Januari 06, 2017
the sign of the four by sir arthur conan doyle chapter i the science of deduction sherlock holmes took his bottle from the cornerof the mantel-piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. with his long,white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff.for some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dottedand scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. finally he thrust the sharp point home, presseddown the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh ofsatisfaction.
three times a day for many months i had witnessedthis performance, but custom had not reconciled my mind to it. on the contrary, from day today i had become more irritable at the sight, and my conscience swelled nightly within meat the thought that i had lacked the courage to protest. again and again i had registereda vow that i should deliver my soul upon the subject, but there was that in the cool, nonchalantair of my companion which made him the last man with whom one would care to take anythingapproaching to a liberty. his great powers, his masterly manner, and the experience whichi had had of his many extraordinary qualities, all made me diffident and backward in crossinghim. yet upon that afternoon, whether it was thebeaune which i had taken with my lunch, or
the additional exasperation produced by theextreme deliberation of his manner, i suddenly felt that i could hold out no longer. "which is it to-day?" i asked,—"morphineor cocaine?" he raised his eyes languidly from the oldblack-letter volume which he had opened. "it is cocaine," he said,—"a seven-per-cent.solution. would you care to try it?" "no, indeed," i answered, brusquely. "my constitutionhas not got over the afghan campaign yet. i cannot afford to throw any extra strainupon it." he smiled at my vehemence. "perhaps you areright, watson," he said. "i suppose that its influence is physically a bad one. i findit, however, so transcendently stimulating
and clarifying to the mind that its secondaryaction is a matter of small moment." "but consider!" i said, earnestly. "countthe cost! your brain may, as you say, be roused and excited, but it is a pathological andmorbid process, which involves increased tissue-change and may at last leave a permanent weakness.you know, too, what a black reaction comes upon you. surely the game is hardly worththe candle. why should you, for a mere passing pleasure, risk the loss of those great powerswith which you have been endowed? remember that i speak not only as one comrade to another,but as a medical man to one for whose constitution he is to some extent answerable." he did not seem offended. on the contrary,he put his finger-tips together and leaned
his elbows on the arms of his chair, likeone who has a relish for conversation. "my mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation.give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricateanalysis, and i am in my own proper atmosphere. i can dispense then with artificial stimulants.but i abhor the dull routine of existence. i crave for mental exaltation. that is whyi have chosen my own particular profession,—or rather created it, for i am the only one inthe world." "the only unofficial detective?" i said, raisingmy eyebrows. "the only unofficial consulting detective,"he answered. "i am the last and highest court of appeal in detection. when gregson or lestradeor athelney jones are out of their depths—which,
by the way, is their normal state—the matteris laid before me. i examine the data, as an expert, and pronounce a specialist's opinion.i claim no credit in such cases. my name figures in no newspaper. the work itself, the pleasureof finding a field for my peculiar powers, is my highest reward. but you have yourselfhad some experience of my methods of work in the jefferson hope case." "yes, indeed," said i, cordially. "i was neverso struck by anything in my life. i even embodied it in a small brochure with the somewhat fantastictitle of 'a study in scarlet.'" he shook his head sadly. "i glanced over it,"said he. "honestly, i cannot congratulate you upon it. detection is, or ought to be,an exact science, and should be treated in
the same cold and unemotional manner. youhave attempted to tinge it with romanticism, which produces much the same effect as ifyou worked a love-story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of euclid." "but the romance was there," i remonstrated."i could not tamper with the facts." "some facts should be suppressed, or at leasta just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. the only point in the casewhich deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes by whichi succeeded in unraveling it." i was annoyed at this criticism of a workwhich had been specially designed to please him. i confess, too, that i was irritatedby the egotism which seemed to demand that
every line of my pamphlet should be devotedto his own special doings. more than once during the years that i had lived with himin baker street i had observed that a small vanity underlay my companion's quiet and didacticmanner. i made no remark, however, but sat nursing my wounded leg. i had a jezail bulletthrough it some time before, and, though it did not prevent me from walking, it achedwearily at every change of the weather. "my practice has extended recently to thecontinent," said holmes, after a while, filling up his old brier-root pipe. "i was consultedlast week by francois le villard, who, as you probably know, has come rather to thefront lately in the french detective service. he has all the celtic power of quick intuition,but he is deficient in the wide range of exact
knowledge which is essential to the higherdevelopments of his art. the case was concerned with a will, and possessed some features ofinterest. i was able to refer him to two parallel cases, the one at riga in 1857, and the otherat st. louis in 1871, which have suggested to him the true solution. here is the letterwhich i had this morning acknowledging my assistance." he tossed over, as he spoke,a crumpled sheet of foreign notepaper. i glanced my eyes down it, catching a profusion of notesof admiration, with stray "magnifiques," "coup-de-maitres," and "tours-de-force," all testifying to theardent admiration of the frenchman. "he speaks as a pupil to his master," saidi. "oh, he rates my assistance too highly," saidsherlock holmes, lightly. "he has considerable
gifts himself. he possesses two out of thethree qualities necessary for the ideal detective. he has the power of observation and that ofdeduction. he is only wanting in knowledge; and that may come in time. he is now translatingmy small works into french." "your works?" "oh, didn't you know?" he cried, laughing."yes, i have been guilty of several monographs. they are all upon technical subjects. here,for example, is one 'upon the distinction between the ashes of the various tobaccoes.'in it i enumerate a hundred and forty forms of cigar-, cigarette-, and pipe-tobacco, withcolored plates illustrating the difference in the ash. it is a point which is continuallyturning up in criminal trials, and which is
sometimes of supreme importance as a clue.if you can say definitely, for example, that some murder has been done by a man who wassmoking an indian lunkah, it obviously narrows your field of search. to the trained eye thereis as much difference between the black ash of a trichinopoly and the white fluff of bird's-eyeas there is between a cabbage and a potato." "you have an extraordinary genius for minutiae,"i remarked. "i appreciate their importance. here is mymonograph upon the tracing of footsteps, with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of parisas a preserver of impresses. here, too, is a curious little work upon the influence ofa trade upon the form of the hand, with lithotypes of the hands of slaters, sailors, corkcutters,compositors, weavers, and diamond-polishers.
that is a matter of great practical interestto the scientific detective,—especially in cases of unclaimed bodies, or in discoveringthe antecedents of criminals. but i weary you with my hobby." "not at all," i answered, earnestly. "it isof the greatest interest to me, especially since i have had the opportunity of observingyour practical application of it. but you spoke just now of observation and deduction.surely the one to some extent implies the other." "why, hardly," he answered, leaning back luxuriouslyin his arm-chair, and sending up thick blue wreaths from his pipe. "for example, observationshows me that you have been to the wigmore
street post-office this morning, but deductionlets me know that when there you dispatched a telegram." "right!" said i. "right on both points! buti confess that i don't see how you arrived at it. it was a sudden impulse upon my part,and i have mentioned it to no one." "it is simplicity itself," he remarked, chucklingat my surprise,—"so absurdly simple that an explanation is superfluous; and yet itmay serve to define the limits of observation and of deduction. observation tells me thatyou have a little reddish mould adhering to your instep. just opposite the seymour streetoffice they have taken up the pavement and thrown up some earth which lies in such away that it is difficult to avoid treading
in it in entering. the earth is of this peculiarreddish tint which is found, as far as i know, nowhere else in the neighborhood. so muchis observation. the rest is deduction." "how, then, did you deduce the telegram?" "why, of course i knew that you had not writtena letter, since i sat opposite to you all morning. i see also in your open desk therethat you have a sheet of stamps and a thick bundle of post-cards. what could you go intothe post-office for, then, but to send a wire? eliminate all other factors, and the one whichremains must be the truth." "in this case it certainly is so," i replied,after a little thought. "the thing, however, is, as you say, of the simplest. would youthink me impertinent if i were to put your
theories to a more severe test?" "on the contrary," he answered, "it wouldprevent me from taking a second dose of cocaine. i should be delighted to look into any problemwhich you might submit to me." "i have heard you say that it is difficultfor a man to have any object in daily use without leaving the impress of his individualityupon it in such a way that a trained observer might read it. now, i have here a watch whichhas recently come into my possession. would you have the kindness to let me have an opinionupon the character or habits of the late owner?" i handed him over the watch with some slightfeeling of amusement in my heart, for the test was, as i thought, an impossible one,and i intended it as a lesson against the
somewhat dogmatic tone which he occasionallyassumed. he balanced the watch in his hand, gazed hard at the dial, opened the back, andexamined the works, first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex lens. i couldhardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to andhanded it back. "there are hardly any data," he remarked."the watch has been recently cleaned, which robs me of my most suggestive facts." "you are right," i answered. "it was cleanedbefore being sent to me." in my heart i accused my companion of putting forward a most lameand impotent excuse to cover his failure. what data could he expect from an uncleanedwatch?
"though unsatisfactory, my research has notbeen entirely barren," he observed, staring up at the ceiling with dreamy, lack-lustreeyes. "subject to your correction, i should judge that the watch belonged to your elderbrother, who inherited it from your father." "that you gather, no doubt, from the h. w.upon the back?" "quite so. the w. suggests your own name.the date of the watch is nearly fifty years back, and the initials are as old as the watch:so it was made for the last generation. jewelry usually descends to the eldest son, and heis most likely to have the same name as the father. your father has, if i remember right,been dead many years. it has, therefore, been in the hands of your eldest brother."
"right, so far," said i. "anything else?" "he was a man of untidy habits,—very untidyand careless. he was left with good prospects, but he threw away his chances, lived for sometime in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity, and finally, taking to drink,he died. that is all i can gather." i sprang from my chair and limped impatientlyabout the room with considerable bitterness in my heart. "this is unworthy of you, holmes," i said."i could not have believed that you would have descended to this. you have made inquiresinto the history of my unhappy brother, and you now pretend to deduce this knowledge insome fanciful way. you cannot expect me to
believe that you have read all this from hisold watch! it is unkind, and, to speak plainly, has a touch of charlatanism in it." "my dear doctor," said he, kindly, "pray acceptmy apologies. viewing the matter as an abstract problem, i had forgotten how personal andpainful a thing it might be to you. i assure you, however, that i never even knew thatyou had a brother until you handed me the watch." "then how in the name of all that is wonderfuldid you get these facts? they are absolutely correct in every particular." "ah, that is good luck. i could only say whatwas the balance of probability. i did not
at all expect to be so accurate." "but it was not mere guess-work?" "no, no: i never guess. it is a shocking habit,—destructiveto the logical faculty. what seems strange to you is only so because you do not followmy train of thought or observe the small facts upon which large inferences may depend. forexample, i began by stating that your brother was careless. when you observe the lower partof that watch-case you notice that it is not only dinted in two places, but it is cut andmarked all over from the habit of keeping other hard objects, such as coins or keys,in the same pocket. surely it is no great feat to assume that a man who treats a fifty-guineawatch so cavalierly must be a careless man.
neither is it a very far-fetched inferencethat a man who inherits one article of such value is pretty well provided for in otherrespects." i nodded, to show that i followed his reasoning. "it is very customary for pawnbrokers in england,when they take a watch, to scratch the number of the ticket with a pin-point upon the insideof the case. it is more handy than a label, as there is no risk of the number being lostor transposed. there are no less than four such numbers visible to my lens on the insideof this case. inference,—that your brother was often at low water. secondary inference,—thathe had occasional bursts of prosperity, or he could not have redeemed the pledge. finally,i ask you to look at the inner plate, which
contains the key-hole. look at the thousandsof scratches all round the hole,—marks where the key has slipped. what sober man's keycould have scored those grooves? but you will never see a drunkard's watch without them.he winds it at night, and he leaves these traces of his unsteady hand. where is themystery in all this?" "it is as clear as daylight," i answered."i regret the injustice which i did you. i should have had more faith in your marvellousfaculty. may i ask whether you have any professional inquiry on foot at present?" "none. hence the cocaine. i cannot live withoutbrain-work. what else is there to live for? stand at the window here. was ever such adreary, dismal, unprofitable world? see how
the yellow fog swirls down the street anddrifts across the dun-colored houses. what could be more hopelessly prosaic and material?what is the use of having powers, doctor, when one has no field upon which to exertthem? crime is commonplace, existence is commonplace, and no qualities save those which are commonplacehave any function upon earth." i had opened my mouth to reply to this tirade,when with a crisp knock our landlady entered, bearing a card upon the brass salver. "a young lady for you, sir," she said, addressingmy companion. "miss mary morstan," he read. "hum! i haveno recollection of the name. ask the young lady to step up, mrs. hudson. don't go, doctor.i should prefer that you remain."
chapter iithe statement of the case miss morstan entered the room with a firmstep and an outward composure of manner. she was a blonde young lady, small, dainty, wellgloved, and dressed in the most perfect taste. there was, however, a plainness and simplicityabout her costume which bore with it a suggestion of limited means. the dress was a sombre grayishbeige, untrimmed and unbraided, and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue, relievedonly by a suspicion of white feather in the side. her face had neither regularity of featurenor beauty of complexion, but her expression was sweet and amiable, and her large blueeyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic. in an experience of women which extends overmany nations and three separate continents,
i have never looked upon a face which gavea clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature. i could not but observe that as shetook the seat which sherlock holmes placed for her, her lip trembled, her hand quivered,and she showed every sign of intense inward agitation. "i have come to you, mr. holmes," she said,"because you once enabled my employer, mrs. cecil forrester, to unravel a little domesticcomplication. she was much impressed by your kindness and skill." "mrs. cecil forrester," he repeated thoughtfully."i believe that i was of some slight service to her. the case, however, as i remember it,was a very simple one."
"she did not think so. but at least you cannotsay the same of mine. i can hardly imagine anything more strange, more utterly inexplicable,than the situation in which i find myself." holmes rubbed his hands, and his eyes glistened.he leaned forward in his chair with an expression of extraordinary concentration upon his clear-cut,hawklike features. "state your case," said he, in brisk, business tones. i felt that my position was an embarrassingone. "you will, i am sure, excuse me," i said, rising from my chair. to my surprise, the young lady held up hergloved hand to detain me. "if your friend," she said, "would be good enough to stop, hemight be of inestimable service to me."
i relapsed into my chair. "briefly," she continued, "the facts are these.my father was an officer in an indian regiment who sent me home when i was quite a child.my mother was dead, and i had no relative in england. i was placed, however, in a comfortableboarding establishment at edinburgh, and there i remained until i was seventeen years ofage. in the year 1878 my father, who was senior captain of his regiment, obtained twelve months'leave and came home. he telegraphed to me from london that he had arrived all safe,and directed me to come down at once, giving the langham hotel as his address. his message,as i remember, was full of kindness and love. on reaching london i drove to the langham,and was informed that captain morstan was
staying there, but that he had gone out thenight before and had not yet returned. i waited all day without news of him. that night, onthe advice of the manager of the hotel, i communicated with the police, and next morningwe advertised in all the papers. our inquiries led to no result; and from that day to thisno word has ever been heard of my unfortunate father. he came home with his heart full ofhope, to find some peace, some comfort, and instead—" she put her hand to her throat,and a choking sob cut short the sentence. "the date?" asked holmes, opening his note-book. "he disappeared upon the 3d of december, 1878,—nearlyten years ago." "his luggage?"
"remained at the hotel. there was nothingin it to suggest a clue,—some clothes, some books, and a considerable number of curiositiesfrom the andaman islands. he had been one of the officers in charge of the convict-guardthere." "had he any friends in town?" "only one that we know of,—major sholto,of his own regiment, the 34th bombay infantry. the major had retired some little time before,and lived at upper norwood. we communicated with him, of course, but he did not even knowthat his brother officer was in england." "a singular case," remarked holmes. "i have not yet described to you the mostsingular part. about six years ago—to be
exact, upon the 4th of may, 1882—an advertisementappeared in the times asking for the address of miss mary morstan and stating that it wouldbe to her advantage to come forward. there was no name or address appended. i had atthat time just entered the family of mrs. cecil forrester in the capacity of governess.by her advice i published my address in the advertisement column. the same day there arrivedthrough the post a small card-board box addressed to me, which i found to contain a very largeand lustrous pearl. no word of writing was enclosed. since then every year upon the samedate there has always appeared a similar box, containing a similar pearl, without any clueas to the sender. they have been pronounced by an expert to be of a rare variety and ofconsiderable value. you can see for yourselves
that they are very handsome." she opened aflat box as she spoke, and showed me six of the finest pearls that i had ever seen. "your statement is most interesting," saidsherlock holmes. "has anything else occurred to you?" "yes, and no later than to-day. that is whyi have come to you. this morning i received this letter, which you will perhaps read foryourself." "thank you," said holmes. "the envelope too,please. postmark, london, s.w. date, july 7. hum! man's thumb-mark on corner,—probablypostman. best quality paper. envelopes at sixpence a packet. particular man in his stationery.no address. 'be at the third pillar from the
left outside the lyceum theatre to-night atseven o'clock. if you are distrustful, bring two friends. you are a wronged woman, andshall have justice. do not bring police. if you do, all will be in vain. your unknownfriend.' well, really, this is a very pretty little mystery. what do you intend to do,miss morstan?" "that is exactly what i want to ask you." "then we shall most certainly go. you andi and—yes, why, dr. watson is the very man. your correspondent says two friends. he andi have worked together before." "but would he come?" she asked, with somethingappealing in her voice and expression. "i should be proud and happy," said i, fervently,"if i can be of any service."
