doctor; "Mr. Sherlock Holmes can return to London by the
morning train."

"Hardly that, doctor, hardly that," said Holmes, in his
blandest voice.  "This northern air is invigorating and
pleasant, so I propose to spend a few days upon your moors,
and to occupy my mind as best I may.  Whether I have the
shelter of your roof or of the village inn is, of course,
for you to decide."

I could see that the unfortunate doctor was in the last
stage of indecision, from which he was rescued by the deep,
sonorous voice of the red-bearded Duke, which boomed out
like a dinner-gong.

"I agree with Mr. Wilder, Dr. Huxtable, that you would have
done wisely to consult me.  But since Mr. Holmes has
already been taken into your confidence, it would indeed be
absurd that we should not avail ourselves of his services.
Far from going to the inn, Mr. Holmes, I should be pleased
if you would come and stay with me at Holdernesse Hall."

"I thank your Grace.  For the purposes of my investigation
I think that it would be wiser for me to remain at the
scene of the mystery."

"Just as you like, Mr. Holmes.  Any information which
Mr. Wilder or I can give you is, of course, at your disposal."

"It will probably be necessary for me to see you at the Hall,"
said Holmes.  "I would only ask you now, sir,
whether you have formed any explanation in your own mind
as to the mysterious disappearance of your son?"

"No, sir, I have not."

"Excuse me if I allude to that which is painful to you,
but I have no alternative.  Do you think that the Duchess
had anything to do with the matter?"

The great Minister showed perceptible hesitation.

"I do not think so," he said, at last.

"The other most obvious explanation is that the child
has been kidnapped for the purpose of levying ransom.
You have not had any demand of the sort?"

"No, sir."

"One more question, your Grace.  I understand that you
wrote to your son upon the day when this incident occurred."

"No; I wrote upon the day before."

"Exactly.  But he received it on that day?"

"Yes."

"Was there anything in your letter which might have
unbalanced him or induced him to take such a step?"

"No, sir, certainly not."

"Did you post that letter yourself?"

The nobleman's reply was interrupted by his secretary,
who broke in with some heat.

"His Grace is not in the habit of posting letters himself,"
said he.  "This letter was laid with others upon the study
table, and I myself put them in the post-bag."

"You are sure this one was among them?"

"Yes; I observed it."

"How many letters did your Grace write that day?"

"Twenty or thirty.  I have a large correspondence.
But surely this is somewhat irrelevant?"

"Not entirely," said Holmes.

"For my own part," the Duke continued, "I have advised the
police to turn their attention to the South of France.
I have already said that I do not believe that the Duchess
would encourage so monstrous an action, but the lad had the
most wrong-headed opinions, and it is possible that he may
have fled to her, aided and abetted by this German.
I think, Dr. Huxtable, that we will now return to the Hall."

I could see that there were other questions which Holmes
would have wished to put; but the nobleman's abrupt manner
showed that the interview was at an end.  It was evident
that to his intensely aristocratic nature this discussion
of his intimate family affairs with a stranger was most
abhorrent, and that he feared lest every fresh question
would throw a fiercer light into the discreetly shadowed
corners of his ducal history.

When the nobleman and his secretary had left, my friend
flung himself at once with characteristic eagerness into
the investigation.

The boy's chamber was carefully examined, and yielded
nothing save the absolute conviction that it was only
through the window that he could have escaped.
The German master's room and effects gave no further clue.
In his case a trailer of ivy had given way under his weight,
and we saw by the light of a lantern the mark on the lawn
where his heels had come down.  That one dint in the short
green grass was the only material witness left of this
inexplicable nocturnal flight.

Sherlock Holmes left the house alone, and only returned
after eleven.  He had obtained a large ordnance map of the
neighbourhood, and this he brought into my room, where he
laid it out on the bed, and, having balanced the lamp in
the middle of it, he began to smoke over it, and
occasionally to point out objects of interest with the
reeking amber of his pipe.

"This case grows upon me, Watson," said he.  "There are
decidedly some points of interest in connection with it.
In this early stage I want you to realize those
geographical features which may have a good deal to do with
our investigation.

{GRAPHIC}

"Look at this map.  This dark square is the Priory School.
I'll put a pin in it.  Now, this line is the main road.
You see that it runs east and west past the school, and you
see also that there is no side road for a mile either way.
If these two folk passed away by road it was _this_ road."

"Exactly."

"By a singular and happy chance we are able to some extent
to check what passed along this road during the night in
question.  At this point, where my pipe is now resting, a
country constable was on duty from twelve to six.  It is,
as you perceive, the first cross road on the east side.
This man declares that he was not absent from his post for
an instant, and he is positive that neither boy nor man
could have gone that way unseen.  I have spoken with this
policeman to-night, and he appears to me to be a perfectly
reliable person.  That blocks this end.  We have now to
deal with the other.  There is an inn here, the Red Bull,
the landlady of which was ill.  She had sent to Mackleton
for a doctor, but he did not arrive until morning, being
absent at another case.  The people at the inn were alert
all night, awaiting his coming, and one or other of them
seems to have continually had an eye upon the road.  They
declare that no one passed.  If their evidence is good,
then we are fortunate enough to be able to block the west,
and also to be able to say that the fugitives did _not_ use
the road at all."

"But the bicycle?" I objected.

"Quite so.  We will come to the bicycle presently.
To continue our reasoning: if these people did not go by the
road, they must have traversed the country to the north of
the house or to the south of the house.  That is certain.
Let us weigh the one against the other.  On the south of
the house is, as you perceive, a large district of arable
land, cut up into small fields, with stone walls between
them.  There, I admit that a bicycle is impossible.  We can
dismiss the idea.  We turn to the country on the north.
Here there lies a grove of trees, marked as the 'Ragged
Shaw,' and on the farther side stretches a great rolling
moor, Lower Gill Moor, extending for ten miles and sloping
gradually upwards.  Here, at one side of this wilderness,
is Holdernesse Hall, ten miles by road, but only six across
the moor.  It is a peculiarly desolate plain.  A few moor
farmers have small holdings, where they rear sheep and
cattle.  Except these, the plover and the curlew are the only
inhabitants until you come to the Chesterfield high road.
There is a church there, you see, a few cottages, and an inn.
Beyond that the hills become precipitous.
Surely it is here to the north that our quest must lie."

"But the bicycle?" I persisted.

"Well, well!" said Holmes, impatiently.  "A good cyclist
does not need a high road.  The moor is intersected with
paths and the moon was at the full.  Halloa! what is this?"

There was an agitated knock at the door, and an instant
afterwards Dr. Huxtable was in the room.  In his hand he
held a blue cricket-cap, with a white chevron on the peak.

"At last we have a clue!" he cried.  "Thank Heaven! at last
we are on the dear boy's track!  It is his cap."

"Where was it found?"

"In the van of the gipsies who camped on the moor.
They left on Tuesday.  To-day the police traced them down
and examined their caravan.  This was found."

"How do they account for it?"

"They shuffled and lied -- said that they found it on the
moor on Tuesday morning.  They know where he is, the
rascals!  Thank goodness, they are all safe under lock and
key.  Either the fear of the law or the Duke's purse will
certainly get out of them all that they know."

"So far, so good," said Holmes, when the doctor had at last
left the room.  "It at least bears out the theory that it
is on the side of the Lower Gill Moor that we must hope for
results.  The police have really done nothing locally, save
the arrest of these gipsies.  Look here, Watson!  There is
a watercourse across the moor.  You see it marked here in
the map.  In some parts it widens into a morass.  This is
particularly so in the region between Holdernesse Hall and
the school.  It is vain to look elsewhere for tracks in
this dry weather; but at _that_ point there is certainly a
chance of some record being left.  I will call you early
to-morrow morning, and you and I will try if we can throw
some little light upon the mystery."

The day was just breaking when I woke to find the long,
thin form of Holmes by my bedside.  He was fully dressed,
and had apparently already been out.

"I have done the lawn and the bicycle shed," said he.
"I have also had a ramble through the Ragged Shaw.
Now, Watson, there is cocoa ready in the next room.
I must beg you to hurry, for we have a great day before us."

His eyes shone, and his cheek was flushed with the
exhilaration of the master workman who sees his work lie
ready before him.  A very different Holmes, this active,
alert man, from the introspective and pallid dreamer of
Baker Street.  I felt, as I looked upon that supple figure,
alive with nervous energy, that it was indeed a strenuous
day that awaited us.

And yet it opened in the blackest disappointment.
With high hopes we struck across the peaty, russet moor,
intersected with a thousand sheep paths, until we came to
the broad, light-green belt which marked the morass between
us and Holdernesse.  Certainly, if the lad had gone
homewards, he must have passed this, and he could not pass
it without leaving his traces.  But no sign of him or the
German could be seen.  With a darkening face my friend
strode along the margin, eagerly observant of every muddy
stain upon the mossy surface.  Sheep-marks there were in
profusion, and at one place, some miles down, cows had left
their tracks.  Nothing more.

"Check number one," said Holmes, looking gloomily over the
rolling expanse of the moor.  "There is another morass down
yonder and a narrow neck between.  Halloa! halloa! halloa!
what have we here?"

We had come on a small black ribbon of pathway.
In the middle of it, clearly marked on the sodden soil,
was the track of a bicycle.

"Hurrah!" I cried.  "We have it."

But Holmes was shaking his head, and his face was puzzled
and expectant rather than joyous.

"A bicycle certainly, but not _the_ bicycle," said he.
"I am familiar with forty-two different impressions left
by tyres.  This, as you perceive, is a Dunlop, with a patch
upon the outer cover.  Heidegger's tyres were Palmer's,
leaving longitudinal stripes.  Aveling, the mathematical
master, was sure upon the point.  Therefore, it is not
Heidegger's track."

"The boy's, then?"

"Possibly, if we could prove a bicycle to have been in his
possession.  But this we have utterly failed to do.
This track, as you perceive, was made by a rider who was
going from the direction of the school."

"Or towards it?"

"No, no, my dear Watson.  The more deeply sunk impression
is, of course, the hind wheel, upon which the weight rests.
You perceive several places where it has passed across and
obliterated the more shallow mark of the front one.  It was
undoubtedly heading away from the school.  It may or may
not be connected with our inquiry, but we will follow it
backwards before we go any farther."

We did so, and at the end of a few hundred yards lost the
tracks as we emerged from the boggy portion of the moor.
Following the path backwards, we picked out another spot,
where a spring trickled across it.  Here, once again, was
the mark of the bicycle, though nearly obliterated by the
hoofs of cows.  After that there was no sign, but the path
ran right on into Ragged Shaw, the wood which backed on to
the school.  From this wood the cycle must have emerged.
Holmes sat down on a boulder and rested his chin in his
hands.  I had smoked two cigarettes before he moved.

"Well, well," said he, at last.  "It is, of course,
possible that a cunning man might change the tyre of his
bicycle in order to leave unfamiliar tracks.  A criminal
who was capable of such a thought is a man whom I should be
proud to do business with.  We will leave this question
undecided and hark back to our morass again, for we have
left a good deal unexplored."

We continued our systematic survey of the edge of the
sodden portion of the moor, and soon our perseverance was
gloriously rewarded.  Right across the lower part of the
bog lay a miry path.  Holmes gave a cry of delight as he
approached it.  An impression like a fine bundle of telegraph
wires ran down the centre of it.  It was the Palmer tyre.

"Here is Herr Heidegger, sure enough!" cried Holmes, exultantly.
"My reasoning seems to have been pretty sound, Watson."

"I congratulate you."

"But we have a long way still to go.  Kindly walk clear of
the path.  Now let us follow the trail.  I fear that it
will not lead very far."

We found, however, as we advanced that this portion of the
moor is intersected with soft patches, and, though we
frequently lost sight of the track, we always succeeded in
picking it up once more.

"Do you observe," said Holmes, "that the rider is now
undoubtedly forcing the pace?  There can be no doubt of it.
Look at this impression, where you get both tyres clear.
The one is as deep as the other.  That can only mean that
the rider is throwing his weight on to the handle-bar,
as a man does when he is sprinting.  By Jove! he has had
a fall."

There was a broad, irregular smudge covering some yards of
the track.  Then there were a few footmarks, and the tyre
reappeared once more.

"A side-slip," I suggested.

Holmes held up a crumpled branch of flowering gorse.
To my horror I perceived that the yellow blossoms were all
dabbled with crimson.  On the path, too, and among the
heather were dark stains of clotted blood.

"Bad!" said Holmes.  "Bad!  Stand clear, Watson!
Not an unnecessary footstep!  What do I read here?
He fell wounded, he stood up, he remounted, he proceeded.
But there is no other track.  Cattle on this side path.
He was surely not gored by a bull?  Impossible!  But I see
no traces of anyone else.  We must push on, Watson.
Surely with stains as well as the track to guide us he
cannot escape us now."

Our search was not a very long one.  The tracks of the tyre
began to curve fantastically upon the wet and shining path.
Suddenly, as I looked ahead, the gleam of metal caught my
eye from amid the thick gorse bushes.  Out of them we
dragged a bicycle, Palmer-tyred, one pedal bent, and the
whole front of it horribly smeared and slobbered with
blood.  On the other side of the bushes a shoe was
projecting.  We ran round, and there lay the unfortunate
rider.  He was a tall man, full bearded, with spectacles,
one glass of which had been knocked out.  The cause of his
death was a frightful blow upon the head, which had crushed
in part of his skull.  That he could have gone on after
receiving such an injury said much for the vitality and
courage of the man.  He wore shoes, but no socks, and his
open coat disclosed a night-shirt beneath it.  It was
undoubtedly the German master.

Holmes turned the body over reverently, and examined it
with great attention.  He then sat in deep thought for a
time, and I could see by his ruffled brow that this grim
discovery had not, in his opinion, advanced us much in our
inquiry.

"It is a little difficult to know what to do, Watson," said he,
at last.  "My own inclinations are to push this inquiry
on, for we have already lost so much time that we cannot
afford to waste another hour.  On the other hand, we are
bound to inform the police of the discovery, and to see
that this poor fellow's body is looked after."

"I could take a note back."

"But I need your company and assistance.  Wait a bit!
There is a fellow cutting peat up yonder.  Bring him over
here, and he will guide the police."

I brought the peasant across, and Holmes dispatched the
frightened man with a note to Dr. Huxtable.

"Now, Watson," said he, "we have picked up two clues this
morning.  One is the bicycle with the Palmer tyre, and we
see what that has led to.  The other is the bicycle with
the patched Dunlop.  Before we start to investigate that,
let us try to realize what we _do_ know so as to make the
most of it, and to separate the essential from the
accidental."

"First of all I wish to impress upon you that the boy
certainly left of his own free will.  He got down from
his window and he went off, either alone or with someone.
That is sure."

I assented.

"Well, now, let us turn to this unfortunate German master.
The boy was fully dressed when he fled.  Therefore,
he foresaw what he would do.  But the German went without
his socks.  He certainly acted on very short notice."

"Undoubtedly."

"Why did he go?  Because, from his bedroom window, he saw
the flight of the boy.  Because he wished to overtake him
and bring him back.  He seized his bicycle, pursued the
lad, and in pursuing him met his death."

"So it would seem."

"Now I come to the critical part of my argument.
The natural action of a man in pursuing a little boy would be
to run after him.  He would know that he could overtake him.
But the German does not do so.  He turns to his bicycle.
I am told that he was an excellent cyclist.
He would not do this if he did not see that the boy had some
swift means of escape."

"The other bicycle."

"Let us continue our reconstruction.  He meets his death
five miles from the school -- not by a bullet, mark you,
which even a lad might conceivably discharge, but by a
savage blow dealt by a vigorous arm.  The lad, then, _had_
a companion in his flight.  And the flight was a swift one,
since it took five miles before an expert cyclist could
overtake them.  Yet we survey the ground round the scene
of the tragedy.  What do we find?  A few cattle tracks,
nothing more.  I took a wide sweep round, and there is no
path within fifty yards.  Another cyclist could have had
nothing to do with the actual murder.  Nor were there any
human footmarks."

"Holmes," I cried, "this is impossible."

"Admirable!" he said.  "A most illuminating remark.
It _is_ impossible as I state it, and therefore I must in some
respect have stated it wrong.  Yet you saw for yourself.
Can you suggest any fallacy?"

"He could not have fractured his skull in a fall?"

"In a morass, Watson?"

"I am at my wit's end."

"Tut, tut; we have solved some worse problems.
At least we have plenty of material, if we can only use it.
Come, then, and, having exhausted the Palmer, let us see what
the Dunlop with the patched cover has to offer us."

We picked up the track and followed it onwards for some
distance; but soon the moor rose into a long, heather-tufted
curve, and we left the watercourse behind us.  No further
help from tracks could be hoped for.  At the spot where
we saw the last of the Dunlop tyre it might equally have led
to Holdernesse Hall, the stately towers of which rose some
miles to our left, or to a low, grey village which lay in front
of us, and marked the position of the Chesterfield high road.

As we approached the forbidding and squalid inn, with the
sign of a game-cock above the door, Holmes gave a sudden
groan and clutched me by the shoulder to save himself from
falling.  He had had one of those violent strains of the
ankle which leave a man helpless.  With difficulty he
limped up to the door, where a squat, dark, elderly man was
smoking a black clay pipe.

"How are you, Mr. Reuben Hayes?" said Holmes.

"Who are you, and how do you get my name so pat?" the
countryman answered, with a suspicious flash of a pair of
cunning eyes.

"Well, it's printed on the board above your head.
It's easy to see a man who is master of his own house.
I suppose you haven't such a thing as a carriage in your
stables?"

"No; I have not."

"I can hardly put my foot to the ground."

"Don't put it to the ground."

"But I can't walk."

"Well, then, hop."

Mr. Reuben Hayes's manner was far from gracious, but Holmes
took it with admirable good-humour.

"Look here, my man," said he.  "This is really rather an
awkward fix for me.  I don't mind how I get on."

"Neither do I," said the morose landlord.

"The matter is very important.  I would offer you a
sovereign for the use of a bicycle."

The landlord pricked up his ears.

"Where do you want to go?"

"To Holdernesse Hall."

"Pals of the Dook, I suppose?" said the landlord, surveying
our mud-stained garments with ironical eyes.

Holmes laughed good-naturedly.

"He'll be glad to see us, anyhow."

"Why?"

"Because we bring him news of his lost son."

The landlord gave a very visible start.

"What, you're on his track?"

"He has been heard of in Liverpool.  They expect to get him
every hour."

Again a swift change passed over the heavy, unshaven face.
His manner was suddenly genial.

"I've less reason to wish the Dook well than most men,"
said he, "for I was his head coachman once, and cruel bad
he treated me.  It was him that sacked me without a
character on the word of a lying corn-chandler.  But I'm
glad to hear that the young lord was heard of in Liverpool,
and I'll help you to take the news to the Hall."

"Thank you," said Holmes.  "We'll have some food first.
Then you can bring round the bicycle."

"I haven't got a bicycle."

Holmes held up a sovereign.

"I tell you, man, that I haven't got one.  I'll let you
have two horses as far as the Hall."

"Well, well," said Holmes, "we'll talk about it when we've
had something to eat."

When we were left alone in the stone-flagged kitchen it was
astonishing how rapidly that sprained ankle recovered.
It was nearly nightfall, and we had eaten nothing since
early morning, so that we spent some time over our meal.
Holmes was lost in thought, and once or twice he walked over
to the window and stared earnestly out.  It opened on to a
squalid courtyard.  In the far corner was a smithy, where a
grimy lad was at work.  On the other side were the stables.
Holmes had sat down again after one of these excursions,
when he suddenly sprang out of his chair with a loud
exclamation.

"By Heaven, Watson, I believe that I've got it!" he cried.
"Yes, yes, it must be so.  Watson, do you remember seeing
any cow-tracks to-day?"

"Yes, several."

"Where?"

"Well, everywhere.  They were at the morass, and again on
the path, and again near where poor Heidegger met his death."

"Exactly.  Well, now, Watson, how many cows did you see on
the moor?"

"I don't remember seeing any."

"Strange, Watson, that we should see tracks all along our
line, but never a cow on the whole moor; very strange,
Watson, eh?"

"Yes, it is strange."

"Now, Watson, make an effort; throw your mind back!  Can
you see those tracks upon the path?"

"Yes, I can."

"Can you recall that the tracks were sometimes like that, Watson"
-- he arranged a number of bread-crumbs in this fashion --
: : : : : -- "and sometimes like this" -- : ' : ' : ' : ' --
"and occasionally like this" -- . ' . ' . ' .  "Can you remember
that?" {2}

"No, I cannot."

"But I can.  I could swear to it.  However, we will go back
at our leisure and verify it.  What a blind beetle I have
been not to draw my conclusion!"

"And what is your conclusion?"

"Only that it is a remarkable cow which walks, canters,
and gallops.  By George, Watson, it was no brain of a country
publican that thought out such a blind as that!
The coast seems to be clear, save for that lad in the smithy.
Let us slip out and see what we can see."

There were two rough-haired, unkempt horses in the
tumble-down stable.  Holmes raised the hind leg of one of
them and laughed aloud.

"Old shoes, but newly shod -- old shoes, but new nails.
This case deserves to be a classic.  Let us go across
to the smithy."

The lad continued his work without regarding us.
I saw Holmes's eye darting to right and left among the
litter of iron and wood which was scattered about the floor.
Suddenly, however, we heard a step behind us, and there was
the landlord, his heavy eyebrows drawn over his savage eyes,
his swarthy features convulsed with passion.  He held a short,
metal-headed stick in his hand, and he advanced in
so menacing a fashion that I was right glad to feel the
revolver in my pocket.

"You infernal spies!" the man cried.  "What are you doing
there?"

"Why, Mr. Reuben Hayes," said Holmes, coolly, "one might
think that you were afraid of our finding something out."

The man mastered himself with a violent effort, and his
grim mouth loosened into a false laugh, which was more
menacing than his frown.

"You're welcome to all you can find out in my smithy," said he.
"But look here, mister, I don't care for folk poking about my
place without my leave, so the sooner you pay your score and
get out of this the better I shall be pleased."

"All right, Mr. Hayes -- no harm meant," said Holmes.
"We have been having a look at your horses, but I think I'll
walk after all.  It's not far, I believe."

"Not more than two miles to the Hall gates.  That's the
road to the left."  He watched us with sullen eyes until we
had left his premises.

We did not go very far along the road, for Holmes stopped
the instant that the curve hid us from the landlord's view.

"We were warm, as the children say, at that inn," said he.
"I seem to grow colder every step that I take away from it.
No, no; I can't possibly leave it."

"I am convinced," said I, "that this Reuben Hayes knows all
about it.  A more self-evident villain I never saw."

"Oh! he impressed you in that way, did he?  There are the
horses, there is the smithy.  Yes, it is an interesting
place, this Fighting Cock.  I think we shall have another
look at it in an unobtrusive way."

A long, sloping hillside, dotted with grey limestone
boulders, stretched behind us.  We had turned off the road,
and were making our way up the hill, when, looking in the
direction of Holdernesse Hall, I saw a cyclist coming
swiftly along.

"Get down, Watson!" cried Holmes, with a heavy hand upon my
shoulder.  We had hardly sunk from view when the man flew
past us on the road.  Amid a rolling cloud of dust I caught
a glimpse of a pale, agitated face -- a face with horror in
every lineament, the mouth open, the eyes staring wildly in
front.  It was like some strange caricature of the dapper
James Wilder whom we had seen the night before.

"The Duke's secretary!" cried Holmes.  "Come, Watson,
let us see what he does."

We scrambled from rock to rock until in a few moments we
had made our way to a point from which we could see the
front door of the inn.  Wilder's bicycle was leaning
against the wall beside it.  No one was moving about the
house, nor could we catch a glimpse of any faces at the
windows.  Slowly the twilight crept down as the sun sank
behind the high towers of Holdernesse Hall.  Then in the
gloom we saw the two side-lamps of a trap light up in the
stable yard of the inn, and shortly afterwards heard the
rattle of hoofs, as it wheeled out into the road and tore
off at a furious pace in the direction of Chesterfield.

"What do you make of that, Watson?" Holmes whispered.

"It looks like a flight."

"A single man in a dog-cart, so far as I could see.  Well,
it certainly was not Mr. James Wilder, for there he is at
the door."

A red square of light had sprung out of the darkness.
In the middle of it was the black figure of the secretary,
his head advanced, peering out into the night.  It was evident
that he was expecting someone.  Then at last there were
steps in the road, a second figure was visible for an
instant against the light, the door shut, and all was black
once more.  Five minutes later a lamp was lit in a room
upon the first floor.

"It seems to be a curious class of custom that is done by
the Fighting Cock," said Holmes.

"The bar is on the other side."

"Quite so.  These are what one may call the private guests.
Now, what in the world is Mr. James Wilder doing in that
den at this hour of night, and who is the companion who
comes to meet him there?  Come, Watson, we must really take
a risk and try to investigate this a little more closely."

Together we stole down to the road and crept across to the
door of the inn.  The bicycle still leaned against the
wall.  Holmes struck a match and held it to the back wheel,
and I heard him chuckle as the light fell upon a patched
Dunlop tyre.  Up above us was the lighted window.

"I must have a peep through that, Watson.  If you bend your back
and support yourself upon the wall, I think that I can manage."

An instant later his feet were on my shoulders.  But he was
hardly up before he was down again.

"Come, my friend," said he, "our day's work has been quite
long enough.  I think that we have gathered all that we
can.  It's a long walk to the school, and the sooner we get
started the better."

He hardly opened his lips during that weary trudge across
the moor, nor would he enter the school when he reached it,
but went on to Mackleton Station, whence he could send some
telegrams.  Late at night I heard him consoling Dr. Huxtable,
prostrated by the tragedy of his master's death,
and later still he entered my room as alert and vigorous as
he had been when he started in the morning.  "All goes
well, my friend," said he.  "I promise that before to-morrow
evening we shall have reached the solution of the mystery."


At eleven o'clock next morning my friend and I were walking
up the famous yew avenue of Holdernesse Hall.  We were
ushered through the magnificent Elizabethan doorway and
into his Grace's study.  There we found Mr. James Wilder,
demure and courtly, but with some trace of that wild terror
of the night before still lurking in his furtive eyes and
in his twitching features.

"You have come to see his Grace?  I am sorry; but the fact
is that the Duke is far from well.  He has been very much
upset by the tragic news.  We received a telegram from
Dr. Huxtable yesterday afternoon, which told us of your
discovery."

"I must see the Duke, Mr. Wilder."

"But he is in his room."

"Then I must go to his room."

"I believe he is in his bed."

"I will see him there."

Holmes's cold and inexorable manner showed the secretary
that it was useless to argue with him.

"Very good, Mr. Holmes; I will tell him that you are here."

After half an hour's delay the great nobleman appeared.
His face was more cadaverous than ever, his shoulders had
rounded, and he seemed to me to be an altogether older man
than he had been the morning before.  He greeted us with a
stately courtesy and seated himself at his desk, his red
beard streaming down on to the table.

"Well, Mr. Holmes?" said he.

But my friend's eyes were fixed upon the secretary,
who stood by his master's chair.

"I think, your Grace, that I could speak more freely in
Mr. Wilder's absence."

The man turned a shade paler and cast a malignant glance
at Holmes.

"If your Grace wishes ----"

"Yes, yes; you had better go.  Now, Mr. Holmes, what have
you to say?"

My friend waited until the door had closed behind the
retreating secretary.

"The fact is, your Grace," said he, "that my colleague,
Dr. Watson, and myself had an assurance from Dr. Huxtable that
a reward had been offered in this case.  I should like to
have this confirmed from your own lips."

"Certainly, Mr. Holmes."

"It amounted, if I am correctly informed, to five thousand
pounds to anyone who will tell you where your son is?"

"Exactly."

"And another thousand to the man who will name the person
or persons who keep him in custody?"

"Exactly."

"Under the latter heading is included, no doubt, not only
those who may have taken him away, but also those who
conspire to keep him in his present position?"

"Yes, yes," cried the Duke, impatiently.  "If you do your
work well, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, you will have no reason to
complain of niggardly treatment."

My friend rubbed his thin hands together with an appearance
of avidity which was a surprise to me, who knew his frugal
tastes.

"I fancy that I see your Grace's cheque-book upon the
table," said he.  "I should be glad if you would make me
out a cheque for six thousand pounds.  It would be as well,
perhaps, for you to cross it.  The Capital and Counties
Bank, Oxford Street branch, are my agents."

His Grace sat very stern and upright in his chair,
and looked stonily at my friend.

"Is this a joke, Mr. Holmes?  It is hardly a subject for
pleasantry."

"Not at all, your Grace.  I was never more earnest in my life."

"What do you mean, then?"

"I mean that I have earned the reward.  I know where your son
is, and I know some, at least, of those who are holding him."

The Duke's beard had turned more aggressively red than ever
against his ghastly white face.

"Where is he?" he gasped.

"He is, or was last night, at the Fighting Cock Inn,
about two miles from your park gate."

The Duke fell back in his chair.

"And whom do you accuse?"

Sherlock Holmes's answer was an astounding one.  He stepped
swiftly forward and touched the Duke upon the shoulder.

"I accuse _you_," said he.  "And now, your Grace,
I'll trouble you for that cheque."

Never shall I forget the Duke's appearance as he sprang up
and clawed with his hands like one who is sinking into an
abyss. Then, with an extraordinary effort of aristocratic
self-command, he sat down and sank his face in his hands.
It was some minutes before he spoke.

"How much do you know?" he asked at last, without raising
his head.

"I saw you together last night."

"Does anyone else besides your friend know?"

"I have spoken to no one."

The Duke took a pen in his quivering fingers and opened his
cheque-book.

"I shall be as good as my word, Mr. Holmes.  I am about to
write your cheque, however unwelcome the information which
you have gained may be to me.  When the offer was first
made I little thought the turn which events might take.
But you and your friend are men of discretion, Mr. Holmes?"

"I hardly understand your Grace."

"I must put it plainly, Mr. Holmes.  If only you two know
of this incident, there is no reason why it should go any
farther.  I think twelve thousand pounds is the sum that I
owe you, is it not?"

But Holmes smiled and shook his head.

"I fear, your Grace, that matters can hardly be arranged so
easily.  There is the death of this schoolmaster to be
accounted for."

"But James knew nothing of that.  You cannot hold him
responsible for that.  It was the work of this brutal
ruffian whom he had the misfortune to employ."

"I must take the view, your Grace, that when a man embarks
upon a crime he is morally guilty of any other crime which
may spring from it."

"Morally, Mr. Holmes.  No doubt you are right.  But surely
not in the eyes of the law.  A man cannot be condemned for
a murder at which he was not present, and which he loathes
and abhors as much as you do.  The instant that he heard of
it he made a complete confession to me, so filled was he
with horror and remorse.  He lost not an hour in breaking
entirely with the murderer.  Oh, Mr. Holmes, you must save
him -- you must save him!  I tell you that you must save him!"
The Duke had dropped the last attempt at self-command,
and was pacing the room with a convulsed face and with his
clenched hands raving in the air.  At last he mastered himself
and sat down once more at his desk.  "I appreciate your conduct
in coming here before you spoke to anyone else," said he.
"At least we may take counsel how far we can minimize this
hideous scandal."

"Exactly," said Holmes.  "I think, your Grace, that this can
only be done by absolute and complete frankness between us.
I am disposed to help your Grace to the best of my ability;
but in order to do so I must understand to the last detail
how the matter stands.  I realize that your words applied
to Mr. James Wilder, and that he is not the murderer."

"No; the murderer has escaped."

Sherlock Holmes smiled demurely.

"Your Grace can hardly have heard of any small reputation
which I possess, or you would not imagine that it is so
easy to escape me.  Mr. Reuben Hayes was arrested at
Chesterfield on my information at eleven o'clock last night.
I had a telegram from the head of the local police before
I left the school this morning."

The Duke leaned back in his chair and stared with amazement
at my friend.

"You seem to have powers that are hardly human," said he.
"So Reuben Hayes is taken?  I am right glad to hear it,
if it will not react upon the fate of James."

"Your secretary?"

"No, sir; my son."

It was Holmes's turn to look astonished.

"I confess that this is entirely new to me, your Grace.
I must beg you to be more explicit."

"I will conceal nothing from you.  I agree with you that
complete frankness, however painful it may be to me, is the
best policy in this desperate situation to which James's
folly and jealousy have reduced us.  When I was a very
young man, Mr. Holmes, I loved with such a love as comes
only once in a lifetime.  I offered the lady marriage,
but she refused it on the grounds that such a match might
mar my career.  Had she lived I would certainly never have
married anyone else.  She died, and left this one child,
whom for her sake I have cherished and cared for.  I could
not acknowledge the paternity to the world; but I gave him
the best of educations, and since he came to manhood I have
kept him near my person.  He surprised my secret, and has
presumed ever since upon the claim which he has upon me and
upon his power of provoking a scandal, which would be
abhorrent to me.  His presence had something to do with the
unhappy issue of my marriage.  Above all, he hated my young
legitimate heir from the first with a persistent hatred.
You may well ask me why, under these circumstances, I still
kept James under my roof.  I answer that it was because I
could see his mother's face in his, and that for her dear
sake there was no end to my long-suffering.  All her pretty
ways, too -- there was not one of them which he could not suggest
and bring back to my memory.  I _could_ not send him away.
But I feared so much lest he should do Arthur -- that is,
Lord Saltire -- a mischief that I dispatched him for safety
to Dr. Huxtable's school.

"James came into contact with this fellow Hayes because the
man was a tenant of mine, and James acted as agent.
The fellow was a rascal from the beginning; but in some
extraordinary way James became intimate with him.  He had
always a taste for low company.  When James determined to
kidnap Lord Saltire it was of this man's service that he
availed himself.  You remember that I wrote to Arthur upon
that last day.  Well, James opened the letter and inserted
a note asking Arthur to meet him in a little wood called
the Ragged Shaw, which is near to the school.  He used the
Duchess's name, and in that way got the boy to come.
That evening James bicycled over -- I am telling you what he has
himself confessed to me -- and he told Arthur, whom he met in
the wood, that his mother longed to see him, that she was
awaiting him on the moor, and that if he would come back
into the wood at midnight he would find a man with a horse,
who would take him to her.  Poor Arthur fell into the trap.
He came to the appointment and found this fellow Hayes with
a led pony.  Arthur mounted, and they set off together.
It appears -- though this James only heard yesterday -- that they
were pursued, that Hayes struck the pursuer with his stick,
and that the man died of his injuries.  Hayes brought
Arthur to his public-house, the Fighting Cock, where he was
confined in an upper room, under the care of Mrs. Hayes,
who is a kindly woman, but entirely under the control of
her brutal husband.

"Well, Mr. Holmes, that was the state of affairs when I
first saw you two days ago.  I had no more idea of the
truth than you.  You will ask me what was James's motive in
doing such a deed.  I answer that there was a great deal
which was unreasoning and fanatical in the hatred which he
bore my heir.  In his view he should himself have been heir
of all my estates, and he deeply resented those social laws
which made it impossible.  At the same time he had a
definite motive also.  He was eager that I should break the
entail, and he was of opinion that it lay in my power to do
so.  He intended to make a bargain with me -- to restore
Arthur if I would break the entail, and so make it possible
for the estate to be left to him by will.  He knew well
that I should never willingly invoke the aid of the police
against him.  I say that he would have proposed such a
bargain to me, but he did not actually do so, for events
moved too quickly for him, and he had not time to put his
plans into practice.

"What brought all his wicked scheme to wreck was your
discovery of this man Heidegger's dead body.  James was
seized with horror at the news.  It came to us yesterday
as we sat together in this study.  Dr. Huxtable had sent
a telegram.  James was so overwhelmed with grief and
agitation that my suspicions, which had never been entirely
absent, rose instantly to a certainty, and I taxed him
with the deed.  He made a complete voluntary confession.
Then he implored me to keep his secret for three days longer,
so as to give his wretched accomplice a chance of saving his
guilty life.  I yielded -- as I have always yielded -- to his
prayers, and instantly James hurried off to the Fighting
Cock to warn Hayes and give him the means of flight.
I could not go there by daylight without provoking comment,
but as soon as night fell I hurried off to see my dear Arthur.
I found him safe and well, but horrified beyond
expression by the dreadful deed he had witnessed.
In deference to my promise, and much against my will,
I consented to leave him there for three days under the
charge of Mrs. Hayes, since it was evident that it was
impossible to inform the police where he was without
telling them also who was the murderer, and I could not see
how that murderer could be punished without ruin to my
unfortunate James.  You asked for frankness, Mr. Holmes,
and I have taken you at your word, for I have now told
you everything without an attempt at circumlocution or
concealment.  Do you in your turn be as frank with me."

"I will," said Holmes.  "In the first place, your Grace,
I am bound to tell you that you have placed yourself in a
most serious position in the eyes of the law.  You have
condoned a felony and you have aided the escape of a
murderer; for I cannot doubt that any money which was taken
by James Wilder to aid his accomplice in his flight came
from your Grace's purse."

The Duke bowed his assent.

"This is indeed a most serious matter.  Even more culpable
in my opinion, your Grace, is your attitude towards your
younger son.  You leave him in this den for three days."

"Under solemn promises ----"

"What are promises to such people as these?
You have no guarantee that he will not be spirited away again.
To humour your guilty elder son you have exposed your innocent
younger son to imminent and unnecessary danger.
It was a most unjustifiable action."

The proud lord of Holdernesse was not accustomed to be so
rated in his own ducal hall.  The blood flushed into his
high forehead, but his conscience held him dumb.

"I will help you, but on one condition only.  It is that you
ring for the footman and let me give such orders as I like."

Without a word the Duke pressed the electric bell.
A servant entered.

"You will be glad to hear," said Holmes, "that your young
master is found.  It is the Duke's desire that the carriage
shall go at once to the Fighting Cock Inn to bring Lord
Saltire home.

"Now," said Holmes," {3} when the rejoicing lackey had
disappeared, "having secured the future, we can afford to
be more lenient with the past.  I am not in an official
position, and there is no reason, so long as the ends of
justice are served, why I should disclose all that I know.
As to Hayes I say nothing.  The gallows awaits him, and I
would do nothing to save him from it.  What he will divulge
I cannot tell, but I have no doubt that your Grace could
make him understand that it is to his interest to be
silent.  From the police point of view he will have
kidnapped the boy for the purpose of ransom.  If they do
not themselves find it out I see no reason why I should
prompt them to take a broader point of view.  I would warn
your Grace, however, that the continued presence of
Mr. James Wilder in your household can only lead to
misfortune."

"I understand that, Mr. Holmes, and it is already settled
that he shall leave me for ever and go to seek his fortune
in Australia."

"In that case, your Grace, since you have yourself stated
that any unhappiness in your married life was caused by his
presence, I would suggest that you make such amends as you
can to the Duchess, and that you try to resume those
relations which have been so unhappily interrupted."

"That also I have arranged, Mr. Holmes.  I wrote to the
Duchess this morning."

"In that case," said Holmes, rising, "I think that my
friend and I can congratulate ourselves upon several
most happy results from our little visit to the North.
There is one other small point upon which I desire some light.
This fellow Hayes had shod his horses with shoes which
counterfeited the tracks of cows.  Was it from Mr. Wilder
that he learned so extraordinary a device?"

The Duke stood in thought for a moment, with a look of
intense surprise on his face.  Then he opened a door
and showed us into a large room furnished as a museum.
He led the way to a glass case in a corner, and pointed
to the inscription.

"These shoes," it ran, "were dug up in the moat of
Holdernesse Hall.  They are for the use of horses; but they
are shaped below with a cloven foot of iron, so as to throw
pursuers off the track.  They are supposed to have belonged
to some of the marauding Barons of Holdernesse in the
Middle Ages."

Holmes opened the case, and moistening his finger he passed
it along the shoe.  A thin film of recent mud was left upon
his skin.

"Thank you," said he, as he replaced the glass.  "It is the
second most interesting object that I have seen in the North."

"And the first?"

Holmes folded up his cheque and placed it carefully in his note-book.
"I am a poor man," said he, as he patted it affectionately and thrust
it into the depths of his inner pocket.

{-------------------------- End of Text ---------------------------}
{------------------------------------------------------------------}
{------------------------- Textual Notes --------------------------}
{Source: Strand Magazine, 27 (Feb. 1904)}
{Italics in the text are indicated with (_)}
{1}   {"encyclopaedia": the a&e are a ligature}
{2}   {only an approximation of the cattle track graphics. See the}
{original for comparison}
{3}   {...Holmes": this extra quote is in the text.}
{---------------------- End of Textual Notes ----------------------}
{------------------------------------------------------------------}




{BLAC, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 3rd proofing}
{The Adventure of the Black Peter, Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 27 (March 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


VI. -- The Adventure of Black Peter.

I HAVE never known my friend to be in better form, both
mental and physical, than in the year '95.  His increasing
fame had brought with it an immense practice, and I should
be guilty of an indiscretion if I were even to hint at the
identity of some of the illustrious clients who crossed our
humble threshold in Baker Street.  Holmes, however, like
all great artists, lived for his art's sake, and, save in
the case of the Duke of Holdernesse, I have seldom known
him claim any large reward for his inestimable services.
So unworldly was he -- or so capricious -- that he
frequently refused his help to the powerful and wealthy
where the problem made no appeal to his sympathies, while
he would devote weeks of most intense application to the
affairs of some humble client whose case presented those
strange and dramatic qualities which appealed to his
imagination and challenged his ingenuity.

In this memorable year '95 a curious and incongruous
succession of cases had engaged his attention, ranging from
his famous investigation of the sudden death of Cardinal
Tosca -- an inquiry which was carried out by him at the
express desire of His Holiness the Pope -- down to his
arrest of Wilson, the notorious canary-trainer, which
removed a plague-spot from the East-end of London.  Close
on the heels of these two famous cases came the tragedy of
Woodman's Lee, and the very obscure circumstances which
surrounded the death of Captain Peter Carey.  No record of
the doings of Mr. Sherlock Holmes would be complete which
did not include some account of this very unusual affair.

During the first week of July my friend had been absent so
often and so long from our lodgings that I knew he had
something on hand.  The fact that several rough-looking men
called during that time and inquired for Captain Basil made
me understand that Holmes was working somewhere under one
of the numerous disguises and names with which he concealed
his own formidable identity.  He had at least five small
refuges in different parts of London in which he was able
to change his personality.  He said nothing of his business
to me, and it was not my habit to force a confidence.
The first positive sign which he gave me of the direction
which his investigation was taking was an extraordinary one.
He had gone out before breakfast, and I had sat down to mine,
when he strode into the room, his hat upon his head and a huge
barbed-headed spear tucked like an umbrella under his arm.

"Good gracious, Holmes!" I cried.  "You don't mean to say
that you have been walking about London with that thing?"

"I drove to the butcher's and back."

"The butcher's?"

"And I return with an excellent appetite.  There can be no
question, my dear Watson, of the value of exercise before
breakfast.  But I am prepared to bet that you will not
guess the form that my exercise has taken."

"I will not attempt it."

