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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
+
+Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+Release Date: March, 1997 [eBook #834]
+[Most recently updated: December 2, 2023]
+
+Language: English
+
+Produced by: Angela M. Cable
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ***
+
+
+
+
+cover 
+
+
+
+
+THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
+
+
+
+by Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+   I. Silver Blaze
+   II. The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
+   III. The Yellow Face
+   IV. The Stockbroker’s Clerk
+   V. The “Gloria Scott”
+   VI. The Musgrave Ritual
+   VII. The Reigate Squires
+   VIII. The Crooked Man
+   IX. The Resident Patient
+   X. The Greek Interpreter
+   XI. The Naval Treaty
+   XII. The Final Problem
+
+
+
+
+I. Silver Blaze
+
+
+      I am afraid, Watson, that I shall have to go,” said Holmes, as we
+      sat down together to our breakfast one morning.
+
+      “Go! Where to?”
+
+      “To Dartmoor; to King’s Pyland.”
+
+      I was not surprised. Indeed, my only wonder was that he had not
+      already been mixed up in this extraordinary case, which was the
+      one topic of conversation through the length and breadth of
+      England. For a whole day my companion had rambled about the room
+      with his chin upon his chest and his brows knitted, charging and
+      recharging his pipe with the strongest black tobacco, and
+      absolutely deaf to any of my questions or remarks. Fresh editions
+      of every paper had been sent up by our news agent, only to be
+      glanced over and tossed down into a corner. Yet, silent as he
+      was, I knew perfectly well what it was over which he was
+      brooding. There was but one problem before the public which could
+      challenge his powers of analysis, and that was the singular
+      disappearance of the favourite for the Wessex Cup, and the tragic
+      murder of its trainer. When, therefore, he suddenly announced his
+      intention of setting out for the scene of the drama it was only
+      what I had both expected and hoped for.
+
+      “I should be most happy to go down with you if I should not be in
+      the way,” said I.
+
+      “My dear Watson, you would confer a great favour upon me by
+      coming. And I think that your time will not be misspent, for
+      there are points about the case which promise to make it an
+      absolutely unique one. We have, I think, just time to catch our
+      train at Paddington, and I will go further into the matter upon
+      our journey. You would oblige me by bringing with you your very
+      excellent field-glass.”
+
+      And so it happened that an hour or so later I found myself in the
+      corner of a first-class carriage flying along en route for
+      Exeter, while Sherlock Holmes, with his sharp, eager face framed
+      in his ear-flapped travelling-cap, dipped rapidly into the bundle
+      of fresh papers which he had procured at Paddington. We had left
+      Reading far behind us before he thrust the last one of them under
+      the seat, and offered me his cigar-case.
+
+      “We are going well,” said he, looking out the window and glancing
+      at his watch. “Our rate at present is fifty-three and a half
+      miles an hour.”
+
+      “I have not observed the quarter-mile posts,” said I.
+
+      “Nor have I. But the telegraph posts upon this line are sixty
+      yards apart, and the calculation is a simple one. I presume that
+      you have looked into this matter of the murder of John Straker
+      and the disappearance of Silver Blaze?”
+
+      “I have seen what the _Telegraph_ and the _Chronicle_ have to
+      say.”
+
+      “It is one of those cases where the art of the reasoner should be
+      used rather for the sifting of details than for the acquiring of
+      fresh evidence. The tragedy has been so uncommon, so complete and
+      of such personal importance to so many people, that we are
+      suffering from a plethora of surmise, conjecture, and hypothesis.
+      The difficulty is to detach the framework of fact—of absolute
+      undeniable fact—from the embellishments of theorists and
+      reporters. Then, having established ourselves upon this sound
+      basis, it is our duty to see what inferences may be drawn and
+      what are the special points upon which the whole mystery turns.
+      On Tuesday evening I received telegrams from both Colonel Ross,
+      the owner of the horse, and from Inspector Gregory, who is
+      looking after the case, inviting my co-operation.”
+
+      “Tuesday evening!” I exclaimed. “And this is Thursday morning.
+      Why didn’t you go down yesterday?”
+
+      “Because I made a blunder, my dear Watson—which is, I am afraid,
+      a more common occurrence than any one would think who only knew
+      me through your memoirs. The fact is that I could not believe it
+      possible that the most remarkable horse in England could long
+      remain concealed, especially in so sparsely inhabited a place as
+      the north of Dartmoor. From hour to hour yesterday I expected to
+      hear that he had been found, and that his abductor was the
+      murderer of John Straker. When, however, another morning had
+      come, and I found that beyond the arrest of young Fitzroy Simpson
+      nothing had been done, I felt that it was time for me to take
+      action. Yet in some ways I feel that yesterday has not been
+      wasted.”
+
+      “You have formed a theory, then?”
+
+      “At least I have got a grip of the essential facts of the case. I
+      shall enumerate them to you, for nothing clears up a case so much
+      as stating it to another person, and I can hardly expect your
+      co-operation if I do not show you the position from which we
+      start.”
+
+      I lay back against the cushions, puffing at my cigar, while
+      Holmes, leaning forward, with his long, thin forefinger checking
+      off the points upon the palm of his left hand, gave me a sketch
+      of the events which had led to our journey.
+
+      “Silver Blaze,” said he, “is from the Isonomy stock, and holds as
+      brilliant a record as his famous ancestor. He is now in his fifth
+      year, and has brought in turn each of the prizes of the turf to
+      Colonel Ross, his fortunate owner. Up to the time of the
+      catastrophe he was the first favourite for the Wessex Cup, the
+      betting being three to one on him. He has always, however, been a
+      prime favourite with the racing public, and has never yet
+      disappointed them, so that even at those odds enormous sums of
+      money have been laid upon him. It is obvious, therefore, that
+      there were many people who had the strongest interest in
+      preventing Silver Blaze from being there at the fall of the flag
+      next Tuesday.
+
+      “The fact was, of course, appreciated at King’s Pyland, where the
+      Colonel’s training-stable is situated. Every precaution was taken
+      to guard the favourite. The trainer, John Straker, is a retired
+      jockey who rode in Colonel Ross’s colours before he became too
+      heavy for the weighing-chair. He has served the Colonel for five
+      years as jockey and for seven as trainer, and has always shown
+      himself to be a zealous and honest servant. Under him were three
+      lads; for the establishment was a small one, containing only four
+      horses in all. One of these lads sat up each night in the stable,
+      while the others slept in the loft. All three bore excellent
+      characters. John Straker, who is a married man, lived in a small
+      villa about two hundred yards from the stables. He has no
+      children, keeps one maid-servant, and is comfortably off. The
+      country round is very lonely, but about half a mile to the north
+      there is a small cluster of villas which have been built by a
+      Tavistock contractor for the use of invalids and others who may
+      wish to enjoy the pure Dartmoor air. Tavistock itself lies two
+      miles to the west, while across the moor, also about two miles
+      distant, is the larger training establishment of Mapleton, which
+      belongs to Lord Backwater, and is managed by Silas Brown. In
+      every other direction the moor is a complete wilderness,
+      inhabited only by a few roaming gypsies. Such was the general
+      situation last Monday night when the catastrophe occurred.
+
+      “On that evening the horses had been exercised and watered as
+      usual, and the stables were locked up at nine o’clock. Two of the
+      lads walked up to the trainer’s house, where they had supper in
+      the kitchen, while the third, Ned Hunter, remained on guard. At a
+      few minutes after nine the maid, Edith Baxter, carried down to
+      the stables his supper, which consisted of a dish of curried
+      mutton. She took no liquid, as there was a water-tap in the
+      stables, and it was the rule that the lad on duty should drink
+      nothing else. The maid carried a lantern with her, as it was very
+      dark and the path ran across the open moor.
+
+      “Edith Baxter was within thirty yards of the stables, when a man
+      appeared out of the darkness and called to her to stop. As he
+      stepped into the circle of yellow light thrown by the lantern she
+      saw that he was a person of gentlemanly bearing, dressed in a
+      grey suit of tweeds, with a cloth cap. He wore gaiters, and
+      carried a heavy stick with a knob to it. She was most impressed,
+      however, by the extreme pallor of his face and by the nervousness
+      of his manner. His age, she thought, would be rather over thirty
+      than under it.
+
+      “‘Can you tell me where I am?’ he asked. ‘I had almost made up my
+      mind to sleep on the moor, when I saw the light of your lantern.’
+
+      “‘You are close to the King’s Pyland training-stables,’ said she.
+
+      “‘Oh, indeed! What a stroke of luck!’ he cried. ‘I understand
+      that a stable-boy sleeps there alone every night. Perhaps that is
+      his supper which you are carrying to him. Now I am sure that you
+      would not be too proud to earn the price of a new dress, would
+      you?’ He took a piece of white paper folded up out of his
+      waistcoat pocket. ‘See that the boy has this to-night, and you
+      shall have the prettiest frock that money can buy.’
+
+      “She was frightened by the earnestness of his manner, and ran
+      past him to the window through which she was accustomed to hand
+      the meals. It was already opened, and Hunter was seated at the
+      small table inside. She had begun to tell him of what had
+      happened, when the stranger came up again.
+
+      “‘Good-evening,’ said he, looking through the window. ‘I wanted
+      to have a word with you.’ The girl has sworn that as he spoke she
+      noticed the corner of the little paper packet protruding from his
+      closed hand.
+
+      “‘What business have you here?’ asked the lad.
+
+      “‘It’s business that may put something into your pocket,’ said
+      the other. ‘You’ve two horses in for the Wessex Cup—Silver Blaze
+      and Bayard. Let me have the straight tip and you won’t be a
+      loser. Is it a fact that at the weights Bayard could give the
+      other a hundred yards in five furlongs, and that the stable have
+      put their money on him?’
+
+      “‘So, you’re one of those damned touts!’ cried the lad. ‘I’ll
+      show you how we serve them in King’s Pyland.’ He sprang up and
+      rushed across the stable to unloose the dog. The girl fled away
+      to the house, but as she ran she looked back and saw that the
+      stranger was leaning through the window. A minute later, however,
+      when Hunter rushed out with the hound he was gone, and though he
+      ran all round the buildings he failed to find any trace of him.”
+
+      “One moment,” I asked. “Did the stable-boy, when he ran out with
+      the dog, leave the door unlocked behind him?”
+
+      “Excellent, Watson, excellent!” murmured my companion. “The
+      importance of the point struck me so forcibly that I sent a
+      special wire to Dartmoor yesterday to clear the matter up. The
+      boy locked the door before he left it. The window, I may add, was
+      not large enough for a man to get through.
+
+      “Hunter waited until his fellow-grooms had returned, when he sent
+      a message to the trainer and told him what had occurred. Straker
+      was excited at hearing the account, although he does not seem to
+      have quite realized its true significance. It left him, however,
+      vaguely uneasy, and Mrs. Straker, waking at one in the morning,
+      found that he was dressing. In reply to her inquiries, he said
+      that he could not sleep on account of his anxiety about the
+      horses, and that he intended to walk down to the stables to see
+      that all was well. She begged him to remain at home, as she could
+      hear the rain pattering against the window, but in spite of her
+      entreaties he pulled on his large mackintosh and left the house.
+
+      “Mrs. Straker awoke at seven in the morning, to find that her
+      husband had not yet returned. She dressed herself hastily, called
+      the maid, and set off for the stables. The door was open; inside,
+      huddled together upon a chair, Hunter was sunk in a state of
+      absolute stupor, the favourite’s stall was empty, and there were
+      no signs of his trainer.
+
+      “The two lads who slept in the chaff-cutting loft above the
+      harness-room were quickly aroused. They had heard nothing during
+      the night, for they are both sound sleepers. Hunter was obviously
+      under the influence of some powerful drug, and as no sense could
+      be got out of him, he was left to sleep it off while the two lads
+      and the two women ran out in search of the absentees. They still
+      had hopes that the trainer had for some reason taken out the
+      horse for early exercise, but on ascending the knoll near the
+      house, from which all the neighbouring moors were visible, they
+      not only could see no signs of the missing favourite, but they
+      perceived something which warned them that they were in the
+      presence of a tragedy.
+
+      “About a quarter of a mile from the stables John Straker’s
+      overcoat was flapping from a furze-bush. Immediately beyond there
+      was a bowl-shaped depression in the moor, and at the bottom of
+      this was found the dead body of the unfortunate trainer. His head
+      had been shattered by a savage blow from some heavy weapon, and
+      he was wounded on the thigh, where there was a long, clean cut,
+      inflicted evidently by some very sharp instrument. It was clear,
+      however, that Straker had defended himself vigorously against his
+      assailants, for in his right hand he held a small knife, which
+      was clotted with blood up to the handle, while in his left he
+      clasped a red and black silk cravat, which was recognised by the
+      maid as having been worn on the preceding evening by the stranger
+      who had visited the stables.
+
+      “Hunter, on recovering from his stupor, was also quite positive
+      as to the ownership of the cravat. He was equally certain that
+      the same stranger had, while standing at the window, drugged his
+      curried mutton, and so deprived the stables of their watchman.
+
+      “As to the missing horse, there were abundant proofs in the mud
+      which lay at the bottom of the fatal hollow that he had been
+      there at the time of the struggle. But from that morning he has
+      disappeared, and although a large reward has been offered, and
+      all the gypsies of Dartmoor are on the alert, no news has come of
+      him. Finally, an analysis has shown that the remains of his
+      supper left by the stable-lad contain an appreciable quantity of
+      powdered opium, while the people at the house partook of the same
+      dish on the same night without any ill effect.
+
+      “Those are the main facts of the case, stripped of all surmise,
+      and stated as baldly as possible. I shall now recapitulate what
+      the police have done in the matter.
+
+      “Inspector Gregory, to whom the case has been committed, is an
+      extremely competent officer. Were he but gifted with imagination
+      he might rise to great heights in his profession. On his arrival
+      he promptly found and arrested the man upon whom suspicion
+      naturally rested. There was little difficulty in finding him, for
+      he inhabited one of those villas which I have mentioned. His
+      name, it appears, was Fitzroy Simpson. He was a man of excellent
+      birth and education, who had squandered a fortune upon the turf,
+      and who lived now by doing a little quiet and genteel book-making
+      in the sporting clubs of London. An examination of his
+      betting-book shows that bets to the amount of five thousand
+      pounds had been registered by him against the favourite.
+
+      “On being arrested he volunteered the statement that he had come
+      down to Dartmoor in the hope of getting some information about
+      the King’s Pyland horses, and also about Desborough, the second
+      favourite, which was in charge of Silas Brown at the Mapleton
+      stables. He did not attempt to deny that he had acted as
+      described upon the evening before, but declared that he had no
+      sinister designs, and had simply wished to obtain first-hand
+      information. When confronted with his cravat, he turned very
+      pale, and was utterly unable to account for its presence in the
+      hand of the murdered man. His wet clothing showed that he had
+      been out in the storm of the night before, and his stick, which
+      was a Penang-lawyer weighted with lead, was just such a weapon as
+      might, by repeated blows, have inflicted the terrible injuries to
+      which the trainer had succumbed.
+
+      “On the other hand, there was no wound upon his person, while the
+      state of Straker’s knife would show that one at least of his
+      assailants must bear his mark upon him. There you have it all in
+      a nutshell, Watson, and if you can give me any light I shall be
+      infinitely obliged to you.”
+
+      I had listened with the greatest interest to the statement which
+      Holmes, with characteristic clearness, had laid before me. Though
+      most of the facts were familiar to me, I had not sufficiently
+      appreciated their relative importance, nor their connection to
+      each other.
+
+      “Is it not possible,” I suggested, “that the incised wound upon
+      Straker may have been caused by his own knife in the convulsive
+      struggles which follow any brain injury?”
+
+      “It is more than possible; it is probable,” said Holmes. “In that
+      case one of the main points in favour of the accused disappears.”
+
+      “And yet,” said I, “even now I fail to understand what the theory
+      of the police can be.”
+
+      “I am afraid that whatever theory we state has very grave
+      objections to it,” returned my companion. “The police imagine, I
+      take it, that this Fitzroy Simpson, having drugged the lad, and
+      having in some way obtained a duplicate key, opened the stable
+      door and took out the horse, with the intention, apparently, of
+      kidnapping him altogether. His bridle is missing, so that Simpson
+      must have put this on. Then, having left the door open behind
+      him, he was leading the horse away over the moor, when he was
+      either met or overtaken by the trainer. A row naturally ensued.
+      Simpson beat out the trainer’s brains with his heavy stick
+      without receiving any injury from the small knife which Straker
+      used in self-defence, and then the thief either led the horse on
+      to some secret hiding-place, or else it may have bolted during
+      the struggle, and be now wandering out on the moors. That is the
+      case as it appears to the police, and improbable as it is, all
+      other explanations are more improbable still. However, I shall
+      very quickly test the matter when I am once upon the spot, and
+      until then I cannot really see how we can get much further than
+      our present position.”
+
+      It was evening before we reached the little town of Tavistock,
+      which lies, like the boss of a shield, in the middle of the huge
+      circle of Dartmoor. Two gentlemen were awaiting us in the
+      station—the one a tall, fair man with lion-like hair and beard
+      and curiously penetrating light blue eyes; the other a small,
+      alert person, very neat and dapper, in a frock-coat and gaiters,
+      with trim little side-whiskers and an eye-glass. The latter was
+      Colonel Ross, the well-known sportsman; the other, Inspector
+      Gregory, a man who was rapidly making his name in the English
+      detective service.
+
+      “I am delighted that you have come down, Mr. Holmes,” said the
+      Colonel. “The Inspector here has done all that could possibly be
+      suggested, but I wish to leave no stone unturned in trying to
+      avenge poor Straker and in recovering my horse.”
+
+      “Have there been any fresh developments?” asked Holmes.
+
+      “I am sorry to say that we have made very little progress,” said
+      the Inspector. “We have an open carriage outside, and as you
+      would no doubt like to see the place before the light fails, we
+      might talk it over as we drive.”
+
+      A minute later we were all seated in a comfortable landau, and
+      were rattling through the quaint old Devonshire city. Inspector
+      Gregory was full of his case, and poured out a stream of remarks,
+      while Holmes threw in an occasional question or interjection.
+      Colonel Ross leaned back with his arms folded and his hat tilted
+      over his eyes, while I listened with interest to the dialogue of
+      the two detectives. Gregory was formulating his theory, which was
+      almost exactly what Holmes had foretold in the train.
+
+      “The net is drawn pretty close round Fitzroy Simpson,” he
+      remarked, “and I believe myself that he is our man. At the same
+      time I recognise that the evidence is purely circumstantial, and
+      that some new development may upset it.”
+
+      “How about Straker’s knife?”
+
+      “We have quite come to the conclusion that he wounded himself in
+      his fall.”
+
+      “My friend Dr. Watson made that suggestion to me as we came down.
+      If so, it would tell against this man Simpson.”
+
+      “Undoubtedly. He has neither a knife nor any sign of a wound. The
+      evidence against him is certainly very strong. He had a great
+      interest in the disappearance of the favourite. He lies under
+      suspicion of having poisoned the stable-boy, he was undoubtedly
+      out in the storm, he was armed with a heavy stick, and his cravat
+      was found in the dead man’s hand. I really think we have enough
+      to go before a jury.”
+
+      Holmes shook his head. “A clever counsel would tear it all to
+      rags,” said he. “Why should he take the horse out of the stable?
+      If he wished to injure it why could he not do it there? Has a
+      duplicate key been found in his possession? What chemist sold him
+      the powdered opium? Above all, where could he, a stranger to the
+      district, hide a horse, and such a horse as this? What is his own
+      explanation as to the paper which he wished the maid to give to
+      the stable-boy?”
+
+      “He says that it was a ten-pound note. One was found in his
+      purse. But your other difficulties are not so formidable as they
+      seem. He is not a stranger to the district. He has twice lodged
+      at Tavistock in the summer. The opium was probably brought from
+      London. The key, having served its purpose, would be hurled away.
+      The horse may be at the bottom of one of the pits or old mines
+      upon the moor.”
+
+      “What does he say about the cravat?”
+
+      “He acknowledges that it is his, and declares that he had lost
+      it. But a new element has been introduced into the case which may
+      account for his leading the horse from the stable.”
+
+      Holmes pricked up his ears.
+
+      “We have found traces which show that a party of gypsies encamped
+      on Monday night within a mile of the spot where the murder took
+      place. On Tuesday they were gone. Now, presuming that there was
+      some understanding between Simpson and these gypsies, might he
+      not have been leading the horse to them when he was overtaken,
+      and may they not have him now?”
+
+      “It is certainly possible.”
+
+      “The moor is being scoured for these gypsies. I have also
+      examined every stable and out-house in Tavistock, and for a
+      radius of ten miles.”
+
+      “There is another training-stable quite close, I understand?”
+
+      “Yes, and that is a factor which we must certainly not neglect.
+      As Desborough, their horse, was second in the betting, they had
+      an interest in the disappearance of the favourite. Silas Brown,
+      the trainer, is known to have had large bets upon the event, and
+      he was no friend to poor Straker. We have, however, examined the
+      stables, and there is nothing to connect him with the affair.”
+
+      “And nothing to connect this man Simpson with the interests of
+      the Mapleton stables?”
+
+      “Nothing at all.”
+
+      Holmes leaned back in the carriage, and the conversation ceased.
+      A few minutes later our driver pulled up at a neat little
+      red-brick villa with overhanging eaves which stood by the road.
+      Some distance off, across a paddock, lay a long grey-tiled
+      out-building. In every other direction the low curves of the
+      moor, bronze-coloured from the fading ferns, stretched away to
+      the sky-line, broken only by the steeples of Tavistock, and by a
+      cluster of houses away to the westward which marked the Mapleton
+      stables. We all sprang out with the exception of Holmes, who
+      continued to lean back with his eyes fixed upon the sky in front
+      of him, entirely absorbed in his own thoughts. It was only when I
+      touched his arm that he roused himself with a violent start and
+      stepped out of the carriage.
+
+      “Excuse me,” said he, turning to Colonel Ross, who had looked at
+      him in some surprise. “I was day-dreaming.” There was a gleam in
+      his eyes and a suppressed excitement in his manner which
+      convinced me, used as I was to his ways, that his hand was upon a
+      clue, though I could not imagine where he had found it.
+
+      “Perhaps you would prefer at once to go on to the scene of the
+      crime, Mr. Holmes?” said Gregory.
+
+      “I think that I should prefer to stay here a little and go into
+      one or two questions of detail. Straker was brought back here, I
+      presume?”
+
+      “Yes; he lies upstairs. The inquest is to-morrow.”
+
+      “He has been in your service some years, Colonel Ross?”
+
+      “I have always found him an excellent servant.”
+
+      “I presume that you made an inventory of what he had in his
+      pockets at the time of his death, Inspector?”
+
+      “I have the things themselves in the sitting-room, if you would
+      care to see them.”
+
+      “I should be very glad.” We all filed into the front room and sat
+      round the central table while the Inspector unlocked a square tin
+      box and laid a small heap of things before us. There was a box of
+      vestas, two inches of tallow candle, an A.D.P. briar-root pipe, a
+      pouch of seal-skin with half an ounce of long-cut Cavendish, a
+      silver watch with a gold chain, five sovereigns in gold, an
+      aluminium pencil-case, a few papers, and an ivory-handled knife
+      with a very delicate, inflexible blade marked Weiss & Co.,
+      London.
+
+      “This is a very singular knife,” said Holmes, lifting it up and
+      examining it minutely. “I presume, as I see blood-stains upon it,
+      that it is the one which was found in the dead man’s grasp.
+      Watson, this knife is surely in your line?”
+
+      “It is what we call a cataract knife,” said I.
+
+      “I thought so. A very delicate blade devised for very delicate
+      work. A strange thing for a man to carry with him upon a rough
+      expedition, especially as it would not shut in his pocket.”
+
+      “The tip was guarded by a disk of cork which we found beside his
+      body,” said the Inspector. “His wife tells us that the knife had
+      lain upon the dressing-table, and that he had picked it up as he
+      left the room. It was a poor weapon, but perhaps the best that he
+      could lay his hands on at the moment.”
+
+      “Very possible. How about these papers?”
+
+      “Three of them are receipted hay-dealers’ accounts. One of them
+      is a letter of instructions from Colonel Ross. This other is a
+      milliner’s account for thirty-seven pounds fifteen made out by
+      Madame Lesurier, of Bond Street, to William Derbyshire. Mrs.
+      Straker tells us that Derbyshire was a friend of her husband’s
+      and that occasionally his letters were addressed here.”
+
+      “Madam Derbyshire had somewhat expensive tastes,” remarked
+      Holmes, glancing down the account. “Twenty-two guineas is rather
+      heavy for a single costume. However there appears to be nothing
+      more to learn, and we may now go down to the scene of the crime.”
+
+      As we emerged from the sitting-room a woman, who had been waiting
+      in the passage, took a step forward and laid her hand upon the
+      Inspector’s sleeve. Her face was haggard and thin and eager,
+      stamped with the print of a recent horror.
+
+      “Have you got them? Have you found them?” she panted.
+
+      “No, Mrs. Straker. But Mr. Holmes here has come from London to
+      help us, and we shall do all that is possible.”
+
+      “Surely I met you in Plymouth at a garden-party some little time
+      ago, Mrs. Straker?” said Holmes.
+
+      “No, sir; you are mistaken.”
+
+      “Dear me! Why, I could have sworn to it. You wore a costume of
+      dove-coloured silk with ostrich-feather trimming.”
+
+      “I never had such a dress, sir,” answered the lady.
+
+      “Ah, that quite settles it,” said Holmes. And with an apology he
+      followed the Inspector outside. A short walk across the moor took
+      us to the hollow in which the body had been found. At the brink
+      of it was the furze-bush upon which the coat had been hung.
+
+      “There was no wind that night, I understand,” said Holmes.
+
+      “None; but very heavy rain.”
+
+      “In that case the overcoat was not blown against the furze-bush,
+      but placed there.”
+
+      “Yes, it was laid across the bush.”
+
+      “You fill me with interest, I perceive that the ground has been
+      trampled up a good deal. No doubt many feet have been here since
+      Monday night.”
+
+      “A piece of matting has been laid here at the side, and we have
+      all stood upon that.”
+
+      “Excellent.”
+
+      “In this bag I have one of the boots which Straker wore, one of
+      Fitzroy Simpson’s shoes, and a cast horseshoe of Silver Blaze.”
+
+      “My dear Inspector, you surpass yourself!” Holmes took the bag,
+      and, descending into the hollow, he pushed the matting into a
+      more central position. Then stretching himself upon his face and
+      leaning his chin upon his hands, he made a careful study of the
+      trampled mud in front of him. “Hullo!” said he, suddenly. “What’s
+      this?” It was a wax vesta half burned, which was so coated with
+      mud that it looked at first like a little chip of wood.
+
+      “I cannot think how I came to overlook it,” said the Inspector,
+      with an expression of annoyance.
+
+      “It was invisible, buried in the mud. I only saw it because I was
+      looking for it.”
+
+      “What! You expected to find it?”
+
+      “I thought it not unlikely.”
+
+      He took the boots from the bag, and compared the impressions of
+      each of them with marks upon the ground. Then he clambered up to
+      the rim of the hollow, and crawled about among the ferns and
+      bushes.
+
+      “I am afraid that there are no more tracks,” said the Inspector.
+      “I have examined the ground very carefully for a hundred yards in
+      each direction.”
+
+      “Indeed!” said Holmes, rising. “I should not have the
+      impertinence to do it again after what you say. But I should like
+      to take a little walk over the moor before it grows dark, that I
+      may know my ground to-morrow, and I think that I shall put this
+      horseshoe into my pocket for luck.”
+
+      Colonel Ross, who had shown some signs of impatience at my
+      companion’s quiet and systematic method of work, glanced at his
+      watch. “I wish you would come back with me, Inspector,” said he.
+      “There are several points on which I should like your advice, and
+      especially as to whether we do not owe it to the public to remove
+      our horse’s name from the entries for the Cup.”
+
+      “Certainly not,” cried Holmes, with decision. “I should let the
+      name stand.”
+
+      The Colonel bowed. “I am very glad to have had your opinion,
+      sir,” said he. “You will find us at poor Straker’s house when you
+      have finished your walk, and we can drive together into
+      Tavistock.”
+
+      He turned back with the Inspector, while Holmes and I walked
+      slowly across the moor. The sun was beginning to sink behind the
+      stables of Mapleton, and the long, sloping plain in front of us
+      was tinged with gold, deepening into rich, ruddy browns where the
+      faded ferns and brambles caught the evening light. But the
+      glories of the landscape were all wasted upon my companion, who
+      was sunk in the deepest thought.
+
+      “It’s this way, Watson,” said he at last. “We may leave the
+      question of who killed John Straker for the instant, and confine
+      ourselves to finding out what has become of the horse. Now,
+      supposing that he broke away during or after the tragedy, where
+      could he have gone to? The horse is a very gregarious creature.
+      If left to himself his instincts would have been either to return
+      to King’s Pyland or go over to Mapleton. Why should he run wild
+      upon the moor? He would surely have been seen by now. And why
+      should gypsies kidnap him? These people always clear out when
+      they hear of trouble, for they do not wish to be pestered by the
+      police. They could not hope to sell such a horse. They would run
+      a great risk and gain nothing by taking him. Surely that is
+      clear.”
+
+      “Where is he, then?”
+
+      “I have already said that he must have gone to King’s Pyland or
+      to Mapleton. He is not at King’s Pyland. Therefore he is at
+      Mapleton. Let us take that as a working hypothesis and see what
+      it leads us to. This part of the moor, as the Inspector remarked,
+      is very hard and dry. But it falls away towards Mapleton, and you
+      can see from here that there is a long hollow over yonder, which
+      must have been very wet on Monday night. If our supposition is
+      correct, then the horse must have crossed that, and there is the
+      point where we should look for his tracks.”
+
+      We had been walking briskly during this conversation, and a few
+      more minutes brought us to the hollow in question. At Holmes’
+      request I walked down the bank to the right, and he to the left,
+      but I had not taken fifty paces before I heard him give a shout,
+      and saw him waving his hand to me. The track of a horse was
+      plainly outlined in the soft earth in front of him, and the shoe
+      which he took from his pocket exactly fitted the impression.
+
+      “See the value of imagination,” said Holmes. “It is the one
+      quality which Gregory lacks. We imagined what might have
+      happened, acted upon the supposition, and find ourselves
+      justified. Let us proceed.”
+
+      We crossed the marshy bottom and passed over a quarter of a mile
+      of dry, hard turf. Again the ground sloped, and again we came on
+      the tracks. Then we lost them for half a mile, but only to pick
+      them up once more quite close to Mapleton. It was Holmes who saw
+      them first, and he stood pointing with a look of triumph upon his
+      face. A man’s track was visible beside the horse’s.
+
+      “The horse was alone before,” I cried.
+
+      “Quite so. It was alone before. Hullo, what is this?”
+
+      The double track turned sharp off and took the direction of
+      King’s Pyland. Holmes whistled, and we both followed along after
+      it. His eyes were on the trail, but I happened to look a little
+      to one side, and saw to my surprise the same tracks coming back
+      again in the opposite direction.
+
+      “One for you, Watson,” said Holmes, when I pointed it out. “You
+      have saved us a long walk, which would have brought us back on
+      our own traces. Let us follow the return track.”
+
+      We had not to go far. It ended at the paving of asphalt which led
+      up to the gates of the Mapleton stables. As we approached, a
+      groom ran out from them.
+
+      “We don’t want any loiterers about here,” said he.
+
+      “I only wished to ask a question,” said Holmes, with his finger
+      and thumb in his waistcoat pocket. “Should I be too early to see
+      your master, Mr. Silas Brown, if I were to call at five o’clock
+      to-morrow morning?”
+
+      “Bless you, sir, if any one is about he will be, for he is always
+      the first stirring. But here he is, sir, to answer your questions
+      for himself. No, sir, no; it is as much as my place is worth to
+      let him see me touch your money. Afterwards, if you like.”
+
+      As Sherlock Holmes replaced the half-crown which he had drawn
+      from his pocket, a fierce-looking elderly man strode out from the
+      gate with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand.
+
+      “What’s this, Dawson!” he cried. “No gossiping! Go about your
+      business! And you, what the devil do you want here?”
+
+      “Ten minutes’ talk with you, my good sir,” said Holmes in the
+      sweetest of voices.
+
+      “I’ve no time to talk to every gadabout. We want no strangers
+      here. Be off, or you may find a dog at your heels.”
+
+      Holmes leaned forward and whispered something in the trainer’s
+      ear. He started violently and flushed to the temples.
+
+      “It’s a lie!” he shouted, “an infernal lie!”
+
+      “Very good. Shall we argue about it here in public or talk it
+      over in your parlour?”
+
+      “Oh, come in if you wish to.”
+
+      Holmes smiled. “I shall not keep you more than a few minutes,
+      Watson,” said he. “Now, Mr. Brown, I am quite at your disposal.”
+
+      It was twenty minutes, and the reds had all faded into greys
+      before Holmes and the trainer reappeared. Never have I seen such
+      a change as had been brought about in Silas Brown in that short
+      time. His face was ashy pale, beads of perspiration shone upon
+      his brow, and his hands shook until the hunting-crop wagged like
+      a branch in the wind. His bullying, overbearing manner was all
+      gone too, and he cringed along at my companion’s side like a dog
+      with its master.
+
+      “Your instructions will be done. It shall all be done,” said he.
+
+      “There must be no mistake,” said Holmes, looking round at him.
+      The other winced as he read the menace in his eyes.
+
+      “Oh no, there shall be no mistake. It shall be there. Should I
+      change it first or not?”
+
+      Holmes thought a little and then burst out laughing. “No, don’t,”
+      said he; “I shall write to you about it. No tricks, now, or—”
+
+      “Oh, you can trust me, you can trust me!”
+
+      “Yes, I think I can. Well, you shall hear from me to-morrow.” He
+      turned upon his heel, disregarding the trembling hand which the
+      other held out to him, and we set off for King’s Pyland.
+
+      “A more perfect compound of the bully, coward, and sneak than
+      Master Silas Brown I have seldom met with,” remarked Holmes as we
+      trudged along together.
+
+      “He has the horse, then?”
+
+      “He tried to bluster out of it, but I described to him so exactly
+      what his actions had been upon that morning that he is convinced
+      that I was watching him. Of course you observed the peculiarly
+      square toes in the impressions, and that his own boots exactly
+      corresponded to them. Again, of course no subordinate would have
+      dared to do such a thing. I described to him how, when according
+      to his custom he was the first down, he perceived a strange horse
+      wandering over the moor. How he went out to it, and his
+      astonishment at recognising, from the white forehead which has
+      given the favourite its name, that chance had put in his power
+      the only horse which could beat the one upon which he had put his
+      money. Then I described how his first impulse had been to lead
+      him back to King’s Pyland, and how the devil had shown him how he
+      could hide the horse until the race was over, and how he had led
+      it back and concealed it at Mapleton. When I told him every
+      detail he gave it up and thought only of saving his own skin.”
+
+      “But his stables had been searched?”
+
+      “Oh, an old horse-faker like him has many a dodge.”
+
+      “But are you not afraid to leave the horse in his power now,
+      since he has every interest in injuring it?”
+
+      “My dear fellow, he will guard it as the apple of his eye. He
+      knows that his only hope of mercy is to produce it safe.”
+
+      “Colonel Ross did not impress me as a man who would be likely to
+      show much mercy in any case.”
+
+      “The matter does not rest with Colonel Ross. I follow my own
+      methods, and tell as much or as little as I choose. That is the
+      advantage of being unofficial. I don’t know whether you observed
+      it, Watson, but the Colonel’s manner has been just a trifle
+      cavalier to me. I am inclined now to have a little amusement at
+      his expense. Say nothing to him about the horse.”
+
+      “Certainly not without your permission.”
+
+      “And of course this is all quite a minor point compared to the
+      question of who killed John Straker.”
+
+      “And you will devote yourself to that?”
+
+      “On the contrary, we both go back to London by the night train.”
+
+      I was thunderstruck by my friend’s words. We had only been a few
+      hours in Devonshire, and that he should give up an investigation
+      which he had begun so brilliantly was quite incomprehensible to
+      me. Not a word more could I draw from him until we were back at
+      the trainer’s house. The Colonel and the Inspector were awaiting
+      us in the parlour.
+
+      “My friend and I return to town by the night-express,” said
+      Holmes. “We have had a charming little breath of your beautiful
+      Dartmoor air.”
+
+      The Inspector opened his eyes, and the Colonel’s lip curled in a
+      sneer.
+
+      “So you despair of arresting the murderer of poor Straker,” said
+      he.
+
+      Holmes shrugged his shoulders. “There are certainly grave
+      difficulties in the way,” said he. “I have every hope, however,
+      that your horse will start upon Tuesday, and I beg that you will
+      have your jockey in readiness. Might I ask for a photograph of
+      Mr. John Straker?”
+
+      The Inspector took one from an envelope and handed it to him.
+
+      “My dear Gregory, you anticipate all my wants. If I might ask you
+      to wait here for an instant, I have a question which I should
+      like to put to the maid.”
+
+      “I must say that I am rather disappointed in our London
+      consultant,” said Colonel Ross, bluntly, as my friend left the
+      room. “I do not see that we are any further than when he came.”
+
+      “At least you have his assurance that your horse will run,” said
+      I.
+
+      “Yes, I have his assurance,” said the Colonel, with a shrug of
+      his shoulders. “I should prefer to have the horse.”
+
+      I was about to make some reply in defence of my friend when he
+      entered the room again.
+
+      “Now, gentlemen,” said he, “I am quite ready for Tavistock.”
+
+      As we stepped into the carriage one of the stable-lads held the
+      door open for us. A sudden idea seemed to occur to Holmes, for he
+      leaned forward and touched the lad upon the sleeve.
+
+      “You have a few sheep in the paddock,” he said. “Who attends to
+      them?”
+
+      “I do, sir.”
+
+      “Have you noticed anything amiss with them of late?”
+
+      “Well, sir, not of much account; but three of them have gone
+      lame, sir.”
+
+      I could see that Holmes was extremely pleased, for he chuckled
+      and rubbed his hands together.
+
+      “A long shot, Watson; a very long shot,” said he, pinching my
+      arm. “Gregory, let me recommend to your attention this singular
+      epidemic among the sheep. Drive on, coachman!”
+
+      Colonel Ross still wore an expression which showed the poor
+      opinion which he had formed of my companion’s ability, but I saw
+      by the Inspector’s face that his attention had been keenly
+      aroused.
+
+      “You consider that to be important?” he asked.
+
+      “Exceedingly so.”
+
+      “Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my
+      attention?”
+
+      “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
+
+      “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
+
+      “That was the curious incident,” remarked Sherlock Holmes.
+
+      Four days later Holmes and I were again in the train, bound for
+      Winchester to see the race for the Wessex Cup. Colonel Ross met
+      us by appointment outside the station, and we drove in his drag
+      to the course beyond the town. His face was grave, and his manner
+      was cold in the extreme.
+
+      “I have seen nothing of my horse,” said he.
+
+      “I suppose that you would know him when you saw him?” asked
+      Holmes.
+
+      The Colonel was very angry. “I have been on the turf for twenty
+      years, and never was asked such a question as that before,” said
+      he. “A child would know Silver Blaze, with his white forehead and
+      his mottled off-foreleg.”
+
+      “How is the betting?”
+
+      “Well, that is the curious part of it. You could have got fifteen
+      to one yesterday, but the price has become shorter and shorter,
+      until you can hardly get three to one now.”
+
+      “Hum!” said Holmes. “Somebody knows something, that is clear.”
+
+      As the drag drew up in the enclosure near the grand stand I
+      glanced at the card to see the entries. It ran:—
+
+      Wessex Plate. 50 sovs each h ft with 1000 sovs added for four and
+      five year olds. Second, £300. Third, £200. New course (one mile
+      and five furlongs).
+      1. Mr. Heath Newton’s The Negro (red cap, cinnamon jacket).
+      2. Colonel Wardlaw’s Pugilist (pink cap, blue and black jacket).
+      3. Lord Backwater’s Desborough (yellow cap and sleeves).
+      4. Colonel Ross’s Silver Blaze (black cap, red jacket).
+      5. Duke of Balmoral’s Iris (yellow and black stripes).
+      6. Lord Singleford’s Rasper (purple cap, black sleeves).
+
+      “We scratched our other one, and put all hopes on your word,”
+      said the Colonel. “Why, what is that? Silver Blaze favourite?”
+
+      “Five to four against Silver Blaze!” roared the ring. “Five to
+      four against Silver Blaze! Five to fifteen against Desborough!
+      Five to four on the field!”
+
+      “There are the numbers up,” I cried. “They are all six there.”
+
+      “All six there? Then my horse is running,” cried the Colonel in
+      great agitation. “But I don’t see him. My colours have not
+      passed.”
+
+      “Only five have passed. This must be he.”
+
+      As I spoke a powerful bay horse swept out from the weighing
+      enclosure and cantered past us, bearing on its back the
+      well-known black and red of the Colonel.
+
+      “That’s not my horse,” cried the owner. “That beast has not a
+      white hair upon its body. What is this that you have done, Mr.
+      Holmes?”
+
+      “Well, well, let us see how he gets on,” said my friend,
+      imperturbably. For a few minutes he gazed through my field-glass.
+      “Capital! An excellent start!” he cried suddenly. “There they
+      are, coming round the curve!”
+
+      From our drag we had a superb view as they came up the straight.
+      The six horses were so close together that a carpet could have
+      covered them, but half way up the yellow of the Mapleton stable
+      showed to the front. Before they reached us, however,
+      Desborough’s bolt was shot, and the Colonel’s horse, coming away
+      with a rush, passed the post a good six lengths before its rival,
+      the Duke of Balmoral’s Iris making a bad third.
+
+      “It’s my race, anyhow,” gasped the Colonel, passing his hand over
+      his eyes. “I confess that I can make neither head nor tail of it.
+      Don’t you think that you have kept up your mystery long enough,
+      Mr. Holmes?”
+
+      “Certainly, Colonel, you shall know everything. Let us all go
+      round and have a look at the horse together. Here he is,” he
+      continued, as we made our way into the weighing enclosure, where
+      only owners and their friends find admittance. “You have only to
+      wash his face and his leg in spirits of wine, and you will find
+      that he is the same old Silver Blaze as ever.”
+
+      “You take my breath away!”
+
+      “I found him in the hands of a faker, and took the liberty of
+      running him just as he was sent over.”
+
+      “My dear sir, you have done wonders. The horse looks very fit and
+      well. It never went better in its life. I owe you a thousand
+      apologies for having doubted your ability. You have done me a
+      great service by recovering my horse. You would do me a greater
+      still if you could lay your hands on the murderer of John
+      Straker.”
+
+      “I have done so,” said Holmes quietly.
+
+      The Colonel and I stared at him in amazement. “You have got him!
+      Where is he, then?”
+
+      “He is here.”
+
+      “Here! Where?”
+
+      “In my company at the present moment.”
+
+      The Colonel flushed angrily. “I quite recognise that I am under
+      obligations to you, Mr. Holmes,” said he, “but I must regard what
+      you have just said as either a very bad joke or an insult.”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes laughed. “I assure you that I have not associated
+      you with the crime, Colonel,” said he. “The real murderer is
+      standing immediately behind you.” He stepped past and laid his
+      hand upon the glossy neck of the thoroughbred.
+
+      “The horse!” cried both the Colonel and myself.
+
+      “Yes, the horse. And it may lessen his guilt if I say that it was
+      done in self-defence, and that John Straker was a man who was
+      entirely unworthy of your confidence. But there goes the bell,
+      and as I stand to win a little on this next race, I shall defer a
+      lengthy explanation until a more fitting time.”
+
+      We had the corner of a Pullman car to ourselves that evening as
+      we whirled back to London, and I fancy that the journey was a
+      short one to Colonel Ross as well as to myself, as we listened to
+      our companion’s narrative of the events which had occurred at the
+      Dartmoor training-stables upon the Monday night, and the means by
+      which he had unravelled them.
+
+      “I confess,” said he, “that any theories which I had formed from
+      the newspaper reports were entirely erroneous. And yet there were
+      indications there, had they not been overlaid by other details
+      which concealed their true import. I went to Devonshire with the
+      conviction that Fitzroy Simpson was the true culprit, although,
+      of course, I saw that the evidence against him was by no means
+      complete. It was while I was in the carriage, just as we reached
+      the trainer’s house, that the immense significance of the curried
+      mutton occurred to me. You may remember that I was distrait, and
+      remained sitting after you had all alighted. I was marvelling in
+      my own mind how I could possibly have overlooked so obvious a
+      clue.”
+
+      “I confess,” said the Colonel, “that even now I cannot see how it
+      helps us.”
+
+      “It was the first link in my chain of reasoning. Powdered opium
+      is by no means tasteless. The flavour is not disagreeable, but it
+      is perceptible. Were it mixed with any ordinary dish the eater
+      would undoubtedly detect it, and would probably eat no more. A
+      curry was exactly the medium which would disguise this taste. By
+      no possible supposition could this stranger, Fitzroy Simpson,
+      have caused curry to be served in the trainer’s family that
+      night, and it is surely too monstrous a coincidence to suppose
+      that he happened to come along with powdered opium upon the very
+      night when a dish happened to be served which would disguise the
+      flavour. That is unthinkable. Therefore Simpson becomes
+      eliminated from the case, and our attention centres upon Straker
+      and his wife, the only two people who could have chosen curried
+      mutton for supper that night. The opium was added after the dish
+      was set aside for the stable-boy, for the others had the same for
+      supper with no ill effects. Which of them, then, had access to
+      that dish without the maid seeing them?
+
+      “Before deciding that question I had grasped the significance of
+      the silence of the dog, for one true inference invariably
+      suggests others. The Simpson incident had shown me that a dog was
+      kept in the stables, and yet, though some one had been in and had
+      fetched out a horse, he had not barked enough to arouse the two
+      lads in the loft. Obviously the midnight visitor was some one
+      whom the dog knew well.
+
+      “I was already convinced, or almost convinced, that John Straker
+      went down to the stables in the dead of the night and took out
+      Silver Blaze. For what purpose? For a dishonest one, obviously,
+      or why should he drug his own stable-boy? And yet I was at a loss
+      to know why. There have been cases before now where trainers have
+      made sure of great sums of money by laying against their own
+      horses, through agents, and then preventing them from winning by
+      fraud. Sometimes it is a pulling jockey. Sometimes it is some
+      surer and subtler means. What was it here? I hoped that the
+      contents of his pockets might help me to form a conclusion.
+
+      “And they did so. You cannot have forgotten the singular knife
+      which was found in the dead man’s hand, a knife which certainly
+      no sane man would choose for a weapon. It was, as Dr. Watson told
+      us, a form of knife which is used for the most delicate
+      operations known in surgery. And it was to be used for a delicate
+      operation that night. You must know, with your wide experience of
+      turf matters, Colonel Ross, that it is possible to make a slight
+      nick upon the tendons of a horse’s ham, and to do it
+      subcutaneously, so as to leave absolutely no trace. A horse so
+      treated would develop a slight lameness, which would be put down
+      to a strain in exercise or a touch of rheumatism, but never to
+      foul play.”
+
+      “Villain! Scoundrel!” cried the Colonel.
+
+      “We have here the explanation of why John Straker wished to take
+      the horse out on to the moor. So spirited a creature would have
+      certainly roused the soundest of sleepers when it felt the prick
+      of the knife. It was absolutely necessary to do it in the open
+      air.”
+
+      “I have been blind!” cried the Colonel. “Of course that was why
+      he needed the candle, and struck the match.”
+
+      “Undoubtedly. But in examining his belongings I was fortunate
+      enough to discover not only the method of the crime, but even its
+      motives. As a man of the world, Colonel, you know that men do not
+      carry other people’s bills about in their pockets. We have most
+      of us quite enough to do to settle our own. I at once concluded
+      that Straker was leading a double life, and keeping a second
+      establishment. The nature of the bill showed that there was a
+      lady in the case, and one who had expensive tastes. Liberal as
+      you are with your servants, one can hardly expect that they can
+      buy twenty-guinea walking dresses for their ladies. I questioned
+      Mrs. Straker as to the dress without her knowing it, and having
+      satisfied myself that it had never reached her, I made a note of
+      the milliner’s address, and felt that by calling there with
+      Straker’s photograph I could easily dispose of the mythical
+      Derbyshire.
+
+      “From that time on all was plain. Straker had led out the horse
+      to a hollow where his light would be invisible. Simpson in his
+      flight had dropped his cravat, and Straker had picked it up—with
+      some idea, perhaps, that he might use it in securing the horse’s
+      leg. Once in the hollow, he had got behind the horse and had
+      struck a light; but the creature frightened at the sudden glare,
+      and with the strange instinct of animals feeling that some
+      mischief was intended, had lashed out, and the steel shoe had
+      struck Straker full on the forehead. He had already, in spite of
+      the rain, taken off his overcoat in order to do his delicate
+      task, and so, as he fell, his knife gashed his thigh. Do I make
+      it clear?”
+
+      “Wonderful!” cried the Colonel. “Wonderful! You might have been
+      there!”
+
+      “My final shot was, I confess a very long one. It struck me that
+      so astute a man as Straker would not undertake this delicate
+      tendon-nicking without a little practice. What could he practice
+      on? My eyes fell upon the sheep, and I asked a question which,
+      rather to my surprise, showed that my surmise was correct.
+
+      “When I returned to London I called upon the milliner, who had
+      recognised Straker as an excellent customer of the name of
+      Derbyshire, who had a very dashing wife, with a strong partiality
+      for expensive dresses. I have no doubt that this woman had
+      plunged him over head and ears in debt, and so led him into this
+      miserable plot.”
+
+      “You have explained all but one thing,” cried the Colonel. “Where
+      was the horse?”
+
+      “Ah, it bolted, and was cared for by one of your neighbours. We
+      must have an amnesty in that direction, I think. This is Clapham
+      Junction, if I am not mistaken, and we shall be in Victoria in
+      less than ten minutes. If you care to smoke a cigar in our rooms,
+      Colonel, I shall be happy to give you any other details which
+      might interest you.”
+
+
+
+
+II. The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
+
+
+      In choosing a few typical cases which illustrate the remarkable
+      mental qualities of my friend, Sherlock Holmes, I have
+      endeavoured, as far as possible, to select those which presented
+      the minimum of sensationalism, while offering a fair field for
+      his talents. It is, however, unfortunately impossible entirely to
+      separate the sensational from the criminal, and a chronicler is
+      left in the dilemma that he must either sacrifice details which
+      are essential to his statement and so give a false impression of
+      the problem, or he must use matter which chance, and not choice,
+      has provided him with. With this short preface I shall turn to my
+      notes of what proved to be a strange, though a peculiarly
+      terrible, chain of events.
+
+      It was a blazing hot day in August. Baker Street was like an
+      oven, and the glare of the sunlight upon the yellow brickwork of
+      the house across the road was painful to the eye. It was hard to
+      believe that these were the same walls which loomed so gloomily
+      through the fogs of winter. Our blinds were half-drawn, and
+      Holmes lay curled upon the sofa, reading and re-reading a letter
+      which he had received by the morning post. For myself, my term of
+      service in India had trained me to stand heat better than cold,
+      and a thermometer at ninety was no hardship. But the morning
+      paper was uninteresting. Parliament had risen. Everybody was out
+      of town, and I yearned for the glades of the New Forest or the
+      shingle of Southsea. A depleted bank account had caused me to
+      postpone my holiday, and as to my companion, neither the country
+      nor the sea presented the slightest attraction to him. He loved
+      to lie in the very centre of five millions of people, with his
+      filaments stretching out and running through them, responsive to
+      every little rumour or suspicion of unsolved crime. Appreciation
+      of nature found no place among his many gifts, and his only
+      change was when he turned his mind from the evil-doer of the town
+      to track down his brother of the country.
+
+      Finding that Holmes was too absorbed for conversation I had
+      tossed aside the barren paper, and leaning back in my chair I
+      fell into a brown study. Suddenly my companion’s voice broke in
+      upon my thoughts:
+
+      “You are right, Watson,” said he. “It does seem a most
+      preposterous way of settling a dispute.”
+
+      “Most preposterous!” I exclaimed, and then suddenly realizing how
+      he had echoed the inmost thought of my soul, I sat up in my chair
+      and stared at him in blank amazement.
+
+      “What is this, Holmes?” I cried. “This is beyond anything which I
+      could have imagined.”
+
+      He laughed heartily at my perplexity.
+
+      “You remember,” he said, “that some little time ago when I read
+      you the passage in one of Poe’s sketches in which a close
+      reasoner follows the unspoken thoughts of his companion, you were
+      inclined to treat the matter as a mere _tour-de-force_ of the
+      author. On my remarking that I was constantly in the habit of
+      doing the same thing you expressed incredulity.”
+
+      “Oh, no!”
+
+      “Perhaps not with your tongue, my dear Watson, but certainly with
+      your eyebrows. So when I saw you throw down your paper and enter
+      upon a train of thought, I was very happy to have the opportunity
+      of reading it off, and eventually of breaking into it, as a proof
+      that I had been in rapport with you.”
+
+      But I was still far from satisfied. “In the example which you
+      read to me,” said I, “the reasoner drew his conclusions from the
+      actions of the man whom he observed. If I remember right, he
+      stumbled over a heap of stones, looked up at the stars, and so
+      on. But I have been seated quietly in my chair, and what clues
+      can I have given you?”
+
+      “You do yourself an injustice. The features are given to man as
+      the means by which he shall express his emotions, and yours are
+      faithful servants.”
+
+      “Do you mean to say that you read my train of thoughts from my
+      features?”
+
+      “Your features and especially your eyes. Perhaps you cannot
+      yourself recall how your reverie commenced?”
+
+      “No, I cannot.”
+
+      “Then I will tell you. After throwing down your paper, which was
+      the action which drew my attention to you, you sat for half a
+      minute with a vacant expression. Then your eyes fixed themselves
+      upon your newly framed picture of General Gordon, and I saw by
+      the alteration in your face that a train of thought had been
+      started. But it did not lead very far. Your eyes flashed across
+      to the unframed portrait of Henry Ward Beecher which stands upon
+      the top of your books. Then you glanced up at the wall, and of
+      course your meaning was obvious. You were thinking that if the
+      portrait were framed it would just cover that bare space and
+      correspond with Gordon’s picture over there.”
+
+      “You have followed me wonderfully!” I exclaimed.
+
+      “So far I could hardly have gone astray. But now your thoughts
+      went back to Beecher, and you looked hard across as if you were
+      studying the character in his features. Then your eyes ceased to
+      pucker, but you continued to look across, and your face was
+      thoughtful. You were recalling the incidents of Beecher’s career.
+      I was well aware that you could not do this without thinking of
+      the mission which he undertook on behalf of the North at the time
+      of the Civil War, for I remember your expressing your passionate
+      indignation at the way in which he was received by the more
+      turbulent of our people. You felt so strongly about it that I
+      knew you could not think of Beecher without thinking of that
+      also. When a moment later I saw your eyes wander away from the
+      picture, I suspected that your mind had now turned to the Civil
+      War, and when I observed that your lips set, your eyes sparkled,
+      and your hands clenched I was positive that you were indeed
+      thinking of the gallantry which was shown by both sides in that
+      desperate struggle. But then, again, your face grew sadder; you
+      shook your head. You were dwelling upon the sadness and horror
+      and useless waste of life. Your hand stole towards your own old
+      wound and a smile quivered on your lips, which showed me that the
+      ridiculous side of this method of settling international
+      questions had forced itself upon your mind. At this point I
+      agreed with you that it was preposterous and was glad to find
+      that all my deductions had been correct.”
+
+      “Absolutely!” said I. “And now that you have explained it, I
+      confess that I am as amazed as before.”
+
+      “It was very superficial, my dear Watson, I assure you. I should
+      not have intruded it upon your attention had you not shown some
+      incredulity the other day. But I have in my hands here a little
+      problem which may prove to be more difficult of solution than my
+      small essay in thought reading. Have you observed in the paper a
+      short paragraph referring to the remarkable contents of a packet
+      sent through the post to Miss Cushing, of Cross Street, Croydon?”
+
+      “No, I saw nothing.”
+
+      “Ah! then you must have overlooked it. Just toss it over to me.
+      Here it is, under the financial column. Perhaps you would be good
+      enough to read it aloud.”
+
+      I picked up the paper which he had thrown back to me and read the
+      paragraph indicated. It was headed, “A Gruesome Packet.”
+
+      “Miss Susan Cushing, living at Cross Street, Croydon, has been
+      made the victim of what must be regarded as a peculiarly
+      revolting practical joke unless some more sinister meaning should
+      prove to be attached to the incident. At two o’clock yesterday
+      afternoon a small packet, wrapped in brown paper, was handed in
+      by the postman. A cardboard box was inside, which was filled with
+      coarse salt. On emptying this, Miss Cushing was horrified to find
+      two human ears, apparently quite freshly severed. The box had
+      been sent by parcel post from Belfast upon the morning before.
+      There is no indication as to the sender, and the matter is the
+      more mysterious as Miss Cushing, who is a maiden lady of fifty,
+      has led a most retired life, and has so few acquaintances or
+      correspondents that it is a rare event for her to receive
+      anything through the post. Some years ago, however, when she
+      resided at Penge, she let apartments in her house to three young
+      medical students, whom she was obliged to get rid of on account
+      of their noisy and irregular habits. The police are of opinion
+      that this outrage may have been perpetrated upon Miss Cushing by
+      these youths, who owed her a grudge and who hoped to frighten her
+      by sending her these relics of the dissecting-rooms. Some
+      probability is lent to the theory by the fact that one of these
+      students came from the north of Ireland, and, to the best of Miss
+      Cushing’s belief, from Belfast. In the meantime, the matter is
+      being actively investigated, Mr. Lestrade, one of the very
+      smartest of our detective officers, being in charge of the case.”
+
+      “So much for the _Daily Chronicle_,” said Holmes as I finished
+      reading. “Now for our friend Lestrade. I had a note from him this
+      morning, in which he says: ‘I think that this case is very much
+      in your line. We have every hope of clearing the matter up, but
+      we find a little difficulty in getting anything to work upon. We
+      have, of course, wired to the Belfast post-office, but a large
+      number of parcels were handed in upon that day, and they have no
+      means of identifying this particular one, or of remembering the
+      sender. The box is a half-pound box of honeydew tobacco and does
+      not help us in any way. The medical student theory still appears
+      to me to be the most feasible, but if you should have a few hours
+      to spare I should be very happy to see you out here. I shall be
+      either at the house or in the police-station all day.’ What say
+      you, Watson? Can you rise superior to the heat and run down to
+      Croydon with me on the off chance of a case for your annals?”
+
+      “I was longing for something to do.”
+
+      “You shall have it then. Ring for our boots and tell them to
+      order a cab. I’ll be back in a moment when I have changed my
+      dressing-gown and filled my cigar-case.”
+
+      A shower of rain fell while we were in the train, and the heat
+      was far less oppressive in Croydon than in town. Holmes had sent
+      on a wire, so that Lestrade, as wiry, as dapper, and as
+      ferret-like as ever, was waiting for us at the station. A walk of
+      five minutes took us to Cross Street, where Miss Cushing resided.
+
+      It was a very long street of two-story brick houses, neat and
+      prim, with whitened stone steps and little groups of aproned
+      women gossiping at the doors. Halfway down, Lestrade stopped and
+      tapped at a door, which was opened by a small servant girl. Miss
+      Cushing was sitting in the front room, into which we were
+      ushered. She was a placid-faced woman, with large, gentle eyes,
+      and grizzled hair curving down over her temples on each side. A
+      worked antimacassar lay upon her lap and a basket of coloured
+      silks stood upon a stool beside her.