"you are both very kind," she answered. "ihave led a retired life, and have no friends whom i could appeal to. if i am here at sixit will do, i suppose?" "you must not be later," said holmes. "thereis one other point, however. is this handwriting the same as that upon the pearl-box addresses?" "i have them here," she answered, producinghalf a dozen pieces of paper. "you are certainly a model client. you havethe correct intuition. let us see, now." he spread out the papers upon the table, andgave little darting glances from one to the other. "they are disguised hands, except theletter," he said, presently, "but there can be no question as to the authorship. see howthe irrepressible greek e will break out,
and see the twirl of the final s. they areundoubtedly by the same person. i should not like to suggest false hopes, miss morstan,but is there any resemblance between this hand and that of your father?" "nothing could be more unlike." "i expected to hear you say so. we shall lookout for you, then, at six. pray allow me to keep the papers. i may look into the matterbefore then. it is only half-past three. au revoir, then." "au revoir," said our visitor, and, with abright, kindly glance from one to the other of us, she replaced her pearl-box in her bosomand hurried away. standing at the window,
i watched her walking briskly down the street,until the gray turban and white feather were but a speck in the sombre crowd. "what a very attractive woman!" i exclaimed,turning to my companion. he had lit his pipe again, and was leaningback with drooping eyelids. "is she?" he said, languidly. "i did not observe." "you really are an automaton,—a calculating-machine!"i cried. "there is something positively inhuman in you at times." he smiled gently. "it is of the first importance,"he said, "not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. a client isto me a mere unit,—a factor in a problem.
the emotional qualities are antagonistic toclear reasoning. i assure you that the most winning woman i ever knew was hanged for poisoningthree little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellant man of my acquaintanceis a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the london poor." "in this case, however—" "i never make exceptions. an exception disprovesthe rule. have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting? what do you makeof this fellow's scribble?" "it is legible and regular," i answered. "aman of business habits and some force of character." holmes shook his head. "look at his long letters,"he said. "they hardly rise above the common
herd. that d might be an a, and that l ane. men of character always differentiate their long letters, however illegibly they may write.there is vacillation in his k's and self-esteem in his capitals. i am going out now. i havesome few references to make. let me recommend this book,—one of the most remarkable everpenned. it is winwood reade's 'martyrdom of man.' i shall be back in an hour." i sat in the window with the volume in myhand, but my thoughts were far from the daring speculations of the writer. my mind ran uponour late visitor,—her smiles, the deep rich tones of her voice, the strange mystery whichoverhung her life. if she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance shemust be seven-and-twenty now,—a sweet age,
when youth has lost its self-consciousnessand become a little sobered by experience. so i sat and mused, until such dangerous thoughtscame into my head that i hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latesttreatise upon pathology. what was i, an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account,that i should dare to think of such things? she was a unit, a factor,—nothing more.if my future were black, it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to brightenit by mere will-o'-the-wisps of the imagination. chapter iiiin quest of a solution it was half-past five before holmes returned.he was bright, eager, and in excellent spirits,—a mood which in his case alternated with fitsof the blackest depression.
"there is no great mystery in this matter,"he said, taking the cup of tea which i had poured out for him. "the facts appear to admitof only one explanation." "what! you have solved it already?" "well, that would be too much to say. i havediscovered a suggestive fact, that is all. it is, however, very suggestive. the detailsare still to be added. i have just found, on consulting the back files of the times,that major sholto, of upper norword, late of the 34th bombay infantry, died upon the28th of april, 1882." "i may be very obtuse, holmes, but i failto see what this suggests." "no? you surprise me. look at it in this way,then. captain morstan disappears. the only
person in london whom he could have visitedis major sholto. major sholto denies having heard that he was in london. four years latersholto dies. within a week of his death captain morstan's daughter receives a valuable present,which is repeated from year to year, and now culminates in a letter which describes heras a wronged woman. what wrong can it refer to except this deprivation of her father?and why should the presents begin immediately after sholto's death, unless it is that sholto'sheir knows something of the mystery and desires to make compensation? have you any alternativetheory which will meet the facts?" "but what a strange compensation! and howstrangely made! why, too, should he write a letter now, rather than six years ago? again,the letter speaks of giving her justice. what
justice can she have? it is too much to supposethat her father is still alive. there is no other injustice in her case that you knowof." "there are difficulties; there are certainlydifficulties," said sherlock holmes, pensively. "but our expedition of to-night will solvethem all. ah, here is a four-wheeler, and miss morstan is inside. are you all ready?then we had better go down, for it is a little past the hour." i picked up my hat and my heaviest stick,but i observed that holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it into his pocket.it was clear that he thought that our night's work might be a serious one.
miss morstan was muffled in a dark cloak,and her sensitive face was composed, but pale. she must have been more than woman if shedid not feel some uneasiness at the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking, yether self-control was perfect, and she readily answered the few additional questions whichsherlock holmes put to her. "major sholto was a very particular friendof papa's," she said. "his letters were full of allusions to the major. he and papa werein command of the troops at the andaman islands, so they were thrown a great deal together.by the way, a curious paper was found in papa's desk which no one could understand. i don'tsuppose that it is of the slightest importance, but i thought you might care to see it, soi brought it with me. it is here."
holmes unfolded the paper carefully and smoothedit out upon his knee. he then very methodically examined it all over with his double lens. "it is paper of native indian manufacture,"he remarked. "it has at some time been pinned to a board. the diagram upon it appears tobe a plan of part of a large building with numerous halls, corridors, and passages. atone point is a small cross done in red ink, and above it is '3.37 from left,' in fadedpencil-writing. in the left-hand corner is a curious hieroglyphic like four crosses ina line with their arms touching. beside it is written, in very rough and coarse characters,'the sign of the four,—jonathan small, mahomet singh, abdullah khan, dost akbar.' no, i confessthat i do not see how this bears upon the
matter. yet it is evidently a document ofimportance. it has been kept carefully in a pocket-book; for the one side is as cleanas the other." "it was in his pocket-book that we found it." "preserve it carefully, then, miss morstan,for it may prove to be of use to us. i begin to suspect that this matter may turn out tobe much deeper and more subtle than i at first supposed. i must reconsider my ideas." heleaned back in the cab, and i could see by his drawn brow and his vacant eye that hewas thinking intently. miss morstan and i chatted in an undertone about our presentexpedition and its possible outcome, but our companion maintained his impenetrable reserveuntil the end of our journey.
it was a september evening, and not yet seveno'clock, but the day had been a dreary one, and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the greatcity. mud-colored clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets. down the strand the lampswere but misty splotches of diffused light which threw a feeble circular glimmer uponthe slimy pavement. the yellow glare from the shop-windows streamed out into the steamy,vaporous air, and threw a murky, shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare.there was, to my mind, something eerie and ghost-like in the endless procession of faceswhich flitted across these narrow bars of light,—sad faces and glad, haggard and merry.like all human kind, they flitted from the gloom into the light, and so back into thegloom once more. i am not subject to impressions,
but the dull, heavy evening, with the strangebusiness upon which we were engaged, combined to make me nervous and depressed. i couldsee from miss morstan's manner that she was suffering from the same feeling. holmes alonecould rise superior to petty influences. he held his open note-book upon his knee, andfrom time to time he jotted down figures and memoranda in the light of his pocket-lantern. at the lyceum theatre the crowds were alreadythick at the side-entrances. in front a continuous stream of hansoms and four-wheelers were rattlingup, discharging their cargoes of shirt-fronted men and beshawled, bediamonded women. we hadhardly reached the third pillar, which was our rendezvous, before a small, dark, briskman in the dress of a coachman accosted us.
"are you the parties who come with miss morstan?"he asked. "i am miss morstan, and these two gentlemenare my friends," said she. he bent a pair of wonderfully penetratingand questioning eyes upon us. "you will excuse me, miss," he said with a certain dogged manner,"but i was to ask you to give me your word that neither of your companions is a police-officer." "i give you my word on that," she answered. he gave a shrill whistle, on which a streetarab led across a four-wheeler and opened the door. the man who had addressed us mountedto the box, while we took our places inside. we had hardly done so before the driver whippedup his horse, and we plunged away at a furious
pace through the foggy streets. the situation was a curious one. we were drivingto an unknown place, on an unknown errand. yet our invitation was either a complete hoax,—whichwas an inconceivable hypothesis,—or else we had good reason to think that importantissues might hang upon our journey. miss morstan's demeanor was as resolute and collected asever. i endeavored to cheer and amuse her by reminiscences of my adventures in afghanistan;but, to tell the truth, i was myself so excited at our situation and so curious as to ourdestination that my stories were slightly involved. to this day she declares that itold her one moving anecdote as to how a musket looked into my tent at the dead of night,and how i fired a double-barrelled tiger cub
at it. at first i had some idea as to thedirection in which we were driving; but soon, what with our pace, the fog, and my own limitedknowledge of london, i lost my bearings, and knew nothing, save that we seemed to be goinga very long way. sherlock holmes was never at fault, however, and he muttered the namesas the cab rattled through squares and in and out by tortuous by-streets. "rochester row," said he. "now vincent square.now we come out on the vauxhall bridge road. we are making for the surrey side, apparently.yes, i thought so. now we are on the bridge. you can catch glimpses of the river." we did indeed get a fleeting view of a stretchof the thames with the lamps shining upon
the broad, silent water; but our cab dashedon, and was soon involved in a labyrinth of streets upon the other side. "wordsworth road," said my companion. "prioryroad. lark hall lane. stockwell place. robert street. cold harbor lane. our quest does notappear to take us to very fashionable regions." we had, indeed, reached a questionable andforbidding neighborhood. long lines of dull brick houses were only relieved by the coarseglare and tawdry brilliancy of public houses at the corner. then came rows of two-storiedvillas each with a fronting of miniature garden, and then again interminable lines of new staringbrick buildings,—the monster tentacles which the giant city was throwing out into the country.at last the cab drew up at the third house
in a new terrace. none of the other houseswere inhabited, and that at which we stopped was as dark as its neighbors, save for a singleglimmer in the kitchen window. on our knocking, however, the door was instantly thrown openby a hindoo servant clad in a yellow turban, white loose-fitting clothes, and a yellowsash. there was something strangely incongruous in this oriental figure framed in the commonplacedoor-way of a third-rate suburban dwelling-house. "the sahib awaits you," said he, and evenas he spoke there came a high piping voice from some inner room. "show them in to me,khitmutgar," it cried. "show them straight in to me." chapter ivthe story of the bald-headed man
we followed the indian down a sordid and commonpassage, ill lit and worse furnished, until he came to a door upon the right, which hethrew open. a blaze of yellow light streamed out upon us, and in the centre of the glarethere stood a small man with a very high head, a bristle of red hair all round the fringeof it, and a bald, shining scalp which shot out from among it like a mountain-peak fromfir-trees. he writhed his hands together as he stood, and his features were in a perpetualjerk, now smiling, now scowling, but never for an instant in repose. nature had givenhim a pendulous lip, and a too visible line of yellow and irregular teeth, which he strovefeebly to conceal by constantly passing his hand over the lower part of his face. in spiteof his obtrusive baldness, he gave the impression
of youth. in point of fact he had just turnedhis thirtieth year. "your servant, miss morstan," he kept repeating,in a thin, high voice. "your servant, gentlemen. pray step into my little sanctum. a smallplace, miss, but furnished to my own liking. an oasis of art in the howling desert of southlondon." we were all astonished by the appearance ofthe apartment into which he invited us. in that sorry house it looked as out of placeas a diamond of the first water in a setting of brass. the richest and glossiest of curtainsand tapestries draped the walls, looped back here and there to expose some richly-mountedpainting or oriental vase. the carpet was of amber-and-black, so soft and so thick thatthe foot sank pleasantly into it, as into
a bed of moss. two great tiger-skins thrownathwart it increased the suggestion of eastern luxury, as did a huge hookah which stood upona mat in the corner. a lamp in the fashion of a silver dove was hung from an almost invisiblegolden wire in the centre of the room. as it burned it filled the air with a subtleand aromatic odor. "mr. thaddeus sholto," said the little man,still jerking and smiling. "that is my name. you are miss morstan, of course. and thesegentlemen—" "this is mr. sherlock holmes, and this isdr. watson." "a doctor, eh?" cried he, much excited. "haveyou your stethoscope? might i ask you—would you have the kindness? i have grave doubtsas to my mitral valve, if you would be so
very good. the aortic i may rely upon, buti should value your opinion upon the mitral." i listened to his heart, as requested, butwas unable to find anything amiss, save indeed that he was in an ecstasy of fear, for heshivered from head to foot. "it appears to be normal," i said. "you have no cause foruneasiness." "you will excuse my anxiety, miss morstan,"he remarked, airily. "i am a great sufferer, and i have long had suspicions as to thatvalve. i am delighted to hear that they are unwarranted. had your father, miss morstan,refrained from throwing a strain upon his heart, he might have been alive now." i could have struck the man across the face,so hot was i at this callous and off-hand
reference to so delicate a matter. miss morstansat down, and her face grew white to the lips. "i knew in my heart that he was dead," saidshe. "i can give you every information," said he,"and, what is more, i can do you justice; and i will, too, whatever brother bartholomewmay say. i am so glad to have your friends here, not only as an escort to you, but alsoas witnesses to what i am about to do and say. the three of us can show a bold frontto brother bartholomew. but let us have no outsiders,—no police or officials. we cansettle everything satisfactorily among ourselves, without any interference. nothing would annoybrother bartholomew more than any publicity." he sat down upon a low settee and blinkedat us inquiringly with his weak, watery blue
eyes. "for my part," said holmes, "whatever youmay choose to say will go no further." i nodded to show my agreement. "that is well! that is well!" said he. "mayi offer you a glass of chianti, miss morstan? or of tokay? i keep no other wines. shalli open a flask? no? well, then, i trust that you have no objection to tobacco-smoke, tothe mild balsamic odor of the eastern tobacco. i am a little nervous, and i find my hookahan invaluable sedative." he applied a taper to the great bowl, and the smoke bubbled merrilythrough the rose-water. we sat all three in a semicircle, with our heads advanced, andour chins upon our hands, while the strange,
jerky little fellow, with his high, shininghead, puffed uneasily in the centre. "when i first determined to make this communicationto you," said he, "i might have given you my address, but i feared that you might disregardmy request and bring unpleasant people with you. i took the liberty, therefore, of makingan appointment in such a way that my man williams might be able to see you first. i have completeconfidence in his discretion, and he had orders, if he were dissatisfied, to proceed no furtherin the matter. you will excuse these precautions, but i am a man of somewhat retiring, and imight even say refined, tastes, and there is nothing more unaesthetic than a policeman.i have a natural shrinking from all forms of rough materialism. i seldom come in contactwith the rough crowd. i live, as you see,
with some little atmosphere of elegance aroundme. i may call myself a patron of the arts. it is my weakness. the landscape is a genuinecorot, and, though a connoisseur might perhaps throw a doubt upon that salvator rosa, therecannot be the least question about the bouguereau. i am partial to the modern french school." "you will excuse me, mr. sholto," said missmorstan, "but i am here at your request to learn something which you desire to tell me.it is very late, and i should desire the interview to be as short as possible." "at the best it must take some time," he answered;"for we shall certainly have to go to norwood and see brother bartholomew. we shall allgo and try if we can get the better of brother
bartholomew. he is very angry with me fortaking the course which has seemed right to me. i had quite high words with him last night.you cannot imagine what a terrible fellow he is when he is angry." "if we are to go to norwood it would perhapsbe as well to start at once," i ventured to remark. he laughed until his ears were quite red."that would hardly do," he cried. "i don't know what he would say if i brought you inthat sudden way. no, i must prepare you by showing you how we all stand to each other.in the first place, i must tell you that there are several points in the story of which iam myself ignorant. i can only lay the facts
before you as far as i know them myself. "my father was, as you may have guessed, majorjohn sholto, once of the indian army. he retired some eleven years ago, and came to live atpondicherry lodge in upper norwood. he had prospered in india, and brought back withhim a considerable sum of money, a large collection of valuable curiosities, and a staff of nativeservants. with these advantages he bought himself a house, and lived in great luxury.my twin-brother bartholomew and i were the only children. "i very well remember the sensation whichwas caused by the disappearance of captain morstan. we read the details in the papers,and, knowing that he had been a friend of
our father's, we discussed the case freelyin his presence. he used to join in our speculations as to what could have happened. never foran instant did we suspect that he had the whole secret hidden in his own breast,—thatof all men he alone knew the fate of arthur morstan. "we did know, however, that some mystery—somepositive danger—overhung our father. he was very fearful of going out alone, and healways employed two prize-fighters to act as porters at pondicherry lodge. williams,who drove you to-night, was one of them. he was once light-weight champion of england.our father would never tell us what it was he feared, but he had a most marked aversionto men with wooden legs. on one occasion he
actually fired his revolver at a wooden-leggedman, who proved to be a harmless tradesman canvassing for orders. we had to pay a largesum to hush the matter up. my brother and i used to think this a mere whim of my father's,but events have since led us to change our opinion. "early in 1882 my father received a letterfrom india which was a great shock to him. he nearly fainted at the breakfast-table whenhe opened it, and from that day he sickened to his death. what was in the letter we couldnever discover, but i could see as he held it that it was short and written in a scrawlinghand. he had suffered for years from an enlarged spleen, but he now became rapidly worse, andtowards the end of april we were informed
that he was beyond all hope, and that he wishedto make a last communication to us. "when we entered his room he was propped upwith pillows and breathing heavily. he besought us to lock the door and to come upon eitherside of the bed. then, grasping our hands, he made a remarkable statement to us, in avoice which was broken as much by emotion as by pain. i shall try and give it to youin his own very words. "'i have only one thing,' he said, 'whichweighs upon my mind at this supreme moment. it is my treatment of poor morstan's orphan.the cursed greed which has been my besetting sin through life has withheld from her thetreasure, half at least of which should have been hers. and yet i have made no use of itmyself,—so blind and foolish a thing is
avarice. the mere feeling of possession hasbeen so dear to me that i could not bear to share it with another. see that chaplet dippedwith pearls beside the quinine-bottle. even that i could not bear to part with, althoughi had got it out with the design of sending it to her. you, my sons, will give her a fairshare of the agra treasure. but send her nothing—not even the chaplet—until i am gone. afterall, men have been as bad as this and have recovered. "'i will tell you how morstan died,' he continued.'he had suffered for years from a weak heart, but he concealed it from every one. i aloneknew it. when in india, he and i, through a remarkable chain of circumstances, cameinto possession of a considerable treasure.