He chuckled as he poured out the coffee.

"If you could have looked into Allardyce's back shop you
would have seen a dead pig swung from a hook in the
ceiling, and a gentleman in his shirt-sleeves furiously
stabbing at it with this weapon.  I was that energetic
person, and I have satisfied myself that by no exertion
of my strength can I transfix the pig with a single blow.
Perhaps you would care to try?"

"Not for worlds.  But why were you doing this?"

"Because it seemed to me to have an indirect bearing upon
the mystery of Woodman's Lee.  Ah, Hopkins, I got your wire
last night, and I have been expecting you.  Come and join us."

Our visitor was an exceedingly alert man, thirty years of
age, dressed in a quiet tweed suit, but retaining the erect
bearing of one who was accustomed to official uniform.
I recognised him at once as Stanley Hopkins, a young police
inspector for whose future Holmes had high hopes, while he
in turn professed the admiration and respect of a pupil for
the scientific methods of the famous amateur.  Hopkins's
brow was clouded, and he sat down with an air of deep
dejection.

"No, thank you, sir.  I breakfasted before I came round.
I spent the night in town, for I came up yesterday to report."

"And what had you to report?"

"Failure, sir; absolute failure."

"You have made no progress?"

"None."

"Dear me!  I must have a look at the matter."

"I wish to heavens that you would, Mr. Holmes.  It's my
first big chance, and I am at my wits' end.  For goodness'
sake come down and lend me a hand."

"Well, well, it just happens that I have already read all
the available evidence, including the report of the
inquest, with some care.  By the way, what do you make of
that tobacco-pouch found on the scene of the crime?  Is
there no clue there?"

Hopkins looked surprised.

"It was the man's own pouch, sir.  His initials were inside it.
And it was of seal-skin -- and he an old sealer."

"But he had no pipe."

"No, sir, we could find no pipe; indeed, he smoked very little.
And yet he might have kept some tobacco for his friends."

"No doubt.  I only mention it because if I had been
handling the case I should have been inclined to make that
the starting-point of my investigation.  However, my friend
Dr. Watson knows nothing of this matter, and I should be
none the worse for hearing the sequence of events once more.
Just give us some short sketch of the essentials."

Stanley Hopkins drew a slip of paper from his pocket.

"I have a few dates here which will give you the career of
the dead man, Captain Peter Carey.  He was born in '45 --
fifty years of age.  He was a most daring and successful
seal and whale fisher.  In 1883 he commanded the steam
sealer _Sea Unicorn_, of Dundee.  He had then had several
successful voyages in succession, and in the following
year, 1884, he retired.  After that he travelled for some
years, and finally he bought a small place called Woodman's
Lee, near Forest Row, in Sussex.  There he has lived for
six years, and there he died just a week ago to-day.

"There were some most singular points about the man.
In ordinary life he was a strict Puritan -- a silent, gloomy
fellow.  His household consisted of his wife, his daughter,
aged twenty, and two female servants.  These last were
continually changing, for it was never a very cheery
situation, and sometimes it became past all bearing.
The man was an intermittent drunkard, and when he had the fit
on him he was a perfect fiend.  He has been known to drive
his wife and his daughter out of doors in the middle of the
night, and flog them through the park until the whole
village outside the gates was aroused by their screams.

"He was summoned once for a savage assault upon the old vicar,
who had called upon him to remonstrate with him upon
his conduct.  In short, Mr. Holmes, you would go far before
you found a more dangerous man than Peter Carey, and I have
heard that he bore the same character when he commanded his
ship.  He was known in the trade as Black Peter, and the
name was given him, not only on account of his swarthy
features and the colour of his huge beard, but for the
humours which were the terror of all around him.  I need
not say that he was loathed and avoided by every one of his
neighbours, and that I have not heard one single word of
sorrow about his terrible end.

"You must have read in the account of the inquest about the
man's cabin, Mr. Holmes; but perhaps your friend here has
not heard of it.  He had built himself a wooden outhouse --
he always called it 'the cabin' -- a few hundred yards
from his house, and it was here that he slept every night.
It was a little, single-roomed hut, sixteen feet by ten.
He kept the key in his pocket, made his own bed, cleaned it
himself, and allowed no other foot to cross the threshold.
There are small windows on each side, which were covered by
curtains and never opened.  One of these windows was turned
towards the high road, and when the light burned in it at
night the folk used to point it out to each other and
wonder what Black Peter was doing in there.  That's the
window, Mr. Holmes, which gave us one of the few bits of
positive evidence that came out at the inquest.

"You remember that a stonemason, named Slater, walking from
Forest Row about one o'clock in the morning -- two days
before the murder -- stopped as he passed the grounds and
looked at the square of light still shining among the
trees.  He swears that the shadow of a man's head turned
sideways was clearly visible on the blind, and that this
shadow was certainly not that of Peter Carey, whom he knew
well.  It was that of a bearded man, but the beard was
short and bristled forwards in a way very different from
that of the captain.  So he says, but he had been two hours
in the public-house, and it is some distance from the road
to the window.  Besides, this refers to the Monday, and the
crime was done upon the Wednesday.

"On the Tuesday Peter Carey was in one of his blackest
moods, flushed with drink and as savage as a dangerous wild
beast.  He roamed about the house, and the women ran for it
when they heard him coming.  Late in the evening he went
down to his own hut.  About two o'clock the following
morning his daughter, who slept with her window open, heard
a most fearful yell from that direction, but it was no
unusual thing for him to bawl and shout when he was in
drink, so no notice was taken.  On rising at seven one of
the maids noticed that the door of the hut was open, but so
great was the terror which the man caused that it was
midday before anyone would venture down to see what had
become of him.  Peeping into the open door they saw a sight
which sent them flying with white faces into the village.
Within an hour I was on the spot and had taken over the case.

"Well, I have fairly steady nerves, as you know, Mr.
Holmes, but I give you my word that I got a shake when I
put my head into that little house.  It was droning like a
harmonium with the flies and bluebottles, and the floor and
walls were like a slaughter-house.  He had called it a
cabin, and a cabin it was sure enough, for you would have
thought that you were in a ship.  There was a bunk at one end,
a sea-chest, maps and charts, a picture of the _Sea Unicorn_,
a line of log-books on a shelf, all exactly as one would expect
to find it in a captain's room.  And there in the middle of it
was the man himself, his face twisted like a lost soul in torment,
and his great brindled beard stuck upwards in his agony.
Right through his broad breast a steel harpoon had been driven,
and it had sunk deep into the wood of the wall behind him.
He was pinned like a beetle on a card.  Of course, he was quite
dead, and had been so from the instant that he had uttered that
last yell of agony.

"I know your methods, sir, and I applied them.  Before I
permitted anything to be moved I examined most carefully
the ground outside, and also the floor of the room.  There
were no footmarks."

"Meaning that you saw none?"

"I assure you, sir, that there were none."

"My good Hopkins, I have investigated many crimes, but I
have never yet seen one which was committed by a flying
creature.  As long as the criminal remains upon two legs
so long must there be some indentation, some abrasion,
some trifling displacement which can be detected by
the scientific searcher.  It is incredible that this
blood-bespattered room contained no trace which could have
aided us.  I understand, however, from the inquest that
there were some objects which you failed to overlook?"

The young inspector winced at my companion's ironical
comments.

"I was a fool not to call you in at the time, Mr. Holmes.
However, that's past praying for now.  Yes, there were
several objects in the room which called for special
attention.  One was the harpoon with which the deed was
committed.  It had been snatched down from a rack on the
wall.  Two others remained there, and there was a vacant
place for the third.  On the stock was engraved 'Ss. _Sea
Unicorn_, Dundee.' This seemed to establish that the crime
had been done in a moment of fury, and that the murderer
had seized the first weapon which came in his way.  The
fact that the crime was committed at two in the morning,
and yet Peter Carey was fully dressed, suggested that he
had an appointment with the murderer, which is borne out by
the fact that a bottle of rum and two dirty glasses stood
upon the table."

"Yes," said Holmes; "I think that both inferences are permissible.
Was there any other spirit but rum in the room?"

"Yes; there was a tantalus containing brandy and whisky on
the sea-chest.  It is of no importance to us, however,
since the decanters were full, and it had therefore not
been used."

"For all that its presence has some significance," said
Holmes.  "However, let us hear some more about the objects
which do seem to you to bear upon the case."

"There was this tobacco-pouch upon the table."

"What part of the table?"

"It lay in the middle.  It was of coarse seal-skin -- the
straight-haired skin, with a leather thong to bind it.
Inside was 'P.C.' on the flap.  There was half an ounce of
strong ship's tobacco in it."

"Excellent!  What more?"

Stanley Hopkins drew from his pocket a drab-covered
note-book.  The outside was rough and worn, the leaves
discoloured.  On the first page were written the initials
"J.H.N." and the date "1883."  Holmes laid it on the table
and examined it in his minute way, while Hopkins and I
gazed over each shoulder.  On the second page were the
printed letters "C.P.R.," and then came several sheets of
numbers.  Another heading was Argentine, another Costa
Rica, and another San Paulo, each with pages of signs and
figures after it.

"What do you make of these?" asked Holmes.

"They appear to be lists of Stock Exchange securities.
I thought that 'J.H.N.' were the initials of a broker,
and that 'C.P.R.' may have been his client."

"Try Canadian Pacific Railway," said Holmes.

Stanley Hopkins swore between his teeth and struck his
thigh with his clenched hand.

"What a fool I have been!" he cried.  "Of course, it is as
you say.  Then 'J.H.N.' are the only initials we have to solve.
I have already examined the old Stock Exchange lists, and I can
find no one in 1883 either in the House or among the outside
brokers whose initials correspond with these.  Yet I feel that
the clue is the most important one that I hold.  You will admit,
Mr. Holmes, that there is a possibility that these initials are
those of the second person who was present -- in other words,
of the murderer.  I would also urge that the introduction into
the case of a document relating to large masses of valuable
securities gives us for the first time some indication of a
motive for the crime."

Sherlock Holmes's face showed that he was thoroughly taken
aback by this new development.

"I must admit both your points," said he.  "I confess that
this note-book, which did not appear at the inquest,
modifies any views which I may have formed.  I had come to
a theory of the crime in which I can find no place for this.
Have you endeavoured to trace any of the securities
here mentioned?"

"Inquiries are now being made at the offices, but I fear
that the complete register of the stockholders of these
South American concerns is in South America, and that some
weeks must elapse before we can trace the shares."

Holmes had been examining the cover of the note-book with
his magnifying lens.

"Surely there is some discoloration here," said he.

"Yes, sir, it is a blood-stain.  I told you that I picked
the book off the floor."

"Was the blood-stain above or below?"

"On the side next the boards."

"Which proves, of course, that the book was dropped after
the crime was committed."

"Exactly, Mr. Holmes.  I appreciated that point, and I
conjectured that it was dropped by the murderer in his
hurried flight.  It lay near the door."

"I suppose that none of these securities have been found
among the property of the dead man?"

"No, sir."

"Have you any reason to suspect robbery?"

"No, sir.  Nothing seemed to have been touched."

"Dear me, it is certainly a very interesting case.
Then there was a knife, was there not?"

"A sheath-knife, still in its sheath.  It lay at the feet
of the dead man.  Mrs. Carey has identified it as being her
husband's property."

Holmes was lost in thought for some time.

"Well," said he, at last, "I suppose I shall have to come
out and have a look at it."

Stanley Hopkins gave a cry of joy.

"Thank you, sir.  That will indeed be a weight off my
mind."

Holmes shook his finger at the inspector.

"It would have been an easier task a week ago," said he.
"But even now my visit may not be entirely fruitless.
Watson, if you can spare the time I should be very glad of
your company.  If you will call a four-wheeler, Hopkins, we
shall be ready to start for Forest Row in a quarter of an hour."


Alighting at the small wayside station, we drove for some
miles through the remains of widespread woods, which were
once part of that great forest which for so long held the
Saxon invaders at bay -- the impenetrable "weald," for
sixty years the bulwark of Britain.  Vast sections of it
have been cleared, for this is the seat of the first
iron-works of the country, and the trees have been felled
to smelt the ore.  Now the richer fields of the North have
absorbed the trade, and nothing save these ravaged groves
and great scars in the earth show the work of the past.
Here in a clearing upon the green slope of a hill stood a
long, low stone house, approached by a curving drive
running through the fields.  Nearer the road, and
surrounded on three sides by bushes, was a small outhouse,
one window and the door facing in our direction.  It was
the scene of the murder!

Stanley Hopkins led us first to the house, where he
introduced us to a haggard, grey-haired woman, the widow of
the murdered man, whose gaunt and deep-lined face, with the
furtive look of terror in the depths of her red-rimmed
eyes, told of the years of hardship and ill-usage which
she had endured.  With her was her daughter, a pale,
fair-haired girl, whose eyes blazed defiantly at us as
she told us that she was glad that her father was dead,
and that she blessed the hand which had struck him down.
It was a terrible household that Black Peter Carey had made
for himself, and it was with a sense of relief that we
found ourselves in the sunlight again and making our way
along a path which had been worn across the fields by the
feet of the dead man.

The outhouse was the simplest of dwellings, wooden-walled,
shingle-roofed, one window beside the door and one on the
farther side.  Stanley Hopkins drew the key from his pocket,
and had stooped to the lock, when he paused with a look of
attention and surprise upon his face.

"Someone has been tampering with it," he said.

There could be no doubt of the fact.  The woodwork was cut
and the scratches showed white through the paint, as if
they had been that instant done.  Holmes had been examining
the window.

"Someone has tried to force this also.  Whoever it was has
failed to make his way in.  He must have been a very poor
burglar."

"This is a most extraordinary thing," said the inspector;
"I could swear that these marks were not here yesterday
evening."

"Some curious person from the village, perhaps," I suggested.

"Very unlikely.  Few of them would dare to set foot in the
grounds, far less try to force their way into the cabin.
What do you think of it, Mr. Holmes?"

"I think that fortune is very kind to us."

"You mean that the person will come again?"

"It is very probable.  He came expecting to find the door open.
He tried to get in with the blade of a very small penknife.
He could not manage it.  What would he do?"

"Come again next night with a more useful tool."

"So I should say.  It will be our fault if we are not there to
receive him.  Meanwhile, let me see the inside of the cabin."

The traces of the tragedy had been removed, but the
furniture within the little room still stood as it had
been on the night of the crime.  For two hours, with most
intense concentration, Holmes examined every object in
turn, but his face showed that his quest was not a
successful one.  Once only he paused in his patient
investigation.

"Have you taken anything off this shelf, Hopkins?"

"No; I have moved nothing."

"Something has been taken.  There is less dust in this
corner of the shelf than elsewhere.  It may have been a
book lying on its side.  It may have been a box.  Well,
well, I can do nothing more.  Let us walk in these
beautiful woods, Watson, and give a few hours to the birds
and the flowers.  We shall meet you here later, Hopkins,
and see if we can come to closer quarters with the
gentleman who has paid this visit in the night."

It was past eleven o'clock when we formed our little
ambuscade.  Hopkins was for leaving the door of the hut
open, but Holmes was of the opinion that this would rouse
the suspicions of the stranger.  The lock was a perfectly
simple one, and only a strong blade was needed to push it
back.  Holmes also suggested that we should wait, not
inside the hut, but outside it among the bushes which grew
round the farther window.  In this way we should be able to
watch our man if he struck a light, and see what his object
was in this stealthy nocturnal visit.

It was a long and melancholy vigil, and yet brought with it
something of the thrill which the hunter feels when he lies
beside the water pool and waits for the coming of the
thirsty beast of prey.  What savage creature was it which
might steal upon us out of the darkness?  Was it a fierce
tiger of crime, which could only be taken fighting hard
with flashing fang and claw, or would it prove to be some
skulking jackal, dangerous only to the weak and unguarded?

In absolute silence we crouched amongst the bushes, waiting
for whatever might come.  At first the steps of a few
belated villagers, or the sound of voices from the village,
lightened our vigil; but one by one these interruptions
died away and an absolute stillness fell upon us, save for
the chimes of the distant church, which told us of the
progress of the night, and for the rustle and whisper of a
fine rain falling amid the foliage which roofed us in.

Half-past two had chimed, and it was the darkest hour which
precedes the dawn, when we all started as a low but sharp
click came from the direction of the gate.  Someone had
entered the drive.  Again there was a long silence,
and I had begun to fear that it was a false alarm, when a
stealthy step was heard upon the other side of the hut, and
a moment later a metallic scraping and clinking.  The man
was trying to force the lock!  This time his skill was
greater or his tool was better, for there was a sudden snap
and the creak of the hinges.  Then a match was struck, and
next instant the steady light from a candle filled the
interior of the hut.  Through the gauze curtain our eyes
were all riveted upon the scene within.

The nocturnal visitor was a young man, frail and thin, with
a black moustache which intensified the deadly pallor of
his face.  He could not have been much above twenty years
of age.  I have never seen any human being who appeared to
be in such a pitiable fright, for his teeth were visibly
chattering and he was shaking in every limb.  He was
dressed like a gentleman, in Norfolk jacket and
knickerbockers, with a cloth cap upon his head.  We watched
him staring round with frightened eyes.  Then he laid the
candle-end upon the table and disappeared from our view
into one of the corners.  He returned with a large book,
one of the log-books which formed a line upon the shelves.
Leaning on the table he rapidly turned over the leaves of
this volume until he came to the entry which he sought.
Then, with an angry gesture of his clenched hand, he closed
the book, replaced it in the corner, and put out the light.
He had hardly turned to leave the hut when Hopkins's hand
was on the fellow's collar, and I heard his loud gasp of
terror as he understood that he was taken.  The candle was
re-lit, and there was our wretched captive shivering and
cowering in the grasp of the detective.  He sank down upon
the sea-chest, and looked helplessly from one of us to the
other.

"Now, my fine fellow," said Stanley Hopkins, "who are you,
and what do you want here?"

The man pulled himself together and faced us with an effort
at self-composure.

"You are detectives, I suppose?" said he.  "You imagine I
am connected with the death of Captain Peter Carey.
I assure you that I am innocent."

"We'll see about that," said Hopkins.  "First of all,
what is your name?"

"It is John Hopley Neligan."

I saw Holmes and Hopkins exchange a quick glance.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can I speak confidentially?"

"No, certainly not."

"Why should I tell you?"

"If you have no answer it may go badly with you at the trial."

The young man winced.

"Well, I will tell you," he said.  "Why should I not?
And yet I hate to think of this old scandal gaining a new
lease of life. Did you ever hear of Dawson and Neligan?"

I could see from Hopkins's face that he never had; but
Holmes was keenly interested.

"You mean the West-country bankers," said he.  "They failed
for a million, ruined half the county families of Cornwall,
and Neligan disappeared."

"Exactly.  Neligan was my father."

At last we were getting something positive, and yet it
seemed a long gap between an absconding banker and Captain
Peter Carey pinned against the wall with one of his own
harpoons.  We all listened intently to the young man's words.

"It was my father who was really concerned.  Dawson had
retired.  I was only ten years of age at the time, but I
was old enough to feel the shame and horror of it all.
It has always been said that my father stole all the
securities and fled.  It is not true.  It was his belief
that if he were given time in which to realize them all
would be well and every creditor paid in full.  He started
in his little yacht for Norway just before the warrant was
issued for his arrest.  I can remember that last night when
he bade farewell to my mother.  He left us a list of the
securities he was taking, and he swore that he would come
back with his honour cleared, and that none who had trusted
him would suffer.  Well, no word was ever heard from him
again.  Both the yacht and he vanished utterly.  We
believed, my mother and I, that he and it, with the
securities that he had taken with him, were at the bottom
of the sea.  We had a faithful friend, however, who is a
business man, and it was he who discovered some time ago
that some of the securities which my father had with him
have reappeared on the London market.  You can imagine our
amazement.  I spent months in trying to trace them, and at
last, after many doublings and difficulties, I discovered
that the original seller had been Captain Peter Carey, the
owner of this hut.

"Naturally, I made some inquiries about the man.  I found
that he had been in command of a whaler which was due to
return from the Arctic seas at the very time when my father
was crossing to Norway.  The autumn of that year was a
stormy one, and there was a long succession of southerly
gales.  My father's yacht may well have been blown to the
north, and there met by Captain Peter Carey's ship.  If
that were so, what had become of my father?  In any case,
if I could prove from Peter Carey's evidence how these
securities came on the market it would be a proof that my
father had not sold them, and that he had no view to
personal profit when he took them.

"I came down to Sussex with the intention of seeing the
captain, but it was at this moment that his terrible death
occurred.  I read at the inquest a description of his
cabin, in which it stated that the old log-books of his
vessel were preserved in it.  It struck me that if I could
see what occurred in the month of August, 1883, on board
the _Sea Unicorn_, I might settle the mystery of my
father's fate.  I tried last night to get at these
log-books, but was unable to open the door.  To-night I
tried again, and succeeded; but I find that the pages which
deal with that month have been torn from the book.  It was
at that moment I found myself a prisoner in your hands."

"Is that all?" asked Hopkins.

"Yes, that is all."  His eyes shifted as he said it.

"You have nothing else to tell us?"

He hesitated.

"No; there is nothing."

"You have not been here before last night?"

"No."

"Then how do you account for _that_?" cried Hopkins, as he
held up the damning note-book, with the initials of our
prisoner on the first leaf and the blood-stain on the cover.

The wretched man collapsed.  He sank his face in his hands
and trembled all over.

"Where did you get it?" he groaned.  "I did not know.
I thought I had lost it at the hotel."

"That is enough," said Hopkins, sternly.  "Whatever else
you have to say you must say in court.  You will walk down
with me now to the police-station.  Well, Mr. Holmes, I am
very much obliged to you and to your friend for coming down
to help me.  As it turns out your presence was unnecessary,
and I would have brought the case to this successful issue
without you; but none the less I am very grateful.  Rooms
have been reserved for you at the Brambletye Hotel, so we
can all walk down to the village together."

"Well, Watson, what do you think of it?" asked Holmes,
as we travelled back next morning.

"I can see that you are not satisfied."

"Oh, yes, my dear Watson, I am perfectly satisfied.
At the same time Stanley Hopkins's methods do not commend
themselves to me.  I am disappointed in Stanley Hopkins.
I had hoped for better things from him.  One should always
look for a possible alternative and provide against it.
It is the first rule of criminal investigation."

"What, then, is the alternative?"

"The line of investigation which I have myself been
pursuing.  It may give us nothing.  I cannot tell.
But at least I shall follow it to the end."

Several letters were waiting for Holmes at Baker Street.
He snatched one of them up, opened it, and burst out into
a triumphant chuckle of laughter.

"Excellent, Watson.  The alternative develops.  Have you
telegraph forms?  Just write a couple of messages for me:
'Sumner, Shipping Agent, Ratcliff Highway.  Send three men
on, to arrive ten to-morrow morning. -- Basil.'  That's my
name in those parts.  The other is: 'Inspector Stanley
Hopkins, 46, Lord Street, Brixton.  Come breakfast
to-morrow at nine-thirty.  Important.  Wire if unable to
come. -- Sherlock Holmes.'  There, Watson, this infernal
case has haunted me for ten days.  I hereby banish it
completely from my presence.  To-morrow I trust that we
shall hear the last of it for ever."

Sharp at the hour named Inspector Stanley Hopkins appeared,
and we sat down together to the excellent breakfast which
Mrs. Hudson had prepared.  The young detective was in high
spirits at his success.

"You really think that your solution must be correct?"
asked Holmes.

"I could not imagine a more complete case."

"It did not seem to me conclusive."

"You astonish me, Mr. Holmes.  What more could one ask
for?"

"Does your explanation cover every point?"

"Undoubtedly.  I find that young Neligan arrived at the
Brambletye Hotel on the very day of the crime.  He came
on the pretence of playing golf.  His room was on the
ground-floor, and he could get out when he liked.  That
very night he went down to Woodman's Lee, saw Peter Carey
at the hut, quarrelled with him, and killed him with the
harpoon.  Then, horrified by what he had done, he fled out
of the hut, dropping the note-book which he had brought
with him in order to question Peter Carey about these
different securities.  You may have observed that some of
them were marked with ticks, and the others -- the great
majority -- were not.  Those which are ticked have been
traced on the London market; but the others presumably
were still in the possession of Carey, and young Neligan,
according to his own account, was anxious to recover them
in order to do the right thing by his father's creditors.
After his flight he did not dare to approach the hut again
for some time; but at last he forced himself to do so in
order to obtain the information which he needed.  Surely
that is all simple and obvious?"

Holmes smiled and shook his head.

"It seems to me to have only one drawback, Hopkins, and
that is that it is intrinsically impossible.  Have you
tried to drive a harpoon through a body?  No?  Tut, tut,
my dear sir, you must really pay attention to these details.
My friend Watson could tell you that I spent a whole
morning in that exercise.  It is no easy matter, and
requires a strong and practised arm.  But this blow was
delivered with such violence that the head of the weapon
sank deep into the wall.  Do you imagine that this anaemic
{1} youth was capable of so frightful an assault?  Is he
the man who hobnobbed in rum and water with Black Peter in
the dead of the night?  Was it his profile that was seen on
the blind two nights before?  No, no, Hopkins; it is
another and a more formidable person for whom we must seek."

The detective's face had grown longer and longer during
Holmes's speech.  His hopes and his ambitions were all
crumbling about him.  But he would not abandon his position
without a struggle.

"You can't deny that Neligan was present that night,
Mr. Holmes.  The book will prove that.  I fancy that I have
evidence enough to satisfy a jury, even if you are able to
pick a hole in it.  Besides, Mr. Holmes, I have laid my
hand upon _my_ man.  As to this terrible person of yours,
where is he?"

"I rather fancy that he is on the stair," said Holmes,
serenely.  "I think, Watson, that you would do well to put
that revolver where you can reach it."  He rose, and laid a
written paper upon a side-table.  "Now we are ready," said he.

There had been some talking in gruff voices outside, and
now Mrs. Hudson opened the door to say that there were
three men inquiring for Captain Basil.

"Show them in one by one," said Holmes.

The first who entered was a little ribston-pippin of a man,
with ruddy cheeks and fluffy white side-whiskers.  Holmes
had drawn a letter from his pocket.

"What name?" he asked.

"James Lancaster."

"I am sorry, Lancaster, but the berth is full.  Here is
half a sovereign for your trouble.  Just step into this
room and wait there for a few minutes."

The second man was a long, dried-up creature, with lank
hair and sallow cheeks.  His name was Hugh Pattins.  He
also received his dismissal, his half-sovereign, and the
order to wait.

The third applicant was a man of remarkable appearance.
A fierce, bull-dog face was framed in a tangle of hair and
beard, and two bold dark eyes gleamed behind the cover of
thick, tufted, overhung eyebrows.  He saluted and stood
sailor-fashion, turning his cap round in his hands.

"Your name?" asked Holmes.

"Patrick Cairns."

"Harpooner?"

"Yes, sir.  Twenty-six voyages."

"Dundee, I suppose?"

"Yes, sir."

"And ready to start with an exploring ship?"

"Yes, sir."

"What wages?"

"Eight pounds a month."

"Could you start at once?"

"As soon as I get my kit."

"Have you your papers?"

"Yes, sir."  He took a sheaf of worn and greasy forms from
his pocket.  Holmes glanced over them and returned them.

"You are just the man I want," said he.  "Here's the
agreement on the side-table.  If you sign it the whole
matter will be settled."

The seaman lurched across the room and took up the pen.

"Shall I sign here?" he asked, stooping over the table.

Holmes leaned over his shoulder and passed both hands over
his neck.

"This will do," said he.

I heard a click of steel and a bellow like an enraged bull.
The next instant Holmes and the seaman were rolling on the
ground together.  He was a man of such gigantic strength
that, even with the handcuffs which Holmes had so deftly
fastened upon his wrists, he would have very quickly
overpowered my friend had Hopkins and I not rushed to his
rescue.  Only when I pressed the cold muzzle of the
revolver to his temple did he at last understand that
resistance was vain.  We lashed his ankles with cord and
rose breathless from the struggle.

"I must really apologize, Hopkins," said Sherlock Holmes;
"I fear that the scrambled eggs are cold.  However, you
will enjoy the rest of your breakfast all the better, will
you not, for the thought that you have brought your case to
a triumphant conclusion."

Stanley Hopkins was speechless with amazement.

"I don't know what to say, Mr. Holmes," he blurted out at
last, with a very red face.  "It seems to me that I have
been making a fool of myself from the beginning.
I understand now, what I should never have forgotten, that I
am the pupil and you are the master.  Even now I see what
you have done, but I don't know how you did it, or what it
signifies."

"Well, well," said Holmes, good-humouredly.  "We all learn
by experience, and your lesson this time is that you should
never lose sight of the alternative.  You were so absorbed
in young Neligan that you could not spare a thought to
Patrick Cairns, the true murderer of Peter Carey."

The hoarse voice of the seaman broke in on our conversation.

"See here, mister," said he, "I make no complaint of being
man-handled in this fashion, but I would have you call
things by their right names.  You say I murdered Peter
Carey; I say I _killed_ Peter Carey, and there's all
the difference.  Maybe you don't believe what I say.
Maybe you think I am just slinging you a yarn."

"Not at all," said Holmes.  "Let us hear what you have to say."

"It's soon told, and, by the Lord, every word of it is
truth.  I knew Black Peter, and when he pulled out his
knife I whipped a harpoon through him sharp, for I knew
that it was him or me.  That's how he died.  You can call
it murder.  Anyhow, I'd as soon die with a rope round my
neck as with Black Peter's knife in my heart."

"How came you there?" asked Holmes.

"I'll tell it you from the beginning.  Just sit me up a
little so as I can speak easy.  It was in '83 that it
happened -- August of that year.  Peter Carey was master of
the _Sea Unicorn_, and I was spare harpooner.  We were
coming out of the ice-pack on our way home, with head winds
and a week's southerly gale, when we picked up a little
craft that had been blown north.  There was one man on her
-- a landsman.  The crew had thought she would founder,
and had made for the Norwegian coast in the dinghy.
I guess they were all drowned.  Well, we took him on board,
this man, and he and the skipper had some long talks in the
cabin.  All the baggage we took off with him was one tin box.
So far as I know, the man's name was never mentioned,
and on the second night he disappeared as if he had never been.
It was given out that he had either thrown himself
overboard or fallen overboard in the heavy weather that we
were having.  Only one man knew what had happened to him,
and that was me, for with my own eyes I saw the skipper tip
up his heels and put him over the rail in the middle watch
of a dark night, two days before we sighted the Shetland lights.

"Well, I kept my knowledge to myself and waited to see what
would come of it.  When we got back to Scotland it was
easily hushed up, and nobody asked any questions.
A stranger died by an accident, and it was nobody's business
to inquire.  Shortly after Peter Carey gave up the sea,
and it was long years before I could find where he was.
I guessed that he had done the deed for the sake of what
was in that tin box, and that he could afford now to pay me
well for keeping my mouth shut.

"I found out where he was through a sailor man that had met
him in London, and down I went to squeeze him.  The first
night he was reasonable enough, and was ready to give me
what would make me free of the sea for life.  We were to
fix it all two nights later.  When I came I found him three
parts drunk and in a vile temper.  We sat down and we drank
and we yarned about old times, but the more he drank the
less I liked the look on his face.  I spotted that harpoon
upon the wall, and I thought I might need it before I was
through.  Then at last he broke out at me, spitting and
cursing, with murder in his eyes and a great clasp-knife in
his hand.  He had not time to get it from the sheath before
I had the harpoon through him.  Heavens! what a yell he
gave; and his face gets between me and my sleep!  I stood
there, with his blood splashing round me, and I waited for
a bit; but all was quiet, so I took heart once more.  I
looked round, and there was the tin box on a shelf.  I had
as much right to it as Peter Carey, anyhow, so I took it
with me and left the hut.  Like a fool I left my
baccy-pouch upon the table.

"Now I'll tell you the queerest part of the whole story.
I had hardly got outside the hut when I heard someone coming,
and I hid among the bushes.  A man came slinking along,
went into the hut, gave a cry as if he had seen a ghost,
and legged it as hard as he could run until he was out of
sight.  Who he was or what he wanted is more than I can tell.
For my part, I walked ten miles, got a train at Tunbridge Wells,
and so reached London, and no one the wiser.

"Well, when I came to examine the box I found there was no
money in it, and nothing but papers that I would not dare
to sell.  I had lost my hold on Black Peter, and was
stranded in London without a shilling.  There was only my
trade left.  I saw these advertisements about harpooners
and high wages, so I went to the shipping agents, and they
sent me here.  That's all I know, and I say again that if
I killed Black Peter the law should give me thanks, for
I saved them the price of a hempen rope."

"A very clear statement," said Holmes, rising and lighting
his pipe.  "I think, Hopkins, that you should lose no time
in conveying your prisoner to a place of safety.  This room
is not well adapted for a cell, and Mr. Patrick Cairns
occupies too large a proportion of our carpet."

"Mr. Holmes," said Hopkins, "I do not know how to express
my gratitude.  Even now I do not understand how you
attained this result."

"Simply by having the good fortune to get the right clue
from the beginning.  It is very possible that if I had
known about this note-book it might have led away my
thoughts, as it did yours.  But all I heard pointed in the
one direction.  The amazing strength, the skill in the use
of the harpoon, the rum and water, the seal-skin
tobacco-pouch, with the coarse tobacco -- all these pointed
to a seaman, and one who had been a whaler.  I was
convinced that the initials 'P.C.' upon the pouch were a
coincidence, and not those of Peter Carey, since he seldom
smoked, and no pipe was found in his cabin.  You remember
that I asked whether whisky and brandy were in the cabin.
You said they were.  How many landsmen are there who would
drink rum when they could get these other spirits?
Yes, I was certain it was a seaman."

"And how did you find him?"

"My dear sir, the problem had become a very simple one.
If it were a seaman, it could only be a seaman who had been
with him on the _Sea Unicorn_.  So far as I could learn he
had sailed in no other ship.  I spent three days in wiring
to Dundee, and at the end of that time I had ascertained
the names of the crew of the _Sea Unicorn_ in 1883.  When I
found Patrick Cairns among the harpooners my research was
nearing its end.  I argued that the man was probably in
London, and that he would desire to leave the country for a
time.  I therefore spent some days in the East-end, devised
an Arctic expedition, put forward tempting terms for
harpooners who would serve under Captain Basil -- and
behold the result!"

"Wonderful!" cried Hopkins.  "Wonderful!"

"You must obtain the release of young Neligan as soon as
possible," said Holmes.  "I confess that I think you owe
him some apology.  The tin box must be returned to him,
but, of course, the securities which Peter Carey has sold
are lost for ever.  There's the cab, Hopkins, and you can
remove your man.  If you want me for the trial, my address
and that of Watson will be somewhere in Norway -- I'll send
particulars later."

{---------------------------------------------------------}
{----------------------- End of Text ---------------------}
{---------------------------------------------------------}
{---------------------- Textual Notes --------------------}
{1}   {anaemic: the a&e are ligatured}
{-------------------- End Textural Notes -----------------}
{---------------------------------------------------------}




{CHAS, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 4th proofing}
{The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 27 (April 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


VII. -- The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton.

IT is years since the incidents of which I speak took
place, and yet it is with diffidence that I allude to them.
For a long time, even with the utmost discretion and
reticence, it would have been impossible to make the facts
public; but now the principal person concerned is beyond
the reach of human law, and with due suppression the story
may be told in such fashion as to injure no one.  It
records an absolutely unique experience in the career both
of Mr. Sherlock Holmes and of myself.  The reader will
excuse me if I conceal the date or any other fact by which
he might trace the actual occurrence.

We had been out for one of our evening rambles, Holmes and
I, and had returned about six o'clock on a cold, frosty
winter's evening.  As Holmes turned up the lamp the light
fell upon a card on the table.  He glanced at it, and then,
with an ejaculation of disgust, threw it on the floor.
I picked it up and read:--

              CHARLES AUGUSTUS MILVERTON,
                   APPLEDORE TOWERS,
           AGENT.                  HAMPSTEAD.

"Who is he?" I asked.

"The worst man in London," Holmes answered, as he sat down
and stretched his legs before the fire.  "Is anything on
the back of the card?"

I turned it over.

"Will call at 6.30 -- C.A.M.," I read.

"Hum!  He's about due.  Do you feel a creeping, shrinking
sensation, Watson, when you stand before the serpents in
the Zoo and see the slithery, gliding, venomous creatures,
with their deadly eyes and wicked, flattened faces?  Well,
that's how Milverton impresses me.  I've had to do with
fifty murderers in my career, but the worst of them never
gave me the repulsion which I have for this fellow.  And
yet I can't get out of doing business with him -- indeed,
he is here at my invitation."

"But who is he?"

"I'll tell you, Watson.  He is the king of all the
blackmailers.  Heaven help the man, and still more the
woman, whose secret and reputation come into the power of
Milverton.  With a smiling face and a heart of marble he
will squeeze and squeeze until he has drained them dry.
The fellow is a genius in his way, and would have made his
mark in some more savoury trade.  His method is as follows:
He allows it to be known that he is prepared to pay very
high sums for letters which compromise people of wealth or
position.  He receives these wares not only from
treacherous valets or maids, but frequently from genteel
ruffians who have gained the confidence and affection of
trusting women.  He deals with no niggard hand.  I happen
to know that he paid seven hundred pounds to a footman for
a note two lines in length, and that the ruin of a noble
family was the result.  Everything which is in the market
goes to Milverton, and there are hundreds in this great
city who turn white at his name.  No one knows where his
grip may fall, for he is far too rich and far too cunning
to work from hand to mouth.  He will hold a card back for
years in order to play it at the moment when the stake is
best worth winning.  I have said that he is the worst man
in London, and I would ask you how could one compare the
ruffian who in hot blood bludgeons his mate with this man,
who methodically and at his leisure tortures the soul and
wrings the nerves in order to add to his already swollen
money-bags?"

I had seldom heard my friend speak with such intensity of
feeling.

"But surely," said I, "the fellow must be within the grasp
of the law?"

"Technically, no doubt, but practically not.  What would
it profit a woman, for example, to get him a few months'
imprisonment if her own ruin must immediately follow?
His victims dare not hit back.  If ever he blackmailed an
innocent person, then, indeed, we should have him; but he
is as cunning as the Evil One.  No, no; we must find other
ways to fight him."

"And why is he here?"

"Because an illustrious client has placed her piteous case
in my hands.  It is the Lady Eva Brackwell, the most
beautiful _debutante_ {1} of last season.  She is to be
married in a fortnight to the Earl of Dovercourt.
This fiend has several imprudent letters -- imprudent, Watson,
nothing worse -- which were written to an impecunious young
squire in the country.  They would suffice to break off the
match.  Milverton will send the letters to the Earl unless
a large sum of money is paid him.  I have been commissioned
to meet him, and -- to make the best terms I can."

At that instant there was a clatter and a rattle in the
street below.  Looking down I saw a stately carriage and
pair, the brilliant lamps gleaming on the glossy haunches
of the noble chestnuts.  A footman opened the door, and a
small, stout man in a shaggy astrachan overcoat descended.
A minute later he was in the room.

Charles Augustus Milverton was a man of fifty, with a
large, intellectual head, a round, plump, hairless face,
a perpetual frozen smile, and two keen grey eyes, which
gleamed brightly from behind broad, golden-rimmed glasses.
There was something of Mr. Pickwick's benevolence in his
appearance, marred only by the insincerity of the fixed
smile and by the hard glitter of those restless and
penetrating eyes.  His voice was as smooth and suave as
his countenance, as he advanced with a plump little hand
extended, murmuring his regret for having missed us at his
first visit.  Holmes disregarded the outstretched hand and
looked at him with a face of granite.  Milverton's smile
broadened; he shrugged his shoulders, removed his overcoat,
folded it with great deliberation over the back of a chair,
and then took a seat.

"This gentleman?" said he, with a wave in my direction.
"Is it discreet?  Is it right?"

"Dr. Watson is my friend and partner."

"Very good, Mr. Holmes.  It is only in your client's interests
that I protested.  The matter is so very delicate ----"

"Dr. Watson has already heard of it."

"Then we can proceed to business.  You say that you are acting
for Lady Eva.  Has she empowered you to accept my terms?"

"What are your terms?"

"Seven thousand pounds."

"And the alternative?"

"My dear sir, it is painful for me to discuss it; but if
the money is not paid on the 14th there certainly will be
no marriage on the 18th."  His insufferable smile was more
complacent than ever.

Holmes thought for a little.

"You appear to me," he said, at last, "to be taking matters
too much for granted.  I am, of course, familiar with the
contents of these letters.  My client will certainly do
what I may advise.  I shall counsel her to tell her future
husband the whole story and to trust to his generosity."

Milverton chuckled.

"You evidently do not know the Earl," said he.

From the baffled look upon Holmes's face I could see
clearly that he did.

"What harm is there in the letters?" he asked.

"They are sprightly -- very sprightly," Milverton answered.
"The lady was a charming correspondent.  But I can assure
you that the Earl of Dovercourt would fail to appreciate
them.  However, since you think otherwise, we will let it
rest at that.  It is purely a matter of business.  If you
think that it is in the best interests of your client that
these letters should be placed in the hands of the Earl,
then you would indeed be foolish to pay so large a sum of
money to regain them."  He rose and seized his astrachan
coat.

Holmes was grey with anger and mortification.

"Wait a little," he said.  "You go too fast.  We would
certainly make every effort to avoid scandal in so delicate
a matter."

Milverton relapsed into his chair.

"I was sure that you would see it in that light," he purred.

"At the same time," Holmes continued, "Lady Eva is not a
wealthy woman.  I assure you that two thousand pounds would
be a drain upon her resources, and that the sum you name is
utterly beyond her power.  I beg, therefore, that you will
moderate your demands, and that you will return the letters
at the price I indicate, which is, I assure you, the
highest that you can get."

Milverton's smile broadened and his eyes twinkled humorously.

"I am aware that what you say is true about the lady's
resources," said he.  "At the same time, you must admit
that the occasion of a lady's marriage is a very suitable
time for her friends and relatives to make some little
effort upon her behalf.  They may hesitate as to an
acceptable wedding present.  Let me assure them that this
little bundle of letters would give more joy than all the
candelabra and butter-dishes in London."

"It is impossible," said Holmes.

"Dear me, dear me, how unfortunate!" cried Milverton,
taking out a bulky pocket-book.  "I cannot help thinking
that ladies are ill-advised in not making an effort.  Look
at this!"  He held up a little note with a coat-of-arms
upon the envelope.  "That belongs to -- well, perhaps it is
hardly fair to tell the name until to-morrow morning.  But
at that time it will be in the hands of the lady's husband.
And all because she will not find a beggarly sum which she
could get in an hour by turning her diamonds into paste.
It _is_ such a pity.  Now, you remember the sudden end of
the engagement between the Honourable Miss Miles and
Colonel Dorking?  Only two days before the wedding there
was a paragraph in the _Morning Post_ to say that it was
all off.  And why?  It is almost incredible, but the absurd
sum of twelve hundred pounds would have settled the whole
question.  Is it not pitiful?  And here I find you, a man
of sense, boggling about terms when your client's future
and honour are at stake.  You surprise me, Mr. Holmes."