+
+      “They are in the outhouse, those dreadful things,” said she as
+      Lestrade entered. “I wish that you would take them away
+      altogether.”
+
+      “So I shall, Miss Cushing. I only kept them here until my friend,
+      Mr. Holmes, should have seen them in your presence.”
+
+      “Why in my presence, sir?”
+
+      “In case he wished to ask any questions.”
+
+      “What is the use of asking me questions when I tell you I know
+      nothing whatever about it?”
+
+      “Quite so, madam,” said Holmes in his soothing way. “I have no
+      doubt that you have been annoyed more than enough already over
+      this business.”
+
+      “Indeed, I have, sir. I am a quiet woman and live a retired life.
+      It is something new for me to see my name in the papers and to
+      find the police in my house. I won’t have those things in here,
+      Mr. Lestrade. If you wish to see them you must go to the
+      outhouse.”
+
+      It was a small shed in the narrow garden which ran behind the
+      house. Lestrade went in and brought out a yellow cardboard box,
+      with a piece of brown paper and some string. There was a bench at
+      the end of the path, and we all sat down while Holmes examined,
+      one by one, the articles which Lestrade had handed to him.
+
+      “The string is exceedingly interesting,” he remarked, holding it
+      up to the light and sniffing at it. “What do you make of this
+      string, Lestrade?”
+
+      “It has been tarred.”
+
+      “Precisely. It is a piece of tarred twine. You have also, no
+      doubt, remarked that Miss Cushing has cut the cord with a
+      scissors, as can be seen by the double fray on each side. This is
+      of importance.”
+
+      “I cannot see the importance,” said Lestrade.
+
+      “The importance lies in the fact that the knot is left intact,
+      and that this knot is of a peculiar character.”
+
+      “It is very neatly tied. I had already made a note to that
+      effect,” said Lestrade complacently.
+
+      “So much for the string, then,” said Holmes, smiling, “now for
+      the box wrapper. Brown paper, with a distinct smell of coffee.
+      What, did you not observe it? I think there can be no doubt of
+      it. Address printed in rather straggling characters: ‘Miss S.
+      Cushing, Cross Street, Croydon.’ Done with a broad-pointed pen,
+      probably a J, and with very inferior ink. The word ‘Croydon’ has
+      been originally spelled with an ‘i,’ which has been changed to
+      ‘y.’ The parcel was directed, then, by a man—the printing is
+      distinctly masculine—of limited education and unacquainted with
+      the town of Croydon. So far, so good! The box is a yellow
+      half-pound honeydew box, with nothing distinctive save two thumb
+      marks at the left bottom corner. It is filled with rough salt of
+      the quality used for preserving hides and other of the coarser
+      commercial purposes. And embedded in it are these very singular
+      enclosures.”
+
+      He took out the two ears as he spoke, and laying a board across
+      his knee he examined them minutely, while Lestrade and I, bending
+      forward on each side of him, glanced alternately at these
+      dreadful relics and at the thoughtful, eager face of our
+      companion. Finally he returned them to the box once more and sat
+      for a while in deep meditation.
+
+      “You have observed, of course,” said he at last, “that the ears
+      are not a pair.”
+
+      “Yes, I have noticed that. But if this were the practical joke of
+      some students from the dissecting-rooms, it would be as easy for
+      them to send two odd ears as a pair.”
+
+      “Precisely. But this is not a practical joke.”
+
+      “You are sure of it?”
+
+      “The presumption is strongly against it. Bodies in the
+      dissecting-rooms are injected with preservative fluid. These ears
+      bear no signs of this. They are fresh, too. They have been cut
+      off with a blunt instrument, which would hardly happen if a
+      student had done it. Again, carbolic or rectified spirits would
+      be the preservatives which would suggest themselves to the
+      medical mind, certainly not rough salt. I repeat that there is no
+      practical joke here, but that we are investigating a serious
+      crime.”
+
+      A vague thrill ran through me as I listened to my companion’s
+      words and saw the stern gravity which had hardened his features.
+      This brutal preliminary seemed to shadow forth some strange and
+      inexplicable horror in the background. Lestrade, however, shook
+      his head like a man who is only half convinced.
+
+      “There are objections to the joke theory, no doubt,” said he,
+      “but there are much stronger reasons against the other. We know
+      that this woman has led a most quiet and respectable life at
+      Penge and here for the last twenty years. She has hardly been
+      away from her home for a day during that time. Why on earth,
+      then, should any criminal send her the proofs of his guilt,
+      especially as, unless she is a most consummate actress, she
+      understands quite as little of the matter as we do?”
+
+      “That is the problem which we have to solve,” Holmes answered,
+      “and for my part I shall set about it by presuming that my
+      reasoning is correct, and that a double murder has been
+      committed. One of these ears is a woman’s, small, finely formed,
+      and pierced for an earring. The other is a man’s, sun-burned,
+      discoloured, and also pierced for an earring. These two people
+      are presumably dead, or we should have heard their story before
+      now. To-day is Friday. The packet was posted on Thursday morning.
+      The tragedy, then, occurred on Wednesday or Tuesday or earlier.
+      If the two people were murdered, who but their murderer would
+      have sent this sign of his work to Miss Cushing? We may take it
+      that the sender of the packet is the man whom we want. But he
+      must have some strong reason for sending Miss Cushing this
+      packet. What reason then? It must have been to tell her that the
+      deed was done! or to pain her, perhaps. But in that case she
+      knows who it is. Does she know? I doubt it. If she knew, why
+      should she call the police in? She might have buried the ears,
+      and no one would have been the wiser. That is what she would have
+      done if she had wished to shield the criminal. But if she does
+      not wish to shield him she would give his name. There is a tangle
+      here which needs straightening out.” He had been talking in a
+      high, quick voice, staring blankly up over the garden fence, but
+      now he sprang briskly to his feet and walked towards the house.
+
+      “I have a few questions to ask Miss Cushing,” said he.
+
+      “In that case I may leave you here,” said Lestrade, “for I have
+      another small business on hand. I think that I have nothing
+      further to learn from Miss Cushing. You will find me at the
+      police-station.”
+
+      “We shall look in on our way to the train,” answered Holmes. A
+      moment later he and I were back in the front room, where the
+      impassive lady was still quietly working away at her
+      antimacassar. She put it down on her lap as we entered and looked
+      at us with her frank, searching blue eyes.
+
+      “I am convinced, sir,” she said, “that this matter is a mistake,
+      and that the parcel was never meant for me at all. I have said
+      this several times to the gentleman from Scotland Yard, but he
+      simply laughs at me. I have not an enemy in the world, as far as
+      I know, so why should anyone play me such a trick?”
+
+      “I am coming to be of the same opinion, Miss Cushing,” said
+      Holmes, taking a seat beside her. “I think that it is more than
+      probable——” he paused, and I was surprised, on glancing round to
+      see that he was staring with singular intentness at the lady’s
+      profile. Surprise and satisfaction were both for an instant to be
+      read upon his eager face, though when she glanced round to find
+      out the cause of his silence he had become as demure as ever. I
+      stared hard myself at her flat, grizzled hair, her trim cap, her
+      little gilt earrings, her placid features; but I could see
+      nothing which could account for my companion’s evident
+      excitement.
+
+      “There were one or two questions——”
+
+      “Oh, I am weary of questions!” cried Miss Cushing impatiently.
+
+      “You have two sisters, I believe.”
+
+      “How could you know that?”
+
+      “I observed the very instant that I entered the room that you
+      have a portrait group of three ladies upon the mantelpiece, one
+      of whom is undoubtedly yourself, while the others are so
+      exceedingly like you that there could be no doubt of the
+      relationship.”
+
+      “Yes, you are quite right. Those are my sisters, Sarah and Mary.”
+
+      “And here at my elbow is another portrait, taken at Liverpool, of
+      your younger sister, in the company of a man who appears to be a
+      steward by his uniform. I observe that she was unmarried at the
+      time.”
+
+      “You are very quick at observing.”
+
+      “That is my trade.”
+
+      “Well, you are quite right. But she was married to Mr. Browner a
+      few days afterwards. He was on the South American line when that
+      was taken, but he was so fond of her that he couldn’t abide to
+      leave her for so long, and he got into the Liverpool and London
+      boats.”
+
+      “Ah, the _Conqueror_, perhaps?”
+
+      “No, the _May Day_, when last I heard. Jim came down here to see
+      me once. That was before he broke the pledge; but afterwards he
+      would always take drink when he was ashore, and a little drink
+      would send him stark, staring mad. Ah! it was a bad day that ever
+      he took a glass in his hand again. First he dropped me, then he
+      quarrelled with Sarah, and now that Mary has stopped writing we
+      don’t know how things are going with them.”
+
+      It was evident that Miss Cushing had come upon a subject on which
+      she felt very deeply. Like most people who lead a lonely life,
+      she was shy at first, but ended by becoming extremely
+      communicative. She told us many details about her brother-in-law
+      the steward, and then wandering off on the subject of her former
+      lodgers, the medical students, she gave us a long account of
+      their delinquencies, with their names and those of their
+      hospitals. Holmes listened attentively to everything, throwing in
+      a question from time to time.
+
+      “About your second sister, Sarah,” said he. “I wonder, since you
+      are both maiden ladies, that you do not keep house together.”
+
+      “Ah! you don’t know Sarah’s temper or you would wonder no more. I
+      tried it when I came to Croydon, and we kept on until about two
+      months ago, when we had to part. I don’t want to say a word
+      against my own sister, but she was always meddlesome and hard to
+      please, was Sarah.”
+
+      “You say that she quarrelled with your Liverpool relations.”
+
+      “Yes, and they were the best of friends at one time. Why, she
+      went up there to live in order to be near them. And now she has
+      no word hard enough for Jim Browner. The last six months that she
+      was here she would speak of nothing but his drinking and his
+      ways. He had caught her meddling, I suspect, and given her a bit
+      of his mind, and that was the start of it.”
+
+      “Thank you, Miss Cushing,” said Holmes, rising and bowing. “Your
+      sister Sarah lives, I think you said, at New Street Wallington?
+      Good-bye, and I am very sorry that you should have been troubled
+      over a case with which, as you say, you have nothing whatever to
+      do.”
+
+      There was a cab passing as we came out, and Holmes hailed it.
+
+      “How far to Wallington?” he asked.
+
+      “Only about a mile, sir.”
+
+      “Very good. Jump in, Watson. We must strike while the iron is
+      hot. Simple as the case is, there have been one or two very
+      instructive details in connection with it. Just pull up at a
+      telegraph office as you pass, cabby.”
+
+      Holmes sent off a short wire and for the rest of the drive lay
+      back in the cab, with his hat tilted over his nose to keep the
+      sun from his face. Our driver pulled up at a house which was not
+      unlike the one which we had just quitted. My companion ordered
+      him to wait, and had his hand upon the knocker, when the door
+      opened and a grave young gentleman in black, with a very shiny
+      hat, appeared on the step.
+
+      “Is Miss Cushing at home?” asked Holmes.
+
+      “Miss Sarah Cushing is extremely ill,” said he. “She has been
+      suffering since yesterday from brain symptoms of great severity.
+      As her medical adviser, I cannot possibly take the responsibility
+      of allowing anyone to see her. I should recommend you to call
+      again in ten days.” He drew on his gloves, closed the door, and
+      marched off down the street.
+
+      “Well, if we can’t we can’t,” said Holmes, cheerfully.
+
+      “Perhaps she could not or would not have told you much.”
+
+      “I did not wish her to tell me anything. I only wanted to look at
+      her. However, I think that I have got all that I want. Drive us
+      to some decent hotel, cabby, where we may have some lunch, and
+      afterwards we shall drop down upon friend Lestrade at the
+      police-station.”
+
+      We had a pleasant little meal together, during which Holmes would
+      talk about nothing but violins, narrating with great exultation
+      how he had purchased his own Stradivarius, which was worth at
+      least five hundred guineas, at a Jew broker’s in Tottenham Court
+      Road for fifty-five shillings. This led him to Paganini, and we
+      sat for an hour over a bottle of claret while he told me anecdote
+      after anecdote of that extraordinary man. The afternoon was far
+      advanced and the hot glare had softened into a mellow glow before
+      we found ourselves at the police-station. Lestrade was waiting
+      for us at the door.
+
+      “A telegram for you, Mr. Holmes,” said he.
+
+      “Ha! It is the answer!” He tore it open, glanced his eyes over
+      it, and crumpled it into his pocket. “That’s all right,” said he.
+
+      “Have you found out anything?”
+
+      “I have found out everything!”
+
+      “What!” Lestrade stared at him in amazement. “You are joking.”
+
+      “I was never more serious in my life. A shocking crime has been
+      committed, and I think I have now laid bare every detail of it.”
+
+      “And the criminal?”
+
+      Holmes scribbled a few words upon the back of one of his visiting
+      cards and threw it over to Lestrade.
+
+      “That is the name,” he said. “You cannot effect an arrest until
+      to-morrow night at the earliest. I should prefer that you do not
+      mention my name at all in connection with the case, as I choose
+      to be only associated with those crimes which present some
+      difficulty in their solution. Come on, Watson.” We strode off
+      together to the station, leaving Lestrade still staring with a
+      delighted face at the card which Holmes had thrown him.
+
+      “The case,” said Sherlock Holmes as we chatted over our cigars
+      that night in our rooms at Baker Street, “is one where, as in the
+      investigations which you have chronicled under the names of ‘A
+      Study in Scarlet’ and of ‘The Sign of Four,’ we have been
+      compelled to reason backward from effects to causes. I have
+      written to Lestrade asking him to supply us with the details
+      which are now wanting, and which he will only get after he has
+      secured his man. That he may be safely trusted to do, for
+      although he is absolutely devoid of reason, he is as tenacious as
+      a bulldog when he once understands what he has to do, and,
+      indeed, it is just this tenacity which has brought him to the top
+      at Scotland Yard.”
+
+      “Your case is not complete, then?” I asked.
+
+      “It is fairly complete in essentials. We know who the author of
+      the revolting business is, although one of the victims still
+      escapes us. Of course, you have formed your own conclusions.”
+
+      “I presume that this Jim Browner, the steward of a Liverpool
+      boat, is the man whom you suspect?”
+
+      “Oh! it is more than a suspicion.”
+
+      “And yet I cannot see anything save very vague indications.”
+
+      “On the contrary, to my mind nothing could be more clear. Let me
+      run over the principal steps. We approached the case, you
+      remember, with an absolutely blank mind, which is always an
+      advantage. We had formed no theories. We were simply there to
+      observe and to draw inferences from our observations. What did we
+      see first? A very placid and respectable lady, who seemed quite
+      innocent of any secret, and a portrait which showed me that she
+      had two younger sisters. It instantly flashed across my mind that
+      the box might have been meant for one of these. I set the idea
+      aside as one which could be disproved or confirmed at our
+      leisure. Then we went to the garden, as you remember, and we saw
+      the very singular contents of the little yellow box.
+
+      “The string was of the quality which is used by sailmakers aboard
+      ship, and at once a whiff of the sea was perceptible in our
+      investigation. When I observed that the knot was one which is
+      popular with sailors, that the parcel had been posted at a port,
+      and that the male ear was pierced for an earring which is so much
+      more common among sailors than landsmen, I was quite certain that
+      all the actors in the tragedy were to be found among our
+      seafaring classes.
+
+      “When I came to examine the address of the packet I observed that
+      it was to Miss S. Cushing. Now, the oldest sister would, of
+      course, be Miss Cushing, and although her initial was ‘S’ it
+      might belong to one of the others as well. In that case we should
+      have to commence our investigation from a fresh basis altogether.
+      I therefore went into the house with the intention of clearing up
+      this point. I was about to assure Miss Cushing that I was
+      convinced that a mistake had been made when you may remember that
+      I came suddenly to a stop. The fact was that I had just seen
+      something which filled me with surprise and at the same time
+      narrowed the field of our inquiry immensely.
+
+      “As a medical man, you are aware, Watson, that there is no part
+      of the body which varies so much as the human ear. Each ear is as
+      a rule quite distinctive and differs from all other ones. In last
+      year’s _Anthropological Journal_ you will find two short
+      monographs from my pen upon the subject. I had, therefore,
+      examined the ears in the box with the eyes of an expert and had
+      carefully noted their anatomical peculiarities. Imagine my
+      surprise, then, when on looking at Miss Cushing I perceived that
+      her ear corresponded exactly with the female ear which I had just
+      inspected. The matter was entirely beyond coincidence. There was
+      the same shortening of the pinna, the same broad curve of the
+      upper lobe, the same convolution of the inner cartilage. In all
+      essentials it was the same ear.
+
+      “Of course I at once saw the enormous importance of the
+      observation. It was evident that the victim was a blood relation
+      and probably a very close one. I began to talk to her about her
+      family, and you remember that she at once gave us some
+      exceedingly valuable details.
+
+      “In the first place, her sister’s name was Sarah, and her address
+      had until recently been the same, so that it was quite obvious
+      how the mistake had occurred and for whom the packet was meant.
+      Then we heard of this steward, married to the third sister, and
+      learned that he had at one time been so intimate with Miss Sarah
+      that she had actually gone up to Liverpool to be near the
+      Browners, but a quarrel had afterwards divided them. This quarrel
+      had put a stop to all communications for some months, so that if
+      Browner had occasion to address a packet to Miss Sarah, he would
+      undoubtedly have done so to her old address.
+
+      “And now the matter had begun to straighten itself out
+      wonderfully. We had learned of the existence of this steward, an
+      impulsive man, of strong passions—you remember that he threw up
+      what must have been a very superior berth in order to be nearer
+      to his wife—subject, too, to occasional fits of hard drinking. We
+      had reason to believe that his wife had been murdered, and that a
+      man—presumably a seafaring man—had been murdered at the same
+      time. Jealousy, of course, at once suggests itself as the motive
+      for the crime. And why should these proofs of the deed be sent to
+      Miss Sarah Cushing? Probably because during her residence in
+      Liverpool she had some hand in bringing about the events which
+      led to the tragedy. You will observe that this line of boats
+      calls at Belfast, Dublin, and Waterford; so that, presuming that
+      Browner had committed the deed and had embarked at once upon his
+      steamer, the _May Day_, Belfast would be the first place at which
+      he could post his terrible packet.
+
+      “A second solution was at this stage obviously possible, and
+      although I thought it exceedingly unlikely, I was determined to
+      elucidate it before going further. An unsuccessful lover might
+      have killed Mr. and Mrs. Browner, and the male ear might have
+      belonged to the husband. There were many grave objections to this
+      theory, but it was conceivable. I therefore sent off a telegram
+      to my friend Algar, of the Liverpool force, and asked him to find
+      out if Mrs. Browner were at home, and if Browner had departed in
+      the _May Day_. Then we went on to Wallington to visit Miss Sarah.
+
+      “I was curious, in the first place, to see how far the family ear
+      had been reproduced in her. Then, of course, she might give us
+      very important information, but I was not sanguine that she
+      would. She must have heard of the business the day before, since
+      all Croydon was ringing with it, and she alone could have
+      understood for whom the packet was meant. If she had been willing
+      to help justice she would probably have communicated with the
+      police already. However, it was clearly our duty to see her, so
+      we went. We found that the news of the arrival of the packet—for
+      her illness dated from that time—had such an effect upon her as
+      to bring on brain fever. It was clearer than ever that she
+      understood its full significance, but equally clear that we
+      should have to wait some time for any assistance from her.
+
+      “However, we were really independent of her help. Our answers
+      were waiting for us at the police-station, where I had directed
+      Algar to send them. Nothing could be more conclusive. Mrs.
+      Browner’s house had been closed for more than three days, and the
+      neighbours were of opinion that she had gone south to see her
+      relatives. It had been ascertained at the shipping offices that
+      Browner had left aboard of the _May Day_, and I calculate that
+      she is due in the Thames to-morrow night. When he arrives he will
+      be met by the obtuse but resolute Lestrade, and I have no doubt
+      that we shall have all our details filled in.”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes was not disappointed in his expectations. Two
+      days later he received a bulky envelope, which contained a short
+      note from the detective, and a typewritten document, which
+      covered several pages of foolscap.
+
+      “Lestrade has got him all right,” said Holmes, glancing up at me.
+      “Perhaps it would interest you to hear what he says.
+
+      “My dear Mr. Holmes,—In accordance with the scheme which we had
+      formed in order to test our theories”—“the ‘we’ is rather fine,
+      Watson, is it not?”—“I went down to the Albert Dock yesterday at
+      6 P.M., and boarded the S.S. _May Day_, belonging to the
+      Liverpool, Dublin, and London Steam Packet Company. On inquiry, I
+      found that there was a steward on board of the name of James
+      Browner and that he had acted during the voyage in such an
+      extraordinary manner that the captain had been compelled to
+      relieve him of his duties. On descending to his berth, I found
+      him seated upon a chest with his head sunk upon his hands,
+      rocking himself to and fro. He is a big, powerful chap,
+      clean-shaven, and very swarthy— something like Aldridge, who
+      helped us in the bogus laundry affair. He jumped up when he heard
+      my business, and I had my whistle to my lips to call a couple of
+      river police, who were round the corner, but he seemed to have no
+      heart in him, and he held out his hands quietly enough for the
+      darbies. We brought him along to the cells, and his box as well,
+      for we thought there might be something incriminating; but, bar a
+      big sharp knife such as most sailors have, we got nothing for our
+      trouble. However, we find that we shall want no more evidence,
+      for on being brought before the inspector at the station he asked
+      leave to make a statement, which was, of course, taken down, just
+      as he made it, by our shorthand man. We had three copies
+      typewritten, one of which I enclose. The affair proves, as I
+      always thought it would, to be an extremely simple one, but I am
+      obliged to you for assisting me in my investigation. With kind
+      regards, yours very truly,—G. Lestrade.”
+
+      “Hum! The investigation really was a very simple one,” remarked
+      Holmes, “but I don’t think it struck him in that light when he
+      first called us in. However, let us see what Jim Browner has to
+      say for himself. This is his statement as made before Inspector
+      Montgomery at the Shadwell Police Station, and it has the
+      advantage of being verbatim.”
+
+      “Have I anything to say? Yes, I have a deal to say. I have to
+      make a clean breast of it all. You can hang me, or you can leave
+      me alone. I don’t care a plug which you do. I tell you I’ve not
+      shut an eye in sleep since I did it, and I don’t believe I ever
+      will again until I get past all waking. Sometimes it’s his face,
+      but most generally it’s hers. I’m never without one or the other
+      before me. He looks frowning and black-like, but she has a kind
+      o’ surprise upon her face. Ay, the white lamb, she might well be
+      surprised when she read death on a face that had seldom looked
+      anything but love upon her before.
+
+      “But it was Sarah’s fault, and may the curse of a broken man put
+      a blight on her and set the blood rotting in her veins! It’s not
+      that I want to clear myself. I know that I went back to drink,
+      like the beast that I was. But she would have forgiven me; she
+      would have stuck as close to me as a rope to a block if that
+      woman had never darkened our door. For Sarah Cushing loved
+      me—that’s the root of the business—she loved me until all her
+      love turned to poisonous hate when she knew that I thought more
+      of my wife’s footmark in the mud than I did of her whole body and
+      soul.
+
+      “There were three sisters altogether. The old one was just a good
+      woman, the second was a devil, and the third was an angel. Sarah
+      was thirty-three, and Mary was twenty-nine when I married. We
+      were just as happy as the day was long when we set up house
+      together, and in all Liverpool there was no better woman than my
+      Mary. And then we asked Sarah up for a week, and the week grew
+      into a month, and one thing led to another, until she was just
+      one of ourselves.
+
+      “I was blue ribbon at that time, and we were putting a little
+      money by, and all was as bright as a new dollar. My God, whoever
+      would have thought that it could have come to this? Whoever would
+      have dreamed it?
+
+      “I used to be home for the week-ends very often, and sometimes if
+      the ship were held back for cargo I would have a whole week at a
+      time, and in this way I saw a deal of my sister-in-law, Sarah.
+      She was a fine tall woman, black and quick and fierce, with a
+      proud way of carrying her head, and a glint from her eye like a
+      spark from a flint. But when little Mary was there I had never a
+      thought of her, and that I swear as I hope for God’s mercy.
+
+      “It had seemed to me sometimes that she liked to be alone with
+      me, or to coax me out for a walk with her, but I had never
+      thought anything of that. But one evening my eyes were opened. I
+      had come up from the ship and found my wife out, but Sarah at
+      home. ‘Where’s Mary?’ I asked. ‘Oh, she has gone to pay some
+      accounts.’ I was impatient and paced up and down the room. ‘Can’t
+      you be happy for five minutes without Mary, Jim?’ says she. ‘It’s
+      a bad compliment to me that you can’t be contented with my
+      society for so short a time.’ ‘That’s all right, my lass,’ said
+      I, putting out my hand towards her in a kindly way, but she had
+      it in both hers in an instant, and they burned as if they were in
+      a fever. I looked into her eyes and I read it all there. There
+      was no need for her to speak, nor for me either. I frowned and
+      drew my hand away. Then she stood by my side in silence for a
+      bit, and then put up her hand and patted me on the shoulder.
+      ‘Steady old Jim!’ said she, and with a kind o’ mocking laugh, she
+      ran out of the room.
+
+      “Well, from that time Sarah hated me with her whole heart and
+      soul, and she is a woman who can hate, too. I was a fool to let
+      her go on biding with us—a besotted fool—but I never said a word
+      to Mary, for I knew it would grieve her. Things went on much as
+      before, but after a time I began to find that there was a bit of
+      a change in Mary herself. She had always been so trusting and so
+      innocent, but now she became queer and suspicious, wanting to
+      know where I had been and what I had been doing, and whom my
+      letters were from, and what I had in my pockets, and a thousand
+      such follies. Day by day she grew queerer and more irritable, and
+      we had ceaseless rows about nothing. I was fairly puzzled by it
+      all. Sarah avoided me now, but she and Mary were just
+      inseparable. I can see now how she was plotting and scheming and
+      poisoning my wife’s mind against me, but I was such a blind
+      beetle that I could not understand it at the time. Then I broke
+      my blue ribbon and began to drink again, but I think I should not
+      have done it if Mary had been the same as ever. She had some
+      reason to be disgusted with me now, and the gap between us began
+      to be wider and wider. And then this Alec Fairbairn chipped in,
+      and things became a thousand times blacker.
+
+      “It was to see Sarah that he came to my house first, but soon it
+      was to see us, for he was a man with winning ways, and he made
+      friends wherever he went. He was a dashing, swaggering chap,
+      smart and curled, who had seen half the world and could talk of
+      what he had seen. He was good company, I won’t deny it, and he
+      had wonderful polite ways with him for a sailor man, so that I
+      think there must have been a time when he knew more of the poop
+      than the forecastle. For a month he was in and out of my house,
+      and never once did it cross my mind that harm might come of his
+      soft, tricky ways. And then at last something made me suspect,
+      and from that day my peace was gone forever.
+
+      “It was only a little thing, too. I had come into the parlour
+      unexpected, and as I walked in at the door I saw a light of
+      welcome on my wife’s face. But as she saw who it was it faded
+      again, and she turned away with a look of disappointment. That
+      was enough for me. There was no one but Alec Fairbairn whose step
+      she could have mistaken for mine. If I could have seen him then I
+      should have killed him, for I have always been like a madman when
+      my temper gets loose. Mary saw the devil’s light in my eyes, and
+      she ran forward with her hands on my sleeve. ‘Don’t, Jim, don’t!’
+      says she. ‘Where’s Sarah?’ I asked. ‘In the kitchen,’ says she.
+      ‘Sarah,’ says I as I went in, ‘this man Fairbairn is never to
+      darken my door again.’ ‘Why not?’ says she. ‘Because I order it.’
+      ‘Oh!’ says she, ‘if my friends are not good enough for this
+      house, then I am not good enough for it either.’ ‘You can do what
+      you like,’ says I, ‘but if Fairbairn shows his face here again
+      I’ll send you one of his ears for a keepsake.’ She was frightened
+      by my face, I think, for she never answered a word, and the same
+      evening she left my house.
+
+      “Well, I don’t know now whether it was pure devilry on the part
+      of this woman, or whether she thought that she could turn me
+      against my wife by encouraging her to misbehave. Anyway, she took
+      a house just two streets off and let lodgings to sailors.
+      Fairbairn used to stay there, and Mary would go round to have tea
+      with her sister and him. How often she went I don’t know, but I
+      followed her one day, and as I broke in at the door Fairbairn got
+      away over the back garden wall, like the cowardly skunk that he
+      was. I swore to my wife that I would kill her if I found her in
+      his company again, and I led her back with me, sobbing and
+      trembling, and as white as a piece of paper. There was no trace
+      of love between us any longer. I could see that she hated me and
+      feared me, and when the thought of it drove me to drink, then she
+      despised me as well.
+
+      “Well, Sarah found that she could not make a living in Liverpool,
+      so she went back, as I understand, to live with her sister in
+      Croydon, and things jogged on much the same as ever at home. And
+      then came this last week and all the misery and ruin.
+
+      “It was in this way. We had gone on the _May Day_ for a round
+      voyage of seven days, but a hogshead got loose and started one of
+      our plates, so that we had to put back into port for twelve
+      hours. I left the ship and came home, thinking what a surprise it
+      would be for my wife, and hoping that maybe she would be glad to
+      see me so soon. The thought was in my head as I turned into my
+      own street, and at that moment a cab passed me, and there she
+      was, sitting by the side of Fairbairn, the two chatting and
+      laughing, with never a thought for me as I stood watching them
+      from the footpath.
+
+      “I tell you, and I give you my word for it, that from that moment
+      I was not my own master, and it is all like a dim dream when I
+      look back on it. I had been drinking hard of late, and the two
+      things together fairly turned my brain. There’s something
+      throbbing in my head now, like a docker’s hammer, but that
+      morning I seemed to have all Niagara whizzing and buzzing in my
+      ears.
+
+      “Well, I took to my heels, and I ran after the cab. I had a heavy
+      oak stick in my hand, and I tell you I saw red from the first;
+      but as I ran I got cunning, too, and hung back a little to see
+      them without being seen. They pulled up soon at the railway
+      station. There was a good crowd round the booking-office, so I
+      got quite close to them without being seen. They took tickets for
+      New Brighton. So did I, but I got in three carriages behind them.
+      When we reached it they walked along the Parade, and I was never
+      more than a hundred yards from them. At last I saw them hire a
+      boat and start for a row, for it was a very hot day, and they
+      thought, no doubt, that it would be cooler on the water.
+
+      “It was just as if they had been given into my hands. There was a
+      bit of a haze, and you could not see more than a few hundred
+      yards. I hired a boat for myself, and I pulled after them. I
+      could see the blur of their craft, but they were going nearly as
+      fast as I, and they must have been a long mile from the shore
+      before I caught them up. The haze was like a curtain all round
+      us, and there were we three in the middle of it. My God, shall I
+      ever forget their faces when they saw who was in the boat that
+      was closing in upon them? She screamed out. He swore like a
+      madman and jabbed at me with an oar, for he must have seen death
+      in my eyes. I got past it and got one in with my stick that
+      crushed his head like an egg. I would have spared her, perhaps,
+      for all my madness, but she threw her arms round him, crying out
+      to him, and calling him ‘Alec.’ I struck again, and she lay
+      stretched beside him. I was like a wild beast then that had
+      tasted blood. If Sarah had been there, by the Lord, she should
+      have joined them. I pulled out my knife, and—well, there! I’ve
+      said enough. It gave me a kind of savage joy when I thought how
+      Sarah would feel when she had such signs as these of what her
+      meddling had brought about. Then I tied the bodies into the boat,
+      stove a plank, and stood by until they had sunk. I knew very well
+      that the owner would think that they had lost their bearings in
+      the haze, and had drifted off out to sea. I cleaned myself up,
+      got back to land, and joined my ship without a soul having a
+      suspicion of what had passed. That night I made up the packet for
+      Sarah Cushing, and next day I sent it from Belfast.
+
+      “There you have the whole truth of it. You can hang me, or do
+      what you like with me, but you cannot punish me as I have been
+      punished already. I cannot shut my eyes but I see those two faces
+      staring at me—staring at me as they stared when my boat broke
+      through the haze. I killed them quick, but they are killing me
+      slow; and if I have another night of it I shall be either mad or
+      dead before morning. You won’t put me alone into a cell, sir? For
+      pity’s sake don’t, and may you be treated in your day of agony as
+      you treat me now.’
+
+      “What is the meaning of it, Watson?” said Holmes solemnly as he
+      laid down the paper. “What object is served by this circle of
+      misery and violence and fear? It must tend to some end, or else
+      our universe is ruled by chance, which is unthinkable. But what
+      end? There is the great standing perennial problem to which human
+      reason is as far from an answer as ever.”
+
+
+
+
+III. The Yellow Face
+
+
+      In publishing these short sketches based upon the numerous cases
+      in which my companion’s singular gifts have made us the listeners
+      to, and eventually the actors in, some strange drama, it is only
+      natural that I should dwell rather upon his successes than upon
+      his failures. And this not so much for the sake of his
+      reputation—for, indeed, it was when he was at his wits’ end that
+      his energy and his versatility were most admirable—but because
+      where he failed it happened too often that no one else succeeded,
+      and that the tale was left forever without a conclusion. Now and
+      again, however, it chanced that even when he erred, the truth was
+      still discovered. I have noted of some half-dozen cases of the
+      kind, of which the Affair of the Second Stain and that which I am
+      now about to recount are the two which present the strongest
+      features of interest.
+
+      Sherlock Holmes was a man who seldom took exercise for exercise’s
+      sake. Few men were capable of greater muscular effort, and he was
+      undoubtedly one of the finest boxers of his weight that I have
+      ever seen; but he looked upon aimless bodily exertion as a waste
+      of energy, and he seldom bestirred himself save when there was
+      some professional object to be served. Then he was absolutely
+      untiring and indefatigable. That he should have kept himself in
+      training under such circumstances is remarkable, but his diet was
+      usually of the sparest, and his habits were simple to the verge
+      of austerity. Save for the occasional use of cocaine, he had no
+      vices, and he only turned to the drug as a protest against the
+      monotony of existence when cases were scanty and the papers
+      uninteresting.
+
+      One day in early spring he had so far relaxed as to go for a walk
+      with me in the Park, where the first faint shoots of green were
+      breaking out upon the elms, and the sticky spear-heads of the
+      chestnuts were just beginning to burst into their five-fold
+      leaves. For two hours we rambled about together, in silence for
+      the most part, as befits two men who know each other intimately.
+      It was nearly five before we were back in Baker Street once more.
+
+      “Beg pardon, sir,” said our page-boy, as he opened the door.
+      “There’s been a gentleman here asking for you, sir.”
+
+      Holmes glanced reproachfully at me. “So much for afternoon
+      walks!” said he. “Has this gentleman gone, then?”
+
+      “Yes, sir.”
+
+      “Didn’t you ask him in?”
+
+      “Yes, sir; he came in.”
+
+      “How long did he wait?”
+
+      “Half an hour, sir. He was a very restless gentleman, sir,
+      a-walkin’ and a-stampin’ all the time he was here. I was waitin’
+      outside the door, sir, and I could hear him. At last he outs into
+      the passage, and he cries, ‘Is that man never goin’ to come?’
+      Those were his very words, sir. ‘You’ll only need to wait a
+      little longer,’ says I. ‘Then I’ll wait in the open air, for I
+      feel half choked,’ says he. ‘I’ll be back before long.’ And with
+      that he ups and he outs, and all I could say wouldn’t hold him
+      back.”
+
+      “Well, well, you did your best,” said Holmes, as we walked into
+      our room. “It’s very annoying, though, Watson. I was badly in
+      need of a case, and this looks, from the man’s impatience, as if
+      it were of importance. Halloa! That’s not your pipe on the table.
+      He must have left his behind him. A nice old briar with a good
+      long stem of what the tobacconists call amber. I wonder how many
+      real amber mouthpieces there are in London. Some people think
+      that a fly in it is a sign. Well, he must have been disturbed in
+      his mind to leave a pipe behind him which he evidently values
+      highly.”
+
+      “How do you know that he values it highly?” I asked.
+
+      “Well, I should put the original cost of the pipe at seven and
+      sixpence. Now it has, you see, been twice mended, once in the
+      wooden stem and once in the amber. Each of these mends, done, as
+      you observe, with silver bands, must have cost more than the pipe
+      did originally. The man must value the pipe highly when he
+      prefers to patch it up rather than buy a new one with the same
+      money.”
+
+      “Anything else?” I asked, for Holmes was turning the pipe about
+      in his hand, and staring at it in his peculiar pensive way.
+
+      He held it up and tapped on it with his long, thin fore-finger,
+      as a professor might who was lecturing on a bone.
+
+      “Pipes are occasionally of extraordinary interest,” said he.
+      “Nothing has more individuality, save perhaps watches and
+      bootlaces. The indications here, however, are neither very marked
+      nor very important. The owner is obviously a muscular man,
+      left-handed, with an excellent set of teeth, careless in his
+      habits, and with no need to practise economy.”
+
+      My friend threw out the information in a very offhand way, but I
+      saw that he cocked his eye at me to see if I had followed his
+      reasoning.
+
+      “You think a man must be well-to-do if he smokes a seven-shilling
+      pipe,” said I.
+
+      “This is Grosvenor mixture at eightpence an ounce,” Holmes
+      answered, knocking a little out on his palm. “As he might get an
+      excellent smoke for half the price, he has no need to practise
+      economy.”
+
+      “And the other points?”
+
+      “He has been in the habit of lighting his pipe at lamps and
+      gas-jets. You can see that it is quite charred all down one side.
+      Of course a match could not have done that. Why should a man hold
+      a match to the side of his pipe? But you cannot light it at a
+      lamp without getting the bowl charred. And it is all on the right
+      side of the pipe. From that I gather that he is a left-handed
+      man. You hold your own pipe to the lamp, and see how naturally
+      you, being right-handed, hold the left side to the flame. You
+      might do it once the other way, but not as a constancy. This has
+      always been held so. Then he has bitten through his amber. It
+      takes a muscular, energetic fellow, and one with a good set of
+      teeth, to do that. But if I am not mistaken I hear him upon the
+      stair, so we shall have something more interesting than his pipe
+      to study.”
+
+      An instant later our door opened, and a tall young man entered
+      the room. He was well but quietly dressed in a dark-grey suit,
+      and carried a brown wide-awake in his hand. I should have put him
+      at about thirty, though he was really some years older.
+
+      “I beg your pardon,” said he, with some embarrassment; “I suppose
+      I should have knocked. Yes, of course I should have knocked. The
+      fact is that I am a little upset, and you must put it all down to
+      that.” He passed his hand over his forehead like a man who is
+      half dazed, and then fell rather than sat down upon a chair.
+
+      “I can see that you have not slept for a night or two,” said
+      Holmes, in his easy, genial way. “That tries a man’s nerves more
+      than work, and more even than pleasure. May I ask how I can help
+      you?”
+
+      “I wanted your advice, sir. I don’t know what to do and my whole
+      life seems to have gone to pieces.”
+
+      “You wish to employ me as a consulting detective?”
+
+      “Not that only. I want your opinion as a judicious man—as a man
+      of the world. I want to know what I ought to do next. I hope to
+      God you’ll be able to tell me.”
+
+      He spoke in little, sharp, jerky outbursts, and it seemed to me
+      that to speak at all was very painful to him, and that his will
+      all through was overriding his inclinations.
+
+      “It’s a very delicate thing,” said he. “One does not like to
+      speak of one’s domestic affairs to strangers. It seems dreadful
+      to discuss the conduct of one’s wife with two men whom I have
+      never seen before. It’s horrible to have to do it. But I’ve got
+      to the end of my tether, and I must have advice.”
+
+      “My dear Mr. Grant Munro—” began Holmes.
+
+      Our visitor sprang from his chair. “What!” he cried, “you know my
+      name?”
+
+      “If you wish to preserve your _incognito_,” said Holmes, smiling,
+      “I would suggest that you cease to write your name upon the
+      lining of your hat, or else that you turn the crown towards the
+      person whom you are addressing. I was about to say that my friend
+      and I have listened to a good many strange secrets in this room,
+      and that we have had the good fortune to bring peace to many
+      troubled souls. I trust that we may do as much for you. Might I
+      beg you, as time may prove to be of importance, to furnish me
+      with the facts of your case without further delay?”
+
+      Our visitor again passed his hand over his forehead, as if he
+      found it bitterly hard. From every gesture and expression I could
+      see that he was a reserved, self-contained man, with a dash of
+      pride in his nature, more likely to hide his wounds than to
+      expose them. Then suddenly, with a fierce gesture of his closed
+      hand, like one who throws reserve to the winds, he began.
+
+      “The facts are these, Mr. Holmes,” said he. “I am a married man,
+      and have been so for three years. During that time my wife and I
+      have loved each other as fondly and lived as happily as any two
+      that ever were joined. We have not had a difference, not one, in
+      thought or word or deed. And now, since last Monday, there has
+      suddenly sprung up a barrier between us, and I find that there is
+      something in her life and in her thought of which I know as
+      little as if she were the woman who brushes by me in the street.
+      We are estranged, and I want to know why.
+
+      “Now there is one thing that I want to impress upon you before I
+      go any further, Mr. Holmes. Effie loves me. Don’t let there be
+      any mistake about that. She loves me with her whole heart and
+      soul, and never more than now. I know it. I feel it. I don’t want
+      to argue about that. A man can tell easily enough when a woman
+      loves him. But there’s this secret between us, and we can never
+      be the same until it is cleared.”
+
+      “Kindly let me have the facts, Mr. Munro,” said Holmes, with some
+      impatience.
+
+      “I’ll tell you what I know about Effie’s history. She was a widow
+      when I met her first, though quite young—only twenty-five. Her
+      name then was Mrs. Hebron. She went out to America when she was
+      young, and lived in the town of Atlanta, where she married this
+      Hebron, who was a lawyer with a good practice. They had one
+      child, but the yellow fever broke out badly in the place, and
+      both husband and child died of it. I have seen his death
+      certificate. This sickened her of America, and she came back to
+      live with a maiden aunt at Pinner, in Middlesex. I may mention
+      that her husband had left her comfortably off, and that she had a
+      capital of about four thousand five hundred pounds, which had
+      been so well invested by him that it returned an average of seven
+      per cent. She had only been six months at Pinner when I met her;
+      we fell in love with each other, and we married a few weeks
+      afterwards.
+
+      “I am a hop merchant myself, and as I have an income of seven or
+      eight hundred, we found ourselves comfortably off, and took a
+      nice eighty-pound-a-year villa at Norbury. Our little place was
+      very countrified, considering that it is so close to town. We had
+      an inn and two houses a little above us, and a single cottage at
+      the other side of the field which faces us, and except those
+      there were no houses until you got half way to the station. My
+      business took me into town at certain seasons, but in summer I
+      had less to do, and then in our country home my wife and I were
+      just as happy as could be wished. I tell you that there never was
+      a shadow between us until this accursed affair began.
+
+      “There’s one thing I ought to tell you before I go further. When
+      we married, my wife made over all her property to me—rather
+      against my will, for I saw how awkward it would be if my business
+      affairs went wrong. However, she would have it so, and it was
+      done. Well, about six weeks ago she came to me.
+
+      “‘Jack,’ said she, ‘when you took my money you said that if ever
+      I wanted any I was to ask you for it.’
+
+      “‘Certainly,’ said I. ‘It’s all your own.’
+
+      “‘Well,’ said she, ‘I want a hundred pounds.’
+
+      “I was a bit staggered at this, for I had imagined it was simply
+      a new dress or something of the kind that she was after.
+
+      “‘What on earth for?’ I asked.
+
+      “‘Oh,’ said she, in her playful way, ‘you said that you were only
+      my banker, and bankers never ask questions, you know.’
+
+      “‘If you really mean it, of course you shall have the money,’
+      said I.
+
+      “‘Oh, yes, I really mean it.’
+
+      “‘And you won’t tell me what you want it for?’
+
+      “‘Some day, perhaps, but not just at present, Jack.’
+
+      “So I had to be content with that, though it was the first time
+      that there had ever been any secret between us. I gave her a
+      check, and I never thought any more of the matter. It may have
+      nothing to do with what came afterwards, but I thought it only
+      right to mention it.
+
+      “Well, I told you just now that there is a cottage not far from
+      our house. There is just a field between us, but to reach it you
+      have to go along the road and then turn down a lane. Just beyond
+      it is a nice little grove of Scotch firs, and I used to be very
+      fond of strolling down there, for trees are always a neighbourly
+      kind of things. The cottage had been standing empty this eight
+      months, and it was a pity, for it was a pretty two-storied place,
+      with an old-fashioned porch and honeysuckle about it. I have
+      stood many a time and thought what a neat little homestead it
+      would make.
+
+      “Well, last Monday evening I was taking a stroll down that way,
+      when I met an empty van coming up the lane, and saw a pile of
+      carpets and things lying about on the grass-plot beside the
+      porch. It was clear that the cottage had at last been let. I
+      walked past it, and wondered what sort of folk they were who had
+      come to live so near us. And as I looked I suddenly became aware
+      that a face was watching me out of one of the upper windows.
+
+      “I don’t know what there was about that face, Mr. Holmes, but it
+      seemed to send a chill right down my back. I was some little way
+      off, so that I could not make out the features, but there was
+      something unnatural and inhuman about the face. That was the
+      impression that I had, and I moved quickly forwards to get a
+      nearer view of the person who was watching me. But as I did so
+      the face suddenly disappeared, so suddenly that it seemed to have
+      been plucked away into the darkness of the room. I stood for five
+      minutes thinking the business over, and trying to analyze my
+      impressions. I could not tell if the face were that of a man or a
+      woman. It had been too far from me for that. But its colour was
+      what had impressed me most. It was of a livid chalky white, and
+      with something set and rigid about it which was shockingly
+      unnatural. So disturbed was I that I determined to see a little
+      more of the new inmates of the cottage. I approached and knocked
+      at the door, which was instantly opened by a tall, gaunt woman
+      with a harsh, forbidding face.
+
+      “‘What may you be wantin’?’ she asked, in a Northern accent.
+
+      “‘I am your neighbour over yonder,’ said I, nodding towards my
+      house. ‘I see that you have only just moved in, so I thought that
+      if I could be of any help to you in any—’
+
+      “‘Ay, we’ll just ask ye when we want ye,’ said she, and shut the
+      door in my face. Annoyed at the churlish rebuff, I turned my back
+      and walked home. All evening, though I tried to think of other
+      things, my mind would still turn to the apparition at the window
+      and the rudeness of the woman. I determined to say nothing about
+      the former to my wife, for she is a nervous, highly strung woman,
+      and I had no wish that she would share the unpleasant impression
+      which had been produced upon myself. I remarked to her, however,
+      before I fell asleep, that the cottage was now occupied, to which
+      she returned no reply.
+
+      “I am usually an extremely sound sleeper. It has been a standing
+      jest in the family that nothing could ever wake me during the
+      night. And yet somehow on that particular night, whether it may
+      have been the slight excitement produced by my little adventure
+      or not I know not, but I slept much more lightly than usual. Half
+      in my dreams I was dimly conscious that something was going on in
+      the room, and gradually became aware that my wife had dressed
+      herself and was slipping on her mantle and her bonnet. My lips
+      were parted to murmur out some sleepy words of surprise or
+      remonstrance at this untimely preparation, when suddenly my
+      half-opened eyes fell upon her face, illuminated by the
+      candle-light, and astonishment held me dumb. She wore an
+      expression such as I had never seen before—such as I should have
+      thought her incapable of assuming. She was deadly pale and
+      breathing fast, glancing furtively towards the bed as she
+      fastened her mantle, to see if she had disturbed me. Then,
+      thinking that I was still asleep, she slipped noiselessly from
+      the room, and an instant later I heard a sharp creaking which
+      could only come from the hinges of the front door. I sat up in
+      bed and rapped my knuckles against the rail to make certain that
+      I was truly awake. Then I took my watch from under the pillow. It
+      was three in the morning. What on this earth could my wife be
+      doing out on the country road at three in the morning?
+
+      “I had sat for about twenty minutes turning the thing over in my
+      mind and trying to find some possible explanation. The more I
+      thought, the more extraordinary and inexplicable did it appear. I
+      was still puzzling over it when I heard the door gently close
+      again, and her footsteps coming up the stairs.
+
+      “‘Where in the world have you been, Effie?’ I asked as she
+      entered.
+
+      “She gave a violent start and a kind of gasping cry when I spoke,
+      and that cry and start troubled me more than all the rest, for
+      there was something indescribably guilty about them. My wife had
+      always been a woman of a frank, open nature, and it gave me a
+      chill to see her slinking into her own room, and crying out and
+      wincing when her own husband spoke to her.
+
+      “‘You awake, Jack!’ she cried, with a nervous laugh. ‘Why, I
+      thought that nothing could awake you.’
+
+      “‘Where have you been?’ I asked, more sternly.
+
+      “‘I don’t wonder that you are surprised,’ said she, and I could
+      see that her fingers were trembling as she undid the fastenings
+      of her mantle. ‘Why, I never remember having done such a thing in
+      my life before. The fact is that I felt as though I were choking,
+      and had a perfect longing for a breath of fresh air. I really
+      think that I should have fainted if I had not gone out. I stood
+      at the door for a few minutes, and now I am quite myself again.’
+
+      “All the time that she was telling me this story she never once
+      looked in my direction, and her voice was quite unlike her usual
+      tones. It was evident to me that she was saying what was false. I
+      said nothing in reply, but turned my face to the wall, sick at
+      heart, with my mind filled with a thousand venomous doubts and
+      suspicions. What was it that my wife was concealing from me?
+      Where had she been during that strange expedition? I felt that I
+      should have no peace until I knew, and yet I shrank from asking
+      her again after once she had told me what was false. All the rest
+      of the night I tossed and tumbled, framing theory after theory,
+      each more unlikely than the last.
+
+      “I should have gone to the City that day, but I was too disturbed
+      in my mind to be able to pay attention to business matters. My
+      wife seemed to be as upset as myself, and I could see from the
+      little questioning glances which she kept shooting at me that she
+      understood that I disbelieved her statement, and that she was at
+      her wits’ end what to do. We hardly exchanged a word during
+      breakfast, and immediately afterwards I went out for a walk, that
+      I might think the matter out in the fresh morning air.
+
+      “I went as far as the Crystal Palace, spent an hour in the
+      grounds, and was back in Norbury by one o’clock. It happened that
+      my way took me past the cottage, and I stopped for an instant to
+      look at the windows, and to see if I could catch a glimpse of the
+      strange face which had looked out at me on the day before. As I
+      stood there, imagine my surprise, Mr. Holmes, when the door
+      suddenly opened and my wife walked out.
+
+      “I was struck dumb with astonishment at the sight of her; but my
+      emotions were nothing to those which showed themselves upon her
+      face when our eyes met. She seemed for an instant to wish to
+      shrink back inside the house again; and then, seeing how useless
+      all concealment must be, she came forward, with a very white face
+      and frightened eyes which belied the smile upon her lips.
+
+      “‘Ah, Jack,’ she said, ‘I have just been in to see if I can be of
+      any assistance to our new neighbours. Why do you look at me like
+      that, Jack? You are not angry with me?’
+
+      “‘So,’ said I, ‘this is where you went during the night.’
+
+      “‘What do you mean?’ she cried.
+
+      “‘You came here. I am sure of it. Who are these people, that you
+      should visit them at such an hour?’
+
+      “‘I have not been here before.’
+
+      “‘How can you tell me what you know is false?’ I cried. ‘Your
+      very voice changes as you speak. When have I ever had a secret
+      from you? I shall enter that cottage, and I shall probe the
+      matter to the bottom.’
+
+      “‘No, no, Jack, for God’s sake!’ she gasped, in uncontrollable
+      emotion. Then, as I approached the door, she seized my sleeve and
+      pulled me back with convulsive strength.
+
+      “‘I implore you not to do this, Jack,’ she cried. ‘I swear that I
+      will tell you everything some day, but nothing but misery can
+      come of it if you enter that cottage.’ Then, as I tried to shake
+      her off, she clung to me in a frenzy of entreaty.
+
+      “‘Trust me, Jack!’ she cried. ‘Trust me only this once. You will
+      never have cause to regret it. You know that I would not have a
+      secret from you if it were not for your own sake. Our whole lives
+      are at stake in this. If you come home with me, all will be well.
+      If you force your way into that cottage, all is over between us.’
+
+      “There was such earnestness, such despair, in her manner that her
+      words arrested me, and I stood irresolute before the door.
+
+      “‘I will trust you on one condition, and on one condition only,’
+      said I at last. ‘It is that this mystery comes to an end from
+      now. You are at liberty to preserve your secret, but you must
+      promise me that there shall be no more nightly visits, no more
+      doings which are kept from my knowledge. I am willing to forget
+      those which are passed if you will promise that there shall be no
+      more in the future.’
+
+      “‘I was sure that you would trust me,’ she cried, with a great
+      sigh of relief. ‘It shall be just as you wish. Come away—oh, come
+      away up to the house.’
+
+      “Still pulling at my sleeve, she led me away from the cottage. As
+      we went I glanced back, and there was that yellow livid face
+      watching us out of the upper window. What link could there be
+      between that creature and my wife? Or how could the coarse, rough
+      woman whom I had seen the day before be connected with her? It
+      was a strange puzzle, and yet I knew that my mind could never
+      know ease again until I had solved it.
+
+      “For two days after this I stayed at home, and my wife appeared
+      to abide loyally by our engagement, for, as far as I know, she
+      never stirred out of the house. On the third day, however, I had
+      ample evidence that her solemn promise was not enough to hold her
+      back from this secret influence which drew her away from her
+      husband and her duty.
+
+      “I had gone into town on that day, but I returned by the 2.40
+      instead of the 3.36, which is my usual train. As I entered the
+      house the maid ran into the hall with a startled face.
+
+      “‘Where is your mistress?’ I asked.
+
+      “‘I think that she has gone out for a walk,’ she answered.
+
+      “My mind was instantly filled with suspicion. I rushed upstairs
+      to make sure that she was not in the house. As I did so I
+      happened to glance out of one of the upper windows, and saw the
+      maid with whom I had just been speaking running across the field
+      in the direction of the cottage. Then of course I saw exactly
+      what it all meant. My wife had gone over there, and had asked the
+      servant to call her if I should return. Tingling with anger, I
+      rushed down and hurried across, determined to end the matter once
+      and forever. I saw my wife and the maid hurrying back along the
+      lane, but I did not stop to speak with them. In the cottage lay
+      the secret which was casting a shadow over my life. I vowed that,
+      come what might, it should be a secret no longer. I did not even
+      knock when I reached it, but turned the handle and rushed into
+      the passage.
+
+      “It was all still and quiet upon the ground floor. In the kitchen
+      a kettle was singing on the fire, and a large black cat lay
+      coiled up in the basket; but there was no sign of the woman whom
+      I had seen before. I ran into the other room, but it was equally
+      deserted. Then I rushed up the stairs, only to find two other
+      rooms empty and deserted at the top. There was no one at all in
+      the whole house. The furniture and pictures were of the most
+      common and vulgar description, save in the one chamber at the
+      window of which I had seen the strange face. That was comfortable
+      and elegant, and all my suspicions rose into a fierce bitter
+      flame when I saw that on the mantelpiece stood a copy of a
+      full-length photograph of my wife, which had been taken at my
+      request only three months ago.
+
+      “I stayed long enough to make certain that the house was
+      absolutely empty. Then I left it, feeling a weight at my heart
+      such as I had never had before. My wife came out into the hall as
+      I entered my house; but I was too hurt and angry to speak with
+      her, and pushing past her, I made my way into my study. She
+      followed me, however, before I could close the door.
+
+      “‘I am sorry that I broke my promise, Jack,’ said she; ‘but if
+      you knew all the circumstances I am sure that you would forgive
+      me.’
+
+      “‘Tell me everything, then,’ said I.
+
+      “‘I cannot, Jack, I cannot,’ she cried.
+
+      “‘Until you tell me who it is that has been living in that
+      cottage, and who it is to whom you have given that photograph,
+      there can never be any confidence between us,’ said I, and
+      breaking away from her, I left the house. That was yesterday, Mr.
+      Holmes, and I have not seen her since, nor do I know anything
+      more about this strange business. It is the first shadow that has
+      come between us, and it has so shaken me that I do not know what
+      I should do for the best. Suddenly this morning it occurred to me
+      that you were the man to advise me, so I have hurried to you now,
+      and I place myself unreservedly in your hands. If there is any
+      point which I have not made clear, pray question me about it.
+      But, above all, tell me quickly what I am to do, for this misery
+      is more than I can bear.”
+
+      Holmes and I had listened with the utmost interest to this
+      extraordinary statement, which had been delivered in the jerky,
+      broken fashion of a man who is under the influence of extreme
+      emotions. My companion sat silent for some time, with his chin
+      upon his hand, lost in thought.
+
+      “Tell me,” said he at last, “could you swear that this was a
+      man’s face which you saw at the window?”
+
+      “Each time that I saw it I was some distance away from it, so
+      that it is impossible for me to say.”
+
+      “You appear, however, to have been disagreeably impressed by it.”
+
+      “It seemed to be of an unnatural colour, and to have a strange
+      rigidity about the features. When I approached, it vanished with
+      a jerk.”
+
+      “How long is it since your wife asked you for a hundred pounds?”
+
+      “Nearly two months.”
+
+      “Have you ever seen a photograph of her first husband?”
+
+      “No; there was a great fire at Atlanta very shortly after his
+      death, and all her papers were destroyed.”
+
+      “And yet she had a certificate of death. You say that you saw
+      it.”
+
+      “Yes; she got a duplicate after the fire.”
+
+      “Did you ever meet any one who knew her in America?”
+
+      “No.”
+
+      “Did she ever talk of revisiting the place?”
+
+      “No.”
+
+      “Or get letters from it?”
+
+      “No.”
+
+      “Thank you. I should like to think over the matter a little now.
+      If the cottage is now permanently deserted we may have some
+      difficulty. If, on the other hand, as I fancy is more likely, the
+      inmates were warned of your coming, and left before you entered
+      yesterday, then they may be back now, and we should clear it all
+      up easily. Let me advise you, then, to return to Norbury, and to
+      examine the windows of the cottage again. If you have reason to
+      believe that it is inhabited, do not force your way in, but send
+      a wire to my friend and me. We shall be with you within an hour
+      of receiving it, and we shall then very soon get to the bottom of
+      the business.”
+
+      “And if it is still empty?”
+
+      “In that case I shall come out to-morrow and talk it over with
+      you. Good-by; and, above all, do not fret until you know that you
+      really have a cause for it.”
+
+      “I am afraid that this is a bad business, Watson,” said my
+      companion, as he returned after accompanying Mr. Grant Munro to
+      the door. “What do you make of it?”
+
+      “It had an ugly sound,” I answered.
+
+      “Yes. There’s blackmail in it, or I am much mistaken.”
+
+      “And who is the blackmailer?”
+
+      “Well, it must be the creature who lives in the only comfortable
+      room in the place, and has her photograph above his fireplace.
+      Upon my word, Watson, there is something very attractive about
+      that livid face at the window, and I would not have missed the
+      case for worlds.”
+
+      “You have a theory?”
+
+      “Yes, a provisional one. But I shall be surprised if it does not
+      turn out to be correct. This woman’s first husband is in that
+      cottage.”
+
+      “Why do you think so?”