i brought it over to england, and on the nightof morstan's arrival he came straight over here to claim his share. he walked over fromthe station, and was admitted by my faithful lal chowdar, who is now dead. morstan andi had a difference of opinion as to the division of the treasure, and we came to heated words.morstan had sprung out of his chair in a paroxysm of anger, when he suddenly pressed his handto his side, his face turned a dusky hue, and he fell backwards, cutting his head againstthe corner of the treasure-chest. when i stooped over him i found, to my horror, that he wasdead. "'for a long time i sat half distracted, wonderingwhat i should do. my first impulse was, of course, to call for assistance; but i couldnot but recognize that there was every chance
that i would be accused of his murder. hisdeath at the moment of a quarrel, and the gash in his head, would be black against me.again, an official inquiry could not be made without bringing out some facts about thetreasure, which i was particularly anxious to keep secret. he had told me that no soulupon earth knew where he had gone. there seemed to be no necessity why any soul ever shouldknow. "'i was still pondering over the matter, when,looking up, i saw my servant, lal chowdar, in the doorway. he stole in and bolted thedoor behind him. "do not fear, sahib," he said. "no one need know that you have killedhim. let us hide him away, and who is the wiser?" "i did not kill him," said i. lalchowdar shook his head and smiled. "i heard
it all, sahib," said he. "i heard you quarrel,and i heard the blow. but my lips are sealed. all are asleep in the house. let us put himaway together." that was enough to decide me. if my own servant could not believe myinnocence, how could i hope to make it good before twelve foolish tradesmen in a jury-box?lal chowdar and i disposed of the body that night, and within a few days the london paperswere full of the mysterious disappearance of captain morstan. you will see from whati say that i can hardly be blamed in the matter. my fault lies in the fact that we concealednot only the body, but also the treasure, and that i have clung to morstan's share aswell as to my own. i wish you, therefore, to make restitution. put your ears down tomy mouth. the treasure is hidden in—' at
this instant a horrible change came over hisexpression; his eyes stared wildly, his jaw dropped, and he yelled, in a voice which ican never forget, 'keep him out! for christ's sake keep him out!' we both stared round atthe window behind us upon which his gaze was fixed. a face was looking in at us out ofthe darkness. we could see the whitening of the nose where it was pressed against theglass. it was a bearded, hairy face, with wild cruel eyes and an expression of concentratedmalevolence. my brother and i rushed towards the window, but the man was gone. when wereturned to my father his head had dropped and his pulse had ceased to beat. "we searched the garden that night, but foundno sign of the intruder, save that just under
the window a single footmark was visible inthe flower-bed. but for that one trace, we might have thought that our imaginations hadconjured up that wild, fierce face. we soon, however, had another and a more striking proofthat there were secret agencies at work all round us. the window of my father's room wasfound open in the morning, his cupboards and boxes had been rifled, and upon his chestwas fixed a torn piece of paper, with the words 'the sign of the four' scrawled acrossit. what the phrase meant, or who our secret visitor may have been, we never knew. as faras we can judge, none of my father's property had been actually stolen, though everythinghad been turned out. my brother and i naturally associated this peculiar incident with thefear which haunted my father during his life;
but it is still a complete mystery to us." the little man stopped to relight his hookahand puffed thoughtfully for a few moments. we had all sat absorbed, listening to hisextraordinary narrative. at the short account of her father's death miss morstan had turneddeadly white, and for a moment i feared that she was about to faint. she rallied however,on drinking a glass of water which i quietly poured out for her from a venetian carafeupon the side-table. sherlock holmes leaned back in his chair with an abstracted expressionand the lids drawn low over his glittering eyes. as i glanced at him i could not butthink how on that very day he had complained bitterly of the commonplaceness of life. hereat least was a problem which would tax his
sagacity to the utmost. mr. thaddeus sholtolooked from one to the other of us with an obvious pride at the effect which his storyhad produced, and then continued between the puffs of his overgrown pipe. "my brother and i," said he, "were, as youmay imagine, much excited as to the treasure which my father had spoken of. for weeks andfor months we dug and delved in every part of the garden, without discovering its whereabouts.it was maddening to think that the hiding-place was on his very lips at the moment that hedied. we could judge the splendor of the missing riches by the chaplet which he had taken out.over this chaplet my brother bartholomew and i had some little discussion. the pearls wereevidently of great value, and he was averse
to part with them, for, between friends, mybrother was himself a little inclined to my father's fault. he thought, too, that if weparted with the chaplet it might give rise to gossip and finally bring us into trouble.it was all that i could do to persuade him to let me find out miss morstan's addressand send her a detached pearl at fixed intervals, so that at least she might never feel destitute." "it was a kindly thought," said our companion,earnestly. "it was extremely good of you." the little man waved his hand deprecatingly."we were your trustees," he said. "that was the view which i took of it, though brotherbartholomew could not altogether see it in that light. we had plenty of money ourselves.i desired no more. besides, it would have
been such bad taste to have treated a younglady in so scurvy a fashion. 'le mauvais gout mene au crime.' the french have a very neatway of putting these things. our difference of opinion on this subject went so far thati thought it best to set up rooms for myself: so i left pondicherry lodge, taking the oldkhitmutgar and williams with me. yesterday, however, i learn that an event of extremeimportance has occurred. the treasure has been discovered. i instantly communicatedwith miss morstan, and it only remains for us to drive out to norwood and demand ourshare. i explained my views last night to brother bartholomew: so we shall be expected,if not welcome, visitors." mr. thaddeus sholto ceased, and sat twitchingon his luxurious settee. we all remained silent,
with our thoughts upon the new developmentwhich the mysterious business had taken. holmes was the first to spring to his feet. "you have done well, sir, from first to last,"said he. "it is possible that we may be able to make you some small return by throwingsome light upon that which is still dark to you. but, as miss morstan remarked just now,it is late, and we had best put the matter through without delay." our new acquaintance very deliberately coiledup the tube of his hookah, and produced from behind a curtain a very long befrogged topcoatwith astrakhan collar and cuffs. this he buttoned tightly up, in spite of the extreme closenessof the night, and finished his attire by putting
on a rabbit-skin cap with hanging lappetswhich covered the ears, so that no part of him was visible save his mobile and peakyface. "my health is somewhat fragile," he remarked, as he led the way down the passage."i am compelled to be a valetudinarian." our cab was awaiting us outside, and our programmewas evidently prearranged, for the driver started off at once at a rapid pace. thaddeussholto talked incessantly, in a voice which rose high above the rattle of the wheels. "bartholomew is a clever fellow," said he."how do you think he found out where the treasure was? he had come to the conclusion that itwas somewhere indoors: so he worked out all the cubic space of the house, and made measurementseverywhere, so that not one inch should be
unaccounted for. among other things, he foundthat the height of the building was seventy-four feet, but on adding together the heights ofall the separate rooms, and making every allowance for the space between, which he ascertainedby borings, he could not bring the total to more than seventy feet. there were four feetunaccounted for. these could only be at the top of the building. he knocked a hole, therefore,in the lath-and-plaster ceiling of the highest room, and there, sure enough, he came uponanother little garret above it, which had been sealed up and was known to no one. inthe centre stood the treasure-chest, resting upon two rafters. he lowered it through thehole, and there it lies. he computes the value of the jewels at not less than half a millionsterling."
at the mention of this gigantic sum we allstared at one another open-eyed. miss morstan, could we secure her rights, would change froma needy governess to the richest heiress in england. surely it was the place of a loyalfriend to rejoice at such news; yet i am ashamed to say that selfishness took me by the soul,and that my heart turned as heavy as lead within me. i stammered out some few haltingwords of congratulation, and then sat downcast, with my head drooped, deaf to the babble ofour new acquaintance. he was clearly a confirmed hypochondriac, and i was dreamily consciousthat he was pouring forth interminable trains of symptoms, and imploring information asto the composition and action of innumerable quack nostrums, some of which he bore aboutin a leather case in his pocket. i trust that
he may not remember any of the answers whichi gave him that night. holmes declares that he overheard me caution him against the greatdanger of taking more than two drops of castor oil, while i recommended strychnine in largedoses as a sedative. however that may be, i was certainly relieved when our cab pulledup with a jerk and the coachman sprang down to open the door. "this, miss morstan, is pondicherry lodge,"said mr. thaddeus sholto, as he handed her out. chapter vthe tragedy of pondicherry lodge it was nearly eleven o'clock when we reachedthis final stage of our night's adventures.
we had left the damp fog of the great citybehind us, and the night was fairly fine. a warm wind blew from the westward, and heavyclouds moved slowly across the sky, with half a moon peeping occasionally through the rifts.it was clear enough to see for some distance, but thaddeus sholto took down one of the side-lampsfrom the carriage to give us a better light upon our way. pondicherry lodge stood in its own grounds,and was girt round with a very high stone wall topped with broken glass. a single narrowiron-clamped door formed the only means of entrance. on this our guide knocked with apeculiar postman-like rat-tat. "who is there?" cried a gruff voice from within.
"it is i, mcmurdo. you surely know my knockby this time." there was a grumbling sound and a clankingand jarring of keys. the door swung heavily back, and a short, deep-chested man stoodin the opening, with the yellow light of the lantern shining upon his protruded face andtwinkling distrustful eyes. "that you, mr. thaddeus? but who are the others?i had no orders about them from the master." "no, mcmurdo? you surprise me! i told my brotherlast night that i should bring some friends." "he ain't been out o' his room to-day, mr.thaddeus, and i have no orders. you know very well that i must stick to regulations. i canlet you in, but your friends must just stop where they are."
this was an unexpected obstacle. thaddeussholto looked about him in a perplexed and helpless manner. "this is too bad of you,mcmurdo!" he said. "if i guarantee them, that is enough for you. there is the young lady,too. she cannot wait on the public road at this hour." "very sorry, mr. thaddeus," said the porter,inexorably. "folk may be friends o' yours, and yet no friends o' the master's. he paysme well to do my duty, and my duty i'll do. i don't know none o' your friends." "oh, yes you do, mcmurdo," cried sherlockholmes, genially. "i don't think you can have forgotten me. don't you remember the amateurwho fought three rounds with you at alison's
rooms on the night of your benefit four yearsback?" "not mr. sherlock holmes!" roared the prize-fighter."god's truth! how could i have mistook you? if instead o' standin' there so quiet youhad just stepped up and given me that cross-hit of yours under the jaw, i'd ha' known youwithout a question. ah, you're one that has wasted your gifts, you have! you might haveaimed high, if you had joined the fancy." "you see, watson, if all else fails me i havestill one of the scientific professions open to me," said holmes, laughing. "our friendwon't keep us out in the cold now, i am sure." "in you come, sir, in you come,—you andyour friends," he answered. "very sorry, mr. thaddeus, but orders are very strict. hadto be certain of your friends before i let
them in." inside, a gravel path wound through desolategrounds to a huge clump of a house, square and prosaic, all plunged in shadow save wherea moonbeam struck one corner and glimmered in a garret window. the vast size of the building,with its gloom and its deathly silence, struck a chill to the heart. even thaddeus sholtoseemed ill at ease, and the lantern quivered and rattled in his hand. "i cannot understand it," he said. "theremust be some mistake. i distinctly told bartholomew that we should be here, and yet there is nolight in his window. i do not know what to make of it."
"does he always guard the premises in thisway?" asked holmes. "yes; he has followed my father's custom.he was the favorite son, you know, and i sometimes think that my father may have told him morethan he ever told me. that is bartholomew's window up there where the moonshine strikes.it is quite bright, but there is no light from within, i think." "none," said holmes. "but i see the glintof a light in that little window beside the door." "ah, that is the housekeeper's room. thatis where old mrs. bernstone sits. she can tell us all about it. but perhaps you wouldnot mind waiting here for a minute or two,
for if we all go in together and she has noword of our coming she may be alarmed. but hush! what is that?" he held up the lantern, and his hand shookuntil the circles of light flickered and wavered all round us. miss morstan seized my wrist,and we all stood with thumping hearts, straining our ears. from the great black house theresounded through the silent night the saddest and most pitiful of sounds,—the shrill,broken whimpering of a frightened woman. "it is mrs. bernstone," said sholto. "sheis the only woman in the house. wait here. i shall be back in a moment." he hurried forthe door, and knocked in his peculiar way. we could see a tall old woman admit him, andsway with pleasure at the very sight of him.
"oh, mr. thaddeus, sir, i am so glad you havecome! i am so glad you have come, mr. thaddeus, sir!" we heard her reiterated rejoicings untilthe door was closed and her voice died away into a muffled monotone. our guide had left us the lantern. holmesswung it slowly round, and peered keenly at the house, and at the great rubbish-heapswhich cumbered the grounds. miss morstan and i stood together, and her hand was in mine.a wondrous subtle thing is love, for here were we two who had never seen each otherbefore that day, between whom no word or even look of affection had ever passed, and yetnow in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other. i have marvelled atit since, but at the time it seemed the most
natural thing that i should go out to herso, and, as she has often told me, there was in her also the instinct to turn to me forcomfort and protection. so we stood hand in hand, like two children, and there was peacein our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us. "what a strange place!" she said, lookinground. "it looks as though all the moles in englandhad been let loose in it. i have seen something of the sort on the side of a hill near ballarat,where the prospectors had been at work." "and from the same cause," said holmes. "theseare the traces of the treasure-seekers. you must remember that they were six years lookingfor it. no wonder that the grounds look like
a gravel-pit." at that moment the door of the house burstopen, and thaddeus sholto came running out, with his hands thrown forward and terror inhis eyes. "there is something amiss with bartholomew!"he cried. "i am frightened! my nerves cannot stand it." he was, indeed, half blubberingwith fear, and his twitching feeble face peeping out from the great astrakhan collar had thehelpless appealing expression of a terrified child. "come into the house," said holmes, in hiscrisp, firm way. "yes, do!" pleaded thaddeus sholto. "i reallydo not feel equal to giving directions."
we all followed him into the housekeeper'sroom, which stood upon the left-hand side of the passage. the old woman was pacing upand down with a scared look and restless picking fingers, but the sight of miss morstan appearedto have a soothing effect upon her. "god bless your sweet calm face!" she cried,with an hysterical sob. "it does me good to see you. oh, but i have been sorely triedthis day!" our companion patted her thin, work-worn hand,and murmured some few words of kindly womanly comfort which brought the color back intothe others bloodless cheeks. "master has locked himself in and will notanswer me," she explained. "all day i have waited to hear from him, for he often likesto be alone; but an hour ago i feared that
something was amiss, so i went up and peepedthrough the key-hole. you must go up, mr. thaddeus,—you must go up and look for yourself.i have seen mr. bartholomew sholto in joy and in sorrow for ten long years, but i neversaw him with such a face on him as that." sherlock holmes took the lamp and led theway, for thaddeus sholto's teeth were chattering in his head. so shaken was he that i had topass my hand under his arm as we went up the stairs, for his knees were trembling underhim. twice as we ascended holmes whipped his lens out of his pocket and carefully examinedmarks which appeared to me to be mere shapeless smudges of dust upon the cocoa-nut mattingwhich served as a stair-carpet. he walked slowly from step to step, holding the lamp,and shooting keen glances to right and left.
miss morstan had remained behind with thefrightened housekeeper. the third flight of stairs ended in a straightpassage of some length, with a great picture in indian tapestry upon the right of it andthree doors upon the left. holmes advanced along it in the same slow and methodical way,while we kept close at his heels, with our long black shadows streaming backwards downthe corridor. the third door was that which we were seeking. holmes knocked without receivingany answer, and then tried to turn the handle and force it open. it was locked on the inside,however, and by a broad and powerful bolt, as we could see when we set our lamp up againstit. the key being turned, however, the hole was not entirely closed. sherlock holmes bentdown to it, and instantly rose again with
a sharp intaking of the breath. "there is something devilish in this, watson,"said he, more moved than i had ever before seen him. "what do you make of it?" i stooped to the hole, and recoiled in horror.moonlight was streaming into the room, and it was bright with a vague and shifty radiance.looking straight at me, and suspended, as it were, in the air, for all beneath was inshadow, there hung a face,—the very face of our companion thaddeus. there was the samehigh, shining head, the same circular bristle of red hair, the same bloodless countenance.the features were set, however, in a horrible smile, a fixed and unnatural grin, which inthat still and moonlit room was more jarring
to the nerves than any scowl or contortion.so like was the face to that of our little friend that i looked round at him to makesure that he was indeed with us. then i recalled to mind that he had mentioned to us that hisbrother and he were twins. "this is terrible!" i said to holmes. "whatis to be done?" "the door must come down," he answered, and,springing against it, he put all his weight upon the lock. it creaked and groaned, butdid not yield. together we flung ourselves upon it once more, and this time it gave waywith a sudden snap, and we found ourselves within bartholomew sholto's chamber. it appeared to have been fitted up as a chemicallaboratory. a double line of glass-stoppered
bottles was drawn up upon the wall oppositethe door, and the table was littered over with bunsen burners, test-tubes, and retorts.in the corners stood carboys of acid in wicker baskets. one of these appeared to leak orto have been broken, for a stream of dark-colored liquid had trickled out from it, and the airwas heavy with a peculiarly pungent, tar-like odor. a set of steps stood at one side ofthe room, in the midst of a litter of lath and plaster, and above them there was an openingin the ceiling large enough for a man to pass through. at the foot of the steps a long coilof rope was thrown carelessly together. by the table, in a wooden arm-chair, the masterof the house was seated all in a heap, with his head sunk upon his left shoulder, andthat ghastly, inscrutable smile upon his face.
he was stiff and cold, and had clearly beendead many hours. it seemed to me that not only his features but all his limbs were twistedand turned in the most fantastic fashion. by his hand upon the table there lay a peculiarinstrument,—a brown, close-grained stick, with a stone head like a hammer, rudely lashedon with coarse twine. beside it was a torn sheet of note-paper with some words scrawledupon it. holmes glanced at it, and then handed it to me. "you see," he said, with a significant raisingof the eyebrows. in the light of the lantern i read, with athrill of horror, "the sign of the four." "in god's name, what does it all mean?" iasked.