"What I say is true," Holmes answered.  "The money cannot
be found.  Surely it is better for you to take the
substantial sum which I offer than to ruin this woman's
career, which can profit you in no way?"

"There you make a mistake, Mr. Holmes.  An exposure would
profit me indirectly to a considerable extent.  I have
eight or ten similar cases maturing.  If it was circulated
among them that I had made a severe example of the Lady Eva
I should find all of them much more open to reason.  You
see my point?"

Holmes sprang from his chair.

"Get behind him, Watson!  Don't let him out!
Now, sir, let us see the contents of that note-book."

Milverton had glided as quick as a rat to the side of the
room, and stood with his back against the wall.

"Mr. Holmes, Mr. Holmes," he said, turning the front of his
coat and exhibiting the butt of a large revolver, which
projected from the inside pocket.  "I have been expecting
you to do something original.  This has been done so often,
and what good has ever come from it?  I assure you that I
am armed to the teeth, and I am perfectly prepared to use
my weapons, knowing that the law will support me.  Besides,
your supposition that I would bring the letters here in a
note-book is entirely mistaken.  I would do nothing so
foolish.  And now, gentlemen, I have one or two little
interviews this evening, and it is a long drive to
Hampstead."  He stepped forward, took up his coat, laid his
hand on his revolver, and turned to the door.  I picked up
a chair, but Holmes shook his head and I laid it down
again.  With a bow, a smile, and a twinkle Milverton was
out of the room, and a few moments after we heard the slam
of the carriage door and the rattle of the wheels as he
drove away.

Holmes sat motionless by the fire, his hands buried deep in
his trouser pockets, his chin sunk upon his breast, his
eyes fixed upon the glowing embers.  For half an hour he
was silent and still.  Then, with the gesture of a man who
has taken his decision, he sprang to his feet and passed
into his bedroom.  A little later a rakish young workman
with a goatee beard and a swagger lit his clay pipe at the
lamp before descending into the street.  "I'll be back some
time, Watson," said he, and vanished into the night.
I understood that he had opened his campaign against Charles
Augustus Milverton; but I little dreamed the strange shape
which that campaign was destined to take.

For some days Holmes came and went at all hours in this
attire, but beyond a remark that his time was spent at
Hampstead, and that it was not wasted, I knew nothing of
what he was doing.  At last, however, on a wild,
tempestuous evening, when the wind screamed and rattled
against the windows, he returned from his last expedition,
and having removed his disguise he sat before the fire and
laughed heartily in his silent inward fashion.

"You would not call me a marrying man, Watson?"

"No, indeed!"

"You'll be interested to hear that I am engaged."

"My dear fellow!  I congrat ----"

"To Milverton's housemaid."

"Good heavens, Holmes!"

"I wanted information, Watson."

"Surely you have gone too far?"

"It was a most necessary step.  I am a plumber with a
rising business, Escott by name.  I have walked out with
her each evening, and I have talked with her.  Good
heavens, those talks!  However, I have got all I wanted.
I know Milverton's house as I know the palm of my hand."

"But the girl, Holmes?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"You can't help it, my dear Watson.  You must play your
cards as best you can when such a stake is on the table.
However, I rejoice to say that I have a hated rival who
will certainly cut me out the instant that my back is
turned.  What a splendid night it is!"

"You like this weather?"

"It suits my purpose.  Watson, I mean to burgle Milverton's
house to-night."

I had a catching of the breath, and my skin went cold at
the words, which were slowly uttered in a tone of
concentrated resolution.  As a flash of lightning in the
night shows up in an instant every detail of a wide
landscape, so at one glance I seemed to see every possible
result of such an action -- the detection, the capture, the
honoured career ending in irreparable failure and disgrace,
my friend himself lying at the mercy of the odious
Milverton.

"For Heaven's sake, Holmes, think what you are doing," I cried.

"My dear fellow, I have given it every consideration.
I am never precipitate in my actions, nor would I adopt so
energetic and indeed so dangerous a course if any other
were possible.  Let us look at the matter clearly and
fairly.  I suppose that you will admit that the action is
morally justifiable, though technically criminal.
To burgle his house is no more than to forcibly take his
pocket-book -- an action in which you were prepared to aid me."

I turned it over in my mind.

"Yes," I said; "it is morally justifiable so long as our
object is to take no articles save those which are used for
an illegal purpose."

"Exactly.  Since it is morally justifiable I have only to
consider the question of personal risk.  Surely a gentleman
should not lay much stress upon this when a lady is in most
desperate need of his help?"

"You will be in such a false position."

"Well, that is part of the risk.  There is no other
possible way of regaining these letters.  The unfortunate
lady has not the money, and there are none of her people in
whom she could confide.  To-morrow is the last day of
grace, and unless we can get the letters to-night this
villain will be as good as his word and will bring about
her ruin.  I must, therefore, abandon my client to her fate
or I must play this last card.  Between ourselves, Watson,
it's a sporting duel between this fellow Milverton and me.
He had, as you saw, the best of the first exchanges; but my
self-respect and my reputation are concerned to fight it to
a finish."

"Well, I don't like it; but I suppose it must be," said I.
"When do we start?"

"You are not coming."

"Then you are not going," said I.  "I give you my word of
honour -- and I never broke it in my life -- that I will
take a cab straight to the police-station and give you away
unless you let me share this adventure with you."

"You can't help me."

"How do you know that?  You can't tell what may happen.
Anyway, my resolution is taken.  Other people beside you
have self-respect and even reputations."

Holmes had looked annoyed, but his brow cleared, and he
clapped me on the shoulder.

"Well, well, my dear fellow, be it so.  We have shared the
same room for some years, and it would be amusing if we
ended by sharing the same cell.  You know, Watson, I don't
mind confessing to you that I have always had an idea that
I would have made a highly efficient criminal.  This is the
chance of my lifetime in that direction.  See here!"  He
took a neat little leather case out of a drawer, and
opening it he exhibited a number of shining instruments.
"This is a first-class, up-to-date burgling kit, with
nickel-plated jemmy, diamond-tipped glass-cutter, adaptable
keys, and every modern improvement which the march of
civilization demands.  Here, too, is my dark lantern.
Everything is in order.  Have you a pair of silent shoes?"

"I have rubber-soled tennis shoes."

"Excellent.  And a mask?"

"I can make a couple out of black silk."

"I can see that you have a strong natural turn for this
sort of thing.  Very good; do you make the masks.
We shall have some cold supper before we start.  It is now
nine-thirty.  At eleven we shall drive as far as Church
Row.  It is a quarter of an hour's walk from there to
Appledore Towers.  We shall be at work before midnight.
Milverton is a heavy sleeper and retires punctually at
ten-thirty.  With any luck we should be back here by two,
with the Lady Eva's letters in my pocket."

Holmes and I put on our dress-clothes, so that we might
appear to be two theatre-goers homeward bound.  In Oxford
Street we picked up a hansom and drove to an address in
Hampstead.  Here we paid off our cab, and with our
great-coats buttoned up, for it was bitterly cold and the
wind seemed to blow through us, we walked along the edge of
the Heath.

"It's a business that needs delicate treatment," said
Holmes.  "These documents are contained in a safe in the
fellow's study, and the study is the ante-room of his
bed-chamber.  On the other hand, like all these stout,
little men who do themselves well, he is a plethoric
sleeper.  Agatha -- that's my _fiancee_ -- says {2} it is a
joke in the servants' hall that it's impossible to wake the
master.  He has a secretary who is devoted to his interests
and never budges from the study all day.  That's why we are
going at night.  Then he has a beast of a dog which roams
the garden.  I met Agatha late the last two evenings, and
she locks the brute up so as to give me a clear run.  This
is the house, this big one in its own grounds.  Through the
gate -- now to the right among the laurels.  We might put
on our masks here, I think.  You see, there is not a
glimmer of light in any of the windows, and everything is
working splendidly."

With our black silk face-coverings, which turned us into
two of the most truculent figures in London, we stole up to
the silent, gloomy house.  A sort of tiled veranda extended
along one side of it, lined by several windows and two doors.

"That's his bedroom," Holmes whispered.  "This door opens
straight into the study.  It would suit us best, but it is
bolted as well as locked, and we should make too much noise
getting in.  Come round here.  There's a greenhouse which
opens into the drawing-room."

The place was locked, but Holmes removed a circle of glass
and turned the key from the inside.  An instant afterwards
he had closed the door behind us, and we had become felons
in the eyes of the law.  The thick, warm air of the
conservatory and the rich, choking fragrance of exotic
plants took us by the throat.  He seized my hand in the
darkness and led me swiftly past banks of shrubs which
brushed against our faces.  Holmes had remarkable powers,
carefully cultivated, of seeing in the dark.  Still holding
my hand in one of his he opened a door, and I was vaguely
conscious that we had entered a large room in which a cigar
had been smoked not long before.  He felt his way among the
furniture, opened another door, and closed it behind us.
Putting out my hand I felt several coats hanging from the
wall, and I understood that I was in a passage.  We passed
along it, and Holmes very gently opened a door upon the
right-hand side.  Something rushed out at us and my heart
sprang into my mouth, but I could have laughed when I
realized that it was the cat.  A fire was burning in this
new room, and again the air was heavy with tobacco smoke.
Holmes entered on tiptoe, waited for me to follow, and then
very gently closed the door.  We were in Milverton's study,
and a _portiere_ {3} at the farther side showed the
entrance to his bedroom.

It was a good fire, and the room was illuminated by it.
Near the door I saw the gleam of an electric switch, but it
was unnecessary, even if it had been safe, to turn it on.
At one side of the fireplace was a heavy curtain,
which covered the bay window we had seen from outside.
On the other side was the door which communicated with the
veranda.  A desk stood in the centre, with a turning chair
of shining red leather.  Opposite was a large bookcase,
with a marble bust of Athene on the top.  In the corner
between the bookcase and the wall there stood a tall green
safe, the firelight flashing back from the polished brass
knobs upon its face.  Holmes stole across and looked at it.
Then he crept to the door of the bedroom, and stood with
slanting head listening intently.  No sound came from
within.  Meanwhile it had struck me that it would be wise
to secure our retreat through the outer door, so I examined it.
To my amazement it was neither locked nor bolted!  I touched
Holmes on the arm, and he turned his masked face in that
direction.  I saw him start, and he was evidently as
surprised as I.

"I don't like it," he whispered, putting his lips to my very ear.
"I can't quite make it out.  Anyhow, we have no time to lose."

"Can I do anything?"

"Yes; stand by the door.  If you hear anyone come, bolt it
on the inside, and we can get away as we came.  If they
come the other way, we can get through the door if our job
is done, or hide behind these window curtains if it is not.
Do you understand?"

I nodded and stood by the door.  My first feeling of fear
had passed away, and I thrilled now with a keener zest than
I had ever enjoyed when we were the defenders of the law
instead of its defiers.  The high object of our mission,
the consciousness that it was unselfish and chivalrous, the
villainous character of our opponent, all added to the
sporting interest of the adventure.  Far from feeling
guilty, I rejoiced and exulted in our dangers.  With a glow
of admiration I watched Holmes unrolling his case of
instruments and choosing his tool with the calm, scientific
accuracy of a surgeon who performs a delicate operation.
I knew that the opening of safes was a particular hobby
with him, and I understood the joy which it gave him to be
confronted with this green and gold monster, the dragon
which held in its maw the reputations of many fair ladies.
Turning up the cuffs of his dress-coat -- he had placed his
overcoat on a chair -- Holmes laid out two drills, a jemmy,
and several skeleton keys.  I stood at the centre door with
my eyes glancing at each of the others, ready for any
emergency; though, indeed, my plans were somewhat vague as
to what I should do if we were interrupted.  For half an
hour Holmes worked with concentrated energy, laying down
one tool, picking up another, handling each with the
strength and delicacy of the trained mechanic.  Finally I
heard a click, the broad green door swung open, and inside
I had a glimpse of a number of paper packets, each tied,
sealed, and inscribed.  Holmes picked one out, but it was
hard to read by the flickering fire, and he drew out his
little dark lantern, for it was too dangerous, with
Milverton in the next room, to switch on the electric
light.  Suddenly I saw him halt, listen intently, and then
in an instant he had swung the door of the safe to, picked
up his coat, stuffed his tools into the pockets, and darted
behind the window curtain, motioning me to do the same.

It was only when I had joined him there that I heard what
had alarmed his quicker senses.  There was a noise
somewhere within the house.  A door slammed in the
distance.  Then a confused, dull murmur broke itself into
the measured thud of heavy footsteps rapidly approaching.
They were in the passage outside the room.  They paused at
the door.  The door opened.  There was a sharp snick as the
electric light was turned on.  The door closed once more,
and the pungent reek of a strong cigar was borne to our
nostrils.  Then the footsteps continued backwards and
forwards, backwards and forwards, within a few yards of us.
Finally, there was a creak from a chair, and the footsteps
ceased.  Then a key clicked in a lock and I heard the
rustle of papers.

So far I had not dared to look out, but now I gently parted
the division of the curtains in front of me and peeped
through.  From the pressure of Holmes's shoulder against
mine I knew that he was sharing my observations.  Right in
front of us, and almost within our reach, was the broad,
rounded back of Milverton.  It was evident that we had
entirely miscalculated his movements, that he had never
been to his bedroom, but that he had been sitting up in
some smoking or billiard room in the farther wing of the
house, the windows of which we had not seen.  His broad,
grizzled head, with its shining patch of baldness, was in
the immediate foreground of our vision.  He was leaning far
back in the red leather chair, his legs outstretched, a
long black cigar projecting at an angle from his mouth.  He
wore a semi-military smoking jacket, claret-coloured, with
a black velvet collar.  In his hand he held a long legal
document, which he was reading in an indolent fashion,
blowing rings of tobacco smoke from his lips as he did so.
There was no promise of a speedy departure in his composed
bearing and his comfortable attitude.

I felt Holmes's hand steal into mine and give me a
reassuring shake, as if to say that the situation was
within his powers and that he was easy in his mind.  I was
not sure whether he had seen what was only too obvious from
my position, that the door of the safe was imperfectly
closed, and that Milverton might at any moment observe it.
In my own mind I had determined that if I were sure, from
the rigidity of his gaze, that it had caught his eye, I
would at once spring out, throw my great-coat over his
head, pinion him, and leave the rest to Holmes.  But
Milverton never looked up.  He was languidly interested by
the papers in his hand, and page after page was turned as
he followed the argument of the lawyer.  At least,
I thought, when he has finished the document and the cigar
he will go to his room; but before he had reached the end of
either there came a remarkable development which turned our
thoughts into quite another channel.

Several times I had observed that Milverton looked at his
watch, and once he had risen and sat down again, with a
gesture of impatience.  The idea, however, that he might
have an appointment at so strange an hour never occurred to
me until a faint sound reached my ears from the veranda
outside.  Milverton dropped his papers and sat rigid in
his chair.  The sound was repeated, and then there came
a gentle tap at the door.  Milverton rose and opened it.

"Well," said he, curtly, "you are nearly half an hour
late."

So this was the explanation of the unlocked door and of the
nocturnal vigil of Milverton.  There was the gentle rustle
of a woman's dress.  I had closed the slit between the
curtains as Milverton's face had turned in our direction,
but now I ventured very carefully to open it once more.
He had resumed his seat, the cigar still projecting at an
insolent angle from the corner of his mouth.  In front of
him, in the full glare of the electric light, there stood
a tall, slim, dark woman, a veil over her face, a mantle
drawn round her chin.  Her breath came quick and fast, and
every inch of the lithe figure was quivering with strong
emotion.

"Well," said Milverton, "you've made me lose a good night's
rest, my dear.  I hope you'll prove worth it.  You couldn't
come any other time -- eh?"

The woman shook her head.

"Well, if you couldn't you couldn't.  If the Countess is a
hard mistress you have your chance to get level with her
now.  Bless the girl, what are you shivering about?  That's
right!  Pull yourself together!  Now, let us get down to
business."  He took a note from the drawer of his desk.
"You say that you have five letters which compromise the
Countess d'Albert.  You want to sell them.  I want to buy
them.  So far so good.  It only remains to fix a price.
I should want to inspect the letters, of course.  If they
are really good specimens ---- Great heavens, is it you?"

The woman without a word had raised her veil and dropped
the mantle from her chin.  It was a dark, handsome,
clear-cut face which confronted Milverton, a face with a
curved nose, strong, dark eyebrows shading hard, glittering
eyes, and a straight, thin-lipped mouth set in a dangerous
smile.

"It is I," she said; "the woman whose life you have
ruined."

Milverton laughed, but fear vibrated in his voice.  "You
were so very obstinate," said he.  "Why did you drive me to
such extremities?  I assure you I wouldn't hurt a fly of my
own accord, but every man has his business, and what was I
to do?  I put the price well within your means.  You would
not pay."

"So you sent the letters to my husband, and he -- the
noblest gentleman that ever lived, a man whose boots I was
never worthy to lace -- he broke his gallant heart and
died.  You remember that last night when I came through
that door I begged and prayed you for mercy, and you
laughed in my face as you are trying to laugh now, only
your coward heart cannot keep your lips from twitching?
Yes, you never thought to see me here again, but it was
that night which taught me how I could meet you face to
face, and alone.  Well, Charles Milverton, what have you
to say?"

"Don't imagine that you can bully me," said he, rising to
his feet.  "I have only to raise my voice, and I could call
my servants and have you arrested.  But I will make
allowance for your natural anger.  Leave the room at once
as you came, and I will say no more."

The woman stood with her hand buried in her bosom, and the
same deadly smile on her thin lips.

"You will ruin no more lives as you ruined mine.  You will
wring no more hearts as you wrung mine.  I will free the
world of a poisonous thing.  Take that, you hound, and
that! -- and that! -- and that!"

She had drawn a little, gleaming revolver, and emptied
barrel after barrel into Milverton's body, the muzzle
within two feet of his shirt front.  He shrank away and
then fell forward upon the table, coughing furiously and
clawing among the papers.  Then he staggered to his feet,
received another shot, and rolled upon the floor.  "You've
done me," he cried, and lay still.  The woman looked at him
intently and ground her heel into his upturned face.  She
looked again, but there was no sound or movement.  I heard
a sharp rustle, the night air blew into the heated room,
and the avenger was gone.

No interference upon our part could have saved the man from
his fate; but as the woman poured bullet after bullet into
Milverton's shrinking body I was about to spring out, when
I felt Holmes's cold, strong grasp upon my wrist.  I
understood the whole argument of that firm, restraining
grip -- that it was no affair of ours; that justice had
overtaken a villain; that we had our own duties and our own
objects which were not to be lost sight of.  But hardly had
the woman rushed from the room when Holmes, with swift,
silent steps, was over at the other door.  He turned the
key in the lock.  At the same instant we heard voices in
the house and the sound of hurrying feet.  The revolver
shots had roused the household.  With perfect coolness
Holmes slipped across to the safe, filled his two arms with
bundles of letters, and poured them all into the fire.
Again and again he did it, until the safe was empty.
Someone turned the handle and beat upon the outside of the
door.  Holmes looked swiftly round.  The letter which had
been the messenger of death for Milverton lay, all mottled
with his blood, upon the table.  Holmes tossed it in among
the blazing papers.  Then he drew the key from the outer
door, passed through after me, and locked it on the
outside.  "This way, Watson," said he; "we can scale the
garden wall in this direction."

I could not have believed that an alarm could have spread
so swiftly.  Looking back, the huge house was one blaze of
light.  The front door was open, and figures were rushing
down the drive.  The whole garden was alive with people,
and one fellow raised a view-halloa as we emerged from the
veranda and followed hard at our heels.  Holmes seemed to
know the ground perfectly, and he threaded his way swiftly
among a plantation of small trees, I close at his heels,
and our foremost pursuer panting behind us.  It was a
six-foot wall which barred our path, but he sprang to the
top and over.  As I did the same I felt the hand of the man
behind me grab at my ankle; but I kicked myself free and
scrambled over a glass-strewn coping.  I fell upon my face
among some bushes; but Holmes had me on my feet in an
instant, and together we dashed away across the huge
expanse of Hampstead Heath.  We had run two miles, I
suppose, before Holmes at last halted and listened
intently.  All was absolute silence behind us.  We had
shaken off our pursuers and were safe.


We had breakfasted and were smoking our morning pipe on the
day after the remarkable experience which I have recorded
when Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, very solemn and
impressive, was ushered into our modest sitting-room.

"Good morning, Mr. Holmes," said he; "good morning.
May I ask if you are very busy just now?"

"Not too busy to listen to you."

"I thought that, perhaps, if you had nothing particular on
hand, you might care to assist us in a most remarkable case
which occurred only last night at Hampstead."

"Dear me!" said Holmes.  "What was that?"

"A murder -- a most dramatic and remarkable murder.  I know
how keen you are upon these things, and I would take it as
a great favour if you would step down to Appledore Towers
and give us the benefit of your advice.  It is no ordinary
crime.  We have had our eyes upon this Mr. Milverton for
some time, and, between ourselves, he was a bit of a
villain.  He is known to have held papers which he used for
blackmailing purposes.  These papers have all been burned
by the murderers.  No article of value was taken, as it is
probable that the criminals were men of good position,
whose sole object was to prevent social exposure."

"Criminals!" said Holmes.  "Plural!"

"Yes, there were two of them.  They were, as nearly as
possible, captured red-handed.  We have their foot-marks,
we have their description; it's ten to one that we trace
them.  The first fellow was a bit too active, but the
second was caught by the under-gardener and only got away
after a struggle.  He was a middle-sized, strongly-built
man -- square jaw, thick neck, moustache, a mask over his
eyes."

"That's rather vague," said Sherlock Holmes.  "Why, it
might be a description of Watson!"

"It's true," said the inspector, with much amusement.
"It might be a description of Watson."

"Well, I am afraid I can't help you, Lestrade," said
Holmes.  "The fact is that I knew this fellow Milverton,
that I considered him one of the most dangerous men in
London, and that I think there are certain crimes which the
law cannot touch, and which therefore, to some extent,
justify private revenge.  No, it's no use arguing.  I have
made up my mind.  My sympathies are with the criminals
rather than with the victim, and I will not handle this case."


Holmes had not said one word to me about the tragedy which
we had witnessed, but I observed all the morning that he
was in his most thoughtful mood, and he gave me the
impression, from his vacant eyes and his abstracted manner,
of a man who is striving to recall something to his memory.
We were in the middle of our lunch when he suddenly sprang
to his feet.  "By Jove, Watson; I've got it!" he cried.
"Take your hat!  Come with me!"  He hurried at his top
speed down Baker Street and along Oxford Street, until we
had almost reached Regent Circus.  Here on the left hand
there stands a shop window filled with photographs of the
celebrities and beauties of the day.  Holmes's eyes fixed
themselves upon one of them, and following his gaze I saw
the picture of a regal and stately lady in Court dress,
with a high diamond tiara upon her noble head.  I looked at
that delicately-curved nose, at the marked eyebrows, at the
straight mouth, and the strong little chin beneath it.
Then I caught my breath as I read the time-honoured title
of the great nobleman and statesman whose wife she had
been.  My eyes met those of Holmes, and he put his finger
to his lips as we turned away from the window.

{--------------------------------------------------------}
{-------------------- End of Text -----------------------}
{--------------------------------------------------------}
{------------------- Textual Notes ----------------------}
{1}   {debutante: the first e has a forward (/) accent}
{2}   {fiancee: the first e has a forward (/) accent}
{3}   {portiere: the first e has a backward (\) accent}
{---------------- End of Textual Notes ------------------}
{--------------------------------------------------------}




{SIX, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 4th proofing}
{The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 27 (May 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


VIII. -- The Adventure of the Six Napoleons.

IT was no very unusual thing for Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland
Yard, to look in upon us of an evening, and his visits were
welcome to Sherlock Holmes, for they enabled him to keep in
touch with all that was going on at the police head-quarters.
In return for the news which Lestrade would bring, Holmes was
always ready to listen with attention to the details of any
case upon which the detective was engaged, and was able
occasionally, without any active interference, to give some
hint or suggestion drawn from his own vast knowledge and
experience.

On this particular evening Lestrade had spoken of the weather
and the newspapers.  Then he had fallen silent, puffing
thoughtfully at his cigar.  Holmes looked keenly at him.

"Anything remarkable on hand?" he asked.

"Oh, no, Mr. Holmes, nothing very particular."

"Then tell me about it."

Lestrade laughed.

"Well, Mr. Holmes, there is no use denying that there _is_
something on my mind.  And yet it is such an absurd
business that I hesitated to bother you about it.  On the
other hand, although it is trivial, it is undoubtedly
queer, and I know that you have a taste for all that is
out of the common.  But in my opinion it comes more in
Dr. Watson's line than ours."

"Disease?" said I.

"Madness, anyhow.  And a queer madness too!  You wouldn't
think there was anyone living at this time of day who had
such a hatred of Napoleon the First that he would break any
image of him that he could see."

Holmes sank back in his chair.

"That's no business of mine," said he.

"Exactly.  That's what I said.  But then, when the man commits
burglary in order to break images which are not his own,
that brings it away from the doctor and on to the policeman."

Holmes sat up again.

"Burglary!  This is more interesting.  Let me hear the
details."

Lestrade took out his official note-book and refreshed his
memory from its pages.

"The first case reported was four days ago," said he.
"It was at the shop of Morse Hudson, who has a place for
the sale of pictures and statues in the Kennington Road.
The assistant had left the front shop for an instant when he
heard a crash, and hurrying in he found a plaster bust of
Napoleon, which stood with several other works of art upon
the counter, lying shivered into fragments.  He rushed out
into the road, but, although several passers-by declared
that they had noticed a man run out of the shop, he could
neither see anyone nor could he find any means of
identifying the rascal.  It seemed to be one of those
senseless acts of Hooliganism which occur from time to
time, and it was reported to the constable on the beat as
such.  The plaster cast was not worth more than a few
shillings, and the whole affair appeared to be too childish
for any particular investigation.

"The second case, however, was more serious and also more
singular.  It occurred only last night.

"In Kennington Road, and within a few hundred yards of
Morse Hudson's shop, there lives a well-known medical
practitioner, named Dr. Barnicot, who has one of the
largest practices upon the south side of the Thames.  His
residence and principal consulting-room is at Kennington
Road, but he has a branch surgery and dispensary at Lower
Brixton Road, two miles away.  This Dr. Barnicot is an
enthusiastic admirer of Napoleon, and his house is full
of books, pictures, and relics of the French Emperor.
Some little time ago he purchased from Morse Hudson two
duplicate plaster casts of the famous head of Napoleon by
the French sculptor, Devine.  One of these he placed in his
hall in the house at Kennington Road, and the other on the
mantelpiece of the surgery at Lower Brixton.  Well, when
Dr. Barnicot came down this morning he was astonished to
find that his house had been burgled during the night, but
that nothing had been taken save the plaster head from the
hall.  It had been carried out and had been dashed savagely
against the garden wall, under which its splintered
fragments were discovered."

Holmes rubbed his hands.

"This is certainly very novel," said he.

"I thought it would please you.  But I have not got to the
end yet.  Dr. Barnicot was due at his surgery at twelve
o'clock, and you can imagine his amazement when, on
arriving there, he found that the window had been opened in
the night, and that the broken pieces of his second bust
were strewn all over the room.  It had been smashed to
atoms where it stood.  In neither case were there any signs
which could give us a clue as to the criminal or lunatic
who had done the mischief.  Now, Mr. Holmes, you have got
the facts."

"They are singular, not to say grotesque," said Holmes.
"May I ask whether the two busts smashed in Dr. Barnicot's
rooms were the exact duplicates of the one which was
destroyed in Morse Hudson's shop?"

"They were taken from the same mould."

"Such a fact must tell against the theory that the man who
breaks them is influenced by any general hatred of
Napoleon.  Considering how many hundreds of statues of the
great Emperor must exist in London, it is too much to
suppose such a coincidence as that a promiscuous iconoclast
should chance to begin upon three specimens of the same bust."

"Well, I thought as you do," said Lestrade.  "On the other
hand, this Morse Hudson is the purveyor of busts in that
part of London, and these three were the only ones which
had been in his shop for years.  So, although, as you say,
there are many hundreds of statues in London, it is very
probable that these three were the only ones in that
district.  Therefore, a local fanatic would begin with
them.  What do you think, Dr. Watson?"

"There are no limits to the possibilities of monomania,"
I answered.  "There is the condition which the modern French
psychologists have called the 'idee fixe,' {1} which may be
trifling in character, and accompanied by complete sanity
in every other way.  A man who had read deeply about
Napoleon, or who had possibly received some hereditary
family injury through the great war, might conceivably form
such an 'idee fixe' and under its influence be capable of
any fantastic outrage."

"That won't do, my dear Watson," said Holmes, shaking his
head; "for no amount of 'idee fixe' would enable your
interesting monomaniac to find out where these busts were
situated."

"Well, how do _you_ explain it?"

"I don't attempt to do so.  I would only observe that
there is a certain method in the gentleman's eccentric
proceedings.  For example, in Dr. Barnicot's hall, where a
sound might arouse the family, the bust was taken outside
before being broken, whereas in the surgery, where there
was less danger of an alarm, it was smashed where it stood.
The affair seems absurdly trifling, and yet I dare call
nothing trivial when I reflect that some of my most classic
cases have had the least promising commencement.  You will
remember, Watson, how the dreadful business of the
Abernetty family was first brought to my notice by the
depth which the parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot
day.  I can't afford, therefore, to smile at your three
broken busts, Lestrade, and I shall be very much obliged to
you if you will let me hear of any fresh developments of so
singular a chain of events."


The development for which my friend had asked came in a
quicker and an infinitely more tragic form than he could
have imagined.  I was still dressing in my bedroom next
morning when there was a tap at the door and Holmes
entered, a telegram in his hand.  He read it aloud:--

"Come instantly, 131, Pitt Street, Kensington. -- Lestrade."

"What is it, then?" I asked.

"Don't know -- may be anything.  But I suspect it is the
sequel of the story of the statues.  In that case our
friend, the image-breaker, has begun operations in another
quarter of London.  There's coffee on the table, Watson,
and I have a cab at the door."

In half an hour we had reached Pitt Street, a quiet little
backwater just beside one of the briskest currents of
London life.  No. 131 was one of a row, all flat-chested,
respectable, and most unromantic dwellings.  As we drove up
we found the railings in front of the house lined by a
curious crowd.  Holmes whistled.

"By George! it's attempted murder at the least.  Nothing
less will hold the London message-boy.  There's a deed of
violence indicated in that fellow's round shoulders and
outstretched neck.  What's this, Watson?  The top steps
swilled down and the other ones dry.  Footsteps enough,
anyhow!  Well, well, there's Lestrade at the front window,
and we shall soon know all about it."

The official received us with a very grave face and showed
us into a sitting-room, where an exceedingly unkempt and
agitated elderly man, clad in a flannel dressing-gown, was
pacing up and down.  He was introduced to us as the owner
of the house -- Mr. Horace Harker, of the Central Press
Syndicate.

"It's the Napoleon bust business again," said Lestrade.
"You seemed interested last night, Mr. Holmes, so I thought
perhaps you would be glad to be present now that the affair
has taken a very much graver turn."

"What has it turned to, then?"

"To murder.  Mr. Harker, will you tell these gentlemen
exactly what has occurred?"

The man in the dressing-gown turned upon us with a most
melancholy face.

"It's an extraordinary thing," said he, "that all my life I
have been collecting other people's news, and now that a
real piece of news has come my own way I am so confused and
bothered that I can't put two words together.  If I had
come in here as a journalist I should have interviewed
myself and had two columns in every evening paper.  As it
is I am giving away valuable copy by telling my story over
and over to a string of different people, and I can make no
use of it myself.  However, I've heard your name, Mr. Sherlock
Holmes, and if you'll only explain this queer business
I shall be paid for my trouble in telling you the story."

Holmes sat down and listened.

"It all seems to centre round that bust of Napoleon which I
bought for this very room about four months ago.  I picked
it up cheap from Harding Brothers, two doors from the High
Street Station.  A great deal of my journalistic work is
done at night, and I often write until the early morning.
So it was to-day.  I was sitting in my den, which is at the
back of the top of the house, about three o'clock, when I
was convinced that I heard some sounds downstairs.
I listened, but they were not repeated, and I concluded that
they came from outside.  Then suddenly, about five minutes
later, there came a most horrible yell -- the most dreadful
sound, Mr. Holmes, that ever I heard.  It will ring in my
ears as long as I live.  I sat frozen with horror for a
minute or two.  Then I seized the poker and went
downstairs.  When I entered this room I found the window
wide open, and I at once observed that the bust was gone
from the mantelpiece.  Why any burglar should take such a
thing passes my understanding, for it was only a plaster
cast and of no real value whatever.

"You can see for yourself that anyone going out through
that open window could reach the front doorstep by taking a
long stride.  This was clearly what the burglar had done,
so I went round and opened the door.  Stepping out into the
dark I nearly fell over a dead man who was lying there.
I ran back for a light, and there was the poor fellow,
a great gash in his throat and the whole place swimming in
blood.  He lay on his back, his knees drawn up, and his
mouth horribly open.  I shall see him in my dreams.  I had
just time to blow on my police-whistle, and then I must
have fainted, for I knew nothing more until I found the
policeman standing over me in the hall."

"Well, who was the murdered man?" asked Holmes.

"There's nothing to show who he was," said Lestrade.
"You shall see the body at the mortuary, but we have made
nothing of it up to now.  He is a tall man, sunburned,
very powerful, not more than thirty.  He is poorly dressed,
and yet does not appear to be a labourer.  A horn-handled clasp
knife was lying in a pool of blood beside him.  Whether it
was the weapon which did the deed, or whether it belonged
to the dead man, I do not know.  There was no name on his
clothing, and nothing in his pockets save an apple, some string,
a shilling map of London, and a photograph.  Here it is."

It was evidently taken by a snap-shot from a small camera.
It represented an alert, sharp-featured simian man with
thick eyebrows, and a very peculiar projection of the lower
part of the face like the muzzle of a baboon.

"And what became of the bust?" asked Holmes, after a
careful study of this picture.

"We had news of it just before you came.  It has been found
in the front garden of an empty house in Campden House Road.
It was broken into fragments.  I am going round now to see it.
Will you come?"

"Certainly.  I must just take one look round."  He examined
the carpet and the window.  "The fellow had either very
long legs or was a most active man," said he.  "With an
area beneath, it was no mean feat to reach that
window-ledge and open that window.  Getting back was
comparatively simple.  Are you coming with us to see the
remains of your bust, Mr. Harker?"

The disconsolate journalist had seated himself at a
writing-table.

"I must try and make something of it," said he, "though I
have no doubt that the first editions of the evening papers
are out already with full details.  It's like my luck!  You
remember when the stand fell at Doncaster?  Well, I was the
only journalist in the stand, and my journal the only one
that had no account of it, for I was too shaken to write it.
And now I'll be too late with a murder done on my own doorstep."

As we left the room we heard his pen travelling shrilly
over the foolscap.

The spot where the fragments of the bust had been found was
only a few hundred yards away.  For the first time our eyes
rested upon this presentment of the great Emperor, which
seemed to raise such frantic and destructive hatred in the
mind of the unknown.  It lay scattered in splintered shards
upon the grass.  Holmes picked up several of them and
examined them carefully.  I was convinced from his intent
face and his purposeful manner that at last he was upon a
clue.

"Well?" asked Lestrade.

Holmes shrugged his shoulders.

"We have a long way to go yet," said he.  "And yet -- and
yet -- well, we have some suggestive facts to act upon.
The possession of this trifling bust was worth more in the
eyes of this strange criminal than a human life.  That is
one point.  Then there is the singular fact that he did not
break it in the house, or immediately outside the house,
if to break it was his sole object."

"He was rattled and bustled by meeting this other fellow.
He hardly knew what he was doing."

"Well, that's likely enough.  But I wish to call your
attention very particularly to the position of this house
in the garden of which the bust was destroyed."

Lestrade looked about him.

"It was an empty house, and so he knew that he would not be
disturbed in the garden."

"Yes, but there is another empty house farther up the street
which he must have passed before he came to this one.
Why did he not break it there, since it is evident that every
yard that he carried it increased the risk of someone
meeting him?"

"I give it up," said Lestrade.

Holmes pointed to the street lamp above our heads.

"He could see what he was doing here and he could not
there.  That was his reason."

"By Jove! that's true," said the detective.  "Now that I
come to think of it, Dr. Barnicot's bust was broken not far
from his red lamp.  Well, Mr. Holmes, what are we to do
with that fact?"

"To remember it -- to docket it.  We may come on something
later which will bear upon it.  What steps do you propose
to take now, Lestrade?"

"The most practical way of getting at it, in my opinion,
is to identify the dead man.  There should be no difficulty
about that.  When we have found who he is and who his
associates are, we should have a good start in learning
what he was doing in Pitt Street last night, and who it was
who met him and killed him on the doorstep of Mr. Horace
Harker.  Don't you think so?"

"No doubt; and yet it is not quite the way in which I
should approach the case."

"What would you do, then?"

"Oh, you must not let me influence you in any way!
I suggest that you go on your line and I on mine.  We can
compare notes afterwards, and each will supplement the
other."

"Very good," said Lestrade.

"If you are going back to Pitt Street you might see
Mr. Horace Harker.  Tell him from me that I have quite made
up my mind, and that it is certain that a dangerous homicidal
lunatic with Napoleonic delusions was in his house last
night.  It will be useful for his article."

Lestrade stared.

"You don't seriously believe that?"

Holmes smiled.

"Don't I?  Well, perhaps I don't.  But I am sure that it
will interest Mr. Horace Harker and the subscribers of the
Central Press Syndicate.  Now, Watson, I think that we
shall find that we have a long and rather complex day's
work before us.  I should be glad, Lestrade, if you could
make it convenient to meet us at Baker Street at six
o'clock this evening.  Until then I should like to keep
this photograph found in the dead man's pocket.  It is
possible that I may have to ask your company and assistance
upon a small expedition which will have to be undertaken
to-night, if my chain of reasoning should prove to be
correct.  Until then, good-bye and good luck!"

Sherlock Holmes and I walked together to the High Street,
where he stopped at the shop of Harding Brothers, whence
the bust had been purchased.  A young assistant informed us
that Mr. Harding would be absent until after noon, and that
he was himself a newcomer who could give us no information.
Holmes's face showed his disappointment and annoyance.

"Well, well, we can't expect to have it all our own way,
Watson," he said, at last.  "We must come back in the
afternoon if Mr. Harding will not be here until then.
I am, as you have no doubt surmised, endeavouring to trace
these busts to their source, in order to find if there
is not something peculiar which may account for their
remarkable fate.  Let us make for Mr. Morse Hudson, of the
Kennington Road, and see if he can throw any light upon the
problem."

A drive of an hour brought us to the picture-dealer's
establishment.  He was a small, stout man with a red face
and a peppery manner.

"Yes, sir.  On my very counter, sir," said he.  "What we
pay rates and taxes for I don't know, when any ruffian can
come in and break one's goods.  Yes, sir, it was I who
sold Dr. Barnicot his two statues.  Disgraceful, sir!
A Nihilist plot, that's what I make it.  No one but
an Anarchist would go about breaking statues.
Red republicans, that's what I call 'em.  Who did I get the
statues from?  I don't see what that has to do with it.
Well, if you really want to know, I got them from Gelder
and Co., in Church Street, Stepney.  They are a well-known
house in the trade, and have been this twenty years.  How
many had I?  Three -- two and one are three -- two of Dr.
Barnicot's and one smashed in broad daylight on my own
counter.  Do I know that photograph?  No, I don't.  Yes,
I do, though.  Why, it's Beppo.  He was a kind of Italian
piece-work man, who made himself useful in the shop.
He could carve a bit and gild and frame, and do odd jobs.
The fellow left me last week, and I've heard nothing of him
since.  No, I don't know where he came from nor where he
went to.  I have nothing against him while he was here.
He was gone two days before the bust was smashed."

"Well, that's all we could reasonably expect to get from
Morse Hudson," said Holmes, as we emerged from the shop.
"We have this Beppo as a common factor, both in Kennington
and in Kensington, so that is worth a ten-mile drive.
Now, Watson, let us make for Gelder and Co., of Stepney,
the source and origin of busts.  I shall be surprised if
we don't get some help down there."

In rapid succession we passed through the fringe of
fashionable London, hotel London, theatrical London,
literary London, commercial London, and, finally, maritime
London, till we came to a riverside city of a hundred
thousand souls, where the tenement houses swelter and reek
with the outcasts of Europe.  Here, in a broad
thoroughfare, once the abode of wealthy City merchants, we
found the sculpture works for which we searched.  Outside
was a considerable yard full of monumental masonry.  Inside
was a large room in which fifty workers were carving or
moulding.  The manager, a big blonde German, received us
civilly, and gave a clear answer to all Holmes's questions.
A reference to his books showed that hundreds of casts had
been taken from a marble copy of Devine's head of Napoleon,
but that the three which had been sent to Morse Hudson a
year or so before had been half of a batch of six, the
other three being sent to Harding Brothers, of Kensington.
There was no reason why those six should be different to
any of the other casts.  He could suggest no possible cause
why anyone should wish to destroy them -- in fact, he
laughed at the idea.  Their wholesale price was six
shillings, but the retailer would get twelve or more.  The
cast was taken in two moulds from each side of the face,
and then these two profiles of plaster of Paris were joined
together to make the complete bust.  The work was usually
done by Italians in the room we were in.  When finished the
busts were put on a table in the passage to dry, and
afterwards stored.  That was all he could tell us.

But the production of the photograph had a remarkable
effect upon the manager.  His face flushed with anger,
and his brows knotted over his blue Teutonic eyes.

"Ah, the rascal!" he cried.  "Yes, indeed, I know him very
well.  This has always been a respectable establishment,
and the only time that we have ever had the police in it
was over this very fellow.  It was more than a year ago
now.  He knifed another Italian in the street, and then he
came to the works with the police on his heels, and he was
taken here.  Beppo was his name -- his second name I never
knew.  Serve me right for engaging a man with such a face.
But he was a good workman, one of the best."

"What did he get?"

"The man lived and he got off with a year.  I have no doubt
he is out now; but he has not dared to show his nose here.
We have a cousin of his here, and I dare say he could tell
you where he is."

"No, no," cried Holmes, "not a word to the cousin -- not a
word, I beg you.  The matter is very important, and the
farther I go with it the more important it seems to grow.
When you referred in your ledger to the sale of those casts
I observed that the date was June 3rd of last year.  Could
you give me the date when Beppo was arrested?"

"I could tell you roughly by the pay-list," the manager
answered.  "Yes," he continued, after some turning over of
pages, "he was paid last on May 20th."

"Thank you," said Holmes.  "I don't think that I need
intrude upon your time and patience any more."  With a last
word of caution that he should say nothing as to our
researches we turned our faces westward once more.