+
+      “How else can we explain her frenzied anxiety that her second one
+      should not enter it? The facts, as I read them, are something
+      like this: This woman was married in America. Her husband
+      developed some hateful qualities; or shall we say that he
+      contracted some loathsome disease, and became a leper or an
+      imbecile? She flies from him at last, returns to England, changes
+      her name, and starts her life, as she thinks, afresh. She has
+      been married three years, and believes that her position is quite
+      secure, having shown her husband the death certificate of some
+      man whose name she has assumed, when suddenly her whereabouts is
+      discovered by her first husband; or, we may suppose, by some
+      unscrupulous woman who has attached herself to the invalid. They
+      write to the wife, and threaten to come and expose her. She asks
+      for a hundred pounds, and endeavours to buy them off. They come
+      in spite of it, and when the husband mentions casually to the
+      wife that there are new-comers in the cottage, she knows in some
+      way that they are her pursuers. She waits until her husband is
+      asleep, and then she rushes down to endeavour to persuade them to
+      leave her in peace. Having no success, she goes again next
+      morning, and her husband meets her, as he has told us, as she
+      comes out. She promises him then not to go there again, but two
+      days afterwards the hope of getting rid of those dreadful
+      neighbours was too strong for her, and she made another attempt,
+      taking down with her the photograph which had probably been
+      demanded from her. In the midst of this interview the maid rushed
+      in to say that the master had come home, on which the wife,
+      knowing that he would come straight down to the cottage, hurried
+      the inmates out at the back door, into the grove of fir-trees,
+      probably, which was mentioned as standing near. In this way he
+      found the place deserted. I shall be very much surprised,
+      however, if it is still so when he reconnoitres it this evening.
+      What do you think of my theory?”
+
+      “It is all surmise.”
+
+      “But at least it covers all the facts. When new facts come to our
+      knowledge which cannot be covered by it, it will be time enough
+      to reconsider it. We can do nothing more until we have a message
+      from our friend at Norbury.”
+
+      But we had not a very long time to wait for that. It came just as
+      we had finished our tea. “The cottage is still tenanted,” it
+      said. “Have seen the face again at the window. Will meet the
+      seven o’clock train, and will take no steps until you arrive.”
+
+      He was waiting on the platform when we stepped out, and we could
+      see in the light of the station lamps that he was very pale, and
+      quivering with agitation.
+
+      “They are still there, Mr. Holmes,” said he, laying his hand hard
+      upon my friend’s sleeve. “I saw lights in the cottage as I came
+      down. We shall settle it now once and for all.”
+
+      “What is your plan, then?” asked Holmes, as he walked down the
+      dark tree-lined road.
+
+      “I am going to force my way in and see for myself who is in the
+      house. I wish you both to be there as witnesses.”
+
+      “You are quite determined to do this, in spite of your wife’s
+      warning that it is better that you should not solve the mystery?”
+
+      “Yes, I am determined.”
+
+      “Well, I think that you are in the right. Any truth is better
+      than indefinite doubt. We had better go up at once. Of course,
+      legally, we are putting ourselves hopelessly in the wrong; but I
+      think that it is worth it.”
+
+      It was a very dark night, and a thin rain began to fall as we
+      turned from the high road into a narrow lane, deeply rutted, with
+      hedges on either side. Mr. Grant Munro pushed impatiently
+      forward, however, and we stumbled after him as best we could.
+
+      “There are the lights of my house,” he murmured, pointing to a
+      glimmer among the trees. “And here is the cottage which I am
+      going to enter.”
+
+      We turned a corner in the lane as he spoke, and there was the
+      building close beside us. A yellow bar falling across the black
+      foreground showed that the door was not quite closed, and one
+      window in the upper story was brightly illuminated. As we looked,
+      we saw a dark blur moving across the blind.
+
+      “There is that creature!” cried Grant Munro. “You can see for
+      yourselves that some one is there. Now follow me, and we shall
+      soon know all.”
+
+      We approached the door; but suddenly a woman appeared out of the
+      shadow and stood in the golden track of the lamp-light. I could
+      not see her face in the darkness, but her arms were thrown out in
+      an attitude of entreaty.
+
+      “For God’s sake, don’t Jack!” she cried. “I had a presentiment
+      that you would come this evening. Think better of it, dear! Trust
+      me again, and you will never have cause to regret it.”
+
+      “I have trusted you too long, Effie,” he cried, sternly. “Leave
+      go of me! I must pass you. My friends and I are going to settle
+      this matter once and forever!” He pushed her to one side, and we
+      followed closely after him. As he threw the door open an old
+      woman ran out in front of him and tried to bar his passage, but
+      he thrust her back, and an instant afterwards we were all upon
+      the stairs. Grant Munro rushed into the lighted room at the top,
+      and we entered at his heels.
+
+      It was a cosey, well-furnished apartment, with two candles
+      burning upon the table and two upon the mantelpiece. In the
+      corner, stooping over a desk, there sat what appeared to be a
+      little girl. Her face was turned away as we entered, but we could
+      see that she was dressed in a red frock, and that she had long
+      white gloves on. As she whisked round to us, I gave a cry of
+      surprise and horror. The face which she turned towards us was of
+      the strangest livid tint, and the features were absolutely devoid
+      of any expression. An instant later the mystery was explained.
+      Holmes, with a laugh, passed his hand behind the child’s ear, a
+      mask peeled off from her countenance, and there was a little coal
+      black negress, with all her white teeth flashing in amusement at
+      our amazed faces. I burst out laughing, out of sympathy with her
+      merriment; but Grant Munro stood staring, with his hand clutching
+      his throat.
+
+      “My God!” he cried. “What can be the meaning of this?”
+
+      “I will tell you the meaning of it,” cried the lady, sweeping
+      into the room with a proud, set face. “You have forced me,
+      against my own judgment, to tell you, and now we must both make
+      the best of it. My husband died at Atlanta. My child survived.”
+
+      “Your child?”
+
+      She drew a large silver locket from her bosom. “You have never
+      seen this open.”
+
+      “I understood that it did not open.”
+
+      She touched a spring, and the front hinged back. There was a
+      portrait within of a man strikingly handsome and
+      intelligent-looking, but bearing unmistakable signs upon his
+      features of his African descent.
+
+      “That is John Hebron, of Atlanta,” said the lady, “and a nobler
+      man never walked the earth. I cut myself off from my race in
+      order to wed him, but never once while he lived did I for an
+      instant regret it. It was our misfortune that our only child took
+      after his people rather than mine. It is often so in such
+      matches, and little Lucy is darker far than ever her father was.
+      But dark or fair, she is my own dear little girlie, and her
+      mother’s pet.” The little creature ran across at the words and
+      nestled up against the lady’s dress. “When I left her in
+      America,” she continued, “it was only because her health was
+      weak, and the change might have done her harm. She was given to
+      the care of a faithful Scotch woman who had once been our
+      servant. Never for an instant did I dream of disowning her as my
+      child. But when chance threw you in my way, Jack, and I learned
+      to love you, I feared to tell you about my child. God forgive me,
+      I feared that I should lose you, and I had not the courage to
+      tell you. I had to choose between you, and in my weakness I
+      turned away from my own little girl. For three years I have kept
+      her existence a secret from you, but I heard from the nurse, and
+      I knew that all was well with her. At last, however, there came
+      an overwhelming desire to see the child once more. I struggled
+      against it, but in vain. Though I knew the danger, I determined
+      to have the child over, if it were but for a few weeks. I sent a
+      hundred pounds to the nurse, and I gave her instructions about
+      this cottage, so that she might come as a neighbour, without my
+      appearing to be in any way connected with her. I pushed my
+      precautions so far as to order her to keep the child in the house
+      during the daytime, and to cover up her little face and hands so
+      that even those who might see her at the window should not gossip
+      about there being a black child in the neighbourhood. If I had
+      been less cautious I might have been more wise, but I was half
+      crazy with fear that you should learn the truth.
+
+      “It was you who told me first that the cottage was occupied. I
+      should have waited for the morning, but I could not sleep for
+      excitement, and so at last I slipped out, knowing how difficult
+      it is to awake you. But you saw me go, and that was the beginning
+      of my troubles. Next day you had my secret at your mercy, but you
+      nobly refrained from pursuing your advantage. Three days later,
+      however, the nurse and child only just escaped from the back door
+      as you rushed in at the front one. And now to-night you at last
+      know all, and I ask you what is to become of us, my child and
+      me?” She clasped her hands and waited for an answer.
+
+      It was a long ten minutes before Grant Munro broke the silence,
+      and when his answer came it was one of which I love to think. He
+      lifted the little child, kissed her, and then, still carrying
+      her, he held his other hand out to his wife and turned towards
+      the door.
+
+      “We can talk it over more comfortably at home,” said he. “I am
+      not a very good man, Effie, but I think that I am a better one
+      than you have given me credit for being.”
+
+      Holmes and I followed them down the lane, and my friend plucked
+      at my sleeve as we came out.
+
+      “I think,” said he, “that we shall be of more use in London than
+      in Norbury.”
+
+      Not another word did he say of the case until late that night,
+      when he was turning away, with his lighted candle, for his
+      bedroom.
+
+      “Watson,” said he, “if it should ever strike you that I am
+      getting a little over-confident in my powers, or giving less
+      pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper ‘Norbury’ in my
+      ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you.”
+
+
+
+
+IV. The Stockbroker’s Clerk
+
+
+      Shortly after my marriage I had bought a connection in the
+      Paddington district. Old Mr. Farquhar, from whom I purchased it,
+      had at one time an excellent general practice; but his age, and
+      an affliction of the nature of St. Vitus’s dance from which he
+      suffered, had very much thinned it. The public not unnaturally
+      goes on the principle that he who would heal others must himself
+      be whole, and looks askance at the curative powers of the man
+      whose own case is beyond the reach of his drugs. Thus as my
+      predecessor weakened his practice declined, until when I
+      purchased it from him it had sunk from twelve hundred to little
+      more than three hundred a year. I had confidence, however, in my
+      own youth and energy, and was convinced that in a very few years
+      the concern would be as flourishing as ever.
+
+      For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very
+      closely at work, and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes, for
+      I was too busy to visit Baker Street, and he seldom went anywhere
+      himself save upon professional business. I was surprised,
+      therefore, when, one morning in June, as I sat reading the
+      _British Medical Journal_ after breakfast, I heard a ring at the
+      bell, followed by the high, somewhat strident tones of my old
+      companion’s voice.
+
+      “Ah, my dear Watson,” said he, striding into the room, “I am very
+      delighted to see you! I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely
+      recovered from all the little excitements connected with our
+      adventure of the Sign of Four.”
+
+      “Thank you, we are both very well,” said I, shaking him warmly by
+      the hand.
+
+      “And I hope, also,” he continued, sitting down in the
+      rocking-chair, “that the cares of medical practice have not
+      entirely obliterated the interest which you used to take in our
+      little deductive problems.”
+
+      “On the contrary,” I answered, “it was only last night that I was
+      looking over my old notes, and classifying some of our past
+      results.”
+
+      “I trust that you don’t consider your collection closed.”
+
+      “Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more
+      of such experiences.”
+
+      “To-day, for example?”
+
+      “Yes, to-day, if you like.”
+
+      “And as far off as Birmingham?”
+
+      “Certainly, if you wish it.”
+
+      “And the practice?”
+
+      “I do my neighbour’s when he goes. He is always ready to work off
+      the debt.”
+
+      “Ha! Nothing could be better,” said Holmes, leaning back in his
+      chair and looking keenly at me from under his half closed lids.
+      “I perceive that you have been unwell lately. Summer colds are
+      always a little trying.”
+
+      “I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days
+      last week. I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of
+      it.”
+
+      “So you have. You look remarkably robust.”
+
+      “How, then, did you know of it?”
+
+      “My dear fellow, you know my methods.”
+
+      “You deduced it, then?”
+
+      “Certainly.”
+
+      “And from what?”
+
+      “From your slippers.”
+
+      I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing.
+      “How on earth—” I began, but Holmes answered my question before
+      it was asked.
+
+      “Your slippers are new,” he said. “You could not have had them
+      more than a few weeks. The soles which you are at this moment
+      presenting to me are slightly scorched. For a moment I thought
+      they might have got wet and been burned in the drying. But near
+      the instep there is a small circular wafer of paper with the
+      shopman’s hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of course have
+      removed this. You had, then, been sitting with your feet
+      outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so
+      wet a June as this if he were in his full health.”
+
+      Like all Holmes’s reasoning the thing seemed simplicity itself
+      when it was once explained. He read the thought upon my features,
+      and his smile had a tinge of bitterness.
+
+      “I am afraid that I rather give myself away when I explain,” said
+      he. “Results without causes are much more impressive. You are
+      ready to come to Birmingham, then?”
+
+      “Certainly. What is the case?”
+
+      “You shall hear it all in the train. My client is outside in a
+      four-wheeler. Can you come at once?”
+
+      “In an instant.” I scribbled a note to my neighbour, rushed
+      upstairs to explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon
+      the door-step.
+
+      “Your neighbour is a doctor,” said he, nodding at the brass
+      plate.
+
+      “Yes; he bought a practice as I did.”
+
+      “An old-established one?”
+
+      “Just the same as mine. Both have been ever since the houses were
+      built.”
+
+      “Ah! Then you got hold of the best of the two.”
+
+      “I think I did. But how do you know?”
+
+      “By the steps, my boy. Yours are worn three inches deeper than
+      his. But this gentleman in the cab is my client, Mr. Hall
+      Pycroft. Allow me to introduce you to him. Whip your horse up,
+      cabby, for we have only just time to catch our train.”
+
+      The man whom I found myself facing was a well-built,
+      fresh-complexioned young fellow, with a frank, honest face and a
+      slight, crisp, yellow moustache. He wore a very shiny top hat and
+      a neat suit of sober black, which made him look what he was—a
+      smart young City man, of the class who have been labeled
+      cockneys, but who give us our crack volunteer regiments, and who
+      turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any body of men in
+      these islands. His round, ruddy face was naturally full of
+      cheeriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to me to be
+      pulled down in a half-comical distress. It was not, however,
+      until we were all in a first-class carriage and well started upon
+      our journey to Birmingham that I was able to learn what the
+      trouble was which had driven him to Sherlock Holmes.
+
+      “We have a clear run here of seventy minutes,” Holmes remarked.
+      “I want you, Mr. Hall Pycroft, to tell my friend your very
+      interesting experience exactly as you have told it to me, or with
+      more detail if possible. It will be of use to me to hear the
+      succession of events again. It is a case, Watson, which may prove
+      to have something in it, or may prove to have nothing, but which,
+      at least, presents those unusual and _outré_ features which are
+      as dear to you as they are to me. Now, Mr. Pycroft, I shall not
+      interrupt you again.”
+
+      Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle in his eye.
+
+      “The worst of the story is,” said he, “that I show myself up as
+      such a confounded fool. Of course it may work out all right, and
+      I don’t see that I could have done otherwise; but if I have lost
+      my crib and get nothing in exchange I shall feel what a soft
+      Johnnie I have been. I’m not very good at telling a story, Dr.
+      Watson, but it is like this with me:
+
+      “I used to have a billet at Coxon & Woodhouse, of Drapers’
+      Gardens, but they were let in early in the spring through the
+      Venezuelan loan, as no doubt you remember, and came a nasty
+      cropper. I had been with them five years, and old Coxon gave me a
+      ripping good testimonial when the smash came, but of course we
+      clerks were all turned adrift, the twenty-seven of us. I tried
+      here and tried there, but there were lots of other chaps on the
+      same lay as myself, and it was a perfect frost for a long time. I
+      had been taking three pounds a week at Coxon’s, and I had saved
+      about seventy of them, but I soon worked my way through that and
+      out at the other end. I was fairly at the end of my tether at
+      last, and could hardly find the stamps to answer the
+      advertisements or the envelopes to stick them to. I had worn out
+      my boots paddling up office stairs, and I seemed just as far from
+      getting a billet as ever.
+
+      “At last I saw a vacancy at Mawson & Williams’, the great
+      stockbroking firm in Lombard Street. I daresay E.C. is not much
+      in your line, but I can tell you that this is about the richest
+      house in London. The advertisement was to be answered by letter
+      only. I sent in my testimonial and application, but without the
+      least hope of getting it. Back came an answer by return, saying
+      that if I would appear next Monday I might take over my new
+      duties at once, provided that my appearance was satisfactory. No
+      one knows how these things are worked. Some people say that the
+      manager just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first
+      that comes. Anyhow it was my innings that time, and I don’t ever
+      wish to feel better pleased. The screw was a pound a week rise,
+      and the duties just about the same as at Coxon’s.
+
+      “And now I come to the queer part of the business. I was in
+      diggings out Hampstead way—17, Potter’s Terrace. Well, I was
+      sitting doing a smoke that very evening after I had been promised
+      the appointment, when up came my landlady with a card which had
+      ‘Arthur Pinner, Financial Agent,’ printed upon it. I had never
+      heard the name before and could not imagine what he wanted with
+      me; but, of course, I asked her to show him up. In he walked, a
+      middle-sized, dark-haired, dark-eyed, black-bearded man, with a
+      touch of the Sheeny about his nose. He had a brisk kind of way
+      with him and spoke sharply, like a man who knew the value of
+      time.”
+
+      “‘Mr. Hall Pycroft, I believe?’” said he.
+
+      “‘Yes, sir,’ I answered, pushing a chair towards him.
+
+      “‘Lately engaged at Coxon & Woodhouse’s?’
+
+      “‘Yes, sir.’
+
+      “‘And now on the staff of Mawson’s.’
+
+      “‘Quite so.’
+
+      “‘Well,’ said he, ‘the fact is that I have heard some really
+      extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember
+      Parker, who used to be Coxon’s manager? He can never say enough
+      about it.’
+
+      “Of course I was pleased to hear this. I had always been pretty
+      sharp in the office, but I had never dreamed that I was talked
+      about in the City in this fashion.
+
+      “‘You have a good memory?’ said he.
+
+      “‘Pretty fair,’ I answered, modestly.
+
+      “‘Have you kept in touch with the market while you have been out
+      of work?’ he asked.
+
+      “‘Yes; I read the Stock Exchange List every morning.’
+
+      “‘Now that shows real application!’ he cried. ‘That is the way to
+      prosper! You won’t mind my testing you, will you? Let me see. How
+      are Ayrshires?’
+
+      “‘A hundred and six and a quarter to a hundred and five and
+      seven-eighths.’
+
+      “‘And New Zealand Consolidated?’
+
+      “‘A hundred and four.
+
+      “‘And British Broken Hills?’
+
+      “‘Seven to seven-and-six.’
+
+      “‘Wonderful!’ he cried, with his hands up. ‘This quite fits in
+      with all that I had heard. My boy, my boy, you are very much too
+      good to be a clerk at Mawson’s!’
+
+      “This outburst rather astonished me, as you can think. ‘Well,’
+      said I, ‘other people don’t think quite so much of me as you seem
+      to do, Mr. Pinner. I had a hard enough fight to get this berth,
+      and I am very glad to have it.’
+
+      “‘Pooh, man; you should soar above it. You are not in your true
+      sphere. Now, I’ll tell you how it stands with me. What I have to
+      offer is little enough when measured by your ability, but when
+      compared with Mawson’s, it’s light to dark. Let me see. When do
+      you go to Mawson’s?’
+
+      “‘On Monday.’
+
+      “‘Ha, ha! I think I would risk a little sporting flutter that you
+      don’t go there at all.’
+
+      “‘Not go to Mawson’s?’
+
+      “‘No, sir. By that day you will be the business manager of the
+      Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, with a hundred and
+      thirty-four branches in the towns and villages of France, not
+      counting one in Brussels and one in San Remo.’
+
+      “This took my breath away. ‘I never heard of it,’ said I.
+
+      “‘Very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for the capital
+      was all privately subscribed, and it’s too good a thing to let
+      the public into. My brother, Harry Pinner, is promoter, and joins
+      the board after allotment as managing director. He knew I was in
+      the swim down here, and asked me to pick up a good man cheap. A
+      young, pushing man with plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of
+      you, and that brought me here to-night. We can only offer you a
+      beggarly five hundred to start with.’
+
+      “‘Five hundred a year!’ I shouted.
+
+      “‘Only that at the beginning; but you are to have an overriding
+      commission of one per cent on all business done by your agents,
+      and you may take my word for it that this will come to more than
+      your salary.’
+
+      “‘But I know nothing about hardware.’
+
+      “‘Tut, my boy; you know about figures.’
+
+      “My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in my chair. But
+      suddenly a little chill of doubt came upon me.
+
+      “‘I must be frank with you,’ said I. ‘Mawson only gives me two
+      hundred, but Mawson is safe. Now, really, I know so little about
+      your company that—’
+
+      “‘Ah, smart, smart!’ he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of delight.
+      ‘You are the very man for us. You are not to be talked over, and
+      quite right, too. Now, here’s a note for a hundred pounds, and if
+      you think that we can do business you may just slip it into your
+      pocket as an advance upon your salary.’
+
+      “‘That is very handsome,’ said I. ‘When should I take over my new
+      duties?’
+
+      “‘Be in Birmingham to-morrow at one,’ said he. ‘I have a note in
+      my pocket here which you will take to my brother. You will find
+      him at 126B, Corporation Street, where the temporary offices of
+      the company are situated. Of course he must confirm your
+      engagement, but between ourselves it will be all right.’
+
+      “‘Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude, Mr. Pinner,’
+      said I.
+
+      “‘Not at all, my boy. You have only got your deserts. There are
+      one or two small things—mere formalities—which I must arrange
+      with you. You have a bit of paper beside you there. Kindly write
+      upon it “I am perfectly willing to act as business manager to the
+      Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, at a minimum salary of
+      £500.”’
+
+      “I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket.
+
+      “‘There is one other detail,’ said he. ‘What do you intend to do
+      about Mawson’s?’
+
+      “I had forgotten all about Mawson’s in my joy. ‘I’ll write and
+      resign,’ said I.
+
+      “‘Precisely what I don’t want you to do. I had a row over you
+      with Mawson’s manager. I had gone up to ask him about you, and he
+      was very offensive; accused me of coaxing you away from the
+      service of the firm, and that sort of thing. At last I fairly
+      lost my temper. “If you want good men you should pay them a good
+      price,” said I.’
+
+      “‘He would rather have our small price than your big one,’ said
+      he.
+
+      “‘I’ll lay you a fiver,’ said I, ‘that when he has my offer
+      you’ll never so much as hear from him again.’
+
+      “‘Done!’ said he. ‘We picked him out of the gutter, and he won’t
+      leave us so easily.’ Those were his very words.”
+
+      “‘The impudent scoundrel!’ I cried. ‘I’ve never so much as seen
+      him in my life. Why should I consider him in any way? I shall
+      certainly not write if you would rather I didn’t.’
+
+      “‘Good! That’s a promise,’ said he, rising from his chair. ‘Well,
+      I’m delighted to have got so good a man for my brother. Here’s
+      your advance of a hundred pounds, and here is the letter. Make a
+      note of the address, 126B, Corporation Street, and remember that
+      one o’clock to-morrow is your appointment. Good-night; and may
+      you have all the fortune that you deserve!’
+
+      “That’s just about all that passed between us, as near as I can
+      remember. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how pleased I was at such
+      an extraordinary bit of good fortune. I sat up half the night
+      hugging myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a
+      train that would take me in plenty time for my appointment. I
+      took my things to a hotel in New Street, and then I made my way
+      to the address which had been given me.
+
+      “It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I thought that
+      would make no difference. 126B, was a passage between two large
+      shops, which led to a winding stone stair, from which there were
+      many flats, let as offices to companies or professional men. The
+      names of the occupants were painted at the bottom on the wall,
+      but there was no such name as the Franco-Midland Hardware
+      Company, Limited. I stood for a few minutes with my heart in my
+      boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an elaborate hoax or
+      not, when up came a man and addressed me. He was very like the
+      chap I had seen the night before, the same figure and voice, but
+      he was clean shaven and his hair was lighter.
+
+      “‘Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?’ he asked.
+
+      “‘Yes,’ said I.
+
+      “‘Oh! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time.
+      I had a note from my brother this morning in which he sang your
+      praises very loudly.’
+
+      “‘I was just looking for the offices when you came.’
+
+      “‘We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these
+      temporary premises last week. Come up with me, and we will talk
+      the matter over.’
+
+      “I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and there,
+      right under the slates, were a couple of empty, dusty little
+      rooms, uncarpeted and uncurtained, into which he led me. I had
+      thought of a great office with shining tables and rows of clerks,
+      such as I was used to, and I daresay I stared rather straight at
+      the two deal chairs and one little table, which, with a ledger
+      and a waste paper basket, made up the whole furniture.
+
+      “‘Don’t be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft,’ said my new acquaintance,
+      seeing the length of my face. ‘Rome was not built in a day, and
+      we have lots of money at our backs, though we don’t cut much dash
+      yet in offices. Pray sit down, and let me have your letter.’
+
+      “I gave it to him, and he read it over very carefully.
+
+      “‘You seem to have made a vast impression upon my brother
+      Arthur,’ said he; ‘and I know that he is a pretty shrewd judge.
+      He swears by London, you know; and I by Birmingham; but this time
+      I shall follow his advice. Pray consider yourself definitely
+      engaged.’
+
+      “‘What are my duties?’ I asked.
+
+      “‘You will eventually manage the great depôt in Paris, which will
+      pour a flood of English crockery into the shops of a hundred and
+      thirty-four agents in France. The purchase will be completed in a
+      week, and meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make
+      yourself useful.’
+
+      “‘How?’
+
+      “For answer, he took a big red book out of a drawer.
+
+      “‘This is a directory of Paris,’ said he, ‘with the trades after
+      the names of the people. I want you to take it home with you, and
+      to mark off all the hardware sellers, with their addresses. It
+      would be of the greatest use to me to have them.’
+
+      “‘Surely there are classified lists?’ I suggested.
+
+      “‘Not reliable ones. Their system is different from ours. Stick
+      at it, and let me have the lists by Monday, at twelve. Good-day,
+      Mr. Pycroft. If you continue to show zeal and intelligence you
+      will find the company a good master.’
+
+      “I went back to the hotel with the big book under my arm, and
+      with very conflicting feelings in my breast. On the one hand, I
+      was definitely engaged and had a hundred pounds in my pocket; on
+      the other, the look of the offices, the absence of name on the
+      wall, and other of the points which would strike a business man
+      had left a bad impression as to the position of my employers.
+      However, come what might, I had my money, so I settled down to my
+      task. All Sunday I was kept hard at work, and yet by Monday I had
+      only got as far as H. I went round to my employer, found him in
+      the same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at it
+      until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday it was still
+      unfinished, so I hammered away until Friday—that is, yesterday.
+      Then I brought it round to Mr. Harry Pinner.
+
+      “‘Thank you very much,’ said he; ‘I fear that I underrated the
+      difficulty of the task. This list will be of very material
+      assistance to me.’
+
+      “‘It took some time,’ said I.
+
+      “‘And now,’ said he, ‘I want you to make a list of the furniture
+      shops, for they all sell crockery.’
+
+      “‘Very good.’
+
+      “‘And you can come up to-morrow evening, at seven, and let me
+      know how you are getting on. Don’t overwork yourself. A couple of
+      hours at Day’s Music Hall in the evening would do you no harm
+      after your labours.’ He laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a
+      thrill that his second tooth upon the left-hand side had been
+      very badly stuffed with gold.”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I stared with
+      astonishment at our client.
+
+      “You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson; but it is this way,”
+      said he: “When I was speaking to the other chap in London, at the
+      time that he laughed at my not going to Mawson’s, I happened to
+      notice that his tooth was stuffed in this very identical fashion.
+      The glint of the gold in each case caught my eye, you see. When I
+      put that with the voice and figure being the same, and only those
+      things altered which might be changed by a razor or a wig, I
+      could not doubt that it was the same man. Of course you expect
+      two brothers to be alike, but not that they should have the same
+      tooth stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out, and I found
+      myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or
+      my heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my head in a basin of cold
+      water, and tried to think it out. Why had he sent me from London
+      to Birmingham? Why had he got there before me? And why had he
+      written a letter from himself to himself? It was altogether too
+      much for me, and I could make no sense of it. And then suddenly
+      it struck me that what was dark to me might be very light to Mr.
+      Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to town by the night
+      train to see him this morning, and to bring you both back with me
+      to Birmingham.”
+
+      There was a pause after the stockbroker’s clerk had concluded his
+      surprising experience. Then Sherlock Holmes cocked his eye at me,
+      leaning back on the cushions with a pleased and yet critical
+      face, like a connoisseur who has just taken his first sip of a
+      comet vintage.
+
+      “Rather fine, Watson, is it not?” said he. “There are points in
+      it which please me. I think that you will agree with me that an
+      interview with Mr. Arthur Harry Pinner in the temporary offices
+      of the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, would be a
+      rather interesting experience for both of us.”
+
+      “But how can we do it?” I asked.
+
+      “Oh, easily enough,” said Hall Pycroft, cheerily. “You are two
+      friends of mine who are in want of a billet, and what could be
+      more natural than that I should bring you both round to the
+      managing director?”
+
+      “Quite so, of course,” said Holmes. “I should like to have a look
+      at the gentleman, and see if I can make anything of his little
+      game. What qualities have you, my friend, which would make your
+      services so valuable? or is it possible that—” He began biting
+      his nails and staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly
+      drew another word from him until we were in New Street.
+
+      At seven o’clock that evening we were walking, the three of us,
+      down Corporation Street to the company’s offices.
+
+      “It is no use our being at all before our time,” said our client.
+      “He only comes there to see me, apparently, for the place is
+      deserted up to the very hour he names.”
+
+      “That is suggestive,” remarked Holmes.
+
+      “By Jove, I told you so!” cried the clerk. “That’s he walking
+      ahead of us there.”
+
+      He pointed to a smallish, dark, well-dressed man who was bustling
+      along the other side of the road. As we watched him he looked
+      across at a boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the
+      evening paper, and running over among the cabs and busses, he
+      bought one from him. Then, clutching it in his hand, he vanished
+      through a doorway.
+
+      “There he goes!” cried Hall Pycroft. “These are the company’s
+      offices into which he has gone. Come with me, and I’ll fix it up
+      as easily as possible.”
+
+      Following his lead, we ascended five stories, until we found
+      ourselves outside a half-opened door, at which our client tapped.
+      A voice within bade us enter, and we entered a bare, unfurnished
+      room such as Hall Pycroft had described. At the single table sat
+      the man whom we had seen in the street, with his evening paper
+      spread out in front of him, and as he looked up at us it seemed
+      to me that I had never looked upon a face which bore such marks
+      of grief, and of something beyond grief—of a horror such as comes
+      to few men in a lifetime. His brow glistened with perspiration,
+      his cheeks were of the dull, dead white of a fish’s belly, and
+      his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his clerk as though
+      he failed to recognise him, and I could see by the astonishment
+      depicted upon our conductor’s face that this was by no means the
+      usual appearance of his employer.
+
+      “You look ill, Mr. Pinner!” he exclaimed.
+
+      “Yes, I am not very well,” answered the other, making obvious
+      efforts to pull himself together, and licking his dry lips before
+      he spoke. “Who are these gentlemen whom you have brought with
+      you?”
+
+      “One is Mr. Harris, of Bermondsey, and the other is Mr. Price, of
+      this town,” said our clerk, glibly. “They are friends of mine and
+      gentlemen of experience, but they have been out of a place for
+      some little time, and they hoped that perhaps you might find an
+      opening for them in the company’s employment.”
+
+      “Very possibly! Very possibly!” cried Mr. Pinner with a ghastly
+      smile. “Yes, I have no doubt that we shall be able to do
+      something for you. What is your particular line, Mr. Harris?”
+
+      “I am an accountant,” said Holmes.
+
+      “Ah yes, we shall want something of the sort. And you, Mr.
+      Price?”
+
+      “A clerk,” said I.
+
+      “I have every hope that the company may accommodate you. I will
+      let you know about it as soon as we come to any conclusion. And
+      now I beg that you will go. For God’s sake leave me to myself!”
+
+      These last words were shot out of him, as though the constraint
+      which he was evidently setting upon himself had suddenly and
+      utterly burst asunder. Holmes and I glanced at each other, and
+      Hall Pycroft took a step towards the table.
+
+      “You forget, Mr. Pinner, that I am here by appointment to receive
+      some directions from you,” said he.
+
+      “Certainly, Mr. Pycroft, certainly,” the other resumed in a
+      calmer tone. “You may wait here a moment; and there is no reason
+      why your friends should not wait with you. I will be entirely at
+      your service in three minutes, if I might trespass upon your
+      patience so far.” He rose with a very courteous air, and, bowing
+      to us, he passed out through a door at the farther end of the
+      room, which he closed behind him.
+
+      “What now?” whispered Holmes. “Is he giving us the slip?”
+
+      “Impossible,” answered Pycroft.
+
+      “Why so?”
+
+      “That door leads into an inner room.”
+
+      “There is no exit?”
+
+      “None.”
+
+      “Is it furnished?”
+
+      “It was empty yesterday.”
+
+      “Then what on earth can he be doing? There is something which I
+      don’t understand in this manner. If ever a man was three parts
+      mad with terror, that man’s name is Pinner. What can have put the
+      shivers on him?”
+
+      “He suspects that we are detectives,” I suggested.
+
+      “That’s it,” cried Pycroft.
+
+      Holmes shook his head. “He did not turn pale. He was pale when we
+      entered the room,” said he. “It is just possible that—”
+
+      His words were interrupted by a sharp rat-tat from the direction
+      of the inner door.
+
+      “What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for?” cried the
+      clerk.
+
+      Again and much louder came the rat-tat-tat. We all gazed
+      expectantly at the closed door. Glancing at Holmes, I saw his
+      face turn rigid, and he leaned forward in intense excitement.
+      Then suddenly came a low guggling, gargling sound, and a brisk
+      drumming upon woodwork. Holmes sprang frantically across the room
+      and pushed at the door. It was fastened on the inner side.
+      Following his example, we threw ourselves upon it with all our
+      weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the door
+      with a crash. Rushing over it, we found ourselves in the inner
+      room. It was empty.
+
+      But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one
+      corner, the corner nearest the room which we had left, there was
+      a second door. Holmes sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and
+      waistcoat were lying on the floor, and from a hook behind the
+      door, with his own braces round his neck, was hanging the
+      managing director of the Franco-Midland Hardware Company. His
+      knees were drawn up, his head hung at a dreadful angle to his
+      body, and the clatter of his heels against the door made the
+      noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I
+      had caught him round the waist, and held him up while Holmes and
+      Pycroft untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between
+      the livid creases of skin. Then we carried him into the other
+      room, where he lay with a clay-coloured face, puffing his purple
+      lips in and out with every breath—a dreadful wreck of all that he
+      had been but five minutes before.
+
+      “What do you think of him, Watson?” asked Holmes.
+
+      I stooped over him and examined him. His pulse was feeble and
+      intermittent, but his breathing grew longer, and there was a
+      little shivering of his eyelids, which showed a thin white slit
+      of ball beneath.
+
+      “It has been touch and go with him,” said I, “but he’ll live now.
+      Just open that window, and hand me the water carafe.” I undid his
+      collar, poured the cold water over his face, and raised and sank
+      his arms until he drew a long, natural breath. “It’s only a
+      question of time now,” said I, as I turned away from him.
+
+      Holmes stood by the table, with his hands deep in his trouser’s
+      pockets and his chin upon his breast.
+
+      “I suppose we ought to call the police in now,” said he. “And yet
+      I confess that I’d like to give them a complete case when they
+      come.”
+
+      “It’s a blessed mystery to me,” cried Pycroft, scratching his
+      head. “Whatever they wanted to bring me all the way up here for,
+      and then—”
+
+      “Pooh! All that is clear enough,” said Holmes impatiently. “It is
+      this last sudden move.”
+
+      “You understand the rest, then?”
+
+      “I think that it is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson?”
+
+      I shrugged my shoulders. “I must confess that I am out of my
+      depths,” said I.
+
+      “Oh, surely if you consider the events at first they can only
+      point to one conclusion.”
+
+      “What do you make of them?”
+
+      “Well, the whole thing hinges upon two points. The first is the
+      making of Pycroft write a declaration by which he entered the
+      service of this preposterous company. Do you not see how very
+      suggestive that is?”
+
+      “I am afraid I miss the point.”
+
+      “Well, why did they want him to do it? Not as a business matter,
+      for these arrangements are usually verbal, and there was no
+      earthly business reason why this should be an exception. Don’t
+      you see, my young friend, that they were very anxious to obtain a
+      specimen of your handwriting, and had no other way of doing it?”
+
+      “And why?”
+
+      “Quite so. Why? When we answer that we have made some progress
+      with our little problem. Why? There can be only one adequate
+      reason. Some one wanted to learn to imitate your writing, and had
+      to procure a specimen of it first. And now if we pass on to the
+      second point we find that each throws light upon the other. That
+      point is the request made by Pinner that you should not resign
+      your place, but should leave the manager of this important
+      business in the full expectation that a Mr. Hall Pycroft, whom he
+      had never seen, was about to enter the office upon the Monday
+      morning.”
+
+      “My God!” cried our client, “what a blind beetle I have been!”
+
+      “Now you see the point about the handwriting. Suppose that some
+      one turned up in your place who wrote a completely different hand
+      from that in which you had applied for the vacancy, of course the
+      game would have been up. But in the interval the rogue had
+      learned to imitate you, and his position was therefore secure, as
+      I presume that nobody in the office had ever set eyes upon you.”
+
+      “Not a soul,” groaned Hall Pycroft.
+
+      “Very good. Of course it was of the utmost importance to prevent
+      you from thinking better of it, and also to keep you from coming
+      into contact with any one who might tell you that your double was
+      at work in Mawson’s office. Therefore they gave you a handsome
+      advance on your salary, and ran you off to the Midlands, where
+      they gave you enough work to do to prevent your going to London,
+      where you might have burst their little game up. That is all
+      plain enough.”
+
+      “But why should this man pretend to be his own brother?”
+
+      “Well, that is pretty clear also. There are evidently only two of
+      them in it. The other is impersonating you at the office. This
+      one acted as your engager, and then found that he could not find
+      you an employer without admitting a third person into his plot.
+      That he was most unwilling to do. He changed his appearance as
+      far as he could, and trusted that the likeness, which you could
+      not fail to observe, would be put down to a family resemblance.
+      But for the happy chance of the gold stuffing, your suspicions
+      would probably never have been aroused.”
+
+      Hall Pycroft shook his clinched hands in the air. “Good Lord!” he
+      cried, “while I have been fooled in this way, what has this other
+      Hall Pycroft been doing at Mawson’s? What should we do, Mr.
+      Holmes? Tell me what to do.”
+
+      “We must wire to Mawson’s.”
+
+      “They shut at twelve on Saturdays.”
+
+      “Never mind. There may be some door-keeper or attendant—”
+
+      “Ah yes, they keep a permanent guard there on account of the
+      value of the securities that they hold. I remember hearing it
+      talked of in the City.”
+
+      “Very good; we shall wire to him, and see if all is well, and if
+      a clerk of your name is working there. That is clear enough; but
+      what is not so clear is why at sight of us one of the rogues
+      should instantly walk out of the room and hang himself.”
+
+      “The paper!” croaked a voice behind us. The man was sitting up,
+      blanched and ghastly, with returning reason in his eyes, and
+      hands which rubbed nervously at the broad red band which still
+      encircled his throat.
+
+      “The paper! Of course!” yelled Holmes, in a paroxysm of
+      excitement. “Idiot that I was! I thought so much of our visit
+      that the paper never entered my head for an instant. To be sure,
+      the secret must be there.” He flattened it out upon the table,
+      and a cry of triumph burst from his lips. “Look at this, Watson,”
+      he cried. “It is a London paper, an early edition of the _Evening
+      Standard_. Here is what we want. Look at the headlines: ‘Crime in
+      the City. Murder at Mawson & Williams’. Gigantic Attempted
+      Robbery. Capture of the Criminal.’ Here, Watson, we are all
+      equally anxious to hear it, so kindly read it aloud to us.”
+
+      It appeared from its position in the paper to have been the one
+      event of importance in town, and the account of it ran in this
+      way:
+
+      “A desperate attempt at robbery, culminating in the death of one
+      man and the capture of the criminal, occurred this afternoon in
+      the City. For some time back Mawson & Williams, the famous
+      financial house, have been the guardians of securities which
+      amount in the aggregate to a sum of considerably over a million
+      sterling. So conscious was the manager of the responsibility
+      which devolved upon him in consequence of the great interests at
+      stake that safes of the very latest construction have been
+      employed, and an armed watchman has been left day and night in
+      the building. It appears that last week a new clerk named Hall
+      Pycroft was engaged by the firm. This person appears to have been
+      none other than Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman, who,
+      with his brother, had only recently emerged from a five years’
+      spell of penal servitude. By some means, which are not yet clear,
+      he succeeded in winning, under a false name, this official
+      position in the office, which he utilised in order to obtain
+      moulding of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of the
+      position of the strong room and the safes.
+
+      “It is customary at Mawson’s for the clerks to leave at midday on
+      Saturday. Sergeant Tuson, of the City Police, was somewhat
+      surprised, therefore to see a gentleman with a carpet bag come
+      down the steps at twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being
+      aroused, the sergeant followed the man, and with the aid of
+      Constable Pollock succeeded, after a most desperate resistance,
+      in arresting him. It was at once clear that a daring and gigantic
+      robbery had been committed. Nearly a hundred thousand pounds’
+      worth of American railway bonds, with a large amount of scrip in
+      other mines and companies, was discovered in the bag. On
+      examining the premises the body of the unfortunate watchman was
+      found doubled up and thrust into the largest of the safes, where
+      it would not have been discovered until Monday morning had it not
+      been for the prompt action of Sergeant Tuson. The man’s skull had
+      been shattered by a blow from a poker delivered from behind.
+      There could be no doubt that Beddington had obtained entrance by
+      pretending that he had left something behind him, and having
+      murdered the watchman, rapidly rifled the large safe, and then
+      made off with his booty. His brother, who usually works with him,
+      has not appeared in this job as far as can at present be
+      ascertained, although the police are making energetic inquiries
+      as to his whereabouts.”
+
+      “Well, we may save the police some little trouble in that
+      direction,” said Holmes, glancing at the haggard figure huddled
+      up by the window. “Human nature is a strange mixture, Watson. You
+      see that even a villain and murderer can inspire such affection
+      that his brother turns to suicide when he learns that his neck is
+      forfeited. However, we have no choice as to our action. The
+      doctor and I will remain on guard, Mr. Pycroft, if you will have
+      the kindness to step out for the police.”
+
+
+
+
+V. The “_Gloria Scott_”
+
+
+      “I have some papers here,” said my friend Sherlock Holmes, as we
+      sat one winter’s night on either side of the fire, “which I
+      really think, Watson, that it would be worth your while to glance
+      over. These are the documents in the extraordinary case of the
+      _Gloria Scott_, and this is the message which struck Justice of
+      the Peace Trevor dead with horror when he read it.”
+
+      He had picked from a drawer a little tarnished cylinder, and,
+      undoing the tape, he handed me a short note scrawled upon a
+      half-sheet of slate-grey paper.
+
+      “The supply of game for London is going steadily up,” it ran.
+      “Head-keeper Hudson, we believe, has been now told to receive all
+      orders for fly-paper and for preservation of your hen-pheasant’s
+      life.”
+
+      As I glanced up from reading this enigmatical message, I saw
+      Holmes chuckling at the expression upon my face.
+
+      “You look a little bewildered,” said he.
+
+      “I cannot see how such a message as this could inspire horror. It
+      seems to me to be rather grotesque than otherwise.”
+
+      “Very likely. Yet the fact remains that the reader, who was a
+      fine, robust old man, was knocked clean down by it as if it had
+      been the butt end of a pistol.”
+
+      “You arouse my curiosity,” said I. “But why did you say just now
+      that there were very particular reasons why I should study this
+      case?”
+
+      “Because it was the first in which I was ever engaged.”
+
+      I had often endeavoured to elicit from my companion what had
+      first turned his mind in the direction of criminal research, but
+      had never caught him before in a communicative humour. Now he sat
+      forward in this armchair and spread out the documents upon his
+      knees. Then he lit his pipe and sat for some time smoking and
+      turning them over.
+
+      “You never heard me talk of Victor Trevor?” he asked. “He was the
+      only friend I made during the two years I was at college. I was
+      never a very sociable fellow, Watson, always rather fond of
+      moping in my rooms and working out my own little methods of
+      thought, so that I never mixed much with the men of my year. Bar
+      fencing and boxing I had few athletic tastes, and then my line of
+      study was quite distinct from that of the other fellows, so that
+      we had no points of contact at all. Trevor was the only man I
+      knew, and that only through the accident of his bull terrier
+      freezing on to my ankle one morning as I went down to chapel.
+
+      “It was a prosaic way of forming a friendship, but it was
+      effective. I was laid by the heels for ten days, but Trevor used
+      to come in to inquire after me. At first it was only a minute’s
+      chat, but soon his visits lengthened, and before the end of the
+      term we were close friends. He was a hearty, full-blooded fellow,
+      full of spirits and energy, the very opposite to me in most
+      respects, but we had some subjects in common, and it was a bond
+      of union when I found that he was as friendless as I. Finally, he
+      invited me down to his father’s place at Donnithorpe, in Norfolk,
+      and I accepted his hospitality for a month of the long vacation.
+
+      “Old Trevor was evidently a man of some wealth and consideration,
+      a J.P. and a landed proprietor. Donnithorpe is a little hamlet
+      just to the north of Langmere, in the country of the Broads. The
+      house was an old-fashioned, wide-spread, oak-beamed brick
+      building, with a fine lime-lined avenue leading up to it. There
+      was excellent wild-duck shooting in the fens, remarkably good
+      fishing, a small but select library, taken over, as I understood,
+      from a former occupant, and a tolerable cook, so that he would be
+      a fastidious man who could not put in a pleasant month there.
+
+      “Trevor senior was a widower, and my friend his only son.
+
+      “There had been a daughter, I heard, but she had died of
+      diphtheria while on a visit to Birmingham. The father interested
+      me extremely. He was a man of little culture, but with a
+      considerable amount of rude strength, both physically and
+      mentally. He knew hardly any books, but he had travelled far, had
+      seen much of the world. And had remembered all that he had
+      learned. In person he was a thick-set, burly man with a shock of
+      grizzled hair, a brown, weather-beaten face, and blue eyes which
+      were keen to the verge of fierceness. Yet he had a reputation for
+      kindness and charity on the country-side, and was noted for the
+      leniency of his sentences from the bench.
+
+      “One evening, shortly after my arrival, we were sitting over a
+      glass of port after dinner, when young Trevor began to talk about
+      those habits of observation and inference which I had already
+      formed into a system, although I had not yet appreciated the part
+      which they were to play in my life. The old man evidently thought
+      that his son was exaggerating in his description of one or two
+      trivial feats which I had performed.
+
+      “‘Come, now, Mr. Holmes,’ said he, laughing good-humoredly. ‘I’m
+      an excellent subject, if you can deduce anything from me.’
+
+      “‘I fear there is not very much,’ I answered; ‘I might suggest
+      that you have gone about in fear of some personal attack within
+      the last twelve months.’
+
+      “The laugh faded from his lips, and he stared at me in great
+      surprise.
+
+      “‘Well, that’s true enough,’ said he. ‘You know, Victor,’ turning
+      to his son, ‘when we broke up that poaching gang, they swore to
+      knife us, and Sir Edward Holly has actually been attacked. I’ve
+      always been on my guard since then, though I have no idea how you
+      know it.’
+
+      “‘You have a very handsome stick,’ I answered. ‘By the
+      inscription I observed that you had not had it more than a year.
+      But you have taken some pains to bore the head of it and pour
+      melted lead into the hole so as to make it a formidable weapon. I
+      argued that you would not take such precautions unless you had
+      some danger to fear.’
+
+      “‘Anything else?’ he asked, smiling.
+
+      “‘You have boxed a good deal in your youth.’
+
+      “‘Right again. How did you know it? Is my nose knocked a little
+      out of the straight?’
+
+      “‘No,’ said I. ‘It is your ears. They have the peculiar
+      flattening and thickening which marks the boxing man.’
+
+      “‘Anything else?’
+
+      “‘You have done a good deal of digging by your callosities.’
+
+      “‘Made all my money at the gold fields.’
+
+      “‘You have been in New Zealand.’
+
+      “‘Right again.’
+
+      “‘You have visited Japan.’
+
+      “‘Quite true.’
+
+      “‘And you have been most intimately associated with some one
+      whose initials were J. A., and whom you afterwards were eager to
+      entirely forget.’
+
+      “Mr. Trevor stood slowly up, fixed his large blue eyes upon me
+      with a strange wild stare, and then pitched forward, with his
+      face among the nutshells which strewed the cloth, in a dead
+      faint.
+
+      “You can imagine, Watson, how shocked both his son and I were.
+      His attack did not last long, however, for when we undid his
+      collar, and sprinkled the water from one of the finger-glasses
+      over his face, he gave a gasp or two and sat up.
+
+      “‘Ah, boys,’ said he, forcing a smile, ‘I hope I haven’t
+      frightened you. Strong as I look, there is a weak place in my
+      heart, and it does not take much to knock me over. I don’t know
+      how you manage this, Mr. Holmes, but it seems to me that all the
+      detectives of fact and of fancy would be children in your hands.
+      That’s your line of life, sir, and you may take the word of a man
+      who has seen something of the world.’
+
+      “And that recommendation, with the exaggerated estimate of my
+      ability with which he prefaced it, was, if you will believe me,
+      Watson, the very first thing which ever made me feel that a
+      profession might be made out of what had up to that time been the
+      merest hobby. At the moment, however, I was too much concerned at
+      the sudden illness of my host to think of anything else.
+
+      “‘I hope that I have said nothing to pain you?’ said I.
+
+      “‘Well, you certainly touched upon rather a tender point. Might I
+      ask how you know, and how much you know?’ He spoke now in a
+      half-jesting fashion, but a look of terror still lurked at the
+      back of his eyes.
+
+      “‘It is simplicity itself,’ said I. ‘When you bared your arm to
+      draw that fish into the boat I saw that J. A. had been tattooed
+      in the bend of the elbow. The letters were still legible, but it
+      was perfectly clear from their blurred appearance, and from the
+      staining of the skin round them, that efforts had been made to
+      obliterate them. It was obvious, then, that those initials had
+      once been very familiar to you, and that you had afterwards
+      wished to forget them.’
+
+      “What an eye you have!” he cried, with a sigh of relief. ‘It is
+      just as you say. But we won’t talk of it. Of all ghosts the
+      ghosts of our old lovers are the worst. Come into the
+      billiard-room and have a quiet cigar.’
+
+      “From that day, amid all his cordiality, there was always a touch
+      of suspicion in Mr. Trevor’s manner towards me. Even his son
+      remarked it. ‘You’ve given the governor such a turn,’ said he,
+      ‘that he’ll never be sure again of what you know and what you
+      don’t know.’ He did not mean to show it, I am sure, but it was so
+      strongly in his mind that it peeped out at every action. At last
+      I became so convinced that I was causing him uneasiness that I
+      drew my visit to a close. On the very day, however, before I
+      left, an incident occurred which proved in the sequel to be of
+      importance.
+
+      “We were sitting out upon the lawn on garden chairs, the three of
+      us, basking in the sun and admiring the view across the Broads,
+      when a maid came out to say that there was a man at the door who
+      wanted to see Mr. Trevor.
+
+      “‘What is his name?’ asked my host.
+
+      “‘He would not give any.’
+
+      “‘What does he want, then?’
+
+      “‘He says that you know him, and that he only wants a moment’s
+      conversation.’
+
+      “‘Show him round here.’ An instant afterwards there appeared a
+      little wizened fellow with a cringing manner and a shambling
+      style of walking. He wore an open jacket, with a splotch of tar
+      on the sleeve, a red-and-black check shirt, dungaree trousers,
+      and heavy boots badly worn. His face was thin and brown and
+      crafty, with a perpetual smile upon it, which showed an irregular
+      line of yellow teeth, and his crinkled hands were half closed in
+      a way that is distinctive of sailors. As he came slouching across
+      the lawn I heard Mr. Trevor make a sort of hiccoughing noise in
+      his throat, and jumping out of his chair, he ran into the house.
+      He was back in a moment, and I smelt a strong reek of brandy as
+      he passed me.
+
+      “‘Well, my man,’ said he, ‘what can I do for you?’
+
+      “The sailor stood looking at him with puckered eyes, and with the
+      same loose-lipped smile upon his face.
+
+      “‘You don’t know me?’ he asked.
+
+      “‘Why, dear me, it is surely Hudson,’ said Mr. Trevor in a tone
+      of surprise.
+
+      “‘Hudson it is, sir,’ said the seaman. ‘Why, it’s thirty year and
+      more since I saw you last. Here you are in your house, and me
+      still picking my salt meat out of the harness cask.’
+
+      “‘Tut, you will find that I have not forgotten old times,’ cried
+      Mr. Trevor, and, walking towards the sailor, he said something in
+      a low voice. ‘Go into the kitchen,’ he continued out loud, ‘and
+      you will get food and drink. I have no doubt that I shall find
+      you a situation.’
+
+      “‘Thank you, sir,’ said the seaman, touching his forelock. ‘I’m
+      just off a two-yearer in an eight-knot tramp, short-handed at
+      that, and I wants a rest. I thought I’d get it either with Mr.
+      Beddoes or with you.’
+
+      “‘Ah!’ cried Trevor. ‘You know where Mr. Beddoes is?’
+
+      “‘Bless you, sir, I know where all my old friends are,’ said the
+      fellow with a sinister smile, and he slouched off after the maid
+      to the kitchen. Mr. Trevor mumbled something to us about having
+      been shipmate with the man when he was going back to the
+      diggings, and then, leaving us on the lawn, he went indoors. An
+      hour later, when we entered the house, we found him stretched
+      dead drunk upon the dining-room sofa. The whole incident left a
+      most ugly impression upon my mind, and I was not sorry next day
+      to leave Donnithorpe behind me, for I felt that my presence must
+      be a source of embarrassment to my friend.
+
+      “All this occurred during the first month of the long vacation. I
+      went up to my London rooms, where I spent seven weeks working out
+      a few experiments in organic chemistry. One day, however, when
+      the autumn was far advanced and the vacation drawing to a close,
+      I received a telegram from my friend imploring me to return to
+      Donnithorpe, and saying that he was in great need of my advice
+      and assistance. Of course I dropped everything and set out for
+      the North once more.
+
+      “He met me with the dog-cart at the station, and I saw at a
+      glance that the last two months had been very trying ones for
+      him. He had grown thin and careworn, and had lost the loud,
+      cheery manner for which he had been remarkable.
+
+      “‘The governor is dying,’ were the first words he said.
+
+      “‘Impossible!’ I cried. ‘What is the matter?’
+
+      “‘Apoplexy. Nervous shock, He’s been on the verge all day. I
+      doubt if we shall find him alive.’
+
+      “I was, as you may think, Watson, horrified at this unexpected
+      news.
+
+      “‘What has caused it?’ I asked.
+
+      “‘Ah, that is the point. Jump in and we can talk it over while we
+      drive. You remember that fellow who came upon the evening before
+      you left us?’
+
+      “‘Perfectly.’
+
+      “‘Do you know who it was that we let into the house that day?’
+
+      “‘I have no idea.’
+
+      “‘It was the devil, Holmes,’ he cried.
+
+      “I stared at him in astonishment.
+
+      “‘Yes, it was the devil himself. We have not had a peaceful hour
+      since—not one. The governor has never held up his head from that
+      evening, and now the life has been crushed out of him and his
+      heart broken, all through this accursed Hudson.’
+
+      “‘What power had he, then?’
+
+      “‘Ah, that is what I would give so much to know. The kindly,
+      charitable, good old governor—how could he have fallen into the
+      clutches of such a ruffian! But I am so glad that you have come,
+      Holmes. I trust very much to your judgment and discretion, and I
+      know that you will advise me for the best.’
+
+      “We were dashing along the smooth white country road, with the
+      long stretch of the Broads in front of us glimmering in the red
+      light of the setting sun. From a grove upon our left I could
+      already see the high chimneys and the flag-staff which marked the
+      squire’s dwelling.
+
+      “‘My father made the fellow gardener,’ said my companion, ‘and
+      then, as that did not satisfy him, he was promoted to be butler.
+      The house seemed to be at his mercy, and he wandered about and
+      did what he chose in it. The maids complained of his drunken
+      habits and his vile language. The dad raised their wages all
+      round to recompense them for the annoyance. The fellow would take
+      the boat and my father’s best gun and treat himself to little
+      shooting trips. And all this with such a sneering, leering,
+      insolent face that I would have knocked him down twenty times
+      over if he had been a man of my own age. I tell you, Holmes, I
+      have had to keep a tight hold upon myself all this time; and now
+      I am asking myself whether, if I had let myself go a little more,
+      I might not have been a wiser man.
+
+      “‘Well, matters went from bad to worse with us, and this animal
+      Hudson became more and more intrusive, until at last, on making
+      some insolent reply to my father in my presence one day, I took
+      him by the shoulders and turned him out of the room. He slunk
+      away with a livid face and two venomous eyes which uttered more
+      threats than his tongue could do. I don’t know what passed
+      between the poor dad and him after that, but the dad came to me
+      next day and asked me whether I would mind apologising to Hudson.
+      I refused, as you can imagine, and asked my father how he could
+      allow such a wretch to take such liberties with himself and his
+      household.
+
+      “‘“Ah, my boy,” said he, “it is all very well to talk, but you
+      don’t know how I am placed. But you shall know, Victor. I’ll see
+      that you shall know, come what may. You wouldn’t believe harm of
+      your poor old father, would you, lad?” He was very much moved,
+      and shut himself up in the study all day, where I could see
+      through the window that he was writing busily.
+
+      “‘That evening there came what seemed to me to be a grand
+      release, for Hudson told us that he was going to leave us. He
+      walked into the dining-room as we sat after dinner, and announced
+      his intention in the thick voice of a half-drunken man.
+
+      “‘“I’ve had enough of Norfolk,” said he. “I’ll run down to Mr.
+      Beddoes in Hampshire. He’ll be as glad to see me as you were, I
+      daresay.”
+
+      “‘“You’re not going away in an unkind spirit, Hudson, I hope,”
+      said my father, with a tameness which made my blood boil.
+
+      “‘“I’ve not had my ’pology,” said he sulkily, glancing in my
+      direction.
+
+      “‘“Victor, you will acknowledge that you have used this worthy
+      fellow rather roughly,” said the dad, turning to me.
+
+      “‘“On the contrary, I think that we have both shown extraordinary
+      patience towards him,” I answered.
+
+      “‘“Oh, you do, do you?” he snarls. “Very good, mate. We’ll see
+      about that!” He slouched out of the room, and half an hour
+      afterwards left the house, leaving my father in a state of
+      pitiable nervousness. Night after night I heard him pacing his
+      room, and it was just as he was recovering his confidence that
+      the blow did at last fall.
+
+      “‘And how?’ I asked eagerly.
+
+      “‘In a most extraordinary fashion. A letter arrived for my father
+      yesterday evening, bearing the Fordingbridge postmark. My father
+      read it, clapped both his hands to his head, and began running
+      round the room in little circles like a man who has been driven
+      out of his senses. When I at last drew him down on to the sofa,
+      his mouth and eyelids were all puckered on one side, and I saw
+      that he had a stroke. Dr. Fordham came over at once. We put him
+      to bed; but the paralysis has spread, he has shown no sign of
+      returning consciousness, and I think that we shall hardly find
+      him alive.’
+
+      “‘You horrify me, Trevor!’ I cried. ‘What then could have been in
+      this letter to cause so dreadful a result?’
+
+      “‘Nothing. There lies the inexplicable part of it. The message
+      was absurd and trivial. Ah, my God, it is as I feared!’