"it means murder," said he, stooping overthe dead man. "ah, i expected it. look here!" he pointed to what looked like a long, darkthorn stuck in the skin just above the ear. "it looks like a thorn," said i. "it is a thorn. you may pick it out. but becareful, for it is poisoned." i took it up between my finger and thumb.it came away from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left behind. one tinyspeck of blood showed where the puncture had been. "this is all an insoluble mystery to me,"said i. "it grows darker instead of clearer." "on the contrary," he answered, "it clearsevery instant. i only require a few missing
links to have an entirely connected case." we had almost forgotten our companion's presencesince we entered the chamber. he was still standing in the door-way, the very pictureof terror, wringing his hands and moaning to himself. suddenly, however, he broke outinto a sharp, querulous cry. "the treasure is gone!" he said. "they haverobbed him of the treasure! there is the hole through which we lowered it. i helped himto do it! i was the last person who saw him! i left him here last night, and i heard himlock the door as i came down-stairs." "what time was that?" "it was ten o'clock. and now he is dead, andthe police will be called in, and i shall
be suspected of having had a hand in it. oh,yes, i am sure i shall. but you don't think so, gentlemen? surely you don't think thatit was i? is it likely that i would have brought you here if it were i? oh, dear! oh, dear!i know that i shall go mad!" he jerked his arms and stamped his feet in a kind of convulsivefrenzy. "you have no reason for fear, mr. sholto,"said holmes, kindly, putting his hand upon his shoulder. "take my advice, and drive downto the station to report this matter to the police. offer to assist them in every way.we shall wait here until your return." the little man obeyed in a half-stupefiedfashion, and we heard him stumbling down the stairs in the dark.
chapter visherlock holmes gives a demonstration "now, watson," said holmes, rubbing his hands,"we have half an hour to ourselves. let us make good use of it. my case is, as i havetold you, almost complete; but we must not err on the side of over-confidence. simpleas the case seems now, there may be something deeper underlying it." "simple!" i ejaculated. "surely," said he, with something of the airof a clinical professor expounding to his class. "just sit in the corner there, thatyour footprints may not complicate matters. now to work! in the first place, how did thesefolk come, and how did they go? the door has
not been opened since last night. how of thewindow?" he carried the lamp across to it, muttering his observations aloud the while,but addressing them to himself rather than to me. "window is snibbed on the inner side.framework is solid. no hinges at the side. let us open it. no water-pipe near. roof quiteout of reach. yet a man has mounted by the window. it rained a little last night. hereis the print of a foot in mould upon the sill. and here is a circular muddy mark, and hereagain upon the floor, and here again by the table. see here, watson! this is really avery pretty demonstration." i looked at the round, well-defined muddydiscs. "this is not a footmark," said i. "it is something much more valuable to us.it is the impression of a wooden stump. you
see here on the sill is the boot-mark, a heavyboot with the broad metal heel, and beside it is the mark of the timber-toe." "it is the wooden-legged man." "quite so. but there has been some one else,—avery able and efficient ally. could you scale that wall, doctor?" i looked out of the open window. the moonstill shone brightly on that angle of the house. we were a good sixty feet from theground, and, look where i would, i could see no foothold, nor as much as a crevice in thebrick-work. "it is absolutely impossible," i answered.
"without aid it is so. but suppose you hada friend up here who lowered you this good stout rope which i see in the corner, securingone end of it to this great hook in the wall. then, i think, if you were an active man,you might swarm up, wooden leg and all. you would depart, of course, in the same fashion,and your ally would draw up the rope, untie it from the hook, shut the window, snib iton the inside, and get away in the way that he originally came. as a minor point it maybe noted," he continued, fingering the rope, "that our wooden-legged friend, though a fairclimber, was not a professional sailor. his hands were far from horny. my lens disclosesmore than one blood-mark, especially towards the end of the rope, from which i gather thathe slipped down with such velocity that he
took the skin off his hand." "this is all very well," said i, "but thething becomes more unintelligible than ever. how about this mysterious ally? how came heinto the room?" "yes, the ally!" repeated holmes, pensively."there are features of interest about this ally. he lifts the case from the regions ofthe commonplace. i fancy that this ally breaks fresh ground in the annals of crime in thiscountry,—though parallel cases suggest themselves from india, and, if my memory serves me, fromsenegambia." "how came he, then?" i reiterated. "the dooris locked, the window is inaccessible. was it through the chimney?"
"the grate is much too small," he answered."i had already considered that possibility." "how then?" i persisted. "you will not apply my precept," he said,shaking his head. "how often have i said to you that when you have eliminated the impossiblewhatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? we know that he did not comethrough the door, the window, or the chimney. we also know that he could not have been concealedin the room, as there is no concealment possible. whence, then, did he come?" "he came through the hole in the roof," icried. "of course he did. he must have done so. ifyou will have the kindness to hold the lamp
for me, we shall now extend our researchesto the room above,—the secret room in which the treasure was found." he mounted the steps, and, seizing a rafterwith either hand, he swung himself up into the garret. then, lying on his face, he reacheddown for the lamp and held it while i followed him. the chamber in which we found ourselves wasabout ten feet one way and six the other. the floor was formed by the rafters, withthin lath-and-plaster between, so that in walking one had to step from beam to beam.the roof ran up to an apex, and was evidently the inner shell of the true roof of the house.there was no furniture of any sort, and the
accumulated dust of years lay thick upon thefloor. "here you are, you see," said sherlock holmes,putting his hand against the sloping wall. "this is a trap-door which leads out on tothe roof. i can press it back, and here is the roof itself, sloping at a gentle angle.this, then, is the way by which number one entered. let us see if we can find any othertraces of his individuality." he held down the lamp to the floor, and ashe did so i saw for the second time that night a startled, surprised look come over his face.for myself, as i followed his gaze my skin was cold under my clothes. the floor was coveredthickly with the prints of a naked foot,—clear, well defined, perfectly formed, but scarcehalf the size of those of an ordinary man.
"holmes," i said, in a whisper, "a child hasdone the horrid thing." he had recovered his self-possession in aninstant. "i was staggered for the moment," he said, "but the thing is quite natural.my memory failed me, or i should have been able to foretell it. there is nothing moreto be learned here. let us go down." "what is your theory, then, as to those footmarks?"i asked, eagerly, when we had regained the lower room once more. "my dear watson, try a little analysis yourself,"said he, with a touch of impatience. "you know my methods. apply them, and it will beinstructive to compare results." "i cannot conceive anything which will coverthe facts," i answered.
"it will be clear enough to you soon," hesaid, in an off-hand way. "i think that there is nothing else of importance here, but iwill look." he whipped out his lens and a tape measure, and hurried about the room onhis knees, measuring, comparing, examining, with his long thin nose only a few inchesfrom the planks, and his beady eyes gleaming and deep-set like those of a bird. so swift,silent, and furtive were his movements, like those of a trained blood-hound picking outa scent, that i could not but think what a terrible criminal he would have made had heturned his energy and sagacity against the law, instead of exerting them in its defense.as he hunted about, he kept muttering to himself, and finally he broke out into a loud crowof delight.
"we are certainly in luck," said he. "we oughtto have very little trouble now. number one has had the misfortune to tread in the creosote.you can see the outline of the edge of his small foot here at the side of this evil-smellingmess. the carboy has been cracked, you see, and the stuff has leaked out." "what then?" i asked. "why, we have got him, that's all," said he."i know a dog that would follow that scent to the world's end. if a pack can track atrailed herring across a shire, how far can a specially-trained hound follow so pungenta smell as this? it sounds like a sum in the rule of three. the answer should give us the—buthalloo! here are the accredited representatives
of the law." heavy steps and the clamor of loud voiceswere audible from below, and the hall door shut with a loud crash. "before they come," said holmes, "just putyour hand here on this poor fellow's arm, and here on his leg. what do you feel?" "the muscles are as hard as a board," i answered. "quite so. they are in a state of extremecontraction, far exceeding the usual rigor mortis. coupled with this distortion of theface, this hippocratic smile, or 'risus sardonicus,' as the old writers called it, what conclusionwould it suggest to your mind?"
"death from some powerful vegetable alkaloid,"i answered,—"some strychnine-like substance which would produce tetanus." "that was the idea which occurred to me theinstant i saw the drawn muscles of the face. on getting into the room i at once lookedfor the means by which the poison had entered the system. as you saw, i discovered a thornwhich had been driven or shot with no great force into the scalp. you observe that thepart struck was that which would be turned towards the hole in the ceiling if the manwere erect in his chair. now examine the thorn." i took it up gingerly and held it in the lightof the lantern. it was long, sharp, and black, with a glazed look near the point as thoughsome gummy substance had dried upon it. the
blunt end had been trimmed and rounded offwith a knife. "is that an english thorn?" he asked. "no, it certainly is not." "with all these data you should be able todraw some just inference. but here are the regulars: so the auxiliary forces may beata retreat." as he spoke, the steps which had been comingnearer sounded loudly on the passage, and a very stout, portly man in a gray suit strodeheavily into the room. he was red-faced, burly and plethoric, with a pair of very small twinklingeyes which looked keenly out from between swollen and puffy pouches. he was closelyfollowed by an inspector in uniform, and by
the still palpitating thaddeus sholto. "here's a business!" he cried, in a muffled,husky voice. "here's a pretty business! but who are all these? why, the house seems tobe as full as a rabbit-warren!" "i think you must recollect me, mr. athelneyjones," said holmes, quietly. "why, of course i do!" he wheezed. "it's mr.sherlock holmes, the theorist. remember you! i'll never forget how you lectured us allon causes and inferences and effects in the bishopgate jewel case. it's true you set uson the right track; but you'll own now that it was more by good luck than good guidance." "it was a piece of very simple reasoning."
"oh, come, now, come! never be ashamed toown up. but what is all this? bad business! bad business! stern facts here,—no roomfor theories. how lucky that i happened to be out at norwood over another case! i wasat the station when the message arrived. what d'you think the man died of?" "oh, this is hardly a case for me to theorizeover," said holmes, dryly. "no, no. still, we can't deny that you hitthe nail on the head sometimes. dear me! door locked, i understand. jewels worth half amillion missing. how was the window?" "fastened; but there are steps on the sill." "well, well, if it was fastened the stepscould have nothing to do with the matter.
that's common sense. man might have died ina fit; but then the jewels are missing. ha! i have a theory. these flashes come upon meat times.—just step outside, sergeant, and you, mr. sholto. your friend can remain.—whatdo you think of this, holmes? sholto was, on his own confession, with his brother lastnight. the brother died in a fit, on which sholto walked off with the treasure. how'sthat?" "on which the dead man very consideratelygot up and locked the door on the inside." "hum! there's a flaw there. let us apply commonsense to the matter. this thaddeus sholto was with his brother; there was a quarrel;so much we know. the brother is dead and the jewels are gone. so much also we know. noone saw the brother from the time thaddeus
left him. his bed had not been slept in. thaddeusis evidently in a most disturbed state of mind. his appearance is—well, not attractive.you see that i am weaving my web round thaddeus. the net begins to close upon him." "you are not quite in possession of the factsyet," said holmes. "this splinter of wood, which i have every reason to believe to bepoisoned, was in the man's scalp where you still see the mark; this card, inscribed asyou see it, was on the table; and beside it lay this rather curious stone-headed instrument.how does all that fit into your theory?" "confirms it in every respect," said the fatdetective, pompously. "house is full of indian curiosities. thaddeus brought this up, andif this splinter be poisonous thaddeus may
as well have made murderous use of it as anyother man. the card is some hocus-pocus,—a blind, as like as not. the only question is,how did he depart? ah, of course, here is a hole in the roof." with great activity,considering his bulk, he sprang up the steps and squeezed through into the garret, andimmediately afterwards we heard his exulting voice proclaiming that he had found the trap-door. "he can find something," remarked holmes,shrugging his shoulders. "he has occasional glimmerings of reason. il n'y a pas des sotssi incommodes que ceux qui ont de l'esprit!" "you see!" said athelney jones, reappearingdown the steps again. "facts are better than mere theories, after all. my view of the caseis confirmed. there is a trap-door communicating
with the roof, and it is partly open." "it was i who opened it." "oh, indeed! you did notice it, then?" heseemed a little crestfallen at the discovery. "well, whoever noticed it, it shows how ourgentleman got away. inspector!" "yes, sir," from the passage. "ask mr. sholto to step this way.—mr. sholto,it is my duty to inform you that anything which you may say will be used against you.i arrest you in the queen's name as being concerned in the death of your brother." "there, now! didn't i tell you!" cried thepoor little man, throwing out his hands, and
looking from one to the other of us. "don't trouble yourself about it, mr. sholto,"said holmes. "i think that i can engage to clear you of the charge." "don't promise too much, mr. theorist,—don'tpromise too much!" snapped the detective. "you may find it a harder matter than youthink." "not only will i clear him, mr. jones, buti will make you a free present of the name and description of one of the two people whowere in this room last night. his name, i have every reason to believe, is jonathansmall. he is a poorly-educated man, small, active, with his right leg off, and wearinga wooden stump which is worn away upon the
inner side. his left boot has a coarse, square-toedsole, with an iron band round the heel. he is a middle-aged man, much sunburned, andhas been a convict. these few indications may be of some assistance to you, coupledwith the fact that there is a good deal of skin missing from the palm of his hand. theother man—" "ah! the other man—?" asked athelney jones,in a sneering voice, but impressed none the less, as i could easily see, by the precisionof the other's manner. "is a rather curious person," said sherlockholmes, turning upon his heel. "i hope before very long to be able to introduce you to thepair of them.—a word with you, watson." he led me out to the head of the stair. "thisunexpected occurrence," he said, "has caused
us rather to lose sight of the original purposeof our journey." "i have just been thinking so," i answered."it is not right that miss morstan should remain in this stricken house." "no. you must escort her home. she lives withmrs. cecil forrester, in lower camberwell: so it is not very far. i will wait for youhere if you will drive out again. or perhaps you are too tired?" "by no means. i don't think i could rest untili know more of this fantastic business. i have seen something of the rough side of life,but i give you my word that this quick succession of strange surprises to-night has shaken mynerve completely. i should like, however,
to see the matter through with you, now thati have got so far." "your presence will be of great service tome," he answered. "we shall work the case out independently, and leave this fellow jonesto exult over any mare's-nest which he may choose to construct. when you have droppedmiss morstan i wish you to go on to no. 3 pinchin lane, down near the water's edge atlambeth. the third house on the right-hand side is a bird-stuffer's: sherman is the name.you will see a weasel holding a young rabbit in the window. knock old sherman up, and tellhim, with my compliments, that i want toby at once. you will bring toby back in the cabwith you." "a dog, i suppose."