The afternoon was far advanced before we were able to
snatch a hasty luncheon at a restaurant.  A news-bill at
the entrance announced "Kensington Outrage.  Murder by a
Madman," and the contents of the paper showed that Mr.
Horace Harker had got his account into print after all.
Two columns were occupied with a highly sensational and
flowery rendering of the whole incident.  Holmes propped it
against the cruet-stand and read it while he ate.  Once or
twice he chuckled.

"This is all right, Watson," said he.  "Listen to this:
'It is satisfactory to know that there can be no difference of
opinion upon this case, since Mr. Lestrade, one of the most
experienced members of the official force, and Mr. Sherlock
Holmes, the well-known consulting expert, have each come to
the conclusion that the grotesque series of incidents,
which have ended in so tragic a fashion, arise from lunacy
rather than from deliberate crime.  No explanation save
mental aberration can cover the facts.'  The Press, Watson,
is a most valuable institution if you only know how to use
it.  And now, if you have quite finished, we will hark back
to Kensington and see what the manager of Harding Brothers
has to say to the matter."

The founder of that great emporium proved to be a brisk,
crisp little person, very dapper and quick, with a clear
head and a ready tongue.

"Yes, sir, I have already read the account in the evening
papers.  Mr. Horace Harker is a customer of ours.  We
supplied him with the bust some months ago.  We ordered
three busts of that sort from Gelder and Co., of Stepney.
They are all sold now.  To whom?  Oh, I dare say by
consulting our sales book we could very easily tell you.
Yes, we have the entries here.  One to Mr. Harker, you see,
and one to Mr. Josiah Brown, of Laburnum Lodge, Laburnum
Vale, Chiswick, and one to Mr. Sandeford, of Lower Grove
Road, Reading.  No, I have never seen this face which you
show me in the photograph.  You would hardly forget it,
would you, sir, for I've seldom seen an uglier.  Have we
any Italians on the staff?  Yes, sir, we have several among
our workpeople and cleaners.  I dare say they might get a
peep at that sales book if they wanted to.  There is no
particular reason for keeping a watch upon that book.
Well, well, it's a very strange business, and I hope that
you'll let me know if anything comes of your inquiries."

Holmes had taken several notes during Mr. Harding's
evidence, and I could see that he was thoroughly satisfied
by the turn which affairs were taking.  He made no remark,
however, save that, unless we hurried, we should be late
for our appointment with Lestrade.  Sure enough, when we
reached Baker Street the detective was already there, and
we found him pacing up and down in a fever of impatience.
His look of importance showed that his day's work had not
been in vain.

"Well?" he asked.  "What luck, Mr. Holmes?"

"We have had a very busy day, and not entirely a wasted
one," my friend explained.  "We have seen both the
retailers and also the wholesale manufacturers.  I can
trace each of the busts now from the beginning."

"The busts!" cried Lestrade.  "Well, well, you have your
own methods, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and it is not for me to
say a word against them, but I think I have done a better
day's work than you.  I have identified the dead man."

"You don't say so?"

"And found a cause for the crime."

"Splendid!"

"We have an inspector who makes a specialty of Saffron Hill
and the Italian quarter.  Well, this dead man had some
Catholic emblem round his neck, and that, along with his
colour, made me think he was from the South.  Inspector
Hill knew him the moment he caught sight of him.  His name
is Pietro Venucci, from Naples, and he is one of the
greatest cut-throats in London.  He is connected with the
Mafia, which, as you know, is a secret political society,
enforcing its decrees by murder.  Now you see how the
affair begins to clear up.  The other fellow is probably an
Italian also, and a member of the Mafia.  He has broken the
rules in some fashion.  Pietro is set upon his track.
Probably the photograph we found in his pocket is the man
himself, so that he may not knife the wrong person.  He
dogs the fellow, he sees him enter a house, he waits
outside for him, and in the scuffle he receives his own
death-wound.  How is that, Mr. Sherlock Holmes?"

Holmes clapped his hands approvingly.

"Excellent, Lestrade, excellent!" he cried.  "But I didn't
quite follow your explanation of the destruction of the
busts."

"The busts!  You never can get those busts out of your
head.  After all, that is nothing; petty larceny, six
months at the most.  It is the murder that we are really
investigating, and I tell you that I am gathering all the
threads into my hands."

"And the next stage?"

"Is a very simple one.  I shall go down with Hill to the
Italian quarter, find the man whose photograph we have got,
and arrest him on the charge of murder.  Will you come with us?"

"I think not.  I fancy we can attain our end in a simpler way.
I can't say for certain, because it all depends -- well,
it all depends upon a factor which is completely
outside our control.  But I have great hopes -- in fact,
the betting is exactly two to one -- that if you will come
with us to-night I shall be able to help you to lay him by
the heels."

"In the Italian quarter?"

"No; I fancy Chiswick is an address which is more likely to
find him.  If you will come with me to Chiswick to-night,
Lestrade, I'll promise to go to the Italian quarter with
you to-morrow, and no harm will be done by the delay.  And
now I think that a few hours' sleep would do us all good,
for I do not propose to leave before eleven o'clock, and it
is unlikely that we shall be back before morning.  You'll
dine with us, Lestrade, and then you are welcome to the
sofa until it is time for us to start.  In the meantime,
Watson, I should be glad if you would ring for an express
messenger, for I have a letter to send, and it is important
that it should go at once."

Holmes spent the evening in rummaging among the files of
the old daily papers with which one of our lumber-rooms was
packed.  When at last he descended it was with triumph in
his eyes, but he said nothing to either of us as to the
result of his researches.  For my own part, I had followed
step by step the methods by which he had traced the various
windings of this complex case, and, though I could not yet
perceive the goal which we would reach, I understood
clearly that Holmes expected this grotesque criminal to
make an attempt upon the two remaining busts, one of which,
I remembered, was at Chiswick.  No doubt the object of our
journey was to catch him in the very act, and I could not
but admire the cunning with which my friend had inserted a
wrong clue in the evening paper, so as to give the fellow
the idea that he could continue his scheme with impunity.
I was not surprised when Holmes suggested that I should
take my revolver with me.  He had himself picked up the
loaded hunting-crop which was his favourite weapon.

A four-wheeler was at the door at eleven, and in it we
drove to a spot at the other side of Hammersmith Bridge.
Here the cabman was directed to wait.  A short walk brought
us to a secluded road fringed with pleasant houses, each
standing in its own grounds.  In the light of a street lamp
we read "Laburnum Villa" upon the gate-post of one of them.
The occupants had evidently retired to rest, for all was
dark save for a fanlight over the hall door, which shed a
single blurred circle on to the garden path.  The wooden
fence which separated the grounds from the road threw a
dense black shadow upon the inner side, and here it was
that we crouched.

"I fear that you'll have a long wait," Holmes whispered.
"We may thank our stars that it is not raining.  I don't
think we can even venture to smoke to pass the time.
However, it's a two to one chance that we get something to
pay us for our trouble."

It proved, however, that our vigil was not to be so long as
Holmes had led us to fear, and it ended in a very sudden
and singular fashion.  In an instant, without the least
sound to warn us of his coming, the garden gate swung open,
and a lithe, dark figure, as swift and active as an ape,
rushed up the garden path.  We saw it whisk past the light
thrown from over the door and disappear against the black
shadow of the house.  There was a long pause, during which
we held our breath, and then a very gentle creaking sound
came to our ears.  The window was being opened.  The noise
ceased, and again there was a long silence.  The fellow was
making his way into the house.  We saw the sudden flash of
a dark lantern inside the room.  What he sought was
evidently not there, for again we saw the flash through
another blind, and then through another.

"Let us get to the open window.  We will nab him as he
climbs out," Lestrade whispered.

But before we could move the man had emerged again.
As he came out into the glimmering patch of light we saw
that he carried something white under his arm.  He looked
stealthily all round him.  The silence of the deserted
street reassured him.  Turning his back upon us he laid
down his burden, and the next instant there was the sound
of a sharp tap, followed by a clatter and rattle.  The man
was so intent upon what he was doing that he never heard
our steps as we stole across the grass plot.  With the
bound of a tiger Holmes was on his back, and an instant
later Lestrade and I had him by either wrist and the
handcuffs had been fastened.  As we turned him over I saw
a hideous, sallow face, with writhing, furious features,
glaring up at us, and I knew that it was indeed the man of
the photograph whom we had secured.

But it was not our prisoner to whom Holmes was giving his
attention.  Squatted on the doorstep, he was engaged in
most carefully examining that which the man had brought
from the house.  It was a bust of Napoleon like the one
which we had seen that morning, and it had been broken into
similar fragments.  Carefully Holmes held each separate
shard to the light, but in no way did it differ from any
other shattered piece of plaster.  He had just completed
his examination when the hall lights flew up, the door opened,
and the owner of the house, a jovial, rotund figure in shirt
and trousers, presented himself.

"Mr. Josiah Brown, I suppose?" said Holmes.

"Yes, sir; and you, no doubt, are Mr. Sherlock Holmes?
I had the note which you sent by the express messenger,
and I did exactly what you told me.  We locked every door
on the inside and awaited developments.  Well, I'm very glad
to see that you have got the rascal.  I hope, gentlemen,
that you will come in and have some refreshment."

However, Lestrade was anxious to get his man into safe
quarters, so within a few minutes our cab had been summoned
and we were all four upon our way to London.  Not a word
would our captive say; but he glared at us from the shadow
of his matted hair, and once, when my hand seemed within
his reach, he snapped at it like a hungry wolf.  We stayed
long enough at the police-station to learn that a search of
his clothing revealed nothing save a few shillings and a
long sheath knife, the handle of which bore copious traces
of recent blood.

"That's all right," said Lestrade, as we parted.
"Hill knows all these gentry, and he will give a name to him.
You'll find that my theory of the Mafia will work out all
right.  But I'm sure I am exceedingly obliged to you,
Mr. Holmes, for the workmanlike way in which you laid hands
upon him.  I don't quite understand it all yet."

"I fear it is rather too late an hour for explanations,"
said Holmes.  "Besides, there are one or two details which
are not finished off, and it is one of those cases which
are worth working out to the very end.  If you will come
round once more to my rooms at six o'clock to-morrow I
think I shall be able to show you that even now you have
not grasped the entire meaning of this business, which
presents some features which make it absolutely original in
the history of crime.  If ever I permit you to chronicle
any more of my little problems, Watson, I foresee that you
will enliven your pages by an account of the singular
adventure of the Napoleonic busts."


When we met again next evening Lestrade was furnished with
much information concerning our prisoner.  His name, it
appeared, was Beppo, second name unknown.  He was a
well-known ne'er-do-well among the Italian colony.  He had
once been a skilful sculptor and had earned an honest
living, but he had taken to evil courses and had twice
already been in gaol -- once for a petty theft and once,
as we had already heard, for stabbing a fellow-countryman.
He could talk English perfectly well.  His reasons for
destroying the busts were still unknown, and he refused to
answer any questions upon the subject; but the police had
discovered that these same busts might very well have been
made by his own hands, since he was engaged in this class
of work at the establishment of Gelder and Co.  To all this
information, much of which we already knew, Holmes listened
with polite attention; but I, who knew him so well, could
clearly see that his thoughts were elsewhere, and I
detected a mixture of mingled uneasiness and expectation
beneath that mask which he was wont to assume.  At last he
started in his chair and his eyes brightened.  There had
been a ring at the bell.  A minute later we heard steps
upon the stairs, and an elderly, red-faced man with
grizzled side-whiskers was ushered in.  In his right hand
he carried an old-fashioned carpet-bag, which he placed
upon the table.

"Is Mr. Sherlock Holmes here?"

My friend bowed and smiled.  "Mr. Sandeford, of Reading,
I suppose?" said he.

"Yes, sir, I fear that I am a little late; but the trains
were awkward.  You wrote to me about a bust that is in my
possession."

"Exactly."

"I have your letter here.  You said, 'I desire to possess a
copy of Devine's Napoleon, and am prepared to pay you ten pounds
for the one which is in your possession.'  Is that right?"

"Certainly."

"I was very much surprised at your letter, for I could not
imagine how you knew that I owned such a thing."

"Of course you must have been surprised, but the
explanation is very simple.  Mr. Harding, of Harding
Brothers, said that they had sold you their last copy,
and he gave me your address."

"Oh, that was it, was it?  Did he tell you what I paid for it?"

"No, he did not."

"Well, I am an honest man, though not a very rich one.
I only gave fifteen shillings for the bust, and I think you
ought to know that before I take ten pounds from you."

"I am sure the scruple does you honour, Mr. Sandeford.
But I have named that price, so I intend to stick to it."

"Well, it is very handsome of you, Mr. Holmes.  I brought
the bust up with me, as you asked me to do.  Here it is!"
He opened his bag, and at last we saw placed upon our table
a complete specimen of that bust which we had already seen
more than once in fragments.

Holmes took a paper from his pocket and laid a ten-pound
note upon the table.

"You will kindly sign that paper, Mr. Sandeford, in the
presence of these witnesses.  It is simply to say that you
transfer every possible right that you ever had in the bust
to me.  I am a methodical man, you see, and you never know
what turn events might take afterwards.  Thank you, Mr.
Sandeford; here is your money, and I wish you a very good
evening."

When our visitor had disappeared Sherlock Holmes's
movements were such as to rivet our attention.  He began by
taking a clean white cloth from a drawer and laying it over
the table.  Then he placed his newly-acquired bust in the
centre of the cloth.  Finally, he picked up his
hunting-crop and struck Napoleon a sharp blow on the top of
the head.  The figure broke into fragments, and Holmes bent
eagerly over the shattered remains.  Next instant, with a
loud shout of triumph, he held up one splinter, in which a
round, dark object was fixed like a plum in a pudding.

"Gentlemen," he cried, "let me introduce you to the famous
black pearl of the Borgias."

Lestrade and I sat silent for a moment, and then, with a
spontaneous impulse, we both broke out clapping as at the
well-wrought crisis of a play.  A flush of colour sprang to
Holmes's pale cheeks, and he bowed to us like the master
dramatist who receives the homage of his audience.  It was
at such moments that for an instant he ceased to be a
reasoning machine, and betrayed his human love for
admiration and applause.  The same singularly proud and
reserved nature which turned away with disdain from popular
notoriety was capable of being moved to its depths by
spontaneous wonder and praise from a friend.

"Yes, gentlemen," said he, "it is the most famous pearl now
existing in the world, and it has been my good fortune, by
a connected chain of inductive reasoning, to trace it from
the Prince of Colonna's bedroom at the Dacre Hotel, where
it was lost, to the interior of this, the last of the six
busts of Napoleon which were manufactured by Gelder and
Co., of Stepney.  You will remember, Lestrade, the
sensation caused by the disappearance of this valuable
jewel, and the vain efforts of the London police to recover
it.  I was myself consulted upon the case; but I was unable
to throw any light upon it.  Suspicion fell upon the maid
of the Princess, who was an Italian, and it was proved that
she had a brother in London, but we failed to trace any
connection between them.  The maid's name was Lucretia
Venucci, and there is no doubt in my mind that this Pietro
who was murdered two nights ago was the brother.  I have
been looking up the dates in the old files of the paper,
and I find that the disappearance of the pearl was exactly
two days before the arrest of Beppo for some crime of
violence, an event which took place in the factory of
Gelder and Co., at the very moment when these busts were
being made.  Now you clearly see the sequence of events,
though you see them, of course, in the inverse order to the
way in which they presented themselves to me.  Beppo had
the pearl in his possession.  He may have stolen it from
Pietro, he may have been Pietro's confederate, he may have
been the go-between of Pietro and his sister.  It is of no
consequence to us which is the correct solution.

"The main fact is that he _had_ the pearl, and at that
moment, when it was on his person, he was pursued by the
police.  He made for the factory in which he worked, and he
knew that he had only a few minutes in which to conceal
this enormously valuable prize, which would otherwise be
found on him when he was searched.  Six plaster casts of
Napoleon were drying in the passage.  One of them was still
soft.  In an instant Beppo, a skilful workman, made a small
hole in the wet plaster, dropped in the pearl, and with a
few touches covered over the aperture once more.  It was an
admirable hiding-place.  No one could possibly find it.
But Beppo was condemned to a year's imprisonment, and in
the meanwhile his six busts were scattered over London.  He
could not tell which contained his treasure.  Only by
breaking them could he see.  Even shaking would tell him
nothing, for as the plaster was wet it was probable that
the pearl would adhere to it -- as, in fact, it has done.
Beppo did not despair, and he conducted his search with
considerable ingenuity and perseverance.  Through a cousin
who works with Gelder he found out the retail firms who had
bought the busts.  He managed to find employment with Morse
Hudson, and in that way tracked down three of them.  The
pearl was not there.  Then, with the help of some Italian
_employe_, {2} he succeeded in finding out where the other
three busts had gone.  The first was at Harker's.  There he
was dogged by his confederate, who held Beppo responsible
for the loss of the pearl, and he stabbed him in the
scuffle which followed."

"If he was his confederate why should he carry his
photograph?" I asked.

"As a means of tracing him if he wished to inquire about
him from any third person.  That was the obvious reason.
Well, after the murder I calculated that Beppo would
probably hurry rather than delay his movements.  He would
fear that the police would read his secret, and so he
hastened on before they should get ahead of him.  Of
course, I could not say that he had not found the pearl in
Harker's bust.  I had not even concluded for certain that
it was the pearl; but it was evident to me that he was
looking for something, since he carried the bust past the
other houses in order to break it in the garden which had a
lamp overlooking it.  Since Harker's bust was one in three
the chances were exactly as I told you, two to one against
the pearl being inside it.  There remained two busts, and
it was obvious that he would go for the London one first.
I warned the inmates of the house, so as to avoid a second
tragedy, and we went down with the happiest results.  By
that time, of course, I knew for certain that it was the
Borgia pearl that we were after.  The name of the murdered
man linked the one event with the other.  There only
remained a single bust -- the Reading one -- and the pearl
must be there.  I bought it in your presence from the owner
-- and there it lies."

We sat in silence for a moment.

"Well," said Lestrade, "I've seen you handle a good many
cases, Mr. Holmes, but I don't know that I ever knew a more
workmanlike one than that.  We're not jealous of you at
Scotland Yard.  No, sir, we are very proud of you, and if
you come down to-morrow there's not a man, from the oldest
inspector to the youngest constable, who wouldn't be glad
to shake you by the hand."

"Thank you!" said Holmes.  "Thank you!" and as he turned
away it seemed to me that he was more nearly moved by the
softer human emotions than I had ever seen him.  A moment
later he was the cold and practical thinker once more.
"Put the pearl in the safe, Watson," said he, "and get out
the papers of the Conk-Singleton forgery case.  Good-bye,
Lestrade.  If any little problem comes your way I shall be
happy, if I can, to give you a hint or two as to its
solution."

{-------------------------------------------------------}
{--------------------- End of Text ---------------------}
{-------------------------------------------------------}
{-------------------- Textual Notes --------------------}
{1}   {"idee fixe": the first e of "idee" has a forward}
      {accent (/)}
{2}   {"_employe_": the final e has a forward accent (/)}
{------------------ End Textual Notes ------------------}
{-------------------------------------------------------}




{3STU, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 4th proofing}
{The Adventure of the Three Students, Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 27 (June 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


IX. -- The Adventure of the Three Students.

IT was in the year '95 that a combination of events, into
which I need not enter, caused Mr. Sherlock Holmes and
myself to spend some weeks in one of our great University
towns, and it was during this time that the small but
instructive adventure which I am about to relate befell us.
It will be obvious that any details which would help the
reader to exactly identify the college or the criminal
would be injudicious and offensive.  So painful a scandal
may well be allowed to die out.  With due discretion the
incident itself may, however, be described, since it serves
to illustrate some of those qualities for which my friend
was remarkable.  I will endeavour in my statement to avoid
such terms as would serve to limit the events to any
particular place, or give a clue as to the people
concerned.

We were residing at the time in furnished lodgings close to
a library where Sherlock Holmes was pursuing some laborious
researches in early English charters -- researches which
led to results so striking that they may be the subject of
one of my future narratives.  Here it was that one evening
we received a visit from an acquaintance, Mr. Hilton
Soames, tutor and lecturer at the College of St. Luke's.
Mr. Soames was a tall, spare man, of a nervous and
excitable temperament.  I had always known him to be
restless in his manner, but on this particular occasion he
was in such a state of uncontrollable agitation that it was
clear something very unusual had occurred.

"I trust, Mr. Holmes, that you can spare me a few hours of
your valuable time.  We have had a very painful incident at
St. Luke's, and really, but for the happy chance of your
being in the town, I should have been at a loss what to
do."

"I am very busy just now, and I desire no distractions," my
friend answered.  "I should much prefer that you called in
the aid of the police."

"No, no, my dear sir; such a course is utterly impossible.
When once the law is evoked it cannot be stayed again, and
this is just one of those cases where, for the credit of
the college, it is most essential to avoid scandal.  Your
discretion is as well known as your powers, and you are the
one man in the world who can help me.  I beg you, Mr.
Holmes, to do what you can."

My friend's temper had not improved since he had been
deprived of the congenial surroundings of Baker Street.
Without his scrap-books, his chemicals, and his homely
untidiness, he was an uncomfortable man.  He shrugged his
shoulders in ungracious acquiescence, while our visitor in
hurried words and with much excitable gesticulation poured
forth his story.

"I must explain to you, Mr. Holmes, that to-morrow is the
first day of the examination for the Fortescue Scholarship.
I am one of the examiners.  My subject is Greek, and the
first of the papers consists of a large passage of Greek
translation which the candidate has not seen.  This passage
is printed on the examination paper, and it would naturally
be an immense advantage if the candidate could prepare it
in advance.  For this reason great care is taken to keep
the paper secret.

"To-day about three o'clock the proofs of this paper
arrived from the printers.  The exercise consists of half a
chapter of Thucydides.  I had to read it over carefully, as
the text must be absolutely correct.  At four-thirty my
task was not yet completed.  I had, however, promised to
take tea in a friend's rooms, so I left the proof upon my
desk.  I was absent rather more than an hour.

"You are aware, Mr. Holmes, that our college doors are
double -- a green baize one within and a heavy oak one
without.  As I approached my outer door I was amazed to see
a key in it.  For an instant I imagined that I had left my
own there, but on feeling in my pocket I found that it was
all right.  The only duplicate which existed, so far as I
knew, was that which belonged to my servant, Bannister, a
man who has looked after my room for ten years, and whose
honesty is absolutely above suspicion.  I found that the
key was indeed his, that he had entered my room to know if
I wanted tea, and that he had very carelessly left the key
in the door when he came out.  His visit to my room must
have been within a very few minutes of my leaving it.  His
forgetfulness about the key would have mattered little upon
any other occasion, but on this one day it has produced the
most deplorable consequences.

"The moment I looked at my table I was aware that someone
had rummaged among my papers.  The proof was in three long
slips.  I had left them all together.  Now I found that one
of them was lying on the floor, one was on the side table
near the window, and the third was where I had left it."

Holmes stirred for the first time.

"The first page on the floor, the second in the window, the
third where you left it," said he.

"Exactly, Mr. Holmes.  You amaze me.  How could you
possibly know that?"

"Pray continue your very interesting statement."

"For an instant I imagined that Bannister had taken the
unpardonable liberty of examining my papers.  He denied it,
however, with the utmost earnestness, and I am convinced
that he was speaking the truth.  The alternative was that
someone passing had observed the key in the door, had known
that I was out, and had entered to look at the papers.  A
large sum of money is at stake, for the scholarship is a
very valuable one, and an unscrupulous man might very well
run a risk in order to gain an advantage over his fellows.

"Bannister was very much upset by the incident.  He had
nearly fainted when we found that the papers had
undoubtedly been tampered with.  I gave him a little brandy
and left him collapsed in a chair while I made a most
careful examination of the room.  I soon saw that the
intruder had left other traces of his presence besides the
rumpled papers.  On the table in the window were several
shreds from a pencil which had been sharpened.  A broken
tip of lead was lying there also.  Evidently the rascal had
copied the paper in a great hurry, had broken his pencil,
and had been compelled to put a fresh point to it."

"Excellent!" said Holmes, who was recovering his
good-humour as his attention became more engrossed by the
case.  "Fortune has been your friend."

"This was not all.  I have a new writing-table with a fine
surface of red leather.  I am prepared to swear, and so is
Bannister, that it was smooth and unstained.  Now I found a
clean cut in it about three inches long -- not a mere
scratch, but a positive cut.  Not only this, but on the
table I found a small ball of black dough, or clay, with
specks of something which looks like sawdust in it.  I am
convinced that these marks were left by the man who rifled
the papers.  There were no footmarks and no other evidence
as to his identity.  I was at my wits' ends, when suddenly
the happy thought occurred to me that you were in the town,
and I came straight round to put the matter into your
hands.  Do help me, Mr. Holmes!  You see my dilemma.
Either I must find the man or else the examination must be
postponed until fresh papers are prepared, and since this
cannot be done without explanation there will ensue a
hideous scandal, which will throw a cloud not only on the
college, but on the University.  Above all things I desire
to settle the matter quietly and discreetly."

"I shall be happy to look into it and to give you such
advice as I can," said Holmes, rising and putting on his
overcoat.  "The case is not entirely devoid of interest.
Had anyone visited you in your room after the papers came
to you?"

"Yes; young Daulat Ras, an Indian student who lives on the
same stair, came in to ask me some particulars about the
examination."

"For which he was entered?"

"Yes."

"And the papers were on your table?"

"To the best of my belief they were rolled up."

"But might be recognised as proofs?"

"Possibly."

"No one else in your room?"

"No."

"Did anyone know that these proofs would be there?"

"No one save the printer."

"Did this man Bannister know?"

"No, certainly not.  No one knew."

"Where is Bannister now?"

"He was very ill, poor fellow.  I left him collapsed in the
chair.  I was in such a hurry to come to you."

"You left your door open?"

"I locked up the papers first."

"Then it amounts to this, Mr. Soames, that unless the
Indian student recognised the roll as being proofs, the man
who tampered with them came upon them accidentally without
knowing that they were there."

"So it seems to me."

Holmes gave an enigmatic smile.

"Well," said he, "let us go round.  Not one of your cases,
Watson -- mental, not physical.  All right; come if you
want to.  Now, Mr. Soames -- at your disposal!"


The sitting-room of our client opened by a long, low,
latticed window on to the ancient lichen-tinted court of
the old college.  A Gothic arched door led to a worn stone
staircase.  On the ground floor was the tutor's room.
Above were three students, one on each story.  It was
already twilight when we reached the scene of our problem.
Holmes halted and looked earnestly at the window.  Then he
approached it, and, standing on tiptoe with his neck
craned, he looked into the room.

"He must have entered through the door.  There is no
opening except the one pane," said our learned guide.

"Dear me!" said Holmes, and he smiled in a singular way as
he glanced at our companion.  "Well, if there is nothing to
be learned here we had best go inside."

The lecturer unlocked the outer door and ushered us into
his room.  We stood at the entrance while Holmes made an
examination of the carpet.

"I am afraid there are no signs here," said he.  "One could
hardly hope for any upon so dry a day.  Your servant seems
to have quite recovered.  You left him in a chair, you say;
which chair?"

"By the window there."

"I see.  Near this little table.  You can come in now.
I have finished with the carpet.  Let us take the little
table first.  Of course, what has happened is very clear.
The man entered and took the papers, sheet by sheet, from
the central table.  He carried them over to the window
table, because from there he could see if you came across
the courtyard, and so could effect an escape."

"As a matter of fact he could not," said Soames, "for I
entered by the side door."

"Ah, that's good!  Well, anyhow, that was in his mind.
Let me see the three strips.  No finger impressions -- no!
Well, he carried over this one first and he copied it.
How long would it take him to do that, using every possible
contraction?  A quarter of an hour, not less.  Then he
tossed it down and seized the next.  He was in the midst of
that when your return caused him to make a very hurried
retreat -- _very_ hurried, since he had not time to replace
the papers which would tell you that he had been there.
You were not aware of any hurrying feet on the stair as you
entered the outer door?"

"No, I can't say I was."

"Well, he wrote so furiously that he broke his pencil,
and had, as you observe, to sharpen it again.  This is of
interest, Watson.  The pencil was not an ordinary one.
It was above the usual size, with a soft lead; the outer
colour was dark blue, the maker's name was printed in
silver lettering, and the piece remaining is only about an
inch and a half long.  Look for such a pencil, Mr. Soames,
and you have got your man.  When I add that he possesses a
large and very blunt knife, you have an additional aid."

Mr. Soames was somewhat overwhelmed by this flood of
information.  "I can follow the other points," said he,
"but really in this matter of the length ----"

Holmes held out a small chip with the letters NN and a
space of clear wood after them.

"You see?"

"No, I fear that even now ----"

"Watson, I have always done you an injustice.  There are
others.  What could this NN be?  It is at the end of a
word.  You are aware that Johann Faber is the most common
maker's name.  Is it not clear that there is just as much
of the pencil left as usually follows the Johann?"  He held
the small table sideways to the electric light.  "I was
hoping that if the paper on which he wrote was thin some
trace of it might come through upon this polished surface.
No, I see nothing.  I don't think there is anything more to
be learned here.  Now for the central table.  This small
pellet is, I presume, the black, doughy mass you spoke of.
Roughly pyramidal in shape and hollowed out, I perceive.
As you say, there appear to be grains of sawdust in it.
Dear me, this is very interesting.  And the cut -- a
positive tear, I see.  It began with a thin scratch and
ended in a jagged hole.  I am much indebted to you for
directing my attention to this case, Mr. Soames.  Where
does that door lead to?"

"To my bedroom."

"Have you been in it since your adventure?"

"No; I came straight away for you."

"I should like to have a glance round.  What a charming,
old-fashioned room!  Perhaps you will kindly wait a minute
until I have examined the floor.  No, I see nothing.  What
about this curtain?  You hang your clothes behind it.  If
anyone were forced to conceal himself in this room he must
do it there, since the bed is too low and the wardrobe too
shallow.  No one there, I suppose?"

As Holmes drew the curtain I was aware, from some little
rigidity and alertness of his attitude, that he was
prepared for an emergency.  As a matter of fact the drawn
curtain disclosed nothing but three or four suits of
clothes hanging from a line of pegs.  Holmes turned away
and stooped suddenly to the floor.

"Halloa!  What's this?" said he.

It was a small pyramid of black, putty-like stuff, exactly
like the one upon the table of the study.  Holmes held it
out on his open palm in the glare of the electric light.

"Your visitor seems to have left traces in your bedroom as
well as in your sitting-room, Mr. Soames."

"What could he have wanted there?"

"I think it is clear enough.  You came back by an
unexpected way, and so he had no warning until you were at
the very door.  What could he do?  He caught up everything
which would betray him and he rushed into your bedroom to
conceal himself."

"Good gracious, Mr. Holmes, do you mean to tell me that all
the time I was talking to Bannister in this room we had the
man prisoner if we had only known it?"

"So I read it."

"Surely there is another alternative, Mr. Holmes.  I don't
know whether you observed my bedroom window?"

"Lattice-paned, lead framework, three separate windows,
one swinging on hinge and large enough to admit a man."

"Exactly.  And it looks out on an angle of the courtyard so
as to be partly invisible.  The man might have effected his
entrance there, left traces as he passed through the
bedroom, and, finally, finding the door open have escaped
that way."

Holmes shook his head impatiently.

"Let us be practical," said he.  "I understand you to say
that there are three students who use this stair and are in
the habit of passing your door?"

"Yes, there are."

"And they are all in for this examination?"

"Yes."

"Have you any reason to suspect any one of them more than
the others?"

Soames hesitated.

"It is a very delicate question," said he.  "One hardly
likes to throw suspicion where there are no proofs."

"Let us hear the suspicions.  I will look after the
proofs."

"I will tell you, then, in a few words the character of the
three men who inhabit these rooms.  The lower of the three
is Gilchrist, a fine scholar and athlete; plays in the
Rugby team and the cricket team for the college, and got
his Blue for the hurdles and the long jump.  He is a fine,
manly fellow.  His father was the notorious Sir Jabez
Gilchrist, who ruined himself on the turf.  My scholar has
been left very poor, but he is hard-working and
industrious.  He will do well.

"The second floor is inhabited by Daulat Ras, the Indian.
He is a quiet, inscrutable fellow, as most of those Indians
are.  He is well up in his work, though his Greek is his
weak subject.  He is steady and methodical.

"The top floor belongs to Miles McLaren.  He is a brilliant
fellow when he chooses to work -- one of the brightest
intellects of the University, but he is wayward,
dissipated, and unprincipled.  He was nearly expelled over
a card scandal in his first year.  He has been idling all
this term, and he must look forward with dread to the
examination."

"Then it is he whom you suspect?"

"I dare not go so far as that.  But of the three he is
perhaps the least unlikely."

"Exactly.  Now, Mr. Soames, let us have a look at your
servant, Bannister."

He was a little, white-faced, clean-shaven, grizzly-haired
fellow of fifty.  He was still suffering from this sudden
disturbance of the quiet routine of his life.  His plump
face was twitching with his nervousness, and his fingers
could not keep still.

"We are investigating this unhappy business, Bannister,"
said his master.

"Yes, sir."

"I understand," said Holmes, "that you left your key in the
door?"

"Yes, sir."

"Was it not very extraordinary that you should do this on
the very day when there were these papers inside?"

"It was most unfortunate, sir.  But I have occasionally
done the same thing at other times."

"When did you enter the room?"

"It was about half-past four.  That is Mr. Soames's tea time."

"How long did you stay?"

"When I saw that he was absent I withdrew at once."

"Did you look at these papers on the table?"

"No, sir; certainly not."

"How came you to leave the key in the door?"

"I had the tea-tray in my hand.  I thought I would come
back for the key.  Then I forgot."

"Has the outer door a spring lock?"

"No, sir."

"Then it was open all the time?"

"Yes, sir."

"Anyone in the room could get out?"

"Yes, sir."

"When Mr. Soames returned and called for you, you were very
much disturbed?"

"Yes, sir.  Such a thing has never happened during the many
years that I have been here.  I nearly fainted, sir."

"So I understand.  Where were you when you began to feel
bad?"

"Where was I, sir?  Why, here, near the door."

"That is singular, because you sat down in that chair over
yonder near the corner.  Why did you pass these other
chairs?"

"I don't know, sir.  It didn't matter to me where I sat."

"I really don't think he knew much about it, Mr. Holmes.
He was looking very bad -- quite ghastly."

"You stayed here when your master left?"

"Only for a minute or so.  Then I locked the door and went
to my room."

"Whom do you suspect?"

"Oh, I would not venture to say, sir.  I don't believe
there is any gentleman in this University who is capable of
profiting by such an action.  No, sir, I'll not believe it."

"Thank you; that will do," said Holmes.  "Oh, one more word.
You have not mentioned to any of the three gentlemen whom you
attend that anything is amiss?"

"No, sir; not a word."

"You haven't seen any of them?"

"No, sir."

"Very good.  Now, Mr. Soames, we will take a walk in the
quadrangle, if you please."

Three yellow squares of light shone above us in the
gathering gloom."

"Your three birds are all in their nests," said Holmes,
looking up.  "Halloa!  What's that?  One of them seems
restless enough."

It was the Indian, whose dark silhouette appeared suddenly
upon his blind.  He was pacing swiftly up and down his room.

"I should like to have a peep at each of them," said
Holmes.  "Is it possible?"

"No difficulty in the world," Soames answered.  "This set
of rooms is quite the oldest in the college, and it is not
unusual for visitors to go over them.  Come along, and I
will personally conduct you."

"No names, please!" said Holmes, as we knocked at
Gilchrist's door.  A tall, flaxen-haired, slim young fellow
opened it, and made us welcome when he understood our
errand.  There were some really curious pieces of mediaeval
{1} domestic architecture within.  Holmes was so charmed
with one of them that he insisted on drawing it on his
note-book, broke his pencil, had to borrow one from our
host, and finally borrowed a knife to sharpen his own.  The
same curious accident happened to him in the rooms of the
Indian -- a silent, little, hook-nosed fellow, who eyed us
askance and was obviously glad when Holmes's architectural
studies had come to an end.  I could not see that in either
case Holmes had come upon the clue for which he was
searching.  Only at the third did our visit prove abortive.
The outer door would not open to our knock, and nothing
more substantial than a torrent of bad language came from
behind it.  "I don't care who you are.  You can go to
blazes!" roared the angry voice.  "To-morrow's the exam.,
and I won't be drawn by anyone."

"A rude fellow," said our guide, flushing with anger as we
withdrew down the stair.  "Of course, he did not realize
that it was I who was knocking, but none the less his
conduct was very uncourteous, and, indeed, under the
circumstances rather suspicious."

Holmes's response was a curious one.

"Can you tell me his exact height?" he asked.

"Really, Mr. Holmes, I cannot undertake to say.
He is taller than the Indian, not so tall as Gilchrist.
I suppose five foot six would be about it."

"That is very important," said Holmes.  "And now, Mr. Soames,
I wish you good-night."

Our guide cried aloud in his astonishment and dismay.
"Good gracious, Mr. Holmes, you are surely not going to
leave me in this abrupt fashion!  You don't seem to realize
the position.  To-morrow is the examination.  I must take
some definite action to-night.  I cannot allow the
examination to be held if one of the papers has been
tampered with.  The situation must be faced."

"You must leave it as it is.  I shall drop round early
to-morrow morning and chat the matter over.  It is possible
that I may be in a position then to indicate some course of
action.  Meanwhile you change nothing -- nothing at all."

"Very good, Mr. Holmes."

"You can be perfectly easy in your mind.  We shall
certainly find some way out of your difficulties.  I will
take the black clay with me, also the pencil cuttings.
Good-bye."

When we were out in the darkness of the quadrangle we again
looked up at the windows.  The Indian still paced his room.
The others were invisible.

"Well, Watson, what do you think of it?" Holmes asked, as
we came out into the main street.  "Quite a little parlour
game -- sort of three-card trick, is it not?  There are
your three men.  It must be one of them.  You take your
choice.  Which is yours?"

"The foul-mouthed fellow at the top.  He is the one with
the worst record.  And yet that Indian was a sly fellow
also.  Why should he be pacing his room all the time?"

"There is nothing in that.  Many men do it when they are
trying to learn anything by heart."

"He looked at us in a queer way."

"So would you if a flock of strangers came in on you when
you were preparing for an examination next day, and every
moment was of value.  No, I see nothing in that.  Pencils,
too, and knives -- all was satisfactory.  But that fellow
_does_ puzzle me."

"Who?"

"Why, Bannister, the servant.  What's his game in the
matter?"

"He impressed me as being a perfectly honest man."

"So he did me.  That's the puzzling part.  Why should a
perfectly honest man -- well, well, here's a large
stationer's.  We shall begin our researches here."

There were only four stationers of any consequence in the
town, and at each Holmes produced his pencil chips and bid
high for a duplicate.  All were agreed that one could be
ordered, but that it was not a usual size of pencil and
that it was seldom kept in stock.  My friend did not appear
to be depressed by his failure, but shrugged his shoulders
in half-humorous resignation.

"No good, my dear Watson.  This, the best and only final
clue, has run to nothing.  But, indeed, I have little doubt
that we can build up a sufficient case without it.  By
Jove! my dear fellow, it is nearly nine, and the landlady
babbled of green peas at seven-thirty.  What with your
eternal tobacco, Watson, and your irregularity at meals,
I expect that you will get notice to quit and that I shall
share your downfall -- not, however, before we have solved
the problem of the nervous tutor, the careless servant, and
the three enterprising students."


Holmes made no further allusion to the matter that day,
though he sat lost in thought for a long time after our
belated dinner.  At eight in the morning he came into my
room just as I finished my toilet.

"Well, Watson," said he, "it is time we went down to St. Luke's.
Can you do without breakfast?"

"Certainly."

"Soames will be in a dreadful fidget until we are able to
tell him something positive."

"Have you anything positive to tell him?"

"I think so."

"You have formed a conclusion?"

"Yes, my dear Watson; I have solved the mystery."

"But what fresh evidence could you have got?"

"Aha!  It is not for nothing that I have turned myself out
of bed at the untimely hour of six.  I have put in two
hours' hard work and covered at least five miles, with
something to show for it.  Look at that!"

He held out his hand.  On the palm were three little
pyramids of black, doughy clay.

"Why, Holmes, you had only two yesterday!"

"And one more this morning.  It is a fair argument that
wherever No. 3 came from is also the source of Nos. 1 and 2.
Eh, Watson?  Well, come along and put friend Soames out
of his pain."


The unfortunate tutor was certainly in a state of pitiable
agitation when we found him in his chambers.  In a few
hours the examinations would commence, and he was still in
the dilemma between making the facts public and allowing
the culprit to compete for the valuable scholarship.
He could hardly stand still, so great was his mental
agitation, and he ran towards Holmes with two eager hands
outstretched.

"Thank Heaven that you have come!  I feared that you had
given it up in despair.  What am I to do?  Shall the
examination proceed?"

"Yes; let it proceed by all means."

"But this rascal ----?"

"He shall not compete."

"You know him?"

"I think so.  If this matter is not to become public we
must give ourselves certain powers, and resolve ourselves
into a small private court-martial.  You there, if you
please, Soames!  Watson, you here!  I'll take the arm-chair
in the middle.  I think that we are now sufficiently
imposing to strike terror into a guilty breast.  Kindly
ring the bell!"

Bannister entered, and shrunk back in evident surprise and
fear at our judicial appearance.

"You will kindly close the door," said Holmes.
"Now, Bannister, will you please tell us the truth about
yesterday's incident?"

The man turned white to the roots of his hair.

"I have told you everything, sir."

"Nothing to add?"

"Nothing at all, sir."

"Well, then, I must make some suggestions to you.  When you
sat down on that chair yesterday, did you do so in order to
conceal some object which would have shown who had been in
the room?"

Bannister's face was ghastly.

"No, sir; certainly not."

"It is only a suggestion," said Holmes, suavely.
"I frankly admit that I am unable to prove it.  But it seems
probable enough, since the moment that Mr. Soames's back
was turned you released the man who was hiding in that
bedroom."

Bannister licked his dry lips.

"There was no man, sir."

"Ah, that's a pity, Bannister.  Up to now you may have
spoken the truth, but now I know that you have lied."

The man's face set in sullen defiance.

"There was no man, sir."

"Come, come, Bannister!"

"No, sir; there was no one."

"In that case you can give us no further information.
Would you please remain in the room?  Stand over there near
the bedroom door.  Now, Soames, I am going to ask you to
have the great kindness to go up to the room of young
Gilchrist, and to ask him to step down into yours."

An instant later the tutor returned, bringing with him the
student.  He was a fine figure of a man, tall, lithe, and
agile, with a springy step and a pleasant, open face.
His troubled blue eyes glanced at each of us, and finally
rested with an expression of blank dismay upon Bannister
in the farther corner.