+
+      “As he spoke we came round the curve of the avenue, and saw in
+      the fading light that every blind in the house had been drawn
+      down. As we dashed up to the door, my friend’s face convulsed
+      with grief, a gentleman in black emerged from it.
+
+      “‘When did it happen, doctor?’ asked Trevor.
+
+      “‘Almost immediately after you left.’
+
+      “‘Did he recover consciousness?’
+
+      “‘For an instant before the end.’
+
+      “‘Any message for me?’
+
+      “‘Only that the papers were in the back drawer of the Japanese
+      cabinet.’
+
+      “My friend ascended with the doctor to the chamber of death,
+      while I remained in the study, turning the whole matter over and
+      over in my head, and feeling as sombre as ever I had done in my
+      life. What was the past of this Trevor, pugilist, traveler, and
+      gold-digger, and how had he placed himself in the power of this
+      acid-faced seaman? Why, too, should he faint at an allusion to
+      the half-effaced initials upon his arm, and die of fright when he
+      had a letter from Fordingbridge? Then I remembered that
+      Fordingbridge was in Hampshire, and that this Mr. Beddoes, whom
+      the seaman had gone to visit and presumably to blackmail, had
+      also been mentioned as living in Hampshire. The letter, then,
+      might either come from Hudson, the seaman, saying that he had
+      betrayed the guilty secret which appeared to exist, or it might
+      come from Beddoes, warning an old confederate that such a
+      betrayal was imminent. So far it seemed clear enough. But then
+      how could this letter be trivial and grotesque, as described by
+      the son? He must have misread it. If so, it must have been one of
+      those ingenious secret codes which mean one thing while they seem
+      to mean another. I must see this letter. If there were a hidden
+      meaning in it, I was confident that I could pluck it forth. For
+      an hour I sat pondering over it in the gloom, until at last a
+      weeping maid brought in a lamp, and close at her heels came my
+      friend Trevor, pale but composed, with these very papers which
+      lie upon my knee held in his grasp. He sat down opposite to me,
+      drew the lamp to the edge of the table, and handed me a short
+      note scribbled, as you see, upon a single sheet of grey paper.
+      ‘The supply of game for London is going steadily up,’ it ran.
+      ‘Head-keeper Hudson, we believe, has been now told to receive all
+      orders for fly paper and for preservation of your hen pheasant’s
+      life.’
+
+      “I daresay my face looked as bewildered as yours did just now
+      when first I read this message. Then I reread it very carefully.
+      It was evidently as I had thought, and some secret meaning must
+      lie buried in this strange combination of words. Or could it be
+      that there was a prearranged significance to such phrases as ‘fly
+      paper’ and ‘hen pheasant’? Such a meaning would be arbitrary and
+      could not be deduced in any way. And yet I was loath to believe
+      that this was the case, and the presence of the word ‘Hudson’
+      seemed to show that the subject of the message was as I had
+      guessed, and that it was from Beddoes rather than the sailor. I
+      tried it backwards, but the combination ‘life pheasant’s hen’ was
+      not encouraging. Then I tried alternate words, but neither ‘The
+      of for’ nor ‘supply game London’ promised to throw any light upon
+      it. And then in an instant the key of the riddle was in my hands,
+      and I saw that every third word, beginning with the first, would
+      give a message which might well drive old Trevor to despair.
+
+      “It was short and terse, the warning, as I now read it to my
+      companion:
+
+      “‘The game is up. Hudson has told all. Fly for your life.’
+
+      “Victor Trevor sank his face into his shaking hands. ‘It must be
+      that, I suppose,’ said he. ‘This is worse than death, for it
+      means disgrace as well. But what is the meaning of these
+      “head-keepers” and “hen pheasants”?’
+
+      “‘It means nothing to the message, but it might mean a good deal
+      to us if we had no other means of discovering the sender. You see
+      that he has begun by writing “The ... game ... is,” and so on.
+      Afterwards he had, to fulfill the prearranged cipher, to fill in
+      any two words in each space. He would naturally use the first
+      words which came to his mind, and if there were so many which
+      referred to sport among them, you may be tolerably sure that he
+      is either an ardent shot or interested in breeding. Do you know
+      anything of this Beddoes?’
+
+      “‘Why, now that you mention it,’ said he, ‘I remember that my
+      poor father used to have an invitation from him to shoot over his
+      preserves every autumn.’
+
+      “‘Then it is undoubtedly from him that the note comes,’ said I.
+      ‘It only remains for us to find out what this secret was which
+      the sailor Hudson seems to have held over the heads of these two
+      wealthy and respected men.’
+
+      “‘Alas, Holmes, I fear that it is one of sin and shame!’ cried my
+      friend. ‘But from you I shall have no secrets. Here is the
+      statement which was drawn up by my father when he knew that the
+      danger from Hudson had become imminent. I found it in the
+      Japanese cabinet, as he told the doctor. Take it and read it to
+      me, for I have neither the strength nor the courage to do it
+      myself.’
+
+      “These are the very papers, Watson, which he handed to me, and I
+      will read them to you, as I read them in the old study that night
+      to him. They are endorsed outside, as you see, ‘Some particulars
+      of the voyage of the bark _Gloria Scott_, from her leaving
+      Falmouth on the 8th October, 1855, to her destruction in N. lat.
+      15º 20’, W. long. 25º 14’ on Nov. 6th.’ It is in the form of a
+      letter, and runs in this way:
+
+      “‘My dear, dear son,—Now that approaching disgrace begins to
+      darken the closing years of my life, I can write with all truth
+      and honesty that it is not the terror of the law, it is not the
+      loss of my position in the county, nor is it my fall in the eyes
+      of all who have known me, which cuts me to the heart; but it is
+      the thought that you should come to blush for me—you who love me
+      and who have seldom, I hope, had reason to do other than respect
+      me. But if the blow falls which is forever hanging over me, then
+      I should wish you to read this, that you may know straight from
+      me how far I have been to blame. On the other hand, if all should
+      go well (which may kind God Almighty grant!), then if by any
+      chance this paper should be still undestroyed and should fall
+      into your hands, I conjure you, by all you hold sacred, by the
+      memory of your dear mother, and by the love which had been
+      between us, to hurl it into the fire and to never give one
+      thought to it again.
+
+      “‘If then your eye goes on to read this line, I know that I shall
+      already have been exposed and dragged from my home, or as is more
+      likely, for you know that my heart is weak, by lying with my
+      tongue sealed forever in death. In either case the time for
+      suppression is past, and every word which I tell you is the naked
+      truth, and this I swear as I hope for mercy.
+
+      “‘My name, dear lad, is not Trevor. I was James Armitage in my
+      younger days, and you can understand now the shock that it was to
+      me a few weeks ago when your college friend addressed me in words
+      which seemed to imply that he had surmised my secret. As Armitage
+      it was that I entered a London banking house, and as Armitage I
+      was convicted of breaking my country’s laws, and was sentenced to
+      transportation. Do not think very harshly of me, laddie. It was a
+      debt of honour, so called, which I had to pay, and I used money
+      which was not my own to do it, in the certainty that I could
+      replace it before there could be any possibility of its being
+      missed. But the most dreadful ill-luck pursued me. The money
+      which I had reckoned upon never came to hand, and a premature
+      examination of accounts exposed my deficit. The case might have
+      been dealt leniently with, but the laws were more harshly
+      administered thirty years ago than now, and on my twenty-third
+      birthday I found myself chained as a felon with thirty-seven
+      other convicts in ’tween-decks of the barque _Gloria Scott_,
+      bound for Australia.
+
+      “‘It was the year ’55 when the Crimean war was at its height, and
+      the old convict ships had been largely used as transports in the
+      Black Sea. The government was compelled, therefore, to use
+      smaller and less suitable vessels for sending out their
+      prisoners. The _Gloria Scott_ had been in the Chinese tea trade,
+      but she was an old-fashioned, heavy-bowed, broad-beamed craft,
+      and the new clippers had cut her out. She was a five-hundred-ton
+      boat, and besides her thirty-eight gaol-birds, she carried
+      twenty-six of a crew, eighteen soldiers, a captain, three mates,
+      a doctor, a chaplain, and four warders. Nearly a hundred souls
+      were in her, all told, when we set sail from Falmouth.
+
+      “‘The partitions between the cells of the convicts, instead of
+      being of thick oak, as is usual in convict-ships, were quite thin
+      and frail. The man next to me, upon the aft side, was one whom I
+      had particularly noticed when we were led down the quay. He was a
+      young man with a clear, hairless face, a long, thin nose, and
+      rather nut-cracker jaws. He carried his head very jauntily in the
+      air, had a swaggering style of walking, and was, above all else,
+      remarkable for his extraordinary height. I don’t think any of our
+      heads would have come up to his shoulder, and I am sure that he
+      could not have measured less than six and a half feet. It was
+      strange among so many sad and weary faces to see one which was
+      full of energy and resolution. The sight of it was to me like a
+      fire in a snowstorm. I was glad, then, to find that he was my
+      neighbour, and gladder still when, in the dead of the night, I
+      heard a whisper close to my ear, and found that he had managed to
+      cut an opening in the board which separated us.
+
+      “‘“Hallao, chummy!” said he, “what’s your name, and what are you
+      here for?”
+
+      “‘I answered him, and asked in turn who I was talking with.
+
+      “‘“I’m Jack Prendergast,” said he, “and by God! You’ll learn to
+      bless my name before you’ve done with me.”
+
+      “‘I remembered hearing of his case, for it was one which had made
+      an immense sensation throughout the country some time before my
+      own arrest. He was a man of good family and of great ability, but
+      of incurably vicious habits, who had by an ingenious system of
+      fraud obtained huge sums of money from the leading London
+      merchants.
+
+      “‘“Ha, ha! You remember my case!” said he proudly.
+
+      “‘“Very well, indeed.”
+
+      “‘“Then maybe you remember something queer about it?”
+
+      “‘“What was that, then?”
+
+      “‘“I’d had nearly a quarter of a million, hadn’t I?”
+
+      “‘“So it was said.”
+
+      “‘“But none was recovered, eh?”
+
+      “‘“No.”
+
+      “‘“Well, where d’ye suppose the balance is?” he asked.
+
+      “‘“I have no idea,” said I.
+
+      “‘“Right between my finger and thumb,” he cried. “By God! I’ve
+      got more pounds to my name than you’ve hairs on your head. And if
+      you’ve money, my son, and know how to handle it and spread it,
+      you can do _anything!_ Now, you don’t think it likely that a man
+      who could do anything is going to wear his breeches out sitting
+      in the stinking hold of a rat-gutted, beetle-ridden, mouldy old
+      coffin of a China coaster. No, sir, such a man will look after
+      himself and will look after his chums. You may lay to that! You
+      hold on to him, and you may kiss the book that he’ll haul you
+      through.”
+
+      “‘That was his style of talk, and at first I thought it meant
+      nothing; but after a while, when he had tested me and sworn me in
+      with all possible solemnity, he let me understand that there
+      really was a plot to gain command of the vessel. A dozen of the
+      prisoners had hatched it before they came aboard, Prendergast was
+      the leader, and his money was the motive power.
+
+      “‘“I’d a partner,” said he, “a rare good man, as true as a stock
+      to a barrel. He’s got the dibbs, he has, and where do you think
+      he is at this moment? Why, he’s the chaplain of this ship—the
+      chaplain, no less! He came aboard with a black coat, and his
+      papers right, and money enough in his box to buy the thing right
+      up from keel to main-truck. The crew are his, body and soul. He
+      could buy ’em at so much a gross with a cash discount, and he did
+      it before ever they signed on. He’s got two of the warders and
+      Mercer, the second mate, and he’d get the captain himself, if he
+      thought him worth it.”
+
+      “‘“What are we to do, then?” I asked.
+
+      “‘“What do you think?” said he. “We’ll make the coats of some of
+      these soldiers redder than ever the tailor did.”
+
+      “‘“But they are armed,” said I.
+
+      “‘“And so shall we be, my boy. There’s a brace of pistols for
+      every mother’s son of us, and if we can’t carry this ship, with
+      the crew at our back, it’s time we were all sent to a young
+      misses’ boarding-school. You speak to your mate upon the left
+      to-night, and see if he is to be trusted.”
+
+      “‘I did so, and found my other neighbour to be a young fellow in
+      much the same position as myself, whose crime had been forgery.
+      His name was Evans, but he afterwards changed it, like myself,
+      and he is now a rich and prosperous man in the south of England.
+      He was ready enough to join the conspiracy, as the only means of
+      saving ourselves, and before we had crossed the Bay there were
+      only two of the prisoners who were not in the secret. One of
+      these was of weak mind, and we did not dare to trust him, and the
+      other was suffering from jaundice, and could not be of any use to
+      us.
+
+      ““From the beginning there was really nothing to prevent us from
+      taking possession of the ship. The crew were a set of ruffians,
+      specially picked for the job. The sham chaplain came into our
+      cells to exhort us, carrying a black bag, supposed to be full of
+      tracts, and so often did he come that by the third day we had
+      each stowed away at the foot of our beds a file, a brace of
+      pistols, a pound of powder, and twenty slugs. Two of the warders
+      were agents of Prendergast, and the second mate was his
+      right-hand man. The captain, the two mates, two warders,
+      Lieutenant Martin, his eighteen soldiers, and the doctor were all
+      that we had against us. Yet, safe as it was, we determined to
+      neglect no precaution, and to make our attack suddenly by night.
+      It came, however, more quickly than we expected, and in this way.
+
+      “‘One evening, about the third week after our start, the doctor
+      had come down to see one of the prisoners who was ill, and
+      putting his hand down on the bottom of his bunk he felt the
+      outline of the pistols. If he had been silent he might have blown
+      the whole thing, but he was a nervous little chap, so he gave a
+      cry of surprise and turned so pale that the man knew what was up
+      in an instant and seized him. He was gagged before he could give
+      the alarm, and tied down upon the bed. He had unlocked the door
+      that led to the deck, and we were through it in a rush. The two
+      sentries were shot down, and so was a corporal who came running
+      to see what was the matter. There were two more soldiers at the
+      door of the state-room, and their muskets seemed not to be
+      loaded, for they never fired upon us, and they were shot while
+      trying to fix their bayonets. Then we rushed on into the
+      captain’s cabin, but as we pushed open the door there was an
+      explosion from within, and there he lay with his brains smeared
+      over the chart of the Atlantic which was pinned upon the table,
+      while the chaplain stood with a smoking pistol in his hand at his
+      elbow. The two mates had both been seized by the crew, and the
+      whole business seemed to be settled.
+
+      “‘The state-room was next the cabin, and we flocked in there and
+      flopped down on the settees, all speaking together, for we were
+      just mad with the feeling that we were free once more. There were
+      lockers all round, and Wilson, the sham chaplain, knocked one of
+      them in, and pulled out a dozen of brown sherry. We cracked off
+      the necks of the bottles, poured the stuff out into tumblers, and
+      were just tossing them off, when in an instant without warning
+      there came the roar of muskets in our ears, and the saloon was so
+      full of smoke that we could not see across the table. When it
+      cleared again the place was a shambles. Wilson and eight others
+      were wriggling on the top of each other on the floor, and the
+      blood and the brown sherry on that table turn me sick now when I
+      think of it. We were so cowed by the sight that I think we should
+      have given the job up if it had not been for Prendergast. He
+      bellowed like a bull and rushed for the door with all that were
+      left alive at his heels. Out we ran, and there on the poop were
+      the lieutenant and ten of his men. The swing skylights above the
+      saloon table had been a bit open, and they had fired on us
+      through the slit. We got on them before they could load, and they
+      stood to it like men; but we had the upper hand of them, and in
+      five minutes it was all over. My God! Was there ever a
+      slaughter-house like that ship! Prendergast was like a raging
+      devil, and he picked the soldiers up as if they had been children
+      and threw them overboard alive or dead. There was one sergeant
+      that was horribly wounded and yet kept on swimming for a
+      surprising time, until some one in mercy blew out his brains.
+      When the fighting was over there was no one left of our enemies
+      except just the warders, the mates, and the doctor.
+
+      “‘It was over them that the great quarrel arose. There were many
+      of us who were glad enough to win back our freedom, and yet who
+      had no wish to have murder on our souls. It was one thing to
+      knock the soldiers over with their muskets in their hands, and it
+      was another to stand by while men were being killed in cold
+      blood. Eight of us, five convicts and three sailors, said that we
+      would not see it done. But there was no moving Prendergast and
+      those who were with him. Our only chance of safety lay in making
+      a clean job of it, said he, and he would not leave a tongue with
+      power to wag in a witness-box. It nearly came to our sharing the
+      fate of the prisoners, but at last he said that if we wished we
+      might take a boat and go. We jumped at the offer, for we were
+      already sick of these bloodthirsty doings, and we saw that there
+      would be worse before it was done. We were given a suit of
+      sailors’ togs each, a barrel of water, two casks, one of junk and
+      one of biscuits, and a compass. Prendergast threw us over a
+      chart, told us that we were shipwrecked mariners whose ship had
+      foundered in lat. 15º N. and long 25º W., and then cut the
+      painter and let us go.
+
+      “‘And now I come to the most surprising part of my story, my dear
+      son. The seamen had hauled the foreyard aback during the rising,
+      but now as we left them they brought it square again, and as
+      there was a light wind from the north and east the barque began
+      to draw slowly away from us. Our boat lay, rising and falling,
+      upon the long, smooth rollers, and Evans and I, who were the most
+      educated of the party, were sitting in the sheets working out our
+      position and planning what coast we should make for. It was a
+      nice question, for the Cape de Verds were about five hundred
+      miles to the north of us, and the African coast about seven
+      hundred to the east. On the whole, as the wind was coming round
+      to the north, we thought that Sierra Leone might be best, and
+      turned our head in that direction, the barque being at that time
+      nearly hull down on our starboard quarter. Suddenly as we looked
+      at her we saw a dense black cloud of smoke shoot up from her,
+      which hung like a monstrous tree upon the sky line. A few seconds
+      later a roar like thunder burst upon our ears, and as the smoke
+      thinned away there was no sign left of the _Gloria Scott_. In an
+      instant we swept the boat’s head round again and pulled with all
+      our strength for the place where the haze still trailing over the
+      water marked the scene of this catastrophe.
+
+      “‘It was a long hour before we reached it, and at first we feared
+      that we had come too late to save any one. A splintered boat and
+      a number of crates and fragments of spars rising and falling on
+      the waves showed us where the vessel had foundered; but there was
+      no sign of life, and we had turned away in despair when we heard
+      a cry for help, and saw at some distance a piece of wreckage with
+      a man lying stretched across it. When we pulled him aboard the
+      boat he proved to be a young seaman of the name of Hudson, who
+      was so burned and exhausted that he could give us no account of
+      what had happened until the following morning.
+
+      “‘It seemed that after we had left, Prendergast and his gang had
+      proceeded to put to death the five remaining prisoners. The two
+      warders had been shot and thrown overboard, and so also had the
+      third mate. Prendergast then descended into the ’tween-decks and
+      with his own hands cut the throat of the unfortunate surgeon.
+      There only remained the first mate, who was a bold and active
+      man. When he saw the convict approaching him with the bloody
+      knife in his hand he kicked off his bonds, which he had somehow
+      contrived to loosen, and rushing down the deck he plunged into
+      the after-hold.
+
+      “‘A dozen convicts, who descended with their pistols in search of
+      him, found him with a match-box in his hand seated beside an open
+      powder barrel, which was one of a hundred carried on board, and
+      swearing that he would blow all hands up if he were in any way
+      molested. An instant later the explosion occurred, though Hudson
+      thought it was caused by the misdirected bullet of one of the
+      convicts rather than the mate’s match. Be the cause what it may,
+      it was the end of the _Gloria Scott_ and of the rabble who held
+      command of her.
+
+      “‘Such, in a few words, my dear boy, is the history of this
+      terrible business in which I was involved. Next day we were
+      picked up by the brig _Hotspur_, bound for Australia, whose
+      captain found no difficulty in believing that we were the
+      survivors of a passenger ship which had foundered. The transport
+      ship _Gloria Scott_ was set down by the Admiralty as being lost
+      at sea, and no word has ever leaked out as to her true fate.
+      After an excellent voyage the _Hotspur_ landed us at Sydney,
+      where Evans and I changed our names and made our way to the
+      diggings, where, among the crowds who were gathered from all
+      nations, we had no difficulty in losing our former identities.
+
+      “‘The rest I need not relate. We prospered, we travelled, we came
+      back as rich colonials to England, and we bought country estates.
+      For more than twenty years we have led peaceful and useful lives,
+      and we hoped that our past was forever buried. Imagine, then, my
+      feelings when in the seaman who came to us I recognised instantly
+      the man who had been picked off the wreck. He had tracked us down
+      somehow, and had set himself to live upon our fears. You will
+      understand now how it was that I strove to keep the peace with
+      him, and you will in some measure sympathise with me in the fears
+      which fill me, now that he has gone from me to his other victim
+      with threats upon his tongue.’
+
+      “Underneath is written in a hand so shaky as to be hardly
+      legible, ‘Beddoes writes in cipher to say H. has told all. Sweet
+      Lord, have mercy on our souls!’
+
+      “That was the narrative which I read that night to young Trevor,
+      and I think, Watson, that under the circumstances it was a
+      dramatic one. The good fellow was heartbroken at it, and went out
+      to the Terai tea planting, where I hear that he is doing well. As
+      to the sailor and Beddoes, neither of them was ever heard of
+      again after that day on which the letter of warning was written.
+      They both disappeared utterly and completely. No complaint had
+      been lodged with the police, so that Beddoes had mistaken a
+      threat for a deed. Hudson had been seen lurking about, and it was
+      believed by the police that he had done away with Beddoes and had
+      fled. For myself I believe that the truth was exactly the
+      opposite. I think that it is most probable that Beddoes, pushed
+      to desperation and believing himself to have been already
+      betrayed, had revenged himself upon Hudson, and had fled from the
+      country with as much money as he could lay his hands on. Those
+      are the facts of the case, Doctor, and if they are of any use to
+      your collection, I am sure that they are very heartily at your
+      service.”
+
+
+
+
+VI. The Musgrave Ritual
+
+
+      An anomaly which often struck me in the character of my friend
+      Sherlock Holmes was that, although in his methods of thought he
+      was the neatest and most methodical of mankind, and although also
+      he affected a certain quiet primness of dress, he was none the
+      less in his personal habits one of the most untidy men that ever
+      drove a fellow-lodger to distraction. Not that I am in the least
+      conventional in that respect myself. The rough-and-tumble work in
+      Afghanistan, coming on the top of a natural Bohemianism of
+      disposition, has made me rather more lax than befits a medical
+      man. But with me there is a limit, and when I find a man who
+      keeps his cigars in the coal-scuttle, his tobacco in the toe end
+      of a Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence
+      transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden
+      mantelpiece, then I begin to give myself virtuous airs. I have
+      always held, too, that pistol practice should be distinctly an
+      open-air pastime; and when Holmes, in one of his queer humours,
+      would sit in an armchair with his hair-trigger and a hundred
+      Boxer cartridges, and proceed to adorn the opposite wall with a
+      patriotic V. R. done in bullet-pocks, I felt strongly that
+      neither the atmosphere nor the appearance of our room was
+      improved by it.
+
+      Our chambers were always full of chemicals and of criminal relics
+      which had a way of wandering into unlikely positions, and of
+      turning up in the butter-dish or in even less desirable places.
+      But his papers were my great crux. He had a horror of destroying
+      documents, especially those which were connected with his past
+      cases, and yet it was only once in every year or two that he
+      would muster energy to docket and arrange them; for, as I have
+      mentioned somewhere in these incoherent memoirs, the outbursts of
+      passionate energy when he performed the remarkable feats with
+      which his name is associated were followed by reactions of
+      lethargy during which he would lie about with his violin and his
+      books, hardly moving save from the sofa to the table. Thus month
+      after month his papers accumulated, until every corner of the
+      room was stacked with bundles of manuscript which were on no
+      account to be burned, and which could not be put away save by
+      their owner. One winter’s night, as we sat together by the fire,
+      I ventured to suggest to him that, as he had finished pasting
+      extracts into his common-place book, he might employ the next two
+      hours in making our room a little more habitable. He could not
+      deny the justice of my request, so with a rather rueful face he
+      went off to his bedroom, from which he returned presently pulling
+      a large tin box behind him. This he placed in the middle of the
+      floor and, squatting down upon a stool in front of it, he threw
+      back the lid. I could see that it was already a third full of
+      bundles of paper tied up with red tape into separate packages.
+
+      “There are cases enough here, Watson,” said he, looking at me
+      with mischievous eyes. “I think that if you knew all that I had
+      in this box you would ask me to pull some out instead of putting
+      others in.”
+
+      “These are the records of your early work, then?” I asked. “I
+      have often wished that I had notes of those cases.”
+
+      “Yes, my boy, these were all done prematurely before my
+      biographer had come to glorify me.” He lifted bundle after bundle
+      in a tender, caressing sort of way. “They are not all successes,
+      Watson,” said he. “But there are some pretty little problems
+      among them. Here’s the record of the Tarleton murders, and the
+      case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old
+      Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch,
+      as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club-foot, and his
+      abominable wife. And here—ah, now, this really is something a
+      little _recherché_.”
+
+      He dived his arm down to the bottom of the chest, and brought up
+      a small wooden box with a sliding lid, such as children’s toys
+      are kept in. From within he produced a crumpled piece of paper,
+      an old-fashioned brass key, a peg of wood with a ball of string
+      attached to it, and three rusty old disks of metal.
+
+      “Well, my boy, what do you make of this lot?” he asked, smiling
+      at my expression.
+
+      “It is a curious collection.”
+
+      “Very curious, and the story that hangs round it will strike you
+      as being more curious still.”
+
+      “These relics have a history then?”
+
+      “So much so that they _are_ history.”
+
+      “What do you mean by that?”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes picked them up one by one, and laid them along
+      the edge of the table. Then he reseated himself in his chair and
+      looked them over with a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.
+
+      “These,” said he, “are all that I have left to remind me of the
+      adventure of the Musgrave Ritual.”
+
+      I had heard him mention the case more than once, though I had
+      never been able to gather the details.
+
+      “I should be so glad,” said I, “if you would give me an account
+      of it.”
+
+      “And leave the litter as it is?” he cried, mischievously. “Your
+      tidiness won’t bear much strain after all, Watson. But I should
+      be glad that you should add this case to your annals, for there
+      are points in it which make it quite unique in the criminal
+      records of this or, I believe, of any other country. A collection
+      of my trifling achievements would certainly be incomplete which
+      contained no account of this very singular business.
+
+      “You may remember how the affair of the _Gloria Scott_, and my
+      conversation with the unhappy man whose fate I told you of, first
+      turned my attention in the direction of the profession which has
+      become my life’s work. You see me now when my name has become
+      known far and wide, and when I am generally recognised both by
+      the public and by the official force as being a final court of
+      appeal in doubtful cases. Even when you knew me first, at the
+      time of the affair which you have commemorated in ‘A Study in
+      Scarlet,’ I had already established a considerable, though not a
+      very lucrative, connection. You can hardly realize, then, how
+      difficult I found it at first, and how long I had to wait before
+      I succeeded in making any headway.
+
+      “When I first came up to London I had rooms in Montague Street,
+      just round the corner from the British Museum, and there I
+      waited, filling in my too abundant leisure time by studying all
+      those branches of science which might make me more efficient. Now
+      and again cases came in my way, principally through the
+      introduction of old fellow-students, for during my last years at
+      the University there was a good deal of talk there about myself
+      and my methods. The third of these cases was that of the Musgrave
+      Ritual, and it is to the interest which was aroused by that
+      singular chain of events, and the large issues which proved to be
+      at stake, that I trace my first stride towards the position which
+      I now hold.
+
+      “Reginald Musgrave had been in the same college as myself, and I
+      had some slight acquaintance with him. He was not generally
+      popular among the undergraduates, though it always seemed to me
+      that what was set down as pride was really an attempt to cover
+      extreme natural diffidence. In appearance he was a man of
+      exceedingly aristocratic type, thin, high-nosed, and large-eyed,
+      with languid and yet courtly manners. He was indeed a scion of
+      one of the very oldest families in the kingdom, though his branch
+      was a cadet one which had separated from the northern Musgraves
+      some time in the sixteenth century, and had established itself in
+      western Sussex, where the Manor House of Hurlstone is perhaps the
+      oldest inhabited building in the county. Something of his
+      birthplace seemed to cling to the man, and I never looked at his
+      pale, keen face or the poise of his head without associating him
+      with grey archways and mullioned windows and all the venerable
+      wreckage of a feudal keep. Once or twice we drifted into talk,
+      and I can remember that more than once he expressed a keen
+      interest in my methods of observation and inference.
+
+      “For four years I had seen nothing of him until one morning he
+      walked into my room in Montague Street. He had changed little,
+      was dressed like a young man of fashion—he was always a bit of a
+      dandy—and preserved the same quiet, suave manner which had
+      formerly distinguished him.
+
+      “‘How has all gone with you Musgrave?’ I asked, after we had
+      cordially shaken hands.
+
+      “‘You probably heard of my poor father’s death,’ said he; ‘he was
+      carried off about two years ago. Since then I have of course had
+      the Hurlstone estates to manage, and as I am member for my
+      district as well, my life has been a busy one. But I understand,
+      Holmes, that you are turning to practical ends those powers with
+      which you used to amaze us?’
+
+      “‘Yes,’ said I, ‘I have taken to living by my wits.’
+
+      “‘I am delighted to hear it, for your advice at present would be
+      exceedingly valuable to me. We have had some very strange doings
+      at Hurlstone, and the police have been able to throw no light
+      upon the matter. It is really the most extraordinary and
+      inexplicable business.’
+
+      “You can imagine with what eagerness I listened to him, Watson,
+      for the very chance for which I had been panting during all those
+      months of inaction seemed to have come within my reach. In my
+      inmost heart I believed that I could succeed where others failed,
+      and now I had the opportunity to test myself.
+
+      “‘Pray, let me have the details,’ I cried.
+
+      “Reginald Musgrave sat down opposite to me, and lit the cigarette
+      which I had pushed towards him.
+
+      “‘You must know,’ said he, ‘that though I am a bachelor, I have
+      to keep up a considerable staff of servants at Hurlstone, for it
+      is a rambling old place, and takes a good deal of looking after.
+      I preserve, too, and in the pheasant months I usually have a
+      house-party, so that it would not do to be short-handed.
+      Altogether there are eight maids, the cook, the butler, two
+      footmen, and a boy. The garden and the stables of course have a
+      separate staff.
+
+      “‘Of these servants the one who had been longest in our service
+      was Brunton the butler. He was a young schoolmaster out of place
+      when he was first taken up by my father, but he was a man of
+      great energy and character, and he soon became quite invaluable
+      in the household. He was a well-grown, handsome man, with a
+      splendid forehead, and though he has been with us for twenty
+      years he cannot be more than forty now. With his personal
+      advantages and his extraordinary gifts—for he can speak several
+      languages and play nearly every musical instrument—it is
+      wonderful that he should have been satisfied so long in such a
+      position, but I suppose that he was comfortable, and lacked
+      energy to make any change. The butler of Hurlstone is always a
+      thing that is remembered by all who visit us.
+
+      “‘But this paragon has one fault. He is a bit of a Don Juan, and
+      you can imagine that for a man like him it is not a very
+      difficult part to play in a quiet country district. When he was
+      married it was all right, but since he has been a widower we have
+      had no end of trouble with him. A few months ago we were in hopes
+      that he was about to settle down again for he became engaged to
+      Rachel Howells, our second housemaid; but he has thrown her over
+      since then and taken up with Janet Tregellis, the daughter of the
+      head gamekeeper. Rachel—who is a very good girl, but of an
+      excitable Welsh temperament—had a sharp touch of brain-fever, and
+      goes about the house now—or did until yesterday—like a black-eyed
+      shadow of her former self. That was our first drama at Hurlstone;
+      but a second one came to drive it from our minds, and it was
+      prefaced by the disgrace and dismissal of butler Brunton.
+
+      “‘This was how it came about. I have said that the man was
+      intelligent, and this very intelligence has caused his ruin, for
+      it seems to have led to an insatiable curiosity about things
+      which did not in the least concern him. I had no idea of the
+      lengths to which this would carry him, until the merest accident
+      opened my eyes to it.
+
+      “‘I have said that the house is a rambling one. One day last
+      week—on Thursday night, to be more exact—I found that I could not
+      sleep, having foolishly taken a cup of strong _café noir_ after
+      my dinner. After struggling against it until two in the morning,
+      I felt that it was quite hopeless, so I rose and lit the candle
+      with the intention of continuing a novel which I was reading. The
+      book, however, had been left in the billiard-room, so I pulled on
+      my dressing-gown and started off to get it.
+
+      “‘In order to reach the billiard-room I had to descend a flight
+      of stairs and then to cross the head of a passage which led to
+      the library and the gun-room. You can imagine my surprise when,
+      as I looked down this corridor, I saw a glimmer of light coming
+      from the open door of the library. I had myself extinguished the
+      lamp and closed the door before coming to bed. Naturally my first
+      thought was of burglars. The corridors at Hurlstone have their
+      walls largely decorated with trophies of old weapons. From one of
+      these I picked a battle-axe, and then, leaving my candle behind
+      me, I crept on tiptoe down the passage and peeped in at the open
+      door.
+
+      “‘Brunton, the butler, was in the library. He was sitting, fully
+      dressed, in an easy-chair, with a slip of paper which looked like
+      a map upon his knee, and his forehead sunk forward upon his hand
+      in deep thought. I stood dumb with astonishment, watching him
+      from the darkness. A small taper on the edge of the table shed a
+      feeble light which sufficed to show me that he was fully dressed.
+      Suddenly, as I looked, he rose from his chair, and walking over
+      to a bureau at the side, he unlocked it and drew out one of the
+      drawers. From this he took a paper, and returning to his seat he
+      flattened it out beside the taper on the edge of the table, and
+      began to study it with minute attention. My indignation at this
+      calm examination of our family documents overcame me so far that
+      I took a step forward, and Brunton, looking up, saw me standing
+      in the doorway. He sprang to his feet, his face turned livid with
+      fear, and he thrust into his breast the chart-like paper which he
+      had been originally studying.
+
+      “‘“So!” said I. “This is how you repay the trust which we have
+      reposed in you. You will leave my service to-morrow.”
+
+      “‘He bowed with the look of a man who is utterly crushed, and
+      slunk past me without a word. The taper was still on the table,
+      and by its light I glanced to see what the paper was which
+      Brunton had taken from the bureau. To my surprise it was nothing
+      of any importance at all, but simply a copy of the questions and
+      answers in the singular old observance called the Musgrave
+      Ritual. It is a sort of ceremony peculiar to our family, which
+      each Musgrave for centuries past has gone through on his coming
+      of age—a thing of private interest, and perhaps of some little
+      importance to the archaeologist, like our own blazonings and
+      charges, but of no practical use whatever.’
+
+      “‘We had better come back to the paper afterwards,’ said I.
+
+      “‘If you think it really necessary,’ he answered, with some
+      hesitation. ‘To continue my statement, however: I relocked the
+      bureau, using the key which Brunton had left, and I had turned to
+      go when I was surprised to find that the butler had returned, and
+      was standing before me.
+
+      “‘“Mr. Musgrave, sir,” he cried, in a voice which was hoarse with
+      emotion, “I can’t bear disgrace, sir. I’ve always been proud
+      above my station in life, and disgrace would kill me. My blood
+      will be on your head, sir—it will, indeed—if you drive me to
+      despair. If you cannot keep me after what has passed, then for
+      God’s sake let me give you notice and leave in a month, as if of
+      my own free will. I could stand that, Mr. Musgrave, but not to be
+      cast out before all the folk that I know so well.”
+
+      “‘“You don’t deserve much consideration, Brunton,” I answered.
+      “Your conduct has been most infamous. However, as you have been a
+      long time in the family, I have no wish to bring public disgrace
+      upon you. A month, however is too long. Take yourself away in a
+      week, and give what reason you like for going.”
+
+      “‘“Only a week, sir?” he cried, in a despairing voice. “A
+      fortnight—say at least a fortnight!”
+
+      “‘“A week,” I repeated, “and you may consider yourself to have
+      been very leniently dealt with.”
+
+      “‘He crept away, his face sunk upon his breast, like a broken
+      man, while I put out the light and returned to my room.
+
+      “‘For two days after this Brunton was most assiduous in his
+      attention to his duties. I made no allusion to what had passed,
+      and waited with some curiosity to see how he would cover his
+      disgrace. On the third morning, however he did not appear, as was
+      his custom, after breakfast to receive my instructions for the
+      day. As I left the dining-room I happened to meet Rachel Howells,
+      the maid. I have told you that she had only recently recovered
+      from an illness, and was looking so wretchedly pale and wan that
+      I remonstrated with her for being at work.
+
+      “‘“You should be in bed,” I said. “Come back to your duties when
+      you are stronger.”
+
+      “‘She looked at me with so strange an expression that I began to
+      suspect that her brain was affected.
+
+      “‘“I am strong enough, Mr. Musgrave,” said she.
+
+      “‘“We will see what the doctor says,” I answered. “You must stop
+      work now, and when you go downstairs just say that I wish to see
+      Brunton.”
+
+      “‘“The butler is gone,” said she.
+
+      “‘“Gone! Gone where?”
+
+      “‘“He is gone. No one has seen him. He is not in his room. Oh,
+      yes, he is gone, he is gone!” She fell back against the wall with
+      shriek after shriek of laughter, while I, horrified at this
+      sudden hysterical attack, rushed to the bell to summon help. The
+      girl was taken to her room, still screaming and sobbing, while I
+      made inquiries about Brunton. There was no doubt about it that he
+      had disappeared. His bed had not been slept in, he had been seen
+      by no one since he had retired to his room the night before, and
+      yet it was difficult to see how he could have left the house, as
+      both windows and doors were found to be fastened in the morning.
+      His clothes, his watch, and even his money were in his room, but
+      the black suit which he usually wore was missing. His slippers,
+      too, were gone, but his boots were left behind. Where then could
+      butler Brunton have gone in the night, and what could have become
+      of him now?
+
+      “‘Of course we searched the house from cellar to garret, but
+      there was no trace of him. It is, as I have said, a labyrinth of
+      an old house, especially the original wing, which is now
+      practically uninhabited; but we ransacked every room and cellar
+      without discovering the least sign of the missing man. It was
+      incredible to me that he could have gone away leaving all his
+      property behind him, and yet where could he be? I called in the
+      local police, but without success. Rain had fallen on the night
+      before and we examined the lawn and the paths all round the
+      house, but in vain. Matters were in this state, when a new
+      development quite drew our attention away from the original
+      mystery.
+
+      “‘For two days Rachel Howells had been so ill, sometimes
+      delirious, sometimes hysterical, that a nurse had been employed
+      to sit up with her at night. On the third night after Brunton’s
+      disappearance, the nurse, finding her patient sleeping nicely,
+      had dropped into a nap in the armchair, when she woke in the
+      early morning to find the bed empty, the window open, and no
+      signs of the invalid. I was instantly aroused, and, with the two
+      footmen, started off at once in search of the missing girl. It
+      was not difficult to tell the direction which she had taken, for,
+      starting from under her window, we could follow her footmarks
+      easily across the lawn to the edge of the mere, where they
+      vanished close to the gravel path which leads out of the grounds.
+      The lake there is eight feet deep, and you can imagine our
+      feelings when we saw that the trail of the poor demented girl
+      came to an end at the edge of it.
+
+      “‘Of course, we had the drags at once, and set to work to recover
+      the remains, but no trace of the body could we find. On the other
+      hand, we brought to the surface an object of a most unexpected
+      kind. It was a linen bag which contained within it a mass of old
+      rusted and discoloured metal and several dull-coloured pieces of
+      pebble or glass. This strange find was all that we could get from
+      the mere, and, although we made every possible search and inquiry
+      yesterday, we know nothing of the fate either of Rachel Howells
+      or of Richard Brunton. The county police are at their wits’ end,
+      and I have come up to you as a last resource.’
+
+      “You can imagine, Watson, with what eagerness I listened to this
+      extraordinary sequence of events, and endeavoured to piece them
+      together, and to devise some common thread upon which they might
+      all hang. The butler was gone. The maid was gone. The maid had
+      loved the butler, but had afterwards had cause to hate him. She
+      was of Welsh blood, fiery and passionate. She had been terribly
+      excited immediately after his disappearance. She had flung into
+      the lake a bag containing some curious contents. These were all
+      factors which had to be taken into consideration, and yet none of
+      them got quite to the heart of the matter. What was the
+      starting-point of this chain of events? There lay the end of this
+      tangled line.
+
+      “‘I must see that paper, Musgrave,’ said I, ‘which this butler of
+      yours thought it worth his while to consult, even at the risk of
+      the loss of his place.’
+
+      “‘It is rather an absurd business, this ritual of ours,’ he
+      answered. ‘But it has at least the saving grace of antiquity to
+      excuse it. I have a copy of the questions and answers here if you
+      care to run your eye over them.’
+
+      “He handed me the very paper which I have here, Watson, and this
+      is the strange catechism to which each Musgrave had to submit
+      when he came to man’s estate. I will read you the questions and
+      answers as they stand.
+
+      “‘Whose was it?’
+
+      “‘His who is gone.’
+
+      “‘Who shall have it?’
+
+      “‘He who will come.’
+
+      “‘Where was the sun?’
+
+      “‘Over the oak.’
+
+      “‘Where was the shadow?’
+
+      “‘Under the elm.’
+
+      “How was it stepped?’
+
+      “‘North by ten and by ten, east by five and by five, south by two
+      and by two, west by one and by one, and so under.’
+
+      “‘What shall we give for it?’
+
+      “‘All that is ours.’
+
+      “‘Why should we give it?’
+
+      “‘For the sake of the trust.’
+
+      “‘The original has no date, but is in the spelling of the middle
+      of the seventeenth century,’ remarked Musgrave. ‘I am afraid,
+      however, that it can be of little help to you in solving this
+      mystery.’
+
+      “‘At least,’ said I, ‘it gives us another mystery, and one which
+      is even more interesting than the first. It may be that the
+      solution of the one may prove to be the solution of the other.
+      You will excuse me, Musgrave, if I say that your butler appears
+      to me to have been a very clever man, and to have had a clearer
+      insight than ten generations of his masters.’
+
+      “‘I hardly follow you,’ said Musgrave. ‘The paper seems to me to
+      be of no practical importance.’
+
+      “‘But to me it seems immensely practical, and I fancy that
+      Brunton took the same view. He had probably seen it before that
+      night on which you caught him.’
+
+      “‘It is very possible. We took no pains to hide it.’
+
+      “‘He simply wished, I should imagine, to refresh his memory upon
+      that last occasion. He had, as I understand, some sort of map or
+      chart which he was comparing with the manuscript, and which he
+      thrust into his pocket when you appeared.’
+
+      “‘That is true. But what could he have to do with this old family
+      custom of ours, and what does this rigmarole mean?’
+
+      “‘I don’t think that we should have much difficulty in
+      determining that,’ said I; ‘with your permission we will take the
+      first train down to Sussex, and go a little more deeply into the
+      matter upon the spot.’
+
+      “The same afternoon saw us both at Hurlstone. Possibly you have
+      seen pictures and read descriptions of the famous old building,
+      so I will confine my account of it to saying that it is built in
+      the shape of an L, the long arm being the more modern portion,
+      and the shorter the ancient nucleus, from which the other had
+      developed. Over the low, heavily-lintelled door, in the centre of
+      this old part, is chiseled the date, 1607, but experts are agreed
+      that the beams and stonework are really much older than this. The
+      enormously thick walls and tiny windows of this part had in the
+      last century driven the family into building the new wing, and
+      the old one was used now as a storehouse and a cellar, when it
+      was used at all. A splendid park with fine old timber surrounds
+      the house, and the lake, to which my client had referred, lay
+      close to the avenue, about two hundred yards from the building.
+
+      “I was already firmly convinced, Watson, that there were not
+      three separate mysteries here, but one only, and that if I could
+      read the Musgrave Ritual aright I should hold in my hand the clue
+      which would lead me to the truth concerning both the butler
+      Brunton and the maid Howells. To that then I turned all my
+      energies. Why should this servant be so anxious to master this
+      old formula? Evidently because he saw something in it which had
+      escaped all those generations of country squires, and from which
+      he expected some personal advantage. What was it then, and how
+      had it affected his fate?
+
+      “It was perfectly obvious to me, on reading the Ritual, that the
+      measurements must refer to some spot to which the rest of the
+      document alluded, and that if we could find that spot, we should
+      be in a fair way towards finding what the secret was which the
+      old Musgraves had thought it necessary to embalm in so curious a
+      fashion. There were two guides given us to start with, an oak and
+      an elm. As to the oak there could be no question at all. Right in
+      front of the house, upon the left-hand side of the drive, there
+      stood a patriarch among oaks, one of the most magnificent trees
+      that I have ever seen.
+
+      “‘That was there when your Ritual was drawn up,’ said I, as we
+      drove past it.
+
+      “‘It was there at the Norman Conquest in all probability,’ he
+      answered. ‘It has a girth of twenty-three feet.’
+
+      “‘Have you any old elms?’ I asked.
+
+      “‘There used to be a very old one over yonder but it was struck
+      by lightning ten years ago, and we cut down the stump.’
+
+      “‘You can see where it used to be?’
+
+      “‘Oh, yes.’
+
+      “‘There are no other elms?’
+
+      “‘No old ones, but plenty of beeches.’
+
+      “‘I should like to see where it grew.’
+
+      “We had driven up in a dog-cart, and my client led me away at
+      once, without our entering the house, to the scar on the lawn
+      where the elm had stood. It was nearly midway between the oak and
+      the house. My investigation seemed to be progressing.
+
+      “‘I suppose it is impossible to find out how high the elm was?’ I
+      asked.
+
+      “‘I can give you it at once. It was sixty-four feet.’
+
+      “‘How do you come to know it?’ I asked, in surprise.
+
+      “‘When my old tutor used to give me an exercise in trigonometry,
+      it always took the shape of measuring heights. When I was a lad I
+      worked out every tree and building in the estate.’
+
+      “This was an unexpected piece of luck. My data were coming more
+      quickly than I could have reasonably hoped.
+
+      “‘Tell me,’ I asked, ‘did your butler ever ask you such a
+      question?’
+
+      “Reginald Musgrave looked at me in astonishment. ‘Now that you
+      call it to my mind,’ he answered, ‘Brunton _did_ ask me about the
+      height of the tree some months ago, in connection with some
+      little argument with the groom.’
+
+      “This was excellent news, Watson, for it showed me that I was on
+      the right road. I looked up at the sun. It was low in the
+      heavens, and I calculated that in less than an hour it would lie
+      just above the topmost branches of the old oak. One condition
+      mentioned in the Ritual would then be fulfilled. And the shadow
+      of the elm must mean the farther end of the shadow, otherwise the
+      trunk would have been chosen as the guide. I had, then, to find
+      where the far end of the shadow would fall when the sun was just
+      clear of the oak.”
+
+      “That must have been difficult, Holmes, when the elm was no
+      longer there.”
+
+      “Well, at least I knew that if Brunton could do it, I could also.
+      Besides, there was no real difficulty. I went with Musgrave to
+      his study and whittled myself this peg, to which I tied this long
+      string with a knot at each yard. Then I took two lengths of a
+      fishing-rod, which came to just six feet, and I went back with my
+      client to where the elm had been. The sun was just grazing the
+      top of the oak. I fastened the rod on end, marked out the
+      direction of the shadow, and measured it. It was nine feet in
+      length.
+
+      “Of course the calculation now was a simple one. If a rod of six
+      feet threw a shadow of nine, a tree of sixty-four feet would
+      throw one of ninety-six, and the line of the one would of course
+      be the line of the other. I measured out the distance, which
+      brought me almost to the wall of the house, and I thrust a peg
+      into the spot. You can imagine my exultation, Watson, when within
+      two inches of my peg I saw a conical depression in the ground. I
+      knew that it was the mark made by Brunton in his measurements,
+      and that I was still upon his trail.
+
+      “From this starting-point I proceeded to step, having first taken
+      the cardinal points by my pocket-compass. Ten steps with each
+      foot took me along parallel with the wall of the house, and again
+      I marked my spot with a peg. Then I carefully paced off five to
+      the east and two to the south. It brought me to the very
+      threshold of the old door. Two steps to the west meant now that I
+      was to go two paces down the stone-flagged passage, and this was
+      the place indicated by the Ritual.
+
+      “Never have I felt such a cold chill of disappointment, Watson.
+      For a moment it seemed to me that there must be some radical
+      mistake in my calculations. The setting sun shone full upon the
+      passage floor, and I could see that the old, foot-worn grey
+      stones with which it was paved were firmly cemented together, and
+      had certainly not been moved for many a long year. Brunton had
+      not been at work here. I tapped upon the floor, but it sounded
+      the same all over, and there was no sign of any crack or crevice.
+      But, fortunately, Musgrave, who had begun to appreciate the
+      meaning of my proceedings, and who was now as excited as myself,
+      took out his manuscript to check my calculation.
+
+      “‘And under,’ he cried. ‘You have omitted the “and under.”’
+
+      “I had thought that it meant that we were to dig, but now, of
+      course, I saw at once that I was wrong. ‘There is a cellar under
+      this then?’ I cried.
+
+      “‘Yes, and as old as the house. Down here, through this door.’
+
+      “We went down a winding stone stair, and my companion, striking a
+      match, lit a large lantern which stood on a barrel in the corner.
+      In an instant it was obvious that we had at last come upon the
+      true place, and that we had not been the only people to visit the
+      spot recently.
+
+      “It had been used for the storage of wood, but the billets, which
+      had evidently been littered over the floor, were now piled at the
+      sides, so as to leave a clear space in the middle. In this space
+      lay a large and heavy flagstone with a rusted iron ring in the
+      centre to which a thick shepherd’s-check muffler was attached.
+
+      “‘By Jove!’ cried my client. ‘That’s Brunton’s muffler. I have
+      seen it on him, and could swear to it. What has the villain been
+      doing here?’
+
+      “At my suggestion a couple of the county police were summoned to
+      be present, and I then endeavoured to raise the stone by pulling
+      on the cravat. I could only move it slightly, and it was with the
+      aid of one of the constables that I succeeded at last in carrying
+      it to one side. A black hole yawned beneath into which we all
+      peered, while Musgrave, kneeling at the side, pushed down the
+      lantern.
+
+      “A small chamber about seven feet deep and four feet square lay
+      open to us. At one side of this was a squat, brass-bound wooden
+      box, the lid of which was hinged upwards, with this curious
+      old-fashioned key projecting from the lock. It was furred outside
+      by a thick layer of dust, and damp and worms had eaten through
+      the wood, so that a crop of livid fungi was growing on the inside
+      of it. Several discs of metal, old coins apparently, such as I
+      hold here, were scattered over the bottom of the box, but it
+      contained nothing else.
+
+      “At the moment, however, we had no thought for the old chest, for
+      our eyes were riveted upon that which crouched beside it. It was
+      the figure of a man, clad in a suit of black, who squatted down
+      upon his hams with his forehead sunk upon the edge of the box and
+      his two arms thrown out on each side of it. The attitude had
+      drawn all the stagnant blood to the face, and no man could have
+      recognised that distorted liver-coloured countenance; but his
+      height, his dress, and his hair were all sufficient to show my
+      client, when we had drawn the body up, that it was indeed his
+      missing butler. He had been dead some days, but there was no
+      wound or bruise upon his person to show how he had met his
+      dreadful end. When his body had been carried from the cellar we
+      found ourselves still confronted with a problem which was almost
+      as formidable as that with which we had started.
+
+      “I confess that so far, Watson, I had been disappointed in my
+      investigation. I had reckoned upon solving the matter when once I
+      had found the place referred to in the Ritual; but now I was
+      there, and was apparently as far as ever from knowing what it was
+      which the family had concealed with such elaborate precautions.
+      It is true that I had thrown a light upon the fate of Brunton,
+      but now I had to ascertain how that fate had come upon him, and
+      what part had been played in the matter by the woman who had
+      disappeared. I sat down upon a keg in the corner and thought the
+      whole matter carefully over.
+
+      “You know my methods in such cases, Watson. I put myself in the
+      man’s place and, having first gauged his intelligence, I try to
+      imagine how I should myself have proceeded under the same
+      circumstances. In this case the matter was simplified by
+      Brunton’s intelligence being quite first-rate, so that it was
+      unnecessary to make any allowance for the personal equation, as
+      the astronomers have dubbed it. He knew that something valuable
+      was concealed. He had spotted the place. He found that the stone
+      which covered it was just too heavy for a man to move unaided.
+      What would he do next? He could not get help from outside, even
+      if he had some one whom he could trust, without the unbarring of
+      doors and considerable risk of detection. It was better, if he
+      could, to have his helpmate inside the house. But whom could he
+      ask? This girl had been devoted to him. A man always finds it
+      hard to realize that he may have finally lost a woman’s love,
+      however badly he may have treated her. He would try by a few
+      attentions to make his peace with the girl Howells, and then
+      would engage her as his accomplice. Together they would come at
+      night to the cellar, and their united force would suffice to
+      raise the stone. So far I could follow their actions as if I had
+      actually seen them.
+
+      “But for two of them, and one a woman, it must have been heavy
+      work the raising of that stone. A burly Sussex policeman and I
+      had found it no light job. What would they do to assist them?
+      Probably what I should have done myself. I rose and examined
+      carefully the different billets of wood which were scattered
+      round the floor. Almost at once I came upon what I expected. One
+      piece, about three feet in length, had a very marked indentation
+      at one end, while several were flattened at the sides as if they
+      had been compressed by some considerable weight. Evidently, as
+      they had dragged the stone up they had thrust the chunks of wood
+      into the chink, until at last, when the opening was large enough
+      to crawl through, they would hold it open by a billet placed
+      lengthwise, which might very well become indented at the lower
+      end, since the whole weight of the stone would press it down on
+      to the edge of this other slab. So far I was still on safe
+      ground.
+
+      “And now how was I to proceed to reconstruct this midnight drama?
+      Clearly, only one could fit into the hole, and that one was
+      Brunton. The girl must have waited above. Brunton then unlocked
+      the box, handed up the contents presumably—since they were not to
+      be found—and then—and then what happened?
+
+      “What smouldering fire of vengeance had suddenly sprung into
+      flame in this passionate Celtic woman’s soul when she saw the man
+      who had wronged her—wronged her, perhaps, far more than we
+      suspected—in her power? Was it a chance that the wood had
+      slipped, and that the stone had shut Brunton into what had become
+      his sepulchre? Had she only been guilty of silence as to his
+      fate? Or had some sudden blow from her hand dashed the support
+      away and sent the slab crashing down into its place? Be that as
+      it might, I seemed to see that woman’s figure still clutching at
+      her treasure trove and flying wildly up the winding stair, with
+      her ears ringing perhaps with the muffled screams from behind her
+      and with the drumming of frenzied hands against the slab of stone
+      which was choking her faithless lover’s life out.
+
+      “Here was the secret of her blanched face, her shaken nerves, her
+      peals of hysterical laughter on the next morning. But what had
+      been in the box? What had she done with that? Of course, it must
+      have been the old metal and pebbles which my client had dragged
+      from the mere. She had thrown them in there at the first
+      opportunity to remove the last trace of her crime.
+
+      “For twenty minutes I had sat motionless, thinking the matter
+      out. Musgrave still stood with a very pale face, swinging his
+      lantern and peering down into the hole.
+
+      “‘These are coins of Charles the First,’ said he, holding out the
+      few which had been in the box; ‘you see we were right in fixing
+      our date for the Ritual.’
+
+      “‘We may find something else of Charles the First,’ I cried, as
+      the probable meaning of the first two questions of the Ritual
+      broke suddenly upon me. ‘Let me see the contents of the bag which
+      you fished from the mere.’
+
+      “We ascended to his study, and he laid the _débris_ before me. I
+      could understand his regarding it as of small importance when I
+      looked at it, for the metal was almost black and the stones
+      lustreless and dull. I rubbed one of them on my sleeve, however,
+      and it glowed afterwards like a spark in the dark hollow of my
+      hand. The metal work was in the form of a double ring, but it had
+      been bent and twisted out of its original shape.
+
+      “‘You must bear in mind,’ said I, ‘that the Royal party made head
+      in England even after the death of the King, and that when they
+      at last fled they probably left many of their most precious
+      possessions buried behind them, with the intention of returning
+      for them in more peaceful times.’
+
+      “‘My ancestor, Sir Ralph Musgrave, was a prominent Cavalier and
+      the right-hand man of Charles the Second in his wanderings,’ said
+      my friend.
+
+      “‘Ah, indeed!’ I answered. ‘Well now, I think that really should
+      give us the last link that we wanted. I must congratulate you on
+      coming into the possession, though in rather a tragic manner of a
+      relic which is of great intrinsic value, but of even greater
+      importance as an historical curiosity.’
+
+      “‘What is it, then?’ he gasped in astonishment.
+
+      “‘It is nothing less than the ancient crown of the Kings of
+      England.’
+
+      “‘The crown!’
+
+      “‘Precisely. Consider what the Ritual says: How does it run?
+      “Whose was it?” “His who is gone.” That was after the execution
+      of Charles. Then, “Who shall have it?” “He who will come.” That
+      was Charles the Second, whose advent was already foreseen. There
+      can, I think, be no doubt that this battered and shapeless diadem
+      once encircled the brows of the royal Stuarts.’
+
+      “‘And how came it in the pond?’
+
+      “‘Ah, that is a question that will take some time to answer.’ And
+      with that I sketched out to him the whole long chain of surmise
+      and of proof which I had constructed. The twilight had closed in
+      and the moon was shining brightly in the sky before my narrative
+      was finished.
+
+      “‘And how was it then that Charles did not get his crown when he
+      returned?’ asked Musgrave, pushing back the relic into its linen
+      bag.
+
+      “‘Ah, there you lay your finger upon the one point which we shall
+      probably never be able to clear up. It is likely that the
+      Musgrave who held the secret died in the interval, and by some
+      oversight left this guide to his descendant without explaining
+      the meaning of it. From that day to this it has been handed down
+      from father to son, until at last it came within reach of a man
+      who tore its secret out of it and lost his life in the venture.’
+
+      “And that’s the story of the Musgrave Ritual, Watson. They have
+      the crown down at Hurlstone—though they had some legal bother and
+      a considerable sum to pay before they were allowed to retain it.
+      I am sure that if you mentioned my name they would be happy to
+      show it to you. Of the woman nothing was ever heard, and the
+      probability is that she got away out of England and carried
+      herself and the memory of her crime to some land beyond the
+      seas.”
+
+
+
+
+VII. The Reigate Squires
+
+
+      It was some time before the health of my friend Mr. Sherlock
+      Holmes recovered from the strain caused by his immense exertions
+      in the spring of ’87. The whole question of the
+      Netherland-Sumatra Company and of the colossal schemes of Baron
+      Maupertuis are too recent in the minds of the public, and are too
+      intimately concerned with politics and finance to be fitting
+      subjects for this series of sketches. They led, however, in an
+      indirect fashion to a singular and complex problem which gave my
+      friend an opportunity of demonstrating the value of a fresh
+      weapon among the many with which he waged his life-long battle
+      against crime.