"yes,—a queer mongrel, with a most amazingpower of scent. i would rather have toby's help than that of the whole detective forceof london." "i shall bring him, then," said i. "it isone now. i ought to be back before three, if i can get a fresh horse." "and i," said holmes, "shall see what i canlearn from mrs. bernstone, and from the indian servant, who, mr. thaddeus tell me, sleepsin the next garret. then i shall study the great jones's methods and listen to his nottoo delicate sarcasms. 'wir sind gewohnt das die menschen verhoehnen was sie nicht verstehen.'goethe is always pithy." chapter viithe episode of the barrel
the police had brought a cab with them, andin this i escorted miss morstan back to her home. after the angelic fashion of women,she had borne trouble with a calm face as long as there was some one weaker than herselfto support, and i had found her bright and placid by the side of the frightened housekeeper.in the cab, however, she first turned faint, and then burst into a passion of weeping,—sosorely had she been tried by the adventures of the night. she has told me since that shethought me cold and distant upon that journey. she little guessed the struggle within mybreast, or the effort of self-restraint which held me back. my sympathies and my love wentout to her, even as my hand had in the garden. i felt that years of the conventionalitiesof life could not teach me to know her sweet,
brave nature as had this one day of strangeexperiences. yet there were two thoughts which sealed the words of affection upon my lips.she was weak and helpless, shaken in mind and nerve. it was to take her at a disadvantageto obtrude love upon her at such a time. worse still, she was rich. if holmes's researcheswere successful, she would be an heiress. was it fair, was it honorable, that a half-paysurgeon should take such advantage of an intimacy which chance had brought about? might shenot look upon me as a mere vulgar fortune-seeker? i could not bear to risk that such a thoughtshould cross her mind. this agra treasure intervened like an impassable barrier betweenus. it was nearly two o'clock when we reachedmrs. cecil forrester's. the servants had retired
hours ago, but mrs. forrester had been sointerested by the strange message which miss morstan had received that she had sat up inthe hope of her return. she opened the door herself, a middle-aged, graceful woman, andit gave me joy to see how tenderly her arm stole round the other's waist and how motherlywas the voice in which she greeted her. she was clearly no mere paid dependant, but anhonored friend. i was introduced, and mrs. forrester earnestly begged me to step in andtell her our adventures. i explained, however, the importance of my errand, and promisedfaithfully to call and report any progress which we might make with the case. as we droveaway i stole a glance back, and i still seem to see that little group on the step, thetwo graceful, clinging figures, the half-opened
door, the hall light shining through stainedglass, the barometer, and the bright stair-rods. it was soothing to catch even that passingglimpse of a tranquil english home in the midst of the wild, dark business which hadabsorbed us. and the more i thought of what had happened,the wilder and darker it grew. i reviewed the whole extraordinary sequence of eventsas i rattled on through the silent gas-lit streets. there was the original problem: thatat least was pretty clear now. the death of captain morstan, the sending of the pearls,the advertisement, the letter,—we had had light upon all those events. they had onlyled us, however, to a deeper and far more tragic mystery. the indian treasure, the curiousplan found among morstan's baggage, the strange
scene at major sholto's death, the rediscoveryof the treasure immediately followed by the murder of the discoverer, the very singularaccompaniments to the crime, the footsteps, the remarkable weapons, the words upon thecard, corresponding with those upon captain morstan's chart,—here was indeed a labyrinthin which a man less singularly endowed than my fellow-lodger might well despair of everfinding the clue. pinchin lane was a row of shabby two-storiedbrick houses in the lower quarter of lambeth. i had to knock for some time at no. 3 beforei could make my impression. at last, however, there was the glint of a candle behind theblind, and a face looked out at the upper window.
"go on, you drunken vagabone," said the face."if you kick up any more row i'll open the kennels and let out forty-three dogs uponyou." "if you'll let one out it's just what i havecome for," said i. "go on!" yelled the voice. "so help me gracious,i have a wiper in the bag, an' i'll drop it on your 'ead if you don't hook it." "but i want a dog," i cried. "i won't be argued with!" shouted mr. sherman."now stand clear, for when i say 'three,' down goes the wiper." "mr. sherlock holmes—" i began, but thewords had a most magical effect, for the window
instantly slammed down, and within a minutethe door was unbarred and open. mr. sherman was a lanky, lean old man, with stooping shoulders,a stringy neck, and blue-tinted glasses. "a friend of mr. sherlock is always welcome,"said he. "step in, sir. keep clear of the badger; for he bites. ah, naughty, naughty,would you take a nip at the gentleman?" this to a stoat which thrust its wicked head andred eyes between the bars of its cage. "don't mind that, sir: it's only a slow-worm. ithain't got no fangs, so i gives it the run o' the room, for it keeps the beetles down.you must not mind my bein' just a little short wi' you at first, for i'm guyed at by thechildren, and there's many a one just comes down this lane to knock me up. what was itthat mr. sherlock holmes wanted, sir?"
"he wanted a dog of yours." "ah! that would be toby." "yes, toby was the name." "toby lives at no. 7 on the left here." hemoved slowly forward with his candle among the queer animal family which he had gatheredround him. in the uncertain, shadowy light i could see dimly that there were glancing,glimmering eyes peeping down at us from every cranny and corner. even the rafters aboveour heads were lined by solemn fowls, who lazily shifted their weight from one leg tothe other as our voices disturbed their slumbers. toby proved to be an ugly, long-haired, lop-earedcreature, half spaniel and half lurcher, brown-and-white
in color, with a very clumsy waddling gait.it accepted after some hesitation a lump of sugar which the old naturalist handed to me,and, having thus sealed an alliance, it followed me to the cab, and made no difficulties aboutaccompanying me. it had just struck three on the palace clock when i found myself backonce more at pondicherry lodge. the ex-prize-fighter mcmurdo had, i found, been arrested as anaccessory, and both he and mr. sholto had been marched off to the station. two constablesguarded the narrow gate, but they allowed me to pass with the dog on my mentioning thedetective's name. holmes was standing on the door-step, withhis hands in his pockets, smoking his pipe. "ah, you have him there!" said he. "good dog,then! atheney jones has gone. we have had
an immense display of energy since you left.he has arrested not only friend thaddeus, but the gatekeeper, the housekeeper, and theindian servant. we have the place to ourselves, but for a sergeant up-stairs. leave the doghere, and come up." we tied toby to the hall table, and reascendedthe stairs. the room was as he had left it, save that a sheet had been draped over thecentral figure. a weary-looking police-sergeant reclined in the corner. "lend me your bull's-eye, sergeant," saidmy companion. "now tie this bit of card round my neck, so as to hang it in front of me.thank you. now i must kick off my boots and stockings.—just you carry them down withyou, watson. i am going to do a little climbing.
and dip my handkerchief into the creasote.that will do. now come up into the garret with me for a moment." we clambered up through the hole. holmes turnedhis light once more upon the footsteps in the dust. "i wish you particularly to notice these footmarks,"he said. "do you observe anything noteworthy about them?" "they belong," i said, "to a child or a smallwoman." "apart from their size, though. is there nothingelse?" "they appear to be much as other footmarks."
"not at all. look here! this is the printof a right foot in the dust. now i make one with my naked foot beside it. what is thechief difference?" "your toes are all cramped together. the otherprint has each toe distinctly divided." "quite so. that is the point. bear that inmind. now, would you kindly step over to that flap-window and smell the edge of the wood-work?i shall stay here, as i have this handkerchief in my hand." i did as he directed, and was instantly consciousof a strong tarry smell. "that is where he put his foot in gettingout. if you can trace him, i should think that toby will have no difficulty. now rundown-stairs, loose the dog, and look out for
blondin." by the time that i got out into the groundssherlock holmes was on the roof, and i could see him like an enormous glow-worm crawlingvery slowly along the ridge. i lost sight of him behind a stack of chimneys, but hepresently reappeared, and then vanished once more upon the opposite side. when i made myway round there i found him seated at one of the corner eaves. "that you, watson?" he cried. "yes." "this is the place. what is that black thingdown there?"
"a water-barrel." "top on it?" "no sign of a ladder?" "no." "confound the fellow! it's a most break-neckplace. i ought to be able to come down where he could climb up. the water-pipe feels prettyfirm. here goes, anyhow." there was a scuffling of feet, and the lanternbegan to come steadily down the side of the wall. then with a light spring he came onto the barrel, and from there to the earth. "it was easy to follow him," he said, drawingon his stockings and boots. "tiles were loosened
the whole way along, and in his hurry he haddropped this. it confirms my diagnosis, as you doctors express it." the object which he held up to me was a smallpocket or pouch woven out of colored grasses and with a few tawdry beads strung round it.in shape and size it was not unlike a cigarette-case. inside were half a dozen spines of dark wood,sharp at one end and rounded at the other, like that which had struck bartholomew sholto. "they are hellish things," said he. "lookout that you don't prick yourself. i'm delighted to have them, for the chances are that theyare all he has. there is the less fear of you or me finding one in our skin before long.i would sooner face a martini bullet, myself.
are you game for a six-mile trudge, watson?" "certainly," i answered. "your leg will stand it?" "oh, yes." "here you are, doggy! good old toby! smellit, toby, smell it!" he pushed the creasote handkerchief under the dog's nose, while thecreature stood with its fluffy legs separated, and with a most comical cock to its head,like a connoisseur sniffing the bouquet of a famous vintage. holmes then threw the handkerchiefto a distance, fastened a stout cord to the mongrel's collar, and led him to the footof the water-barrel. the creature instantly
broke into a succession of high, tremulousyelps, and, with his nose on the ground, and his tail in the air, pattered off upon thetrail at a pace which strained his leash and kept us at the top of our speed. the east had been gradually whitening, andwe could now see some distance in the cold gray light. the square, massive house, withits black, empty windows and high, bare walls, towered up, sad and forlorn, behind us. ourcourse led right across the grounds, in and out among the trenches and pits with whichthey were scarred and intersected. the whole place, with its scattered dirt-heaps and ill-grownshrubs, had a blighted, ill-omened look which harmonized with the black tragedy which hungover it.
on reaching the boundary wall toby ran along,whining eagerly, underneath its shadow, and stopped finally in a corner screened by ayoung beech. where the two walls joined, several bricks had been loosened, and the crevicesleft were worn down and rounded upon the lower side, as though they had frequently been usedas a ladder. holmes clambered up, and, taking the dog from me, he dropped it over upon theother side. "there's the print of wooden-leg's hand,"he remarked, as i mounted up beside him. "you see the slight smudge of blood upon the whiteplaster. what a lucky thing it is that we have had no very heavy rain since yesterday!the scent will lie upon the road in spite of their eight-and-twenty hours' start."
i confess that i had my doubts myself wheni reflected upon the great traffic which had passed along the london road in the interval.my fears were soon appeased, however. toby never hesitated or swerved, but waddled onin his peculiar rolling fashion. clearly, the pungent smell of the creasote rose highabove all other contending scents. "do not imagine," said holmes, "that i dependfor my success in this case upon the mere chance of one of these fellows having puthis foot in the chemical. i have knowledge now which would enable me to trace them inmany different ways. this, however, is the readiest and, since fortune has put it intoour hands, i should be culpable if i neglected it. it has, however, prevented the case frombecoming the pretty little intellectual problem
which it at one time promised to be. theremight have been some credit to be gained out of it, but for this too palpable clue." "there is credit, and to spare," said i. "iassure you, holmes, that i marvel at the means by which you obtain your results in this case,even more than i did in the jefferson hope murder. the thing seems to me to be deeperand more inexplicable. how, for example, could you describe with such confidence the wooden-leggedman?" "pshaw, my dear boy! it was simplicity itself.i don't wish to be theatrical. it is all patent and above-board. two officers who are in commandof a convict-guard learn an important secret as to buried treasure. a map is drawn forthem by an englishman named jonathan small.
you remember that we saw the name upon thechart in captain morstan's possession. he had signed it in behalf of himself and hisassociates,—the sign of the four, as he somewhat dramatically called it. aided bythis chart, the officers—or one of them—gets the treasure and brings it to england, leaving,we will suppose, some condition under which he received it unfulfilled. now, then, whydid not jonathan small get the treasure himself? the answer is obvious. the chart is datedat a time when morstan was brought into close association with convicts. jonathan smalldid not get the treasure because he and his associates were themselves convicts and couldnot get away." "but that is mere speculation," said i.
"it is more than that. it is the only hypothesiswhich covers the facts. let us see how it fits in with the sequel. major sholto remainsat peace for some years, happy in the possession of his treasure. then he receives a letterfrom india which gives him a great fright. what was that?" "a letter to say that the men whom he hadwronged had been set free." "or had escaped. that is much more likely,for he would have known what their term of imprisonment was. it would not have been asurprise to him. what does he do then? he guards himself against a wooden-legged man,—awhite man, mark you, for he mistakes a white tradesman for him, and actually fires a pistolat him. now, only one white man's name is
on the chart. the others are hindoos or mohammedans.there is no other white man. therefore we may say with confidence that the wooden-leggedman is identical with jonathan small. does the reasoning strike you as being faulty?" "no: it is clear and concise." "well, now, let us put ourselves in the placeof jonathan small. let us look at it from his point of view. he comes to england withthe double idea of regaining what he would consider to be his rights and of having hisrevenge upon the man who had wronged him. he found out where sholto lived, and verypossibly he established communications with some one inside the house. there is this butler,lal rao, whom we have not seen. mrs. bernstone
gives him far from a good character. smallcould not find out, however, where the treasure was hid, for no one ever knew, save the majorand one faithful servant who had died. suddenly small learns that the major is on his death-bed.in a frenzy lest the secret of the treasure die with him, he runs the gauntlet of theguards, makes his way to the dying man's window, and is only deterred from entering by thepresence of his two sons. mad with hate, however, against the dead man, he enters the room thatnight, searches his private papers in the hope of discovering some memorandum relatingto the treasure, and finally leaves a momento of his visit in the short inscription uponthe card. he had doubtless planned beforehand that should he slay the major he would leavesome such record upon the body as a sign that
it was not a common murder, but, from thepoint of view of the four associates, something in the nature of an act of justice. whimsicaland bizarre conceits of this kind are common enough in the annals of crime, and usuallyafford valuable indications as to the criminal. do you follow all this?" "very clearly." "now, what could jonathan small do? he couldonly continue to keep a secret watch upon the efforts made to find the treasure. possiblyhe leaves england and only comes back at intervals. then comes the discovery of the garret, andhe is instantly informed of it. we again trace the presence of some confederate in the household.jonathan, with his wooden leg, is utterly
unable to reach the lofty room of bartholomewsholto. he takes with him, however, a rather curious associate, who gets over this difficulty,but dips his naked foot into creasote, whence comes toby, and a six-mile limp for a half-payofficer with a damaged tendo achillis." "but it was the associate, and not jonathan,who committed the crime." "quite so. and rather to jonathan's disgust,to judge by the way he stamped about when he got into the room. he bore no grudge againstbartholomew sholto, and would have preferred if he could have been simply bound and gagged.he did not wish to put his head in a halter. there was no help for it, however: the savageinstincts of his companion had broken out, and the poison had done its work: so jonathansmall left his record, lowered the treasure-box
to the ground, and followed it himself. thatwas the train of events as far as i can decipher them. of course as to his personal appearancehe must be middle-aged, and must be sunburned after serving his time in such an oven asthe andamans. his height is readily calculated from the length of his stride, and we knowthat he was bearded. his hairiness was the one point which impressed itself upon thaddeussholto when he saw him at the window. i don't know that there is anything else." "the associate?" "ah, well, there is no great mystery in that.but you will know all about it soon enough. how sweet the morning air is! see how thatone little cloud floats like a pink feather
from some gigantic flamingo. now the red rimof the sun pushes itself over the london cloud-bank. it shines on a good many folk, but on none,i dare bet, who are on a stranger errand than you and i. how small we feel with our pettyambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of nature! areyou well up in your jean paul?" "fairly so. i worked back to him through carlyle." "that was like following the brook to theparent lake. he makes one curious but profound remark. it is that the chief proof of man'sreal greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness. it argues, you see, a powerof comparison and of appreciation which is in itself a proof of nobility. there is muchfood for thought in richter. you have not
a pistol, have you?" "i have my stick." "it is just possible that we may need somethingof the sort if we get to their lair. jonathan i shall leave to you, but if the other turnsnasty i shall shoot him dead." he took out his revolver as he spoke, and, having loadedtwo of the chambers, he put it back into the right-hand pocket of his jacket. we had during this time been following theguidance of toby down the half-rural villa-lined roads which lead to the metropolis. now, however,we were beginning to come among continuous streets, where laborers and dockmen were alreadyastir, and slatternly women were taking down
shutters and brushing door-steps. at the square-toppedcorner public houses business was just beginning, and rough-looking men were emerging, rubbingtheir sleeves across their beards after their morning wet. strange dogs sauntered up andstared wonderingly at us as we passed, but our inimitable toby looked neither to theright nor to the left, but trotted onwards with his nose to the ground and an occasionaleager whine which spoke of a hot scent. we had traversed streatham, brixton, camberwell,and now found ourselves in kennington lane, having borne away through the side-streetsto the east of the oval. the men whom we pursued seemed to have taken a curiously zigzag road,with the idea probably of escaping observation. they had never kept to the main road if aparallel side-street would serve their turn.
at the foot of kennington lane they had edgedaway to the left through bond street and miles street. where the latter street turns intoknight's place, toby ceased to advance, but began to run backwards and forwards with oneear cocked and the other drooping, the very picture of canine indecision. then he waddledround in circles, looking up to us from time to time, as if to ask for sympathy in hisembarrassment. "what the deuce is the matter with the dog?"growled holmes. "they surely would not take a cab, or go off in a balloon." "perhaps they stood here for some time," isuggested. "ah! it's all right. he's off again," saidmy companion, in a tone of relief.
he was indeed off, for after sniffing roundagain he suddenly made up his mind, and darted away with an energy and determination suchas he had not yet shown. the scent appeared to be much hotter than before, for he hadnot even to put his nose on the ground, but tugged at his leash and tried to break intoa run. i cold see by the gleam in holmes's eyes that he thought we were nearing the endof our journey. our course now ran down nine elms until wecame to broderick and nelson's large timber-yard, just past the white eagle tavern. here thedog, frantic with excitement, turned down through the side-gate into the enclosure,where the sawyers were already at work. on the dog raced through sawdust and shavings,down an alley, round a passage, between two
wood-piles, and finally, with a triumphantyelp, sprang upon a large barrel which still stood upon the hand-trolley on which it hadbeen brought. with lolling tongue and blinking eyes, toby stood upon the cask, looking fromone to the other of us for some sign of appreciation. the staves of the barrel and the wheels ofthe trolley were smeared with a dark liquid, and the whole air was heavy with the smellof creasote. sherlock holmes and i looked blankly at eachother, and then burst simultaneously into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. chapter viii the baker street irregulars
"what now?" i asked. "toby has lost his characterfor infallibility." "he acted according to his lights," said holmes,lifting him down from the barrel and walking him out of the timber-yard. "if you considerhow much creasote is carted about london in one day, it is no great wonder that our trailshould have been crossed. it is much used now, especially for the seasoning of wood.poor toby is not to blame." "we must get on the main scent again, i suppose." "yes. and, fortunately, we have no distanceto go. evidently what puzzled the dog at the corner of knight's place was that there weretwo different trails running in opposite directions. we took the wrong one. it only remains tofollow the other."