"Just close the door," said Holmes.  "Now, Mr. Gilchrist,
we are all quite alone here, and no one need ever know one
word of what passes between us.  We can be perfectly frank
with each other.  We want to know, Mr. Gilchrist, how you,
an honourable man, ever came to commit such an action as
that of yesterday?"

The unfortunate young man staggered back and cast a look
full of horror and reproach at Bannister.

"No, no, Mr. Gilchrist, sir; I never said a word -- never
one word!" cried the servant.

"No, but you have now," said Holmes.  "Now, sir, you must
see that after Bannister's words your position is hopeless,
and that your only chance lies in a frank confession."

For a moment Gilchrist, with upraised hand, tried to
control his writhing features.  The next he had thrown
himself on his knees beside the table and, burying his face
in his hands, he had burst into a storm of passionate
sobbing.

"Come, come," said Holmes, kindly; "it is human to err, and
at least no one can accuse you of being a callous criminal.
Perhaps it would be easier for you if I were to tell Mr.
Soames what occurred, and you can check me where I am
wrong.  Shall I do so?  Well, well, don't trouble to
answer.  Listen, and see that I do you no injustice.

"From the moment, Mr. Soames, that you said to me that no
one, not even Bannister, could have told that the papers
were in your room, the case began to take a definite shape
in my mind.  The printer one could, of course, dismiss.
He could examine the papers in his own office.  The Indian I
also thought nothing of.  If the proofs were in a roll he
could not possibly know what they were.  On the other hand,
it seemed an unthinkable coincidence that a man should dare
to enter the room, and that by chance on that very day the
papers were on the table.  I dismissed that.  The man who
entered knew that the papers were there.  How did he know?

"When I approached your room I examined the window.
You amused me by supposing that I was contemplating the
possibility of someone having in broad daylight, under the
eyes of all these opposite rooms, forced himself through
it.  Such an idea was absurd.  I was measuring how tall a
man would need to be in order to see as he passed what
papers were on the central table.  I am six feet high, and
I could do it with an effort.  No one less than that would
have a chance.  Already you see I had reason to think that
if one of your three students was a man of unusual height
he was the most worth watching of the three.

"I entered and I took you into my confidence as to the
suggestions of the side table.  Of the centre table I could
make nothing, until in your description of Gilchrist you
mentioned that he was a long-distance jumper.  Then the
whole thing came to me in an instant, and I only needed
certain corroborative proofs, which I speedily obtained.

"What happened was this.  This young fellow had employed
his afternoon at the athletic grounds, where he had been
practising the jump.  He returned carrying his jumping
shoes, which are provided, as you are aware, with several
sharp spikes.  As he passed your window he saw, by means
of his great height, these proofs upon your table, and
conjectured what they were.  No harm would have been done
had it not been that as he passed your door he perceived
the key which had been left by the carelessness of your
servant.  A sudden impulse came over him to enter and see
if they were indeed the proofs.  It was not a dangerous
exploit, for he could always pretend that he had simply
looked in to ask a question.

"Well, when he saw that they were indeed the proofs, it was
then that he yielded to temptation.  He put his shoes on
the table.  What was it you put on that chair near the window?"

"Gloves," said the young man.

Holmes looked triumphantly at Bannister.  "He put his
gloves on the chair, and he took the proofs, sheet by
sheet, to copy them.  He thought the tutor must return by
the main gate, and that he would see him.  As we know, he
came back by the side gate.  Suddenly he heard him at the
very door.  There was no possible escape.  He forgot his
gloves, but he caught up his shoes and darted into the
bedroom.  You observe that the scratch on that table is
slight at one side, but deepens in the direction of the
bedroom door.  That in itself is enough to show us that the
shoe had been drawn in that direction and that the culprit
had taken refuge there.  The earth round the spike had been
left on the table, and a second sample was loosened and
fell in the bedroom.  I may add that I walked out to the
athletic grounds this morning, saw that tenacious black
clay is used in the jumping-pit, and carried away a
specimen of it, together with some of the fine tan or
sawdust which is strewn over it to prevent the athlete from
slipping.  Have I told the truth, Mr. Gilchrist?"

The student had drawn himself erect.

"Yes, sir, it is true," said he.

"Good heavens, have you nothing to add?" cried Soames.

"Yes, sir, I have, but the shock of this disgraceful
exposure has bewildered me.  I have a letter here, Mr.
Soames, which I wrote to you early this morning in the
middle of a restless night.  It was before I knew that my
sin had found me out.  Here it is, sir.  You will see that
I have said, 'I have determined not to go in for the
examination.  I have been offered a commission in the
Rhodesian Police, and I am going out to South Africa at
once."' {2}

"I am indeed pleased to hear that you did not intend to
profit by your unfair advantage," said Soames.  "But why
did you change your purpose?"

Gilchrist pointed to Bannister.

"There is the man who set me in the right path," said he.

"Come now, Bannister," said Holmes.  "It will be clear to
you from what I have said that only you could have let this
young man out, since you were left in the room, and must
have locked the door when you went out.  As to his escaping
by that window, it was incredible.  Can you not clear up
the last point in this mystery, and tell us the reasons for
your action?"

"It was simple enough, sir, if you only had known; but with
all your cleverness it was impossible that you could know.
Time was, sir, when I was butler to old Sir Jabez
Gilchrist, this young gentleman's father.  When he was
ruined I came to the college as servant, but I never forgot
my old employer because he was down in the world.  I
watched his son all I could for the sake of the old days.
Well, sir, when I came into this room yesterday when the
alarm was given, the very first thing I saw was Mr.
Gilchrist's tan gloves a-lying in that chair.  I knew those
gloves well, and I understood their message.  If Mr. Soames
saw them the game was up.  I flopped down into that chair,
and nothing would budge me until Mr. Soames he went for
you.  Then out came my poor young master, whom I had
dandled on my knee, and confessed it all to me.  Wasn't it
natural, sir, that I should save him, and wasn't it natural
also that I should try to speak to him as his dead father
would have done, and make him understand that he could not
profit by such a deed?  Could you blame me, sir?"

"No, indeed," said Holmes, heartily, springing to his feet.
"Well, Soames, I think we have cleared your little problem
up, and our breakfast awaits us at home.  Come, Watson!  As
to you, sir, I trust that a bright future awaits you in
Rhodesia.  For once you have fallen low.  Let us see in the
future how high you can rise."

{--------------------------------------------------------}
{----------------------- End of Text --------------------}
{--------------------------------------------------------}
{---------------------- Textual Notes -------------------}
{1}   {"mediaeval": the a & e are ligatured}
{2}   {"...at once"'": the single- and double-quotes are}
      {reversed in the text}
{------------------ End of Textual Notes ----------------}
{--------------------------------------------------------}




{GOLD, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 4th proofing}
{The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez, Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 28 (July 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


X. -- The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez.

WHEN I look at the three massive manuscript volumes which
contain our work for the year 1894 I confess that it is very
difficult for me, out of such a wealth of material, to
select the cases which are most interesting in themselves
and at the same time most conducive to a display of those
peculiar powers for which my friend was famous.  As I turn
over the pages I see my notes upon the repulsive story of
the red leech and the terrible death of Crosby the banker.
Here also I find an account of the Addleton tragedy and the
singular contents of the ancient British barrow.  The famous
Smith-Mortimer succession case comes also within this
period, and so does the tracking and arrest of Huret, the
Boulevard assassin -- an exploit which won for Holmes an
autograph letter of thanks from the French President and the
Order of the Legion of Honour.  Each of these would furnish
a narrative, but on the whole I am of opinion that none of
them unite so many singular points of interest as the
episode of Yoxley Old Place, which includes not only the
lamentable death of young Willoughby Smith, but also those
subsequent developments which threw so curious a light upon
the causes of the crime.

It was a wild, tempestuous night towards the close of
November. Holmes and I sat together in silence all the
evening, he engaged with a powerful lens deciphering the
remains of the original inscription upon a palimpsest, I
deep in a recent treatise upon surgery.  Outside the wind
howled down Baker Street, while the rain beat fiercely
against the windows.  It was strange there in the very
depths of the town, with ten miles of man's handiwork on
every side of us, to feel the iron grip of Nature, and to be
conscious that to the huge elemental forces all London was
no more than the molehills that dot the fields.  I walked
to the window and looked out on the deserted street.  The
occasional lamps gleamed on the expanse of muddy road and
shining pavement.  A single cab was splashing its way from
the Oxford Street end.

"Well, Watson, it's as well we have not to turn out
to-night," said Holmes, laying aside his lens and rolling up
the palimpsest.  "I've done enough for one sitting.  It is
trying work for the eyes.  So far as I can make out it is
nothing more exciting than an Abbey's accounts dating from
the second half of the fifteenth century.  Halloa! halloa!
halloa!  What's this?"

Amid the droning of the wind there had come the stamping of
a horse's hoofs and the long grind of a wheel as it rasped
against the kerb.  The cab which I had seen had pulled up at
our door.

"What can he want?" I ejaculated, as a man stepped out of it.

"Want!  He wants us.  And we, my poor Watson, want overcoats
and cravats and goloshes, and every aid that man ever
invented to fight the weather.  Wait a bit, though!  There's
the cab off again!  There's hope yet.  He'd have kept it if
he had wanted us to come.  Run down, my dear fellow, and
open the door, for all virtuous folk have been long in bed."

When the light of the hall lamp fell upon our midnight
visitor I had no difficulty in recognising him.  It was
young Stanley Hopkins, a promising detective, in whose
career Holmes had several times shown a very practical
interest.

"Is he in?" he asked, eagerly.

"Come up, my dear sir," said Holmes's voice from above.
"I hope you have no designs upon us on such a night as this."

The detective mounted the stairs, and our lamp gleamed upon
his shining waterproof.  I helped him out of it while Holmes
knocked a blaze out of the logs in the grate.

"Now, my dear Hopkins, draw up and warm your toes," said he.
"Here's a cigar, and the doctor has a prescription
containing hot water and a lemon which is good medicine on a
night like this.  It must be something important which has
brought you out in such a gale."

"It is indeed, Mr. Holmes.  I've had a bustling afternoon,
I promise you.  Did you see anything of the Yoxley case in the
latest editions?"

"I've seen nothing later than the fifteenth century to-day."

"Well, it was only a paragraph, and all wrong at that, so
you have not missed anything.  I haven't let the grass grow
under my feet.  It's down in Kent, seven miles from Chatham
and three from the railway line.  I was wired for at
three-fifteen, reached Yoxley Old Place at five, conducted
my investigation, was back at Charing Cross by the last
train, and straight to you by cab."

"Which means, I suppose, that you are not quite clear about
your case?"

"It means that I can make neither head nor tail of it.
So far as I can see it is just as tangled a business as ever
I handled, and yet at first it seemed so simple that one
couldn't go wrong.  There's no motive, Mr. Holmes.  That's
what bothers me -- I can't put my hand on a motive.  Here's
a man dead -- there's no denying that -- but, so far as I
can see, no reason on earth why anyone should wish him harm."

Holmes lit his cigar and leaned back in his chair.

"Let us hear about it," said he.

"I've got my facts pretty clear," said Stanley Hopkins.
"All I want now is to know what they all mean.  The story,
so far as I can make it out, is like this.  Some years ago
this country house, Yoxley Old Place, was taken by an
elderly man, who gave the name of Professor Coram.  He was
an invalid, keeping his bed half the time, and the other
half hobbling round the house with a stick or being pushed
about the grounds by the gardener in a bath-chair.  He was
well liked by the few neighbours who called upon him, and he
has the reputation down there of being a very learned man.
His household used to consist of an elderly housekeeper,
Mrs. Marker, and of a maid, Susan Tarlton.  These have both
been with him since his arrival, and they seem to be women
of excellent character.  The Professor is writing a learned
book, and he found it necessary about a year ago to engage a
secretary.  The first two that he tried were not successes;
but the third, Mr. Willoughby Smith, a very young man
straight from the University, seems to have been just what
his employer wanted.  His work consisted in writing all the
morning to the Professor's dictation, and he usually spent
the evening in hunting up references and passages which bore
upon the next day's work.  This Willoughby Smith has nothing
against him either as a boy at Uppingham or as a young man
at Cambridge.  I have seen his testimonials, and from the
first he was a decent, quiet, hardworking fellow, with no
weak spot in him at all.  And yet this is the lad who has
met his death this morning in the Professor's study under
circumstances which can point only to murder."

The wind howled and screamed at the windows.  Holmes and I
drew closer to the fire while the young inspector slowly and
point by point developed his singular narrative.

"If you were to search all England," said he, "I don't
suppose you could find a household more self-contained or
free from outside influences.  Whole weeks would pass and
not one of them go past the garden gate.  The Professor was
buried in his work and existed for nothing else.  Young
Smith knew nobody in the neighbourhood, and lived very much
as his employer did.  The two women had nothing to take them
from the house.  Mortimer the gardener, who wheels the
bath-chair, is an Army pensioner -- an old Crimean man of
excellent character.  He does not live in the house, but in
a three-roomed cottage at the other end of the garden.
Those are the only people that you would find within the
grounds of Yoxley Old Place.  At the same time, the gate of
the garden is a hundred yards from the main London to
Chatham road.  It opens with a latch, and there is nothing
to prevent anyone from walking in.

"Now I will give you the evidence of Susan Tarlton, who is
the only person who can say anything positive about the
matter.  It was in the forenoon, between eleven and twelve.
She was engaged at the moment in hanging some curtains in
the upstairs front bedroom.  Professor Coram was still in
bed, for when the weather is bad he seldom rises before
midday.  The housekeeper was busied with some work in the
back of the house.  Willoughby Smith had been in his
bedroom, which he uses as a sitting-room; but the maid heard
him at that moment pass along the passage and descend to the
study immediately below her.  She did not see him, but she
says that she could not be mistaken in his quick, firm
tread.  She did not hear the study door close, but a minute
or so later there was a dreadful cry in the room below.  It
was a wild, hoarse scream, so strange and unnatural that it
might have come either from a man or a woman.  At the same
instant there was a heavy thud, which shook the old house,
and then all was silence.  The maid stood petrified for a
moment, and then, recovering her courage, she ran
downstairs.  The study door was shut, and she opened it.
Inside young Mr. Willoughby Smith was stretched upon the
floor.  At first she could see no injury, but as she tried
to raise him she saw that blood was pouring from the
underside of his neck.  It was pierced by a very small but
very deep wound, which had divided the carotid artery.  The
instrument with which the injury had been inflicted lay upon
the carpet beside him.  It was one of those small
sealing-wax knives to be found on old-fashioned
writing-tables, with an ivory handle and a stiff blade.
It was part of the fittings of the Professor's own desk.

"At first the maid thought that young Smith was already
dead, but on pouring some water from the carafe over his
forehead he opened his eyes for an instant.  'The
Professor,' he murmured -- 'it was she.'  The maid is
prepared to swear that those were the exact words.  He tried
desperately to say something else, and he held his right
hand up in the air.  Then he fell back dead.

"In the meantime the housekeeper had also arrived upon the
scene, but she was just too late to catch the young man's
dying words.  Leaving Susan with the body, she hurried to
the Professor's room.  He was sitting up in bed horribly
agitated, for he had heard enough to convince him that
something terrible had occurred.  Mrs. Marker is prepared to
swear that the Professor was still in his night-clothes,
and, indeed, it was impossible for him to dress without the
help of Mortimer, whose orders were to come at twelve
o'clock.  The Professor declares that he heard the distant
cry, but that he knows nothing more.  He can give no
explanation of the young man's last words, 'The Professor --
it was she,' but imagines that they were the outcome of
delirium.  He believes that Willoughby Smith had not an
enemy in the world, and can give no reason for the crime.
His first action was to send Mortimer the gardener for the
local police.  A little later the chief constable sent for me.
Nothing was moved before I got there, and strict orders were
given that no one should walk upon the paths leading to the
house.  It was a splendid chance of putting your theories
into practice, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.  There was really nothing
wanting."

"Except Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said my companion, with a
somewhat bitter smile.  "Well, let us hear about it.  What
sort of job did you make of it?"

"I must ask you first, Mr. Holmes, to glance at this rough
plan, which will give you a general idea of the position of
the Professor's study and the various points of the case.
It will help you in following my investigation."

He unfolded the rough chart, which I here reproduce, and he
laid it across Holmes's knee.  I rose, and, standing behind
Holmes, I studied it over his shoulder.

{GRAPHIC}

"It is very rough, of course, and it only deals with the
points which seem to me to be essential.  All the rest you
will see later for yourself.  Now, first of all, presuming
that the assassin entered the house, how did he or she come
in?  Undoubtedly by the garden path and the back door, from
which there is direct access to the study.  Any other way
would have been exceedingly complicated.  The escape must
have also been made along that line, for of the two other
exits from the room one was blocked by Susan as she ran
downstairs and the other leads straight to the Professor's
bedroom.  I therefore directed my attention at once to the
garden path, which was saturated with recent rain and would
certainly show any footmarks.

"My examination showed me that I was dealing with a cautious
and expert criminal.  No footmarks were to be found on the
path.  There could be no question, however, that someone had
passed along the grass border which lines the path, and that
he had done so in order to avoid leaving a track.  I could
not find anything in the nature of a distinct impression,
but the grass was trodden down and someone had undoubtedly
passed.  It could only have been the murderer, since neither
the gardener nor anyone else had been there that morning and
the rain had only begun during the night."

"One moment," said Holmes.  "Where does this path lead to?"

"To the road."

"How long is it?"

"A hundred yards or so."

"At the point where the path passes through the gate you
could surely pick up the tracks?"

"Unfortunately, the path was tiled at that point."

"Well, on the road itself?"

"No; it was all trodden into mire."

"Tut-tut!  Well, then, these tracks upon the grass, were
they coming or going?"

"It was impossible to say.  There was never any outline."

"A large foot or a small?"

"You could not distinguish."

Holmes gave an ejaculation of impatience.

"It has been pouring rain and blowing a hurricane ever
since," said he.  "It will be harder to read now than that
palimpsest.  Well, well, it can't be helped.  What did you
do, Hopkins, after you had made certain that you had made
certain of nothing?"

"I think I made certain of a good deal, Mr. Holmes.  I knew
that someone had entered the house cautiously from without.
I next examined the corridor.  It is lined with cocoanut
matting and had taken no impression of any kind.  This
brought me into the study itself.  It is a
scantily-furnished room.  The main article is a large
writing-table with a fixed bureau.  This bureau consists of
a double column of drawers with a central small cupboard
between them.  The drawers were open, the cupboard locked.
The drawers, it seems, were always open, and nothing of
value was kept in them.  There were some papers of
importance in the cupboard, but there were no signs that
this had been tampered with, and the Professor assures me
that nothing was missing.  It is certain that no robbery has
been committed.

"I come now to the body of the young man.  It was found near
the bureau, and just to the left of it, as marked upon that
chart.  The stab was on the right side of the neck and from
behind forwards, so that it is almost impossible that it
could have been self-inflicted."

"Unless he fell upon the knife," said Holmes.

"Exactly.  The idea crossed my mind.  But we found the knife
some feet away from the body, so that seems impossible.
Then, of course, there are the man's own dying words.  And,
finally, there was this very important piece of evidence
which was found clasped in the dead man's right hand."

From his pocket Stanley Hopkins drew a small paper packet.
He unfolded it and disclosed a golden pince-nez, with two
broken ends of black silk cord dangling from the end of it.
"Willoughby Smith had excellent sight," he added.  "There
can be no question that this was snatched from the face or
the person of the assassin."

Sherlock Holmes took the glasses into his hand and examined
them with the utmost attention and interest.  He held them
on his nose, endeavoured to read through them, went to the
window and stared up the street with them, looked at them
most minutely in the full light of the lamp, and finally,
with a chuckle, seated himself at the table and wrote a few
lines upon a sheet of paper, which he tossed across to
Stanley Hopkins.

"That's the best I can do for you," said he.  "It may prove
to be of some use."

The astonished detective read the note aloud.  It ran as
follows:--

"Wanted, a woman of good address, attired like a lady.
She has a remarkably thick nose, with eyes which are set
close upon either side of it.  She has a puckered forehead,
a peering expression, and probably rounded shoulders.  There
are indications that she has had recourse to an optician at
least twice during the last few months.  As her glasses are
of remarkable strength and as opticians are not very
numerous, there should be no difficulty in tracing her."

Holmes smiled at the astonishment of Hopkins, which must
have been reflected upon my features.

"Surely my deductions are simplicity itself," said he.  "It
would be difficult to name any articles which afford a finer
field for inference than a pair of glasses, especially so
remarkable a pair as these.  That they belong to a woman I
infer from their delicacy, and also, of course, from the
last words of the dying man.  As to her being a person of
refinement and well dressed, they are, as you perceive,
handsomely mounted in solid gold, and it is inconceivable
that anyone who wore such glasses could be slatternly in
other respects.  You will find that the clips are too wide
for your nose, showing that the lady's nose was very broad
at the base.  This sort of nose is usually a short and
coarse one, but there are a sufficient number of exceptions
to prevent me from being dogmatic or from insisting upon
this point in my description.  My own face is a narrow one,
and yet I find that I cannot get my eyes into the centre, or
near the centre, of these glasses.  Therefore the lady's
eyes are set very near to the sides of the nose.  You will
perceive, Watson, that the glasses are concave and of
unusual strength.  A lady whose vision has been so extremely
contracted all her life is sure to have the physical
characteristics of such vision, which are seen in the
forehead, the eyelids, and the shoulders."

"Yes," I said, "I can follow each of your arguments.  I
confess, however, that I am unable to understand how you
arrive at the double visit to the optician."

Holmes took the glasses into his hand.

"You will perceive," he said, "that the clips are lined with
tiny bands of cork to soften the pressure upon the nose.
One of these is discoloured and worn to some slight extent,
but the other is new.  Evidently one has fallen off and been
replaced.  I should judge that the older of them has not
been there more than a few months.  They exactly correspond,
so I gather that the lady went back to the same
establishment for the second."

"By George, it's marvellous!" cried Hopkins, in an ecstasy
of admiration.  "To think that I had all that evidence in my
hand and never knew it!  I had intended, however, to go the
round of the London opticians."

"Of course you would.  Meanwhile, have you anything more to
tell us about the case?"

"Nothing, Mr. Holmes.  I think that you know as much as I do
now -- probably more.  We have had inquiries made as to any
stranger seen on the country roads or at the railway
station.  We have heard of none.  What beats me is the utter
want of all object in the crime.  Not a ghost of a motive
can anyone suggest."

"Ah! there I am not in a position to help you.  But I
suppose you want us to come out to-morrow?"

"If it is not asking too much, Mr. Holmes.  There's a train
from Charing Cross to Chatham at six in the morning, and we
should be at Yoxley Old Place between eight and nine."

"Then we shall take it.  Your case has certainly some
features of great interest, and I shall be delighted to look
into it.  Well, it's nearly one, and we had best get a few
hours' sleep.  I dare say you can manage all right on the
sofa in front of the fire.  I'll light my spirit-lamp and
give you a cup of coffee before we start."


The gale had blown itself out next day, but it was a bitter
morning when we started upon our journey.  We saw the cold
winter sun rise over the dreary marshes of the Thames and
the long, sullen reaches of the river, which I shall ever
associate with our pursuit of the Andaman Islander in the
earlier days of our career.  After a long and weary journey
we alighted at a small station some miles from Chatham.
While a horse was being put into a trap at the local inn we
snatched a hurried breakfast, and so we were all ready for
business when we at last arrived at Yoxley Old Place.  A
constable met us at the garden gate.

"Well, Wilson, any news?"

"No, sir, nothing."

"No reports of any stranger seen?"

"No, sir.  Down at the station they are certain that no
stranger either came or went yesterday."

"Have you had inquiries made at inns and lodgings?"

"Yes, sir; there is no one that we cannot account for."

"Well, it's only a reasonable walk to Chatham.  Anyone might
stay there, or take a train without being observed.  This is
the garden path of which I spoke, Mr. Holmes.  I'll pledge
my word there was no mark on it yesterday."

"On which side were the marks on the grass?"

"This side, sir.  This narrow margin of grass between the
path and the flower-bed.  I can't see the traces now, but
they were clear to me then."

"Yes, yes; someone has passed along," said Holmes, stooping
over the grass border.  "Our lady must have picked her steps
carefully, must she not, since on the one side she would
leave a track on the path, and on the other an even clearer
one on the soft bed?"

"Yes, sir, she must have been a cool hand."

I saw an intent look pass over Holmes's face.

"You say that she must have come back this way?"

"Yes, sir; there is no other."

"On this strip of grass?"

"Certainly, Mr. Holmes."

"Hum!  It was a very remarkable performance -- very
remarkable. Well, I think we have exhausted the path.  Let
us go farther. This garden door is usually kept open, I
suppose?  Then this visitor had nothing to do but to walk
in.  The idea of murder was not in her mind, or she would
have provided herself with some sort of weapon, instead of
having to pick this knife off the writing-table.  She
advanced along this corridor, leaving no traces upon the
cocoanut matting.  Then she found herself in this study.
How long was she there?  We have no means of judging."

"Not more than a few minutes, sir.  I forgot to tell you
that Mrs. Marker, the housekeeper, had been in there tidying
not very long before -- about a quarter of an hour, she
says."

"Well, that gives us a limit.  Our lady enters this room and
what does she do?  She goes over to the writing-table.  What
for?  Not for anything in the drawers.  If there had been
anything worth her taking it would surely have been locked
up.  No; it was for something in that wooden bureau.
Halloa! what is that scratch upon the face of it?  Just hold
a match, Watson.  Why did you not tell me of this, Hopkins?"

The mark which he was examining began upon the brass work on
the right-hand side of the keyhole, and extended for about
four inches, where it had scratched the varnish from the
surface.

"I noticed it, Mr. Holmes.  But you'll always find scratches
round a keyhole."

"This is recent, quite recent.  See how the brass shines
where it is cut.  An old scratch would be the same colour as
the surface.  Look at it through my lens.  There's the
varnish, too, like earth on each side of a furrow.  Is Mrs.
Marker there?"

A sad-faced, elderly woman came into the room.

"Did you dust this bureau yesterday morning?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did you notice this scratch?"

"No, sir, I did not."

"I am sure you did not, for a duster would have swept away
these shreds of varnish.  Who has the key of this bureau?"

"The Professor keeps it on his watch-chain."

"Is it a simple key?"

"No, sir; it is a Chubb's key."

"Very good.  Mrs. Marker, you can go.  Now we are making a
little progress.  Our lady enters the room, advances to the
bureau, and either opens it or tries to do so.  While she is
thus engaged young Willoughby Smith enters the room.  In her
hurry to withdraw the key she makes this scratch upon the
door.  He seizes her, and she, snatching up the nearest
object, which happens to be this knife, strikes at him in
order to make him let go his hold.  The blow is a fatal one.
He falls and she escapes, either with or without the object
for which she has come.  Is Susan the maid there?  Could
anyone have got away through that door after the time that
you heard the cry, Susan?"

"No sir; it is impossible.  Before I got down the stair I'd
have seen anyone in the passage.  Besides, the door never
opened, for I would have heard it."

"That settles this exit.  Then no doubt the lady went out
the way she came.  I understand that this other passage
leads only to the Professor's room.  There is no exit that
way?"

"No, sir."

"We shall go down it and make the acquaintance of the
Professor.  Halloa, Hopkins! this is very important, very
important indeed.  The Professor's corridor is also lined
with cocoanut matting."

"Well, sir, what of that?"

"Don't you see any bearing upon the case?  Well, well, I
don't insist upon it.  No doubt I am wrong.  And yet it
seems to me to be suggestive.  Come with me and introduce
me."

We passed down the passage, which was of the same length as
that which led to the garden.  At the end was a short flight
of steps ending in a door.  Our guide knocked, and then
ushered us into the Professor's bedroom.

It was a very large chamber, lined with innumerable volumes,
which had overflowed from the shelves and lay in piles in
the corners, or were stacked all round at the base of the
cases.  The bed was in the centre of the room, and in it,
propped up with pillows, was the owner of the house.  I have
seldom seen a more remarkable-looking person.  It was a
gaunt, aquiline face which was turned towards us, with
piercing dark eyes, which lurked in deep hollows under
overhung and tufted brows.  His hair and beard were white,
save that the latter was curiously stained with yellow
around his mouth.  A cigarette glowed amid the tangle of
white hair, and the air of the room was fetid with stale
tobacco-smoke.  As he held out his hand to Holmes I
perceived that it also was stained yellow with nicotine.

"A smoker, Mr. Holmes?" said he, speaking well-chosen
English with a curious little mincing accent.  "Pray take a
cigarette.  And you, sir?  I can recommend them, for I have
them especially prepared by Ionides of Alexandria.  He sends
me a thousand at a time, and I grieve to say that I have to
arrange for a fresh supply every fortnight.  Bad, sir, very
bad, but an old man has few pleasures.  Tobacco and my work
-- that is all that is left to me."

Holmes had lit a cigarette, and was shooting little darting
glances all over the room.

"Tobacco and my work, but now only tobacco," the old man
exclaimed.  "Alas! what a fatal interruption!  Who could
have foreseen such a terrible catastrophe?  So estimable a
young man!  I assure you that after a few months' training
he was an admirable assistant.  What do you think of the
matter, Mr. Holmes?"

"I have not yet made up my mind."

"I shall indeed be indebted to you if you can throw a light
where all is so dark to us.  To a poor bookworm and invalid
like myself such a blow is paralyzing.  I seem to have lost
the faculty of thought.  But you are a man of action -- you
are a man of affairs.  It is part of the everyday routine of
your life.  You can preserve your balance in every
emergency.  We are fortunate indeed in having you at our
side."

Holmes was pacing up and down one side of the room whilst
the old Professor was talking.  I observed that he was
smoking with extraordinary rapidity.  It was evident that he
shared our host's liking for the fresh Alexandrian
cigarettes.

"Yes, sir, it is a crushing blow," said the old man.  "That
is my _magnum opus_ -- the pile of papers on the side table
yonder.  It is my analysis of the documents found in the
Coptic monasteries of Syria and Egypt, a work which will cut
deep at the very foundations of revealed religion.  With my
enfeebled health I do not know whether I shall ever be able
to complete it now that my assistant has been taken from me.
Dear me, Mr. Holmes; why, you are even a quicker smoker than
I am myself."

Holmes smiled.

"I am a connoisseur," said he, taking another cigarette from
the box -- his fourth -- and lighting it from the stub of
that which he had finished.  "I will not trouble you with
any lengthy cross-examination, Professor Coram, since I
gather that you were in bed at the time of the crime and
could know nothing about it.  I would only ask this.  What
do you imagine that this poor fellow meant by his last
words: 'The Professor -- it was she'?"

The Professor shook his head.

"Susan is a country girl," said he, "and you know the
incredible stupidity of that class.  I fancy that the poor
fellow murmured some incoherent delirious words, and that
she twisted them into this meaningless message."

"I see.  You have no explanation yourself of the tragedy?"

"Possibly an accident; possibly -- I only breathe it among
ourselves -- a suicide.  Young men have their hidden
troubles -- some affair of the heart, perhaps, which we have
never known.  It is a more probable supposition than
murder."

"But the eye-glasses?"

"Ah!  I am only a student -- a man of dreams.  I cannot
explain the practical things of life.  But still, we are
aware, my friend, that love-gages may take strange shapes.
By all means take another cigarette.  It is a pleasure to
see anyone appreciate them so.  A fan, a glove, glasses --
who knows what article may be carried as a token or
treasured when a man puts an end to his life?  This
gentleman speaks of footsteps in the grass; but, after all,
it is easy to be mistaken on such a point.  As to the knife,
it might well be thrown far from the unfortunate man as he
fell.  It is possible that I speak as a child, but to me it
seems that Willoughby Smith has met his fate by his own
hand."

Holmes seemed struck by the theory thus put forward, and he
continued to walk up and down for some time, lost in thought
and consuming cigarette after cigarette.

"Tell me, Professor Coram," he said, at last, "what is in
that cupboard in the bureau?"

"Nothing that would help a thief.  Family papers, letters
from my poor wife, diplomas of Universities which have done
me honour.  Here is the key.  You can look for yourself."

Holmes picked up the key and looked at it for an instant;
then he handed it back.

"No; I hardly think that it would help me," said he.  "I
should prefer to go quietly down to your garden and turn the
whole matter over in my head.  There is something to be said
for the theory of suicide which you have put forward.  We
must apologize for having intruded upon you, Professor
Coram, and I promise that we won't disturb you until after
lunch.  At two o'clock we will come again and report to you
anything which may have happened in the interval."

Holmes was curiously distrait, and we walked up and down the
garden path for some time in silence.

"Have you a clue?" I asked, at last.

"It depends upon those cigarettes that I smoked," said he.
"It is possible that I am utterly mistaken.  The cigarettes
will show me."

"My dear Holmes," I exclaimed, "how on earth ----"

"Well, well, you may see for yourself.  If not, there's no
harm done.  Of course, we always have the optician clue to
fall back upon, but I take a short cut when I can get it.
Ah, here is the good Mrs. Marker!  Let us enjoy five minutes
of instructive conversation with her."

I may have remarked before that Holmes had, when he liked, a
peculiarly ingratiating way with women, and that he very
readily established terms of confidence with them.  In half
the time which he had named he had captured the
housekeeper's goodwill, and was chatting with her as if he
had known her for years.

"Yes, Mr. Holmes, it is as you say, sir.  He does smoke
something terrible.  All day and sometimes all night, sir.
I've seen that room of a morning -- well, sir, you'd have
thought it was a London fog.  Poor young Mr. Smith, he was a
smoker also, but not as bad as the Professor.  His health --
well, I don't know that it's better nor worse for the
smoking."

"Ah!" said Holmes, "but it kills the appetite."

"Well, I don't know about that, sir."

"I suppose the Professor eats hardly anything?"

"Well, he is variable.  I'll say that for him."

"I'll wager he took no breakfast this morning, and won't
face his lunch after all the cigarettes I saw him consume."

"Well, you're out there, sir, as it happens, for he ate a
remarkable big breakfast this morning.  I don't know when
I've known him make a better one, and he's ordered a good
dish of cutlets for his lunch.  I'm surprised myself, for
since I came into that room yesterday and saw young Mr.
Smith lying there on the floor I couldn't bear to look at
food.  Well, it takes all sorts to make a world, and the
Professor hasn't let it take his appetite away."

We loitered the morning away in the garden.  Stanley Hopkins
had gone down to the village to look into some rumours of a
strange woman who had been seen by some children on the
Chatham Road the previous morning.  As to my friend, all his
usual energy seemed to have deserted him.  I had never known
him handle a case in such a half-hearted fashion.  Even the
news brought back by Hopkins that he had found the children
and that they had undoubtedly seen a woman exactly
corresponding with Holmes's description, and wearing either
spectacles or eye-glasses, failed to rouse any sign of keen
interest.  He was more attentive when Susan, who waited upon
us at lunch, volunteered the information that she believed
Mr. Smith had been out for a walk yesterday morning, and
that he had only returned half an hour before the tragedy
occurred.  I could not myself see the bearing of this
incident, but I clearly perceived that Holmes was weaving it
into the general scheme which he had formed in his brain.
Suddenly he sprang from his chair and glanced at his watch.
"Two o'clock, gentlemen," said he.  "We must go up and have
it out with our friend the Professor."

The old man had just finished his lunch, and certainly his
empty dish bore evidence to the good appetite with which his
housekeeper had credited him.  He was, indeed, a weird
figure as he turned his white mane and his glowing eyes
towards us.  The eternal cigarette smouldered in his mouth.
He had been dressed and was seated in an arm-chair by the
fire.

"Well, Mr. Holmes, have you solved this mystery yet?"  He
shoved the large tin of cigarettes which stood on a table
beside him towards my companion.  Holmes stretched out his
hand at the same moment, and between them they tipped the
box over the edge.  For a minute or two we were all on our
knees retrieving stray cigarettes from impossible places.
When we rose again I observed that Holmes's eyes were
shining and his cheeks tinged with colour.  Only at a crisis
have I seen those battle-signals flying.

"Yes," said he, "I have solved it."

Stanley Hopkins and I stared in amazement.  Something like a
sneer quivered over the gaunt features of the old Professor.

"Indeed!  In the garden?"

"No, here."

"Here!  When?"

"This instant."

"You are surely joking, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.  You compel me
to tell you that this is too serious a matter to be treated
in such a fashion."

"I have forged and tested every link of my chain, Professor
Coram, and I am sure that it is sound.  What your motives
are or what exact part you play in this strange business I
am not yet able to say.  In a few minutes I shall probably
hear it from your own lips.  Meanwhile I will reconstruct
what is past for your benefit, so that you may know the
information which I still require.

"A lady yesterday entered your study.  She came with the
intention of possessing herself of certain documents which
were in your bureau.  She had a key of her own.  I have had
an opportunity of examining yours, and I do not find that
slight discoloration which the scratch made upon the varnish
would have produced.  You were not an accessory, therefore,
and she came, so far as I can read the evidence, without
your knowledge to rob you."

The Professor blew a cloud from his lips.  "This is most
interesting and instructive," said he.  "Have you no more to
add?  Surely, having traced this lady so far, you can also
say what has become of her."

"I will endeavour to do so.  In the first place she was
seized by your secretary, and stabbed him in order to
escape.  This catastrophe I am inclined to regard as an
unhappy accident, for I am convinced that the lady had no
intention of inflicting so grievous an injury.  An assassin
does not come unarmed.  Horrified by what she had done she
rushed wildly away from the scene of the tragedy.
Unfortunately for her she had lost her glasses in the
scuffle, and as she was extremely short-sighted she was
really helpless without them.  She ran down a corridor,
which she imagined to be that by which she had come -- both
were lined with cocoanut matting -- and it was only when it
was too late that she understood that she had taken the
wrong passage and that her retreat was cut off behind her.
What was she to do?  She could not go back.  She could not
remain where she was.  She must go on.  She went on.  She
mounted a stair, pushed open a door, and found herself in
your room."

The old man sat with his mouth open staring wildly at
Holmes.  Amazement and fear were stamped upon his expressive
features.  Now, with an effort, he shrugged his shoulders
and burst into insincere laughter.

"All very fine, Mr. Holmes," said he.  "But there is one
little flaw in your splendid theory.  I was myself in my
room, and I never left it during the day."

"I am aware of that, Professor Coram."

"And you mean to say that I could lie upon that bed and not
be aware that a woman had entered my room?"

"I never said so.  You _were_ aware of it.  You spoke with her.
You recognised her.  You aided her to escape."

Again the Professor burst into high-keyed laughter.
He had risen to his feet and his eyes glowed like embers.

"You are mad!" he cried.  "You are talking insanely.
I helped her to escape?  Where is she now?"

"She is there," said Holmes, and he pointed to a high
bookcase in the corner of the room.

I saw the old man throw up his arms, a terrible convulsion
passed over his grim face, and he fell back in his chair.
At the same instant the bookcase at which Holmes pointed
swung round upon a hinge, and a woman rushed out into the
room.  "You are right!" she cried, in a strange foreign
voice.  "You are right!  I am here."

She was brown with the dust and draped with the cobwebs
which had come from the walls of her hiding-place.  Her
face, too, was streaked with grime, and at the best she
could never have been handsome, for she had the exact
physical characteristics which Holmes had divined, with, in
addition, a long and obstinate chin.  What with her natural
blindness, and what with the change from dark to light, she
stood as one dazed, blinking about her to see where and who
we were.  And yet, in spite of all these disadvantages,
there was a certain nobility in the woman's bearing, a
gallantry in the defiant chin and in the upraised head,
which compelled something of respect and admiration.
Stanley Hopkins had laid his hand upon her arm and claimed
her as his prisoner, but she waved him aside gently, and yet
with an overmastering dignity which compelled obedience.
The old man lay back in his chair, with a twitching face,
and stared at her with brooding eyes.

"Yes, sir, I am your prisoner," she said.  "From where I
stood I could hear everything, and I know that you have
learned the truth.  I confess it all.  It was I who killed
the young man.  But you are right, you who say it was an
accident.  I did not even know that it was a knife which I
held in my hand, for in my despair I snatched anything from
the table and struck at him to make him let me go.  It is
the truth that I tell."

"Madam," said Holmes, "I am sure that it is the truth.  I
fear that you are far from well."

She had turned a dreadful colour, the more ghastly under the
dark dust-streaks upon her face.  She seated herself on the
side of the bed; then she resumed.

"I have only a little time here," she said, "but I would have
you to know the whole truth.  I am this man's wife.  He is not
an Englishman.  He is a Russian.  His name I will not tell."

For the first time the old man stirred.  "God bless you,
Anna!" he cried.  "God bless you!"

She cast a look of the deepest disdain in his direction.
"Why should you cling so hard to that wretched life of
yours, Sergius?" said she.  "It has done harm to many and
good to none -- not even to yourself.  However, it is not
for me to cause the frail thread to be snapped before God's
time.  I have enough already upon my soul since I crossed
the threshold of this cursed house.  But I must speak or I
shall be too late.

"I have said, gentlemen, that I am this man's wife.
He was fifty and I a foolish girl of twenty when we married.
It was in a city of Russia, a University -- I will not name
the place."

"God bless you, Anna!" murmured the old man again.

"We were reformers -- revolutionists -- Nihilists, you
understand. He and I and many more.  Then there came a time
of trouble, a police officer was killed, many were arrested,
evidence was wanted, and in order to save his own life and
to earn a great reward my husband betrayed his own wife and
his companions.  Yes, we were all arrested upon his
confession.  Some of us found our way to the gallows and
some to Siberia.  I was among these last, but my term was
not for life.  My husband came to England with his
ill-gotten gains, and has lived in quiet ever since, knowing
well that if the Brotherhood knew where he was not a week
would pass before justice would be done."

The old man reached out a trembling hand and helped himself
to a cigarette.  "I am in your hands, Anna," said he.  "You
were always good to me."

"I have not yet told you the height of his villainy," said
she.  "Among our comrades of the Order there was one who was
the friend of my heart.  He was noble, unselfish, loving --
all that my husband was not.  He hated violence.  We were
all guilty -- if that is guilt -- but he was not.  He wrote
for ever dissuading us from such a course.  These letters
would have saved him.  So would my diary, in which from day
to day I had entered both my feelings towards him and the
view which each of us had taken.  My husband found and kept
both diary and letters.  He hid them, and he tried hard to
swear away the young man's life.  In this he failed, but
Alexis was sent a convict to Siberia, where now, at this
moment, he works in a salt mine.  Think of that, you
villain, you villain; now, now, at this very moment, Alexis,
a man whose name you are not worthy to speak, works and
lives like a slave, and yet I have your life in my hands and
I let you go."

"You were always a noble woman, Anna," said the old man,
puffing at his cigarette.

She had risen, but she fell back again with a little cry of
pain.