+
+      On referring to my notes I see that it was upon the 14th of April
+      that I received a telegram from Lyons which informed me that
+      Holmes was lying ill in the Hotel Dulong. Within twenty-four
+      hours I was in his sick-room, and was relieved to find that there
+      was nothing formidable in his symptoms. Even his iron
+      constitution, however, had broken down under the strain of an
+      investigation which had extended over two months, during which
+      period he had never worked less than fifteen hours a day, and had
+      more than once, as he assured me, kept to his task for five days
+      at a stretch. Even the triumphant issue of his labours could not
+      save him from reaction after so terrible an exertion, and at a
+      time when Europe was ringing with his name and when his room was
+      literally ankle-deep with congratulatory telegrams I found him a
+      prey to the blackest depression. Even the knowledge that he had
+      succeeded where the police of three countries had failed, and
+      that he had outmanœuvred at every point the most accomplished
+      swindler in Europe, was insufficient to rouse him from his
+      nervous prostration.
+
+      Three days later we were back in Baker Street together; but it
+      was evident that my friend would be much the better for a change,
+      and the thought of a week of spring time in the country was full
+      of attractions to me also. My old friend, Colonel Hayter, who had
+      come under my professional care in Afghanistan, had now taken a
+      house near Reigate in Surrey, and had frequently asked me to come
+      down to him upon a visit. On the last occasion he had remarked
+      that if my friend would only come with me he would be glad to
+      extend his hospitality to him also. A little diplomacy was
+      needed, but when Holmes understood that the establishment was a
+      bachelor one, and that he would be allowed the fullest freedom,
+      he fell in with my plans and a week after our return from Lyons
+      we were under the Colonel’s roof. Hayter was a fine old soldier
+      who had seen much of the world, and he soon found, as I had
+      expected, that Holmes and he had much in common.
+
+      On the evening of our arrival we were sitting in the Colonel’s
+      gun-room after dinner, Holmes stretched upon the sofa, while
+      Hayter and I looked over his little armoury of fire-arms.
+
+      “By the way,” said he suddenly, “I think I’ll take one of these
+      pistols upstairs with me in case we have an alarm.”
+
+      “An alarm!” said I.
+
+      “Yes, we’ve had a scare in this part lately. Old Acton, who is
+      one of our county magnates, had his house broken into last
+      Monday. No great damage done, but the fellows are still at
+      large.”
+
+      “No clue?” asked Holmes, cocking his eye at the Colonel.
+
+      “None as yet. But the affair is a petty one, one of our little
+      country crimes, which must seem too small for your attention, Mr.
+      Holmes, after this great international affair.”
+
+      Holmes waved away the compliment, though his smile showed that it
+      had pleased him.
+
+      “Was there any feature of interest?”
+
+      “I fancy not. The thieves ransacked the library and got very
+      little for their pains. The whole place was turned upside down,
+      drawers burst open, and presses ransacked, with the result that
+      an odd volume of Pope’s ‘Homer,’ two plated candlesticks, an
+      ivory letter-weight, a small oak barometer, and a ball of twine
+      are all that have vanished.”
+
+      “What an extraordinary assortment!” I exclaimed.
+
+      “Oh, the fellows evidently grabbed hold of everything they could
+      get.”
+
+      Holmes grunted from the sofa.
+
+      “The county police ought to make something of that,” said he;
+      “why, it is surely obvious that—”
+
+      But I held up a warning finger.
+
+      “You are here for a rest, my dear fellow. For Heaven’s sake don’t
+      get started on a new problem when your nerves are all in shreds.”
+
+      Holmes shrugged his shoulders with a glance of comic resignation
+      towards the Colonel, and the talk drifted away into less
+      dangerous channels.
+
+      It was destined, however, that all my professional caution should
+      be wasted, for next morning the problem obtruded itself upon us
+      in such a way that it was impossible to ignore it, and our
+      country visit took a turn which neither of us could have
+      anticipated. We were at breakfast when the Colonel’s butler
+      rushed in with all his propriety shaken out of him.
+
+      “Have you heard the news, sir?” he gasped. “At the Cunningham’s
+      sir!”
+
+      “Burglary!” cried the Colonel, with his coffee-cup in mid-air.
+
+      “Murder!”
+
+      The Colonel whistled. “By Jove!” said he. “Who’s killed, then?
+      The J.P. or his son?”
+
+      “Neither, sir. It was William the coachman. Shot through the
+      heart, sir, and never spoke again.”
+
+      “Who shot him, then?”
+
+      “The burglar, sir. He was off like a shot and got clean away.
+      He’d just broke in at the pantry window when William came on him
+      and met his end in saving his master’s property.”
+
+      “What time?”
+
+      “It was last night, sir, somewhere about twelve.”
+
+      “Ah, then, we’ll step over afterwards,” said the Colonel, coolly
+      settling down to his breakfast again. “It’s a baddish business,”
+      he added when the butler had gone; “he’s our leading man about
+      here, is old Cunningham, and a very decent fellow too. He’ll be
+      cut up over this, for the man has been in his service for years
+      and was a good servant. It’s evidently the same villains who
+      broke into Acton’s.”
+
+      “And stole that very singular collection,” said Holmes,
+      thoughtfully.
+
+      “Precisely.”
+
+      “Hum! It may prove the simplest matter in the world, but all the
+      same at first glance this is just a little curious, is it not? A
+      gang of burglars acting in the country might be expected to vary
+      the scene of their operations, and not to crack two cribs in the
+      same district within a few days. When you spoke last night of
+      taking precautions I remember that it passed through my mind that
+      this was probably the last parish in England to which the thief
+      or thieves would be likely to turn their attention—which shows
+      that I have still much to learn.”
+
+      “I fancy it’s some local practitioner,” said the Colonel. “In
+      that case, of course, Acton’s and Cunningham’s are just the
+      places he would go for, since they are far the largest about
+      here.”
+
+      “And richest?”
+
+      “Well, they ought to be, but they’ve had a lawsuit for some years
+      which has sucked the blood out of both of them, I fancy. Old
+      Acton has some claim on half Cunningham’s estate, and the lawyers
+      have been at it with both hands.”
+
+      “If it’s a local villain there should not be much difficulty in
+      running him down,” said Holmes with a yawn. “All right, Watson, I
+      don’t intend to meddle.”
+
+      “Inspector Forrester, sir,” said the butler, throwing open the
+      door.
+
+      The official, a smart, keen-faced young fellow, stepped into the
+      room. “Good-morning, Colonel,” said he; “I hope I don’t intrude,
+      but we hear that Mr. Holmes of Baker Street is here.”
+
+      The Colonel waved his hand towards my friend, and the Inspector
+      bowed.
+
+      “We thought that perhaps you would care to step across, Mr.
+      Holmes.”
+
+      “The fates are against you, Watson,” said he, laughing. “We were
+      chatting about the matter when you came in, Inspector. Perhaps
+      you can let us have a few details.” As he leaned back in his
+      chair in the familiar attitude I knew that the case was hopeless.
+
+      “We had no clue in the Acton affair. But here we have plenty to
+      go on, and there’s no doubt it is the same party in each case.
+      The man was seen.”
+
+      “Ah!”
+
+      “Yes, sir. But he was off like a deer after the shot that killed
+      poor William Kirwan was fired. Mr. Cunningham saw him from the
+      bedroom window, and Mr. Alec Cunningham saw him from the back
+      passage. It was quarter to twelve when the alarm broke out. Mr.
+      Cunningham had just got into bed, and Mr. Alec was smoking a pipe
+      in his dressing-gown. They both heard William the coachman
+      calling for help, and Mr. Alec ran down to see what was the
+      matter. The back door was open, and as he came to the foot of the
+      stairs he saw two men wrestling together outside. One of them
+      fired a shot, the other dropped, and the murderer rushed across
+      the garden and over the hedge. Mr. Cunningham, looking out of his
+      bedroom, saw the fellow as he gained the road, but lost sight of
+      him at once. Mr. Alec stopped to see if he could help the dying
+      man, and so the villain got clean away. Beyond the fact that he
+      was a middle-sized man and dressed in some dark stuff, we have no
+      personal clue; but we are making energetic inquiries, and if he
+      is a stranger we shall soon find him out.”
+
+      “What was this William doing there? Did he say anything before he
+      died?”
+
+      “Not a word. He lives at the lodge with his mother, and as he was
+      a very faithful fellow we imagine that he walked up to the house
+      with the intention of seeing that all was right there. Of course
+      this Acton business has put every one on their guard. The robber
+      must have just burst open the door—the lock has been forced—when
+      William came upon him.”
+
+      “Did William say anything to his mother before going out?”
+
+      “She is very old and deaf, and we can get no information from
+      her. The shock has made her half-witted, but I understand that
+      she was never very bright. There is one very important
+      circumstance, however. Look at this!”
+
+      He took a small piece of torn paper from a note-book and spread
+      it out upon his knee.
+
+      “This was found between the finger and thumb of the dead man. It
+      appears to be a fragment torn from a larger sheet. You will
+      observe that the hour mentioned upon it is the very time at which
+      the poor fellow met his fate. You see that his murderer might
+      have torn the rest of the sheet from him or he might have taken
+      this fragment from the murderer. It reads almost as though it
+      were an appointment.”
+
+      Holmes took up the scrap of paper, a facsimile of which is here
+      reproduced.
+scrap of paper
+
+      “Presuming that it is an appointment,” continued the Inspector,
+      “it is of course a conceivable theory that this William
+      Kirwan—though he had the reputation of being an honest man, may
+      have been in league with the thief. He may have met him there,
+      may even have helped him to break in the door, and then they may
+      have fallen out between themselves.”
+
+      “This writing is of extraordinary interest,” said Holmes, who had
+      been examining it with intense concentration. “These are much
+      deeper waters than I had thought.” He sank his head upon his
+      hands, while the Inspector smiled at the effect which his case
+      had had upon the famous London specialist.
+
+      “Your last remark,” said Holmes, presently, “as to the
+      possibility of there being an understanding between the burglar
+      and the servant, and this being a note of appointment from one to
+      the other, is an ingenious and not entirely impossible
+      supposition. But this writing opens up—” He sank his head into
+      his hands again and remained for some minutes in the deepest
+      thought. When he raised his face again, I was surprised to see
+      that his cheek was tinged with colour, and his eyes as bright as
+      before his illness. He sprang to his feet with all his old
+      energy.
+
+      “I’ll tell you what,” said he, “I should like to have a quiet
+      little glance into the details of this case. There is something
+      in it which fascinates me extremely. If you will permit me,
+      Colonel, I will leave my friend Watson and you, and I will step
+      round with the Inspector to test the truth of one or two little
+      fancies of mine. I will be with you again in half an hour.”
+
+      An hour and half had elapsed before the Inspector returned alone.
+
+      “Mr. Holmes is walking up and down in the field outside,” said
+      he. “He wants us all four to go up to the house together.”
+
+      “To Mr. Cunningham’s?”
+
+      “Yes, sir.”
+
+      “What for?”
+
+      The Inspector shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t quite know, sir.
+      Between ourselves, I think Mr. Holmes had not quite got over his
+      illness yet. He’s been behaving very queerly, and he is very much
+      excited.”
+
+      “I don’t think you need alarm yourself,” said I. “I have usually
+      found that there was method in his madness.”
+
+      “Some folks might say there was madness in his method,” muttered
+      the Inspector. “But he’s all on fire to start, Colonel, so we had
+      best go out if you are ready.”
+
+      We found Holmes pacing up and down in the field, his chin sunk
+      upon his breast, and his hands thrust into his trousers pockets.
+
+      “The matter grows in interest,” said he. “Watson, your
+      country-trip has been a distinct success. I have had a charming
+      morning.”
+
+      “You have been up to the scene of the crime, I understand,” said
+      the Colonel.
+
+      “Yes; the Inspector and I have made quite a little reconnaissance
+      together.”
+
+      “Any success?”
+
+      “Well, we have seen some very interesting things. I’ll tell you
+      what we did as we walk. First of all, we saw the body of this
+      unfortunate man. He certainly died from a revolver wound as
+      reported.”
+
+      “Had you doubted it, then?”
+
+      “Oh, it is as well to test everything. Our inspection was not
+      wasted. We then had an interview with Mr. Cunningham and his son,
+      who were able to point out the exact spot where the murderer had
+      broken through the garden-hedge in his flight. That was of great
+      interest.”
+
+      “Naturally.”
+
+      “Then we had a look at this poor fellow’s mother. We could get no
+      information from her, however, as she is very old and feeble.”
+
+      “And what is the result of your investigations?”
+
+      “The conviction that the crime is a very peculiar one. Perhaps
+      our visit now may do something to make it less obscure. I think
+      that we are both agreed, Inspector that the fragment of paper in
+      the dead man’s hand, bearing, as it does, the very hour of his
+      death written upon it, is of extreme importance.”
+
+      “It should give a clue, Mr. Holmes.”
+
+      “It _does_ give a clue. Whoever wrote that note was the man who
+      brought William Kirwan out of his bed at that hour. But where is
+      the rest of that sheet of paper?”
+
+      “I examined the ground carefully in the hope of finding it,” said
+      the Inspector.
+
+      “It was torn out of the dead man’s hand. Why was some one so
+      anxious to get possession of it? Because it incriminated him. And
+      what would he do with it? Thrust it into his pocket, most likely,
+      never noticing that a corner of it had been left in the grip of
+      the corpse. If we could get the rest of that sheet it is obvious
+      that we should have gone a long way towards solving the mystery.”
+
+      “Yes, but how can we get at the criminal’s pocket before we catch
+      the criminal?”
+
+      “Well, well, it was worth thinking over. Then there is another
+      obvious point. The note was sent to William. The man who wrote it
+      could not have taken it; otherwise, of course, he might have
+      delivered his own message by word of mouth. Who brought the note,
+      then? Or did it come through the post?”
+
+      “I have made inquiries,” said the Inspector. “William received a
+      letter by the afternoon post yesterday. The envelope was
+      destroyed by him.”
+
+      “Excellent!” cried Holmes, clapping the Inspector on the back.
+      “You’ve seen the postman. It is a pleasure to work with you.
+      Well, here is the lodge, and if you will come up, Colonel, I will
+      show you the scene of the crime.”
+
+      We passed the pretty cottage where the murdered man had lived,
+      and walked up an oak-lined avenue to the fine old Queen Anne
+      house, which bears the date of Malplaquet upon the lintel of the
+      door. Holmes and the Inspector led us round it until we came to
+      the side gate, which is separated by a stretch of garden from the
+      hedge which lines the road. A constable was standing at the
+      kitchen door.
+
+      “Throw the door open, officer,” said Holmes. “Now, it was on
+      those stairs that young Mr. Cunningham stood and saw the two men
+      struggling just where we are. Old Mr. Cunningham was at that
+      window—the second on the left—and he saw the fellow get away just
+      to the left of that bush. Then Mr. Alec ran out and knelt beside
+      the wounded man. The ground is very hard, you see, and there are
+      no marks to guide us.” As he spoke two men came down the garden
+      path, from round the angle of the house. The one was an elderly
+      man, with a strong, deep-lined, heavy-eyed face; the other a
+      dashing young fellow, whose bright, smiling expression and showy
+      dress were in strange contrast with the business which had
+      brought us there.
+
+      “Still at it, then?” said he to Holmes. “I thought you Londoners
+      were never at fault. You don’t seem to be so very quick, after
+      all.”
+
+      “Ah, you must give us a little time,” said Holmes good-humoredly.
+
+      “You’ll want it,” said young Alec Cunningham. “Why, I don’t see
+      that we have any clue at all.”
+
+      “There’s only one,” answered the Inspector. “We thought that if
+      we could only find—Good heavens, Mr. Holmes! What is the matter?”
+
+      My poor friend’s face had suddenly assumed the most dreadful
+      expression. His eyes rolled upwards, his features writhed in
+      agony, and with a suppressed groan he dropped on his face upon
+      the ground. Horrified at the suddenness and severity of the
+      attack, we carried him into the kitchen, where he lay back in a
+      large chair, and breathed heavily for some minutes. Finally, with
+      a shamefaced apology for his weakness, he rose once more.
+
+      “Watson would tell you that I have only just recovered from a
+      severe illness,” he explained. “I am liable to these sudden
+      nervous attacks.”
+
+      “Shall I send you home in my trap?” asked old Cunningham.
+
+      “Well, since I am here, there is one point on which I should like
+      to feel sure. We can very easily verify it.”
+
+      “What was it?”
+
+      “Well, it seems to me that it is just possible that the arrival
+      of this poor fellow William was not before, but after, the
+      entrance of the burglar into the house. You appear to take it for
+      granted that, although the door was forced, the robber never got
+      in.”
+
+      “I fancy that is quite obvious,” said Mr. Cunningham, gravely.
+      “Why, my son Alec had not yet gone to bed, and he would certainly
+      have heard any one moving about.”
+
+      “Where was he sitting?”
+
+      “I was smoking in my dressing-room.”
+
+      “Which window is that?”
+
+      “The last on the left next my father’s.”
+
+      “Both of your lamps were lit, of course?”
+
+      “Undoubtedly.”
+
+      “There are some very singular points here,” said Holmes, smiling.
+      “Is it not extraordinary that a burglar—and a burglar who had had
+      some previous experience—should deliberately break into a house
+      at a time when he could see from the lights that two of the
+      family were still afoot?”
+
+      “He must have been a cool hand.”
+
+      “Well, of course, if the case were not an odd one we should not
+      have been driven to ask you for an explanation,” said young Mr.
+      Alec. “But as to your ideas that the man had robbed the house
+      before William tackled him, I think it a most absurd notion.
+      Wouldn’t we have found the place disarranged, and missed the
+      things which he had taken?”
+
+      “It depends on what the things were,” said Holmes. “You must
+      remember that we are dealing with a burglar who is a very
+      peculiar fellow, and who appears to work on lines of his own.
+      Look, for example, at the queer lot of things which he took from
+      Acton’s—what was it?—a ball of string, a letter-weight, and I
+      don’t know what other odds and ends.”
+
+      “Well, we are quite in your hands, Mr. Holmes,” said old
+      Cunningham. “Anything which you or the Inspector may suggest will
+      most certainly be done.”
+
+      “In the first place,” said Holmes, “I should like you to offer a
+      reward—coming from yourself, for the officials may take a little
+      time before they would agree upon the sum, and these things
+      cannot be done too promptly. I have jotted down the form here, if
+      you would not mind signing it. Fifty pounds was quite enough, I
+      thought.”
+
+      “I would willingly give five hundred,” said the J.P., taking the
+      slip of paper and the pencil which Holmes handed to him. “This is
+      not quite correct, however,” he added, glancing over the
+      document.
+
+      “I wrote it rather hurriedly.”
+
+      “You see you begin, ‘Whereas, at about a quarter to one on
+      Tuesday morning an attempt was made,’ and so on. It was at a
+      quarter to twelve, as a matter of fact.”
+
+      I was pained at the mistake, for I knew how keenly Holmes would
+      feel any slip of the kind. It was his specialty to be accurate as
+      to fact, but his recent illness had shaken him, and this one
+      little incident was enough to show me that he was still far from
+      being himself. He was obviously embarrassed for an instant, while
+      the Inspector raised his eyebrows, and Alec Cunningham burst into
+      a laugh. The old gentleman corrected the mistake, however, and
+      handed the paper back to Holmes.
+
+      “Get it printed as soon as possible,” he said; “I think your idea
+      is an excellent one.”
+
+      Holmes put the slip of paper carefully away into his pocket-book.
+
+      “And now,” said he, “it really would be a good thing that we
+      should all go over the house together and make certain that this
+      rather erratic burglar did not, after all, carry anything away
+      with him.”
+
+      Before entering, Holmes made an examination of the door which had
+      been forced. It was evident that a chisel or strong knife had
+      been thrust in, and the lock forced back with it. We could see
+      the marks in the wood where it had been pushed in.
+
+      “You don’t use bars, then?” he asked.
+
+      “We have never found it necessary.”
+
+      “You don’t keep a dog?”
+
+      “Yes, but he is chained on the other side of the house.”
+
+      “When do the servants go to bed?”
+
+      “About ten.”
+
+      “I understand that William was usually in bed also at that hour.”
+
+      “Yes.”
+
+      “It is singular that on this particular night he should have been
+      up. Now, I should be very glad if you would have the kindness to
+      show us over the house, Mr. Cunningham.”
+
+      A stone-flagged passage, with the kitchens branching away from
+      it, led by a wooden staircase directly to the first floor of the
+      house. It came out upon the landing opposite to a second more
+      ornamental stair which came up from the front hall. Out of this
+      landing opened the drawing-room and several bedrooms, including
+      those of Mr. Cunningham and his son. Holmes walked slowly, taking
+      keen note of the architecture of the house. I could tell from his
+      expression that he was on a hot scent, and yet I could not in the
+      least imagine in what direction his inferences were leading him.
+
+      “My good sir,” said Mr. Cunningham with some impatience, “this is
+      surely very unnecessary. That is my room at the end of the
+      stairs, and my son’s is the one beyond it. I leave it to your
+      judgment whether it was possible for the thief to have come up
+      here without disturbing us.”
+
+      “You must try round and get on a fresh scent, I fancy,” said the
+      son with a rather malicious smile.
+
+      “Still, I must ask you to humour me a little further. I should
+      like, for example, to see how far the windows of the bedrooms
+      command the front. This, I understand is your son’s room”—he
+      pushed open the door—“and that, I presume, is the dressing-room
+      in which he sat smoking when the alarm was given. Where does the
+      window of that look out to?” He stepped across the bedroom,
+      pushed open the door, and glanced round the other chamber.
+
+      “I hope that you are satisfied now?” said Mr. Cunningham, tartly.
+
+      “Thank you, I think I have seen all that I wished.”
+
+      “Then if it is really necessary we can go into my room.”
+
+      “If it is not too much trouble.”
+
+      The J.P. shrugged his shoulders, and led the way into his own
+      chamber, which was a plainly furnished and commonplace room. As
+      we moved across it in the direction of the window, Holmes fell
+      back until he and I were the last of the group. Near the foot of
+      the bed stood a dish of oranges and a carafe of water. As we
+      passed it Holmes, to my unutterable astonishment, leaned over in
+      front of me and deliberately knocked the whole thing over. The
+      glass smashed into a thousand pieces and the fruit rolled about
+      into every corner of the room.
+
+      “You’ve done it now, Watson,” said he, coolly. “A pretty mess
+      you’ve made of the carpet.”
+
+      I stooped in some confusion and began to pick up the fruit,
+      understanding for some reason my companion desired me to take the
+      blame upon myself. The others did the same, and set the table on
+      its legs again.
+
+      “Halloa!” cried the Inspector, “where’s he got to?”
+
+      Holmes had disappeared.
+
+      “Wait here an instant,” said young Alec Cunningham. “The fellow
+      is off his head, in my opinion. Come with me, father, and see
+      where he has got to!”
+
+      They rushed out of the room, leaving the Inspector, the Colonel,
+      and me staring at each other.
+
+      “’Pon my word, I am inclined to agree with Master Alec,” said the
+      official. “It may be the effect of this illness, but it seems to
+      me that—”
+
+      His words were cut short by a sudden scream of “Help! Help!
+      Murder!” With a thrill I recognised the voice of that of my
+      friend. I rushed madly from the room on to the landing. The
+      cries, which had sunk down into a hoarse, inarticulate shouting,
+      came from the room which we had first visited. I dashed in, and
+      on into the dressing-room beyond. The two Cunninghams were
+      bending over the prostrate figure of Sherlock Holmes, the younger
+      clutching his throat with both hands, while the elder seemed to
+      be twisting one of his wrists. In an instant the three of us had
+      torn them away from him, and Holmes staggered to his feet, very
+      pale and evidently greatly exhausted.
+
+      “Arrest these men, Inspector!” he gasped.
+
+      “On what charge?”
+
+      “That of murdering their coachman, William Kirwan!”
+
+      The Inspector stared about him in bewilderment. “Oh, come now,
+      Mr. Holmes,” said he at last, “I’m sure you don’t really mean
+      to—”
+
+      “Tut, man, look at their faces!” cried Holmes, curtly.
+
+      Never, certainly, have I seen a plainer confession of guilt upon
+      human countenances. The older man seemed numbed and dazed with a
+      heavy, sullen expression upon his strongly-marked face. The son,
+      on the other hand, had dropped all that jaunty, dashing style
+      which had characterized him, and the ferocity of a dangerous wild
+      beast gleamed in his dark eyes and distorted his handsome
+      features. The Inspector said nothing, but, stepping to the door,
+      he blew his whistle. Two of his constables came at the call.
+
+      “I have no alternative, Mr. Cunningham,” said he. “I trust that
+      this may all prove to be an absurd mistake, but you can see
+      that—Ah, would you? Drop it!” He struck out with his hand, and a
+      revolver which the younger man was in the act of cocking
+      clattered down upon the floor.
+
+      “Keep that,” said Holmes, quietly putting his foot upon it; “you
+      will find it useful at the trial. But this is what we really
+      wanted.” He held up a little crumpled piece of paper.
+
+      “The remainder of the sheet!” cried the Inspector.
+
+      “Precisely.”
+
+      “And where was it?”
+
+      “Where I was sure it must be. I’ll make the whole matter clear to
+      you presently. I think, Colonel, that you and Watson might return
+      now, and I will be with you again in an hour at the furthest. The
+      Inspector and I must have a word with the prisoners, but you will
+      certainly see me back at luncheon time.”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes was as good as his word, for about one o’clock he
+      rejoined us in the Colonel’s smoking-room. He was accompanied by
+      a little elderly gentleman, who was introduced to me as the Mr.
+      Acton whose house had been the scene of the original burglary.
+
+      “I wished Mr. Acton to be present while I demonstrated this small
+      matter to you,” said Holmes, “for it is natural that he should
+      take a keen interest in the details. I am afraid, my dear
+      Colonel, that you must regret the hour that you took in such a
+      stormy petrel as I am.”
+
+      “On the contrary,” answered the Colonel, warmly, “I consider it
+      the greatest privilege to have been permitted to study your
+      methods of working. I confess that they quite surpass my
+      expectations, and that I am utterly unable to account for your
+      result. I have not yet seen the vestige of a clue.”
+
+      “I am afraid that my explanation may disillusionize you but it
+      has always been my habit to hide none of my methods, either from
+      my friend Watson or from any one who might take an intelligent
+      interest in them. But, first, as I am rather shaken by the
+      knocking about which I had in the dressing-room, I think that I
+      shall help myself to a dash of your brandy, Colonel. My strength
+      has been rather tried of late.”
+
+      “I trust that you had no more of those nervous attacks.”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes laughed heartily. “We will come to that in its
+      turn,” said he. “I will lay an account of the case before you in
+      its due order, showing you the various points which guided me in
+      my decision. Pray interrupt me if there is any inference which is
+      not perfectly clear to you.
+
+      “It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be
+      able to recognise, out of a number of facts, which are incidental
+      and which vital. Otherwise your energy and attention must be
+      dissipated instead of being concentrated. Now, in this case there
+      was not the slightest doubt in my mind from the first that the
+      key of the whole matter must be looked for in the scrap of paper
+      in the dead man’s hand.
+
+      “Before going into this, I would draw your attention to the fact
+      that, if Alec Cunningham’s narrative was correct, and if the
+      assailant, after shooting William Kirwan, had _instantly_ fled,
+      then it obviously could not be he who tore the paper from the
+      dead man’s hand. But if it was not he, it must have been Alec
+      Cunningham himself, for by the time that the old man had
+      descended several servants were upon the scene. The point is a
+      simple one, but the Inspector had overlooked it because he had
+      started with the supposition that these county magnates had had
+      nothing to do with the matter. Now, I make a point of never
+      having any prejudices, and of following docilely wherever fact
+      may lead me, and so, in the very first stage of the
+      investigation, I found myself looking a little askance at the
+      part which had been played by Mr. Alec Cunningham.
+
+      “And now I made a very careful examination of the corner of paper
+      which the Inspector had submitted to us. It was at once clear to
+      me that it formed part of a very remarkable document. Here it is.
+      Do you not now observe something very suggestive about it?”
+
+      “It has a very irregular look,” said the Colonel.
+
+      “My dear sir,” cried Holmes, “there cannot be the least doubt in
+      the world that it has been written by two persons doing alternate
+      words. When I draw your attention to the strong t’s of ‘at’ and
+      ‘to’, and ask you to compare them with the weak ones of ‘quarter’
+      and ‘twelve,’ you will instantly recognise the fact. A very brief
+      analysis of these four words would enable you to say with the
+      utmost confidence that the ‘learn’ and the ‘maybe’ are written in
+      the stronger hand, and the ‘what’ in the weaker.”
+
+      “By Jove, it’s as clear as day!” cried the Colonel. “Why on earth
+      should two men write a letter in such a fashion?”
+
+      “Obviously the business was a bad one, and one of the men who
+      distrusted the other was determined that, whatever was done, each
+      should have an equal hand in it. Now, of the two men, it is clear
+      that the one who wrote the ‘at’ and ‘to’ was the ringleader.”
+
+      “How do you get at that?”
+
+      “We might deduce it from the mere character of the one hand as
+      compared with the other. But we have more assured reasons than
+      that for supposing it. If you examine this scrap with attention
+      you will come to the conclusion that the man with the stronger
+      hand wrote all his words first, leaving blanks for the other to
+      fill up. These blanks were not always sufficient, and you can see
+      that the second man had a squeeze to fit his ‘quarter’ in between
+      the ‘at’ and the ‘to,’ showing that the latter were already
+      written. The man who wrote all his words first is undoubtedly the
+      man who planned the affair.”
+
+      “Excellent!” cried Mr. Acton.
+
+      “But very superficial,” said Holmes. “We come now, however, to a
+      point which is of importance. You may not be aware that the
+      deduction of a man’s age from his writing is one which has been
+      brought to considerable accuracy by experts. In normal cases one
+      can place a man in his true decade with tolerable confidence. I
+      say normal cases, because ill-health and physical weakness
+      reproduce the signs of old age, even when the invalid is a youth.
+      In this case, looking at the bold, strong hand of the one, and
+      the rather broken-backed appearance of the other, which still
+      retains its legibility although the t’s have begun to lose their
+      crossing, we can say that the one was a young man and the other
+      was advanced in years without being positively decrepit.”
+
+      “Excellent!” cried Mr. Acton again.
+
+      “There is a further point, however, which is subtler and of
+      greater interest. There is something in common between these
+      hands. They belong to men who are blood-relatives. It may be most
+      obvious to you in the Greek e’s, but to me there are many small
+      points which indicate the same thing. I have no doubt at all that
+      a family mannerism can be traced in these two specimens of
+      writing. I am only, of course, giving you the leading results now
+      of my examination of the paper. There were twenty-three other
+      deductions which would be of more interest to experts than to
+      you. They all tend to deepen the impression upon my mind that the
+      Cunninghams, father and son, had written this letter.
+
+      “Having got so far, my next step was, of course, to examine into
+      the details of the crime, and to see how far they would help us.
+      I went up to the house with the Inspector, and saw all that was
+      to be seen. The wound upon the dead man was, as I was able to
+      determine with absolute confidence, fired from a revolver at the
+      distance of something over four yards. There was no
+      powder-blackening on the clothes. Evidently, therefore, Alec
+      Cunningham had lied when he said that the two men were struggling
+      when the shot was fired. Again, both father and son agreed as to
+      the place where the man escaped into the road. At that point,
+      however, as it happens, there is a broadish ditch, moist at the
+      bottom. As there were no indications of bootmarks about this
+      ditch, I was absolutely sure not only that the Cunninghams had
+      again lied, but that there had never been any unknown man upon
+      the scene at all.
+
+      “And now I have to consider the motive of this singular crime. To
+      get at this, I endeavoured first of all to solve the reason of
+      the original burglary at Mr. Acton’s. I understood, from
+      something which the Colonel told us, that a lawsuit had been
+      going on between you, Mr. Acton, and the Cunninghams. Of course,
+      it instantly occurred to me that they had broken into your
+      library with the intention of getting at some document which
+      might be of importance in the case.”
+
+      “Precisely so,” said Mr. Acton. “There can be no possible doubt
+      as to their intentions. I have the clearest claim upon half of
+      their present estate, and if they could have found a single
+      paper—which, fortunately, was in the strong-box of my
+      solicitors—they would undoubtedly have crippled our case.”
+
+      “There you are,” said Holmes, smiling. “It was a dangerous,
+      reckless attempt, in which I seem to trace the influence of young
+      Alec. Having found nothing they tried to divert suspicion by
+      making it appear to be an ordinary burglary, to which end they
+      carried off whatever they could lay their hands upon. That is all
+      clear enough, but there was much that was still obscure. What I
+      wanted above all was to get the missing part of that note. I was
+      certain that Alec had torn it out of the dead man’s hand, and
+      almost certain that he must have thrust it into the pocket of his
+      dressing-gown. Where else could he have put it? The only question
+      was whether it was still there. It was worth an effort to find
+      out, and for that object we all went up to the house.
+
+      “The Cunninghams joined us, as you doubtless remember, outside
+      the kitchen door. It was, of course, of the very first importance
+      that they should not be reminded of the existence of this paper,
+      otherwise they would naturally destroy it without delay. The
+      Inspector was about to tell them the importance which we attached
+      to it when, by the luckiest chance in the world, I tumbled down
+      in a sort of fit and so changed the conversation.
+
+      “Good heavens!” cried the Colonel, laughing, “do you mean to say
+      all our sympathy was wasted and your fit an imposture?”
+
+      “Speaking professionally, it was admirably done,” cried I,
+      looking in amazement at this man who was forever confounding me
+      with some new phase of his astuteness.
+
+      “It is an art which is often useful,” said he. “When I recovered
+      I managed, by a device which had perhaps some little merit of
+      ingenuity, to get old Cunningham to write the word ‘twelve,’ so
+      that I might compare it with the ‘twelve’ upon the paper.”
+
+      “Oh, what an ass I have been!” I exclaimed.
+
+      “I could see that you were commiserating me over my weakness,”
+      said Holmes, laughing. “I was sorry to cause you the sympathetic
+      pain which I know that you felt. We then went upstairs together,
+      and having entered the room and seen the dressing-gown hanging up
+      behind the door, I contrived, by upsetting a table, to engage
+      their attention for the moment, and slipped back to examine the
+      pockets. I had hardly got the paper, however—which was, as I had
+      expected, in one of them—when the two Cunninghams were on me, and
+      would, I verily believe, have murdered me then and there but for
+      your prompt and friendly aid. As it is, I feel that young man’s
+      grip on my throat now, and the father has twisted my wrist round
+      in the effort to get the paper out of my hand. They saw that I
+      must know all about it, you see, and the sudden change from
+      absolute security to complete despair made them perfectly
+      desperate.
+
+      “I had a little talk with old Cunningham afterwards as to the
+      motive of the crime. He was tractable enough, though his son was
+      a perfect demon, ready to blow out his own or anybody else’s
+      brains if he could have got to his revolver. When Cunningham saw
+      that the case against him was so strong he lost all heart and
+      made a clean breast of everything. It seems that William had
+      secretly followed his two masters on the night when they made
+      their raid upon Mr. Acton’s, and having thus got them into his
+      power, proceeded, under threats of exposure, to levy blackmail
+      upon them. Mr. Alec, however, was a dangerous man to play games
+      of that sort with. It was a stroke of positive genius on his part
+      to see in the burglary scare which was convulsing the country
+      side an opportunity of plausibly getting rid of the man whom he
+      feared. William was decoyed up and shot, and had they only got
+      the whole of the note and paid a little more attention to detail
+      in the accessories, it is very possible that suspicion might
+      never have been aroused.”
+
+      “And the note?” I asked.
+
+      Sherlock Holmes placed the subjoined paper before us.
+piece of paper
+
+     If you will only come round at quarter to twelve
+     to the east gate you will learn what
+     will very much surprise you and maybe
+     be of the greatest service to you and also
+     to Annie Morrison. But say nothing to anyone
+     upon the matter
+
+      “It is very much the sort of thing that I expected,” said he. “Of
+      course, we do not yet know what the relations may have been
+      between Alec Cunningham, William Kirwan, and Annie Morrison. The
+      results shows that the trap was skillfully baited. I am sure that
+      you cannot fail to be delighted with the traces of heredity shown
+      in the p’s and in the tails of the g’s. The absence of the i-dots
+      in the old man’s writing is also most characteristic. Watson, I
+      think our quiet rest in the country has been a distinct success,
+      and I shall certainly return much invigorated to Baker Street
+      to-morrow.”
+
+
+
+
+VIII. The Crooked Man
+
+
+      One summer night, a few months after my marriage, I was seated by
+      my own hearth smoking a last pipe and nodding over a novel, for
+      my day’s work had been an exhausting one. My wife had already
+      gone upstairs, and the sound of the locking of the hall door some
+      time before told me that the servants had also retired. I had
+      risen from my seat and was knocking out the ashes of my pipe when
+      I suddenly heard the clang of the bell.
+
+      I looked at the clock. It was a quarter to twelve. This could not
+      be a visitor at so late an hour. A patient, evidently, and
+      possibly an all-night sitting. With a wry face I went out into
+      the hall and opened the door. To my astonishment it was Sherlock
+      Holmes who stood upon my step.
+
+      “Ah, Watson,” said he, “I hoped that I might not be too late to
+      catch you.”
+
+      “My dear fellow, pray come in.”
+
+      “You look surprised, and no wonder! Relieved, too, I fancy! Hum!
+      You still smoke the Arcadia mixture of your bachelor days then!
+      There’s no mistaking that fluffy ash upon your coat. It’s easy to
+      tell that you have been accustomed to wear a uniform, Watson.
+      You’ll never pass as a pure-bred civilian as long as you keep
+      that habit of carrying your handkerchief in your sleeve. Could
+      you put me up to-night?”
+
+      “With pleasure.”
+
+      “You told me that you had bachelor quarters for one, and I see
+      that you have no gentleman visitor at present. Your hat-stand
+      proclaims as much.”
+
+      “I shall be delighted if you will stay.”
+
+      “Thank you. I’ll fill the vacant peg then. Sorry to see that
+      you’ve had the British workman in the house. He’s a token of
+      evil. Not the drains, I hope?”
+
+      “No, the gas.”
+
+      “Ah! He has left two nail-marks from his boot upon your linoleum
+      just where the light strikes it. No, thank you, I had some supper
+      at Waterloo, but I’ll smoke a pipe with you with pleasure.”
+
+      I handed him my pouch, and he seated himself opposite to me and
+      smoked for some time in silence. I was well aware that nothing
+      but business of importance would have brought him to me at such
+      an hour, so I waited patiently until he should come round to it.
+
+      “I see that you are professionally rather busy just now,” said
+      he, glancing very keenly across at me.
+
+      “Yes, I’ve had a busy day,” I answered. “It may seem very foolish
+      in your eyes,” I added, “but really I don’t know how you deduced
+      it.”
+
+      Holmes chuckled to himself.
+
+      “I have the advantage of knowing your habits, my dear Watson,”
+      said he. “When your round is a short one you walk, and when it is
+      a long one you use a hansom. As I perceive that your boots,
+      although used, are by no means dirty, I cannot doubt that you are
+      at present busy enough to justify the hansom.”
+
+      “Excellent!” I cried.
+
+      “Elementary,” said he. “It is one of those instances where the
+      reasoner can produce an effect which seems remarkable to his
+      neighbour, because the latter has missed the one little point
+      which is the basis of the deduction. The same may be said, my
+      dear fellow, for the effect of some of these little sketches of
+      yours, which is entirely meretricious, depending as it does upon
+      your retaining in your own hands some factors in the problem
+      which are never imparted to the reader. Now, at present I am in
+      the position of these same readers, for I hold in this hand
+      several threads of one of the strangest cases which ever
+      perplexed a man’s brain, and yet I lack the one or two which are
+      needful to complete my theory. But I’ll have them, Watson, I’ll
+      have them!” His eyes kindled and a slight flush sprang into his
+      thin cheeks. For an instant only. When I glanced again his face
+      had resumed that red-Indian composure which had made so many
+      regard him as a machine rather than a man.
+
+      “The problem presents features of interest,” said he. “I may even
+      say exceptional features of interest. I have already looked into
+      the matter, and have come, as I think, within sight of my
+      solution. If you could accompany me in that last step you might
+      be of considerable service to me.”
+
+      “I should be delighted.”
+
+      “Could you go as far as Aldershot to-morrow?”
+
+      “I have no doubt Jackson would take my practice.”
+
+      “Very good. I want to start by the 11.10 from Waterloo.”
+
+      “That would give me time.”
+
+      “Then, if you are not too sleepy, I will give you a sketch of
+      what has happened, and of what remains to be done.”
+
+      “I was sleepy before you came. I am quite wakeful now.”
+
+      “I will compress the story as far as may be done without omitting
+      anything vital to the case. It is conceivable that you may even
+      have read some account of the matter. It is the supposed murder
+      of Colonel Barclay, of the Royal Mallows, at Aldershot, which I
+      am investigating.”
+
+      “I have heard nothing of it.”
+
+      “It has not excited much attention yet, except locally. The facts
+      are only two days old. Briefly they are these:
+
+      “The Royal Mallows is, as you know, one of the most famous Irish
+      regiments in the British army. It did wonders both in the Crimea
+      and the Mutiny, and has since that time distinguished itself upon
+      every possible occasion. It was commanded up to Monday night by
+      James Barclay, a gallant veteran, who started as a full private,
+      was raised to commissioned rank for his bravery at the time of
+      the Mutiny, and so lived to command the regiment in which he had
+      once carried a musket.
+
+      “Colonel Barclay had married at the time when he was a sergeant,
+      and his wife, whose maiden name was Miss Nancy Devoy, was the
+      daughter of a former colour-sergeant in the same corps. There
+      was, therefore, as can be imagined, some little social friction
+      when the young couple (for they were still young) found
+      themselves in their new surroundings. They appear, however, to
+      have quickly adapted themselves, and Mrs. Barclay has always, I
+      understand, been as popular with the ladies of the regiment as
+      her husband was with his brother officers. I may add that she was
+      a woman of great beauty, and that even now, when she has been
+      married for upwards of thirty years, she is still of a striking
+      and queenly appearance.
+
+      “Colonel Barclay’s family life appears to have been a uniformly
+      happy one. Major Murphy, to whom I owe most of my facts, assures
+      me that he has never heard of any misunderstanding between the
+      pair. On the whole, he thinks that Barclay’s devotion to his wife
+      was greater than his wife’s to Barclay. He was acutely uneasy if
+      he were absent from her for a day. She, on the other hand, though
+      devoted and faithful, was less obtrusively affectionate. But they
+      were regarded in the regiment as the very model of a middle-aged
+      couple. There was absolutely nothing in their mutual relations to
+      prepare people for the tragedy which was to follow.
+
+      “Colonel Barclay himself seems to have had some singular traits
+      in his character. He was a dashing, jovial old soldier in his
+      usual mood, but there were occasions on which he seemed to show
+      himself capable of considerable violence and vindictiveness. This
+      side of his nature, however, appears never to have been turned
+      towards his wife. Another fact, which had struck Major Murphy and
+      three out of five of the other officers with whom I conversed,
+      was the singular sort of depression which came upon him at times.
+      As the major expressed it, the smile had often been struck from
+      his mouth, as if by some invisible hand, when he has been joining
+      the gayeties and chaff of the mess-table. For days on end, when
+      the mood was on him, he has been sunk in the deepest gloom. This
+      and a certain tinge of superstition were the only unusual traits
+      in his character which his brother officers had observed. The
+      latter peculiarity took the form of a dislike to being left
+      alone, especially after dark. This puerile feature in a nature
+      which was conspicuously manly had often given rise to comment and
+      conjecture.
+
+      “The first battalion of the Royal Mallows (which is the old
+      117th) has been stationed at Aldershot for some years. The
+      married officers live out of barracks, and the Colonel has during
+      all this time occupied a villa called Lachine, about half a mile
+      from the north camp. The house stands in its own grounds, but the
+      west side of it is not more than thirty yards from the high-road.
+      A coachman and two maids form the staff of servants. These with
+      their master and mistress were the sole occupants of Lachine, for
+      the Barclays had no children, nor was it usual for them to have
+      resident visitors.
+
+      “Now for the events at Lachine between nine and ten on the
+      evening of last Monday.”
+
+      “Mrs. Barclay was, it appears, a member of the Roman Catholic
+      Church, and had interested herself very much in the establishment
+      of the Guild of St. George, which was formed in connection with
+      the Watt Street Chapel for the purpose of supplying the poor with
+      cast-off clothing. A meeting of the Guild had been held that
+      evening at eight, and Mrs. Barclay had hurried over her dinner in
+      order to be present at it. When leaving the house she was heard
+      by the coachman to make some commonplace remark to her husband,
+      and to assure him that she would be back before very long. She
+      then called for Miss Morrison, a young lady who lives in the next
+      villa, and the two went off together to their meeting. It lasted
+      forty minutes, and at a quarter-past nine Mrs. Barclay returned
+      home, having left Miss Morrison at her door as she passed.
+
+      “There is a room which is used as a morning-room at Lachine. This
+      faces the road and opens by a large glass folding-door on to the
+      lawn. The lawn is thirty yards across, and is only divided from
+      the highway by a low wall with an iron rail above it. It was into
+      this room that Mrs. Barclay went upon her return. The blinds were
+      not down, for the room was seldom used in the evening, but Mrs.
+      Barclay herself lit the lamp and then rang the bell, asking Jane
+      Stewart, the housemaid, to bring her a cup of tea, which was
+      quite contrary to her usual habits. The Colonel had been sitting
+      in the dining-room, but hearing that his wife had returned he
+      joined her in the morning-room. The coachman saw him cross the
+      hall and enter it. He was never seen again alive.
+
+      “The tea which had been ordered was brought up at the end of ten
+      minutes; but the maid, as she approached the door, was surprised
+      to hear the voices of her master and mistress in furious
+      altercation. She knocked without receiving any answer, and even
+      turned the handle, but only to find that the door was locked upon
+      the inside. Naturally enough she ran down to tell the cook, and
+      the two women with the coachman came up into the hall and
+      listened to the dispute which was still raging. They all agreed
+      that only two voices were to be heard, those of Barclay and of
+      his wife. Barclay’s remarks were subdued and abrupt, so that none
+      of them were audible to the listeners. The lady’s, on the other
+      hand, were most bitter, and when she raised her voice could be
+      plainly heard. ‘You coward!’ she repeated over and over again.
+      ‘What can be done now? What can be done now? Give me back my
+      life. I will never so much as breathe the same air with you
+      again! You coward! You coward!’ Those were scraps of her
+      conversation, ending in a sudden dreadful cry in the man’s voice,
+      with a crash, and a piercing scream from the woman. Convinced
+      that some tragedy had occurred, the coachman rushed to the door
+      and strove to force it, while scream after scream issued from
+      within. He was unable, however, to make his way in, and the maids
+      were too distracted with fear to be of any assistance to him. A
+      sudden thought struck him, however, and he ran through the hall
+      door and round to the lawn upon which the long French windows
+      open. One side of the window was open, which I understand was
+      quite usual in the summer-time, and he passed without difficulty
+      into the room. His mistress had ceased to scream and was
+      stretched insensible upon a couch, while with his feet tilted
+      over the side of an armchair, and his head upon the ground near
+      the corner of the fender, was lying the unfortunate soldier stone
+      dead in a pool of his own blood.
+
+      “Naturally, the coachman’s first thought, on finding that he
+      could do nothing for his master, was to open the door. But here
+      an unexpected and singular difficulty presented itself. The key
+      was not in the inner side of the door, nor could he find it
+      anywhere in the room. He went out again, therefore, through the
+      window, and having obtained the help of a policeman and of a
+      medical man, he returned. The lady, against whom naturally the
+      strongest suspicion rested, was removed to her room, still in a
+      state of insensibility. The Colonel’s body was then placed upon
+      the sofa, and a careful examination made of the scene of the
+      tragedy.
+
+      “The injury from which the unfortunate veteran was suffering was
+      found to be a jagged cut some two inches long at the back part of
+      his head, which had evidently been caused by a violent blow from
+      a blunt weapon. Nor was it difficult to guess what that weapon
+      may have been. Upon the floor, close to the body, was lying a
+      singular club of hard carved wood with a bone handle. The Colonel
+      possessed a varied collection of weapons brought from the
+      different countries in which he had fought, and it is conjectured
+      by the police that his club was among his trophies. The servants
+      deny having seen it before, but among the numerous curiosities in
+      the house it is possible that it may have been overlooked.
+      Nothing else of importance was discovered in the room by the
+      police, save the inexplicable fact that neither upon Mrs.
+      Barclay’s person nor upon that of the victim nor in any part of
+      the room was the missing key to be found. The door had eventually
+      to be opened by a locksmith from Aldershot.
+
+      “That was the state of things, Watson, when upon the Tuesday
+      morning I, at the request of Major Murphy, went down to Aldershot
+      to supplement the efforts of the police. I think that you will
+      acknowledge that the problem was already one of interest, but my
+      observations soon made me realize that it was in truth much more
+      extraordinary than would at first sight appear.
+
+      “Before examining the room I cross-questioned the servants, but
+      only succeeded in eliciting the facts which I have already
+      stated. One other detail of interest was remembered by Jane
+      Stewart, the housemaid. You will remember that on hearing the
+      sound of the quarrel she descended and returned with the other
+      servants. On that first occasion, when she was alone, she says
+      that the voices of her master and mistress were sunk so low that
+      she could hear hardly anything, and judged by their tones rather
+      than their words that they had fallen out. On my pressing her,
+      however, she remembered that she heard the word ‘David’ uttered
+      twice by the lady. The point is of the utmost importance as
+      guiding us towards the reason of the sudden quarrel. The
+      Colonel’s name, you remember, was James.
+
+      “There was one thing in the case which had made the deepest
+      impression both upon the servants and the police. This was the
+      contortion of the Colonel’s face. It had set, according to their
+      account, into the most dreadful expression of fear and horror
+      which a human countenance is capable of assuming. More than one
+      person fainted at the mere sight of him, so terrible was the
+      effect. It was quite certain that he had foreseen his fate, and
+      that it had caused him the utmost horror. This, of course, fitted
+      in well enough with the police theory, if the Colonel could have
+      seen his wife making a murderous attack upon him. Nor was the
+      fact of the wound being on the back of his head a fatal objection
+      to this, as he might have turned to avoid the blow. No
+      information could be got from the lady herself, who was
+      temporarily insane from an acute attack of brain-fever.
+
+      “From the police I learned that Miss Morrison, who you remember
+      went out that evening with Mrs. Barclay, denied having any
+      knowledge of what it was which had caused the ill-humour in which
+      her companion had returned.
+
+      “Having gathered these facts, Watson, I smoked several pipes over
+      them, trying to separate those which were crucial from others
+      which were merely incidental. There could be no question that the
+      most distinctive and suggestive point in the case was the
+      singular disappearance of the door-key. A most careful search had
+      failed to discover it in the room. Therefore it must have been
+      taken from it. But neither the Colonel nor the Colonel’s wife
+      could have taken it. That was perfectly clear. Therefore a third
+      person must have entered the room. And that third person could
+      only have come in through the window. It seemed to me that a
+      careful examination of the room and the lawn might possibly
+      reveal some traces of this mysterious individual. You know my
+      methods, Watson. There was not one of them which I did not apply
+      to the inquiry. And it ended by my discovering traces, but very
+      different ones from those which I had expected. There had been a
+      man in the room, and he had crossed the lawn coming from the
+      road. I was able to obtain five very clear impressions of his
+      footmarks: one in the roadway itself, at the point where he had
+      climbed the low wall, two on the lawn, and two very faint ones
+      upon the stained boards near the window where he had entered. He
+      had apparently rushed across the lawn, for his toe-marks were
+      much deeper than his heels. But it was not the man who surprised
+      me. It was his companion.”
+
+      “His companion!”
+
+      Holmes pulled a large sheet of tissue-paper out of his pocket and
+      carefully unfolded it upon his knee.
+
+      “What do you make of that?” he asked.
+
+      The paper was covered with the tracings of the footmarks of some
+      small animal. It had five well-marked footpads, an indication of
+      long nails, and the whole print might be nearly as large as a
+      dessert-spoon.
+
+      “It’s a dog,” said I.
+
+      “Did you ever hear of a dog running up a curtain? I found
+      distinct traces that this creature had done so.”
+
+      “A monkey, then?”
+
+      “But it is not the print of a monkey.”
+
+      “What can it be, then?”
+
+      “Neither dog nor cat nor monkey nor any creature that we are
+      familiar with. I have tried to reconstruct it from the
+      measurements. Here are four prints where the beast has been
+      standing motionless. You see that it is no less than fifteen
+      inches from fore-foot to hind. Add to that the length of neck and
+      head, and you get a creature not much less than two feet
+      long—probably more if there is any tail. But now observe this
+      other measurement. The animal has been moving, and we have the
+      length of its stride. In each case it is only about three inches.
+      You have an indication, you see, of a long body with very short
+      legs attached to it. It has not been considerate enough to leave
+      any of its hair behind it. But its general shape must be what I
+      have indicated, and it can run up a curtain, and it is
+      carnivorous.”
+
+      “How do you deduce that?”
+
+      “Because it ran up the curtain. A canary’s cage was hanging in
+      the window, and its aim seems to have been to get at the bird.”
+
+      “Then what was the beast?”
+
+      “Ah, if I could give it a name it might go a long way towards
+      solving the case. On the whole, it was probably some creature of
+      the weasel and stoat tribe—and yet it is larger than any of these
+      that I have seen.”
+
+      “But what had it to do with the crime?”
+
+      “That, also, is still obscure. But we have learned a good deal,
+      you perceive. We know that a man stood in the road looking at the
+      quarrel between the Barclays—the blinds were up and the room
+      lighted. We know, also, that he ran across the lawn, entered the
+      room, accompanied by a strange animal, and that he either struck
+      the Colonel or, as is equally possible, that the Colonel fell
+      down from sheer fright at the sight of him, and cut his head on
+      the corner of the fender. Finally, we have the curious fact that
+      the intruder carried away the key with him when he left.”
+
+      “Your discoveries seem to have left the business more obscure
+      that it was before,” said I.
+
+      “Quite so. They undoubtedly showed that the affair was much
+      deeper than was at first conjectured. I thought the matter over,
+      and I came to the conclusion that I must approach the case from
+      another aspect. But really, Watson, I am keeping you up, and I
+      might just as well tell you all this on our way to Aldershot
+      to-morrow.”
+
+      “Thank you, you have gone rather too far to stop.”
+
+      “It is quite certain that when Mrs. Barclay left the house at
+      half-past seven she was on good terms with her husband. She was
+      never, as I think I have said, ostentatiously affectionate, but
+      she was heard by the coachman chatting with the Colonel in a
+      friendly fashion. Now, it was equally certain that, immediately
+      on her return, she had gone to the room in which she was least
+      likely to see her husband, had flown to tea as an agitated woman
+      will, and finally, on his coming in to her, had broken into
+      violent recriminations. Therefore something had occurred between
+      seven-thirty and nine o’clock which had completely altered her
+      feelings towards him. But Miss Morrison had been with her during
+      the whole of that hour and a half. It was absolutely certain,
+      therefore, in spite of her denial, that she must know something
+      of the matter.
+
+      “My first conjecture was, that possibly there had been some
+      passages between this young lady and the old soldier, which the
+      former had now confessed to the wife. That would account for the
+      angry return, and also for the girl’s denial that anything had
+      occurred. Nor would it be entirely incompatible with most of the
+      words overheard. But there was the reference to David, and there
+      was the known affection of the Colonel for his wife, to weigh
+      against it, to say nothing of the tragic intrusion of this other
+      man, which might, of course, be entirely disconnected with what
+      had gone before. It was not easy to pick one’s steps, but, on the
+      whole, I was inclined to dismiss the idea that there had been
+      anything between the Colonel and Miss Morrison, but more than
+      ever convinced that the young lady held the clue as to what it
+      was which had turned Mrs. Barclay to hatred of her husband. I
+      took the obvious course, therefore, of calling upon Miss
+      Morrison, of explaining to her that I was perfectly certain that
+      she held the facts in her possession, and of assuring her that
+      her friend, Mrs. Barclay, might find herself in the dock upon a
+      capital charge unless the matter were cleared up.
+
+      “Miss Morrison is a little, ethereal slip of a girl, with timid
+      eyes and blonde hair, but I found her by no means wanting in
+      shrewdness and common sense. She sat thinking for some time after
+      I had spoken, and then, turning to me with a brisk air of
+      resolution, she broke into a remarkable statement which I will
+      condense for your benefit.
+
+      “‘I promised my friend that I would say nothing of the matter,
+      and a promise is a promise,’ said she; ‘but if I can really help
+      her when so serious a charge is laid against her, and when her
+      own mouth, poor darling, is closed by illness, then I think I am
+      absolved from my promise. I will tell you exactly what happened
+      upon Monday evening.
+
+      “‘We were returning from the Watt Street Mission about a quarter
+      to nine o’clock. On our way we had to pass through Hudson Street,
+      which is a very quiet thoroughfare. There is only one lamp in it,
+      upon the left-hand side, and as we approached this lamp I saw a
+      man coming towards us with his back very bent, and something like
+      a box slung over one of his shoulders. He appeared to be
+      deformed, for he carried his head low and walked with his knees
+      bent. We were passing him when he raised his face to look at us
+      in the circle of light thrown by the lamp, and as he did so he
+      stopped and screamed out in a dreadful voice, “My God, it’s
+      Nancy!” Mrs. Barclay turned as white as death, and would have
+      fallen down had the dreadful-looking creature not caught hold of
+      her. I was going to call for the police, but she, to my surprise,
+      spoke quite civilly to the fellow.
+
+      “‘“I thought you had been dead this thirty years, Henry,” said
+      she, in a shaking voice.
+
+      “‘“So I have,” said he, and it was awful to hear the tones that
+      he said it in. He had a very dark, fearsome face, and a gleam in
+      his eyes that comes back to me in my dreams. His hair and
+      whiskers were shot with grey, and his face was all crinkled and
+      puckered like a withered apple.
+
+      “‘“Just walk on a little way, dear,” said Mrs. Barclay; “I want
+      to have a word with this man. There is nothing to be afraid of.”
+      She tried to speak boldly, but she was still deadly pale and
+      could hardly get her words out for the trembling of her lips.
+
+      “‘I did as she asked me, and they talked together for a few
+      minutes. Then she came down the street with her eyes blazing, and
+      I saw the crippled wretch standing by the lamp-post and shaking
+      his clenched fists in the air as if he were mad with rage. She
+      never said a word until we were at the door here, when she took
+      me by the hand and begged me to tell no one what had happened.
+
+      “‘“It’s an old acquaintance of mine who has come down in the
+      world,” said she. When I promised her I would say nothing she
+      kissed me, and I have never seen her since. I have told you now
+      the whole truth, and if I withheld it from the police it is
+      because I did not realize then the danger in which my dear friend
+      stood. I know that it can only be to her advantage that
+      everything should be known.’
+
+      “There was her statement, Watson, and to me, as you can imagine,
+      it was like a light on a dark night. Everything which had been
+      disconnected before began at once to assume its true place, and I
+      had a shadowy presentiment of the whole sequence of events. My
+      next step obviously was to find the man who had produced such a
+      remarkable impression upon Mrs. Barclay. If he were still in
+      Aldershot it should not be a very difficult matter. There are not
+      such a very great number of civilians, and a deformed man was
+      sure to have attracted attention. I spent a day in the search,
+      and by evening—this very evening, Watson—I had run him down. The
+      man’s name is Henry Wood, and he lives in lodgings in this same
+      street in which the ladies met him. He has only been five days in
+      the place. In the character of a registration-agent I had a most
+      interesting gossip with his landlady. The man is by trade a
+      conjurer and performer, going round the canteens after nightfall,
+      and giving a little entertainment at each. He carries some
+      creature about with him in that box; about which the landlady
+      seemed to be in considerable trepidation, for she had never seen
+      an animal like it. He uses it in some of his tricks according to
+      her account. So much the woman was able to tell me, and also that
+      it was a wonder the man lived, seeing how twisted he was, and
+      that he spoke in a strange tongue sometimes, and that for the
+      last two nights she had heard him groaning and weeping in his
+      bedroom. He was all right, as far as money went, but in his
+      deposit he had given her what looked like a bad florin. She
+      showed it to me, Watson, and it was an Indian rupee.