there was no difficulty about this. on leadingtoby to the place where he had committed his fault, he cast about in a wide circle andfinally dashed off in a fresh direction. "we must take care that he does not now bringus to the place where the creasote-barrel came from," i observed. "i had thought of that. but you notice thathe keeps on the pavement, whereas the barrel passed down the roadway. no, we are on thetrue scent now." it tended down towards the river-side, runningthrough belmont place and prince's street. at the end of broad street it ran right downto the water's edge, where there was a small wooden wharf. toby led us to the very edgeof this, and there stood whining, looking
out on the dark current beyond. "we are out of luck," said holmes. "they havetaken to a boat here." several small punts and skiffs were lying about in the water andon the edge of the wharf. we took toby round to each in turn, but, though he sniffed earnestly,he made no sign. close to the rude landing-stage was a smallbrick house, with a wooden placard slung out through the second window. "mordecai smith"was printed across it in large letters, and, underneath, "boats to hire by the hour orday." a second inscription above the door informed us that a steam launch was kept,—astatement which was confirmed by a great pile of coke upon the jetty. sherlock holmes lookedslowly round, and his face assumed an ominous
expression. "this looks bad," said he. "these fellowsare sharper than i expected. they seem to have covered their tracks. there has, i fear,been preconcerted management here." he was approaching the door of the house,when it opened, and a little, curly-headed lad of six came running out, followed by astoutish, red-faced woman with a large sponge in her hand. "you come back and be washed, jack," she shouted."come back, you young imp; for if your father comes home and finds you like that, he'lllet us hear of it." "dear little chap!" said holmes, strategically."what a rosy-cheeked young rascal! now, jack,
is there anything you would like?" the youth pondered for a moment. "i'd likea shillin'," said he. "nothing you would like better?" "i'd like two shillin' better," the prodigyanswered, after some thought. "here you are, then! catch!—a fine child,mrs. smith!" "lor' bless you, sir, he is that, and forward.he gets a'most too much for me to manage, 'specially when my man is away days at a time." "away, is he?" said holmes, in a disappointedvoice. "i am sorry for that, for i wanted to speak to mr. smith."
"he's been away since yesterday mornin', sir,and, truth to tell, i am beginnin' to feel frightened about him. but if it was abouta boat, sir, maybe i could serve as well." "i wanted to hire his steam launch." "why, bless you, sir, it is in the steam launchthat he has gone. that's what puzzles me; for i know there ain't more coals in her thanwould take her to about woolwich and back. if he'd been away in the barge i'd ha' thoughtnothin'; for many a time a job has taken him as far as gravesend, and then if there wasmuch doin' there he might ha' stayed over. but what good is a steam launch without coals?" "he might have bought some at a wharf downthe river."
"he might, sir, but it weren't his way. manya time i've heard him call out at the prices they charge for a few odd bags. besides, idon't like that wooden-legged man, wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk. what did hewant always knockin' about here for?" "a wooden-legged man?" said holmes, with blandsurprise. "yes, sir, a brown, monkey-faced chap that'scalled more'n once for my old man. it was him that roused him up yesternight, and, what'smore, my man knew he was comin', for he had steam up in the launch. i tell you straight,sir, i don't feel easy in my mind about it." "but, my dear mrs. smith," said holmes, shrugginghis shoulders, "you are frightening yourself about nothing. how could you possibly tellthat it was the wooden-legged man who came
in the night? i don't quite understand howyou can be so sure." "his voice, sir. i knew his voice, which iskind o' thick and foggy. he tapped at the winder,—about three it would be. 'show aleg, matey,' says he: 'time to turn out guard.' my old man woke up jim,—that's my eldest,—andaway they went, without so much as a word to me. i could hear the wooden leg clackin'on the stones." "and was this wooden-legged man alone?" "couldn't say, i am sure, sir. i didn't hearno one else." "i am sorry, mrs. smith, for i wanted a steamlaunch, and i have heard good reports of the—let me see, what is her name?"
"the aurora, sir." "ah! she's not that old green launch witha yellow line, very broad in the beam?" "no, indeed. she's as trim a little thingas any on the river. she's been fresh painted, black with two red streaks." "thanks. i hope that you will hear soon frommr. smith. i am going down the river; and if i should see anything of the aurora i shalllet him know that you are uneasy. a black funnel, you say?" "no, sir. black with a white band." "ah, of course. it was the sides which wereblack. good-morning, mrs. smith.—there is
a boatman here with a wherry, watson. we shalltake it and cross the river. "the main thing with people of that sort,"said holmes, as we sat in the sheets of the wherry, "is never to let them think that theirinformation can be of the slightest importance to you. if you do, they will instantly shutup like an oyster. if you listen to them under protest, as it were, you are very likely toget what you want." "our course now seems pretty clear," saidi. "what would you do, then?" "i would engage a launch and go down the riveron the track of the aurora." "my dear fellow, it would be a colossal task.she may have touched at any wharf on either
side of the stream between here and greenwich.below the bridge there is a perfect labyrinth of landing-places for miles. it would takeyou days and days to exhaust them, if you set about it alone." "employ the police, then." "no. i shall probably call athelney jonesin at the last moment. he is not a bad fellow, and i should not like to do anything whichwould injure him professionally. but i have a fancy for working it out myself, now thatwe have gone so far." "could we advertise, then, asking for informationfrom wharfingers?" "worse and worse! our men would know thatthe chase was hot at their heels, and they
would be off out of the country. as it is,they are likely enough to leave, but as long as they think they are perfectly safe theywill be in no hurry. jones's energy will be of use to us there, for his view of the caseis sure to push itself into the daily press, and the runaways will think that every oneis off on the wrong scent." "what are we to do, then?" i asked, as welanded near millbank penitentiary. "take this hansom, drive home, have some breakfast,and get an hour's sleep. it is quite on the cards that we may be afoot to-night again.stop at a telegraph-office, cabby! we will keep toby, for he may be of use to us yet." we pulled up at the great peter street post-office,and holmes despatched his wire. "whom do you
think that is to?" he asked, as we resumedour journey. "i am sure i don't know." "you remember the baker street division ofthe detective police force whom i employed in the jefferson hope case?" "well," said i, laughing. "this is just the case where they might beinvaluable. if they fail, i have other resources; but i shall try them first. that wire wasto my dirty little lieutenant, wiggins, and i expect that he and his gang will be withus before we have finished our breakfast." it was between eight and nine o'clock now,and i was conscious of a strong reaction after
the successive excitements of the night. iwas limp and weary, befogged in mind and fatigued in body. i had not the professional enthusiasmwhich carried my companion on, nor could i look at the matter as a mere abstract intellectualproblem. as far as the death of bartholomew sholto went, i had heard little good of him,and could feel no intense antipathy to his murderers. the treasure, however, was a differentmatter. that, or part of it, belonged rightfully to miss morstan. while there was a chanceof recovering it i was ready to devote my life to the one object. true, if i found itit would probably put her forever beyond my reach. yet it would be a petty and selfishlove which would be influenced by such a thought as that. if holmes could work to find thecriminals, i had a tenfold stronger reason
to urge me on to find the treasure. a bath at baker street and a complete changefreshened me up wonderfully. when i came down to our room i found the breakfast laid andhomes pouring out the coffee. "here it is," said he, laughing, and pointingto an open newspaper. "the energetic jones and the ubiquitous reporter have fixed itup between them. but you have had enough of the case. better have your ham and eggs first." i took the paper from him and read the shortnotice, which was headed "mysterious business at upper norwood." "about twelve o'clock last night," said thestandard, "mr. bartholomew sholto, of pondicherry
lodge, upper norwood, was found dead in hisroom under circumstances which point to foul play. as far as we can learn, no actual tracesof violence were found upon mr. sholto's person, but a valuable collection of indian gems whichthe deceased gentleman had inherited from his father has been carried off. the discoverywas first made by mr. sherlock holmes and dr. watson, who had called at the house withmr. thaddeus sholto, brother of the deceased. by a singular piece of good fortune, mr. athelneyjones, the well-known member of the detective police force, happened to be at the norwoodpolice station, and was on the ground within half an hour of the first alarm. his trainedand experienced faculties were at once directed towards the detection of the criminals, withthe gratifying result that the brother, thaddeus
sholto, has already been arrested, togetherwith the housekeeper, mrs. bernstone, an indian butler named lal rao, and a porter, or gatekeeper,named mcmurdo. it is quite certain that the thief or thieves were well acquainted withthe house, for mr. jones's well-known technical knowledge and his powers of minute observationhave enabled him to prove conclusively that the miscreants could not have entered by thedoor or by the window, but must have made their way across the roof of the building,and so through a trap-door into a room which communicated with that in which the body wasfound. this fact, which has been very clearly made out, proves conclusively that it wasno mere haphazard burglary. the prompt and energetic action of the officers of the lawshows the great advantage of the presence
on such occasions of a single vigorous andmasterful mind. we cannot but think that it supplies an argument to those who would wishto see our detectives more decentralized, and so brought into closer and more effectivetouch with the cases which it is their duty to investigate." "isn't it gorgeous!" said holmes, grinningover his coffee-cup. "what do you think of it?" "i think that we have had a close shave ourselvesof being arrested for the crime." "so do i. i wouldn't answer for our safetynow, if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy."
at this moment there was a loud ring at thebell, and i could hear mrs. hudson, our landlady, raising her voice in a wail of expostulationand dismay. "by heaven, holmes," i said, half rising,"i believe that they are really after us." "no, it's not quite so bad as that. it isthe unofficial force,—the baker street irregulars." as he spoke, there came a swift patteringof naked feet upon the stairs, a clatter of high voices, and in rushed a dozen dirty andragged little street-arabs. there was some show of discipline among them, despite theirtumultuous entry, for they instantly drew up in line and stood facing us with expectantfaces. one of their number, taller and older than the others, stood forward with an airof lounging superiority which was very funny
in such a disreputable little scarecrow. "got your message, sir," said he, "and brought'em on sharp. three bob and a tanner for tickets." "here you are," said holmes, producing somesilver. "in future they can report to you, wiggins, and you to me. i cannot have thehouse invaded in this way. however, it is just as well that you should all hear theinstructions. i want to find the whereabouts of a steam launch called the aurora, ownermordecai smith, black with two red streaks, funnel black with a white band. she is downthe river somewhere. i want one boy to be at mordecai smith's landing-stage oppositemillbank to say if the boat comes back. you must divide it out among yourselves, and doboth banks thoroughly. let me know the moment
you have news. is that all clear?" "yes, guv'nor," said wiggins. "the old scale of pay, and a guinea to theboy who finds the boat. here's a day in advance. now off you go!" he handed them a shillingeach, and away they buzzed down the stairs, and i saw them a moment later streaming downthe street. "if the launch is above water they will findher," said holmes, as he rose from the table and lit his pipe. "they can go everywhere,see everything, overhear every one. i expect to hear before evening that they have spottedher. in the mean while, we can do nothing but await results. we cannot pick up the brokentrail until we find either the aurora or mr.
mordecai smith." "toby could eat these scraps, i dare say.are you going to bed, holmes?" "no: i am not tired. i have a curious constitution.i never remember feeling tired by work, though idleness exhausts me completely. i am goingto smoke and to think over this queer business to which my fair client has introduced us.if ever man had an easy task, this of ours ought to be. wooden-legged men are not socommon, but the other man must, i should think, be absolutely unique." "that other man again!" "i have no wish to make a mystery of him,—toyou, anyway. but you must have formed your
own opinion. now, do consider the data. diminutivefootmarks, toes never fettered by boots, naked feet, stone-headed wooden mace, great agility,small poisoned darts. what do you make of all this?" "a savage!" i exclaimed. "perhaps one of thoseindians who were the associates of jonathan small." "hardly that," said he. "when first i sawsigns of strange weapons i was inclined to think so; but the remarkable character ofthe footmarks caused me to reconsider my views. some of the inhabitants of the indian peninsulaare small men, but none could have left such marks as that. the hindoo proper has longand thin feet. the sandal-wearing mohammedan
has the great toe well separated from theothers, because the thong is commonly passed between. these little darts, too, could onlybe shot in one way. they are from a blow-pipe. now, then, where are we to find our savage?" "south american," i hazarded. he stretched his hand up, and took down abulky volume from the shelf. "this is the first volume of a gazetteer which is now beingpublished. it may be looked upon as the very latest authority. what have we here? 'andamanislands, situated 340 miles to the north of sumatra, in the bay of bengal.' hum! hum!what's all this? moist climate, coral reefs, sharks, port blair, convict-barracks, rutlandisland, cottonwoods—ah, here we are. 'the
aborigines of the andaman islands may perhapsclaim the distinction of being the smallest race upon this earth, though some anthropologistsprefer the bushmen of africa, the digger indians of america, and the terra del fuegians. theaverage height is rather below four feet, although many full-grown adults may be foundwho are very much smaller than this. they are a fierce, morose, and intractable people,though capable of forming most devoted friendships when their confidence has once been gained.'mark that, watson. now, then, listen to this. 'they are naturally hideous, having large,misshapen heads, small, fierce eyes, and distorted features. their feet and hands, however, areremarkably small. so intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the britishofficial have failed to win them over in any
degree. they have always been a terror toshipwrecked crews, braining the survivors with their stone-headed clubs, or shootingthem with their poisoned arrows. these massacres are invariably concluded by a cannibal feast.'nice, amiable people, watson! if this fellow had been left to his own unaided devices thisaffair might have taken an even more ghastly turn. i fancy that, even as it is, jonathansmall would give a good deal not to have employed him." "but how came he to have so singular a companion?" "ah, that is more than i can tell. since,however, we had already determined that small had come from the andamans, it is not so verywonderful that this islander should be with
him. no doubt we shall know all about it intime. look here, watson; you look regularly done. lie down there on the sofa, and seeif i can put you to sleep." he took up his violin from the corner, andas i stretched myself out he began to play some low, dreamy, melodious air,—his own,no doubt, for he had a remarkable gift for improvisation. i have a vague remembranceof his gaunt limbs, his earnest face, and the rise and fall of his bow. then i seemedto be floated peacefully away upon a soft sea of sound, until i found myself in dream-land,with the sweet face of mary morstan looking down upon me. chapter ixa break in the chain
it was late in the afternoon before i woke,strengthened and refreshed. sherlock holmes still sat exactly as i had left him, savethat he had laid aside his violin and was deep in a book. he looked across at me, asi stirred, and i noticed that his face was dark and troubled. "you have slept soundly," he said. "i fearedthat our talk would wake you." "i heard nothing," i answered. "have you hadfresh news, then?" "unfortunately, no. i confess that i am surprisedand disappointed. i expected something definite by this time. wiggins has just been up toreport. he says that no trace can be found of the launch. it is a provoking check, forevery hour is of importance."
"can i do anything? i am perfectly fresh now,and quite ready for another night's outing." "no, we can do nothing. we can only wait.if we go ourselves, the message might come in our absence, and delay be caused. you cando what you will, but i must remain on guard." "then i shall run over to camberwell and callupon mrs. cecil forrester. she asked me to, yesterday." "on mrs. cecil forrester?" asked holmes, withthe twinkle of a smile in his eyes. "well, of course miss morstan too. they wereanxious to hear what happened." "i would not tell them too much," said holmes."women are never to be entirely trusted,—not the best of them."
i did not pause to argue over this atrocioussentiment. "i shall be back in an hour or two," i remarked. "all right! good luck! but, i say, if youare crossing the river you may as well return toby, for i don't think it is at all likelythat we shall have any use for him now." i took our mongrel accordingly, and left him,together with a half-sovereign, at the old naturalist's in pinchin lane. at camberwelli found miss morstan a little weary after her night's adventures, but very eager tohear the news. mrs. forrester, too, was full of curiosity. i told them all that we haddone, suppressing, however, the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. thus, although i spokeof mr. sholto's death, i said nothing of the
exact manner and method of it. with all myomissions, however, there was enough to startle and amaze them. "it is a romance!" cried mrs. forrester. "aninjured lady, half a million in treasure, a black cannibal, and a wooden-legged ruffian.they take the place of the conventional dragon or wicked earl." "and two knight-errants to the rescue," addedmiss morstan, with a bright glance at me. "why, mary, your fortune depends upon theissue of this search. i don't think that you are nearly excited enough. just imagine whatit must be to be so rich, and to have the world at your feet!"
it sent a little thrill of joy to my heartto notice that she showed no sign of elation at the prospect. on the contrary, she gavea toss of her proud head, as though the matter were one in which she took small interest. "it is for mr. thaddeus sholto that i am anxious,"she said. "nothing else is of any consequence; but i think that he has behaved most kindlyand honorably throughout. it is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and unfounded charge." it was evening before i left camberwell, andquite dark by the time i reached home. my companion's book and pipe lay by his chair,but he had disappeared. i looked about in the hope of seeing a note, but there was none.