"I must finish," she said.  "When my term was over I set
myself to get the diary and letters which, if sent to the
Russian Government, would procure my friend's release.  I
knew that my husband had come to England.  After months of
searching I discovered where he was.  I knew that he still
had the diary, for when I was in Siberia I had a letter from
him once reproaching me and quoting some passages from its
pages.  Yet I was sure that with his revengeful nature he
would never give it to me of his own free will.  I must get
it for myself.  With this object I engaged an agent from a
private detective firm, who entered my husband's house as
secretary -- it was your second secretary, Sergius, the one
who left you so hurriedly.  He found that papers were kept
in the cupboard, and he got an impression of the key.  He
would not go farther.  He furnished me with a plan of the
house, and he told me that in the forenoon the study was
always empty, as the secretary was employed up here.  So at
last I took my courage in both hands and I came down to get
the papers for myself.  I succeeded, but at what a cost!

"I had just taken the papers and was locking the cupboard
when the young man seized me.  I had seen him already that
morning.  He had met me in the road and I had asked him to
tell me where Professor Coram lived, not knowing that he was
in his employ."

"Exactly! exactly!" said Holmes.  "The secretary came back
and told his employer of the woman he had met.  Then in his
last breath he tried to send a message that it was she --
the she whom he had just discussed with him."

"You must let me speak," said the woman, in an imperative
voice, and her face contracted as if in pain.  "When he had
fallen I rushed from the room, chose the wrong door, and
found myself in my husband's room.  He spoke of giving me
up.  I showed him that if he did so his life was in my
hands.  If he gave me to the law I could give him to the
Brotherhood.  It was not that I wished to live for my own
sake, but it was that I desired to accomplish my purpose.
He knew that I would do what I said -- that his own fate was
involved in mine.  For that reason and for no other he
shielded me.  He thrust me into that dark hiding-place, a
relic of old days, known only to himself.  He took his meals
in his own room, and so was able to give me part of his
food.  It was agreed that when the police left the house I
should slip away by night and come back no more.  But in
some way you have read our plans."  She tore from the bosom
of her dress a small packet.  "These are my last words,"
said she; "here is the packet which will save Alexis.
I confide it to your honour and to your love of justice.
Take it!  You will deliver it at the Russian Embassy.
Now I have done my duty, and ----"

"Stop her!" cried Holmes.  He had bounded across the room
and had wrenched a small phial from her hand.

"Too late!" she said, sinking back on the bed.  "Too late!
I took the poison before I left my hiding-place.  My head swims!
I am going!  I charge you, sir, to remember the packet."


"A simple case, and yet in some ways an instructive one,"
Holmes remarked, as we travelled back to town.  "It hinged
from the outset upon the pince-nez.  But for the fortunate
chance of the dying man having seized these I am not sure
that we could ever have reached our solution.  It was clear
to me from the strength of the glasses that the wearer must
have been very blind and helpless when deprived of them.
When you asked me to believe that she walked along a narrow
strip of grass without once making a false step I remarked,
as you may remember, that it was a noteworthy performance.
In my mind I set it down as an impossible performance, save
in the unlikely case that she had a second pair of glasses.
I was forced, therefore, to seriously consider the
hypothesis that she had remained within the house.  On
perceiving the similarity of the two corridors it became
clear that she might very easily have made such a mistake,
and in that case it was evident that she must have entered
the Professor's room.  I was keenly on the alert, therefore,
for whatever would bear out this supposition, and I examined
the room narrowly for anything in the shape of a
hiding-place.  The carpet seemed continuous and firmly
nailed, so I dismissed the idea of a trap-door.  There might
well be a recess behind the books.  As you are aware, such
devices are common in old libraries.  I observed that books
were piled on the floor at all other points, but that one
bookcase was left clear.  This, then, might be the door.  I
could see no marks to guide me, but the carpet was of a dun
colour, which lends itself very well to examination.  I
therefore smoked a great number of those excellent
cigarettes, and I dropped the ash all over the space in
front of the suspected bookcase.  It was a simple trick, but
exceedingly effective.  I then went downstairs and I
ascertained, in your presence, Watson, without your quite
perceiving the drift of my remarks, that Professor Coram's
consumption of food had increased -- as one would expect
when he is supplying a second person.  We then ascended to
the room again, when, by upsetting the cigarette-box, I
obtained a very excellent view of the floor, and was able to
see quite clearly, from the traces upon the cigarette ash,
that the prisoner had, in our absence, come out from her
retreat.  Well, Hopkins, here we are at Charing Cross, and I
congratulate you on having brought your case to a successful
conclusion.  You are going to head-quarters, no doubt. I think,
Watson, you and I will drive together to the Russian Embassy."

{------------------------------------}
{---------- End of Text -------------}
{------------------------------------}




{MISS, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 4th proofing}
{The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter, Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 28 (Aug. 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


XI. -- The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter.

WE were fairly accustomed to receive weird telegrams
at Baker Street, but I have a particular recollection
of one which reached us on a gloomy February morning
some seven or eight years ago and gave Mr. Sherlock
Holmes a puzzled quarter of an hour.  It was addressed
to him, and ran thus:--

"Please await me.  Terrible misfortune.  Right wing
three-quarter missing; indispensable to morrow. -- OVERTON."

"Strand post-mark and dispatched ten-thirty-six," said
Holmes, reading it over and over.  "Mr. Overton was
evidently considerably excited when he sent it, and
somewhat incoherent in consequence.  Well, well, he
will be here, I dare say, by the time I have looked
through the _Times_, and then we shall know all about
it.  Even the most insignificant problem would be
welcome in these stagnant days."

Things had indeed been very slow with us, and I had
learned to dread such periods of inaction, for I knew
by experience that my companion's brain was so
abnormally active that it was dangerous to leave it
without material upon which to work.  For years I had
gradually weaned him from that drug mania which had
threatened once to check his remarkable career.  Now I
knew that under ordinary conditions he no longer
craved for this artificial stimulus, but I was well
aware that the fiend was not dead, but sleeping; and I
have known that the sleep was a light one and the
waking near when in periods of idleness I have seen
the drawn look upon Holmes's ascetic face, and the
brooding of his deep-set and inscrutable eyes.
Therefore I blessed this Mr. Overton, whoever he might
be, since he had come with his enigmatic message to
break that dangerous calm which brought more peril to
my friend than all the storms of his tempestuous life.

As we had expected, the telegram was soon followed by
its sender, and the card of Mr. Cyril Overton, of
Trinity College, Cambridge, announced the arrival of
an enormous young man, sixteen stone of solid bone and
muscle, who spanned the doorway with his broad
shoulders and looked from one of us to the other with
a comely face which was haggard with anxiety.

"Mr. Sherlock Holmes?"

My companion bowed.

"I've been down to Scotland Yard, Mr. Holmes.  I saw
Inspector Stanley Hopkins.  He advised me to come to
you.  He said the case, so far as he could see, was
more in your line than in that of the regular police."

"Pray sit down and tell me what is the matter."

"It's awful, Mr. Holmes, simply awful!  I wonder my
hair isn't grey.  Godfrey Staunton -- you've heard of
him, of course?  He's simply the hinge that the whole
team turns on.  I'd rather spare two from the pack and
have Godfrey for my three-quarter line.  Whether it's
passing, or tackling, or dribbling, there's no one to
touch him; and then, he's got the head and can hold us
all together.  What am I to do?  That's what I ask
you, Mr.  Holmes.  There's Moorhouse, first reserve,
but he is trained as a half, and he always edges right
in on to the scrum instead of keeping out on the
touch-line.  He's a fine place-kick, it's true, but,
then, he has no judgment, and he can't sprint for
nuts.  Why, Morton or Johnson, the Oxford fliers,
could romp round him.  Stevenson is fast enough, but
he couldn't drop from the twenty-five line, and a
three-quarter who can't either punt or drop isn't
worth a place for pace alone.  No, Mr. Holmes, we are
done unless you can help me to find Godfrey Staunton."

My friend had listened with amused surprise to this
long speech, which was poured forth with extraordinary
vigour and earnestness, every point being driven home
by the slapping of a brawny hand upon the speaker's
knee.  When our visitor was silent Holmes stretched
out his hand and took down letter "S" of his
commonplace book.  For once he dug in vain into that
mine of varied information.

"There is Arthur H. Staunton, the rising young
forger," said he, "and there was Henry Staunton, whom
I helped to hang, but Godfrey Staunton is a new name
to me."

It was our visitor's turn to look surprised.

"Why, Mr. Holmes, I thought you knew things," said he.
"I suppose, then, if you have never heard of Godfrey
Staunton you don't know Cyril Overton either?"

Holmes shook his head good-humouredly.

"Great Scot!" cried the athlete.  "Why, I was first
reserve for England against Wales, and I've skippered
the 'Varsity {1} all this year.  But that's nothing!
I didn't think there was a soul in England who didn't
know Godfrey Staunton, the crack three-quarter, Cambridge,
Blackheath, and five Internationals.  Good Lord!  Mr. Holmes,
where _have_ you lived?"

Holmes laughed at the young giant's naive astonishment.

"You live in a different world to me, Mr. Overton, a
sweeter and healthier one.  My ramifications stretch
out into many sections of society, but never, I am
happy to say, into amateur sport, which is the best
and soundest thing in England.  However, your
unexpected visit this morning shows me that even in
that world of fresh air and fair play there may be
work for me to do; so now, my good sir, I beg you to
sit down and to tell me slowly and quietly exactly
what it is that has occurred, and how you desire that
I should help you."

Young Overton's face assumed the bothered look of the
man who is more accustomed to using his muscles than
his wits; but by degrees, with many repetitions and
obscurities which I may omit from his narrative, he
laid his strange story before us.


"It's this way, Mr. Holmes.  As I have said, I am the
skipper of the Rugger team of Cambridge 'Varsity, and
Godfrey Staunton is my best man.  To-morrow we play
Oxford.  Yesterday we all came up and we settled at
Bentley's private hotel.  At ten o'clock I went round
and saw that all the fellows had gone to roost, for I
believe in strict training and plenty of sleep to keep
a team fit.  I had a word or two with Godfrey before
he turned in.  He seemed to me to be pale and
bothered.  I asked him what was the matter.  He said
he was all right -- just a touch of headache.  I bade
him good-night and left him.  Half an hour later the
porter tells me that a rough-looking man with a beard
called with a note for Godfrey.  He had not gone to
bed and the note was taken to his room.  Godfrey read
it and fell back in a chair as if he had been
pole-axed.  The porter was so scared that he was going
to fetch me, but Godfrey stopped him, had a drink of
water, and pulled himself together.  Then he went
downstairs, said a few words to the man who was
waiting in the hall, and the two of them went off
together.  The last that the porter saw of them, they
were almost running down the street in the direction
of the Strand.  This morning Godfrey's room was empty,
his bed had never been slept in, and his things were
all just as I had seen them the night before.  He had
gone off at a moment's notice with this stranger, and
no word has come from him since.  I don't believe he
will ever come back.  He was a sportsman, was Godfrey,
down to his marrow, and he wouldn't have stopped his
training and let in his skipper if it were not for
some cause that was too strong for him.  No; I feel as
if he were gone for good and we should never see him
again."


Sherlock Holmes listened with the deepest attention to
this singular narrative.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"I wired to Cambridge to learn if anything had been
heard of him there.  I have had an answer.  No one has
seen him."

"Could he have got back to Cambridge?"

"Yes, there is a late train -- quarter-past eleven."

"But so far as you can ascertain he did not take it?"

"No, he has not been seen."

"What did you do next?"

"I wired to Lord Mount-James."

"Why to Lord Mount-James?"

"Godfrey is an orphan, and Lord Mount-James is his
nearest relative -- his uncle, I believe."

"Indeed.  This throws new light upon the matter.
Lord Mount-James is one of the richest men in England."

"So I've heard Godfrey say."

"And your friend was closely related?"

"Yes, he was his heir, and the old boy is nearly
eighty -- cram full of gout, too.  They say he could
chalk his billiard-cue with his knuckles.  He never
allowed Godfrey a shilling in his life, for he is an
absolute miser, but it will all come to him right enough."

"Have you heard from Lord Mount-James?"

"No."

"What motive could your friend have in going to Lord
Mount-James?"

"Well, something was worrying him the night before,
and if it was to do with money it is possible that he
would make for his nearest relative who had so much of
it, though from all I have heard he would not have
much chance of getting it.  Godfrey was not fond of
the old man.  He would not go if he could help it."

"Well, we can soon determine that.  If your friend was
going to his relative, Lord Mount-James, you have then
to explain the visit of this rough-looking fellow at
so late an hour, and the agitation that was caused by
his coming."

Cyril Overton pressed his hands to his head.  "I can
make nothing of it," said he.

"Well, well, I have a clear day, and I shall be happy
to look into the matter," said Holmes.  "I should
strongly recommend you to make your preparations for
your match without reference to this young gentleman.
It must, as you say, have been an overpowering
necessity which tore him away in such a fashion, and
the same necessity is likely to hold him away.  Let us
step round together to this hotel, and see if the
porter can throw any fresh light upon the matter."

Sherlock Holmes was a past-master in the art of
putting a humble witness at his ease, and very soon,
in the privacy of Godfrey Staunton's abandoned room,
he had extracted all that the porter had to tell.
The visitor of the night before was not a gentleman,
neither was he a working man.  He was simply what the
porter described as a "medium-looking chap"; a man of
fifty, beard grizzled, pale face, quietly dressed.
He seemed himself to be agitated.  The porter had
observed his hand trembling when he had held out the
note.  Godfrey Staunton had crammed the note into his
pocket.  Staunton had not shaken hands with the man
in the hall.  They had exchanged a few sentences,
of which the porter had only distinguished the one word
"time."  Then they had hurried off in the manner
described.  It was just half-past ten by the hall clock.

"Let me see," said Holmes, seating himself on Staunton's bed.
"You are the day porter, are you not?"

"Yes, sir; I go off duty at eleven."

"The night porter saw nothing, I suppose?"

"No, sir; one theatre party came in late.  No one else."

"Were you on duty all day yesterday?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did you take any messages to Mr. Staunton?"

"Yes, sir; one telegram."

"Ah! that's interesting.  What o'clock was this?"

"About six."

"Where was Mr. Staunton when he received it?"

"Here in his room."

"Were you present when he opened it?"

"Yes, sir; I waited to see if there was an answer."

"Well, was there?"

"Yes, sir.  He wrote an answer."

"Did you take it?"

"No; he took it himself."

"But he wrote it in your presence?"

"Yes, sir.  I was standing by the door, and he with
his back turned at that table.  When he had written it
he said, 'All right, porter, I will take this myself.'"

"What did he write it with?"

"A pen, sir."

"Was the telegraphic form one of these on the table?"

"Yes, sir; it was the top one."

Holmes rose.  Taking the forms he carried them over to
the window and carefully examined that which was uppermost.

"It is a pity he did not write in pencil," said he,
throwing them down again with a shrug of
disappointment.  "As you have no doubt frequently
observed, Watson, the impression usually goes through
-- a fact which has dissolved many a happy marriage.
However, I can find no trace here.  I rejoice,
however, to perceive that he wrote with a
broad-pointed quill pen, and I can hardly doubt that
we will find some impression upon this blotting-pad.
Ah, yes, surely this is the very thing!"

He tore off a strip of the blotting-paper and turned
towards us the following hieroglyphic:--

{GRAPHIC}

Cyril Overton was much excited.  "Hold it to the
glass!" he cried.

"That is unnecessary," said Holmes.  "The paper is thin,
and the reverse will give the message.  Here it is."
He turned it over and we read:--

{GRAPHIC}

"So that is the tail end of the telegram which Godfrey
Staunton dispatched within a few hours of his
disappearance.  There are at least six words of the
message which have escaped us; but what remains --
'Stand by us for God's sake!' -- proves that this
young man saw a formidable danger which approached
him, and from which someone else could protect him.
'_Us_,' mark you!  Another person was involved.  Who
should it be but the pale-faced, bearded man, who
seemed himself in so nervous a state?  What, then, is
the connection between Godfrey Staunton and the
bearded man?  And what is the third source from which
each of them sought for help against pressing danger?
Our inquiry has already narrowed down to that."

"We have only to find to whom that telegram is
addressed," I suggested.

"Exactly, my dear Watson.  Your reflection, though
profound, had already crossed my mind.  But I dare say
it may have come to your notice that if you walk into
a post-office and demand to see the counterfoil of
another man's message there may be some disinclination
on the part of the officials to oblige you.  There is
so much red tape in these matters!  However, I have no
doubt that with a little delicacy and finesse the end
may be attained.  Meanwhile, I should like in your
presence, Mr. Overton, to go through these papers
which have been left upon the table."

There were a number of letters, bills, and note-books,
which Holmes turned over and examined with quick,
nervous fingers and darting, penetrating eyes.
"Nothing here," he said, at last.  "By the way, I
suppose your friend was a healthy young fellow --
nothing amiss with him?"

"Sound as a bell."

"Have you ever known him ill?"

"Not a day.  He has been laid up with a hack, and once
he slipped his knee-cap, but that was nothing."

"Perhaps he was not so strong as you suppose.
I should think he may have had some secret trouble.
With your assent I will put one or two of these papers
in my pocket, in case they should bear upon our future
inquiry."

"One moment! one moment!" cried a querulous voice, and
we looked up to find a queer little old man, jerking
and twitching in the doorway.  He was dressed in rusty
black, with a very broad brimmed top-hat and a loose
white necktie -- the whole effect being that of a very
rustic parson or of an undertaker's mute.  Yet, in
spite of his shabby and  even absurd appearance, his
voice had a sharp crackle, and his manner a quick
intensity which commanded attention.

"Who are you, sir, and by what right do you touch this
gentleman's papers?" he asked.

"I am a private detective, and I am endeavouring to
explain his disappearance."

"Oh, you are, are you?  And who instructed you, eh?"

"This gentleman, Mr. Staunton's friend, was referred
to me by Scotland Yard."

"Who are you, sir?"

"I am Cyril Overton."

"Then it is you who sent me a telegram.  My name is
Lord Mount-James.  I came round as quickly as the
Bayswater 'bus would bring me.  So you have instructed
a detective?"

"Yes, sir."

"And are you prepared to meet the cost?"

"I have no doubt, sir, that my friend Godfrey, when we
find him, will be prepared to do that."

"But if he is never found, eh?  Answer me that!"

"In that case no doubt his family ----"

"Nothing of the sort, sir!" screamed the little man.
"Don't look to me for a penny -- not a penny!  You
understand that, Mr. Detective!  I am all the family
that this young man has got, and I tell you that I am
not responsible.  If he has any expectations it is due
to the fact that I have never wasted money, and I do
not propose to begin to do so now.  As to those papers
with which you are making so free, I may tell you that
in case there should be anything of any value among
them you will be held strictly to account for what you
do with them."

"Very good, sir," said Sherlock Holmes.  "May I ask in
the meanwhile whether you have yourself any theory to
account for this young man's disappearance?"

"No, sir, I have not.  He is big enough and old enough
to look after himself, and if he is so foolish as to
lose himself I entirely refuse to accept the
responsibility of hunting for him."

"I quite understand your position," said Holmes, with
a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.  "Perhaps you don't
quite understand mine.  Godfrey Staunton appears to
have been a poor man.  If he has been kidnapped it
could not have been for anything which he himself
possesses.  The fame of your wealth has gone abroad,
Lord Mount-James, and it is entirely possible that a
gang of thieves have secured your nephew in order to
gain from him some information as to your house, your
habits, and your treasure."

The face of our unpleasant little visitor turned as
white as his neckcloth.

"Heavens, sir, what an idea!  I never thought of such
villainy!  What inhuman rogues there are in the world!
But Godfrey is a fine lad -- a staunch lad.  Nothing
would induce him to give his old uncle away.  I'll
have the plate moved over to the bank this evening.
In the meantime spare no pains, Mr. Detective!  I beg
you to leave no stone unturned to bring him safely
back.  As to money, well, so far as a fiver, or even a
tenner, goes, you can always look to me."

Even in his chastened frame of mind the noble miser
could give us no information which could help us, for
he knew little of the private life of his nephew.  Our
only clue lay in the truncated telegram, and with a
copy of this in his hand Holmes set forth to find a
second link for his chain.  We had shaken off Lord
Mount-James, and Overton had gone to consult with the
other members of his team over the misfortune which
had befallen them.

There was a telegraph-office at a short distance from
the hotel.  We halted outside it.

"It's worth trying, Watson," said Holmes.  "Of course,
with a warrant we could demand to see the
counterfoils, but we have not reached that stage yet.
I don't suppose they remember faces in so busy a
place.  Let us venture it."

"I am sorry to trouble you," said he, in his blandest
manner, to the young woman behind the grating; "there
is some small mistake about a telegram I sent
yesterday.  I have had no answer, and I very much fear
that I must have omitted to put my name at the end.
Could you tell me if this was so?"

The young woman turned over a sheaf of counterfoils.

"What o'clock was it?" she asked.

"A little after six."

"Whom was it to?"

Holmes put his finger to his lips and glanced at me.
"The last words in it were 'for God's sake,'" he
whispered, confidentially; "I am very anxious at
getting no answer."

The young woman separated one of the forms.

"This is it.  There is no name," said she, smoothing
it out upon the counter.

"Then that, of course, accounts for my getting no
answer," said Holmes.  "Dear me, how very stupid of
me, to be sure!  Good morning, miss, and many thanks
for having relieved my mind." He chuckled and rubbed
his hands when we found ourselves in the street once
more.

"Well?" I asked.

"We progress, my dear Watson, we progress.  I had
seven different schemes for getting a glimpse of that
telegram, but I could hardly hope to succeed the very
first time."

"And what have you gained?"

"A starting-point for our investigation."  He hailed a
cab.  "King's Cross Station," said he.

"We have a journey, then?"

"Yes; I think we must run down to Cambridge together.
All the indications seem to me to point in that
direction."

"Tell me," I asked, as we rattled up Gray's Inn Road,
"have you any suspicion yet as to the cause of the
disappearance?  I don't think that among all our cases
I have known one where the motives are more obscure.
Surely you don't really imagine that he may be
kidnapped in order to give information against his
wealthy uncle?"

"I confess, my dear Watson, that that does not appeal
to me as a very probable explanation.  It struck me,
however, as being the one which was most likely to
interest that exceedingly unpleasant old person."

"It certainly did that.  But what are your alternatives?"

"I could mention several.  You must admit that it is
curious and suggestive that this incident should occur
on the eve of this important match, and should involve
the only man whose presence seems essential to the
success of the side.  It may, of course, be
coincidence, but it is interesting.  Amateur sport is
free from betting, but a good deal of outside betting
goes on among the public, and it is possible that it
might be worth someone's while to get at a player as
the ruffians of the turf get at a race-horse.  There
is one explanation.  A second very obvious one is that
this young man really is the heir of a great property,
however modest his means may at present be, and it is
not impossible that a plot to hold him for ransom
might be concocted."

"These theories take no account of the telegram."

"Quite true, Watson.  The telegram still remains the
only solid thing with which we have to deal, and we
must not permit our attention to wander away from it.
It is to gain light upon the purpose of this telegram
that we are now upon our way to Cambridge.  The path
of our investigation is at present obscure, but I
shall be very much surprised if before evening we have
not cleared it up or made a considerable advance along
it."

It was already dark when we reached the old University
city.  Holmes took a cab at the station, and ordered
the man to drive to the house of Dr. Leslie Armstrong.
A few minutes later we had stopped at a large mansion
in the busiest thoroughfare.  We were shown in, and
after a long wait were at last admitted into the
consulting-room, where we found the doctor seated
behind his table.

It argues the degree in which I had lost touch with my
profession that the name of Leslie Armstrong was
unknown to me.  Now I am aware that he is not only one
of the heads of the medical school of the University,
but a thinker of European reputation in more than one
branch of science.  Yet even without knowing his
brilliant record one could not fail to be impressed by
a mere glance at the man, the square, massive face,
the brooding eyes under the thatched brows, and the
granite moulding of the inflexible jaw.  A man of deep
character, a man with an alert mind, grim, ascetic,
self-contained, formidable -- so I read Dr. Leslie
Armstrong.  He held my friend's card in his hand, and
he looked up with no very pleased expression upon his
dour features.

"I have heard your name, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and I am
aware of your profession, one of which I by no means
approve."

"In that, doctor, you will find yourself in agreement
with every criminal in the country," said my friend,
quietly.

"So far as your efforts are directed towards the
suppression of crime, sir, they must have the support
of every reasonable member of the community, though I
cannot doubt that the official machinery is amply
sufficient for the purpose.  Where your calling is
more open to criticism is when you pry into the
secrets of private individuals, when you rake up
family matters which are better hidden, and when you
incidentally waste the time of men who are more busy
than yourself.  At the present moment, for example,
I should be writing a treatise instead of conversing
with you."

"No doubt, doctor; and yet the conversation may prove
more important than the treatise.  Incidentally I may
tell you that we are doing the reverse of what you
very justly blame, and that we are endeavouring to
prevent anything like public exposure of private
matters which must necessarily follow when once the
case is fairly in the hands of the official police.
You may look upon me simply as an irregular pioneer
who goes in front of the regular forces of the
country.  I have come to ask you about Mr. Godfrey
Staunton."

"What about him?"

"You know him, do you not?"

"He is an intimate friend of mine."

"You are aware that he has disappeared?"

"Ah, indeed!"  There was no change of expression in
the rugged features of the doctor.

"He left his hotel last night.  He has not been heard
of."

"No doubt he will return."

"To-morrow is the 'Varsity football match."

"I have no sympathy with these childish games.  The
young man's fate interests me deeply, since I know him
and like him.  The football match does not come within
my horizon at all."

"I claim your sympathy, then, in my investigation of
Mr. Staunton's fate.  Do you know where he is?"

"Certainly not."

"You have not seen him since yesterday?"

"No, I have not."

"Was Mr. Staunton a healthy man?"

"Absolutely."

"Did you ever know him ill?"

"Never."

Holmes popped a sheet of paper before the doctor's
eyes.  "Then perhaps you will explain this receipted
bill for thirteen guineas, paid by Mr. Godfrey
Staunton last month to Dr. Leslie Armstrong of
Cambridge.  I picked it out from among the papers upon
his desk."

The doctor flushed with anger.

"I do not feel that there is any reason why I should
render an explanation to you, Mr. Holmes."

Holmes replaced the bill in his note-book.  "If you
prefer a public explanation it must come sooner or
later," said he.  "I have already told you that I can
hush up that which others will be bound to publish,
and you would really be wiser to take me into your
complete confidence."

"I know nothing about it."

"Did you hear from Mr. Staunton in London?"

"Certainly not."

"Dear me, dear me; the post-office again!" Holmes
sighed, wearily.  "A most urgent telegram was
dispatched to you from London by Godfrey Staunton at
six-fifteen yesterday evening -- a telegram which is
undoubtedly associated with his disappearance -- and
yet you have not had it.  It is most culpable.
I shall certainly go down to the office here and
register a complaint."

Dr. Leslie Armstrong sprang up from behind his desk,
and his dark face was crimson with fury.

"I'll trouble you to walk out of my house, sir," said
he.  "You can tell your employer, Lord Mount-James,
that I do not wish to have anything to do either with
him or with his agents.  No, sir, not another word!"
He rang the bell furiously.  "John, show these
gentlemen out!"  A pompous butler ushered us severely
to the door, and we found ourselves in the street.
Holmes burst out laughing.

"Dr. Leslie Armstrong is certainly a man of energy and
character," said he.  "I have not seen a man who, if
he turned his talents that way, was more calculated to
fill the gap left by the illustrious Moriarty.  And
now, my poor Watson, here we are, stranded and
friendless in this inhospitable town, which we cannot
leave without abandoning our case.  This little inn
just opposite Armstrong's house is singularly adapted
to our needs.  If you would engage a front room and
purchase the necessaries for the night, I may have
time to make a few inquiries."

These few inquiries proved, however, to be a more
lengthy proceeding than Holmes had imagined, for he
did not return to the inn until nearly nine o'clock.
He was pale and dejected, stained with dust, and
exhausted with hunger and fatigue.  A cold supper was
ready upon the table, and when his needs were
satisfied and his pipe alight he was ready to take
that half comic and wholly philosophic view which was
natural to him when his affairs were going awry.  The
sound of carriage wheels caused him to rise and glance
out of the window.  A brougham and pair of greys under
the glare of a gas-lamp stood before the doctor's
door.

"It's been out three hours," said Holmes; "started at
half-past six, and here it is back again.  That gives
a radius of ten or twelve miles, and he does it once,
or sometimes twice, a day."

"No unusual thing for a doctor in practice."

"But Armstrong is not really a doctor in practice.
He is a lecturer and a consultant, but he does not care
for general practice, which distracts him from his
literary work.  Why, then, does he make these long
journeys, which must be exceedingly irksome to him,
and who is it that he visits?"

"His coachman ----"

"My dear Watson, can you doubt that it was to him that
I first applied?  I do not know whether it came from
his own innate depravity or from the promptings of his
master, but he was rude enough to set a dog at me.
Neither dog nor man liked the look of my stick,
however, and the matter fell through.  Relations were
strained after that, and further inquiries out of the
question.  All that I have learned I got from a
friendly native in the yard of our own inn.  It was he
who told me of the doctor's habits and of his daily
journey.  At that instant, to give point to his words,
the carriage came round to the door."

"Could you not follow it?"

"Excellent, Watson!  You are scintillating this
evening.  The idea did cross my mind.  There is, as
you may have observed, a bicycle shop next to our inn.
Into this I rushed, engaged a bicycle, and was able to
get started before the carriage was quite out of
sight.  I rapidly overtook it, and then, keeping at a
discreet distance of a hundred yards or so, I followed
its lights until we were clear of the town.  We had
got well out on the country road when a somewhat
mortifying incident occurred.  The carriage stopped,
the doctor alighted, walked swiftly back to where I
had also halted, and told me in an excellent sardonic
fashion that he feared the road was narrow, and that
he hoped his carriage did not impede the passage of my
bicycle.  Nothing could have been more admirable than
his way of putting it.  I at once rode past the
carriage, and, keeping to the main road, I went on for
a few miles, and then halted in a convenient place to
see if the carriage passed.  There was no sign of it,
however, and so it became evident that it had turned
down one of several side roads which I had observed.
I rode back, but again saw nothing of the carriage,
and now, as you perceive, it has returned after me.
Of course, I had at the outset no particular reason to
connect these journeys with the disappearance of
Godfrey Staunton, and was only inclined to investigate
them on the general grounds that everything which
concerns Dr. Armstrong is at present of interest to
us; but, now that I find he keeps so keen a look-out
upon anyone who may follow him on these excursions,
the affair appears more important, and I shall not be
satisfied until I have made the matter clear."

"We can follow him to-morrow."

"Can we?  It is not so easy as you seem to think.  You
are not familiar with Cambridgeshire scenery, are you?
It does not lend itself to concealment.  All this
country that I passed over to-night is as flat and
clean as the palm of your hand, and the man we are
following is no fool, as he very clearly showed
to-night.  I have wired to Overton to let us know any
fresh London developments at this address, and in the
meantime we can only concentrate our attention upon
Dr. Armstrong, whose name the obliging young lady at
the office allowed me to read upon the counterfoil of
Staunton's urgent message.  He knows where the young
man is -- to that I'll swear -- and if he knows, then
it must be our own fault if we cannot manage to know
also.  At present it must be admitted that the odd
trick is in his possession, and, as you are aware,
Watson, it is not my habit to leave the game in that
condition."

And yet the next day brought us no nearer to the
solution of the mystery.  A note was handed in after
breakfast, which Holmes passed across to me with a smile.

"Sir," it ran, "I can assure you that you are wasting
your time in dogging my movements.  I have, as you
discovered last night, a window at the back of my
brougham, and if you desire a twenty-mile ride which
will lead you to the spot from which you started, you
have only to follow me.  Meanwhile, I can inform you
that no spying upon me can in any way help Mr. Godfrey
Staunton, and I am convinced that the best service you
can do to that gentleman is to return at once to
London and to report to your employer that you are
unable to trace him.  Your time in Cambridge will
certainly be wasted.
                    "Yours faithfully,
                      "LESLIE ARMSTRONG."

"An outspoken, honest antagonist is the doctor," said
Holmes.  "Well, well, he excites my curiosity, and I
must really know more before I leave him."

"His carriage is at his door now," said I.  "There he
is stepping into it.  I saw him glance up at our
window as he did so.  Suppose I try my luck upon the
bicycle?"

"No, no, my dear Watson!  With all respect for your
natural acumen I do not think that you are quite a
match for the worthy doctor.  I think that possibly I
can attain our end by some independent explorations of
my own.  I am afraid that I must leave you to your own
devices, as the appearance of _two_ inquiring
strangers upon a sleepy countryside might excite more
gossip than I care for.  No doubt you will find some
sights to amuse you in this venerable city, and I hope
to bring back a more favourable report to you before
evening."

Once more, however, my friend was destined to be
disappointed.  He came back at night weary and
unsuccessful.

"I have had a blank day, Watson.  Having got the
doctor's general direction, I spent the day in
visiting all the villages upon that side of Cambridge,
and comparing notes with publicans and other local
news agencies.  I have covered some ground:
Chesterton, Histon, Waterbeach, and Oakington have
each been explored and have each proved disappointing.
The daily appearance of a brougham and pair could
hardly have been overlooked in such Sleepy Hollows.
The doctor has scored once more.  Is there a telegram
for me?"

"Yes; I opened it.  Here it is: 'Ask for Pompey from
Jeremy Dixon, Trinity College.'  I don't understand
it."

"Oh, it is clear enough.  It is from our friend
Overton, and is in answer to a question from me.
I'll just send round a note to Mr. Jeremy Dixon,
and then I have no doubt that our luck will turn.
By the way, is there any news of the match?"

"Yes, the local evening paper has an excellent account
in its last edition.  Oxford won by a goal and two
tries.  The last sentences of the description say:
'The defeat of the Light Blues may be entirely
attributed to the unfortunate absence of the crack
International, Godfrey Staunton, whose want was felt
at every instant of the game.  The lack of combination
in the three-quarter line and their weakness both in
attack and defence more than neutralized the efforts
of a heavy and hard-working pack.'"

"Then our friend Overton's forebodings have been
justified," said Holmes.  "Personally I am in
agreement with Dr. Armstrong, and football does not
come within my horizon.  Early to bed to-night,
Watson, for I foresee that to-morrow may be an
eventful day."


I was horrified by my first glimpse of Holmes next
morning, for he sat by the fire holding his tiny
hypodermic syringe.  I associated that instrument with
the single weakness of his nature, and I feared the
worst when I saw it glittering in his hand.  He
laughed at my expression of dismay, and laid it upon
the table.

"No, no, my dear fellow, there is no cause for alarm.
It is not upon this occasion the instrument of evil,
but it will rather prove to be the key which will
unlock our mystery.  On this syringe I base all my
hopes.  I have just returned from a small scouting
expedition and everything is favourable.  Eat a good
breakfast, Watson, for I propose to get upon Dr.
Armstrong's trail to-day, and once on it I will not
stop for rest or food until I run him to his burrow."

"In that case," said I, "we had best carry our
breakfast with us, for he is making an early start.
His carriage is at the door."

"Never mind.  Let him go.  He will be clever if he can
drive where I cannot follow him.  When you have
finished come downstairs with me, and I will introduce
you to a detective who is a very eminent specialist in
the work that lies before us."

When we descended I followed Holmes into the stable
yard, where he opened the door of a loose-box and led
out a squat, lop-eared, white-and-tan dog, something
between a beagle and a foxhound.

"Let me introduce you to Pompey," said he.  "Pompey is
the pride of the local draghounds, no very great
flier, as his build will show, but a staunch hound on
a scent.  Well, Pompey, you may not be fast, but I
expect you will be too fast for a couple of
middle-aged London gentlemen, so I will take the
liberty of fastening this leather leash to your
collar.  Now, boy, come along, and show what you can
do."  He led him across to the doctor's door.  The dog
sniffed round for an instant, and then with a shrill
whine of excitement started off down the street,
tugging at his leash in his efforts to go faster.  In
half an hour, we were clear of the town and hastening
down a country road.

"What have you done, Holmes?" I asked.

"A threadbare and venerable device, but useful upon
occasion.  I walked into the doctor's yard this
morning and shot my syringe full of aniseed over the
hind wheel.  A draghound will follow aniseed from here
to John o' Groat's, and our friend Armstrong would
have to drive through the Cam before he would shake
Pompey off his trail.  Oh, the cunning rascal!  This
is how he gave me the slip the other night."

The dog had suddenly turned out of the main road into
a grass-grown lane.  Half a mile farther this opened
into another broad road, and the trail turned hard to
the right in the direction of the town, which we had
just quitted.  The road took a sweep to the south of
the town and continued in the opposite direction to
that in which we started.

"This _detour_ {2} has been entirely for our benefit,
then?" said Holmes.  "No wonder that my inquiries
among those villages led to nothing.  The doctor has
certainly played the game for all it is worth, and one
would like to know the reason for such elaborate
deception.  This should be the village of Trumpington
to the right of us.  And, by Jove! here is the
brougham coming round the corner.  Quick, Watson,
quick, or we are done!"

He sprang through a gate into a field, dragging the
reluctant Pompey after him.  We had hardly got under
the shelter of the hedge when the carriage rattled
past.  I caught a glimpse of Dr. Armstrong within, his
shoulders bowed, his head sunk on his hands, the very
image of distress.  I could tell by my companion's
graver face that he also had seen.

"I fear there is some dark ending to our quest," said
he.  "It cannot be long before we know it.  Come,
Pompey!  Ah, it is the cottage in the field!"

There could be no doubt that we had reached the end of
our journey.  Pompey ran about and whined eagerly
outside the gate where the marks of the brougham's
wheels were still to be seen.  A footpath led across
to the lonely cottage.  Holmes tied the dog to the
hedge, and we hastened onwards.  My friend knocked at
the little rustic door, and knocked again without
response.  And yet the cottage was not deserted,
for a low sound came to our ears -- a kind of drone
of misery and despair, which was indescribably
melancholy.  Holmes paused irresolute, and then he
glanced back at the road which we had just traversed.
A brougham was coming down it, and there could be no
mistaking those grey horses.

"By Jove, the doctor is coming back!" cried Holmes.
"That settles it.  We are bound to see what it means
before he comes."

He opened the door and we stepped into the hall.  The
droning sound swelled louder upon our ears until it
became one long, deep wail of distress.  It came from
upstairs.  Holmes darted up and I followed him.  He
pushed open a half-closed door and we both stood
appalled at the sight before us.

A woman, young and beautiful, was lying dead upon the
bed.  Her calm, pale face, with dim, wide-opened blue
eyes, looked upwards from amid a great tangle of
golden hair.  At the foot of the bed, half sitting,
half kneeling, his face buried in the clothes,
was a young man, whose frame was racked by his sobs.
So absorbed was he by his bitter grief that he never
looked up until Holmes's hand was on his shoulder.

"Are you Mr. Godfrey Staunton?"

"Yes, yes; I am -- but you are too late.  She is dead."

The man was so dazed that he could not be made to
understand that we were anything but doctors who had
been sent to his assistance.  Holmes was endeavouring
to utter a few words of consolation, and to explain
the alarm which had been caused to his friends by his
sudden disappearance, when there was a step upon the
stairs, and there was the heavy, stern, questioning
face of Dr. Armstrong at the door.

"So, gentlemen," said he, "you have attained your end,
and have certainly chosen a particularly delicate
moment for your intrusion.  I would not brawl in the
presence of death, but I can assure you that if I were
a younger man your monstrous conduct would not pass
with impunity."

"Excuse me, Dr. Armstrong, I think we are a little at
cross-purposes," said my friend, with dignity.  "If
you could step downstairs with us we may each be able
to give some light to the other upon this miserable
affair."

A minute later the grim doctor and ourselves were in
the sitting-room below.

"Well, sir?" said he.

"I wish you to understand, in the first place, that I
am not employed by Lord Mount-James, and that my
sympathies in this matter are entirely against that
nobleman.  When a man is lost it is my duty to
ascertain his fate, but having done so the matter ends
so far as I am concerned; and so long as there is
nothing criminal, I am much more anxious to hush up
private scandals than to give them publicity.  If, as
I imagine, there is no breach of the law in this
matter, you can absolutely depend upon my discretion
and my co-operation in keeping the facts out of the
papers."

Dr. Armstrong took a quick step forward and wrung
Holmes by the hand.

"You are a good fellow," said he.  "I had misjudged
you.  I thank Heaven that my compunction at leaving
poor Staunton all alone in this plight caused me to
turn my carriage back, and so to make your
acquaintance.  Knowing as much as you do, the
situation is very easily explained.  A year ago
Godfrey Staunton lodged in London for a time, and
became passionately attached to his landlady's
daughter, whom he married.  She was as good as she was
beautiful, and as intelligent as she was good.  No man
need be ashamed of such a wife.  But Godfrey was the
heir to this crabbed old nobleman, and it was quite
certain that the news of his marriage would have been
the end of his inheritance.  I knew the lad well, and
I loved him for his many excellent qualities.  I did
all I could to help him to keep things straight.  We
did our very best to keep the thing from everyone, for
when once such a whisper gets about it is not long
before everyone has heard it.  Thanks to this lonely
cottage and his own discretion, Godfrey has up to now
succeeded.  Their secret was known to no one save to
me and to one excellent servant who has at present
gone for assistance to Trumpington.  But at last there
came a terrible blow in the shape of dangerous illness
to his wife.  It was consumption of the most virulent
kind.  The poor boy was half crazed with grief, and
yet he had to go to London to play this match, for he
could not get out of it without explanations which
would expose his secret.  I tried to cheer him up by a
wire, and he sent me one in reply imploring me to do
all I could.  This was the telegram which you appear
in some inexplicable way to have seen.  I did not tell
him how urgent the danger was, for I knew that he
could do no good here, but I sent the truth to the
girl's father, and he very injudiciously communicated
it to Godfrey.  The result was that he came straight
away in a state bordering on frenzy, and has remained
in the same state, kneeling at the end of her bed,
until this morning death put an end to her sufferings.
That is all, Mr. Holmes, and I am sure that I can rely
upon your discretion and that of your friend."

Holmes grasped the doctor's hand.

"Come, Watson," said he, and we passed from that house
of grief into the pale sunlight of the winter day.

{----------------------------------------------------}
{---------------- End of Text -----------------------}
{----------------------------------------------------}
{-------------- Textual Notes -----------------------}
{1}   {"'Varsity": the single-quote is backwards}
{2}   {"_detour_": the e has a forward (/) accent}
{------------- End Textual Notes --------------------}
{----------------------------------------------------}




{ABBE, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 4th proofing}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 28 (Sept. 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces ({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


XII. -- The Adventure of the Abbey Grange.

It was on a bitterly cold and frosty morning during the winter of
'97 that I was awakened by a tugging at my shoulder.  It was
Holmes.  The candle in his hand shone upon his eager, stooping
face and told me at a glance that something was amiss.

"Come, Watson, come!" he cried.  "The game is afoot.  Not a word!
Into your clothes and come!"