+
+      “So now, my dear fellow, you see exactly how we stand and why it
+      is I want you. It is perfectly plain that after the ladies parted
+      from this man he followed them at a distance, that he saw the
+      quarrel between husband and wife through the window, that he
+      rushed in, and that the creature which he carried in his box got
+      loose. That is all very certain. But he is the only person in
+      this world who can tell us exactly what happened in that room.”
+
+      “And you intend to ask him?”
+
+      “Most certainly—but in the presence of a witness.”
+
+      “And I am the witness?”
+
+      “If you will be so good. If he can clear the matter up, well and
+      good. If he refuses, we have no alternative but to apply for a
+      warrant.”
+
+      “But how do you know he’ll be there when we return?”
+
+      “You may be sure that I took some precautions. I have one of my
+      Baker Street boys mounting guard over him who would stick to him
+      like a burr, go where he might. We shall find him in Hudson
+      Street to-morrow, Watson, and meanwhile I should be the criminal
+      myself if I kept you out of bed any longer.”
+
+      It was midday when we found ourselves at the scene of the
+      tragedy, and, under my companion’s guidance, we made our way at
+      once to Hudson Street. In spite of his capacity for concealing
+      his emotions, I could easily see that Holmes was in a state of
+      suppressed excitement, while I was myself tingling with that
+      half-sporting, half-intellectual pleasure which I invariably
+      experienced when I associated myself with him in his
+      investigations.
+
+      “This is the street,” said he, as we turned into a short
+      thoroughfare lined with plain two-storied brick houses. “Ah, here
+      is Simpson to report.”
+
+      “He’s in all right, Mr. Holmes,” cried a small street Arab,
+      running up to us.
+
+      “Good, Simpson!” said Holmes, patting him on the head. “Come
+      along, Watson. This is the house.” He sent in his card with a
+      message that he had come on important business, and a moment
+      later we were face to face with the man whom we had come to see.
+      In spite of the warm weather he was crouching over a fire, and
+      the little room was like an oven. The man sat all twisted and
+      huddled in his chair in a way which gave an indescribable
+      impression of deformity; but the face which he turned towards us,
+      though worn and swarthy, must at some time have been remarkable
+      for its beauty. He looked suspiciously at us now out of
+      yellow-shot, bilious eyes, and, without speaking or rising, he
+      waved towards two chairs.
+
+      “Mr. Henry Wood, late of India, I believe,” said Holmes, affably.
+      “I’ve come over this little matter of Colonel Barclay’s death.”
+
+      “What should I know about that?”
+
+      “That’s what I want to ascertain. You know, I suppose, that
+      unless the matter is cleared up, Mrs. Barclay, who is an old
+      friend of yours, will in all probability be tried for murder.”
+
+      The man gave a violent start.
+
+      “I don’t know who you are,” he cried, “nor how you come to know
+      what you do know, but will you swear that this is true that you
+      tell me?”
+
+      “Why, they are only waiting for her to come to her senses to
+      arrest her.”
+
+      “My God! Are you in the police yourself?”
+
+      “No.”
+
+      “What business is it of yours, then?”
+
+      “It’s every man’s business to see justice done.”
+
+      “You can take my word that she is innocent.”
+
+      “Then you are guilty.”
+
+      “No, I am not.”
+
+      “Who killed Colonel James Barclay, then?”
+
+      “It was a just providence that killed him. But, mind you this,
+      that if I had knocked his brains out, as it was in my heart to
+      do, he would have had no more than his due from my hands. If his
+      own guilty conscience had not struck him down it is likely enough
+      that I might have had his blood upon my soul. You want me to tell
+      the story. Well, I don’t know why I shouldn’t, for there’s no
+      cause for me to be ashamed of it.
+
+      “It was in this way, sir. You see me now with my back like a
+      camel and my ribs all awry, but there was a time when Corporal
+      Henry Wood was the smartest man in the 117th Foot. We were in
+      India then, in cantonments, at a place we’ll call Bhurtee.
+      Barclay, who died the other day, was sergeant in the same company
+      as myself, and the belle of the regiment, ay, and the finest girl
+      that ever had the breath of life between her lips, was Nancy
+      Devoy, the daughter of the colour-sergeant. There were two men
+      that loved her, and one that she loved, and you’ll smile when you
+      look at this poor thing huddled before the fire, and hear me say
+      that it was for my good looks that she loved me.
+
+      “Well, though I had her heart, her father was set upon her
+      marrying Barclay. I was a harum-scarum, reckless lad, and he had
+      had an education, and was already marked for the sword-belt. But
+      the girl held true to me, and it seemed that I would have had her
+      when the Mutiny broke out, and all hell was loose in the country.
+
+      “We were shut up in Bhurtee, the regiment of us with half a
+      battery of artillery, a company of Sikhs, and a lot of civilians
+      and women-folk. There were ten thousand rebels round us, and they
+      were as keen as a set of terriers round a rat-cage. About the
+      second week of it our water gave out, and it was a question
+      whether we could communicate with General Neill’s column, which
+      was moving up country. It was our only chance, for we could not
+      hope to fight our way out with all the women and children, so I
+      volunteered to go out and to warn General Neill of our danger. My
+      offer was accepted, and I talked it over with Sergeant Barclay,
+      who was supposed to know the ground better than any other man,
+      and who drew up a route by which I might get through the rebel
+      lines. At ten o’clock the same night I started off upon my
+      journey. There were a thousand lives to save, but it was of only
+      one that I was thinking when I dropped over the wall that night.
+
+      “My way ran down a dried-up watercourse, which we hoped would
+      screen me from the enemy’s sentries; but as I crept round the
+      corner of it I walked right into six of them, who were crouching
+      down in the dark waiting for me. In an instant I was stunned with
+      a blow and bound hand and foot. But the real blow was to my heart
+      and not to my head, for as I came to and listened to as much as I
+      could understand of their talk, I heard enough to tell me that my
+      comrade, the very man who had arranged the way that I was to
+      take, had betrayed me by means of a native servant into the hands
+      of the enemy.
+
+      “Well, there’s no need for me to dwell on that part of it. You
+      know now what James Barclay was capable of. Bhurtee was relieved
+      by Neill next day, but the rebels took me away with them in their
+      retreat, and it was many a long year before ever I saw a white
+      face again. I was tortured and tried to get away, and was
+      captured and tortured again. You can see for yourselves the state
+      in which I was left. Some of them that fled into Nepaul took me
+      with them, and then afterwards I was up past Darjeeling. The
+      hill-folk up there murdered the rebels who had me, and I became
+      their slave for a time until I escaped; but instead of going
+      south I had to go north, until I found myself among the Afghans.
+      There I wandered about for many a year, and at last came back to
+      the Punjab, where I lived mostly among the natives and picked up
+      a living by the conjuring tricks that I had learned. What use was
+      it for me, a wretched cripple, to go back to England or to make
+      myself known to my old comrades? Even my wish for revenge would
+      not make me do that. I had rather that Nancy and my old pals
+      should think of Harry Wood as having died with a straight back,
+      than see him living and crawling with a stick like a chimpanzee.
+      They never doubted that I was dead, and I meant that they never
+      should. I heard that Barclay had married Nancy, and that he was
+      rising rapidly in the regiment, but even that did not make me
+      speak.
+
+      “But when one gets old one has a longing for home. For years I’ve
+      been dreaming of the bright green fields and the hedges of
+      England. At last I determined to see them before I died. I saved
+      enough to bring me across, and then I came here where the
+      soldiers are, for I know their ways and how to amuse them and so
+      earn enough to keep me.”
+
+      “Your narrative is most interesting,” said Sherlock Holmes. “I
+      have already heard of your meeting with Mrs. Barclay, and your
+      mutual recognition. You then, as I understand, followed her home
+      and saw through the window an altercation between her husband and
+      her, in which she doubtless cast his conduct to you in his teeth.
+      Your own feelings overcame you, and you ran across the lawn and
+      broke in upon them.”
+
+      “I did, sir, and at the sight of me he looked as I have never
+      seen a man look before, and over he went with his head on the
+      fender. But he was dead before he fell. I read death on his face
+      as plain as I can read that text over the fire. The bare sight of
+      me was like a bullet through his guilty heart.”
+
+      “And then?”
+
+      “Then Nancy fainted, and I caught up the key of the door from her
+      hand, intending to unlock it and get help. But as I was doing it
+      it seemed to me better to leave it alone and get away, for the
+      thing might look black against me, and any way my secret would be
+      out if I were taken. In my haste I thrust the key into my pocket,
+      and dropped my stick while I was chasing Teddy, who had run up
+      the curtain. When I got him into his box, from which he had
+      slipped, I was off as fast as I could run.”
+
+      “Who’s Teddy?” asked Holmes.
+
+      The man leaned over and pulled up the front of a kind of hutch in
+      the corner. In an instant out there slipped a beautiful
+      reddish-brown creature, thin and lithe, with the legs of a stoat,
+      a long, thin nose, and a pair of the finest red eyes that ever I
+      saw in an animal’s head.
+
+      “It’s a mongoose,” I cried.
+
+      “Well, some call them that, and some call them ichneumon,” said
+      the man. “Snake-catcher is what I call them, and Teddy is amazing
+      quick on cobras. I have one here without the fangs, and Teddy
+      catches it every night to please the folk in the canteen.
+
+      “Any other point, sir?”
+
+      “Well, we may have to apply to you again if Mrs. Barclay should
+      prove to be in serious trouble.”
+
+      “In that case, of course, I’d come forward.”
+
+      “But if not, there is no object in raking up this scandal against
+      a dead man, foully as he has acted. You have at least the
+      satisfaction of knowing that for thirty years of his life his
+      conscience bitterly reproached him for this wicked deed. Ah,
+      there goes Major Murphy on the other side of the street. Good-by,
+      Wood. I want to learn if anything has happened since yesterday.”
+
+      We were in time to overtake the major before he reached the
+      corner.
+
+      “Ah, Holmes,” he said: “I suppose you have heard that all this
+      fuss has come to nothing?”
+
+      “What then?”
+
+      “The inquest is just over. The medical evidence showed
+      conclusively that death was due to apoplexy. You see it was quite
+      a simple case after all.”
+
+      “Oh, remarkably superficial,” said Holmes, smiling. “Come,
+      Watson, I don’t think we shall be wanted in Aldershot any more.”
+
+      “There’s one thing,” said I, as we walked down to the station.
+      “If the husband’s name was James, and the other was Henry, what
+      was this talk about David?”
+
+      “That one word, my dear Watson, should have told me the whole
+      story had I been the ideal reasoner which you are so fond of
+      depicting. It was evidently a term of reproach.”
+
+      “Of reproach?”
+
+      “Yes; David strayed a little occasionally, you know, and on one
+      occasion in the same direction as Sergeant James Barclay. You
+      remember the small affair of Uriah and Bathsheba? My biblical
+      knowledge is a trifle rusty, I fear, but you will find the story
+      in the first or second of Samuel.”
+
+
+
+
+IX. The Resident Patient
+
+
+      In glancing over the somewhat incoherent series of memoirs with
+      which I have endeavoured to illustrate a few of the mental
+      peculiarities of my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I have been
+      struck by the difficulty which I have experienced in picking out
+      examples which shall in every way answer my purpose. For in those
+      cases in which Holmes has performed some _tour-de-force_ of
+      analytical reasoning, and has demonstrated the value of his
+      peculiar methods of investigation, the facts themselves have
+      often been so slight or so commonplace that I could not feel
+      justified in laying them before the public. On the other hand, it
+      has frequently happened that he has been concerned in some
+      research where the facts have been of the most remarkable and
+      dramatic character, but where the share which he has himself
+      taken in determining their causes has been less pronounced than
+      I, as his biographer, could wish. The small matter which I have
+      chronicled under the heading of “A Study in Scarlet,” and that
+      other later one connected with the loss of the _Gloria Scott_,
+      may serve as examples of this Scylla and Charybdis which are
+      forever threatening the historian. It may be that in the business
+      of which I am now about to write the part which my friend played
+      is not sufficiently accentuated; and yet the whole train of
+      circumstances is so remarkable that I cannot bring myself to omit
+      it entirely from this series.
+
+      I cannot be sure of the exact date, for some of my memoranda upon
+      the matter have been mislaid, but it must have been towards the
+      end of the first year during which Holmes and I shared chambers
+      in Baker Street. It was boisterous October weather, and we had
+      both remained indoors all day, I because I feared with my shaken
+      health to face the keen autumn wind, while he was deep in some of
+      those abstruse chemical investigations which absorbed him utterly
+      as long as he was engaged upon them. Towards evening, however,
+      the breaking of a test-tube brought his research to a premature
+      ending, and he sprang up from his chair with an exclamation of
+      impatience and a clouded brow.
+
+      “A day’s work ruined, Watson,” said he, striding across to the
+      window. “Ha! the stars are out and the wind has fallen. What do
+      you say to a ramble through London?”
+
+      I was weary of our little sitting-room and gladly acquiesced. For
+      three hours we strolled about together, watching the
+      ever-changing kaleidoscope of life as it ebbs and flows through
+      Fleet Street and the Strand. Holmes had shaken off his temporary
+      ill-humour, and his characteristic talk, with its keen observance
+      of detail and subtle power of inference held me amused and
+      enthralled. It was ten o’clock before we reached Baker Street
+      again. A brougham was waiting at our door.
+
+      “Hum! A doctor’s—general practitioner, I perceive,” said Holmes.
+      “Not been long in practice, but has had a good deal to do. Come
+      to consult us, I fancy! Lucky we came back!”
+
+      I was sufficiently conversant with Holmes’s methods to be able to
+      follow his reasoning, and to see that the nature and state of the
+      various medical instruments in the wicker basket which hung in
+      the lamplight inside the brougham had given him the data for his
+      swift deduction. The light in our window above showed that this
+      late visit was indeed intended for us. With some curiosity as to
+      what could have sent a brother medico to us at such an hour, I
+      followed Holmes into our sanctum.
+
+      A pale, taper-faced man with sandy whiskers rose up from a chair
+      by the fire as we entered. His age may not have been more than
+      three or four and thirty, but his haggard expression and
+      unhealthy hue told of a life which has sapped his strength and
+      robbed him of his youth. His manner was nervous and shy, like
+      that of a sensitive gentleman, and the thin white hand which he
+      laid on the mantelpiece as he rose was that of an artist rather
+      than of a surgeon. His dress was quiet and sombre—a black
+      frock-coat, dark trousers, and a touch of colour about his
+      necktie.
+
+      “Good-evening, doctor,” said Holmes, cheerily. “I am glad to see
+      that you have only been waiting a very few minutes.”
+
+      “You spoke to my coachman, then?”
+
+      “No, it was the candle on the side-table that told me. Pray
+      resume your seat and let me know how I can serve you.”
+
+      “My name is Doctor Percy Trevelyan,” said our visitor, “and I
+      live at 403, Brook Street.”
+
+      “Are you not the author of a monograph upon obscure nervous
+      lesions?” I asked.
+
+      His pale cheeks flushed with pleasure at hearing that his work
+      was known to me.
+
+      “I so seldom hear of the work that I thought it was quite dead,”
+      said he. “My publishers gave me a most discouraging account of
+      its sale. You are yourself, I presume, a medical man?”
+
+      “A retired Army surgeon.”
+
+      “My own hobby has always been nervous disease. I should wish to
+      make it an absolute specialty, but, of course, a man must take
+      what he can get at first. This, however, is beside the question,
+      Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and I quite appreciate how valuable your
+      time is. The fact is that a very singular train of events has
+      occurred recently at my house in Brook Street, and to-night they
+      came to such a head that I felt it was quite impossible for me to
+      wait another hour before asking for your advice and assistance.”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes sat down and lit his pipe. “You are very welcome
+      to both,” said he. “Pray let me have a detailed account of what
+      the circumstances are which have disturbed you.”
+
+      “One or two of them are so trivial,” said Dr. Trevelyan, “that
+      really I am almost ashamed to mention them. But the matter is so
+      inexplicable, and the recent turn which it has taken is so
+      elaborate, that I shall lay it all before you, and you shall
+      judge what is essential and what is not.
+
+      “I am compelled, to begin with, to say something of my own
+      college career. I am a London University man, you know, and I am
+      sure that you will not think that I am unduly singing my own
+      praises if I say that my student career was considered by my
+      professors to be a very promising one. After I had graduated I
+      continued to devote myself to research, occupying a minor
+      position in King’s College Hospital, and I was fortunate enough
+      to excite considerable interest by my research into the pathology
+      of catalepsy, and finally to win the Bruce Pinkerton prize and
+      medal by the monograph on nervous lesions to which your friend
+      has just alluded. I should not go too far if I were to say that
+      there was a general impression at that time that a distinguished
+      career lay before me.
+
+      “But the one great stumbling-block lay in my want of capital. As
+      you will readily understand, a specialist who aims high is
+      compelled to start in one of a dozen streets in the Cavendish
+      Square quarter, all of which entail enormous rents and furnishing
+      expenses. Besides this preliminary outlay, he must be prepared to
+      keep himself for some years, and to hire a presentable carriage
+      and horse. To do this was quite beyond my power, and I could only
+      hope that by economy I might in ten years’ time save enough to
+      enable me to put up my plate. Suddenly, however, an unexpected
+      incident opened up quite a new prospect to me.
+
+      “This was a visit from a gentleman of the name of Blessington,
+      who was a complete stranger to me. He came up to my room one
+      morning, and plunged into business in an instant.
+
+      “‘You are the same Percy Trevelyan who has had so distinguished a
+      career and won a great prize lately?’ said he.
+
+      “I bowed.
+
+      “‘Answer me frankly,’ he continued, ‘for you will find it to your
+      interest to do so. You have all the cleverness which makes a
+      successful man. Have you the tact?’
+
+      “I could not help smiling at the abruptness of the question.
+
+      “‘I trust that I have my share,’ I said.
+
+      “‘Any bad habits? Not drawn towards drink, eh?’
+
+      “‘Really, sir!’ I cried.
+
+      “‘Quite right! That’s all right! But I was bound to ask. With all
+      these qualities, why are you not in practice?’
+
+      “I shrugged my shoulders.
+
+      “‘Come, come!’ said he, in his bustling way. ‘It’s the old story.
+      More in your brains than in your pocket, eh? What would you say
+      if I were to start you in Brook Street?’
+
+      “I stared at him in astonishment.
+
+      “‘Oh, it’s for my sake, not for yours,’ he cried. ‘I’ll be
+      perfectly frank with you, and if it suits you it will suit me
+      very well. I have a few thousands to invest, d’ye see, and I
+      think I’ll sink them in you.’
+
+      “‘But why?’ I gasped.
+
+      “‘Well, it’s just like any other speculation, and safer than
+      most.’
+
+      “‘What am I to do, then?’
+
+      “‘I’ll tell you. I’ll take the house, furnish it, pay the maids,
+      and run the whole place. All you have to do is just to wear out
+      your chair in the consulting-room. I’ll let you have pocket-money
+      and everything. Then you hand over to me three quarters of what
+      you earn, and you keep the other quarter for yourself.’
+
+      “This was the strange proposal, Mr. Holmes, with which the man
+      Blessington approached me. I won’t weary you with the account of
+      how we bargained and negotiated. It ended in my moving into the
+      house next Lady Day, and starting in practice on very much the
+      same conditions as he had suggested. He came himself to live with
+      me in the character of a resident patient. His heart was weak, it
+      appears, and he needed constant medical supervision. He turned
+      the two best rooms of the first floor into a sitting-room and
+      bedroom for himself. He was a man of singular habits, shunning
+      company and very seldom going out. His life was irregular, but in
+      one respect he was regularity itself. Every evening, at the same
+      hour, he walked into the consulting-room, examined the books, put
+      down five and three-pence for every guinea that I had earned, and
+      carried the rest off to the strong-box in his own room.
+
+      “I may say with confidence that he never had occasion to regret
+      his speculation. From the first it was a success. A few good
+      cases and the reputation which I had won in the hospital brought
+      me rapidly to the front, and during the last few years I have
+      made him a rich man.
+
+      “So much, Mr. Holmes, for my past history and my relations with
+      Mr. Blessington. It only remains for me now to tell you what has
+      occurred to bring me here to-night.
+
+      “Some weeks ago Mr. Blessington came down to me in, as it seemed
+      to me, a state of considerable agitation. He spoke of some
+      burglary which, he said, had been committed in the West End, and
+      he appeared, I remember, to be quite unnecessarily excited about
+      it, declaring that a day should not pass before we should add
+      stronger bolts to our windows and doors. For a week he continued
+      to be in a peculiar state of restlessness, peering continually
+      out of the windows, and ceasing to take the short walk which had
+      usually been the prelude to his dinner. From his manner it struck
+      me that he was in mortal dread of something or somebody, but when
+      I questioned him upon the point he became so offensive that I was
+      compelled to drop the subject. Gradually, as time passed, his
+      fears appeared to die away, and he had renewed his former habits,
+      when a fresh event reduced him to the pitiable state of
+      prostration in which he now lies.
+
+      “What happened was this. Two days ago I received the letter which
+      I now read to you. Neither address nor date is attached to it.
+
+      “‘A Russian nobleman who is now resident in England,’ it runs,
+      ‘would be glad to avail himself of the professional assistance of
+      Dr. Percy Trevelyan. He has been for some years a victim to
+      cataleptic attacks, on which, as is well known, Dr. Trevelyan is
+      an authority. He proposes to call at about quarter past six
+      to-morrow evening, if Dr. Trevelyan will make it convenient to be
+      at home.’
+
+      “This letter interested me deeply, because the chief difficulty
+      in the study of catalepsy is the rareness of the disease. You may
+      believe, then, that I was in my consulting-room when, at the
+      appointed hour, the page showed in the patient.
+
+      “He was an elderly man, thin, demure, and commonplace—by no means
+      the conception one forms of a Russian nobleman. I was much more
+      struck by the appearance of his companion. This was a tall young
+      man, surprisingly handsome, with a dark, fierce face, and the
+      limbs and chest of a Hercules. He had his hand under the other’s
+      arm as they entered, and helped him to a chair with a tenderness
+      which one would hardly have expected from his appearance.
+
+      “‘You will excuse my coming in, doctor,’ said he to me, speaking
+      English with a slight lisp. ‘This is my father, and his health is
+      a matter of the most overwhelming importance to me.’
+
+      “I was touched by this filial anxiety. ‘You would, perhaps, care
+      to remain during the consultation?’ said I.
+
+      “‘Not for the world,’ he cried with a gesture of horror. ‘It is
+      more painful to me than I can express. If I were to see my father
+      in one of these dreadful seizures I am convinced that I should
+      never survive it. My own nervous system is an exceptionally
+      sensitive one. With your permission, I will remain in the
+      waiting-room while you go into my father’s case.’
+
+      “To this, of course, I assented, and the young man withdrew. The
+      patient and I then plunged into a discussion of his case, of
+      which I took exhaustive notes. He was not remarkable for
+      intelligence, and his answers were frequently obscure, which I
+      attributed to his limited acquaintance with our language.
+      Suddenly, however, as I sat writing, he ceased to give any answer
+      at all to my inquiries, and on my turning towards him I was
+      shocked to see that he was sitting bolt upright in his chair,
+      staring at me with a perfectly blank and rigid face. He was again
+      in the grip of his mysterious malady.
+
+      “My first feeling, as I have just said, was one of pity and
+      horror. My second, I fear, was rather one of professional
+      satisfaction. I made notes of my patient’s pulse and temperature,
+      tested the rigidity of his muscles, and examined his reflexes.
+      There was nothing markedly abnormal in any of these conditions,
+      which harmonised with my former experiences. I had obtained good
+      results in such cases by the inhalation of nitrite of amyl, and
+      the present seemed an admirable opportunity of testing its
+      virtues. The bottle was downstairs in my laboratory, so leaving
+      my patient seated in his chair, I ran down to get it. There was
+      some little delay in finding it—five minutes, let us say—and then
+      I returned. Imagine my amazement to find the room empty and the
+      patient gone.
+
+      “Of course, my first act was to run into the waiting-room. The
+      son had gone also. The hall door had been closed, but not shut.
+      My page who admits patients is a new boy and by no means quick.
+      He waits downstairs, and runs up to show patients out when I ring
+      the consulting-room bell. He had heard nothing, and the affair
+      remained a complete mystery. Mr. Blessington came in from his
+      walk shortly afterwards, but I did not say anything to him upon
+      the subject, for, to tell the truth, I have got in the way of
+      late of holding as little communication with him as possible.
+
+      “Well, I never thought that I should see anything more of the
+      Russian and his son, so you can imagine my amazement when, at the
+      very same hour this evening, they both came marching into my
+      consulting-room, just as they had done before.
+
+      “‘I feel that I owe you a great many apologies for my abrupt
+      departure yesterday, doctor,’ said my patient.
+
+      “‘I confess that I was very much surprised at it,’ said I.
+
+      “‘Well, the fact is,’ he remarked, ‘that when I recover from
+      these attacks my mind is always very clouded as to all that has
+      gone before. I woke up in a strange room, as it seemed to me, and
+      made my way out into the street in a sort of dazed way when you
+      were absent.’
+
+      “‘And I,’ said the son, ‘seeing my father pass the door of the
+      waiting-room, naturally thought that the consultation had come to
+      an end. It was not until we had reached home that I began to
+      realize the true state of affairs.’
+
+      “‘Well,’ said I, laughing, ‘there is no harm done except that you
+      puzzled me terribly; so if you, sir, would kindly step into the
+      waiting-room I shall be happy to continue our consultation which
+      was brought to so abrupt an ending.’
+
+      “‘For half an hour or so I discussed that old gentleman’s
+      symptoms with him, and then, having prescribed for him, I saw him
+      go off upon the arm of his son.
+
+      “I have told you that Mr. Blessington generally chose this hour
+      of the day for his exercise. He came in shortly afterwards and
+      passed upstairs. An instant later I heard him running down, and
+      he burst into my consulting-room like a man who is mad with
+      panic.
+
+      “‘Who has been in my room?’ he cried.
+
+      “‘No one,’ said I.
+
+      “‘It’s a lie! He yelled. ‘Come up and look!’
+
+      “I passed over the grossness of his language, as he seemed half
+      out of his mind with fear. When I went upstairs with him he
+      pointed to several footprints upon the light carpet.
+
+      “‘D’you mean to say those are mine?’ he cried.
+
+      “They were certainly very much larger than any which he could
+      have made, and were evidently quite fresh. It rained hard this
+      afternoon, as you know, and my patients were the only people who
+      called. It must have been the case, then, that the man in the
+      waiting-room had, for some unknown reason, while I was busy with
+      the other, ascended to the room of my resident patient. Nothing
+      had been touched or taken, but there were the footprints to prove
+      that the intrusion was an undoubted fact.
+
+      “Mr. Blessington seemed more excited over the matter than I
+      should have thought possible, though of course it was enough to
+      disturb anybody’s peace of mind. He actually sat crying in an
+      armchair, and I could hardly get him to speak coherently. It was
+      his suggestion that I should come round to you, and of course I
+      at once saw the propriety of it, for certainly the incident is a
+      very singular one, though he appears to completely overrate its
+      importance. If you would only come back with me in my brougham,
+      you would at least be able to soothe him, though I can hardly
+      hope that you will be able to explain this remarkable
+      occurrence.”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes had listened to this long narrative with an
+      intentness which showed me that his interest was keenly aroused.
+      His face was as impassive as ever, but his lids had drooped more
+      heavily over his eyes, and his smoke had curled up more thickly
+      from his pipe to emphasize each curious episode in the doctor’s
+      tale. As our visitor concluded, Holmes sprang up without a word,
+      handed me my hat, picked his own from the table, and followed Dr.
+      Trevelyan to the door. Within a quarter of an hour we had been
+      dropped at the door of the physician’s residence in Brook Street,
+      one of those sombre, flat-faced houses which one associates with
+      a West-End practice. A small page admitted us, and we began at
+      once to ascend the broad, well-carpeted stair.
+
+      But a singular interruption brought us to a standstill. The light
+      at the top was suddenly whisked out, and from the darkness came a
+      reedy, quivering voice.
+
+      “I have a pistol,” it cried. “I give you my word that I’ll fire
+      if you come any nearer.”
+
+      “This really grows outrageous, Mr. Blessington,” cried Dr.
+      Trevelyan.
+
+      “Oh, then it is you, doctor,” said the voice, with a great heave
+      of relief. “But those other gentlemen, are they what they pretend
+      to be?”
+
+      We were conscious of a long scrutiny out of the darkness.
+
+      “Yes, yes, it’s all right,” said the voice at last. “You can come
+      up, and I am sorry if my precautions have annoyed you.”
+
+      He relit the stair gas as he spoke, and we saw before us a
+      singular-looking man, whose appearance, as well as his voice,
+      testified to his jangled nerves. He was very fat, but had
+      apparently at some time been much fatter, so that the skin hung
+      about his face in loose pouches, like the cheeks of a
+      blood-hound. He was of a sickly colour, and his thin, sandy hair
+      seemed to bristle up with the intensity of his emotion. In his
+      hand he held a pistol, but he thrust it into his pocket as we
+      advanced.
+
+      “Good-evening, Mr. Holmes,” said he. “I am sure I am very much
+      obliged to you for coming round. No one ever needed your advice
+      more than I do. I suppose that Dr. Trevelyan has told you of this
+      most unwarrantable intrusion into my rooms.”
+
+      “Quite so,” said Holmes. “Who are these two men Mr. Blessington,
+      and why do they wish to molest you?”
+
+      “Well, well,” said the resident patient, in a nervous fashion,
+      “of course it is hard to say that. You can hardly expect me to
+      answer that, Mr. Holmes.”
+
+      “Do you mean that you don’t know?”
+
+      “Come in here, if you please. Just have the kindness to step in
+      here.”
+
+      He led the way into his bedroom, which was large and comfortably
+      furnished.
+
+      “You see that,” said he, pointing to a big black box at the end
+      of his bed. “I have never been a very rich man, Mr. Holmes—never
+      made but one investment in my life, as Dr. Trevelyan would tell
+      you. But I don’t believe in bankers. I would never trust a
+      banker, Mr. Holmes. Between ourselves, what little I have is in
+      that box, so you can understand what it means to me when unknown
+      people force themselves into my rooms.”
+
+      Holmes looked at Blessington in his questioning way and shook his
+      head.
+
+      “I cannot possibly advise you if you try to deceive me,” said he.
+
+      “But I have told you everything.”
+
+      Holmes turned on his heel with a gesture of disgust. “Good-night,
+      Dr. Trevelyan,” said he.
+
+      “And no advice for me?” cried Blessington, in a breaking voice.
+
+      “My advice to you, sir, is to speak the truth.”
+
+      A minute later we were in the street and walking for home. We had
+      crossed Oxford Street and were half way down Harley Street before
+      I could get a word from my companion.
+
+      “Sorry to bring you out on such a fool’s errand, Watson,” he said
+      at last. “It is an interesting case, too, at the bottom of it.”
+
+      “I can make little of it,” I confessed.
+
+      “Well, it is quite evident that there are two men—more, perhaps,
+      but at least two—who are determined for some reason to get at
+      this fellow Blessington. I have no doubt in my mind that both on
+      the first and on the second occasion that young man penetrated to
+      Blessington’s room, while his confederate, by an ingenious
+      device, kept the doctor from interfering.”
+
+      “And the catalepsy?”
+
+      “A fraudulent imitation, Watson, though I should hardly dare to
+      hint as much to our specialist. It is a very easy complaint to
+      imitate. I have done it myself.”
+
+      “And then?”
+
+      “By the purest chance Blessington was out on each occasion. Their
+      reason for choosing so unusual an hour for a consultation was
+      obviously to insure that there should be no other patient in the
+      waiting-room. It just happened, however, that this hour coincided
+      with Blessington’s constitutional, which seems to show that they
+      were not very well acquainted with his daily routine. Of course,
+      if they had been merely after plunder they would at least have
+      made some attempt to search for it. Besides, I can read in a
+      man’s eye when it is his own skin that he is frightened for. It
+      is inconceivable that this fellow could have made two such
+      vindictive enemies as these appear to be without knowing of it. I
+      hold it, therefore, to be certain that he does know who these men
+      are, and that for reasons of his own he suppresses it. It is just
+      possible that to-morrow may find him in a more communicative
+      mood.”
+
+      “Is there not one alternative,” I suggested, “grotesquely
+      improbable, no doubt, but still just conceivable? Might the whole
+      story of the cataleptic Russian and his son be a concoction of
+      Dr. Trevelyan’s, who has, for his own purposes, been in
+      Blessington’s rooms?”
+
+      I saw in the gaslight that Holmes wore an amused smile at this
+      brilliant departure of mine.
+
+      “My dear fellow,” said he, “it was one of the first solutions
+      which occurred to me, but I was soon able to corroborate the
+      doctor’s tale. This young man has left prints upon the
+      stair-carpet which made it quite superfluous for me to ask to see
+      those which he had made in the room. When I tell you that his
+      shoes were square-toed instead of being pointed like
+      Blessington’s, and were quite an inch and a third longer than the
+      doctor’s, you will acknowledge that there can be no doubt as to
+      his individuality. But we may sleep on it now, for I shall be
+      surprised if we do not hear something further from Brook Street
+      in the morning.”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes’s prophecy was soon fulfilled, and in a dramatic
+      fashion. At half-past seven next morning, in the first glimmer of
+      daylight, I found him standing by my bedside in his
+      dressing-gown.
+
+      “There’s a brougham waiting for us, Watson,” said he.
+
+      “What’s the matter, then?”
+
+      “The Brook Street business.”
+
+      “Any fresh news?”
+
+      “Tragic, but ambiguous,” said he, pulling up the blind. “Look at
+      this—a sheet from a note-book, with ‘For God’s sake come at
+      once—P.T.,’ scrawled upon it in pencil. Our friend, the doctor,
+      was hard put to it when he wrote this. Come along, my dear
+      fellow, for it’s an urgent call.”
+
+      In a quarter of an hour or so we were back at the physician’s
+      house. He came running out to meet us with a face of horror.
+
+      “Oh, such a business!” he cried, with his hands to his temples.
+
+      “What then?”
+
+      “Blessington has committed suicide!”
+
+      Holmes whistled.
+
+      “Yes, he hanged himself during the night.”
+
+      We had entered, and the doctor had preceded us into what was
+      evidently his waiting-room.
+
+      “I really hardly know what I am doing,” he cried. “The police are
+      already upstairs. It has shaken me most dreadfully.”
+
+      “When did you find it out?”
+
+      “He has a cup of tea taken in to him early every morning. When
+      the maid entered, about seven, there the unfortunate fellow was
+      hanging in the middle of the room. He had tied his cord to the
+      hook on which the heavy lamp used to hang, and he had jumped off
+      from the top of the very box that he showed us yesterday.”
+
+      Holmes stood for a moment in deep thought.
+
+      “With your permission,” said he at last, “I should like to go
+      upstairs and look into the matter.”
+
+      We both ascended, followed by the doctor.
+
+      It was a dreadful sight which met us as we entered the bedroom
+      door. I have spoken of the impression of flabbiness which this
+      man Blessington conveyed. As he dangled from the hook it was
+      exaggerated and intensified until he was scarce human in his
+      appearance. The neck was drawn out like a plucked chicken’s,
+      making the rest of him seem the more obese and unnatural by the
+      contrast. He was clad only in his long night-dress, and his
+      swollen ankles and ungainly feet protruded starkly from beneath
+      it. Beside him stood a smart-looking police-inspector, who was
+      taking notes in a pocket-book.
+
+      “Ah, Mr. Holmes,” said he, heartily, as my friend entered, “I am
+      delighted to see you.”
+
+      “Good-morning, Lanner,” answered Holmes; “you won’t think me an
+      intruder, I am sure. Have you heard of the events which led up to
+      this affair?”
+
+      “Yes, I heard something of them.”
+
+      “Have you formed any opinion?”
+
+      “As far as I can see, the man has been driven out of his senses
+      by fright. The bed has been well slept in, you see. There’s his
+      impression deep enough. It’s about five in the morning, you know,
+      that suicides are most common. That would be about his time for
+      hanging himself. It seems to have been a very deliberate affair.”
+
+      “I should say that he has been dead about three hours, judging by
+      the rigidity of the muscles,” said I.
+
+      “Noticed anything peculiar about the room?” asked Holmes.
+
+      “Found a screw-driver and some screws on the wash-hand stand.
+      Seems to have smoked heavily during the night, too. Here are four
+      cigar-ends that I picked out of the fireplace.”
+
+      “Hum!” said Holmes, “have you got his cigar-holder?”
+
+      “No, I have seen none.”
+
+      “His cigar-case, then?”
+
+      “Yes, it was in his coat-pocket.”
+
+      Holmes opened it and smelled the single cigar which it contained.
+
+      “Oh, this is a Havana, and these others are cigars of the
+      peculiar sort which are imported by the Dutch from their East
+      Indian colonies. They are usually wrapped in straw, you know, and
+      are thinner for their length than any other brand.” He picked up
+      the four ends and examined them with his pocket-lens.
+
+      “Two of these have been smoked from a holder and two without,”
+      said he. “Two have been cut by a not very sharp knife, and two
+      have had the ends bitten off by a set of excellent teeth. This is
+      no suicide, Mr. Lanner. It is a very deeply planned and
+      cold-blooded murder.”
+
+      “Impossible!” cried the inspector.
+
+      “And why?”
+
+      “Why should any one murder a man in so clumsy a fashion as by
+      hanging him?”
+
+      “That is what we have to find out.”
+
+      “How could they get in?”
+
+      “Through the front door.”
+
+      “It was barred in the morning.”
+
+      “Then it was barred after them.”
+
+      “How do you know?”
+
+      “I saw their traces. Excuse me a moment, and I may be able to
+      give you some further information about it.”
+
+      He went over to the door, and turning the lock he examined it in
+      his methodical way. Then he took out the key, which was on the
+      inside, and inspected that also. The bed, the carpet, the chairs,
+      the mantelpiece, the dead body, and the rope were each in turn
+      examined, until at last he professed himself satisfied, and with
+      my aid and that of the inspector cut down the wretched object and
+      laid it reverently under a sheet.
+
+      “How about this rope?” he asked.
+
+      “It is cut off this,” said Dr. Trevelyan, drawing a large coil
+      from under the bed. “He was morbidly nervous of fire, and always
+      kept this beside him, so that he might escape by the window in
+      case the stairs were burning.”
+
+      “That must have saved them trouble,” said Holmes, thoughtfully.
+      “Yes, the actual facts are very plain, and I shall be surprised
+      if by the afternoon I cannot give you the reasons for them as
+      well. I will take this photograph of Blessington, which I see
+      upon the mantelpiece, as it may help me in my inquiries.”
+
+      “But you have told us nothing!” cried the doctor.
+
+      “Oh, there can be no doubt as to the sequence of events,” said
+      Holmes. “There were three of them in it: the young man, the old
+      man, and a third, to whose identity I have no clue. The first
+      two, I need hardly remark, are the same who masqueraded as the
+      Russian count and his son, so we can give a very full description
+      of them. They were admitted by a confederate inside the house. If
+      I might offer you a word of advice, Inspector, it would be to
+      arrest the page, who, as I understand, has only recently come
+      into your service, Doctor.”
+
+      “The young imp cannot be found,” said Dr. Trevelyan; “the maid
+      and the cook have just been searching for him.”
+
+      Holmes shrugged his shoulders.
+
+      “He has played a not unimportant part in this drama,” said he.
+      “The three men having ascended the stairs, which they did on
+      tiptoe, the elder man first, the younger man second, and the
+      unknown man in the rear—”
+
+      “My dear Holmes!” I ejaculated.
+
+      “Oh, there could be no question as to the superimposing of the
+      footmarks. I had the advantage of learning which was which last
+      night. They ascended, then, to Mr. Blessington’s room, the door
+      of which they found to be locked. With the help of a wire,
+      however, they forced round the key. Even without the lens you
+      will perceive, by the scratches on this ward, where the pressure
+      was applied.
+
+      “On entering the room their first proceeding must have been to
+      gag Mr. Blessington. He may have been asleep, or he may have been
+      so paralyzed with terror as to have been unable to cry out. These
+      walls are thick, and it is conceivable that his shriek, if he had
+      time to utter one, was unheard.
+
+      “Having secured him, it is evident to me that a consultation of
+      some sort was held. Probably it was something in the nature of a
+      judicial proceeding. It must have lasted for some time, for it
+      was then that these cigars were smoked. The older man sat in that
+      wicker chair; it was he who used the cigar-holder. The younger
+      man sat over yonder; he knocked his ash off against the chest of
+      drawers. The third fellow paced up and down. Blessington, I
+      think, sat upright in the bed, but of that I cannot be absolutely
+      certain.
+
+      “Well, it ended by their taking Blessington and hanging him. The
+      matter was so prearranged that it is my belief that they brought
+      with them some sort of block or pulley which might serve as a
+      gallows. That screw-driver and those screws were, as I conceive,
+      for fixing it up. Seeing the hook, however they naturally saved
+      themselves the trouble. Having finished their work they made off,
+      and the door was barred behind them by their confederate.”
+
+      We had all listened with the deepest interest to this sketch of
+      the night’s doings, which Holmes had deduced from signs so subtle
+      and minute that, even when he had pointed them out to us, we
+      could scarcely follow him in his reasoning. The inspector hurried
+      away on the instant to make inquiries about the page, while
+      Holmes and I returned to Baker Street for breakfast.
+
+      “I’ll be back by three,” said he, when we had finished our meal.
+      “Both the inspector and the doctor will meet me here at that
+      hour, and I hope by that time to have cleared up any little
+      obscurity which the case may still present.”
+
+      Our visitors arrived at the appointed time, but it was a quarter
+      to four before my friend put in an appearance. From his
+      expression as he entered, however, I could see that all had gone
+      well with him.
+
+      “Any news, Inspector?”
+
+      “We have got the boy, sir.”
+
+      “Excellent, and I have got the men.”
+
+      “You have got them!” we cried, all three.
+
+      “Well, at least I have got their identity. This so-called
+      Blessington is, as I expected, well known at headquarters, and so
+      are his assailants. Their names are Biddle, Hayward, and Moffat.”
+
+      “The Worthingdon bank gang,” cried the inspector.
+
+      “Precisely,” said Holmes.
+
+      “Then Blessington must have been Sutton.”
+
+      “Exactly,” said Holmes.
+
+      “Why, that makes it as clear as crystal,” said the inspector.
+
+      But Trevelyan and I looked at each other in bewilderment.
+
+      “You must surely remember the great Worthingdon bank business,”
+      said Holmes. “Five men were in it—these four and a fifth called
+      Cartwright. Tobin, the caretaker, was murdered, and the thieves
+      got away with seven thousand pounds. This was in 1875. They were
+      all five arrested, but the evidence against them was by no means
+      conclusive. This Blessington or Sutton, who was the worst of the
+      gang, turned informer. On his evidence Cartwright was hanged and
+      the other three got fifteen years apiece. When they got out the
+      other day, which was some years before their full term, they set
+      themselves, as you perceive, to hunt down the traitor and to
+      avenge the death of their comrade upon him. Twice they tried to
+      get at him and failed; a third time, you see, it came off. Is
+      there anything further which I can explain, Dr. Trevelyan?”
+
+      “I think you have made it all remarkably clear,” said the doctor.
+      “No doubt the day on which he was perturbed was the day when he
+      had seen of their release in the newspapers.”
+
+      “Quite so. His talk about a burglary was the merest blind.”
+
+      “But why could he not tell you this?”
+
+      “Well, my dear sir, knowing the vindictive character of his old
+      associates, he was trying to hide his own identity from everybody
+      as long as he could. His secret was a shameful one, and he could
+      not bring himself to divulge it. However, wretch as he was, he
+      was still living under the shield of British law, and I have no
+      doubt, Inspector, that you will see that, though that shield may
+      fail to guard, the sword of justice is still there to avenge.”
+
+      Such were the singular circumstances in connection with the
+      Resident Patient and the Brook Street Doctor. From that night
+      nothing has been seen of the three murderers by the police, and
+      it is surmised at Scotland Yard that they were among the
+      passengers of the ill-fated steamer _Norah Creina_, which was
+      lost some years ago with all hands upon the Portuguese coast,
+      some leagues to the north of Oporto. The proceedings against the
+      page broke down for want of evidence, and the Brook Street
+      Mystery, as it was called, has never until now been fully dealt
+      with in any public print.
+
+
+
+
+X. The Greek Interpreter
+
+
+      During my long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. Sherlock Holmes
+      I had never heard him refer to his relations, and hardly ever to
+      his own early life. This reticence upon his part had increased
+      the somewhat inhuman effect which he produced upon me, until
+      sometimes I found myself regarding him as an isolated phenomenon,
+      a brain without a heart, as deficient in human sympathy as he was
+      pre-eminent in intelligence. His aversion to women and his
+      disinclination to form new friendships were both typical of his
+      unemotional character, but not more so than his complete
+      suppression of every reference to his own people. I had come to
+      believe that he was an orphan with no relatives living, but one
+      day, to my very great surprise, he began to talk to me about his
+      brother.
+
+      It was after tea on a summer evening, and the conversation, which
+      had roamed in a desultory, spasmodic fashion from golf clubs to
+      the causes of the change in the obliquity of the ecliptic, came
+      round at last to the question of atavism and hereditary
+      aptitudes. The point under discussion was, how far any singular
+      gift in an individual was due to his ancestry and how far to his
+      own early training.
+
+      “In your own case,” said I, “from all that you have told me, it
+      seems obvious that your faculty of observation and your peculiar
+      facility for deduction are due to your own systematic training.”
+
+      “To some extent,” he answered, thoughtfully. “My ancestors were
+      country squires, who appear to have led much the same life as is
+      natural to their class. But, none the less, my turn that way is
+      in my veins, and may have come with my grandmother, who was the
+      sister of Vernet, the French artist. Art in the blood is liable
+      to take the strangest forms.”
+
+      “But how do you know that it is hereditary?”
+
+      “Because my brother Mycroft possesses it in a larger degree than
+      I do.”
+
+      This was news to me indeed. If there were another man with such
+      singular powers in England, how was it that neither police nor
+      public had heard of him? I put the question, with a hint that it
+      was my companion’s modesty which made him acknowledge his brother
+      as his superior. Holmes laughed at my suggestion.
+
+      “My dear Watson,” said he, “I cannot agree with those who rank
+      modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be
+      seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one’s self is as
+      much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers.
+      When I say, therefore, that Mycroft has better powers of
+      observation than I, you may take it that I am speaking the exact
+      and literal truth.”
+
+      “Is he your junior?”
+
+      “Seven years my senior.”
+
+      “How comes it that he is unknown?”
+
+      “Oh, he is very well known in his own circle.”
+
+      “Where, then?”
+
+      “Well, in the Diogenes Club, for example.”
+
+      I had never heard of the institution, and my face must have
+      proclaimed as much, for Sherlock Holmes pulled out his watch.
+
+      “The Diogenes Club is the queerest club in London, and Mycroft
+      one of the queerest men. He’s always there from quarter to five
+      to twenty to eight. It’s six now, so if you care for a stroll
+      this beautiful evening I shall be very happy to introduce you to
+      two curiosities.”
+
+      Five minutes later we were in the street, walking towards
+      Regent’s Circus.
+
+      “You wonder,” said my companion, “why it is that Mycroft does not
+      use his powers for detective work. He is incapable of it.”
+
+      “But I thought you said—”
+
+      “I said that he was my superior in observation and deduction. If
+      the art of the detective began and ended in reasoning from an
+      armchair, my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that
+      ever lived. But he has no ambition and no energy. He will not
+      even go out of his way to verify his own solutions, and would
+      rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself
+      right. Again and again I have taken a problem to him, and have
+      received an explanation which has afterwards proved to be the
+      correct one. And yet he was absolutely incapable of working out
+      the practical points which must be gone into before a case could
+      be laid before a judge or jury.”
+
+      “It is not his profession, then?”
+
+      “By no means. What is to me a means of livelihood is to him the
+      merest hobby of a dilettante. He has an extraordinary faculty for
+      figures, and audits the books in some of the government
+      departments. Mycroft lodges in Pall Mall, and he walks round the
+      corner into Whitehall every morning and back every evening. From
+      year’s end to year’s end he takes no other exercise, and is seen
+      nowhere else, except only in the Diogenes Club, which is just
+      opposite his rooms.”
+
+      “I cannot recall the name.”
+
+      “Very likely not. There are many men in London, you know, who,
+      some from shyness, some from misanthropy, have no wish for the
+      company of their fellows. Yet they are not averse to comfortable
+      chairs and the latest periodicals. It is for the convenience of
+      these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the
+      most unsociable and unclubable men in town. No member is
+      permitted to take the least notice of any other one. Save in the
+      Stranger’s Room, no talking is, under any circumstances, allowed,
+      and three offences, if brought to the notice of the committee,
+      render the talker liable to expulsion. My brother was one of the
+      founders, and I have myself found it a very soothing atmosphere.”
+
+      We had reached Pall Mall as we talked, and were walking down it
+      from the St. James’s end. Sherlock Holmes stopped at a door some
+      little distance from the Carlton, and, cautioning me not to
+      speak, he led the way into the hall. Through the glass paneling I
+      caught a glimpse of a large and luxurious room, in which a
+      considerable number of men were sitting about and reading papers,
+      each in his own little nook. Holmes showed me into a small
+      chamber which looked out into Pall Mall, and then, leaving me for
+      a minute, he came back with a companion whom I knew could only be
+      his brother.
+
+      Mycroft Holmes was a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock.
+      His body was absolutely corpulent, but his face, though massive,
+      had preserved something of the sharpness of expression which was
+      so remarkable in that of his brother. His eyes, which were of a
+      peculiarly light, watery grey, seemed to always retain that
+      far-away, introspective look which I had only observed in
+      Sherlock’s when he was exerting his full powers.
+
+      “I am glad to meet you, sir,” said he, putting out a broad, fat
+      hand like the flipper of a seal. “I hear of Sherlock everywhere
+      since you became his chronicler. By the way, Sherlock, I expected
+      to see you round last week, to consult me over that Manor House
+      case. I thought you might be a little out of your depth.”
+
+      “No, I solved it,” said my friend, smiling.
+
+      “It was Adams, of course.”
+
+      “Yes, it was Adams.”
+
+      “I was sure of it from the first.” The two sat down together in
+      the bow-window of the club. “To any one who wishes to study
+      mankind this is the spot,” said Mycroft. “Look at the magnificent
+      types! Look at these two men who are coming towards us, for
+      example.”
+
+      “The billiard-marker and the other?”
+
+      “Precisely. What do you make of the other?”
+
+      The two men had stopped opposite the window. Some chalk marks
+      over the waistcoat pocket were the only signs of billiards which
+      I could see in one of them. The other was a very small, dark
+      fellow, with his hat pushed back and several packages under his
+      arm.
+
+      “An old soldier, I perceive,” said Sherlock.
+
+      “And very recently discharged,” remarked the brother.
+
+      “Served in India, I see.”
+
+      “And a non-commissioned officer.”
+
+      “Royal Artillery, I fancy,” said Sherlock.
+
+      “And a widower.”
+
+      “But with a child.”
+
+      “Children, my dear boy, children.”
+
+      “Come,” said I, laughing, “this is a little too much.”
+
+      “Surely,” answered Holmes, “it is not hard to say that a man with
+      that bearing, expression of authority, and sunbaked skin, is a
+      soldier, is more than a private, and is not long from India.”
+
+      “That he has not left the service long is shown by his still
+      wearing his ammunition boots, as they are called,” observed
+      Mycroft.
+
+      “He had not the cavalry stride, yet he wore his hat on one side,
+      as is shown by the lighter skin of that side of his brow. His
+      weight is against his being a sapper. He is in the artillery.”
+
+      “Then, of course, his complete mourning shows that he has lost
+      some one very dear. The fact that he is doing his own shopping
+      looks as though it were his wife. He has been buying things for
+      children, you perceive. There is a rattle, which shows that one
+      of them is very young. The wife probably died in childbed. The
+      fact that he has a picture-book under his arm shows that there is
+      another child to be thought of.”
+
+      I began to understand what my friend meant when he said that his
+      brother possessed even keener faculties that he did himself. He
+      glanced across at me and smiled. Mycroft took snuff from a
+      tortoise-shell box, and brushed away the wandering grains from
+      his coat front with a large, red silk handkerchief.
+
+      “By the way, Sherlock,” said he, “I have had something quite
+      after your own heart—a most singular problem—submitted to my
+      judgment. I really had not the energy to follow it up save in a
+      very incomplete fashion, but it gave me a basis for some pleasing
+      speculation. If you would care to hear the facts—”
+
+      “My dear Mycroft, I should be delighted.”
+
+      The brother scribbled a note upon a leaf of his pocket-book, and,
+      ringing the bell, he handed it to the waiter.
+
+      “I have asked Mr. Melas to step across,” said he. “He lodges on
+      the floor above me, and I have some slight acquaintance with him,
+      which led him to come to me in his perplexity. Mr. Melas is a
+      Greek by extraction, as I understand, and he is a remarkable
+      linguist. He earns his living partly as interpreter in the law
+      courts and partly by acting as guide to any wealthy Orientals who
+      may visit the Northumberland Avenue hotels. I think I will leave
+      him to tell his very remarkable experience in his own fashion.”
+
+      A few minutes later we were joined by a short, stout man whose
+      olive face and coal-black hair proclaimed his Southern origin,
+      though his speech was that of an educated Englishman. He shook
+      hands eagerly with Sherlock Holmes, and his dark eyes sparkled
+      with pleasure when he understood that the specialist was anxious
+      to hear his story.
+
+      “I do not believe that the police credit me—on my word, I do
+      not,” said he in a wailing voice. “Just because they have never
+      heard of it before, they think that such a thing cannot be. But I
+      know that I shall never be easy in my mind until I know what has
+      become of my poor man with the sticking-plaster upon his face.”
+
+      “I am all attention,” said Sherlock Holmes.
+
+      “This is Wednesday evening,” said Mr. Melas. “Well then, it was
+      Monday night—only two days ago, you understand—that all this
+      happened. I am an interpreter, as perhaps my neighbour there has
+      told you. I interpret all languages—or nearly all—but as I am a
+      Greek by birth and with a Grecian name, it is with that
+      particular tongue that I am principally associated. For many
+      years I have been the chief Greek interpreter in London, and my
+      name is very well known in the hotels.
+
+      “It happens not unfrequently that I am sent for at strange hours
+      by foreigners who get into difficulties, or by travelers who
+      arrive late and wish my services. I was not surprised, therefore,
+      on Monday night when a Mr. Latimer, a very fashionably dressed
+      young man, came up to my rooms and asked me to accompany him in a
+      cab which was waiting at the door. A Greek friend had come to see
+      him upon business, he said, and as he could speak nothing but his
+      own tongue, the services of an interpreter were indispensable. He
+      gave me to understand that his house was some little distance
+      off, in Kensington, and he seemed to be in a great hurry,
+      bustling me rapidly into the cab when we had descended to the
+      street.
+
+      “I say into the cab, but I soon became doubtful as to whether it
+      was not a carriage in which I found myself. It was certainly more
+      roomy than the ordinary four-wheeled disgrace to London, and the
+      fittings, though frayed, were of rich quality. Mr. Latimer seated
+      himself opposite to me and we started off through Charing Cross
+      and up the Shaftesbury Avenue. We had come out upon Oxford Street
+      and I had ventured some remark as to this being a roundabout way
+      to Kensington, when my words were arrested by the extraordinary
+      conduct of my companion.
+
+      “He began by drawing a most formidable-looking bludgeon loaded
+      with lead from his pocket, and switching it backward and forward
+      several times, as if to test its weight and strength. Then he
+      placed it without a word upon the seat beside him. Having done
+      this, he drew up the windows on each side, and I found to my
+      astonishment that they were covered with paper so as to prevent
+      my seeing through them.
+
+      “‘I am sorry to cut off your view, Mr. Melas,’ said he. ‘The fact
+      is that I have no intention that you should see what the place is
+      to which we are driving. It might possibly be inconvenient to me
+      if you could find your way there again.’
+
+      “As you can imagine, I was utterly taken aback by such an
+      address. My companion was a powerful, broad-shouldered young
+      fellow, and, apart from the weapon, I should not have had the
+      slightest chance in a struggle with him.
+
+      “‘This is very extraordinary conduct, Mr. Latimer,’ I stammered.
+      ‘You must be aware that what you are doing is quite illegal.’
+
+      “‘It is somewhat of a liberty, no doubt,’ said he, ‘but we’ll
+      make it up to you. I must warn you, however, Mr. Melas, that if
+      at any time to-night you attempt to raise an alarm or do anything
+      which is against my interests, you will find it a very serious
+      thing. I beg you to remember that no one knows where you are, and
+      that, whether you are in this carriage or in my house, you are
+      equally in my power.’
+
+      “His words were quiet, but he had a rasping way of saying them
+      which was very menacing. I sat in silence wondering what on earth
+      could be his reason for kidnapping me in this extraordinary
+      fashion. Whatever it might be, it was perfectly clear that there
+      was no possible use in my resisting, and that I could only wait
+      to see what might befall.
+
+      “For nearly two hours we drove without my having the least clue
+      as to where we were going. Sometimes the rattle of the stones
+      told of a paved causeway, and at others our smooth, silent course
+      suggested asphalt; but, save by this variation in sound, there
+      was nothing at all which could in the remotest way help me to
+      form a guess as to where we were. The paper over each window was
+      impenetrable to light, and a blue curtain was drawn across the
+      glass work in front. It was a quarter-past seven when we left
+      Pall Mall, and my watch showed me that it was ten minutes to nine
+      when we at last came to a standstill. My companion let down the
+      window, and I caught a glimpse of a low, arched doorway with a
+      lamp burning above it. As I was hurried from the carriage it
+      swung open, and I found myself inside the house, with a vague
+      impression of a lawn and trees on each side of me as I entered.
+      Whether these were private grounds, however, or _bonâ-fide_
+      country was more than I could possibly venture to say.
+
+      “There was a coloured gas-lamp inside which was turned so low
+      that I could see little save that the hall was of some size and
+      hung with pictures. In the dim light I could make out that the
+      person who had opened the door was a small, mean-looking,
+      middle-aged man with rounded shoulders. As he turned towards us
+      the glint of the light showed me that he was wearing glasses.
+
+      “‘Is this Mr. Melas, Harold?’ said he.
+
+      “‘Yes.’
+
+      “‘Well done, well done! No ill-will, Mr. Melas, I hope, but we
+      could not get on without you. If you deal fair with us you’ll not
+      regret it, but if you try any tricks, God help you!’
+
+      He spoke in a nervous, jerky fashion, and with little giggling
+      laughs in between, but somehow he impressed me with fear more
+      than the other.
+
+      “‘What do you want with me?’ I asked.
+
+      “‘Only to ask a few questions of a Greek gentleman who is
+      visiting us, and to let us have the answers. But say no more than
+      you are told to say, or’—here came the nervous giggle again—‘you
+      had better never have been born.’
+
+      “As he spoke he opened a door and showed the way into a room
+      which appeared to be very richly furnished, but again the only
+      light was afforded by a single lamp half-turned down. The chamber
+      was certainly large, and the way in which my feet sank into the
+      carpet as I stepped across it told me of its richness. I caught
+      glimpses of velvet chairs, a high white marble mantel-piece, and
+      what seemed to be a suit of Japanese armour at one side of it.