"i suppose that mr. sherlock holmes has goneout," i said to mrs. hudson as she came up to lower the blinds. "no, sir. he has gone to his room, sir. doyou know, sir," sinking her voice into an impressive whisper, "i am afraid for his health?" "why so, mrs. hudson?" "well, he's that strange, sir. after you wasgone he walked and he walked, up and down, and up and down, until i was weary of thesound of his footstep. then i heard him talking to himself and muttering, and every time thebell rang out he came on the stairhead, with 'what is that, mrs. hudson?' and now he hasslammed off to his room, but i can hear him
walking away the same as ever. i hope he'snot going to be ill, sir. i ventured to say something to him about cooling medicine, buthe turned on me, sir, with such a look that i don't know how ever i got out of the room." "i don't think that you have any cause tobe uneasy, mrs. hudson," i answered. "i have seen him like this before. he has some smallmatter upon his mind which makes him restless." i tried to speak lightly to our worthy landlady,but i was myself somewhat uneasy when through the long night i still from time to time heardthe dull sound of his tread, and knew how his keen spirit was chafing against this involuntaryinaction. at breakfast-time he looked worn and haggard,with a little fleck of feverish color upon
either cheek. "you are knocking yourself up, old man," iremarked. "i heard you marching about in the night." "no, i could not sleep," he answered. "thisinfernal problem is consuming me. it is too much to be balked by so petty an obstacle,when all else had been overcome. i know the men, the launch, everything; and yet i canget no news. i have set other agencies at work, and used every means at my disposal.the whole river has been searched on either side, but there is no news, nor has mrs. smithheard of her husband. i shall come to the conclusion soon that they have scuttled thecraft. but there are objections to that."
"or that mrs. smith has put us on a wrongscent." "no, i think that may be dismissed. i hadinquiries made, and there is a launch of that description." "could it have gone up the river?" "i have considered that possibility too, andthere is a search-party who will work up as far as richmond. if no news comes to-day,i shall start off myself to-morrow, and go for the men rather than the boat. but surely,surely, we shall hear something." we did not, however. not a word came to useither from wiggins or from the other agencies. there were articles in most of the papersupon the norwood tragedy. they all appeared
to be rather hostile to the unfortunate thaddeussholto. no fresh details were to be found, however, in any of them, save that an inquestwas to be held upon the following day. i walked over to camberwell in the evening to reportour ill success to the ladies, and on my return i found holmes dejected and somewhat morose.he would hardly reply to my questions, and busied himself all evening in an abstrusechemical analysis which involved much heating of retorts and distilling of vapors, endingat last in a smell which fairly drove me out of the apartment. up to the small hours ofthe morning i could hear the clinking of his test-tubes which told me that he was stillengaged in his malodorous experiment. in the early dawn i woke with a start, andwas surprised to find him standing by my bedside,
clad in a rude sailor dress with a pea-jacket,and a coarse red scarf round his neck. "i am off down the river, watson," said he."i have been turning it over in my mind, and i can see only one way out of it. it is worthtrying, at all events." "surely i can come with you, then?" said i. "no; you can be much more useful if you willremain here as my representative. i am loath to go, for it is quite on the cards that somemessage may come during the day, though wiggins was despondent about it last night. i wantyou to open all notes and telegrams, and to act on your own judgment if any news shouldcome. can i rely upon you?" "most certainly."
"i am afraid that you will not be able towire to me, for i can hardly tell yet where i may find myself. if i am in luck, however,i may not be gone so very long. i shall have news of some sort or other before i get back." i had heard nothing of him by breakfast-time.on opening the standard, however, i found that there was a fresh allusion to the business."with reference to the upper norwood tragedy," it remarked, "we have reason to believe thatthe matter promises to be even more complex and mysterious than was originally supposed.fresh evidence has shown that it is quite impossible that mr. thaddeus sholto couldhave been in any way concerned in the matter. he and the housekeeper, mrs. bernstone, wereboth released yesterday evening. it is believed,
however, that the police have a clue as tothe real culprits, and that it is being prosecuted by mr. athelney jones, of scotland yard, withall his well-known energy and sagacity. further arrests may be expected at any moment." "that is satisfactory so far as it goes,"thought i. "friend sholto is safe, at any rate. i wonder what the fresh clue may be;though it seems to be a stereotyped form whenever the police have made a blunder." i tossed the paper down upon the table, butat that moment my eye caught an advertisement in the agony column. it ran in this way: "lost.—whereas mordecai smith, boatman,and his son, jim, left smith's wharf at or
about three o'clock last tuesday morning inthe steam launch aurora, black with two red stripes, funnel black with a white band, thesum of five pounds will be paid to any one who can give information to mrs. smith, atsmith's wharf, or at 221b baker street, as to the whereabouts of the said mordecai smithand the launch aurora." this was clearly holmes's doing. the bakerstreet address was enough to prove that. it struck me as rather ingenious, because itmight be read by the fugitives without their seeing in it more than the natural anxietyof a wife for her missing husband. it was a long day. every time that a knockcame to the door, or a sharp step passed in the street, i imagined that it was eitherholmes returning or an answer to his advertisement.
i tried to read, but my thoughts would wanderoff to our strange quest and to the ill-assorted and villainous pair whom we were pursuing.could there be, i wondered, some radical flaw in my companion's reasoning. might he be sufferingfrom some huge self-deception? was it not possible that his nimble and speculative mindhad built up this wild theory upon faulty premises? i had never known him to be wrong;and yet the keenest reasoner may occasionally be deceived. he was likely, i thought, tofall into error through the over-refinement of his logic,—his preference for a subtleand bizarre explanation when a plainer and more commonplace one lay ready to his hand.yet, on the other hand, i had myself seen the evidence, and i had heard the reasonsfor his deductions. when i looked back on
the long chain of curious circumstances, manyof them trivial in themselves, but all tending in the same direction, i could not disguisefrom myself that even if holmes's explanation were incorrect the true theory must be equallyoutre and startling. at three o'clock in the afternoon there wasa loud peal at the bell, an authoritative voice in the hall, and, to my surprise, noless a person than mr. athelney jones was shown up to me. very different was he, however,from the brusque and masterful professor of common sense who had taken over the case soconfidently at upper norwood. his expression was downcast, and his bearing meek and evenapologetic. "good-day, sir; good-day," said he. "mr. sherlockholmes is out, i understand."
"yes, and i cannot be sure when he will beback. but perhaps you would care to wait. take that chair and try one of these cigars." "thank you; i don't mind if i do," said he,mopping his face with a red bandanna handkerchief. "and a whiskey-and-soda?" "well, half a glass. it is very hot for thetime of year; and i have had a good deal to worry and try me. you know my theory aboutthis norwood case?" "i remember that you expressed one." "well, i have been obliged to reconsider it.i had my net drawn tightly round mr. sholto, sir, when pop he went through a hole in themiddle of it. he was able to prove an alibi
which could not be shaken. from the time thathe left his brother's room he was never out of sight of some one or other. so it couldnot be he who climbed over roofs and through trap-doors. it's a very dark case, and myprofessional credit is at stake. i should be very glad of a little assistance." "we all need help sometimes," said i. "your friend mr. sherlock holmes is a wonderfulman, sir," said he, in a husky and confidential voice. "he's a man who is not to be beat.i have known that young man go into a good many cases, but i never saw the case yet thathe could not throw a light upon. he is irregular in his methods, and a little quick perhapsin jumping at theories, but, on the whole,
i think he would have made a most promisingofficer, and i don't care who knows it. i have had a wire from him this morning, bywhich i understand that he has got some clue to this sholto business. here is the message." he took the telegram out of his pocket, andhanded it to me. it was dated from poplar at twelve o'clock. "go to baker street atonce," it said. "if i have not returned, wait for me. i am close on the track of the sholtogang. you can come with us to-night if you want to be in at the finish." "this sounds well. he has evidently pickedup the scent again," said i. "ah, then he has been at fault too," exclaimedjones, with evident satisfaction. "even the
best of us are thrown off sometimes. of coursethis may prove to be a false alarm; but it is my duty as an officer of the law to allowno chance to slip. but there is some one at the door. perhaps this is he." a heavy step was heard ascending the stair,with a great wheezing and rattling as from a man who was sorely put to it for breath.once or twice he stopped, as though the climb were too much for him, but at last he madehis way to our door and entered. his appearance corresponded to the sounds which we had heard.he was an aged man, clad in seafaring garb, with an old pea-jacket buttoned up to histhroat. his back was bowed, his knees were shaky, and his breathing was painfully asthmatic.as he leaned upon a thick oaken cudgel his
shoulders heaved in the effort to draw theair into his lungs. he had a colored scarf round his chin, and i could see little ofhis face save a pair of keen dark eyes, overhung by bushy white brows, and long gray side-whiskers.altogether he gave me the impression of a respectable master mariner who had falleninto years and poverty. "what is it, my man?" i asked. he looked about him in the slow methodicalfashion of old age. "is mr. sherlock holmes here?" said he. "no; but i am acting for him. you can tellme any message you have for him." "it was to him himself i was to tell it,"said he.
"but i tell you that i am acting for him.was it about mordecai smith's boat?" "yes. i knows well where it is. an' i knowswhere the men he is after are. an' i knows where the treasure is. i knows all about it." "then tell me, and i shall let him know." "it was to him i was to tell it," he repeated,with the petulant obstinacy of a very old man. "well, you must wait for him." "no, no; i ain't goin' to lose a whole dayto please no one. if mr. holmes ain't here, then mr. holmes must find it all out for himself.i don't care about the look of either of you,
and i won't tell a word." he shuffled towards the door, but athelneyjones got in front of him. "wait a bit, my friend," said he. "you haveimportant information, and you must not walk off. we shall keep you, whether you like ornot, until our friend returns." the old man made a little run towards thedoor, but, as athelney jones put his broad back up against it, he recognized the uselessnessof resistance. "pretty sort o' treatment this!" he cried,stamping his stick. "i come here to see a gentleman, and you two, who i never saw inmy life, seize me and treat me in this fashion!" "you will be none the worse," i said. "weshall recompense you for the loss of your
time. sit over here on the sofa, and you willnot have long to wait." he came across sullenly enough, and seatedhimself with his face resting on his hands. jones and i resumed our cigars and our talk.suddenly, however, holmes's voice broke in upon us. "i think that you might offer me a cigar too,"he said. we both started in our chairs. there was holmessitting close to us with an air of quiet amusement. "holmes!" i exclaimed. "you here! but whereis the old man?" "here is the old man," said he, holding outa heap of white hair. "here he is,—wig, whiskers, eyebrows, and all. i thought mydisguise was pretty good, but i hardly expected
that it would stand that test." "ah, you rogue!" cried jones, highly delighted."you would have made an actor, and a rare one. you had the proper workhouse cough, andthose weak legs of yours are worth ten pound a week. i thought i knew the glint of youreye, though. you didn't get away from us so easily, you see." "i have been working in that get-up all day,"said he, lighting his cigar. "you see, a good many of the criminal classes begin to knowme,—especially since our friend here took to publishing some of my cases: so i can onlygo on the war-path under some simple disguise like this. you got my wire?"
"yes; that was what brought me here." "how has your case prospered?" "it has all come to nothing. i have had torelease two of my prisoners, and there is no evidence against the other two." "never mind. we shall give you two othersin the place of them. but you must put yourself under my orders. you are welcome to all theofficial credit, but you must act on the line that i point out. is that agreed?" "entirely, if you will help me to the men." "well, then, in the first place i shall wanta fast police-boat—a steam launch—to be
at the westminster stairs at seven o'clock." "that is easily managed. there is always oneabout there; but i can step across the road and telephone to make sure." "then i shall want two stanch men, in caseof resistance." "there will be two or three in the boat. whatelse?" "when we secure the men we shall get the treasure.i think that it would be a pleasure to my friend here to take the box round to the younglady to whom half of it rightfully belongs. let her be the first to open it.—eh, watson?" "it would be a great pleasure to me."
"rather an irregular proceeding," said jones,shaking his head. "however, the whole thing is irregular, and i suppose we must wink atit. the treasure must afterwards be handed over to the authorities until after the officialinvestigation." "certainly. that is easily managed. one otherpoint. i should much like to have a few details about this matter from the lips of jonathansmall himself. you know i like to work the detail of my cases out. there is no objectionto my having an unofficial interview with him, either here in my rooms or elsewhere,as long as he is efficiently guarded?" "well, you are master of the situation. ihave had no proof yet of the existence of this jonathan small. however, if you can catchhim i don't see how i can refuse you an interview
with him." "that is understood, then?" "perfectly. is there anything else?" "only that i insist upon your dining withus. it will be ready in half an hour. i have oysters and a brace of grouse, with somethinga little choice in white wines.—watson, you have never yet recognized my merits asa housekeeper." chapter xthe end of the islander our meal was a merry one. holmes could talkexceedingly well when he chose, and that night he did choose. he appeared to be in a stateof nervous exaltation. i have never known
him so brilliant. he spoke on a quick successionof subjects,—on miracle-plays, on medieval pottery, on stradivarius violins, on the buddhismof ceylon, and on the war-ships of the future,—handling each as though he had made a special studyof it. his bright humor marked the reaction from his black depression of the precedingdays. athelney jones proved to be a sociable soul in his hours of relaxation, and facedhis dinner with the air of a bon vivant. for myself, i felt elated at the thought thatwe were nearing the end of our task, and i caught something of holmes's gaiety. noneof us alluded during dinner to the cause which had brought us together. when the cloth was cleared, holmes glancedat his watch, and filled up three glasses
with port. "one bumper," said he, "to thesuccess of our little expedition. and now it is high time we were off. have you a pistol,watson?" "i have my old service-revolver in my desk." "you had best take it, then. it is well tobe prepared. i see that the cab is at the door. i ordered it for half-past six." it was a little past seven before we reachedthe westminster wharf, and found our launch awaiting us. holmes eyed it critically. "is there anything to mark it as a police-boat?" "yes,—that green lamp at the side."
"then take it off." the small change was made, we stepped on board,and the ropes were cast off. jones, holmes, and i sat in the stern. there was one manat the rudder, one to tend the engines, and two burly police-inspectors forward. "where to?" asked jones. "to the tower. tell them to stop oppositejacobson's yard." our craft was evidently a very fast one. weshot past the long lines of loaded barges as though they were stationary. holmes smiledwith satisfaction as we overhauled a river steamer and left her behind us.
"we ought to be able to catch anything onthe river," he said. "well, hardly that. but there are not manylaunches to beat us." "we shall have to catch the aurora, and shehas a name for being a clipper. i will tell you how the land lies, watson. you recollecthow annoyed i was at being balked by so small a thing?" "well, i gave my mind a thorough rest by plunginginto a chemical analysis. one of our greatest statesmen has said that a change of work isthe best rest. so it is. when i had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon which i wasat work at, i came back to our problem of the sholtos, and thought the whole matterout again. my boys had been up the river and
down the river without result. the launchwas not at any landing-stage or wharf, nor had it returned. yet it could hardly havebeen scuttled to hide their traces,—though that always remained as a possible hypothesisif all else failed. i knew this man small had a certain degree of low cunning, but idid not think him capable of anything in the nature of delicate finesse. that is usuallya product of higher education. i then reflected that since he had certainly been in londonsome time—as we had evidence that he maintained a continual watch over pondicherry lodge—hecould hardly leave at a moment's notice, but would need some little time, if it were onlya day, to arrange his affairs. that was the balance of probability, at any rate."