Ten minutes later we were both in a cab and rattling through the
silent streets on our way to Charing Cross Station.  The first
faint winter's dawn was beginning to appear, and we could dimly
see the occasional figure of an early workman as he passed us,
blurred and indistinct in the opalescent London reek.  Holmes
nestled in silence into his heavy coat, and I was glad to do the
same, for the air was most bitter and neither of us had broken our
fast.  It was not until we had consumed some hot tea at the
station, and taken our places in the Kentish train, that we were
sufficiently thawed, he to speak and I to listen.  Holmes drew a
note from his pocket and read it aloud:--

                                 "Abbey Grange, Marsham, Kent,
                                                  "3.30 a.m.

"MY DEAR MR. HOLMES, -- I should be very glad of your immediate
assistance in what promises to be a most remarkable case.  It is
something quite in your line.  Except for releasing the lady I
will see that everything is kept exactly as I have found it, but I
beg you not to lose an instant, as it is difficult to leave Sir
Eustace there.
      "Yours faithfully, STANLEY HOPKINS."

"Hopkins has called me in seven times, and on each occasion his
summons has been entirely justified," said Holmes.  "I fancy that
every one of his cases has found its way into your collection, and
I must admit, Watson, that you have some power of selection which
atones for much which I deplore in your narratives.  Your fatal
habit of looking at everything from the point of view of a story
instead of as a scientific exercise has ruined what might have
been an instructive and even classical series of demonstrations.
You slur over work of the utmost finesse and delicacy in order to
dwell upon sensational details which may excite, but cannot
possibly instruct, the reader."

"Why do you not write them yourself?" I said, with some bitterness.

"I will, my dear Watson, I will.  At present I am, as you know,
fairly busy, but I propose to devote my declining years to the
composition of a text-book which shall focus the whole art of
detection into one volume.  Our present research appears to be a
case of murder."

"You think this Sir Eustace is dead, then?"

"I should say so.  Hopkins's writing shows considerable agitation,
and he is not an emotional man.  Yes, I gather there has been
violence, and that the body is left for our inspection.  A mere
suicide would not have caused him to send for me.  As to the
release of the lady, it would appear that she has been locked in
her room during the tragedy.  We are moving in high life, Watson;
crackling paper, 'E.B.' monogram, coat-of-arms, picturesque
address.  I think that friend Hopkins will live up to his
reputation and that we shall have an interesting morning.
The crime was committed before twelve last night."

"How can you possibly tell?"

"By an inspection of the trains and by reckoning the time.  The
local police had to be called in, they had to communicate with
Scotland Yard, Hopkins had to go out, and he in turn had to send
for me.  All that makes a fair night's work.  Well, here we are at
Chislehurst Station, and we shall soon set our doubts at rest."

A drive of a couple of miles through narrow country lanes brought
us to a park gate, which was opened for us by an old lodge-keeper,
whose haggard face bore the reflection of some great disaster.
The avenue ran through a noble park, between lines of ancient
elms, and ended in a low, widespread house, pillared in front
after the fashion of Palladio.  The central part was evidently of
a great age and shrouded in ivy, but the large windows showed that
modern changes had been carried out, and one wing of the house
appeared to be entirely new.  The youthful figure and alert,
eager face of Inspector Stanley Hopkins confronted us in the open
doorway.

"I'm very glad you have come, Mr. Holmes.  And you too,
Dr. Watson!  But, indeed, if I had my time over again I should not
have troubled you, for since the lady has come to herself she has
given so clear an account of the affair that there is not much
left for us to do.  You remember that Lewisham gang of burglars?"

"What, the three Randalls?"

"Exactly; the father and two sons.  It's their work.  I have not a
doubt of it.  They did a job at Sydenham a fortnight ago, and were
seen and described.  Rather cool to do another so soon and so
near, but it is they, beyond all doubt.  It's a hanging matter
this time."

"Sir Eustace is dead, then?"

"Yes; his head was knocked in with his own poker."

"Sir Eustace Brackenstall, the driver tells me."

"Exactly -- one of the richest men in Kent.  Lady Brackenstall
is in the morning-room.  Poor lady, she has had a most dreadful
experience.  She seemed half dead when I saw her first.
I think you had best see her and hear her account of the facts.
Then we will examine the dining-room together."

Lady Brackenstall was no ordinary person.  Seldom have I seen so
graceful a figure, so womanly a presence, and so beautiful a face.
She was a blonde, golden-haired, blue-eyed, and would, no doubt,
have had the perfect complexion which goes with such colouring had
not her recent experience left her drawn and haggard.  Her
sufferings were physical as well as mental, for over one eye rose
a hideous, plum-coloured swelling, which her maid, a tall, austere
woman, was bathing assiduously with vinegar and water.  The lady
lay back exhausted upon a couch, but her quick, observant gaze as
we entered the room, and the alert expression of her beautiful
features, showed that neither her wits nor her courage had been
shaken by her terrible experience.  She was enveloped in a loose
dressing-gown of blue and silver, but a black sequin-covered
dinner-dress was hung upon the couch beside her.

"I have told you all that happened, Mr. Hopkins," she said,
wearily; "could you not repeat it for me?  Well, if you think it
necessary, I will tell these gentlemen what occurred.  Have they
been in the dining-room yet?"

"I thought they had better hear your ladyship's story first."

"I shall be glad when you can arrange matters.  It is horrible to
me to think of him still lying there."  She shuddered and buried
her face in her hands.  As she did so the loose gown fell back
from her forearms.  Holmes uttered an exclamation.

"You have other injuries, madam!  What is this?"  Two vivid red
spots stood out on one of the white, round limbs.  She hastily
covered it.

"It is nothing.  It has no connection with the hideous business of
last night.  If you and your friend will sit down I will tell you
all I can.

"I am the wife of Sir Eustace Brackenstall.  I have been married
about a year.  I suppose that it is no use my attempting to
conceal that our marriage has not been a happy one.  I fear that
all our neighbours would tell you that, even if I were to attempt
to deny it.  Perhaps the fault may be partly mine.  I was brought
up in the freer, less conventional atmosphere of South Australia,
and this English life, with its proprieties and its primness, is
not congenial to me.  But the main reason lies in the one fact
which is notorious to everyone, and that is that Sir Eustace was
a confirmed drunkard.  To be with such a man for an hour is
unpleasant.  Can you imagine what it means for a sensitive and
high-spirited woman to be tied to him for day and night?  It is a
sacrilege, a crime, a villainy to hold that such a marriage is
binding.  I say that these monstrous laws of yours will bring a
curse upon the land -- Heaven will not let such wickedness
endure."  For an instant she sat up, her cheeks flushed, and her
eyes blazing from under the terrible mark upon her brow.  Then the
strong, soothing hand of the austere maid drew her head down on to
the cushion, and the wild anger died away into passionate sobbing.
At last she continued:--

"I will tell you about last night.  You are aware, perhaps, that
in this house all servants sleep in the modern wing.  This central
block is made up of the dwelling-rooms, with the kitchen behind
and our bedroom above.  My maid Theresa sleeps above my room.
There is no one else, and no sound could alarm those who are in
the farther wing.  This must have been well known to the robbers,
or they would not have acted as they did.

"Sir Eustace retired about half-past ten.  The servants had
already gone to their quarters.  Only my maid was up, and she had
remained in her room at the top of the house until I needed her
services.  I sat until after eleven in this room, absorbed in a
book.  Then I walked round to see that all was right before I went
upstairs.  It was my custom to do this myself, for, as I have
explained, Sir Eustace was not always to be trusted.  I went into
the kitchen, the butler's pantry, the gun-room, the billiard-room,
the drawing-room, and finally the dining-room.  As I approached
the window, which is covered with thick curtains, I suddenly
felt the wind blow upon my face and realized that it was open.
I flung the curtain aside and found myself face to face with a
broad-shouldered, elderly man who had just stepped into the room.
The window is a long French one, which really forms a door leading
to the lawn.  I held my bedroom candle lit in my hand, and, by its
light, behind the first man I saw two others, who were in the act
of entering.  I stepped back, but the fellow was on me in an
instant.  He caught me first by the wrist and then by the throat.
I opened my mouth to scream, but he struck me a savage blow with
his fist over the eye, and felled me to the ground.  I must have
been unconscious for a few minutes, for when I came to myself I
found that they had torn down the bell-rope and had secured me
tightly to the oaken chair which stands at the head of the
dining-room table.  I was so firmly bound that I could not move,
and a handkerchief round my mouth prevented me from uttering any
sound.  It was at this instant that my unfortunate husband entered
the room.  He had evidently heard some suspicious sounds, and he
came prepared for such a scene as he found.  He was dressed in his
shirt and trousers, with his favourite blackthorn cudgel in his
hand.  He rushed at one of the burglars, but another -- it was the
elderly man -- stooped, picked the poker out of the grate, and
struck him a horrible blow as he passed.  He fell without a groan,
and never moved again.  I fainted once more, but again it could
only have been a very few minutes during which I was insensible.
When I opened my eyes I found that they had collected the silver
from the sideboard, and they had drawn a bottle of wine which
stood there.  Each of them had a glass in his hand.  I have
already told you, have I not, that one was elderly, with a beard,
and the others young, hairless lads.  They might have been a
father with his two sons.  They talked together in whispers.
Then they came over and made sure that I was still securely bound.
Finally they withdrew, closing the window after them.  It was
quite a quarter of an hour before I got my mouth free.  When I did
so my screams brought the maid to my assistance.  The other
servants were soon alarmed, and we sent for the local police, who
instantly communicated with London.  That is really all I can tell
you, gentlemen, and I trust that it will not be necessary for me
to go over so painful a story again."

"Any questions, Mr. Holmes?" asked Hopkins.

"I will not impose any further tax upon Lady Brackenstall's
patience and time," said Holmes.  "Before I go into the
dining-room I should like to hear your experience."  He looked at
the maid.

"I saw the men before ever they came into the house," said she.
"As I sat by my bedroom window I saw three men in the moonlight
down by the lodge gate yonder, but I thought nothing of it at the
time.  It was more than an hour after that I heard my mistress
scream, and down I ran, to find her, poor lamb, just as she says,
and him on the floor with his blood and brains over the room.  It
was enough to drive a woman out of her wits, tied there, and her
very dress spotted with him; but she never wanted courage, did
Miss Mary Fraser of Adelaide, and Lady Brackenstall of Abbey
Grange hasn't learned new ways.  You've questioned her long
enough, you gentlemen, and now she is coming to her own room,
just with her old Theresa, to get the rest that she badly needs."

With a motherly tenderness the gaunt woman put her arm round her
mistress and led her from the room.

"She has been with her all her life," said Hopkins.  "Nursed her
as a baby, and came with her to England when they first left
Australia eighteen months ago.  Theresa Wright is her name,
and the kind of maid you don't pick up nowadays.  This way,
Mr. Holmes, if you please!"

The keen interest had passed out of Holmes's expressive face,
and I knew that with the mystery all the charm of the case had
departed.  There still remained an arrest to be effected, but what
were these commonplace rogues that he should soil his hands with
them?  An abstruse and learned specialist who finds that he has
been called in for a case of measles would experience something of
the annoyance which I read in my friend's eyes.  Yet the scene in
the dining-room of the Abbey Grange was sufficiently strange to
arrest his attention and to recall his waning interest.

It was a very large and high chamber, with carved oak ceiling,
oaken panelling, and a fine array of deer's heads and ancient
weapons around the walls.  At the farther end from the door was
the high French window of which we had heard.  Three smaller
windows on the right-hand side filled the apartment with cold
winter sunshine.  On the left was a large, deep fireplace, with a
massive over-hanging oak mantelpiece.  Beside the fireplace was a
heavy oaken chair with arms and cross-bars at the bottom.  In and
out through the open woodwork was woven a crimson cord, which was
secured at each side to the crosspiece below.  In releasing the
lady the cord had been slipped off her, but the knots with which
it had been secured still remained.  These details only struck our
attention afterwards, for our thoughts were entirely absorbed by
the terrible object which lay spread upon the tiger-skin hearthrug
in front of the fire.

It was the body of a tall, well-made man, about forty years of
age.  He lay upon his back, his face upturned, with his white
teeth grinning through his short black beard.  His two clenched
hands were raised above his head, and a heavy blackthorn stick lay
across them.  His dark, handsome, aquiline features were convulsed
into a spasm of vindictive hatred, which had set his dead face in
a terribly fiendish expression.  He had evidently been in his bed
when the alarm had broken out, for he wore a foppish embroidered
night-shirt, and his bare feet projected from his trousers.  His
head was horribly injured, and the whole room bore witness to the
savage ferocity of the blow which had struck him down.  Beside him
lay the heavy poker, bent into a curve by the concussion.  Holmes
examined both it and the indescribable wreck which it had wrought.

"He must be a powerful man, this elder Randall," he remarked.

"Yes," said Hopkins.  "I have some record of the fellow, and he is
a rough customer."

"You should have no difficulty in getting him."

"Not the slightest.  We have been on the look-out for him, and
there was some idea that he had got away to America.  Now that we
know the gang are here I don't see how they can escape.  We have
the news at every seaport already, and a reward will be offered
before evening.  What beats me is how they could have done so mad
a thing, knowing that the lady could describe them, and that we
could not fail to recognise the description."

"Exactly.  One would have expected that they would have silenced
Lady Brackenstall as well."

"They may not have realized," I suggested, "that she had recovered
from her faint."

"That is likely enough.  If she seemed to be senseless they would
not take her life.  What about this poor fellow, Hopkins?  I seem
to have heard some queer stories about him."

"He was a good-hearted man when he was sober, but a perfect fiend
when he was drunk, or rather when he was half drunk, for he seldom
really went the whole way.  The devil seemed to be in him at such
times, and he was capable of anything.  From what I hear, in spite
of all his wealth and his title, he very nearly came our way once
or twice.  There was a scandal about his drenching a dog with
petroleum and setting it on fire -- her ladyship's dog, to make
the matter worse -- and that was only hushed up with difficulty.
Then he threw a decanter at that maid, Theresa Wright; there was
trouble about that.  On the whole, and between ourselves, it will
be a brighter house without him.  What are you looking at now?"

Holmes was down on his knees examining with great attention the
knots upon the red cord with which the lady had been secured.
Then he carefully scrutinized the broken and frayed end where it
had snapped off when the burglar had dragged it down.

"When this was pulled down the bell in the kitchen must have rung
loudly," he remarked.

"No one could hear it.  The kitchen stands right at the back of
the house."

"How did the burglar know no one would hear it?  How dared he pull
at a bell-rope in that reckless fashion?"

"Exactly, Mr. Holmes, exactly.  You put the very question which I
have asked myself again and again.  There can be no doubt that
this fellow must have known the house and its habits.  He must
have perfectly understood that the servants would all be in bed at
that comparatively early hour, and that no one could possibly hear
a bell ring in the kitchen.  Therefore he must have been in close
league with one of the servants.  Surely that is evident.
But there are eight servants, and all of good character."

"Other things being equal," said Holmes, "one would suspect the
one at whose head the master threw a decanter.  And yet that would
involve treachery towards the mistress to whom this woman seems
devoted.  Well, well, the point is a minor one, and when you have
Randall you will probably find no difficulty in securing his
accomplice.  The lady's story certainly seems to be corroborated,
if it needed corroboration, by every detail which we see before
us."  He walked to the French window and threw it open.  "There
are no signs here, but the ground is iron hard, and one would not
expect them.  I see that these candles on the mantelpiece have
been lighted."

"Yes; it was by their light and that of the lady's bedroom candle
that the burglars saw their way about."

"And what did they take?"

"Well, they did not take much -- only half-a-dozen articles of
plate off the sideboard.  Lady Brackenstall thinks that they were
themselves so disturbed by the death of Sir Eustace that they did
not ransack the house as they would otherwise have done."

"No doubt that is true.  And yet they drank some wine,
I understand."

"To steady their own nerves."

"Exactly.  These three glasses upon the sideboard have been
untouched, I suppose?"

"Yes; and the bottle stands as they left it."

"Let us look at it.  Halloa! halloa! what is this?"

The three glasses were grouped together, all of them tinged with
wine, and one of them containing some dregs of bees-wing.  The
bottle stood near them, two-thirds full, and beside it lay a long,
deeply-stained cork.  Its appearance and the dust upon the bottle
showed that it was no common vintage which the murderers had
enjoyed.

A change had come over Holmes's manner.  He had lost his listless
expression, and again I saw an alert light of interest in his
keen, deep-set eyes.  He raised the cork and examined it minutely.

"How did they draw it?" he asked.

Hopkins pointed to a half-opened drawer.  In it lay some table
linen and a large cork-screw.

"Did Lady Brackenstall say that screw was used?"

"No; you remember that she was senseless at the moment when the
bottle was opened."

"Quite so.  As a matter of fact that screw was _not_ used.  This
bottle was opened by a pocket-screw, probably contained in a
knife, and not more than an inch and a half long.  If you examine
the top of the cork you will observe that the screw was driven in
three times before the cork was extracted.  It has never been
transfixed.  This long screw would have transfixed it and drawn it
with a single pull.  When you catch this fellow you will find that
he has one of these multiplex knives in his possession."

"Excellent!" said Hopkins.

"But these glasses do puzzle me, I confess.  Lady Brackenstall
actually _saw_ the three men drinking, did she not?"

"Yes; she was clear about that."

"Then there is an end of it.  What more is to be said?  And yet
you must admit that the three glasses are very remarkable,
Hopkins.  What, you see nothing remarkable!  Well, well, let it
pass.  Perhaps when a man has special knowledge and special powers
like my own it rather encourages him to seek a complex explanation
when a simpler one is at hand.  Of course, it must be a mere
chance about the glasses.  Well, good morning, Hopkins.  I don't
see that I can be of any use to you, and you appear to have your
case very clear.  You will let me know when Randall is arrested,
and any further developments which may occur.  I trust that I
shall soon have to congratulate you upon a successful conclusion.
Come, Watson, I fancy that we may employ ourselves more profitably
at home."

During our return journey I could see by Holmes's face that he was
much puzzled by something which he had observed.  Every now and
then, by an effort, he would throw off the impression and talk as
if the matter were clear, but then his doubts would settle down
upon him again, and his knitted brows and abstracted eyes would
show that his thoughts had gone back once more to the great
dining-room of the Abbey Grange in which this midnight tragedy had
been enacted.  At last, by a sudden impulse, just as our train was
crawling out of a suburban station, he sprang on to the platform
and pulled me out after him.

"Excuse me, my dear fellow," said he, as we watched the rear
carriages of our train disappearing round a curve; "I am sorry to
make you the victim of what may seem a mere whim, but on my life,
Watson, I simply _can't_ leave that case in this condition.  Every
instinct that I possess cries out against it.  It's wrong -- it's
all wrong -- I'll swear that it's wrong.  And yet the lady's story
was complete, the maid's corroboration was sufficient, the detail
was fairly exact.  What have I to put against that?  Three
wine-glasses, that is all.  But if I had not taken things for
granted, if I had examined everything with the care which I would
have shown had we approached the case _de novo_ and had no
cut-and-dried story to warp my mind, would I not then have found
something more definite to go upon?  Of course I should.  Sit down
on this bench, Watson, until a train for Chislehurst arrives, and
allow me to lay the evidence before you, imploring you in the
first instance to dismiss from your mind the idea that anything
which the maid or her mistress may have said must necessarily be
true.  The lady's charming personality must not be permitted to
warp our judgment.

"Surely there are details in her story which, if we looked at it
in cold blood, would excite our suspicion.  These burglars made a
considerable haul at Sydenham a fortnight ago.  Some account of
them and of their appearance was in the papers, and would
naturally occur to anyone who wished to invent a story in which
imaginary robbers should play a part.  As a matter of fact,
burglars who have done a good stroke of business are, as a rule,
only too glad to enjoy the proceeds in peace and quiet without
embarking on another perilous undertaking.  Again, it is unusual
for burglars to operate at so early an hour; it is unusual for
burglars to strike a lady to prevent her screaming, since one
would imagine that was the sure way to make her scream; it is
unusual for them to commit murder when their numbers are
sufficient to overpower one man; it is unusual for them to be
content with a limited plunder when there is much more within
their reach; and finally I should say that it was very unusual for
such men to leave a bottle half empty.  How do all these unusuals
strike you, Watson?"

"Their cumulative effect is certainly considerable, and yet each
of them is quite possible in itself.  The most unusual thing of
all, as it seems to me, is that the lady should be tied to the
chair."

"Well, I am not so clear about that, Watson; for it is evident
that they must either kill her or else secure her in such a way
that she could not give immediate notice of their escape.  But at
any rate I have shown, have I not, that there is a certain element
of improbability about the lady's story?  And now on the top of
this comes the incident of the wine-glasses."

"What about the wine-glasses?"

"Can you see them in your mind's eye?"

"I see them clearly."

"We are told that three men drank from them.  Does that strike you
as likely?"

"Why not?  There was wine in each glass."

"Exactly; but there was bees-wing only in one glass.  You must
have noticed that fact.  What does that suggest to your mind?"

"The last glass filled would be most likely to contain bees-wing."

"Not at all.  The bottle was full of it, and it is inconceivable
that the first two glasses were clear and the third heavily
charged with it.  There are two possible explanations, and only
two.  One is that after the second glass was filled the bottle was
violently agitated, and so the third glass received the bees-wing.
That does not appear probable.  No, no; I am sure that I am
right."

"What, then, do you suppose?"

"That only two glasses were used, and that the dregs of both were
poured into a third glass, so as to give the false impression that
three people had been here.  In that way all the bees-wing would
be in the last glass, would it not?  Yes, I am convinced that this
is so.  But if I have hit upon the true explanation of this one
small phenomenon, then in an instant the case rises from the
commonplace to the exceedingly remarkable, for it can only mean
that Lady Brackenstall and her maid have deliberately lied to us,
that not one word of their story is to be believed, that they have
some very strong reason for covering the real criminal, and that
we must construct our case for ourselves without any help from
them.  That is the mission which now lies before us, and here,
Watson, is the Chislehurst train."

The household of the Abbey Grange were much surprised at our
return, but Sherlock Holmes, finding that Stanley Hopkins had gone
off to report to head-quarters, took possession of the
dining-room, locked the door upon the inside, and devoted himself
for two hours to one of those minute and laborious investigations
which formed the solid basis on which his brilliant edifices of
deduction were reared.  Seated in a corner like an interested
student who observes the demonstration of his professor, I
followed every step of that remarkable research.  The window, the
curtains, the carpet, the chair, the rope -- each in turn was
minutely examined and duly pondered.  The body of the unfortunate
baronet had been removed, but all else remained as we had seen it
in the morning.  Then, to my astonishment, Holmes climbed up on to
the massive mantelpiece.  Far above his head hung the few inches
of red cord which were still attached to the wire.  For a long
time he gazed upwards at it, and then in an attempt to get nearer
to it he rested his knee upon a wooden bracket on the wall.  This
brought his hand within a few inches of the broken end of the
rope, but it was not this so much as the bracket itself which
seemed to engage his attention.  Finally he sprang down with an
ejaculation of satisfaction.

"It's all right, Watson," said he.  "We have got our case -- one
of the most remarkable in our collection.  But, dear me, how
slow-witted I have been, and how nearly I have committed the
blunder of my lifetime!  Now, I think that with a few missing
links my chain is almost complete."

"You have got your men?"

"Man, Watson, man.  Only one, but a very formidable person.
Strong as a lion -- witness the blow which bent that poker.  Six
foot three in height, active as a squirrel, dexterous with his
fingers; finally, remarkably quick-witted, for this whole
ingenious story is of his concoction.  Yes, Watson, we have come
upon the handiwork of a very remarkable individual.  And yet in
that bell-rope he has given us a clue which should not have left
us a doubt."

"Where was the clue?"

"Well, if you were to pull down a bell-rope, Watson, where would
you expect it to break?  Surely at the spot where it is attached
to the wire.  Why should it break three inches from the top as
this one has done?"

"Because it is frayed there?"

"Exactly.  This end, which we can examine, is frayed.  He was
cunning enough to do that with his knife.  But the other end is
not frayed.  You could not observe that from here, but if you were
on the mantelpiece you would see that it is cut clean off without
any mark of fraying whatever.  You can reconstruct what occurred.
The man needed the rope.  He would not tear it down for fear of
giving the alarm by ringing the bell.  What did he do?  He sprang
up on the mantelpiece, could not quite reach it, put his knee on
the bracket -- you will see the impression in the dust -- and so
got his knife to bear upon the cord.  I could not reach the place
by at least three inches, from which I infer that he is at least
three inches a bigger man than I.  Look at that mark upon the seat
of the oaken chair!  What is it?"

"Blood."

"Undoubtedly it is blood.  This alone puts the lady's story out of
court.  If she were seated on the chair when the crime was done,
how comes that mark?  No, no; she was placed in the chair _after_
the death of her husband.  I'll wager that the black dress shows a
corresponding mark to this.  We have not yet met our Waterloo,
Watson, but this is our Marengo, for it begins in defeat and ends
in victory.  I should like now to have a few words with the nurse
Theresa.  We must be wary for awhile, if we are to get the
information which we want."

She was an interesting person, this stern Australian nurse.
Taciturn, suspicious, ungracious, it took some time before
Holmes's pleasant manner and frank acceptance of all that she said
thawed her into a corresponding amiability.  She did not attempt
to conceal her hatred for her late employer.

"Yes, sir, it is true that he threw the decanter at me.  I heard
him call my mistress a name, and I told him that he would not dare
to speak so if her brother had been there.  Then it was that he
threw it at me.  He might have thrown a dozen if he had but left
my bonny bird alone.  He was for ever illtreating her, and she too
proud to complain.  She will not even tell me all that he has done
to her.  She never told me of those marks on her arm that you saw
this morning, but I know very well that they come from a stab with
a hat-pin.  The sly fiend -- Heaven forgive me that I should speak
of him so, now that he is dead, but a fiend he was if ever one
walked the earth.  He was all honey when first we met him, only
eighteen months ago, and we both feel as if it were eighteen
years.  She had only just arrived in London.  Yes, it was her
first voyage -- she had never been from home before.  He won her
with his title and his money and his false London ways.  If she
made a mistake she has paid for it, if ever a woman did.  What
month did we meet him?  Well, I tell you it was just after we
arrived.  We arrived in June, and it was July.  They were married
in January of last year.  Yes, she is down in the morning-room
again, and I have no doubt she will see you, but you must not ask
too much of her, for she has gone through all that flesh and blood
will stand."

Lady Brackenstall was reclining on the same couch, but looked
brighter than before.  The maid had entered with us, and began
once more to foment the bruise upon her mistress's brow.

"I hope," said the lady, "that you have not come to cross-examine
me again?"

"No," Holmes answered, in his gentlest voice, "I will not cause
you any unnecessary trouble, Lady Brackenstall, and my whole
desire is to make things easy for you, for I am convinced that you
are a much-tried woman.  If you will treat me as a friend and
trust me you may find that I will justify your trust."

"What do you want me to do?"

"To tell me the truth."

"Mr. Holmes!"

"No, no, Lady Brackenstall, it is no use.  You may have heard of
any little reputation which I possess.  I will stake it all on the
fact that your story is an absolute fabrication."

Mistress and maid were both staring at Holmes with pale faces and
frightened eyes.

"You are an impudent fellow!" cried Theresa.  "Do you mean to say
that my mistress has told a lie?"

Holmes rose from his chair.

"Have you nothing to tell me?"

"I have told you everything."

"Think once more, Lady Brackenstall.  Would it not be better to be
frank?"

For an instant there was hesitation in her beautiful face.  Then
some new strong thought caused it to set like a mask.

"I have told you all I know."

Holmes took his hat and shrugged his shoulders.  "I am sorry," he
said, and without another word we left the room and the house.
There was a pond in the park, and to this my friend led the way.
It was frozen over, but a single hole was left for the convenience
of a solitary swan.  Holmes gazed at it and then passed on to the
lodge gate.  There he scribbled a short note for Stanley Hopkins
and left it with the lodge-keeper.

"It may be a hit or it may be a miss, but we are bound to do
something for friend Hopkins, just to justify this second visit,"
said he.  "I will not quite take him into my confidence yet.  I
think our next scene of operations must be the shipping office of
the Adelaide-Southampton line, which stands at the end of Pall
Mall, if I remember right.  There is a second line of steamers
which connect South Australia with England, but we will draw the
larger cover first."

Holmes's card sent in to the manager ensured instant attention,
and he was not long in acquiring all the information which he
needed.  In June of '95 only one of their line had reached a home
port.  It was the _Rock of Gibraltar_, their largest and best
boat.  A reference to the passenger list showed that Miss Fraser
of Adelaide, with her maid, had made the voyage in her.  The boat
was now on her way to Australia, somewhere to the south of the
Suez Canal.  Her officers were the same as in '95, with one
exception.  The first officer, Mr. Jack Croker, had been made a
captain, and was to take charge of their new ship, the _Bass
Rock_, sailing in two days' time from Southampton.  He lived at
Sydenham, but he was likely to be in that morning for
instructions, if we cared to wait for him.

No; Mr. Holmes had no desire to see him, but would be glad to know
more about his record and character.

His record was magnificent.  There was not an officer in the fleet
to touch him.  As to his character, he was reliable on duty, but a
wild, desperate fellow off the deck of his ship, hot-headed,
excitable, but loyal, honest, and kind-hearted.  That was the pith
of the information with which Holmes left the office of the
Adelaide-Southampton company.  Thence he drove to Scotland Yard,
but instead of entering he sat in his cab with his brows drawn
down, lost in profound thought.  Finally he drove round to the
Charing Cross telegraph office, sent off a message, and then, at
last, we made for Baker Street once more.

"No, I couldn't do it, Watson," said he, as we re-entered our
room.  "Once that warrant was made out nothing on earth would save
him.  Once or twice in my career I feel that I have done more real
harm by my discovery of the criminal than ever he had done by his
crime.  I have learned caution now, and I had rather play tricks
with the law of England than with my own conscience.  Let us know
a little more before we act."

Before evening we had a visit from Inspector Stanley Hopkins.
Things were not going very well with him.

"I believe that you are a wizard, Mr. Holmes.  I really do
sometimes think that you have powers that are not human.  Now, how
on earth could you know that the stolen silver was at the bottom
of that pond?"

"I didn't know it."

"But you told me to examine it."

"You got it, then?"

"Yes, I got it."

"I am very glad if I have helped you."

"But you haven't helped me.  You have made the affair far more
difficult.  What sort of burglars are they who steal silver and
then throw it into the nearest pond?"

"It was certainly rather eccentric behaviour.  I was merely going
on the idea that if the silver had been taken by persons who did
not want it, who merely took it for a blind as it were, then they
would naturally be anxious to get rid of it."

"But why should such an idea cross your mind?"

"Well, I thought it was possible.  When they came out through the
French window there was the pond, with one tempting little hole in
the ice, right in front of their noses.  Could there be a better
hiding-place?"

"Ah, a hiding-place -- that is better!" cried Stanley Hopkins.
"Yes, yes, I see it all now!  It was early, there were folk upon
the roads, they were afraid of being seen with the silver, so they
sank it in the pond, intending to return for it when the coast was
clear.  Excellent, Mr. Holmes -- that is better than your idea of
a blind."

"Quite so; you have got an admirable theory.  I have no doubt that
my own ideas were quite wild, but you must admit that they have
ended in discovering the silver."

"Yes, sir, yes.  It was all your doing.  But I have had a bad
set-back."

"A set-back?"

"Yes, Mr. Holmes.  The Randall gang were arrested in New York this
morning."

"Dear me, Hopkins!  That is certainly rather against your theory
that they committed a murder in Kent last night."

"It is fatal, Mr. Holmes, absolutely fatal.  Still, there are
other gangs of three besides the Randalls, or it may be some new
gang of which the police have never heard."

"Quite so; it is perfectly possible.  What, are you off?"

Yes, Mr. Holmes; there is no rest for me until I have got to the
bottom of the business.  I suppose you have no hint to give me?"

"I have given you one."

"Which?"

"Well, I suggested a blind."

"But why, Mr. Holmes, why?"

"Ah, that's the question, of course.  But I commend the idea to
your mind.  You might possibly find that there was something in it.
You won't stop for dinner?  Well, good-bye, and let us know
how you get on."

Dinner was over and the table cleared before Holmes alluded to the
matter again.  He had lit his pipe and held his slippered feet to
the cheerful blaze of the fire.  Suddenly he looked at his watch.

"I expect developments, Watson."

"When?"

"Now -- within a few minutes.  I dare say you thought I acted
rather badly to Stanley Hopkins just now?"

"I trust your judgment."

"A very sensible reply, Watson.  You must look at it this way:
what I know is unofficial; what he knows is official.  I have the
right to private judgment, but he has none.  He must disclose all,
or he is a traitor to his service.  In a doubtful case I would not
put him in so painful a position, and so I reserve my information
until my own mind is clear upon the matter."

"But when will that be?"

"The time has come.  You will now be present at the last scene of
a remarkable little drama."

There was a sound upon the stairs, and our door was opened to
admit as fine a specimen of manhood as ever passed through it.
He was a very tall young man, golden-moustached, blue-eyed, with a
skin which had been burned by tropical suns, and a springy step
which showed that the huge frame was as active as it was strong.
He closed the door behind him, and then he stood with clenched
hands and heaving breast, choking down some overmastering emotion.

"Sit down, Captain Croker.  You got my telegram?"

Our visitor sank into an arm-chair and looked from one to the
other of us with questioning eyes.

"I got your telegram, and I came at the hour you said.  I heard
that you had been down to the office.  There was no getting away
from you.  Let's hear the worst.  What are you going to do with
me?  Arrest me?  Speak out, man!  You can't sit there and play
with me like a cat with a mouse."

"Give him a cigar," said Holmes.  "Bite on that, Captain Croker,
and don't let your nerves run away with you.  I should not sit
here smoking with you if I thought that you were a common
criminal, you may be sure of that.  Be frank with me, and we may
do some good.  Play tricks with me, and I'll crush you."

"What do you wish me to do?"

"To give me a true account of all that happened at the Abbey
Grange last night -- a _true_ account, mind you, with nothing
added and nothing taken off.  I know so much already that if you
go one inch off the straight I'll blow this police whistle from my
window and the affair goes out of my hands for ever."

The sailor thought for a little.  Then he struck his leg with his
great, sun-burned hand.

"I'll chance it," he cried.  "I believe you are a man of your
word, and a white man, and I'll tell you the whole story.  But one
thing I will say first.  So far as I am concerned I regret nothing
and I fear nothing, and I would do it all again and be proud of
the job.  Curse the beast, if he had as many lives as a cat he
would owe them all to me!  But it's the lady, Mary -- Mary Fraser
-- for never will I call her by that accursed name.  When I think
of getting her into trouble, I who would give my life just to
bring one smile to her dear face, it's that that turns my soul
into water.  And yet -- and yet -- what less could I do?  I'll
tell you my story, gentlemen, and then I'll ask you as man to man
what less could I do.

"I must go back a bit.  You seem to know everything, so I expect
that you know that I met her when she was a passenger and I was
first officer of the _Rock of Gibraltar_.  From the first day I
met her she was the only woman to me.  Every day of that voyage I
loved her more, and many a time since have I kneeled down in the
darkness of the night watch and kissed the deck of that ship
because I knew her dear feet had trod it.  She was never engaged
to me.  She treated me as fairly as ever a woman treated a man.
I have no complaint to make.  It was all love on my side, and all
good comradeship and friendship on hers.  When we parted she was a
free woman, but I could never again be a free man.

"Next time I came back from sea I heard of her marriage.  Well,
why shouldn't she marry whom she liked?  Title and money -- who
could carry them better than she?  She was born for all that is
beautiful and dainty.  I didn't grieve over her marriage.  I was
not such a selfish hound as that.  I just rejoiced that good luck
had come her way, and that she had not thrown herself away on a
penniless sailor.  That's how I loved Mary Fraser.

"Well, I never thought to see her again; but last voyage I was
promoted, and the new boat was not yet launched, so I had to wait
for a couple of months with my people at Sydenham.  One day out in
a country lane I met Theresa Wright, her old maid.  She told me
about her, about him, about everything.  I tell you, gentlemen,
it nearly drove me mad.  This drunken hound, that he should dare
to raise his hand to her whose boots he was not worthy to lick!
I met Theresa again.  Then I met Mary herself -- and met her again.
Then she would meet me no more.  But the other day I had a notice
that I was to start on my voyage within a week, and I determined
that I would see her once before I left.  Theresa was always my
friend, for she loved Mary and hated this villain almost as much
as I did.  From her I learned the ways of the house.  Mary used to
sit up reading in her own little room downstairs.  I crept round
there last night and scratched at the window.  At first she would
not open to me, but in her heart I know that now she loves me, and
she could not leave me in the frosty night.  She whispered to me
to come round to the big front window, and I found it open before
me so as to let me into the dining-room.  Again I heard from her
own lips things that made my blood boil, and again I cursed this
brute who mishandled the woman that I loved.  Well, gentlemen,
I was standing with her just inside the window, in all innocence,
as Heaven is my judge, when he rushed like a madman into the room,
called her the vilest name that a man could use to a woman, and
welted her across the face with the stick he had in his hand.
I had sprung for the poker, and it was a fair fight between us.
See here on my arm where his first blow fell.  Then it was my turn,
and I went through him as if he had been a rotten pumpkin.  Do you
think I was sorry?  Not I!  It was his life or mine, but far more
than that it was his life or hers, for how could I leave her in
the power of this madman?  That was how I killed him.  Was I wrong?
Well, then, what would either of you gentlemen have done if you
had been in my position?"

"She had screamed when he struck her, and that brought old Theresa
down from the room above.  There was a bottle of wine on the
sideboard, and I opened it and poured a little between Mary's
lips, for she was half dead with the shock.  Then I took a drop
myself.  Theresa was as cool as ice, and it was her plot as much
as mine.  We must make it appear that burglars had done the thing.
Theresa kept on repeating our story to her mistress, while I
swarmed up and cut the rope of the bell.  Then I lashed her in her
chair, and frayed out the end of the rope to make it look natural,
else they would wonder how in the world a burglar could have got
up there to cut it.  Then I gathered up a few plates and pots of
silver, to carry out the idea of a robbery, and there I left them
with orders to give the alarm when I had a quarter of an hour's
start.  I dropped the silver into the pond and made off for
Sydenham, feeling that for once in my life I had done a real
good night's work.  And that's the truth and the whole truth,
Mr. Holmes, if it costs me my neck."

Holmes smoked for some time in silence.  Then he crossed the room
and shook our visitor by the hand.

"That's what I think," said he.  "I know that every word is true,
for you have hardly said a word which I did not know.  No one but
an acrobat or a sailor could have got up to that bell-rope from
the bracket, and no one but a sailor could have made the knots
with which the cord was fastened to the chair.  Only once had this
lady been brought into contact with sailors, and that was on her
voyage, and it was someone of her own class of life, since she was
trying hard to shield him and so showing that she loved him.  You
see how easy it was for me to lay my hands upon you when once I
had started upon the right trail."

"I thought the police never could have seen through our dodge."

"And the police haven't; nor will they, to the best of my belief.
Now, look here, Captain Croker, this is a very serious matter,
though I am willing to admit that you acted under the most extreme
provocation to which any man could be subjected.  I am not sure
that in defence of your own life your action will not be
pronounced legitimate.  However, that is for a British jury to
decide.  Meanwhile I have so much sympathy for you that if you
choose to disappear in the next twenty-four hours I will promise
you that no one will hinder you."

"And then it will all come out?"

"Certainly it will come out."

The sailor flushed with anger.

"What sort of proposal is that to make to a man?  I know enough of
law to understand that Mary would be had as accomplice.  Do you
think I would leave her alone to face the music while I slunk
away?  No, sir; let them do their worst upon me, but for Heaven's
sake, Mr. Holmes, find some way of keeping my poor Mary out of the
courts."

Holmes for a second time held out his hand to the sailor.

"I was only testing you, and you ring true every time.  Well, it
is a great responsibility that I take upon myself, but I have
given Hopkins an excellent hint, and if he can't avail himself of
it I can do no more.  See here, Captain Croker, we'll do this in
due form of law.  You are the prisoner.  Watson, you are a British
jury, and I never met a man who was more eminently fitted to
represent one.  I am the judge.  Now, gentleman of the jury, you
have heard the evidence.  Do you find the prisoner guilty or not
guilty?"

"Not guilty, my lord," said I.

"Vox populi, vox Dei.  You are acquitted, Captain Croker.  So long
as the law does not find some other victim you are safe from me.
Come back to this lady in a year, and may her future and yours
justify us in the judgment which we have pronounced this night."

{----------------------------------------------------------------}
{------------------------ End of Text ---------------------------}
{----------------------------------------------------------------}




{SECO, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 4th proofing}
{The Adventure of the Second Stain, by Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 28 (Dec. 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires [e-mail]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}


XIII. -- The Adventure of the Second Stain.

I HAD intended "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" to be the last
of those exploits of my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, which I
should ever communicate to the public.  This resolution of mine
was not due to any lack of material, since I have notes of many
hundreds of cases to which I have never alluded, nor was it caused
by any waning interest on the part of my readers in the singular
personality and unique methods of this remarkable man.  The real
reason lay in the reluctance which Mr. Holmes has shown to the
continued publication of his experiences.  So long as he was in
actual professional practice the records of his successes were of
some practical value to him; but since he has definitely retired
from London and betaken himself to study and bee-farming on the
Sussex Downs, notoriety has become hateful to him, and he has
peremptorily requested that his wishes in this matter should be
strictly observed.  It was only upon my representing to him that I
had given a promise that "The Adventure of the Second Stain"
should be published when the times were ripe, and pointing out to
him that it is only appropriate that this long series of episodes
should culminate in the most important international case which he
has ever been called upon to handle, that I at last succeeded in
obtaining his consent that a carefully-guarded account of the
incident should at last be laid before the public.  If in telling
the story I seem to be somewhat vague in certain details the
public will readily understand that there is an excellent reason
for my reticence.


It was, then, in a year, and even in a decade, that shall be
nameless, that upon one Tuesday morning in autumn we found two
visitors of European fame within the walls of our humble room in
Baker Street.  The one, austere, high-nosed, eagle-eyed, and
dominant, was none other than the illustrious Lord Bellinger,
twice Premier of Britain.  The other, dark, clear-cut, and
elegant, hardly yet of middle age, and endowed with every beauty
of body and of mind, was the Right Honourable Trelawney Hope,
Secretary for European Affairs, and the most rising statesman in
the country.  They sat side by side upon our paper-littered
settee, and it was easy to see from their worn and anxious faces
that it was business of the most pressing importance which had
brought them.  The Premier's thin, blue-veined hands were clasped
tightly over the ivory head of his umbrella, and his gaunt,
ascetic face looked gloomily from Holmes to me.  The European
Secretary pulled nervously at his moustache and fidgeted with the
seals of his watch-chain.

"When I discovered my loss, Mr. Holmes, which was at eight o'clock
this morning, I at once informed the Prime Minister.  It was at
his suggestion that we have both come to you."

"Have you informed the police?"