+      There was a chair just under the lamp, and the elderly man
+      motioned that I should sit in it. The younger had left us, but he
+      suddenly returned through another door, leading with him a
+      gentleman clad in some sort of loose dressing-gown who moved
+      slowly towards us. As he came into the circle of dim light which
+      enables me to see him more clearly I was thrilled with horror at
+      his appearance. He was deadly pale and terribly emaciated, with
+      the protruding, brilliant eyes of a man whose spirit was greater
+      than his strength. But what shocked me more than any signs of
+      physical weakness was that his face was grotesquely criss-crossed
+      with sticking-plaster, and that one large pad of it was fastened
+      over his mouth.
+
+      “‘Have you the slate, Harold?’ cried the older man, as this
+      strange being fell rather than sat down into a chair. ‘Are his
+      hands loose? Now, then, give him the pencil. You are to ask the
+      questions, Mr. Melas, and he will write the answers. Ask him
+      first of all whether he is prepared to sign the papers?’
+
+      “The man’s eyes flashed fire.
+
+      “‘Never!’ he wrote in Greek upon the slate.
+
+      “‘On no condition?’ I asked, at the bidding of our tyrant.
+
+      “‘Only if I see her married in my presence by a Greek priest whom
+      I know.’
+
+      “The man giggled in his venomous way.
+
+      “‘You know what awaits you, then?’
+
+      “‘I care nothing for myself.’
+
+      “These are samples of the questions and answers which made up our
+      strange half-spoken, half-written conversation. Again and again I
+      had to ask him whether he would give in and sign the documents.
+      Again and again I had the same indignant reply. But soon a happy
+      thought came to me. I took to adding on little sentences of my
+      own to each question, innocent ones at first, to test whether
+      either of our companions knew anything of the matter, and then,
+      as I found that they showed no signs I played a more dangerous
+      game. Our conversation ran something like this:
+
+      “‘You can do no good by this obstinacy. _Who are you?_’
+
+      “‘I care not. _I am a stranger in London._’
+
+      “‘Your fate will be upon your own head. _How long have you been
+      here?_’
+
+      “‘Let it be so. _Three weeks._’
+
+      “‘The property can never be yours. _What ails you?_’
+
+      “‘It shall not go to villains. _They are starving me._’
+
+      “‘You shall go free if you sign. _What house is this?_’
+
+      “‘I will never sign. _I do not know._’
+
+      “‘You are not doing her any service. _What is your name?_’
+
+      “‘Let me hear her say so. _Kratides._’
+
+      “‘You shall see her if you sign. _Where are you from?_’
+
+      “‘Then I shall never see her. _Athens._’
+
+      “Another five minutes, Mr. Holmes, and I should have wormed out
+      the whole story under their very noses. My very next question
+      might have cleared the matter up, but at that instant the door
+      opened and a woman stepped into the room. I could not see her
+      clearly enough to know more than that she was tall and graceful,
+      with black hair, and clad in some sort of loose white gown.
+
+      “‘Harold,’ said she, speaking English with a broken accent. ‘I
+      could not stay away longer. It is so lonely up there with
+      only—Oh, my God, it is Paul!’
+
+      “These last words were in Greek, and at the same instant the man
+      with a convulsive effort tore the plaster from his lips, and
+      screaming out ‘Sophy! Sophy!’ rushed into the woman’s arms. Their
+      embrace was but for an instant, however, for the younger man
+      seized the woman and pushed her out of the room, while the elder
+      easily overpowered his emaciated victim, and dragged him away
+      through the other door. For a moment I was left alone in the
+      room, and I sprang to my feet with some vague idea that I might
+      in some way get a clue to what this house was in which I found
+      myself. Fortunately, however, I took no steps, for looking up I
+      saw that the older man was standing in the doorway with his eyes
+      fixed upon me.
+
+      “‘That will do, Mr. Melas,’ said he. ‘You perceive that we have
+      taken you into our confidence over some very private business. We
+      should not have troubled you, only that our friend who speaks
+      Greek and who began these negotiations has been forced to return
+      to the East. It was quite necessary for us to find some one to
+      take his place, and we were fortunate in hearing of your powers.’
+
+      “I bowed.
+
+      “‘There are five sovereigns here,’ said he, walking up to me,
+      ‘which will, I hope, be a sufficient fee. But remember,’ he
+      added, tapping me lightly on the chest and giggling, ‘if you
+      speak to a human soul about this—one human soul, mind—well, may
+      God have mercy upon your soul!”
+
+      “I cannot tell you the loathing and horror with which this
+      insignificant-looking man inspired me. I could see him better now
+      as the lamp-light shone upon him. His features were peaky and
+      sallow, and his little pointed beard was thready and
+      ill-nourished. He pushed his face forward as he spoke and his
+      lips and eyelids were continually twitching like a man with St.
+      Vitus’s dance. I could not help thinking that his strange, catchy
+      little laugh was also a symptom of some nervous malady. The
+      terror of his face lay in his eyes, however, steel grey, and
+      glistening coldly with a malignant, inexorable cruelty in their
+      depths.
+
+      “‘We shall know if you speak of this,’ said he. ‘We have our own
+      means of information. Now you will find the carriage waiting, and
+      my friend will see you on your way.’
+
+      “I was hurried through the hall and into the vehicle, again
+      obtaining that momentary glimpse of trees and a garden. Mr.
+      Latimer followed closely at my heels, and took his place opposite
+      to me without a word. In silence we again drove for an
+      interminable distance with the windows raised, until at last,
+      just after midnight, the carriage pulled up.
+
+      “‘You will get down here, Mr. Melas,’ said my companion. ‘I am
+      sorry to leave you so far from your house, but there is no
+      alternative. Any attempt upon your part to follow the carriage
+      can only end in injury to yourself.’
+
+      “He opened the door as he spoke, and I had hardly time to spring
+      out when the coachman lashed the horse and the carriage rattled
+      away. I looked around me in astonishment. I was on some sort of a
+      heathy common mottled over with dark clumps of furze-bushes. Far
+      away stretched a line of houses, with a light here and there in
+      the upper windows. On the other side I saw the red signal-lamps
+      of a railway.
+
+      “The carriage which had brought me was already out of sight. I
+      stood gazing round and wondering where on earth I might be, when
+      I saw some one coming towards me in the darkness. As he came up
+      to me I made out that he was a railway porter.
+
+      “‘Can you tell me what place this is?’ I asked.
+
+      “‘Wandsworth Common,’ said he.
+
+      “‘Can I get a train into town?’
+
+      “‘If you walk on a mile or so to Clapham Junction,’ said he,
+      ‘you’ll just be in time for the last to Victoria.’
+
+      “So that was the end of my adventure, Mr. Holmes. I do not know
+      where I was, nor whom I spoke with, nor anything save what I have
+      told you. But I know that there is foul play going on, and I want
+      to help that unhappy man if I can. I told the whole story to Mr.
+      Mycroft Holmes next morning, and subsequently to the police.”
+
+      We all sat in silence for some little time after listening to
+      this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock looked across at his
+      brother.
+
+      “Any steps?” he asked.
+
+      Mycroft picked up the _Daily News_, which was lying on the
+      side-table.
+
+      “‘Anybody supplying any information to the whereabouts of a Greek
+      gentleman named Paul Kratides, from Athens, who is unable to
+      speak English, will be rewarded. A similar reward paid to any one
+      giving information about a Greek lady whose first name is Sophy.
+      X 2473.’ That was in all the dailies. No answer.”
+
+      “How about the Greek Legation?”
+
+      “I have inquired. They know nothing.”
+
+      “A wire to the head of the Athens police, then?”
+
+      “Sherlock has all the energy of the family,” said Mycroft,
+      turning to me. “Well, you take the case up by all means, and let
+      me know if you do any good.”
+
+      “Certainly,” answered my friend, rising from his chair. “I’ll let
+      you know, and Mr. Melas also. In the meantime, Mr. Melas, I
+      should certainly be on my guard, if I were you, for of course
+      they must know through these advertisements that you have
+      betrayed them.”
+
+      As we walked home together, Holmes stopped at a telegraph office
+      and sent off several wires.
+
+      “You see, Watson,” he remarked, “our evening has been by no means
+      wasted. Some of my most interesting cases have come to me in this
+      way through Mycroft. The problem which we have just listened to,
+      although it can admit of but one explanation, has still some
+      distinguishing features.”
+
+      “You have hopes of solving it?”
+
+      “Well, knowing as much as we do, it will be singular indeed if we
+      fail to discover the rest. You must yourself have formed some
+      theory which will explain the facts to which we have listened.”
+
+      “In a vague way, yes.”
+
+      “What was your idea, then?”
+
+      “It seemed to me to be obvious that this Greek girl had been
+      carried off by the young Englishman named Harold Latimer.”
+
+      “Carried off from where?”
+
+      “Athens, perhaps.”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes shook his head. “This young man could not talk a
+      word of Greek. The lady could talk English fairly well.
+      Inference, that she had been in England some little time, but he
+      had not been in Greece.”
+
+      “Well, then, we will presume that she had come on a visit to
+      England, and that this Harold had persuaded her to fly with him.”
+
+      “That is more probable.”
+
+      “Then the brother—for that, I fancy, must be the
+      relationship—comes over from Greece to interfere. He imprudently
+      puts himself into the power of the young man and his older
+      associate. They seize him and use violence towards him in order
+      to make him sign some papers to make over the girl’s fortune—of
+      which he may be trustee—to them. This he refuses to do. In order
+      to negotiate with him they have to get an interpreter, and they
+      pitch upon this Mr. Melas, having used some other one before. The
+      girl is not told of the arrival of her brother, and finds it out
+      by the merest accident.”
+
+      “Excellent, Watson!” cried Holmes. “I really fancy that you are
+      not far from the truth. You see that we hold all the cards, and
+      we have only to fear some sudden act of violence on their part.
+      If they give us time we must have them.”
+
+      “But how can we find where this house lies?”
+
+      “Well, if our conjecture is correct and the girl’s name is or was
+      Sophy Kratides, we should have no difficulty in tracing her. That
+      must be our main hope, for the brother is, of course, a complete
+      stranger. It is clear that some time has elapsed since this
+      Harold established these relations with the girl—some weeks, at
+      any rate—since the brother in Greece has had time to hear of it
+      and come across. If they have been living in the same place
+      during this time, it is probable that we shall have some answer
+      to Mycroft’s advertisement.”
+
+      We had reached our house in Baker Street while we had been
+      talking. Holmes ascended the stair first, and as he opened the
+      door of our room he gave a start of surprise. Looking over his
+      shoulder, I was equally astonished. His brother Mycroft was
+      sitting smoking in the armchair.
+
+      “Come in, Sherlock! Come in, sir,” said he blandly, smiling at
+      our surprised faces. “You don’t expect such energy from me, do
+      you, Sherlock? But somehow this case attracts me.”
+
+      “How did you get here?”
+
+      “I passed you in a hansom.”
+
+      “There has been some new development?”
+
+      “I had an answer to my advertisement.”
+
+      “Ah!”
+
+      “Yes, it came within a few minutes of your leaving.”
+
+      “And to what effect?”
+
+      Mycroft Holmes took out a sheet of paper.
+
+      “Here it is,” said he, “written with a J pen on royal cream paper
+      by a middle-aged man with a weak constitution. ‘Sir,’ he says,
+      ‘in answer to your advertisement of to-day’s date, I beg to
+      inform you that I know the young lady in question very well. If
+      you should care to call upon me I could give you some particulars
+      as to her painful history. She is living at present at The
+      Myrtles, Beckenham. Yours faithfully, J. Davenport.’
+
+      “He writes from Lower Brixton,” said Mycroft Holmes. “Do you not
+      think that we might drive to him now, Sherlock, and learn these
+      particulars?”
+
+      “My dear Mycroft, the brother’s life is more valuable than the
+      sister’s story. I think we should call at Scotland Yard for
+      Inspector Gregson, and go straight out to Beckenham. We know that
+      a man is being done to death, and every hour may be vital.”
+
+      “Better pick up Mr. Melas on our way,” I suggested. “We may need
+      an interpreter.”
+
+      “Excellent,” said Sherlock Holmes. “Send the boy for a
+      four-wheeler, and we shall be off at once.” He opened the
+      table-drawer as he spoke, and I noticed that he slipped his
+      revolver into his pocket. “Yes,” said he, in answer to my glance;
+      “I should say from what we have heard, that we are dealing with a
+      particularly dangerous gang.”
+
+      It was almost dark before we found ourselves in Pall Mall, at the
+      rooms of Mr. Melas. A gentleman had just called for him, and he
+      was gone.
+
+      “Can you tell me where?” asked Mycroft Holmes.
+
+      “I don’t know, sir,” answered the woman who had opened the door;
+      “I only know that he drove away with the gentleman in a
+      carriage.”
+
+      “Did the gentleman give a name?”
+
+      “No, sir.”
+
+      “He wasn’t a tall, handsome, dark young man?”
+
+      “Oh, no, sir. He was a little gentleman, with glasses, thin in
+      the face, but very pleasant in his ways, for he was laughing all
+      the time that he was talking.”
+
+      “Come along!” cried Sherlock Holmes, abruptly. “This grows
+      serious,” he observed, as we drove to Scotland Yard. “These men
+      have got hold of Melas again. He is a man of no physical courage,
+      as they are well aware from their experience the other night.
+      This villain was able to terrorise him the instant that he got
+      into his presence. No doubt they want his professional services,
+      but, having used him, they may be inclined to punish him for what
+      they will regard as his treachery.”
+
+      Our hope was that, by taking train, we might get to Beckenham as
+      soon or sooner than the carriage. On reaching Scotland Yard,
+      however, it was more than an hour before we could get Inspector
+      Gregson and comply with the legal formalities which would enable
+      us to enter the house. It was a quarter to ten before we reached
+      London Bridge, and half past before the four of us alighted on
+      the Beckenham platform. A drive of half a mile brought us to The
+      Myrtles—a large, dark house standing back from the road in its
+      own grounds. Here we dismissed our cab, and made our way up the
+      drive together.
+
+      “The windows are all dark,” remarked the inspector. “The house
+      seems deserted.”
+
+      “Our birds are flown and the nest empty,” said Holmes.
+
+      “Why do you say so?”
+
+      “A carriage heavily loaded with luggage has passed out during the
+      last hour.”
+
+      The inspector laughed. “I saw the wheel-tracks in the light of
+      the gate-lamp, but where does the luggage come in?”
+
+      “You may have observed the same wheel-tracks going the other way.
+      But the outward-bound ones were very much deeper—so much so that
+      we can say for a certainty that there was a very considerable
+      weight on the carriage.”
+
+      “You get a trifle beyond me there,” said the inspector, shrugging
+      his shoulder. “It will not be an easy door to force, but we will
+      try if we cannot make some one hear us.”
+
+      He hammered loudly at the knocker and pulled at the bell, but
+      without any success. Holmes had slipped away, but he came back in
+      a few minutes.
+
+      “I have a window open,” said he.
+
+      “It is a mercy that you are on the side of the force, and not
+      against it, Mr. Holmes,” remarked the inspector, as he noted the
+      clever way in which my friend had forced back the catch. “Well, I
+      think that under the circumstances we may enter without an
+      invitation.”
+
+      One after the other we made our way into a large apartment, which
+      was evidently that in which Mr. Melas had found himself. The
+      inspector had lit his lantern, and by its light we could see the
+      two doors, the curtain, the lamp, and the suit of Japanese mail
+      as he had described them. On the table lay two glasses, and empty
+      brandy-bottle, and the remains of a meal.
+
+      “What is that?” asked Holmes, suddenly.
+
+      We all stood still and listened. A low moaning sound was coming
+      from somewhere over our heads. Holmes rushed to the door and out
+      into the hall. The dismal noise came from upstairs. He dashed up,
+      the inspector and I at his heels, while his brother Mycroft
+      followed as quickly as his great bulk would permit.
+
+      Three doors faced up upon the second floor, and it was from the
+      central of these that the sinister sounds were issuing, sinking
+      sometimes into a dull mumble and rising again into a shrill
+      whine. It was locked, but the key had been left on the outside.
+      Holmes flung open the door and rushed in, but he was out again in
+      an instant, with his hand to his throat.
+
+      “It’s charcoal,” he cried. “Give it time. It will clear.”
+
+      Peering in, we could see that the only light in the room came
+      from a dull blue flame which flickered from a small brass tripod
+      in the centre. It threw a livid, unnatural circle upon the floor,
+      while in the shadows beyond we saw the vague loom of two figures
+      which crouched against the wall. From the open door there reeked
+      a horrible poisonous exhalation which set us gasping and
+      coughing. Holmes rushed to the top of the stairs to draw in the
+      fresh air, and then, dashing into the room, he threw up the
+      window and hurled the brazen tripod out into the garden.
+
+      “We can enter in a minute,” he gasped, darting out again. “Where
+      is a candle? I doubt if we could strike a match in that
+      atmosphere. Hold the light at the door and we shall get them out,
+      Mycroft, now!”
+
+      With a rush we got to the poisoned men and dragged them out into
+      the well-lit hall. Both of them were blue-lipped and insensible,
+      with swollen, congested faces and protruding eyes. Indeed, so
+      distorted were their features that, save for his black beard and
+      stout figure, we might have failed to recognise in one of them
+      the Greek interpreter who had parted from us only a few hours
+      before at the Diogenes Club. His hands and feet were securely
+      strapped together, and he bore over one eye the marks of a
+      violent blow. The other, who was secured in a similar fashion,
+      was a tall man in the last stage of emaciation, with several
+      strips of sticking-plaster arranged in a grotesque pattern over
+      his face. He had ceased to moan as we laid him down, and a glance
+      showed me that for him at least our aid had come too late. Mr.
+      Melas, however, still lived, and in less than an hour, with the
+      aid of ammonia and brandy I had the satisfaction of seeing him
+      open his eyes, and of knowing that my hand had drawn him back
+      from that dark valley in which all paths meet.
+
+      It was a simple story which he had to tell, and one which did but
+      confirm our own deductions. His visitor, on entering his rooms,
+      had drawn a life-preserver from his sleeve, and had so impressed
+      him with the fear of instant and inevitable death that he had
+      kidnapped him for the second time. Indeed, it was almost
+      mesmeric, the effect which this giggling ruffian had produced
+      upon the unfortunate linguist, for he could not speak of him save
+      with trembling hands and a blanched cheek. He had been taken
+      swiftly to Beckenham, and had acted as interpreter in a second
+      interview, even more dramatic than the first, in which the two
+      Englishmen had menaced their prisoner with instant death if he
+      did not comply with their demands. Finally, finding him proof
+      against every threat, they had hurled him back into his prison,
+      and after reproaching Melas with his treachery, which appeared
+      from the newspaper advertisement, they had stunned him with a
+      blow from a stick, and he remembered nothing more until he found
+      us bending over him.
+
+      And this was the singular case of the Grecian Interpreter, the
+      explanation of which is still involved in some mystery. We were
+      able to find out, by communicating with the gentleman who had
+      answered the advertisement, that the unfortunate young lady came
+      of a wealthy Grecian family, and that she had been on a visit to
+      some friends in England. While there she had met a young man
+      named Harold Latimer, who had acquired an ascendancy over her and
+      had eventually persuaded her to fly with him. Her friends,
+      shocked at the event, had contented themselves with informing her
+      brother at Athens, and had then washed their hands of the matter.
+      The brother, on his arrival in England, had imprudently placed
+      himself in the power of Latimer and of his associate, whose name
+      was Wilson Kemp—a man of the foulest antecedents. These two,
+      finding that through his ignorance of the language he was
+      helpless in their hands, had kept him a prisoner, and had
+      endeavoured by cruelty and starvation to make him sign away his
+      own and his sister’s property. They had kept him in the house
+      without the girl’s knowledge, and the plaster over the face had
+      been for the purpose of making recognition difficult in case she
+      should ever catch a glimpse of him. Her feminine perception,
+      however, had instantly seen through the disguise when, on the
+      occasion of the interpreter’s visit, she had seen him for the
+      first time. The poor girl, however, was herself a prisoner, for
+      there was no one about the house except the man who acted as
+      coachman, and his wife, both of whom were tools of the
+      conspirators. Finding that their secret was out, and that their
+      prisoner was not to be coerced, the two villains with the girl
+      had fled away at a few hours’ notice from the furnished house
+      which they had hired, having first, as they thought, taken
+      vengeance both upon the man who had defied and the one who had
+      betrayed them.
+
+      Months afterwards a curious newspaper cutting reached us from
+      Buda-Pesth. It told how two Englishmen who had been traveling
+      with a woman had met with a tragic end. They had each been
+      stabbed, it seems, and the Hungarian police were of opinion that
+      they had quarreled and had inflicted mortal injuries upon each
+      other. Holmes, however, is, I fancy, of a different way of
+      thinking, and holds to this day that, if one could find the
+      Grecian girl, one might learn how the wrongs of herself and her
+      brother came to be avenged.
+
+
+
+
+XI. The Naval Treaty
+
+
+      The July which immediately succeeded my marriage was made
+      memorable by three cases of interest, in which I had the
+      privilege of being associated with Sherlock Holmes and of
+      studying his methods. I find them recorded in my notes under the
+      headings of “The Adventure of the Second Stain,” “The Adventure
+      of the Naval Treaty,” and “The Adventure of the Tired Captain.”
+      The first of these, however, deals with interest of such
+      importance and implicates so many of the first families in the
+      kingdom that for many years it will be impossible to make it
+      public. No case, however, in which Holmes was engaged has ever
+      illustrated the value of his analytical methods so clearly or has
+      impressed those who were associated with him so deeply. I still
+      retain an almost verbatim report of the interview in which he
+      demonstrated the true facts of the case to Monsieur Dubuque of
+      the Paris police, and Fritz von Waldbaum, the well-known
+      specialist of Dantzig, both of whom had wasted their energies
+      upon what proved to be side-issues. The new century will have
+      come, however, before the story can be safely told. Meanwhile I
+      pass on to the second on my list, which promised also at one time
+      to be of national importance, and was marked by several incidents
+      which give it a quite unique character.
+
+      During my school-days I had been intimately associated with a lad
+      named Percy Phelps, who was of much the same age as myself,
+      though he was two classes ahead of me. He was a very brilliant
+      boy, and carried away every prize which the school had to offer,
+      finished his exploits by winning a scholarship which sent him on
+      to continue his triumphant career at Cambridge. He was, I
+      remember, extremely well connected, and even when we were all
+      little boys together we knew that his mother’s brother was Lord
+      Holdhurst, the great conservative politician. This gaudy
+      relationship did him little good at school. On the contrary, it
+      seemed rather a piquant thing to us to chevy him about the
+      playground and hit him over the shins with a wicket. But it was
+      another thing when he came out into the world. I heard vaguely
+      that his abilities and the influences which he commanded had won
+      him a good position at the Foreign Office, and then he passed
+      completely out of my mind until the following letter recalled his
+      existence:
+
+      Briarbrae, Woking.
+          My dear Watson,—I have no doubt that you can remember
+          “Tadpole” Phelps, who was in the fifth form when you were in
+          the third. It is possible even that you may have heard that
+          through my uncle’s influence I obtained a good appointment at
+          the Foreign Office, and that I was in a situation of trust
+          and honour until a horrible misfortune came suddenly to blast
+          my career.
+          There is no use writing of the details of that dreadful
+          event. In the event of your acceding to my request it is
+          probable that I shall have to narrate them to you. I have
+          only just recovered from nine weeks of brain-fever, and am
+          still exceedingly weak. Do you think that you could bring
+          your friend Mr. Holmes down to see me? I should like to have
+          his opinion of the case, though the authorities assure me
+          that nothing more can be done. Do try to bring him down, and
+          as soon as possible. Every minute seems an hour while I live
+          in this state of horrible suspense. Assure him that if I have
+          not asked his advice sooner it was not because I did not
+          appreciate his talents, but because I have been off my head
+          ever since the blow fell. Now I am clear again, though I dare
+          not think of it too much for fear of a relapse. I am still so
+          weak that I have to write, as you see, by dictating. Do try
+          to bring him.
+
+      Your old schoolfellow,
+      Percy Phelps.
+
+      There was something that touched me as I read this letter,
+      something pitiable in the reiterated appeals to bring Holmes. So
+      moved was I that even had it been a difficult matter I should
+      have tried it, but of course I knew well that Holmes loved his
+      art, so that he was ever as ready to bring his aid as his client
+      could be to receive it. My wife agreed with me that not a moment
+      should be lost in laying the matter before him, and so within an
+      hour of breakfast-time I found myself back once more in the old
+      rooms in Baker Street.
+
+      Holmes was seated at his side-table clad in his dressing-gown,
+      and working hard over a chemical investigation. A large curved
+      retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen
+      burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two-litre
+      measure. My friend hardly glanced up as I entered, and I, seeing
+      that his investigation must be of importance, seated myself in an
+      armchair and waited. He dipped into this bottle or that, drawing
+      out a few drops of each with his glass pipette, and finally
+      brought a test-tube containing a solution over to the table. In
+      his right hand he held a slip of litmus-paper.
+
+      “You come at a crisis, Watson,” said he. “If this paper remains
+      blue, all is well. If it turns red, it means a man’s life.” He
+      dipped it into the test-tube and it flushed at once into a dull,
+      dirty crimson. “Hum! I thought as much!” he cried. “I will be at
+      your service in an instant, Watson. You will find tobacco in the
+      Persian slipper.” He turned to his desk and scribbled off several
+      telegrams, which were handed over to the page-boy. Then he threw
+      himself down into the chair opposite, and drew up his knees until
+      his fingers clasped round his long, thin shins.
+
+      “A very commonplace little murder,” said he. “You’ve got
+      something better, I fancy. You are the stormy petrel of crime,
+      Watson. What is it?”
+
+      I handed him the letter, which he read with the most concentrated
+      attention.
+
+      “It does not tell us very much, does it?” he remarked, as he
+      handed it back to me.
+
+      “Hardly anything.”
+
+      “And yet the writing is of interest.”
+
+      “But the writing is not his own.”
+
+      “Precisely. It is a woman’s.”
+
+      “A man’s surely,” I cried.
+
+      “No, a woman’s, and a woman of rare character. You see, at the
+      commencement of an investigation it is something to know that
+      your client is in close contact with some one who, for good or
+      evil, has an exceptional nature. My interest is already awakened
+      in the case. If you are ready we will start at once for Woking,
+      and see this diplomatist who is in such evil case, and the lady
+      to whom he dictates his letters.”
+
+      We were fortunate enough to catch an early train at Waterloo, and
+      in a little under an hour we found ourselves among the fir-woods
+      and the heather of Woking. Briarbrae proved to be a large
+      detached house standing in extensive grounds within a few
+      minutes’ walk of the station. On sending in our cards we were
+      shown into an elegantly appointed drawing-room, where we were
+      joined in a few minutes by a rather stout man who received us
+      with much hospitality. His age may have been nearer forty than
+      thirty, but his cheeks were so ruddy and his eyes so merry that
+      he still conveyed the impression of a plump and mischievous boy.
+
+      “I am so glad that you have come,” said he, shaking our hands
+      with effusion. “Percy has been inquiring for you all morning. Ah,
+      poor old chap, he clings to any straw! His father and his mother
+      asked me to see you, for the mere mention of the subject is very
+      painful to them.”
+
+      “We have had no details yet,” observed Holmes. “I perceive that
+      you are not yourself a member of the family.”
+
+      Our acquaintance looked surprised, and then, glancing down, he
+      began to laugh.
+
+      “Of course you saw the ‘J.H.’ monogram on my locket,” said he.
+      “For a moment I thought you had done something clever. Joseph
+      Harrison is my name, and as Percy is to marry my sister Annie I
+      shall at least be a relation by marriage. You will find my sister
+      in his room, for she has nursed him hand-and-foot this two months
+      back. Perhaps we’d better go in at once, for I know how impatient
+      he is.”
+
+      The chamber in which we were shown was on the same floor as the
+      drawing-room. It was furnished partly as a sitting and partly as
+      a bedroom, with flowers arranged daintily in every nook and
+      corner. A young man, very pale and worn, was lying upon a sofa
+      near the open window, through which came the rich scent of the
+      garden and the balmy summer air. A woman was sitting beside him,
+      who rose as we entered.
+
+      “Shall I leave, Percy?” she asked.
+
+      He clutched her hand to detain her. “How are you, Watson?” said
+      he, cordially. “I should never have known you under that
+      moustache, and I daresay you would not be prepared to swear to
+      me. This I presume is your celebrated friend, Mr. Sherlock
+      Holmes?”
+
+      I introduced him in a few words, and we both sat down. The stout
+      young man had left us, but his sister still remained with her
+      hand in that of the invalid. She was a striking-looking woman, a
+      little short and thick for symmetry, but with a beautiful olive
+      complexion, large, dark, Italian eyes, and a wealth of deep black
+      hair. Her rich tints made the white face of her companion the
+      more worn and haggard by the contrast.
+
+      “I won’t waste your time,” said he, raising himself upon the
+      sofa. “I’ll plunge into the matter without further preamble. I
+      was a happy and successful man, Mr. Holmes, and on the eve of
+      being married, when a sudden and dreadful misfortune wrecked all
+      my prospects in life.
+
+      “I was, as Watson may have told you, in the Foreign Office, and
+      through the influences of my uncle, Lord Holdhurst, I rose
+      rapidly to a responsible position. When my uncle became foreign
+      minister in this administration he gave me several missions of
+      trust, and as I always brought them to a successful conclusion,
+      he came at last to have the utmost confidence in my ability and
+      tact.
+
+      “Nearly ten weeks ago—to be more accurate, on the 23rd of May—he
+      called me into his private room, and, after complimenting me on
+      the good work which I had done, he informed me that he had a new
+      commission of trust for me to execute.
+
+      “‘This,’ said he, taking a grey roll of paper from his bureau,
+      ‘is the original of that secret treaty between England and Italy
+      of which, I regret to say, some rumours have already got into the
+      public press. It is of enormous importance that nothing further
+      should leak out. The French or the Russian embassy would pay an
+      immense sum to learn the contents of these papers. They should
+      not leave my bureau were it not that it is absolutely necessary
+      to have them copied. You have a desk in your office?’
+
+      “‘Yes, sir.’
+
+      “‘Then take the treaty and lock it up there. I shall give
+      directions that you may remain behind when the others go, so that
+      you may copy it at your leisure without fear of being overlooked.
+      When you have finished, relock both the original and the draft in
+      the desk, and hand them over to me personally to-morrow morning.’
+
+      “I took the papers and—”
+
+      “Excuse me an instant,” said Holmes. “Were you alone during this
+      conversation?”
+
+      “Absolutely.”
+
+      “In a large room?”
+
+      “Thirty feet each way.”
+
+      “In the centre?”
+
+      “Yes, about it.”
+
+      “And speaking low?”
+
+      “My uncle’s voice is always remarkably low. I hardly spoke at
+      all.”
+
+      “Thank you,” said Holmes, shutting his eyes; “pray go on.”
+
+      “I did exactly what he indicated, and waited until the other
+      clerks had departed. One of them in my room, Charles Gorot, had
+      some arrears of work to make up, so I left him there and went out
+      to dine. When I returned he was gone. I was anxious to hurry my
+      work, for I knew that Joseph—the Mr. Harrison whom you saw just
+      now—was in town, and that he would travel down to Woking by the
+      eleven o’clock train, and I wanted if possible to catch it.
+
+      “When I came to examine the treaty I saw at once that it was of
+      such importance that my uncle had been guilty of no exaggeration
+      in what he had said. Without going into details, I may say that
+      it defined the position of Great Britain towards the Triple
+      Alliance, and fore-shadowed the policy which this country would
+      pursue in the event of the French fleet gaining a complete
+      ascendancy over that of Italy in the Mediterranean. The questions
+      treated in it were purely naval. At the end were the signatures
+      of the high dignitaries who had signed it. I glanced my eyes over
+      it, and then settled down to my task of copying.
+
+      “It was a long document, written in the French language, and
+      containing twenty-six separate articles. I copied as quickly as I
+      could, but at nine o’clock I had only done nine articles, and it
+      seemed hopeless for me to attempt to catch my train. I was
+      feeling drowsy and stupid, partly from my dinner and also from
+      the effects of a long day’s work. A cup of coffee would clear my
+      brain. A commissionnaire remains all night in a little lodge at
+      the foot of the stairs, and is in the habit of making coffee at
+      his spirit-lamp for any of the officials who may be working over
+      time. I rang the bell, therefore, to summon him.
+
+      “To my surprise, it was a woman who answered the summons, a
+      large, coarse-faced, elderly woman, in an apron. She explained
+      that she was the commissionnaire’s wife, who did the charing, and
+      I gave her the order for the coffee.
+
+      “I wrote two more articles and then, feeling more drowsy than
+      ever, I rose and walked up and down the room to stretch my legs.
+      My coffee had not yet come, and I wondered what the cause of the
+      delay could be. Opening the door, I started down the corridor to
+      find out. There was a straight passage, dimly lighted, which led
+      from the room in which I had been working, and was the only exit
+      from it. It ended in a curving staircase, with the
+      commissionnaire’s lodge in the passage at the bottom. Half-way
+      down this staircase is a small landing, with another passage
+      running into it at right angles. This second one leads by means
+      of a second small stair to a side door, used by servants, and
+      also as a short cut by clerks when coming from Charles Street.
+      Here is a rough chart of the place.”
+
+rough chart
+
+      “Thank you. I think that I quite follow you,” said Sherlock
+      Holmes.
+
+      “It is of the utmost importance that you should notice this
+      point. I went down the stairs and into the hall, where I found
+      the commissionnaire fast asleep in his box, with the kettle
+      boiling furiously upon the spirit-lamp. I took off the kettle and
+      blew out the lamp, for the water was spurting over the floor.
+      Then I put out my hand and was about to shake the man, who was
+      still sleeping soundly, when a bell over his head rang loudly,
+      and he woke with a start.
+
+      “‘Mr. Phelps, sir!’ said he, looking at me in bewilderment.
+
+      “‘I came down to see if my coffee was ready.’
+
+      “‘I was boiling the kettle when I fell asleep, sir.’ He looked at
+      me and then up at the still quivering bell with an ever-growing
+      astonishment upon his face.
+
+      “‘If you was here, sir, then who rang the bell?’ he asked.
+
+      “‘The bell!’ I cried. ‘What bell is it?’
+
+      “‘It’s the bell of the room you were working in.’
+
+      “A cold hand seemed to close round my heart. Some one, then, was
+      in that room where my precious treaty lay upon the table. I ran
+      frantically up the stairs and along the passage. There was no one
+      in the corridors, Mr. Holmes. There was no one in the room. All
+      was exactly as I left it, save only that the papers which had
+      been committed to my care had been taken from the desk on which
+      they lay. The copy was there, and the original was gone.”
+
+      Holmes sat up in his chair and rubbed his hands. I could see that
+      the problem was entirely to his heart. “Pray, what did you do
+      then?” he murmured.
+
+      “I recognised in an instant that the thief must have come up the
+      stairs from the side door. Of course I must have met him if he
+      had come the other way.”
+
+      “You were satisfied that he could not have been concealed in the
+      room all the time, or in the corridor which you have just
+      described as dimly lighted?”
+
+      “It is absolutely impossible. A rat could not conceal himself
+      either in the room or the corridor. There is no cover at all.”
+
+      “Thank you. Pray proceed.”
+
+      “The commissionnaire, seeing by my pale face that something was
+      to be feared, had followed me upstairs. Now we both rushed along
+      the corridor and down the steep steps which led to Charles
+      Street. The door at the bottom was closed, but unlocked. We flung
+      it open and rushed out. I can distinctly remember that as we did
+      so there came three chimes from a neighbouring clock. It was
+      quarter to ten.”
+
+      “That is of enormous importance,” said Holmes, making a note upon
+      his shirt-cuff.
+
+      “The night was very dark, and a thin, warm rain was falling.
+      There was no one in Charles Street, but a great traffic was going
+      on, as usual, in Whitehall, at the extremity. We rushed along the
+      pavement, bare-headed as we were, and at the far corner we found
+      a policeman standing.
+
+      “‘A robbery has been committed,’ I gasped. ‘A document of immense
+      value has been stolen from the Foreign Office. Has any one passed
+      this way?’
+
+      “‘I have been standing here for a quarter of an hour, sir,’ said
+      he; ‘only one person has passed during that time—a woman, tall
+      and elderly, with a Paisley shawl.’
+
+      “‘Ah, that is only my wife,’ cried the commissionnaire; ‘has no
+      one else passed?’
+
+      “‘No one.’
+
+      “‘Then it must be the other way that the thief took,’ cried the
+      fellow, tugging at my sleeve.
+
+      “‘But I was not satisfied, and the attempts which he made to draw
+      me away increased my suspicions.
+
+      “‘Which way did the woman go?’ I cried.
+
+      “‘I don’t know, sir. I noticed her pass, but I had no special
+      reason for watching her. She seemed to be in a hurry.’
+
+      “‘How long ago was it?’
+
+      “‘Oh, not very many minutes.’
+
+      “‘Within the last five?’
+
+      “‘Well, it could not be more than five.’
+
+      “‘You’re only wasting your time, sir, and every minute now is of
+      importance,’ cried the commissionnaire; ‘take my word for it that
+      my old woman has nothing to do with it, and come down to the
+      other end of the street. Well, if you won’t, I will.’ And with
+      that he rushed off in the other direction.
+
+      “But I was after him in an instant and caught him by the sleeve.
+
+      “‘Where do you live?’ said I.
+
+      “‘16 Ivy Lane, Brixton,’ he answered. ‘But don’t let yourself be
+      drawn away upon a false scent, Mr. Phelps. Come to the other end
+      of the street and let us see if we can hear of anything.’
+
+      “Nothing was to be lost by following his advice. With the
+      policeman we both hurried down, but only to find the street full
+      of traffic, many people coming and going, but all only too eager
+      to get to a place of safety upon so wet a night. There was no
+      lounger who could tell us who had passed.
+
+      “Then we returned to the office, and searched the stairs and the
+      passage without result. The corridor which led to the room was
+      laid down with a kind of creamy linoleum which shows an
+      impression very easily. We examined it very carefully, but found
+      no outline of any footmark.”
+
+      “Had it been raining all evening?”
+
+      “Since about seven.”
+
+      “How is it, then, that the woman who came into the room about
+      nine left no traces with her muddy boots?”
+
+      “I am glad you raised the point. It occurred to me at the time.
+      The charwomen are in the habit of taking off their boots at the
+      commissionnaire’s office, and putting on list slippers.”
+
+      “That is very clear. There were no marks, then, though the night
+      was a wet one? The chain of events is certainly one of
+      extraordinary interest. What did you do next?
+
+      “We examined the room also. There is no possibility of a secret
+      door, and the windows are quite thirty feet from the ground. Both
+      of them were fastened on the inside. The carpet prevents any
+      possibility of a trap-door, and the ceiling is of the ordinary
+      whitewashed kind. I will pledge my life that whoever stole my
+      papers could only have come through the door.”
+
+      “How about the fireplace?”
+
+      “They use none. There is a stove. The bell-rope hangs from the
+      wire just to the right of my desk. Whoever rang it must have come
+      right up to the desk to do it. But why should any criminal wish
+      to ring the bell? It is a most insoluble mystery.”
+
+      “Certainly the incident was unusual. What were your next steps?
+      You examined the room, I presume, to see if the intruder had left
+      any traces—any cigar-end or dropped glove or hairpin or other
+      trifle?”
+
+      “There was nothing of the sort.”
+
+      “No smell?”
+
+      “Well, we never thought of that.”
+
+      “Ah, a scent of tobacco would have been worth a great deal to us
+      in such an investigation.”
+
+      “I never smoke myself, so I think I should have observed it if
+      there had been any smell of tobacco. There was absolutely no clue
+      of any kind. The only tangible fact was that the
+      commissionnaire’s wife—Mrs. Tangey was the name—had hurried out
+      of the place. He could give no explanation save that it was about
+      the time when the woman always went home. The policeman and I
+      agreed that our best plan would be to seize the woman before she
+      could get rid of the papers, presuming that she had them.
+
+      “The alarm had reached Scotland Yard by this time, and Mr.
+      Forbes, the detective, came round at once and took up the case
+      with a great deal of energy. We hired a hansom, and in half an
+      hour we were at the address which had been given to us. A young
+      woman opened the door, who proved to be Mrs. Tangey’s eldest
+      daughter. Her mother had not come back yet, and we were shown
+      into the front room to wait.
+
+      “About ten minutes later a knock came at the door, and here we
+      made the one serious mistake for which I blame myself. Instead of
+      opening the door ourselves, we allowed the girl to do so. We
+      heard her say, ‘Mother, there are two men in the house waiting to
+      see you,’ and an instant afterwards we heard the patter of feet
+      rushing down the passage. Forbes flung open the door, and we both
+      ran into the back room or kitchen, but the woman had got there
+      before us. She stared at us with defiant eyes, and then, suddenly
+      recognising me, an expression of absolute astonishment came over
+      her face.
+
+      “‘Why, if it isn’t Mr. Phelps, of the office!’ she cried.
+
+      “‘Come, come, who did you think we were when you ran away from
+      us?’ asked my companion.
+
+      “‘I thought you were the brokers,’ said she, ‘we have had some
+      trouble with a tradesman.’
+
+      “‘That’s not quite good enough,’ answered Forbes. ‘We have reason
+      to believe that you have taken a paper of importance from the
+      Foreign Office, and that you ran in here to dispose of it. You
+      must come back with us to Scotland Yard to be searched.’
+
+      “It was in vain that she protested and resisted. A four-wheeler
+      was brought, and we all three drove back in it. We had first made
+      an examination of the kitchen, and especially of the kitchen
+      fire, to see whether she might have made away with the papers
+      during the instant that she was alone. There were no signs,
+      however, of any ashes or scraps. When we reached Scotland Yard
+      she was handed over at once to the female searcher. I waited in
+      an agony of suspense until she came back with her report. There
+      were no signs of the papers.
+
+      “Then for the first time the horror of my situation came in its
+      full force. Hitherto I had been acting, and action had numbed
+      thought. I had been so confident of regaining the treaty at once
+      that I had not dared to think of what would be the consequence if
+      I failed to do so. But now there was nothing more to be done, and
+      I had leisure to realize my position. It was horrible. Watson
+      there would tell you that I was a nervous, sensitive boy at
+      school. It is my nature. I thought of my uncle and of his
+      colleagues in the Cabinet, of the shame which I had brought upon
+      him, upon myself, upon every one connected with me. What though I
+      was the victim of an extraordinary accident? No allowance is made
+      for accidents where diplomatic interests are at stake. I was
+      ruined, shamefully, hopelessly ruined. I don’t know what I did. I
+      fancy I must have made a scene. I have a dim recollection of a
+      group of officials who crowded round me, endeavouring to soothe
+      me. One of them drove down with me to Waterloo, and saw me into
+      the Woking train. I believe that he would have come all the way
+      had it not been that Dr. Ferrier, who lives near me, was going
+      down by that very train. The doctor most kindly took charge of
+      me, and it was well he did so, for I had a fit in the station,
+      and before we reached home I was practically a raving maniac.
+
+      “You can imagine the state of things here when they were roused
+      from their beds by the doctor’s ringing and found me in this
+      condition. Poor Annie here and my mother were broken-hearted. Dr.
+      Ferrier had just heard enough from the detective at the station
+      to be able to give an idea of what had happened, and his story
+      did not mend matters. It was evident to all that I was in for a
+      long illness, so Joseph was bundled out of this cheery bedroom,
+      and it was turned into a sick-room for me. Here I have lain, Mr.
+      Holmes, for over nine weeks, unconscious, and raving with
+      brain-fever. If it had not been for Miss Harrison here and for
+      the doctor’s care I should not be speaking to you now. She has
+      nursed me by day and a hired nurse has looked after me by night,
+      for in my mad fits I was capable of anything. Slowly my reason
+      has cleared, but it is only during the last three days that my
+      memory has quite returned. Sometimes I wish that it never had.
+      The first thing that I did was to wire to Mr. Forbes, who had the
+      case in hand. He came out, and assures me that, though everything
+      has been done, no trace of a clue has been discovered. The
+      commissionnaire and his wife have been examined in every way
+      without any light being thrown upon the matter. The suspicions of
+      the police then rested upon young Gorot, who, as you may
+      remember, stayed over time in the office that night. His
+      remaining behind and his French name were really the only two
+      points which could suggest suspicion; but, as a matter of fact, I
+      did not begin work until he had gone, and his people are of
+      Huguenot extraction, but as English in sympathy and tradition as
+      you and I are. Nothing was found to implicate him in any way, and
+      there the matter dropped. I turn to you, Mr. Holmes, as
+      absolutely my last hope. If you fail me, then my honour as well
+      as my position are forever forfeited.”
+
+      The invalid sank back upon his cushions, tired out by this long
+      recital, while his nurse poured him out a glass of some
+      stimulating medicine. Holmes sat silently, with his head thrown
+      back and his eyes closed, in an attitude which might seem
+      listless to a stranger, but which I knew betokened the most
+      intense self-absorption.
+
+      “You statement has been so explicit,” said he at last, “that you
+      have really left me very few questions to ask. There is one of
+      the very utmost importance, however. Did you tell any one that
+      you had this special task to perform?”
+
+      “No one.”
+
+      “Not Miss Harrison here, for example?”
+
+      “No. I had not been back to Woking between getting the order and
+      executing the commission.”
+
+      “And none of your people had by chance been to see you?”
+
+      “None.”
+
+      “Did any of them know their way about in the office?”
+
+      “Oh, yes, all of them had been shown over it.”
+
+      “Still, of course, if you said nothing to any one about the
+      treaty these inquiries are irrelevant.”
+
+      “I said nothing.”
+
+      “Do you know anything of the commissionnaire?”
+
+      “Nothing except that he is an old soldier.”
+
+      “What regiment?”
+
+      “Oh, I have heard—Coldstream Guards.”
+
+      “Thank you. I have no doubt I can get details from Forbes. The
+      authorities are excellent at amassing facts, though they do not
+      always use them to advantage. What a lovely thing a rose is!”
+
+      He walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the
+      drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend
+      of crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me,
+      for I had never before seen him show any keen interest in natural
+      objects.
+
+      “There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in
+      religion,” said he, leaning with his back against the shutters.
+      “It can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our
+      highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to
+      rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers our desires,
+      our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first
+      instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are
+      an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only
+      goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much
+      to hope from the flowers.”
+
+      Percy Phelps and his nurse looked at Holmes during this
+      demonstration with surprise and a good deal of disappointment
+      written upon their faces. He had fallen into a reverie, with the
+      moss-rose between his fingers. It had lasted some minutes before
+      the young lady broke in upon it.
+
+      “Do you see any prospect of solving this mystery, Mr. Holmes?”
+      she asked, with a touch of asperity in her voice.
+
+      “Oh, the mystery!” he answered, coming back with a start to the
+      realities of life. “Well, it would be absurd to deny that the
+      case is a very abstruse and complicated one, but I can promise
+      you that I will look into the matter and let you know any points
+      which may strike me.”
+
+      “Do you see any clue?”
+
+      “You have furnished me with seven, but, of course, I must test
+      them before I can pronounce upon their value.”
+
+      “You suspect some one?”
+
+      “I suspect myself.”
+
+      “What!”
+
+      “Of coming to conclusions too rapidly.”
+
+      “Then go to London and test your conclusions.”
+
+      “Your advice is very excellent, Miss Harrison,” said Holmes,
+      rising. “I think, Watson, we cannot do better. Do not allow
+      yourself to indulge in false hopes, Mr. Phelps. The affair is a
+      very tangled one.”
+
+      “I shall be in a fever until I see you again,” cried the
+      diplomatist.
+
+      “Well, I’ll come out by the same train to-morrow, though it’s
+      more than likely that my report will be a negative one.”
+
+      “God bless you for promising to come,” cried our client. “It
+      gives me fresh life to know that something is being done. By the
+      way, I have had a letter from Lord Holdhurst.”
+
+      “Ha! What did he say?”
+
+      “He was cold, but not harsh. I daresay my severe illness
+      prevented him from being that. He repeated that the matter was of
+      the utmost importance, and added that no steps would be taken
+      about my future—by which he means, of course, my dismissal—until
+      my health was restored and I had an opportunity of repairing my
+      misfortune.”
+
+      “Well, that was reasonable and considerate,” said Holmes. “Come,
+      Watson, for we have a good day’s work before us in town.”
+
+      Mr. Joseph Harrison drove us down to the station, and we were
+      soon whirling up in a Portsmouth train. Holmes was sunk in
+      profound thought, and hardly opened his mouth until we had passed
+      Clapham Junction.
+
+      “It’s a very cheery thing to come into London by any of these
+      lines which run high, and allow you to look down upon the houses
+      like this.”
+
+      I thought he was joking, for the view was sordid enough, but he
+      soon explained himself.
+
+      “Look at those big, isolated clumps of building rising up above
+      the slates, like brick islands in a lead-coloured sea.”
+
+      “The board-schools.”
+
+      “Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future! Capsules with
+      hundreds of bright little seeds in each, out of which will spring
+      the wise, better England of the future. I suppose that man Phelps
+      does not drink?”
+
+      “I should not think so.”
+
+      “Nor should I, but we are bound to take every possibility into
+      account. The poor devil has certainly got himself into very deep
+      water, and it’s a question whether we shall ever be able to get
+      him ashore. What did you think of Miss Harrison?”
+
+      “A girl of strong character.”
+
+      “Yes, but she is a good sort, or I am mistaken. She and her
+      brother are the only children of an iron-master somewhere up
+      Northumberland way. He got engaged to her when traveling last
+      winter, and she came down to be introduced to his people, with
+      her brother as escort. Then came the smash, and she stayed on to
+      nurse her lover, while brother Joseph, finding himself pretty
+      snug, stayed on too. I’ve been making a few independent
+      inquiries, you see. But to-day must be a day of inquiries.”
+
+      “My practice—” I began.
+
+      “Oh, if you find your own cases more interesting than mine—” said
+      Holmes, with some asperity.
+
+      “I was going to say that my practice could get along very well
+      for a day or two, since it is the slackest time in the year.”
+
+      “Excellent,” said he, recovering his good-humour. “Then we’ll
+      look into this matter together. I think that we should begin by
+      seeing Forbes. He can probably tell us all the details we want
+      until we know from what side the case is to be approached.”
+
+      “You said you had a clue?”
+
+      “Well, we have several, but we can only test their value by
+      further inquiry. The most difficult crime to track is the one
+      which is purposeless. Now this is not purposeless. Who is it who
+      profits by it? There is the French ambassador, there is the
+      Russian, there is whoever might sell it to either of these, and
+      there is Lord Holdhurst.”
+
+      “Lord Holdhurst!”
+
+      “Well, it is just conceivable that a statesman might find himself
+      in a position where he was not sorry to have such a document
+      accidentally destroyed.”
+
+      “Not a statesman with the honourable record of Lord Holdhurst?”
+
+      “It is a possibility and we cannot afford to disregard it. We
+      shall see the noble lord to-day and find out if he can tell us
+      anything. Meanwhile I have already set inquiries on foot.”
+
+      “Already?”
+
+      “Yes, I sent wires from Woking station to every evening paper in
+      London. This advertisement will appear in each of them.”
+
+      He handed over a sheet torn from a note-book. On it was scribbled
+      in pencil:
+
+      “£10 Reward.—The number of the cab which dropped a fare at or
+      about the door of the Foreign Office in Charles Street at quarter
+      to ten in the evening of May 23rd. Apply 221B, Baker Street.”
+
+      “You are confident that the thief came in a cab?”
+
+      “If not, there is no harm done. But if Mr. Phelps is correct in
+      stating that there is no hiding-place either in the room or the
+      corridors, then the person must have come from outside. If he
+      came from outside on so wet a night, and yet left no trace of
+      damp upon the linoleum, which was examined within a few minutes
+      of his passing, then it is exceeding probable that he came in a
+      cab. Yes, I think that we may safely deduce a cab.”
+
+      “It sounds plausible.”
+
+      “That is one of the clues of which I spoke. It may lead us to
+      something. And then, of course, there is the bell—which is the
+      most distinctive feature of the case. Why should the bell ring?
+      Was it the thief who did it out of bravado? Or was it some one
+      who was with the thief who did it in order to prevent the crime?
+      Or was it an accident? Or was it—?” He sank back into the state
+      of intense and silent thought from which he had emerged; but it
+      seemed to me, accustomed as I was to his every mood, that some
+      new possibility had dawned suddenly upon him.
+
+      It was twenty past three when we reached our terminus, and after
+      a hasty luncheon at the buffet we pushed on at once to Scotland
+      Yard. Holmes had already wired to Forbes, and we found him
+      waiting to receive us—a small, foxy man with a sharp but by no
+      means amiable expression. He was decidedly frigid in his manner
+      to us, especially when he heard the errand upon which we had
+      come.
+
+      “I’ve heard of your methods before now, Mr. Holmes,” said he,
+      tartly. “You are ready enough to use all the information that the
+      police can lay at your disposal, and then you try to finish the
+      case yourself and bring discredit on them.”
+
+      “On the contrary,” said Holmes, “out of my last fifty-three cases
+      my name has only appeared in four, and the police have had all
+      the credit in forty-nine. I don’t blame you for not knowing this,
+      for you are young and inexperienced, but if you wish to get on in
+      your new duties you will work with me and not against me.”
+
+      “I’d be very glad of a hint or two,” said the detective, changing
+      his manner. “I’ve certainly had no credit from the case so far.”
+
+      “What steps have you taken?”
+
+      “Tangey, the commissionnaire, has been shadowed. He left the
+      Guards with a good character and we can find nothing against him.
+      His wife is a bad lot, though. I fancy she knows more about this
+      than appears.”
+
+      “Have you shadowed her?”
+
+      “We have set one of our women on to her. Mrs. Tangey drinks, and
+      our woman has been with her twice when she was well on, but she
+      could get nothing out of her.”
+
+      “I understand that they have had brokers in the house?”
+
+      “Yes, but they were paid off.”
+
+      “Where did the money come from?”
+
+      “That was all right. His pension was due. They have not shown any
+      sign of being in funds.”
+
+      “What explanation did she give of having answered the bell when
+      Mr. Phelps rang for the coffee?”
+
+      “She said that her husband was very tired and she wished to
+      relieve him.”
+
+      “Well, certainly that would agree with his being found a little
+      later asleep in his chair. There is nothing against them then but
+      the woman’s character. Did you ask her why she hurried away that
+      night? Her haste attracted the attention of the police
+      constable.”
+
+      “She was later than usual and wanted to get home.”
+
+      “Did you point out to her that you and Mr. Phelps, who started at
+      least twenty minutes after her, got home before her?”
+
+      “She explains that by the difference between a ‘bus and a
+      hansom.”
+
+      “Did she make it clear why, on reaching her house, she ran into
+      the back kitchen?”
+
+      “Because she had the money there with which to pay off the
+      brokers.”
+
+      “She has at least an answer for everything. Did you ask her
+      whether in leaving she met any one or saw any one loitering about
+      Charles Street?”
+
+      “She saw no one but the constable.”
+
+      “Well, you seem to have cross-examined her pretty thoroughly.
+      What else have you done?”
+
+      “The clerk Gorot has been shadowed all these nine weeks, but
+      without result. We can show nothing against him.”
+
+      “Anything else?”
+
+      “Well, we have nothing else to go upon—no evidence of any kind.”
+
+      “Have you formed a theory about how that bell rang?”
+
+      “Well, I must confess that it beats me. It was a cool hand,
+      whoever it was, to go and give the alarm like that.”
+
+      “Yes, it was a queer thing to do. Many thanks to you for what you
+      have told me. If I can put the man into your hands you shall hear
+      from me. Come along, Watson.”
+
+      “Where are we going to now?” I asked, as we left the office.
+
+      “We are now going to interview Lord Holdhurst, the cabinet
+      minister and future premier of England.”
+
+      We were fortunate in finding that Lord Holdhurst was still in his
+      chambers in Downing Street, and on Holmes sending in his card we
+      were instantly shown up. The statesman received us with that
+      old-fashioned courtesy for which he is remarkable, and seated us
+      on the two luxuriant lounges on either side of the fireplace.
+      Standing on the rug between us, with his slight, tall figure, his
+      sharp features, thoughtful face, and curling hair prematurely
+      tinged with grey, he seemed to represent that not too common
+      type, a nobleman who is in truth noble.
+
+      “Your name is very familiar to me, Mr. Holmes,” said he, smiling.
+      “And, of course, I cannot pretend to be ignorant of the object of
+      your visit. There has only been one occurrence in these offices
+      which could call for your attention. In whose interest are you
+      acting, may I ask?”
+
+      “In that of Mr. Percy Phelps,” answered Holmes.
+
+      “Ah, my unfortunate nephew! You can understand that our kinship
+      makes it the more impossible for me to screen him in any way. I
+      fear that the incident must have a very prejudicial effect upon
+      his career.”
+
+      “But if the document is found?”
+
+      “Ah, that, of course, would be different.”
+
+      “I had one or two questions which I wished to ask you, Lord
+      Holdhurst.”
+
+      “I shall be happy to give you any information in my power.”
+
+      “Was it in this room that you gave your instructions as to the
+      copying of the document?”
+
+      “It was.”
+
+      “Then you could hardly have been overheard?”
+
+      “It is out of the question.”
+
+      “Did you ever mention to any one that it was your intention to
+      give any one the treaty to be copied?”
+
+      “Never.”
+
+      “You are certain of that?”
+
+      “Absolutely.”
+
+      “Well, since you never said so, and Mr. Phelps never said so, and
+      nobody else knew anything of the matter, then the thief’s
+      presence in the room was purely accidental. He saw his chance and
+      he took it.”
+
+      The statesman smiled. “You take me out of my province there,”
+      said he.
+
+      Holmes considered for a moment. “There is another very important
+      point which I wish to discuss with you,” said he. “You feared, as
+      I understand, that very grave results might follow from the
+      details of this treaty becoming known.”
+
+      A shadow passed over the expressive face of the statesman. “Very
+      grave results indeed.”
+
+      “And have they occurred?”
+
+      “Not yet.”
+
+      “If the treaty had reached, let us say, the French or Russian
+      Foreign Office, you would expect to hear of it?”
+
+      “I should,” said Lord Holdhurst, with a wry face.
+
+      “Since nearly ten weeks have elapsed, then, and nothing has been
+      heard, it is not unfair to suppose that for some reason the
+      treaty has not reached them.”
+
+      Lord Holdhurst shrugged his shoulders.
+
+      “We can hardly suppose, Mr. Holmes, that the thief took the
+      treaty in order to frame it and hang it up.”
+
+      “Perhaps he is waiting for a better price.”
+
+      “If he waits a little longer he will get no price at all. The
+      treaty will cease to be secret in a few months.”
+
+      “That is most important,” said Holmes. “Of course, it is a
+      possible supposition that the thief has had a sudden illness—”
+
+      “An attack of brain-fever, for example?” asked the statesman,
+      flashing a swift glance at him.
+
+      “I did not say so,” said Holmes, imperturbably. “And now, Lord
+      Holdhurst, we have already taken up too much of your valuable
+      time, and we shall wish you good-day.”
+
+      “Every success to your investigation, be the criminal who it
+      may,” answered the nobleman, as he bowed us out the door.
+
+      “He’s a fine fellow,” said Holmes, as we came out into Whitehall.
+      “But he has a struggle to keep up his position. He is far from
+      rich and has many calls. You noticed, of course, that his boots
+      had been resoled. Now, Watson, I won’t detain you from your
+      legitimate work any longer. I shall do nothing more to-day,
+      unless I have an answer to my cab advertisement. But I should be
+      extremely obliged to you if you would come down with me to Woking
+      to-morrow, by the same train which we took yesterday.”
+
+      I met him accordingly next morning and we travelled down to
+      Woking together. He had had no answer to his advertisement, he
+      said, and no fresh light had been thrown upon the case. He had,
+      when he so willed it, the utter immobility of countenance of a
+      red Indian, and I could not gather from his appearance whether he
+      was satisfied or not with the position of the case. His
+      conversation, I remember, was about the Bertillon system of
+      measurements, and he expressed his enthusiastic admiration of the
+      French savant.
+
+      We found our client still under the charge of his devoted nurse,
+      but looking considerably better than before. He rose from the
+      sofa and greeted us without difficulty when we entered.
+
+      “Any news?” he asked, eagerly.
+
+      “My report, as I expected, is a negative one,” said Holmes. “I
+      have seen Forbes, and I have seen your uncle, and I have set one
+      or two trains of inquiry upon foot which may lead to something.”
+
+      “You have not lost heart, then?”
+
+      “By no means.”
+
+      “God bless you for saying that!” cried Miss Harrison. “If we keep
+      our courage and our patience the truth must come out.”
+
+      “We have more to tell you than you have for us,” said Phelps,
+      reseating himself upon the couch.
+
+      “I hoped you might have something.”
+
+      “Yes, we have had an adventure during the night, and one which
+      might have proved to be a serious one.” His expression grew very
+      grave as he spoke, and a look of something akin to fear sprang up
+      in his eyes. “Do you know,” said he, “that I begin to believe
+      that I am the unconscious centre of some monstrous conspiracy,
+      and that my life is aimed at as well as my honour?”
+
+      “Ah!” cried Holmes.
+
+      “It sounds incredible, for I have not, as far as I know, an enemy
+      in the world. Yet from last night’s experience I can come to no
+      other conclusion.”
+
+      “Pray let me hear it.”
+
+      “You must know that last night was the very first night that I
+      have ever slept without a nurse in the room. I was so much better
+      that I thought I could dispense with one. I had a night-light
+      burning, however. Well, about two in the morning I had sunk into
+      a light sleep when I was suddenly aroused by a slight noise. It
+      was like the sound which a mouse makes when it is gnawing a
+      plank, and I lay listening to it for some time under the
+      impression that it must come from that cause. Then it grew
+      louder, and suddenly there came from the window a sharp metallic
+      snick. I sat up in amazement. There could be no doubt what the
+      sounds were now. The first ones had been caused by some one
+      forcing an instrument through the slit between the sashes, and
+      the second by the catch being pressed back.
+
+      “There was a pause then for about ten minutes, as if the person
+      were waiting to see whether the noise had awakened me. Then I
+      heard a gentle creaking as the window was very slowly opened. I
+      could stand it no longer, for my nerves are not what they used to
+      be. I sprang out of bed and flung open the shutters. A man was
+      crouching at the window. I could see little of him, for he was
+      gone like a flash. He was wrapped in some sort of cloak which
+      came across the lower part of his face. One thing only I am sure
+      of, and that is that he had some weapon in his hand. It looked to
+      me like a long knife. I distinctly saw the gleam of it as he
+      turned to run.”
+
+      “This is most interesting,” said Holmes. “Pray what did you do
+      then?”
+
+      “I should have followed him through the open window if I had been
+      stronger. As it was, I rang the bell and roused the house. It
+      took me some little time, for the bell rings in the kitchen and
+      the servants all sleep upstairs. I shouted, however, and that
+      brought Joseph down, and he roused the others. Joseph and the
+      groom found marks on the bed outside the window, but the weather
+      has been so dry lately that they found it hopeless to follow the
+      trail across the grass. There’s a place, however, on the wooden
+      fence which skirts the road which shows signs, they tell me, as
+      if some one had got over, and had snapped the top of the rail in
+      doing so. I have said nothing to the local police yet, for I
+      thought I had best have your opinion first.”
+
+      This tale of our client’s appeared to have an extraordinary
+      effect upon Sherlock Holmes. He rose from his chair and paced
+      about the room in uncontrollable excitement.
+
+      “Misfortunes never come single,” said Phelps, smiling, though it
+      was evident that his adventure had somewhat shaken him.
+
+      “You have certainly had your share,” said Holmes. “Do you think
+      you could walk round the house with me?”
+
+      “Oh, yes, I should like a little sunshine. Joseph will come,
+      too.”
+
+      “And I also,” said Miss Harrison.
+
+      “I am afraid not,” said Holmes, shaking his head. “I think I must
+      ask you to remain sitting exactly where you are.”
+
+      The young lady resumed her seat with an air of displeasure. Her
+      brother, however, had joined us and we set off all four together.
+      We passed round the lawn to the outside of the young
+      diplomatist’s window. There were, as he had said, marks upon the
+      bed, but they were hopelessly blurred and vague. Holmes stopped
+      over them for an instant, and then rose shrugging his shoulders.
+
+      “I don’t think any one could make much of this,” said he. “Let us
+      go round the house and see why this particular room was chosen by
+      the burglar. I should have thought those larger windows of the
+      drawing-room and dining-room would have had more attractions for
+      him.”
+
+      “They are more visible from the road,” suggested Mr. Joseph
+      Harrison.
+
+      “Ah, yes, of course. There is a door here which he might have
+      attempted. What is it for?”
+
+      “It is the side entrance for trades-people. Of course it is
+      locked at night.”
+
+      “Have you ever had an alarm like this before?”
+
+      “Never,” said our client.
+
+      “Do you keep plate in the house, or anything to attract
+      burglars?”
+
+      “Nothing of value.”
+
+      Holmes strolled round the house with his hands in his pockets and
+      a negligent air which was unusual with him.
+
+      “By the way,” said he to Joseph Harrison, “you found some place,
+      I understand, where the fellow scaled the fence. Let us have a
+      look at that!”
+
+      The plump young man led us to a spot where the top of one of the
+      wooden rails had been cracked. A small fragment of the wood was
+      hanging down. Holmes pulled it off and examined it critically.
+
+      “Do you think that was done last night? It looks rather old, does
+      it not?”
+
+      “Well, possibly so.”
+
+      “There are no marks of any one jumping down upon the other side.
+      No, I fancy we shall get no help here. Let us go back to the
+      bedroom and talk the matter over.”
+
+      Percy Phelps was walking very slowly, leaning upon the arm of his
+      future brother-in-law. Holmes walked swiftly across the lawn, and
+      we were at the open window of the bedroom long before the others
+      came up.
+
+      “Miss Harrison,” said Holmes, speaking with the utmost intensity
+      of manner, “you must stay where you are all day. Let nothing
+      prevent you from staying where you are all day. It is of the
+      utmost importance.”
+
+      “Certainly, if you wish it, Mr. Holmes,” said the girl in
+      astonishment.
+
+      “When you go to bed lock the door of this room on the outside and
+      keep the key. Promise to do this.”
+
+      “But Percy?”
+
+      “He will come to London with us.”
+
+      “And am I to remain here?”
+
+      “It is for his sake. You can serve him. Quick! Promise!”
+
+      She gave a quick nod of assent just as the other two came up.
+
+      “Why do you sit moping there, Annie?” cried her brother. “Come
+      out into the sunshine!”
+
+      “No, thank you, Joseph. I have a slight headache and this room is
+      deliciously cool and soothing.”
+
+      “What do you propose now, Mr. Holmes?” asked our client.
+
+      “Well, in investigating this minor affair we must not lose sight
+      of our main inquiry. It would be a very great help to me if you
+      would come up to London with us.”
+
+      “At once?”
+
+      “Well, as soon as you conveniently can. Say in an hour.”
+
+      “I feel quite strong enough, if I can really be of any help.”
+
+      “The greatest possible.”
+
+      “Perhaps you would like me to stay there to-night?”
+
+      “I was just going to propose it.”
+
+      “Then, if my friend of the night comes to revisit me, he will
+      find the bird flown. We are all in your hands, Mr. Holmes, and
+      you must tell us exactly what you would like done. Perhaps you
+      would prefer that Joseph came with us so as to look after me?”
+
+      “Oh, no; my friend Watson is a medical man, you know, and he’ll
+      look after you. We’ll have our lunch here, if you will permit us,
+      and then we shall all three set off for town together.”
+
+      It was arranged as he suggested, though Miss Harrison excused
+      herself from leaving the bedroom, in accordance with Holmes’s
+      suggestion. What the object of my friend’s manœuvres was I could
+      not conceive, unless it were to keep the lady away from Phelps,
+      who, rejoiced by his returning health and by the prospect of
+      action, lunched with us in the dining-room. Holmes had a still
+      more startling surprise for us, however, for, after accompanying
+      us down to the station and seeing us into our carriage, he calmly
+      announced that he had no intention of leaving Woking.
+
+      “There are one or two small points which I should desire to clear
+      up before I go,” said he. “Your absence, Mr. Phelps, will in some
+      ways rather assist me. Watson, when you reach London you would
+      oblige me by driving at once to Baker Street with our friend
+      here, and remaining with him until I see you again. It is
+      fortunate that you are old schoolfellows, as you must have much
+      to talk over. Mr. Phelps can have the spare bedroom to-night, and
+      I will be with you in time for breakfast, for there is a train
+      which will take me into Waterloo at eight.”
+
+      “But how about our investigation in London?” asked Phelps,
+      ruefully.
+
+      “We can do that to-morrow. I think that just at present I can be
+      of more immediate use here.”
+
+      “You might tell them at Briarbrae that I hope to be back
+      to-morrow night,” cried Phelps, as we began to move from the
+      platform.
+
+      “I hardly expect to go back to Briarbrae,” answered Holmes, and
+      waved his hand to us cheerily as we shot out from the station.
+
+      Phelps and I talked it over on our journey, but neither of us
+      could devise a satisfactory reason for this new development.
+
+      “I suppose he wants to find out some clue as to the burglary last
+      night, if a burglar it was. For myself, I don’t believe it was an
+      ordinary thief.”
+
+      “What is your own idea, then?”
+
+      “Upon my word, you may put it down to my weak nerves or not, but
+      I believe there is some deep political intrigue going on around
+      me, and that for some reason that passes my understanding my life
+      is aimed at by the conspirators. It sounds high-flown and absurd,
+      but consider the facts! Why should a thief try to break in at a
+      bedroom window, where there could be no hope of any plunder, and
+      why should he come with a long knife in his hand?”
+
+      “You are sure it was not a house-breaker’s jimmy?”
+
+      “Oh, no, it was a knife. I saw the flash of the blade quite
+      distinctly.”
+
+      “But why on earth should you be pursued with such animosity?”
+
+      “Ah, that is the question.”
+
+      “Well, if Holmes takes the same view, that would account for his
+      action, would it not? Presuming that your theory is correct, if
+      he can lay his hands upon the man who threatened you last night
+      he will have gone a long way towards finding who took the naval
+      treaty. It is absurd to suppose that you have two enemies, one of
+      whom robs you, while the other threatens your life.”
+
+      “But Holmes said that he was not going to Briarbrae.”
+
+      “I have known him for some time,” said I, “but I never knew him
+      do anything yet without a very good reason,” and with that our
+      conversation drifted off on to other topics.
+
+      But it was a weary day for me. Phelps was still weak after his
+      long illness, and his misfortune made him querulous and nervous.
+      In vain I endeavoured to interest him in Afghanistan, in India,
+      in social questions, in anything which might take his mind out of
+      the groove. He would always come back to his lost treaty,
+      wondering, guessing, speculating, as to what Holmes was doing,
+      what steps Lord Holdhurst was taking, what news we should have in
+      the morning. As the evening wore on his excitement became quite
+      painful.
+
+      “You have implicit faith in Holmes?” he asked.
+
+      “I have seen him do some remarkable things.”
+
+      “But he never brought light into anything quite so dark as this?”
+
+      “Oh, yes; I have known him solve questions which presented fewer
+      clues than yours.”
+
+      “But not where such large interests are at stake?”
+
+      “I don’t know that. To my certain knowledge he has acted on
+      behalf of three of the reigning houses of Europe in very vital
+      matters.”
+
+      “But you know him well, Watson. He is such an inscrutable fellow
+      that I never quite know what to make of him. Do you think he is
+      hopeful? Do you think he expects to make a success of it?”
+
+      “He has said nothing.”
+
+      “That is a bad sign.”
+
+      “On the contrary, I have noticed that when he is off the trail he
+      generally says so. It is when he is on a scent and is not quite
+      absolutely sure yet that it is the right one that he is most
+      taciturn. Now, my dear fellow, we can’t help matters by making
+      ourselves nervous about them, so let me implore you to go to bed
+      and so be fresh for whatever may await us to-morrow.”
+
+      I was able at last to persuade my companion to take my advice,
+      though I knew from his excited manner that there was not much
+      hope of sleep for him. Indeed, his mood was infectious, for I lay
+      tossing half the night myself, brooding over this strange
+      problem, and inventing a hundred theories, each of which was more
+      impossible than the last. Why had Holmes remained at Woking? Why
+      had he asked Miss Harrison to remain in the sick-room all day?
+      Why had he been so careful not to inform the people at Briarbrae
+      that he intended to remain near them? I cudgelled my brains until
+      I fell asleep in the endeavour to find some explanation which
+      would cover all these facts.
+
+      It was seven o’clock when I awoke, and I set off at once for
+      Phelps’s room, to find him haggard and spent after a sleepless
+      night. His first question was whether Holmes had arrived yet.
+
+      “He’ll be here when he promised,” said I, “and not an instant
+      sooner or later.”
+
+      And my words were true, for shortly after eight a hansom dashed
+      up to the door and our friend got out of it. Standing in the
+      window we saw that his left hand was swathed in a bandage and
+      that his face was very grim and pale. He entered the house, but
+      it was some little time before he came upstairs.
+
+      “He looks like a beaten man,” cried Phelps.
+
+      I was forced to confess that he was right. “After all,” said I,
+      “the clue of the matter lies probably here in town.”
+
+      Phelps gave a groan.
+
+      “I don’t know how it is,” said he, “but I had hoped for so much
+      from his return. But surely his hand was not tied up like that
+      yesterday. What can be the matter?”
+
+      “You are not wounded, Holmes?” I asked, as my friend entered the
+      room.
+
+      “Tut, it is only a scratch through my own clumsiness,” he
+      answered, nodding his good-mornings to us. “This case of yours,
+      Mr. Phelps, is certainly one of the darkest which I have ever
+      investigated.”
+
+      “I feared that you would find it beyond you.”
+
+      “It has been a most remarkable experience.”
+
+      “That bandage tells of adventures,” said I. “Won’t you tell us
+      what has happened?”
+
+      “After breakfast, my dear Watson. Remember that I have breathed
+      thirty miles of Surrey air this morning. I suppose that there has
+      been no answer from my cabman advertisement? Well, well, we
+      cannot expect to score every time.”
+
+      The table was all laid, and just as I was about to ring Mrs.
+      Hudson entered with the tea and coffee. A few minutes later she
+      brought in three covers, and we all drew up to the table, Holmes
+      ravenous, I curious, and Phelps in the gloomiest state of
+      depression.
+
+      “Mrs. Hudson has risen to the occasion,” said Holmes, uncovering
+      a dish of curried chicken. “Her cuisine is a little limited, but
+      she has as good an idea of breakfast as a Scotch-woman. What have
+      you here, Watson?”
+
+      “Ham and eggs,” I answered.
+
+      “Good! What are you going to take, Mr. Phelps—curried fowl or
+      eggs, or will you help yourself?”
+
+      “Thank you. I can eat nothing,” said Phelps.
+
+      “Oh, come! Try the dish before you.”
+
+      “Thank you, I would really rather not.”
+
+      “Well, then,” said Holmes, with a mischievous twinkle, “I suppose
+      that you have no objection to helping me?”
+
+      Phelps raised the cover, and as he did so he uttered a scream,
+      and sat there staring with a face as white as the plate upon
+      which he looked. Across the centre of it was lying a little
+      cylinder of blue-grey paper. He caught it up, devoured it with
+      his eyes, and then danced madly about the room, pressing it to
+      his bosom and shrieking out in his delight. Then he fell back
+      into an armchair so limp and exhausted with his own emotions that
+      we had to pour brandy down his throat to keep him from fainting.
+
+      “There! there!” said Holmes, soothing, patting him upon the
+      shoulder. “It was too bad to spring it on you like this, but
+      Watson here will tell you that I never can resist a touch of the
+      dramatic.”
+
+      Phelps seized his hand and kissed it. “God bless you!” he cried.
+      “You have saved my honour.”
+
+      “Well, my own was at stake, you know,” said Holmes. “I assure you
+      it is just as hateful to me to fail in a case as it can be to you
+      to blunder over a commission.”
+
+      Phelps thrust away the precious document into the innermost
+      pocket of his coat.
+
+      “I have not the heart to interrupt your breakfast any further,
+      and yet I am dying to know how you got it and where it was.”
+
+      Sherlock Holmes swallowed a cup of coffee, and turned his
+      attention to the ham and eggs. Then he rose, lit his pipe, and
+      settled himself down into his chair.
+
+      “I’ll tell you what I did first, and how I came to do it
+      afterwards,” said he. “After leaving you at the station I went
+      for a charming walk through some admirable Surrey scenery to a
+      pretty little village called Ripley, where I had my tea at an
+      inn, and took the precaution of filling my flask and of putting a
+      paper of sandwiches in my pocket. There I remained until evening,
+      when I set off for Woking again, and found myself in the
+      high-road outside Briarbrae just after sunset.
+
+      “Well, I waited until the road was clear—it is never a very
+      frequented one at any time, I fancy—and then I clambered over the
+      fence into the grounds.”
+
+      “Surely the gate was open!” ejaculated Phelps.
+
+      “Yes, but I have a peculiar taste in these matters. I chose the
+      place where the three fir-trees stand, and behind their screen I
+      got over without the least chance of any one in the house being
+      able to see me. I crouched down among the bushes on the other
+      side, and crawled from one to the other—witness the disreputable
+      state of my trouser knees—until I had reached the clump of
+      rhododendrons just opposite to your bedroom window. There I
+      squatted down and awaited developments.
+
+      “The blind was not down in your room, and I could see Miss
+      Harrison sitting there reading by the table. It was quarter-past
+      ten when she closed her book, fastened the shutters, and retired.
+
+      “I heard her shut the door, and felt quite sure that she had
+      turned the key in the lock.”
+
+      “The key!” ejaculated Phelps.
+
+      “Yes; I had given Miss Harrison instructions to lock the door on
+      the outside and take the key with her when she went to bed. She
+      carried out every one of my injunctions to the letter, and
+      certainly without her co-operation you would not have that paper
+      in your coat-pocket. She departed then and the lights went out,
+      and I was left squatting in the rhododendron-bush.
+
+      “The night was fine, but still it was a very weary vigil. Of
+      course it has the sort of excitement about it that the sportsman
+      feels when he lies beside the water-course and waits for the big
+      game. It was very long, though—almost as long, Watson, as when
+      you and I waited in that deadly room when we looked into the
+      little problem of the Speckled Band. There was a church-clock
+      down at Woking which struck the quarters, and I thought more than
+      once that it had stopped. At last however about two in the
+      morning, I suddenly heard the gentle sound of a bolt being pushed
+      back and the creaking of a key. A moment later the servants’ door
+      was opened, and Mr. Joseph Harrison stepped out into the
+      moonlight.”
+
+      “Joseph!” ejaculated Phelps.
+
+      “He was bare-headed, but he had a black coat thrown over his
+      shoulder so that he could conceal his face in an instant if there
+      were any alarm. He walked on tiptoe under the shadow of the wall,
+      and when he reached the window he worked a long-bladed knife
+      through the sash and pushed back the catch. Then he flung open
+      the window, and putting his knife through the crack in the
+      shutters, he thrust the bar up and swung them open.
+
+      “From where I lay I had a perfect view of the inside of the room
+      and of every one of his movements. He lit the two candles which
+      stood upon the mantelpiece, and then he proceeded to turn back
+      the corner of the carpet in the neighbourhood of the door.
+      Presently he stopped and picked out a square piece of board, such
+      as is usually left to enable plumbers to get at the joints of the
+      gas-pipes. This one covered, as a matter of fact, the T joint
+      which gives off the pipe which supplies the kitchen underneath.
+      Out of this hiding-place he drew that little cylinder of paper,
+      pushed down the board, rearranged the carpet, blew out the
+      candles, and walked straight into my arms as I stood waiting for
+      him outside the window.
+
+      “Well, he has rather more viciousness than I gave him credit for,
+      has Master Joseph. He flew at me with his knife, and I had to
+      grasp him twice, and got a cut over the knuckles, before I had
+      the upper hand of him. He looked murder out of the only eye he
+      could see with when we had finished, but he listened to reason
+      and gave up the papers. Having got them I let my man go, but I
+      wired full particulars to Forbes this morning. If he is quick
+      enough to catch his bird, well and good. But if, as I shrewdly
+      suspect, he finds the nest empty before he gets there, why, all
+      the better for the government. I fancy that Lord Holdhurst for
+      one, and Mr. Percy Phelps for another, would very much rather
+      that the affair never got as far as a police-court.
+
+      “My God!” gasped our client. “Do you tell me that during these
+      long ten weeks of agony the stolen papers were within the very
+      room with me all the time?”
+
+      “So it was.”
+
+      “And Joseph! Joseph a villain and a thief!”
+
+      “Hum! I am afraid Joseph’s character is a rather deeper and more
+      dangerous one than one might judge from his appearance. From what
+      I have heard from him this morning, I gather that he has lost
+      heavily in dabbling with stocks, and that he is ready to do
+      anything on earth to better his fortunes. Being an absolutely
+      selfish man, when a chance presented itself he did not allow
+      either his sister’s happiness or your reputation to hold his
+      hand.”
+
+      Percy Phelps sank back in his chair. “My head whirls,” said he.
+      “Your words have dazed me.”
+
+      “The principal difficulty in your case,” remarked Holmes, in his
+      didactic fashion, “lay in the fact of there being too much
+      evidence. What was vital was overlaid and hidden by what was
+      irrelevant. Of all the facts which were presented to us we had to
+      pick just those which we deemed to be essential, and then piece
+      them together in their order, so as to reconstruct this very
+      remarkable chain of events. I had already begun to suspect
+      Joseph, from the fact that you had intended to travel home with
+      him that night, and that therefore it was a likely enough thing
+      that he should call for you, knowing the Foreign Office well,
+      upon his way. When I heard that some one had been so anxious to
+      get into the bedroom, in which no one but Joseph could have
+      concealed anything—you told us in your narrative how you had
+      turned Joseph out when you arrived with the doctor—my suspicions
+      all changed to certainties, especially as the attempt was made on
+      the first night upon which the nurse was absent, showing that the
+      intruder was well acquainted with the ways of the house.”
+
+      “How blind I have been!”
+
+      “The facts of the case, as far as I have worked them out, are
+      these: this Joseph Harrison entered the office through the
+      Charles Street door, and knowing his way he walked straight into
+      your room the instant after you left it. Finding no one there he
+      promptly rang the bell, and at the instant that he did so his
+      eyes caught the paper upon the table. A glance showed him that
+      chance had put in his way a State document of immense value, and
+      in an instant he had thrust it into his pocket and was gone. A
+      few minutes elapsed, as you remember, before the sleepy
+      commissionnaire drew your attention to the bell, and those were
+      just enough to give the thief time to make his escape.
+
+      “He made his way to Woking by the first train, and having
+      examined his booty and assured himself that it really was of
+      immense value, he had concealed it in what he thought was a very
+      safe place, with the intention of taking it out again in a day or
+      two, and carrying it to the French embassy, or wherever he
+      thought that a long price was to be had. Then came your sudden
+      return. He, without a moment’s warning, was bundled out of his
+      room, and from that time onward there were always at least two of
+      you there to prevent him from regaining his treasure. The
+      situation to him must have been a maddening one. But at last he
+      thought he saw his chance. He tried to steal in, but was baffled
+      by your wakefulness. You remember that you did not take your
+      usual draught that night.”
+
+      “I remember.”
+
+      “I fancy that he had taken steps to make that draught
+      efficacious, and that he quite relied upon your being
+      unconscious. Of course, I understood that he would repeat the
+      attempt whenever it could be done with safety. Your leaving the
+      room gave him the chance he wanted. I kept Miss Harrison in it
+      all day so that he might not anticipate us. Then, having given
+      him the idea that the coast was clear, I kept guard as I have
+      described. I already knew that the papers were probably in the
+      room, but I had no desire to rip up all the planking and skirting
+      in search of them. I let him take them, therefore, from the
+      hiding-place, and so saved myself an infinity of trouble. Is
+      there any other point which I can make clear?”
+
+      “Why did he try the window on the first occasion,” I asked, “when
+      he might have entered by the door?”
+
+      “In reaching the door he would have to pass seven bedrooms. On
+      the other hand, he could get out on to the lawn with ease.
+      Anything else?”
+
+      “You do not think,” asked Phelps, “that he had any murderous
+      intention? The knife was only meant as a tool.”
+
+      “It may be so,” answered Holmes, shrugging his shoulders. “I can
+      only say for certain that Mr. Joseph Harrison is a gentleman to
+      whose mercy I should be extremely unwilling to trust.”
+
+
+
+
+XII. The Final Problem
+
+
+      It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the
+      last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by
+      which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished. In an
+      incoherent and, as I deeply feel, an entirely inadequate fashion,
+      I have endeavoured to give some account of my strange experiences
+      in his company from the chance which first brought us together at
+      the period of the “Study in Scarlet,” up to the time of his
+      interference in the matter of the “Naval Treaty”—an interference
+      which had the unquestionable effect of preventing a serious
+      international complication. It was my intention to have stopped
+      there, and to have said nothing of that event which has created a
+      void in my life which the lapse of two years has done little to
+      fill. My hand has been forced, however, by the recent letters in
+      which Colonel James Moriarty defends the memory of his brother,
+      and I have no choice but to lay the facts before the public
+      exactly as they occurred. I alone know the absolute truth of the
+      matter, and I am satisfied that the time has come when no good
+      purpose is to be served by its suppression. As far as I know,
+      there have been only three accounts in the public press: that in
+      the _Journal de Genève_ on May 6th, 1891, the Reuter’s despatch
+      in the English papers on May 7th, and finally the recent letter
+      to which I have alluded. Of these the first and second were
+      extremely condensed, while the last is, as I shall now show, an
+      absolute perversion of the facts. It lies with me to tell for the
+      first time what really took place between Professor Moriarty and
+      Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
+
+      It may be remembered that after my marriage, and my subsequent
+      start in private practice, the very intimate relations which had
+      existed between Holmes and myself became to some extent modified.
+      He still came to me from time to time when he desired a companion
+      in his investigation, but these occasions grew more and more
+      seldom, until I find that in the year 1890 there were only three
+      cases of which I retain any record. During the winter of that
+      year and the early spring of 1891, I saw in the papers that he
+      had been engaged by the French government upon a matter of
+      supreme importance, and I received two notes from Holmes, dated
+      from Narbonne and from Nimes, from which I gathered that his stay
+      in France was likely to be a long one. It was with some surprise,
+      therefore, that I saw him walk into my consulting-room upon the
+      evening of the 24th of April. It struck me that he was looking
+      even paler and thinner than usual.
+
+      “Yes, I have been using myself up rather too freely,” he
+      remarked, in answer to my look rather than to my words; “I have
+      been a little pressed of late. Have you any objection to my
+      closing your shutters?”
+
+      The only light in the room came from the lamp upon the table at
+      which I had been reading. Holmes edged his way round the wall and
+      flinging the shutters together, he bolted them securely.
+
+      “You are afraid of something?” I asked.
+
+      “Well, I am.”
+
+      “Of what?”
+
+      “Of air-guns.”
+
+      “My dear Holmes, what do you mean?”
+
+      “I think that you know me well enough, Watson, to understand that
+      I am by no means a nervous man. At the same time, it is stupidity
+      rather than courage to refuse to recognise danger when it is
+      close upon you. Might I trouble you for a match?” He drew in the
+      smoke of his cigarette as if the soothing influence was grateful
+      to him.
+
+      “I must apologise for calling so late,” said he, “and I must
+      further beg you to be so unconventional as to allow me to leave
+      your house presently by scrambling over your back garden wall.”
+
+      “But what does it all mean?” I asked.
+
+      He held out his hand, and I saw in the light of the lamp that two
+      of his knuckles were burst and bleeding.
+
+      “It is not an airy nothing, you see,” said he, smiling. “On the
+      contrary, it is solid enough for a man to break his hand over. Is
+      Mrs. Watson in?”
+
+      “She is away upon a visit.”
+
+      “Indeed! You are alone?”
+
+      “Quite.”
+
+      “Then it makes it the easier for me to propose that you should
+      come away with me for a week to the Continent.”
+
+      “Where?”
+
+      “Oh, anywhere. It’s all the same to me.”
+
+      There was something very strange in all this. It was not Holmes’s
+      nature to take an aimless holiday, and something about his pale,
+      worn face told me that his nerves were at their highest tension.
+      He saw the question in my eyes, and, putting his finger-tips
+      together and his elbows upon his knees, he explained the
+      situation.
+
+      “You have probably never heard of Professor Moriarty?” said he.
+
+      “Never.”
+
+      “Aye, there’s the genius and the wonder of the thing!” he cried.
+      “The man pervades London, and no one has heard of him. That’s
+      what puts him on a pinnacle in the records of crime. I tell you,
+      Watson, in all seriousness, that if I could beat that man, if I
+      could free society of him, I should feel that my own career had
+      reached its summit, and I should be prepared to turn to some more
+      placid line in life. Between ourselves, the recent cases in which
+      I have been of assistance to the royal family of Scandinavia, and
+      to the French republic, have left me in such a position that I
+      could continue to live in the quiet fashion which is most
+      congenial to me, and to concentrate my attention upon my chemical
+      researches. But I could not rest, Watson, I could not sit quiet
+      in my chair, if I thought that such a man as Professor Moriarty
+      were walking the streets of London unchallenged.”
+
+      “What has he done, then?”
+
+      “His career has been an extraordinary one. He is a man of good
+      birth and excellent education, endowed by nature with a
+      phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the age of twenty-one he
+      wrote a treatise upon the Binomial Theorem, which has had a
+      European vogue. On the strength of it he won the Mathematical
+      Chair at one of our smaller universities, and had, to all
+      appearances, a most brilliant career before him. But the man had
+      hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind. A criminal
+      strain ran in his blood, which, instead of being modified, was
+      increased and rendered infinitely more dangerous by his
+      extraordinary mental powers. Dark rumours gathered round him in
+      the university town, and eventually he was compelled to resign
+      his chair and to come down to London, where he set up as an Army
+      coach. So much is known to the world, but what I am telling you
+      now is what I have myself discovered.
+
+      “As you are aware, Watson, there is no one who knows the higher
+      criminal world of London so well as I do. For years past I have
+      continually been conscious of some power behind the malefactor,
+      some deep organizing power which forever stands in the way of the
+      law, and throws its shield over the wrong-doer. Again and again
+      in cases of the most varying sorts—forgery cases, robberies,
+      murders—I have felt the presence of this force, and I have
+      deduced its action in many of those undiscovered crimes in which
+      I have not been personally consulted. For years I have
+      endeavoured to break through the veil which shrouded it, and at
+      last the time came when I seized my thread and followed it, until
+      it led me, after a thousand cunning windings, to ex-Professor
+      Moriarty of mathematical celebrity.
+
+      “He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half
+      that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great
+      city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has
+      a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in
+      the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations,
+      and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little
+      himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and
+      splendidly organized. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be
+      abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be
+      removed—the word is passed to the Professor, the matter is
+      organized and carried out. The agent may be caught. In that case
+      money is found for his bail or his defence. But the central power
+      which uses the agent is never caught—never so much as suspected.
+      This was the organization which I deduced, Watson, and which I
+      devoted my whole energy to exposing and breaking up.
+
+      “But the Professor was fenced round with safeguards so cunningly
+      devised that, do what I would, it seemed impossible to get
+      evidence which would convict in a court of law. You know my
+      powers, my dear Watson, and yet at the end of three months I was
+      forced to confess that I had at last met an antagonist who was my
+      intellectual equal. My horror at his crimes was lost in my
+      admiration at his skill. But at last he made a trip—only a
+      little, little trip—but it was more than he could afford when I
+      was so close upon him. I had my chance, and, starting from that
+      point, I have woven my net round him until now it is all ready to
+      close. In three days—that is to say, on Monday next—matters will
+      be ripe, and the Professor, with all the principal members of his
+      gang, will be in the hands of the police. Then will come the
+      greatest criminal trial of the century, the clearing up of over
+      forty mysteries, and the rope for all of them; but if we move at
+      all prematurely, you understand, they may slip out of our hands
+      even at the last moment.
+
+      “Now, if I could have done this without the knowledge of
+      Professor Moriarty, all would have been well. But he was too wily
+      for that. He saw every step which I took to draw my toils round
+      him. Again and again he strove to break away, but I as often
+      headed him off. I tell you, my friend, that if a detailed account
+      of that silent contest could be written, it would take its place
+      as the most brilliant bit of thrust-and-parry work in the history
+      of detection. Never have I risen to such a height, and never have
+      I been so hard pressed by an opponent. He cut deep, and yet I
+      just undercut him. This morning the last steps were taken, and
+      three days only were wanted to complete the business. I was
+      sitting in my room thinking the matter over, when the door opened
+      and Professor Moriarty stood before me.
+
+      “My nerves are fairly proof, Watson, but I must confess to a
+      start when I saw the very man who had been so much in my thoughts
+      standing there on my threshhold. His appearance was quite
+      familiar to me. He is extremely tall and thin, his forehead domes
+      out in a white curve, and his two eyes are deeply sunken in his
+      head. He is clean-shaven, pale, and ascetic-looking, retaining
+      something of the professor in his features. His shoulders are
+      rounded from much study, and his face protrudes forward, and is
+      forever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously
+      reptilian fashion. He peered at me with great curiosity in his
+      puckered eyes.
+
+      “‘You have less frontal development than I should have expected,’
+      said he, at last. ‘It is a dangerous habit to finger loaded
+      firearms in the pocket of one’s dressing-gown.’
+
+      “The fact is that upon his entrance I had instantly recognised
+      the extreme personal danger in which I lay. The only conceivable
+      escape for him lay in silencing my tongue. In an instant I had
+      slipped the revolver from the drawer into my pocket, and was
+      covering him through the cloth. At his remark I drew the weapon
+      out and laid it cocked upon the table. He still smiled and
+      blinked, but there was something about his eyes which made me
+      feel very glad that I had it there.
+
+      “‘You evidently don’t know me,’ said he.
+
+      “‘On the contrary,’ I answered, ‘I think it is fairly evident
+      that I do. Pray take a chair. I can spare you five minutes if you
+      have anything to say.’
+
+      “‘All that I have to say has already crossed your mind,’ said he.
+
+      “‘Then possibly my answer has crossed yours,’ I replied.
+
+      “‘You stand fast?’
+
+      “‘Absolutely.’
+
+      “He clapped his hand into his pocket, and I raised the pistol
+      from the table. But he merely drew out a memorandum-book in which
+      he had scribbled some dates.
+
+      “‘You crossed my path on the 4th of January,’ said he. ‘On the
+      23rd you incommoded me; by the middle of February I was seriously
+      inconvenienced by you; at the end of March I was absolutely
+      hampered in my plans; and now, at the close of April, I find
+      myself placed in such a position through your continual
+      persecution that I am in positive danger of losing my liberty.
+      The situation is becoming an impossible one.’
+
+      “‘Have you any suggestion to make?’ I asked.
+
+      “‘You must drop it, Mr. Holmes,’ said he, swaying his face about.
+      ‘You really must, you know.’
+
+      “‘After Monday,’ said I.
+
+      “‘Tut, tut,’ said he. ‘I am quite sure that a man of your
+      intelligence will see that there can be but one outcome to this
+      affair. It is necessary that you should withdraw. You have worked
+      things in such a fashion that we have only one resource left. It
+      has been an intellectual treat to me to see the way in which you
+      have grappled with this affair, and I say, unaffectedly, that it
+      would be a grief to me to be forced to take any extreme measure.
+      You smile, sir, but I assure you that it really would.’
+
+      “‘Danger is part of my trade,’ I remarked.
+
+      “‘That is not danger,’ said he. ‘It is inevitable destruction.
+      You stand in the way not merely of an individual, but of a mighty
+      organization, the full extent of which you, with all your
+      cleverness, have been unable to realize. You must stand clear,
+      Mr. Holmes, or be trodden under foot.’
+
+      “‘I am afraid,’ said I, rising, ‘that in the pleasure of this
+      conversation I am neglecting business of importance which awaits
+      me elsewhere.’
+
+      “He rose also and looked at me in silence, shaking his head
+      sadly.
+
+      “‘Well, well,’ said he, at last. ‘It seems a pity, but I have
+      done what I could. I know every move of your game. You can do
+      nothing before Monday. It has been a duel between you and me, Mr.
+      Holmes. You hope to place me in the dock. I tell you that I will
+      never stand in the dock. You hope to beat me. I tell you that you
+      will never beat me. If you are clever enough to bring destruction
+      upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you.’
+
+      “‘You have paid me several compliments, Mr. Moriarty,’ said I.
+      ‘Let me pay you one in return when I say that if I were assured
+      of the former eventuality I would, in the interests of the
+      public, cheerfully accept the latter.’
+
+      “‘I can promise you the one, but not the other,’ he snarled, and
+      so turned his rounded back upon me, and went peering and blinking
+      out of the room.
+
+      “That was my singular interview with Professor Moriarty. I
+      confess that it left an unpleasant effect upon my mind. His soft,
+      precise fashion of speech leaves a conviction of sincerity which
+      a mere bully could not produce. Of course, you will say: ‘Why not
+      take police precautions against him?’ The reason is that I am
+      well convinced that it is from his agents the blow will fall. I
+      have the best proofs that it would be so.”
+
+      “You have already been assaulted?”
+
+      “My dear Watson, Professor Moriarty is not a man who lets the
+      grass grow under his feet. I went out about midday to transact
+      some business in Oxford Street. As I passed the corner which
+      leads from Bentinck Street on to the Welbeck Street crossing a
+      two-horse van furiously driven whizzed round and was on me like a
+      flash. I sprang for the foot-path and saved myself by the
+      fraction of a second. The van dashed round by Marylebone Lane and
+      was gone in an instant. I kept to the pavement after that,
+      Watson, but as I walked down Vere Street a brick came down from
+      the roof of one of the houses, and was shattered to fragments at
+      my feet. I called the police and had the place examined. There
+      were slates and bricks piled up on the roof preparatory to some
+      repairs, and they would have me believe that the wind had toppled
+      over one of these. Of course I knew better, but I could prove
+      nothing. I took a cab after that and reached my brother’s rooms
+      in Pall Mall, where I spent the day. Now I have come round to
+      you, and on my way I was attacked by a rough with a bludgeon. I
+      knocked him down, and the police have him in custody; but I can
+      tell you with the most absolute confidence that no possible
+      connection will ever be traced between the gentleman upon whose
+      front teeth I have barked my knuckles and the retiring
+      mathematical coach, who is, I daresay, working out problems upon
+      a blackboard ten miles away. You will not wonder, Watson, that my
+      first act on entering your rooms was to close your shutters, and
+      that I have been compelled to ask your permission to leave the
+      house by some less conspicuous exit than the front door.”
+
+      I had often admired my friend’s courage, but never more than now,
+      as he sat quietly checking off a series of incidents which must
+      have combined to make up a day of horror.
+
+      “You will spend the night here?” I said.
+
+      “No, my friend, you might find me a dangerous guest. I have my
+      plans laid, and all will be well. Matters have gone so far now
+      that they can move without my help as far as the arrest goes,
+      though my presence is necessary for a conviction. It is obvious,
+      therefore, that I cannot do better than get away for the few days
+      which remain before the police are at liberty to act. It would be
+      a great pleasure to me, therefore, if you could come on to the
+      Continent with me.”
+
+      “The practice is quiet,” said I, “and I have an accommodating
+      neighbour. I should be glad to come.”
+
+      “And to start to-morrow morning?”
+
+      “If necessary.”
+
+      “Oh yes, it is most necessary. Then these are your instructions,
+      and I beg, my dear Watson, that you will obey them to the letter,
+      for you are now playing a double-handed game with me against the
+      cleverest rogue and the most powerful syndicate of criminals in
+      Europe. Now listen! You will dispatch whatever luggage you intend
+      to take by a trusty messenger unaddressed to Victoria to-night.
+      In the morning you will send for a hansom, desiring your man to
+      take neither the first nor the second which may present itself.
+      Into this hansom you will jump, and you will drive to the Strand
+      end of the Lowther Arcade, handing the address to the cabman upon
+      a slip of paper, with a request that he will not throw it away.
+      Have your fare ready, and the instant that your cab stops, dash
+      through the Arcade, timing yourself to reach the other side at a
+      quarter-past nine. You will find a small brougham waiting close
+      to the curb, driven by a fellow with a heavy black cloak tipped
+      at the collar with red. Into this you will step, and you will
+      reach Victoria in time for the Continental express.”
+
+      “Where shall I meet you?”
+
+      “At the station. The second first-class carriage from the front
+      will be reserved for us.”
+
+      “The carriage is our rendezvous, then?”
+
+      “Yes.”
+
+      It was in vain that I asked Holmes to remain for the evening. It
+      was evident to me that he thought he might bring trouble to the
+      roof he was under, and that that was the motive which impelled
+      him to go. With a few hurried words as to our plans for the
+      morrow he rose and came out with me into the garden, clambering
+      over the wall which leads into Mortimer Street, and immediately
+      whistling for a hansom, in which I heard him drive away.
+
+      In the morning I obeyed Holmes’s injunctions to the letter. A
+      hansom was procured with such precaution as would prevent its
+      being one which was placed ready for us, and I drove immediately
+      after breakfast to the Lowther Arcade, through which I hurried at
+      the top of my speed. A brougham was waiting with a very massive
+      driver wrapped in a dark cloak, who, the instant that I had
+      stepped in, whipped up the horse and rattled off to Victoria
+      Station. On my alighting there he turned the carriage, and dashed
+      away again without so much as a look in my direction.
+
+      So far all had gone admirably. My luggage was waiting for me, and
+      I had no difficulty in finding the carriage which Holmes had
+      indicated, the less so as it was the only one in the train which
+      was marked “Engaged.” My only source of anxiety now was the
+      non-appearance of Holmes. The station clock marked only seven
+      minutes from the time when we were due to start. In vain I
+      searched among the groups of travellers and leave-takers for the
+      lithe figure of my friend. There was no sign of him. I spent a
+      few minutes in assisting a venerable Italian priest, who was
+      endeavouring to make a porter understand, in his broken English,
+      that his luggage was to be booked through to Paris. Then, having
+      taken another look round, I returned to my carriage, where I
+      found that the porter, in spite of the ticket, had given me my
+      decrepit Italian friend as a traveling companion. It was useless
+      for me to explain to him that his presence was an intrusion, for
+      my Italian was even more limited than his English, so I shrugged
+      my shoulders resignedly, and continued to look out anxiously for
+      my friend. A chill of fear had come over me, as I thought that
+      his absence might mean that some blow had fallen during the
+      night. Already the doors had all been shut and the whistle blown,
+      when—
+
+      “My dear Watson,” said a voice, “you have not even condescended
+      to say good-morning.”
+
+      I turned in uncontrollable astonishment. The aged ecclesiastic
+      had turned his face towards me. For an instant the wrinkles were
+      smoothed away, the nose drew away from the chin, the lower lip
+      ceased to protrude and the mouth to mumble, the dull eyes
+      regained their fire, the drooping figure expanded. The next the
+      whole frame collapsed again, and Holmes had gone as quickly as he
+      had come.
+
+      “Good heavens!” I cried. “How you startled me!”
+
+      “Every precaution is still necessary,” he whispered. “I have
+      reason to think that they are hot upon our trail. Ah, there is
+      Moriarty himself.”
+
+      The train had already begun to move as Holmes spoke. Glancing
+      back, I saw a tall man pushing his way furiously through the
+      crowd, and waving his hand as if he desired to have the train
+      stopped. It was too late, however, for we were rapidly gathering
+      momentum, and an instant later had shot clear of the station.
+
+      “With all our precautions, you see that we have cut it rather
+      fine,” said Holmes, laughing. He rose, and throwing off the black
+      cassock and hat which had formed his disguise, he packed them
+      away in a hand-bag.
+
+      “Have you seen the morning paper, Watson?”
+
+      “No.”
+
+      “You haven’t seen about Baker Street, then?”
+
+      “Baker Street?”
+
+      “They set fire to our rooms last night. No great harm was done.”
+
+      “Good heavens, Holmes! This is intolerable.”
+
+      “They must have lost my track completely after their bludgeon-man
+      was arrested. Otherwise they could not have imagined that I had
+      returned to my rooms. They have evidently taken the precaution of
+      watching you, however, and that is what has brought Moriarty to
+      Victoria. You could not have made any slip in coming?”
+
+      “I did exactly what you advised.”
+
+      “Did you find your brougham?”
+
+      “Yes, it was waiting.”
+
+      “Did you recognise your coachman?”
+
+      “No.”
+
+      “It was my brother Mycroft. It is an advantage to get about in
+      such a case without taking a mercenary into your confidence. But
+      we must plan what we are to do about Moriarty now.”
+
+      “As this is an express, and as the boat runs in connection with
+      it, I should think we have shaken him off very effectively.”
+
+      “My dear Watson, you evidently did not realize my meaning when I
+      said that this man may be taken as being quite on the same
+      intellectual plane as myself. You do not imagine that if I were
+      the pursuer I should allow myself to be baffled by so slight an
+      obstacle. Why, then, should you think so meanly of him?”
+
+      “What will he do?”
+
+      “What I should do?”
+
+      “What would you do, then?”
+
+      “Engage a special.”
+
+      “But it must be late.”
+
+      “By no means. This train stops at Canterbury; and there is always
+      at least a quarter of an hour’s delay at the boat. He will catch
+      us there.”
+
+      “One would think that we were the criminals. Let us have him
+      arrested on his arrival.”
+
+      “It would be to ruin the work of three months. We should get the
+      big fish, but the smaller would dart right and left out of the
+      net. On Monday we should have them all. No, an arrest is
+      inadmissible.”
+
+      “What then?”
+
+      “We shall get out at Canterbury.”
+
+      “And then?”
+
+      “Well, then we must make a cross-country journey to Newhaven, and
+      so over to Dieppe. Moriarty will again do what I should do. He
+      will get on to Paris, mark down our luggage, and wait for two
+      days at the depôt. In the meantime we shall treat ourselves to a
+      couple of carpet-bags, encourage the manufactures of the
+      countries through which we travel, and make our way at our
+      leisure into Switzerland, via Luxembourg and Basle.”
+
+      At Canterbury, therefore, we alighted, only to find that we
+      should have to wait an hour before we could get a train to
+      Newhaven.
+
+      I was still looking rather ruefully after the rapidly
+      disappearing luggage-van which contained my wardrobe, when Holmes
+      pulled my sleeve and pointed up the line.
+
+      “Already, you see,” said he.
+
+      Far away, from among the Kentish woods there rose a thin spray of
+      smoke. A minute later a carriage and engine could be seen flying
+      along the open curve which leads to the station. We had hardly
+      time to take our place behind a pile of luggage when it passed
+      with a rattle and a roar, beating a blast of hot air into our
+      faces.
+
+      “There he goes,” said Holmes, as we watched the carriage swing
+      and rock over the points. “There are limits, you see, to our
+      friend’s intelligence. It would have been a _coup-de-maître_ had
+      he deduced what I would deduce and acted accordingly.”
+
+      “And what would he have done had he overtaken us?”
+
+      “There cannot be the least doubt that he would have made a
+      murderous attack upon me. It is, however, a game at which two may
+      play. The question now is whether we should take a premature
+      lunch here, or run our chance of starving before we reach the
+      buffet at Newhaven.”
+
+      We made our way to Brussels that night and spent two days there,
+      moving on upon the third day as far as Strasburg. On the Monday
+      morning Holmes had telegraphed to the London police, and in the
+      evening we found a reply waiting for us at our hotel. Holmes tore
+      it open, and then with a bitter curse hurled it into the grate.
+
+      “I might have known it!” he groaned. “He has escaped!”
+
+      “Moriarty?”
+
+      “They have secured the whole gang with the exception of him. He
+      has given them the slip. Of course, when I had left the country
+      there was no one to cope with him. But I did think that I had put
+      the game in their hands. I think that you had better return to
+      England, Watson.”
+
+      “Why?”
+
+      “Because you will find me a dangerous companion now. This man’s
+      occupation is gone. He is lost if he returns to London. If I read
+      his character right he will devote his whole energies to
+      revenging himself upon me. He said as much in our short
+      interview, and I fancy that he meant it. I should certainly
+      recommend you to return to your practice.”
+
+      It was hardly an appeal to be successful with one who was an old
+      campaigner as well as an old friend. We sat in the Strasburg
+      _salle-à-manger_ arguing the question for half an hour, but the
+      same night we had resumed our journey and were well on our way to
+      Geneva.
+
+      For a charming week we wandered up the Valley of the Rhone, and
+      then, branching off at Leuk, we made our way over the Gemmi Pass,
+      still deep in snow, and so, by way of Interlaken, to Meiringen.
+      It was a lovely trip, the dainty green of the spring below, the
+      virgin white of the winter above; but it was clear to me that
+      never for one instant did Holmes forget the shadow which lay
+      across him. In the homely Alpine villages or in the lonely
+      mountain passes, I could tell by his quick glancing eyes and his
+      sharp scrutiny of every face that passed us, that he was well
+      convinced that, walk where we would, we could not walk ourselves
+      clear of the danger which was dogging our footsteps.
+
+      Once, I remember, as we passed over the Gemmi, and walked along
+      the border of the melancholy Daubensee, a large rock which had
+      been dislodged from the ridge upon our right clattered down and
+      roared into the lake behind us. In an instant Holmes had raced up
+      on to the ridge, and, standing upon a lofty pinnacle, craned his
+      neck in every direction. It was in vain that our guide assured
+      him that a fall of stones was a common chance in the spring-time
+      at that spot. He said nothing, but he smiled at me with the air
+      of a man who sees the fulfillment of that which he had expected.
+
+      And yet for all his watchfulness he was never depressed. On the
+      contrary, I can never recollect having seen him in such exuberant
+      spirits. Again and again he recurred to the fact that if he could
+      be assured that society was freed from Professor Moriarty he
+      would cheerfully bring his own career to a conclusion.
+
+      “I think that I may go so far as to say, Watson, that I have not
+      lived wholly in vain,” he remarked. “If my record were closed
+      to-night I could still survey it with equanimity. The air of
+      London is the sweeter for my presence. In over a thousand cases I
+      am not aware that I have ever used my powers upon the wrong side.
+      Of late I have been tempted to look into the problems furnished
+      by nature rather than those more superficial ones for which our
+      artificial state of society is responsible. Your memoirs will
+      draw to an end, Watson, upon the day that I crown my career by
+      the capture or extinction of the most dangerous and capable
+      criminal in Europe.”
+
+      I shall be brief, and yet exact, in the little which remains for
+      me to tell. It is not a subject on which I would willingly dwell,
+      and yet I am conscious that a duty devolves upon me to omit no
+      detail.
+
+      It was on the 3rd of May that we reached the little village of
+      Meiringen, where we put up at the Englischer Hof, then kept by
+      Peter Steiler the elder. Our landlord was an intelligent man, and
+      spoke excellent English, having served for three years as waiter
+      at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. At his advice, on the afternoon
+      of the 4th we set off together, with the intention of crossing
+      the hills and spending the night at the hamlet of Rosenlaui. We
+      had strict injunctions, however, on no account to pass the falls
+      of Reichenbach, which are about half-way up the hill, without
+      making a small détour to see them.
+
+      It is indeed, a fearful place. The torrent, swollen by the
+      melting snow, plunges into a tremendous abyss, from which the
+      spray rolls up like the smoke from a burning house. The shaft
+      into which the river hurls itself is an immense chasm, lined by
+      glistening coal-black rock, and narrowing into a creaming,
+      boiling pit of incalculable depth, which brims over and shoots
+      the stream onward over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green
+      water roaring forever down, and the thick flickering curtain of
+      spray hissing forever upward, turn a man giddy with their
+      constant whirl and clamour. We stood near the edge peering down
+      at the gleam of the breaking water far below us against the black
+      rocks, and listening to the half-human shout which came booming
+      up with the spray out of the abyss.
+
+      The path has been cut half-way round the fall to afford a
+      complete view, but it ends abruptly, and the traveler has to
+      return as he came. We had turned to do so, when we saw a Swiss
+      lad come running along it with a letter in his hand. It bore the
+      mark of the hotel which we had just left, and was addressed to me
+      by the landlord. It appeared that within a very few minutes of
+      our leaving, an English lady had arrived who was in the last
+      stage of consumption. She had wintered at Davos Platz, and was
+      journeying now to join her friends at Lucerne, when a sudden
+      hemorrhage had overtaken her. It was thought that she could
+      hardly live a few hours, but it would be a great consolation to
+      her to see an English doctor, and, if I would only return, etc.
+      The good Steiler assured me in a postscript that he would himself
+      look upon my compliance as a very great favour, since the lady
+      absolutely refused to see a Swiss physician, and he could not but
+      feel that he was incurring a great responsibility.
+
+      The appeal was one which could not be ignored. It was impossible
+      to refuse the request of a fellow-countrywoman dying in a strange
+      land. Yet I had my scruples about leaving Holmes. It was finally
+      agreed, however, that he should retain the young Swiss messenger
+      with him as guide and companion while I returned to Meiringen. My
+      friend would stay some little time at the fall, he said, and
+      would then walk slowly over the hill to Rosenlaui, where I was to
+      rejoin him in the evening. As I turned away I saw Holmes, with
+      his back against a rock and his arms folded, gazing down at the
+      rush of the waters. It was the last that I was ever destined to
+      see of him in this world.
+
+      When I was near the bottom of the descent I looked back. It was
+      impossible, from that position, to see the fall, but I could see
+      the curving path which winds over the shoulder of the hill and
+      leads to it. Along this a man was, I remember, walking very
+      rapidly.
+
+      I could see his black figure clearly outlined against the green
+      behind him. I noted him, and the energy with which he walked but
+      he passed from my mind again as I hurried on upon my errand.
+
+      It may have been a little over an hour before I reached
+      Meiringen. Old Steiler was standing at the porch of his hotel.
+
+      “Well,” said I, as I came hurrying up, “I trust that she is no
+      worse?”
+
+      A look of surprise passed over his face, and at the first quiver
+      of his eyebrows my heart turned to lead in my breast.
+
+      “You did not write this?” I said, pulling the letter from my
+      pocket. “There is no sick Englishwoman in the hotel?”
+
+      “Certainly not!” he cried. “But it has the hotel mark upon it!
+      Ha, it must have been written by that tall Englishman who came in
+      after you had gone. He said—”
+
+      But I waited for none of the landlord’s explanations. In a tingle
+      of fear I was already running down the village street, and making
+      for the path which I had so lately descended. It had taken me an
+      hour to come down. For all my efforts two more had passed before
+      I found myself at the fall of Reichenbach once more. There was
+      Holmes’s Alpine-stock still leaning against the rock by which I
+      had left him. But there was no sign of him, and it was in vain
+      that I shouted. My only answer was my own voice reverberating in
+      a rolling echo from the cliffs around me.
+
+      It was the sight of that Alpine-stock which turned me cold and
+      sick. He had not gone to Rosenlaui, then. He had remained on that
+      three-foot path, with sheer wall on one side and sheer drop on
+      the other, until his enemy had overtaken him. The young Swiss had
+      gone too. He had probably been in the pay of Moriarty, and had
+      left the two men together. And then what had happened? Who was to
+      tell us what had happened then?
+
+      I stood for a minute or two to collect myself, for I was dazed
+      with the horror of the thing. Then I began to think of Holmes’s
+      own methods and to try to practise them in reading this tragedy.
+      It was, alas, only too easy to do. During our conversation we had
+      not gone to the end of the path, and the Alpine-stock marked the
+      place where we had stood. The blackish soil is kept forever soft
+      by the incessant drift of spray, and a bird would leave its tread
+      upon it. Two lines of footmarks were clearly marked along the
+      farther end of the path, both leading away from me. There were
+      none returning. A few yards from the end the soil was all
+      ploughed up into a patch of mud, and the branches and ferns which
+      fringed the chasm were torn and bedraggled. I lay upon my face
+      and peered over with the spray spouting up all around me. It had
+      darkened since I left, and now I could only see here and there
+      the glistening of moisture upon the black walls, and far away
+      down at the end of the shaft the gleam of the broken water. I
+      shouted; but only the same half-human cry of the fall was borne
+      back to my ears.
+
+      But it was destined that I should after all have a last word of
+      greeting from my friend and comrade. I have said that his
+      Alpine-stock had been left leaning against a rock which jutted on
+      to the path. From the top of this boulder the gleam of something
+      bright caught my eye, and, raising my hand, I found that it came
+      from the silver cigarette-case which he used to carry. As I took
+      it up a small square of paper upon which it had lain fluttered
+      down on to the ground. Unfolding it, I found that it consisted of
+      three pages torn from his note-book and addressed to me. It was
+      characteristic of the man that the direction was a precise, and
+      the writing as firm and clear, as though it had been written in
+      his study.
+
+      “My dear Watson,” he said, “I write these few lines through the
+      courtesy of Mr. Moriarty, who awaits my convenience for the final
+      discussion of those questions which lie between us. He has been
+      giving me a sketch of the methods by which he avoided the English
+      police and kept himself informed of our movements. They certainly
+      confirm the very high opinion which I had formed of his
+      abilities. I am pleased to think that I shall be able to free
+      society from any further effects of his presence, though I fear
+      that it is at a cost which will give pain to my friends, and
+      especially, my dear Watson, to you. I have already explained to
+      you, however, that my career had in any case reached its crisis,
+      and that no possible conclusion to it could be more congenial to
+      me than this. Indeed, if I may make a full confession to you, I
+      was quite convinced that the letter from Meiringen was a hoax,
+      and I allowed you to depart on that errand under the persuasion
+      that some development of this sort would follow. Tell Inspector
+      Patterson that the papers which he needs to convict the gang are
+      in pigeonhole M., done up in a blue envelope and inscribed
+      ‘Moriarty.’ I made every disposition of my property before
+      leaving England, and handed it to my brother Mycroft. Pray give
+      my greetings to Mrs. Watson, and believe me to be, my dear
+      fellow,
+
+      “Very sincerely yours,
+      “Sherlock Holmes.”
+
+      A few words may suffice to tell the little that remains. An
+      examination by experts leaves little doubt that a personal
+      contest between the two men ended, as it could hardly fail to end
+      in such a situation, in their reeling over, locked in each
+      other’s arms. Any attempt at recovering the bodies was absolutely
+      hopeless, and there, deep down in that dreadful caldron of
+      swirling water and seething foam, will lie for all time the most
+      dangerous criminal and the foremost champion of the law of their
+      generation. The Swiss youth was never found again, and there can
+      be no doubt that he was one of the numerous agents whom Moriarty
+      kept in his employ. As to the gang, it will be within the memory
+      of the public how completely the evidence which Holmes had
+      accumulated exposed their organization, and how heavily the hand
+      of the dead man weighed upon them. Of their terrible chief few
+      details came out during the proceedings, and if I have now been
+      compelled to make a clear statement of his career it is due to
+      those injudicious champions who have endeavoured to clear his
+      memory by attacks upon him whom I shall ever regard as the best
+      and the wisest man whom I have ever known.
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ***
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