"No, sir," said the Prime Minister, with the quick, decisive
manner for which he was famous.  "We have not done so, nor is it
possible that we should do so.  To inform the police must, in the
long run, mean to inform the public.  This is what we particularly
desire to avoid."

"And why, sir?"

"Because the document in question is of such immense importance
that its publication might very easily -- I might almost say
probably -- lead to European complications of the utmost moment.
It is not too much to say that peace or war may hang upon the
issue.  Unless its recovery can be attended with the utmost
secrecy, then it may as well not be recovered at all, for all that
is aimed at by those who have taken it is that its contents should
be generally known."

"I understand.  Now, Mr. Trelawney Hope, I should be much obliged
if you would tell me exactly the circumstances under which this
document disappeared."

"That can be done in a very few words, Mr. Holmes.  The letter --
for it was a letter from a foreign potentate -- was received six
days ago.  It was of such importance that I have never left it in
my safe, but I have taken it across each evening to my house in
Whitehall Terrace, and kept it in my bedroom in a locked
despatch-box.  It was there last night.  Of that I am certain.  I
actually opened the box while I was dressing for dinner, and saw
the document inside.  This morning it was gone.  The despatch-box
had stood beside the glass upon my dressing-table all night.  I am
a light sleeper, and so is my wife.  We are both prepared to swear
that no one could have entered the room during the night.  And yet
I repeat that the paper is gone."

"What time did you dine?"

"Half-past seven."

"How long was it before you went to bed?"

"My wife had gone to the theatre.  I waited up for her.  It was
half-past eleven before we went to our room."

"Then for four hours the despatch-box had lain unguarded?"

"No one is ever permitted to enter that room save the housemaid in
the morning, and my valet, or my wife's maid, during the rest of
the day.  They are both trusty servants who have been with us for
some time.  Besides, neither of them could possibly have known
that there was anything more valuable than the ordinary
departmental papers in my despatch-box."

"Who did know of the existence of that letter?"

"No one in the house."

"Surely your wife knew?"

"No, sir; I had said nothing to my wife until I missed the paper
this morning."

The Premier nodded approvingly.

"I have long known, sir, how high is your sense of public duty,"
said he.  "I am convinced that in the case of a secret of this
importance it would rise superior to the most intimate domestic
ties."

The European Secretary bowed.

"You do me no more than justice, sir.  Until this morning I have
never breathed one word to my wife upon this matter."

"Could she have guessed?"

"No, Mr. Holmes, she could not have guessed -- nor could anyone
have guessed."

"Have you lost any documents before?"

"No, sir."

"Who is there in England who did know of the existence of this
letter?"

"Each member of the Cabinet was informed of it yesterday; but the
pledge of secrecy which attends every Cabinet meeting was
increased by the solemn warning which was given by the Prime
Minister.  Good heavens, to think that within a few hours I should
myself have lost it!"  His handsome face was distorted with a
spasm of despair, and his hands tore at his hair.  For a moment we
caught a glimpse of the natural man, impulsive, ardent, keenly
sensitive.  The next the aristocratic mask was replaced, and the
gentle voice had returned.  "Besides the members of the Cabinet
there are two, or possibly three, departmental officials who know
of the letter.  No one else in England, Mr. Holmes, I assure you."

"But abroad?"

"I believe that no one abroad has seen it save the man who wrote
it.  I am well convinced that his Ministers -- that the usual
official channels have not been employed."

Holmes considered for some little time.

"Now, sir, I must ask you more particularly what this document is,
and why its disappearance should have such momentous
consequences?"

The two statesmen exchanged a quick glance and the Premier's
shaggy eyebrows gathered in a frown.

"Mr. Holmes, the envelope is a long, thin one of pale blue colour.
There is a seal of red wax stamped with a crouching lion.  It is
addressed in large, bold handwriting to ----"

"I fear, sir," said Holmes, "that, interesting and indeed
essential as these details are, my inquiries must go more to the
root of things.  What _was_ the letter?"

"That is a State secret of the utmost importance, and I fear that
I cannot tell you, nor do I see that it is necessary.  If by the
aid of the powers which you are said to possess you can find such
an envelope as I describe with its enclosure, you will have
deserved well of your country, and earned any reward which it lies
in our power to bestow."

Sherlock Holmes rose with a smile.

"You are two of the most busy men in the country," said he, "and
in my own small way I have also a good many calls upon me.  I
regret exceedingly that I cannot help you in this matter, and any
continuation of this interview would be a waste of time."

The Premier sprang to his feet with that quick, fierce gleam of
his deep-set eyes before which a Cabinet has cowered.  "I am not
accustomed, sir ----" he began, but mastered his anger and resumed
his seat.  For a minute or more we all sat in silence.  Then the
old statesman shrugged his shoulders.

"We must accept your terms, Mr. Holmes.  No doubt you are right,
and it is unreasonable for us to expect you to act unless we give
you our entire confidence."

"I agree with you, sir," said the younger statesman.

"Then I will tell you, relying entirely upon your honour and that
of your colleague, Dr. Watson.  I may appeal to your patriotism
also, for I could not imagine a greater misfortune for the country
than that this affair should come out."

"You may safely trust us."

"The letter, then, is from a certain foreign potentate who has
been ruffled by some recent Colonial developments of this country.
It has been written hurriedly and upon his own responsibility
entirely.  Inquiries have shown that his Ministers know nothing of
the matter.  At the same time it is couched in so unfortunate a
manner, and certain phrases in it are of so provocative a
character, that its publication would undoubtedly lead to a most
dangerous state of feeling in this country.  There would be such a
ferment, sir, that I do not hesitate to say that within a week of
the publication of that letter this country would be involved in a
great war."

Holmes wrote a name upon a slip of paper and handed it to the
Premier.

"Exactly.  It was he.  And it is this letter -- this letter which
may well mean the expenditure of a thousand millions and the lives
of a hundred thousand men -- which has become lost in this
unaccountable fashion."

"Have you informed the sender?"

"Yes, sir, a cipher telegram has been dispatched."

"Perhaps he desires the publication of the letter."

"No, sir, we have strong reason to believe that he already
understands that he has acted in an indiscreet and hot-headed
manner.  It would be a greater blow to him and to his country than
to us if this letter were to come out."

"If this is so, whose interest is it that the letter should come
out?  Why should anyone desire to steal it or to publish it?"

"There, Mr. Holmes, you take me into regions of high international
politics.  But if you consider the European situation you will
have no difficulty in perceiving the motive.  The whole of Europe
is an armed camp.  There is a double league which makes a fair
balance of military power.  Great Britain holds the scales.  If
Britain were driven into war with one confederacy, it would assure
the supremacy of the other confederacy, whether they joined in the
war or not.  Do you follow?"

"Very clearly.  It is then the interest of the enemies of this
potentate to secure and publish this letter, so as to make a
breach between his country and ours?"

"Yes, sir."

"And to whom would this document be sent if it fell into the hands
of an enemy?"

"To any of the great Chancelleries of Europe.  It is probably
speeding on its way thither at the present instant as fast as
steam can take it."

Mr. Trelawney Hope dropped his head on his chest and groaned
aloud.  The Premier placed his hand kindly upon his shoulder.

"It is your misfortune, my dear fellow.  No one can blame you.
There is no precaution which you have neglected.  Now, Mr. Holmes,
you are in full possession of the facts.  What course do you
recommend?"

Holmes shook his head mournfully.

"You think, sir, that unless this document is recovered there will
be war?"

"I think it is very probable."

"Then, sir, prepare for war."

"That is a hard saying, Mr. Holmes."

"Consider the facts, sir.  It is inconceivable that it was taken
after eleven-thirty at night, since I understand that Mr. Hope and
his wife were both in the room from that hour until the loss was
found out.  It was taken, then, yesterday evening between
seven-thirty and eleven-thirty, probably near the earlier hour,
since whoever took it evidently knew that it was there, and would
naturally secure it as early as possible.  Now, sir, if a document
of this importance were taken at that hour, where can it be now?
No one has any reason to retain it.  It has been passed rapidly on
to those who need it.  What chance have we now to overtake or even
to trace it?  It is beyond our reach."

The Prime Minister rose from the settee.

"What you say is perfectly logical, Mr. Holmes.  I feel that the
matter is indeed out of our hands."

"Let us presume, for argument's sake, that the document was taken
by the maid or by the valet ----"

"They are both old and tried servants."

"I understand you to say that your room is on the second floor,
that there is no entrance from without, and that from within no
one could go up unobserved.  It must, then, be somebody in the
house who has taken it.  To whom would the thief take it?  To one
of several international spies and secret agents, whose names are
tolerably familiar to me.  There are three who may be said to be
the heads of their profession.  I will begin my research by going
round and finding if each of them is at his post.  If one is
missing -- especially if he has disappeared since last night -- we
will have some indication as to where the document has gone."

"Why should he be missing?" asked the European Secretary.  "He
would take the letter to an Embassy in London, as likely as not."

"I fancy not.  These agents work independently, and their
relations with the Embassies are often strained."

The Prime Minister nodded his acquiescence.

"I believe you are right, Mr. Holmes.  He would take so valuable a
prize to head-quarters with his own hands.  I think that your
course of action is an excellent one.  Meanwhile, Hope, we cannot
neglect all our other duties on account of this one misfortune.
Should there be any fresh developments during the day we shall
communicate with you, and you will no doubt let us know the
results of your own inquiries."

The two statesmen bowed and walked gravely from the room.

When our illustrious visitors had departed Holmes lit his pipe in
silence, and sat for some time lost in the deepest thought.  I had
opened the morning paper and was immersed in a sensational crime
which had occurred in London the night before, when my friend gave
an exclamation, sprang to his feet, and laid his pipe down upon
the mantelpiece.

"Yes," said he, "there is no better way of approaching it.  The
situation is desperate, but not hopeless.  Even now, if we could
be sure which of them has taken it, it is just possible that it
has not yet passed out of his hands.  After all, it is a question
of money with these fellows, and I have the British Treasury
behind me.  If it's on the market I'll buy it -- if it means
another penny on the income-tax.  It is conceivable that the
fellow might hold it back to see what bids come from this side
before he tries his luck on the other.  There are only those three
capable of playing so bold a game; there are Oberstein, La
Rothiere, and Eduardo Lucas.  I will see each of them."

I glanced at my morning paper.

"Is that Eduardo Lucas of Godolphin Street?"

"Yes."

"You will not see him."

"Why not?"

"He was murdered in his house last night."

My friend has so often astonished me in the course of our
adventures that it was with a sense of exultation that I realized
how completely I had astonished him.  He stared in amazement, and
then snatched the paper from my hands.  This was the paragraph
which I had been engaged in reading when he rose from his chair:--


                   "MURDER IN WESTMINSTER.

"A crime of mysterious character was committed last night at 16,
Godolphin Street, one of the old-fashioned and secluded rows of
eighteenth-century houses which lie between the river and the
Abbey, almost in the shadow of the great Tower of the Houses of
Parliament.  This small but select mansion has been inhabited for
some years by Mr. Eduardo Lucas, well known in society circles
both on account of his charming personality and because he has the
well-deserved reputation of being one of the best amateur tenors
in the country.  Mr. Lucas is an unmarried man, thirty-four years
of age, and his establishment consists of Mrs. Pringle, an elderly
housekeeper, and of Mitton, his valet.  The former retires early
and sleeps at the top of the house.  The valet was out for the
evening, visiting a friend at Hammersmith.  From ten o'clock
onwards Mr. Lucas had the house to himself.  What occurred during
that time has not yet transpired, but at a quarter to twelve
Police-constable Barrett, passing along Godolphin Street, observed
that the door of No. 16 was ajar.  He knocked, but received no
answer.  Perceiving a light in the front room he advanced into the
passage and again knocked, but without reply.  He then pushed open
the door and entered.  The room was in a state of wild disorder,
the furniture being all swept to one side, and one chair lying on
its back in the centre.  Beside this chair, and still grasping one
of its legs, lay the unfortunate tenant of the house.  He had been
stabbed to the heart and must have died instantly.  The knife with
which the crime had been committed was a curved Indian dagger,
plucked down from a trophy of Oriental arms which adorned one of
the walls.  Robbery does not appear to have been the motive of the
crime, for there had been no attempt to remove the valuable
contents of the room.  Mr. Eduardo Lucas was so well known and
popular that his violent and mysterious fate will arouse painful
interest and intense sympathy in a wide-spread circle of friends."

"Well, Watson, what do you make of this?" asked Holmes, after a
long pause.

"It is an amazing coincidence."

"A coincidence!  Here is one of the three men whom we had named as
possible actors in this drama, and he meets a violent death during
the very hours when we know that that drama was being enacted.
The odds are enormous against its being coincidence.  No figures
could express them.  No, my dear Watson, the two events are
connected -- _must_ be connected.  It is for us to find the
connection."

"But now the official police must know all."

"Not at all.  They know all they see at Godolphin Street.  They
know -- and shall know -- nothing of Whitehall Terrace.  Only _we_
know of both events, and can trace the relation between them.
There is one obvious point which would, in any case, have turned
my suspicions against Lucas.  Godolphin Street, Westminster, is
only a few minutes' walk from Whitehall Terrace.  The other secret
agents whom I have named live in the extreme West-end.  It was
easier, therefore, for Lucas than for the others to establish a
connection or receive a message from the European Secretary's
household -- a small thing, and yet where events are compressed
into a few hours it may prove essential.  Halloa! what have we
here?"

Mrs. Hudson had appeared with a lady's card upon her salver.
Holmes glanced at it, raised his eyebrows, and handed it over to
me.

"Ask Lady Hilda Trelawney Hope if she will be kind enough to step
up," said he.

A moment later our modest apartment, already so distinguished that
morning, was further honoured by the entrance of the most lovely
woman in London.  I had often heard of the beauty of the youngest
daughter of the Duke of Belminster, but no description of it, and
no contemplation of colourless photographs, had prepared me for
the subtle, delicate charm and the beautiful colouring of that
exquisite head.  And yet as we saw it that autumn morning it was
not its beauty which would be the first thing to impress the
observer.  The cheek was lovely, but it was paled with emotion;
the eyes were bright, but it was the brightness of fever; the
sensitive mouth was tight and drawn in an effort after
self-command.  Terror -- not beauty -- was what sprang first to
the eye as our fair visitor stood framed for an instant in the
open door.

"Has my husband been here, Mr. Holmes?"

"Yes, madam, he has been here."

"Mr. Holmes, I implore you not to tell him that I came here."
Holmes bowed coldly, and motioned the lady to a chair.

"Your ladyship places me in a very delicate position.  I beg that
you will sit down and tell me what you desire; but I fear that I
cannot make any unconditional promise."

She swept across the room and seated herself with her back to the
window.  It was a queenly presence -- tall, graceful, and
intensely womanly.

"Mr. Holmes," she said, and her white-gloved hands clasped and
unclasped as she spoke -- "I will speak frankly to you in the hope
that it may induce you to speak frankly in return.  There is
complete confidence between my husband and me on all matters save
one.  That one is politics.  On this his lips are sealed.  He
tells me nothing.  Now, I am aware that there was a most
deplorable occurrence in our house last night.  I know that a
paper has disappeared.  But because the matter is political my
husband refuses to take me into his complete confidence.  Now it
is essential -- essential, I say -- that I should thoroughly
understand it.  You are the only other person, save only these
politicians, who knows the true facts.  I beg you, then, Mr.
Holmes, to tell me exactly what has happened and what it will lead
to.  Tell me all, Mr. Holmes.  Let no regard for your client's
interests keep you silent, for I assure you that his interests, if
he would only see it, would be best served by taking me into his
complete confidence.  What was this paper which was stolen?"

"Madam, what you ask me is really impossible."

She groaned and sank her face in her hands.

"You must see that this is so, madam.  If your husband thinks fit
to keep you in the dark over this matter, is it for me, who has
only learned the true facts under the pledge of professional
secrecy, to tell what he has withheld?  It is not fair to ask it.
It is him whom you must ask."

"I have asked him.  I come to you as a last resource.  But without
your telling me anything definite, Mr. Holmes, you may do a great
service if you would enlighten me on one point."

"What is it, madam?"

"Is my husband's political career likely to suffer through this
incident?"

"Well, madam, unless it is set right it may certainly have a very
unfortunate effect."

"Ah!"  She drew in her breath sharply as one whose doubts are
resolved.

"One more question, Mr. Holmes.  From an expression which my
husband dropped in the first shock of this disaster I understood
that terrible public consequences might arise from the loss of
this document."

"If he said so, I certainly cannot deny it."

"Of what nature are they?"

"Nay, madam, there again you ask me more than I can possibly
answer."

"Then I will take up no more of your time.  I cannot blame you,
Mr. Holmes, for having refused to speak more freely, and you on
your side will not, I am sure, think the worse of me because I
desire, even against his will, to share my husband's anxieties.
Once more I beg that you will say nothing of my visit."  She
looked back at us from the door, and I had a last impression of
that beautiful haunted face, the startled eyes, and the drawn
mouth.  Then she was gone.

"Now, Watson, the fair sex is your department," said Holmes, with
a smile, when the dwindling frou-frou of skirts had ended in the
slam of the front door.  "What was the fair lady's game?  What did
she really want?"

"Surely her own statement is clear and her anxiety very natural."

"Hum!  Think of her appearance, Watson -- her manner, her
suppressed excitement, her restlessness, her tenacity in asking
questions.  Remember that she comes of a caste who do not lightly
show emotion."

"She was certainly much moved."

"Remember also the curious earnestness with which she assured us
that it was best for her husband that she should know all.  What
did she mean by that?  And you must have observed, Watson, how she
manoeuvred {1} to have the light at her back.  She did not wish us to
read her expression."

"Yes; she chose the one chair in the room."

"And yet the motives of women are so inscrutable.  You remember
the woman at Margate whom I suspected for the same reason.  No
powder on her nose -- that proved to be the correct solution.  How
can you build on such a quicksand?  Their most trivial action may
mean volumes, or their most extraordinary conduct may depend upon
a hairpin or a curling-tongs.  Good morning, Watson."

"You are off?"

"Yes; I will wile away the morning at Godolphin Street with our
friends of the regular establishment.  With Eduardo Lucas lies the
solution of our problem, though I must admit that I have not an
inkling as to what form it may take.  It is a capital mistake to
theorize in advance of the facts.  Do you stay on guard, my good
Watson, and receive any fresh visitors.  I'll join you at lunch if
I am able."


All that day and the next and the next Holmes was in a mood which
his friends would call taciturn, and others morose.  He ran out
and ran in, smoked incessantly, played snatches on his violin,
sank into reveries, devoured sandwiches at irregular hours, and
hardly answered the casual questions which I put to him.  It was
evident to me that things were not going well with him or his
quest.  He would say nothing of the case, and it was from the
papers that I learned the particulars of the inquest, and the
arrest with the subsequent release of John Mitton, the valet of
the deceased.  The coroner's jury brought in the obvious "Wilful
Murder," but the parties remained as unknown as ever.  No motive
was suggested.  The room was full of articles of value, but none
had been taken.  The dead man's papers had not been tampered with.
They were carefully examined, and showed that he was a keen
student of international politics, an indefatigable gossip, a
remarkable linguist, and an untiring letter-writer.  He had been
on intimate terms with the leading politicians of several
countries.  But nothing sensational was discovered among the
documents which filled his drawers.  As to his relations with
women, they appeared to have been promiscuous but superficial.  He
had many acquaintances among them, but few friends, and no one
whom he loved.  His habits were regular, his conduct inoffensive.
His death was an absolute mystery, and likely to remain so.

As to the arrest of John Mitton, the valet, it was a counsel of
despair as an alternative to absolute inaction.  But no case could
be sustained against him.  He had visited friends in Hammersmith
that night.  The _alibi_ was complete.  It is true that he started
home at an hour which should have brought him to Westminster
before the time when the crime was discovered, but his own
explanation that he had walked part of the way seemed probable
enough in view of the fineness of the night.  He had actually
arrived at twelve o'clock, and appeared to be overwhelmed by the
unexpected tragedy.  He had always been on good terms with his
master.  Several of the dead man's possessions -- notably a small
case of razors -- had been found in the valet's boxes, but he
explained that they had been presents from the deceased, and the
housekeeper was able to corroborate the story.  Mitton had been in
Lucas's employment for three years.  It was noticeable that Lucas
did not take Mitton on the Continent with him.  Sometimes he
visited Paris for three months on end, but Mitton was left in
charge of the Godolphin Street house.  As to the housekeeper, she
had heard nothing on the night of the crime.  If her master had a
visitor he had himself admitted him.

So for three mornings the mystery remained, so far as I could
follow it in the papers.  If Holmes knew more he kept his own
counsel, but, as he told me that Inspector Lestrade had taken him
into his confidence in the case, I knew that he was in close touch
with every development.  Upon the fourth day there appeared a long
telegram from Paris which seemed to solve the whole question.

"A discovery has just been made by the Parisian police," said the
_Daily Telegraph_, "which raises the veil which hung round the
tragic fate of Mr. Eduardo Lucas, who met his death by violence
last Monday night at Godolphin Street, Westminster.  Our readers
will remember that the deceased gentleman was found stabbed in his
room, and that some suspicion attached to his valet, but that the
case broke down on an _alibi_.  Yesterday a lady, who has been
known as Mme. Henri Fournaye, occupying a small villa in the Rue
Austerlitz, was reported to the authorities by her servants as
being insane.  An examination showed that she had indeed developed
mania of a dangerous and permanent form.  On inquiry the police
have discovered that Mme. Henri Fournaye only returned from a
journey to London on Tuesday last, and there is evidence to
connect her with the crime at Westminster.  A comparison of
photographs has proved conclusively that M. Henri Fournaye and
Eduardo Lucas were really one and the same person, and that the
deceased had for some reason lived a double life in London and
Paris.  Mme. Fournaye, who is of Creole origin, is of an extremely
excitable nature, and has suffered in the past from attacks of
jealousy which have amounted to frenzy.  It is conjectured that it
was in one of these that she committed the terrible crime which
has caused such a sensation in London.  Her movements upon the
Monday night have not yet been traced, but it is undoubted that a
woman answering to her description attracted much attention at
Charing Cross Station on Tuesday morning by the wildness of her
appearance and the violence of her gestures.  It is probable,
therefore, that the crime was either committed when insane, or
that its immediate effect was to drive the unhappy woman out of
her mind.  At present she is unable to give any coherent account
of the past, and the doctors hold out no hopes of the
re-establishment of her reason.  There is evidence that a woman,
who might have been Mme. Fournaye, was seen for some hours on
Monday night watching the house in Godolphin Street."

"What do you think of that, Holmes?"  I had read the account aloud
to him, while he finished his breakfast.

"My dear Watson," said he, as he rose from the table and paced up
and down the room, "you are most long-suffering, but if I have
told you nothing in the last three days it is because there is
nothing to tell.  Even now this report from Paris does not help us
much."

"Surely it is final as regards the man's death."

"The man's death is a mere incident -- a trivial episode -- in
comparison with our real task, which is to trace this document and
save a European catastrophe.  Only one important thing has
happened in the last three days, and that is that nothing has
happened.  I get reports almost hourly from the Government, and it
is certain that nowhere in Europe is there any sign of trouble.
Now, if this letter were loose -- no, it _can't_ be loose -- but
if it isn't loose, where can it be?  Who has it?  Why is it held
back?  That's the question that beats in my brain like a hammer.
Was it, indeed, a coincidence that Lucas should meet his death on
the night when the letter disappeared?  Did the letter ever reach
him?  If so, why is it not among his papers?  Did this mad wife of
his carry it off with her?  If so, is it in her house in Paris?
How could I search for it without the French police having their
suspicions aroused?  It is a case, my dear Watson, where the law
is as dangerous to us as the criminals are.  Every man's hand is
against us, and yet the interests at stake are colossal.  Should I
bring it to a successful conclusion it will certainly represent
the crowning glory of my career.  Ah, here is my latest from the
front!"  He glanced hurriedly at the note which had been handed
in.  "Halloa!  Lestrade seems to have observed something of
interest.  Put on your hat, Watson, and we will stroll down
together to Westminster."

It was my first visit to the scene of the crime -- a high, dingy,
narrow-chested house, prim, formal, and solid, like the century
which gave it birth.  Lestrade's bulldog features gazed out at us
from the front window, and he greeted us warmly when a big
constable had opened the door and let us in.  The room into which
we were shown was that in which the crime had been committed, but
no trace of it now remained, save an ugly, irregular stain upon
the carpet.  This carpet was a small square drugget in the centre
of the room, surrounded by a broad expanse of beautiful,
old-fashioned wood-flooring in square blocks highly polished.
Over the fireplace was a magnificent trophy of weapons, one of
which had been used on that tragic night.  In the window was a
sumptuous writing-desk, and every detail of the apartment, the
pictures, the rugs, and the hangings, all pointed to a taste which
was luxurious to the verge of effeminacy.

"Seen the Paris news?" asked Lestrade.

Holmes nodded.

"Our French friends seem to have touched the spot this time.  No
doubt it's just as they say.  She knocked at the door -- surprise
visit, I guess, for he kept his life in water-tight compartments.
He let her in -- couldn't keep her in the street.  She told him
how she had traced him, reproached him, one thing led to another,
and then with that dagger so handy the end soon came.  It wasn't
all done in an instant, though, for these chairs were all swept
over yonder, and he had one in his hand as if he had tried to hold
her off with it.  We've got it all clear as if we had seen it."

Holmes raised his eyebrows.

"And yet you have sent for me?"

"Ah, yes, that's another matter -- a mere trifle, but the sort of
thing you take an interest in -- queer, you know, and what you
might call freakish.  It has nothing to do with the main fact --
can't have, on the face of it."

"What is it, then?"

"Well, you know, after a crime of this sort we are very careful to
keep things in their position.  Nothing has been moved.  Officer
in charge here day and night.  This morning, as the man was buried
and the investigation over -- so far as this room is concerned --
we thought we could tidy up a bit.  This carpet.  You see, it is
not fastened down; only just laid there.  We had occasion to raise
it.  We found ----"

"Yes?  You found ----"

Holmes's face grew tense with anxiety.

"Well, I'm sure you would never guess in a hundred years what we
did find.  You see that stain on the carpet?  Well, a great deal
must have soaked through, must it not?"

"Undoubtedly it must."

"Well, you will be surprised to hear that there is no stain on the
white woodwork to correspond."

"No stain!  But there must ----"

"Yes; so you would say.  But the fact remains that there isn't."

He took the corner of the carpet in his hand and, turning it over,
he showed that it was indeed as he said.

"But the underside is as stained as the upper.  It must have left
a mark."

Lestrade chuckled with delight at having puzzled the famous
expert.

"Now I'll show you the explanation.  There _is_ a second stain,
but it does not correspond with the other.  See for yourself."  As
he spoke he turned over another portion of the carpet, and there,
sure enough, was a great crimson spill upon the square white
facing of the old-fashioned floor.  "What do you make of that, Mr.
Holmes?"

"Why, it is simple enough.  The two stains did correspond, but the
carpet has been turned round.  As it was square and unfastened it
was easily done."

The official police don't need you, Mr. Holmes, to tell them that
the carpet must have been turned round.  That's clear enough, for
the stains lie above each other -- if you lay it over this way.
But what I want to know is, who shifted the carpet, and why?"

I could see from Holmes's rigid face that he was vibrating with
inward excitement.

"Look here, Lestrade," said he, "has that constable in the passage
been in charge of the place all the time?"

"Yes, he has."

"Well, take my advice.  Examine him carefully.  Don't do it before
us.  We'll wait here.  You take him into the back room.  You'll be
more likely to get a confession out of him alone.  Ask him how he
dared to admit people and leave them alone in this room.  Don't
ask him if he has done it.  Take it for granted.  Tell him you
_know_ someone has been here.  Press him.  Tell him that a full
confession is his only chance of forgiveness.  Do exactly what I
tell you!"

"By George, if he knows I'll have it out of him!" cried Lestrade.
He darted into the hall, and a few moments later his bullying
voice sounded from the back room.

"Now, Watson, now!" cried Holmes, with frenzied eagerness.  All
the demoniacal force of the man masked behind that listless manner
burst out in a paroxysm of energy.  He tore the drugget from the
floor, and in an instant was down on his hands and knees clawing
at each of the squares of wood beneath it.  One turned sideways as
he dug his nails into the edge of it.  It hinged back like the lid
of a box.  A small black cavity opened beneath it.  Holmes plunged
his eager hand into it, and drew it out with a bitter snarl of
anger and disappointment.  It was empty.

"Quick, Watson, quick!  Get it back again!"  The wooden lid was
replaced, and the drugget had only just been drawn straight when
Lestrade's voice was heard in the passage.  He found Holmes
leaning languidly against the mantelpiece, resigned and patient,
endeavouring to conceal his irrepressible yawns.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Holmes.  I can see that you are
bored to death with the whole affair.  Well, he has confessed, all
right.  Come in here, MacPherson.  Let these gentlemen hear of
your most inexcusable conduct."

The big constable, very hot and penitent, sidled into the room.

"I meant no harm, sir, I'm sure.  The young woman came to the door
last evening -- mistook the house, she did.  And then we got
talking.  It's lonesome, when you're on duty here all day."

"Well, what happened then?"

"She wanted to see where the crime was done -- had read about it
in the papers, she said.  She was a very respectable, well-spoken
young woman, sir, and I saw no harm in letting her have a peep.
When she saw that mark on the carpet, down she dropped on the
floor, and lay as if she were dead.  I ran to the back and got
some water, but I could not bring her to.  Then I went round the
corner to the Ivy Plant for some brandy, and by the time I had
brought it back the young woman had recovered and was off --
ashamed of herself, I dare say, and dared not face me."

"How about moving that drugget?"

"Well, sir, it was a bit rumpled, certainly, when I came back. You
see, she fell on it, and it lies on a polished floor with nothing
to keep it in place.  I straightened it out afterwards."

"It's a lesson to you that you can't deceive me, Constable
MacPherson," said Lestrade, with dignity.  "No doubt you thought
that your breach of duty could never be discovered, and yet a mere
glance at that drugget was enough to convince me that someone had
been admitted to the room.  It's lucky for you, my man, that
nothing is missing, or you would find yourself in Queer Street.
I'm sorry to have called you down over such a petty business, Mr.
Holmes, but I thought the point of the second stain not
corresponding with the first would interest you."

"Certainly, it was most interesting.  Has this woman only been
here once, constable?"

"Yes, sir, only once."

"Who was she?"

"Don't know the name, sir.  Was answering an advertisement about
type-writing, and came to the wrong number -- very pleasant,
genteel young woman, sir."

"Tall?  Handsome?"

"Yes, sir; she was a well-grown young woman.  I suppose you might
say she was handsome.  Perhaps some would say she was very
handsome.  'Oh, officer, do let me have a peep!' says she.  She
had pretty, coaxing ways, as you might say, and I thought there
was no harm in letting her just put her head through the door."

"How was she dressed?"

"Quiet, sir -- a long mantle down to her feet."

"What time was it?"

"It was just growing dusk at the time.  They were lighting the
lamps as I came back with the brandy."

"Very good," said Holmes.  "Come, Watson, I think that we have
more important work elsewhere."

As we left the house Lestrade remained in the front room, while
the repentant constable opened the door to let us out.  Holmes
turned on the step and held up something in his hand.  The
constable stared intently.

"Good Lord, sir!" he cried, with amazement on his face.  Holmes
put his finger on his lips, replaced his hand in his
breast-pocket, and burst out laughing as we turned down the
street. "Excellent!" said he.  "Come, friend Watson, the curtain
rings up for the last act.  You will be relieved to hear that
there will be no war, that the Right Honourable Trelawney Hope
will suffer no set-back in his brilliant career, that the
indiscreet Sovereign will receive no punishment for his
indiscretion, that the Prime Minister will have no European
complication to deal with, and that with a little tact and
management upon our part nobody will be a penny the worse for what
might have been a very ugly incident."

My mind filled with admiration for this extraordinary man.

"You have solved it!" I cried.

"Hardly that, Watson.  There are some points which are as dark as
ever.  But we have so much that it will be our own fault if we
cannot get the rest.  We will go straight to Whitehall Terrace and
bring the matter to a head."

When we arrived at the residence of the European Secretary it was
for Lady Hilda Trelawney Hope that Sherlock Holmes inquired.  We
were shown into the morning-room.

"Mr. Holmes!" said the lady, and her face was pink with her
indignation,  "this is surely most unfair and ungenerous upon your
part.  I desired, as I have explained, to keep my visit to you a
secret, lest my husband should think that I was intruding into his
affairs.  And yet you compromise me by coming here and so showing
that there are business relations between us."

"Unfortunately, madam, I had no possible alternative.  I have been
commissioned to recover this immensely important paper.  I must
therefore ask you, madam, to be kind enough to place it in my
hands."

The lady sprang to her feet, with the colour all dashed in an
instant from her beautiful face.  Her eyes glazed -- she tottered
-- I thought that she would faint.  Then with a grand effort she
rallied from the shock, and a supreme astonishment and indignation
chased every other expression from her features.

"You -- you insult me, Mr. Holmes."

"Come, come, madam, it is useless.  Give up the letter."

She darted to the bell.

"The butler shall show you out."

"Do not ring, Lady Hilda.  If you do, then all my earnest efforts
to avoid a scandal will be frustrated.  Give up the letter and all
will be set right.  If you will work with me I can arrange
everything.  If you work against me I must expose you."

She stood grandly defiant, a queenly figure, her eyes fixed upon
his as if she would read his very soul.  Her hand was on the bell,
but she had forborne to ring it.

"You are trying to frighten me.  It is not a very manly thing, Mr.
Holmes, to come here and browbeat a woman.  You say that you know
something.  What is it that you know?"

"Pray sit down, madam.  You will hurt yourself there if you fall.
I will not speak until you sit down.  Thank you."

"I give you five minutes, Mr. Holmes."

"One is enough, Lady Hilda.  I know of your visit to Eduardo
Lucas, of your giving him this document, of your ingenious return
to the room last night, and of the manner in which you took the
letter from the hiding-place under the carpet."

She stared at him with an ashen face and gulped twice before she
could speak.

"You are mad, Mr. Holmes -- you are mad!" she cried, at last.

He drew a small piece of cardboard from his pocket.  It was the
face of a woman cut out of a portrait.

"I have carried this because I thought it might be useful," said
he.  "The policeman has recognised it."

She gave a gasp and her head dropped back in the chair.

"Come, Lady Hilda.  You have the letter.  The matter may still be
adjusted.  I have no desire to bring trouble to you.  My duty ends
when I have returned the lost letter to your husband.  Take my
advice and be frank with me; it is your only chance."

Her courage was admirable.  Even now she would not own defeat.

"I tell you again, Mr. Holmes, that you are under some absurd
illusion."

Holmes rose from his chair.

"I am sorry for you, Lady Hilda.  I have done my best for you; I
can see that it is all in vain."

He rang the bell.  The butler entered.

"Is Mr. Trelawney Hope at home?"

"He will be home, sir, at a quarter to one."

Holmes glanced at his watch.

"Still a quarter of an hour," said he.  "Very good, I shall wait."

The butler had hardly closed the door behind him when Lady Hilda
was down on her knees at Holmes's feet, her hands outstretched,
her beautiful face upturned and wet with her tears.

"Oh, spare me, Mr. Holmes!  Spare me!" she pleaded, in a frenzy of
supplication.  "For Heaven's sake, don't tell him!  I love him so!
I would not bring one shadow on his life, and this I know would
break his noble heart."

Holmes raised the lady.  "I am thankful, madam, that you have come
to your senses even at this last moment!  There is not an instant
to lose.  Where is the letter?"

She darted across to a writing-desk, unlocked it, and drew out a
long blue envelope.

"Here it is, Mr. Holmes.  Would to Heaven I had never seen it!"

"How can we return it?" Holmes muttered.  "Quick, quick, we must
think of some way!  Where is the despatch-box?"

"Still in his bedroom."

"What a stroke of luck!  Quick, madam, bring it here!"

A moment later she had appeared with a red flat box in her hand.

"How did you open it before?  You have a duplicate key?  Yes, of
course you have.  Open it!"

From out of her bosom Lady Hilda had drawn a small key.  The box
flew open.  It was stuffed with papers.  Holmes thrust the blue
envelope deep down into the heart of them, between the leaves of
some other document.  The box was shut, locked, and returned to
the bedroom.

"Now we are ready for him," said Holmes; "we have still ten
minutes.  I am going far to screen you, Lady Hilda.  In return you
will spend the time in telling me frankly the real meaning of this
extraordinary affair."

"Mr. Holmes, I will tell you everything," cried the lady.  "Oh,
Mr. Holmes, I would cut off my right hand before I gave him a
moment of sorrow!  There is no woman in all London who loves her
husband as I do, and yet if he knew how I have acted -- how I have
been compelled to act -- he would never forgive me.  For his own
honour stands so high that he could not forget or pardon a lapse
in another.  Help me, Mr. Holmes!  My happiness, his happiness,
our very lives are at stake!"

"Quick, madam, the time grows short!"

"It was a letter of mine, Mr. Holmes, an indiscreet letter written
before my marriage -- a foolish letter, a letter of an impulsive,
loving girl.  I meant no harm, and yet he would have thought it
criminal.  Had he read that letter his confidence would have been
for ever destroyed.  It is years since I wrote it.  I had thought
that the whole matter was forgotten.  Then at last I heard from
this man, Lucas, that it had passed into his hands, and that he
would lay it before my husband.  I implored his mercy.  He said
that he would return my letter if I would bring him a certain
document which he described in my husband's despatch-box.  He had
some spy in the office who had told him of its existence.  He
assured me that no harm could come to my husband.  Put yourself in
my position, Mr. Holmes!  What was I to do?"

"Take your husband into your confidence."

"I could not, Mr. Holmes, I could not!  On the one side seemed
certain ruin; on the other, terrible as it seemed to take my
husband's paper, still in a matter of politics I could not
understand the consequences, while in a matter of love and trust
they were only too clear to me.  I did it, Mr. Holmes!  I took an
impression of his key; this man Lucas furnished a duplicate.  I
opened his despatch-box, took the paper, and conveyed it to
Godolphin Street."

"What happened there, madam?"

"I tapped at the door as agreed.  Lucas opened it.  I followed him
into his room, leaving the hall door ajar behind me, for I feared
to be alone with the man.  I remember that there was a woman
outside as I entered.  Our business was soon done.  He had my
letter on his desk; I handed him the document.  He gave me the
letter.  At this instant there was a sound at the door.  There
were steps in the passage.  Lucas quickly turned back the drugget,
thrust the document into some hiding-place there, and covered it
over.

"What happened after that is like some fearful dream.  I have a
vision of a dark, frantic face, of a woman's voice, which screamed
in French, 'My waiting is not in vain.  At last, at last I have
found you with her!'  There was a savage struggle.  I saw him with
a chair in his hand, a knife gleamed in hers.  I rushed from the
horrible scene, ran from the house, and only next morning in the
paper did I learn the dreadful result.  That night I was happy,
for I had my letter, and I had not seen yet what the future would
bring.

"It was next morning that I realized that I had only exchanged one
trouble for another.  My husband's anguish at the loss of his
paper went to my heart.  I could hardly prevent myself from there
and then kneeling down at his feet and telling him what I had
done.  But that again would mean a confession of the past.  I came
to you that morning in order to understand the full enormity of my
offence.  From the instant that I grasped it my whole mind was
turned to the one thought of getting back my husband's paper.  It
must still be where Lucas had placed it, for it was concealed
before this dreadful woman entered the room.  If it had not been
for her coming, I should not have known where his hiding-place
was.  How was I to get into the room?  For two days I watched the
place, but the door was never left open.  Last night I made a last
attempt.  What I did and how I succeeded, you have already
learned.  I brought the paper back with me, and thought of
destroying it since I could see no way of returning it, without
confessing my guilt to my husband.  Heavens, I hear his step upon
the stair!"

The European Secretary burst excitedly into the room.

"Any news, Mr. Holmes, any news?" he cried.

"I have some hopes."

"Ah, thank Heaven!"  His face became radiant.  "The Prime Minister
is lunching with me.  May he share your hopes?  He has nerves of
steel, and yet I know that he has hardly slept since this terrible
event.  Jacobs, will you ask the Prime Minister to come up?  As to
you, dear, I fear that this is a matter of politics.  We will join
you in a few minutes in the dining-room."

The Prime Minister's manner was subdued, but I could see by the
gleam of his eyes and the twitchings of his bony hands that he
shared the excitement of his young colleague.

"I understand that you have something to report, Mr. Holmes?"

"Purely negative as yet," my friend answered.  "I have inquired at
every point where it might be, and I am sure that there is no
danger to be apprehended."

"But that is not enough, Mr. Holmes.  We cannot live for ever on
such a volcano.  We must have something definite."

"I am in hopes of getting it.  That is why I am here.  The more I
think of the matter the more convinced I am that the letter has
never left this house."

"Mr. Holmes!"

"If it had it would certainly have been public by now."

"But why should anyone take it in order to keep it in this house?"

"I am not convinced that anyone did take it."

"Then how could it leave the despatch-box?"

"I am not convinced that it ever did leave the despatch-box."

"Mr. Holmes, this joking is very ill-timed.  You have my assurance
that it left the box."

"Have you examined the box since Tuesday morning?"

"No; it was not necessary."

"You may conceivably have overlooked it."

"Impossible, I say."

"But I am not convinced of it; I have known such things to happen.
I presume there are other papers there.  Well, it may have got
mixed with them."

"It was on the top."

"Someone may have shaken the box and displaced it."

"No, no; I had everything out."

"Surely it is easily decided, Hope," said the Premier.  "Let us
have the despatch-box brought in."

The Secretary rang the bell.

"Jacobs, bring down my despatch-box.  This is a farcical waste of
time, but still, if nothing else will satisfy you, it shall be
done.  Thank you, Jacobs; put it here.  I have always had the key
on my watch-chain.  Here are the papers, you see.  Letter from
Lord Merrow, report from Sir Charles Hardy, memorandum from
Belgrade, note on the Russo-German grain taxes, letter from
Madrid, note from Lord Flowers -- good heavens! what is this?
Lord Bellinger! Lord Bellinger!"

The Premier snatched the blue envelope from his hand.

"Yes, it is it -- and the letter is intact.  Hope, I congratulate
you."

"Thank you!  Thank you!  What a weight from my heart.  But this is
inconceivable -- impossible.  Mr. Holmes, you are a wizard, a
sorcerer!  How did you know it was there?"

"Because I knew it was nowhere else."

"I cannot believe my eyes!"  He ran wildly to the door.  "Where is
my wife?  I must tell her that all is well.  Hilda! Hilda!" we
heard his voice on the stairs.

The Premier looked at Holmes with twinkling eyes.

"Come, sir," said he.  "There is more in this than meets the eye.
How came the letter back in the box?"

Holmes turned away smiling from the keen scrutiny of those
wonderful eyes.

"We also have our diplomatic secrets," said he, and picking up his
hat he turned to the door.

{---------------------------------------------------------------}