"it seems to me to be a little weak," saidi. "it is more probable that he had arranged his affairs before ever he set out upon hisexpedition." "no, i hardly think so. this lair of his wouldbe too valuable a retreat in case of need for him to give it up until he was sure thathe could do without it. but a second consideration struck me. jonathan small must have felt thatthe peculiar appearance of his companion, however much he may have top-coated him, wouldgive rise to gossip, and possibly be associated with this norwood tragedy. he was quite sharpenough to see that. they had started from their head-quarters under cover of darkness,and he would wish to get back before it was broad light. now, it was past three o'clock,according to mrs. smith, when they got the
boat. it would be quite bright, and peoplewould be about in an hour or so. therefore, i argued, they did not go very far. they paidsmith well to hold his tongue, reserved his launch for the final escape, and hurried totheir lodgings with the treasure-box. in a couple of nights, when they had time to seewhat view the papers took, and whether there was any suspicion, they would make their wayunder cover of darkness to some ship at gravesend or in the downs, where no doubt they had alreadyarranged for passages to america or the colonies." "but the launch? they could not have takenthat to their lodgings." "quite so. i argued that the launch must beno great way off, in spite of its invisibility. i then put myself in the place of small, andlooked at it as a man of his capacity would.
he would probably consider that to send backthe launch or to keep it at a wharf would make pursuit easy if the police did happento get on his track. how, then, could he conceal the launch and yet have her at hand when wanted?i wondered what i should do myself if i were in his shoes. i could only think of one wayof doing it. i might land the launch over to some boat-builder or repairer, with directionsto make a trifling change in her. she would then be removed to his shed or yard, and sobe effectually concealed, while at the same time i could have her at a few hours' notice." "that seems simple enough." "it is just these very simple things whichare extremely liable to be overlooked. however,
i determined to act on the idea. i startedat once in this harmless seaman's rig and inquired at all the yards down the river.i drew blank at fifteen, but at the sixteenth—jacobson's—i learned that the aurora had been handed overto them two days ago by a wooden-legged man, with some trivial directions as to her rudder.'there ain't naught amiss with her rudder,' said the foreman. 'there she lies, with thered streaks.' at that moment who should come down but mordecai smith, the missing owner?he was rather the worse for liquor. i should not, of course, have known him, but he bellowedout his name and the name of his launch. 'i want her to-night at eight o'clock,' saidhe,—'eight o'clock sharp, mind, for i have two gentlemen who won't be kept waiting.'they had evidently paid him well, for he was
very flush of money, chucking shillings aboutto the men. i followed him some distance, but he subsided into an ale-house: so i wentback to the yard, and, happening to pick up one of my boys on the way, i stationed himas a sentry over the launch. he is to stand at water's edge and wave his handkerchiefto us when they start. we shall be lying off in the stream, and it will be a strange thingif we do not take men, treasure, and all." "you have planned it all very neatly, whetherthey are the right men or not," said jones; "but if the affair were in my hands i shouldhave had a body of police in jacobson's yard, and arrested them when they came down." "which would have been never. this man smallis a pretty shrewd fellow. he would send a
scout on ahead, and if anything made him suspiciouslie snug for another week." "but you might have stuck to mordecai smith,and so been led to their hiding-place," said i. "in that case i should have wasted my day.i think that it is a hundred to one against smith knowing where they live. as long ashe has liquor and good pay, why should he ask questions? they send him messages whatto do. no, i thought over every possible course, and this is the best." while this conversation had been proceeding,we had been shooting the long series of bridges which span the thames. as we passed the citythe last rays of the sun were gilding the
cross upon the summit of st. paul's. it wastwilight before we reached the tower. "that is jacobson's yard," said holmes, pointingto a bristle of masts and rigging on the surrey side. "cruise gently up and down here undercover of this string of lighters." he took a pair of night-glasses from his pocket andgazed some time at the shore. "i see my sentry at his post," he remarked, "but no sign ofa handkerchief." "suppose we go down-stream a short way andlie in wait for them," said jones, eagerly. we were all eager by this time, even the policemenand stokers, who had a very vague idea of what was going forward. "we have no right to take anything for granted,"holmes answered. "it is certainly ten to one
that they go down-stream, but we cannot becertain. from this point we can see the entrance of the yard, and they can hardly see us. itwill be a clear night and plenty of light. we must stay where we are. see how the folkswarm over yonder in the gaslight." "they are coming from work in the yard." "dirty-looking rascals, but i suppose everyone has some little immortal spark concealed about him. you would not think it, to lookat them. there is no a priori probability about it. a strange enigma is man!" "some one calls him a soul concealed in ananimal," i suggested. "winwood reade is good upon the subject,"said holmes. "he remarks that, while the individual
man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregatehe becomes a mathematical certainty. you can, for example, never foretell what any one manwill do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to. individualsvary, but percentages remain constant. so says the statistician. but do i see a handkerchief?surely there is a white flutter over yonder." "yes, it is your boy," i cried. "i can seehim plainly." "and there is the aurora," exclaimed holmes,"and going like the devil! full speed ahead, engineer. make after that launch with theyellow light. by heaven, i shall never forgive myself if she proves to have the heels ofus!" she had slipped unseen through the yard-entranceand passed behind two or three small craft,
so that she had fairly got her speed up beforewe saw her. now she was flying down the stream, near in to the shore, going at a tremendousrate. jones looked gravely at her and shook his head. "she is very fast," he said. "i doubt if weshall catch her." "we must catch her!" cried holmes, betweenhis teeth. "heap it on, stokers! make her do all she can! if we burn the boat we musthave them!" we were fairly after her now. the furnacesroared, and the powerful engines whizzed and clanked, like a great metallic heart. hersharp, steep prow cut through the river-water and sent two rolling waves to right and toleft of us. with every throb of the engines
we sprang and quivered like a living thing.one great yellow lantern in our bows threw a long, flickering funnel of light in frontof us. right ahead a dark blur upon the water showed where the aurora lay, and the swirlof white foam behind her spoke of the pace at which she was going. we flashed past barges,steamers, merchant-vessels, in and out, behind this one and round the other. voices hailedus out of the darkness, but still the aurora thundered on, and still we followed closeupon her track. "pile it on, men, pile it on!" cried holmes,looking down into the engine-room, while the fierce glow from below beat upon his eager,aquiline face. "get every pound of steam you can."
"i think we gain a little," said jones, withhis eyes on the aurora. "i am sure of it," said i. "we shall be upwith her in a very few minutes." at that moment, however, as our evil fatewould have it, a tug with three barges in tow blundered in between us. it was only byputting our helm hard down that we avoided a collision, and before we could round themand recover our way the aurora had gained a good two hundred yards. she was still, however,well in view, and the murky uncertain twilight was setting into a clear starlit night. ourboilers were strained to their utmost, and the frail shell vibrated and creaked withthe fierce energy which was driving us along. we had shot through the pool, past the westindia docks, down the long deptford reach,
and up again after rounding the isle of dogs.the dull blur in front of us resolved itself now clearly enough into the dainty aurora.jones turned our search-light upon her, so that we could plainly see the figures uponher deck. one man sat by the stern, with something black between his knees over which he stooped.beside him lay a dark mass which looked like a newfoundland dog. the boy held the tiller,while against the red glare of the furnace i could see old smith, stripped to the waist,and shovelling coals for dear life. they may have had some doubt at first as to whetherwe were really pursuing them, but now as we followed every winding and turning which theytook there could no longer be any question about it. at greenwich we were about threehundred paces behind them. at blackwall we
could not have been more than two hundredand fifty. i have coursed many creatures in many countries during my checkered career,but never did sport give me such a wild thrill as this mad, flying man-hunt down the thames.steadily we drew in upon them, yard by yard. in the silence of the night we could hearthe panting and clanking of their machinery. the man in the stern still crouched upon thedeck, and his arms were moving as though he were busy, while every now and then he wouldlook up and measure with a glance the distance which still separated us. nearer we came andnearer. jones yelled to them to stop. we were not more than four boat's lengths behind them,both boats flying at a tremendous pace. it was a clear reach of the river, with barkinglevel upon one side and the melancholy plumstead
marshes upon the other. at our hail the manin the stern sprang up from the deck and shook his two clinched fists at us, cursing thewhile in a high, cracked voice. he was a good-sized, powerful man, and as he stood poising himselfwith legs astride i could see that from the thigh downwards there was but a wooden stumpupon the right side. at the sound of his strident, angry cries there was movement in the huddledbundle upon the deck. it straightened itself into a little black man—the smallest i haveever seen—with a great, misshapen head and a shock of tangled, dishevelled hair. holmeshad already drawn his revolver, and i whipped out mine at the sight of this savage, distortedcreature. he was wrapped in some sort of dark ulster or blanket, which left only his faceexposed; but that face was enough to give
a man a sleepless night. never have i seenfeatures so deeply marked with all bestiality and cruelty. his small eyes glowed and burnedwith a sombre light, and his thick lips were writhed back from his teeth, which grinnedand chattered at us with a half animal fury. "fire if he raises his hand," said holmes,quietly. we were within a boat's-length by this time, and almost within touch of ourquarry. i can see the two of them now as they stood, the white man with his legs far apart,shrieking out curses, and the unhallowed dwarf with his hideous face, and his strong yellowteeth gnashing at us in the light of our lantern. it was well that we had so clear a view ofhim. even as we looked he plucked out from under his covering a short, round piece ofwood, like a school-ruler, and clapped it
to his lips. our pistols rang out together.he whirled round, threw up his arms, and with a kind of choking cough fell sideways intothe stream. i caught one glimpse of his venomous, menacing eyes amid the white swirl of thewaters. at the same moment the wooden-legged man threw himself upon the rudder and putit hard down, so that his boat made straight in for the southern bank, while we shot pasther stern, only clearing her by a few feet. we were round after her in an instant, butshe was already nearly at the bank. it was a wild and desolate place, where the moonglimmered upon a wide expanse of marsh-land, with pools of stagnant water and beds of decayingvegetation. the launch with a dull thud ran up upon the mud-bank, with her bow in theair and her stern flush with the water. the
fugitive sprang out, but his stump instantlysank its whole length into the sodden soil. in vain he struggled and writhed. not onestep could he possibly take either forwards or backwards. he yelled in impotent rage,and kicked frantically into the mud with his other foot, but his struggles only bored hiswooden pin the deeper into the sticky bank. when we brought our launch alongside he wasso firmly anchored that it was only by throwing the end of a rope over his shoulders thatwe were able to haul him out, and to drag him, like some evil fish, over our side. thetwo smiths, father and son, sat sullenly in their launch, but came aboard meekly enoughwhen commanded. the aurora herself we hauled off and made fast to our stern. a solid ironchest of indian workmanship stood upon the
deck. this, there could be no question, wasthe same that had contained the ill-omened treasure of the sholtos. there was no key,but it was of considerable weight, so we transferred it carefully to our own little cabin. as westeamed slowly up-stream again, we flashed our search-light in every direction, but therewas no sign of the islander. somewhere in the dark ooze at the bottom of the thameslie the bones of that strange visitor to our shores. "see here," said holmes, pointing to the woodenhatchway. "we were hardly quick enough with our pistols." there, sure enough, just behindwhere we had been standing, stuck one of those murderous darts which we knew so well. itmust have whizzed between us at the instant
that we fired. holmes smiled at it and shruggedhis shoulders in his easy fashion, but i confess that it turned me sick to think of the horribledeath which had passed so close to us that night. chapter xithe great agra treasure our captive sat in the cabin opposite to theiron box which he had done so much and waited so long to gain. he was a sunburned, reckless-eyedfellow, with a net-work of lines and wrinkles all over his mahogany features, which toldof a hard, open-air life. there was a singular prominence about his bearded chin which markeda man who was not to be easily turned from his purpose. his age may have been fifty orthereabouts, for his black, curly hair was
thickly shot with gray. his face in reposewas not an unpleasing one, though his heavy brows and aggressive chin gave him, as i hadlately seen, a terrible expression when moved to anger. he sat now with his handcuffed handsupon his lap, and his head sunk upon his breast, while he looked with his keen, twinkling eyesat the box which had been the cause of his ill-doings. it seemed to me that there wasmore sorrow than anger in his rigid and contained countenance. once he looked up at me witha gleam of something like humor in his eyes. "well, jonathan small," said holmes, lightinga cigar, "i am sorry that it has come to this." "and so am i, sir," he answered, frankly."i don't believe that i can swing over the job. i give you my word on the book that inever raised hand against mr. sholto. it was
that little hell-hound tonga who shot oneof his cursed darts into him. i had no part in it, sir. i was as grieved as if it hadbeen my blood-relation. i welted the little devil with the slack end of the rope for it,but it was done, and i could not undo it again." "have a cigar," said holmes; "and you hadbest take a pull out of my flask, for you are very wet. how could you expect so smalland weak a man as this black fellow to overpower mr. sholto and hold him while you were climbingthe rope?" "you seem to know as much about it as if youwere there, sir. the truth is that i hoped to find the room clear. i knew the habitsof the house pretty well, and it was the time when mr. sholto usually went down to his supper.i shall make no secret of the business. the
best defence that i can make is just the simpletruth. now, if it had been the old major i would have swung for him with a light heart.i would have thought no more of knifing him than of smoking this cigar. but it's cursedhard that i should be lagged over this young sholto, with whom i had no quarrel whatever." "you are under the charge of mr. athelneyjones, of scotland yard. he is going to bring you up to my rooms, and i shall ask you fora true account of the matter. you must make a clean breast of it, for if you do i hopethat i may be of use to you. i think i can prove that the poison acts so quickly thatthe man was dead before ever you reached the room."
"that he was, sir. i never got such a turnin my life as when i saw him grinning at me with his head on his shoulder as i climbedthrough the window. it fairly shook me, sir. i'd have half killed tonga for it if he hadnot scrambled off. that was how he came to leave his club, and some of his darts too,as he tells me, which i dare say helped to put you on our track; though how you kepton it is more than i can tell. i don't feel no malice against you for it. but it doesseem a queer thing," he added, with a bitter smile, "that i who have a fair claim to nighupon half a million of money should spend the first half of my life building a breakwaterin the andamans, and am like to spend the other half digging drains at dartmoor. itwas an evil day for me when first i clapped
eyes upon the merchant achmet and had to dowith the agra treasure, which never brought anything but a curse yet upon the man whoowned it. to him it brought murder, to major sholto it brought fear and guilt, to me ithas meant slavery for life." at this moment athelney jones thrust his broadface and heavy shoulders into the tiny cabin. "quite a family party," he remarked. "i thinki shall have a pull at that flask, holmes. well, i think we may all congratulate eachother. pity we didn't take the other alive; but there was no choice. i say, holmes, youmust confess that you cut it rather fine. it was all we could do to overhaul her." "all is well that ends well," said holmes."but i certainly did not know that the aurora
was such a clipper." "smith says she is one of the fastest launcheson the river, and that if he had had another man to help him with the engines we shouldnever have caught her. he swears he knew nothing of this norwood business." "neither he did," cried our prisoner,—"nota word. i chose his launch because i heard that she was a flier. we told him nothing,but we paid him well, and he was to get something handsome if we reached our vessel, the esmeralda,at gravesend, outward bound for the brazils." "well, if he has done no wrong we shall seethat no wrong comes to him. if we are pretty quick in catching our men, we are not so quickin condemning them." it was amusing to notice
how the consequential jones was already beginningto give himself airs on the strength of the capture. from the slight smile which playedover sherlock holmes's face, i could see that the speech had not been lost upon him. "we will be at vauxhall bridge presently,"said jones, "and shall land you, dr. watson, with the treasure-box. i need hardly tellyou that i am taking a very grave responsibility upon myself in doing this. it is most irregular;but of course an agreement is an agreement. i must, however, as a matter of duty, sendan inspector with you, since you have so valuable a charge. you will drive, no doubt?" "yes, i shall drive."
"it is a pity there is no key, that we maymake an inventory first. you will have to break it open. where is the key, my man?" "at the bottom of the river," said small,shortly. "hum! there was no use your giving this unnecessarytrouble. we have had work enough already through you. however, doctor, i need not warn youto be careful. bring the box back with you to the baker street rooms. you will find usthere, on our way to the station." they landed me at vauxhall, with my heavyiron box, and with a bluff, genial inspector as my companion. a quarter of an hour's drivebrought us to mrs. cecil forrester's. the servant seemed surprised at so late a visitor.mrs. cecil forrester was out for the evening,
she explained, and likely to be very late.miss morstan, however, was in the drawing-room: so to the drawing-room i went, box in hand,leaving the obliging inspector in the cab. she was seated by the open window, dressedin some sort of white diaphanous material, with a little touch of scarlet at the neckand waist. the soft light of a shaded lamp fell upon her as she leaned back in the basketchair, playing over her sweet, grave face, and tinting with a dull, metallic sparklethe rich coils of her luxuriant hair. one white arm and hand drooped over the side ofthe chair, and her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy. at the sound ofmy foot-fall she sprang to her feet, however, and a bright flush of surprise and of pleasurecolored her pale cheeks.
"i heard a cab drive up," she said. "i thoughtthat mrs. forrester had come back very early, but i never dreamed that it might be you.what news have you brought me?" "i have brought something better than news,"said i, putting down the box upon the table and speaking jovially and boisterously, thoughmy heart was heavy within me. "i have brought you something which is worth all the newsin the world. i have brought you a fortune." she glanced at the iron box. "is that thetreasure, then?" she asked, coolly enough. "yes, this is the great agra treasure. halfof it is yours and half is thaddeus sholto's. you will have a couple of hundred thousandeach. think of that! an annuity of ten thousand pounds. there will be few richer young ladiesin england. is it not glorious?"
i think that i must have been rather overactingmy delight, and that she detected a hollow ring in my congratulations, for i saw hereyebrows rise a little, and she glanced at me curiously. "if i have it," said she, "i owe it to you." "no, no," i answered, "not to me, but to myfriend sherlock holmes. with all the will in the world, i could never have followedup a clue which has taxed even his analytical genius. as it was, we very nearly lost itat the last moment." "pray sit down and tell me all about it, dr.watson," said she. i narrated briefly what had occurred sincei had seen her last,—holmes's new method
of search, the discovery of the aurora, theappearance of athelney jones, our expedition in the evening, and the wild chase down thethames. she listened with parted lips and shining eyes to my recital of our adventures.when i spoke of the dart which had so narrowly missed us, she turned so white that i fearedthat she was about to faint. "it is nothing," she said, as i hastened topour her out some water. "i am all right again. it was a shock to me to hear that i had placedmy friends in such horrible peril." "that is all over," i answered. "it was nothing.i will tell you no more gloomy details. let us turn to something brighter. there is thetreasure. what could be brighter than that? i got leave to bring it with me, thinkingthat it would interest you to be the first
to see it." "it would be of the greatest interest to me,"she said. there was no eagerness in her voice, however. it had struck her, doubtless, thatit might seem ungracious upon her part to be indifferent to a prize which had cost somuch to win. "what a pretty box!" she said, stooping overit. "this is indian work, i suppose?" "yes; it is benares metal-work." "and so heavy!" she exclaimed, trying to raiseit. "the box alone must be of some value. where is the key?" "small threw it into the thames," i answered."i must borrow mrs. forrester's poker." there
was in the front a thick and broad hasp, wroughtin the image of a sitting buddha. under this i thrust the end of the poker and twistedit outward as a lever. the hasp sprang open with a loud snap. with trembling fingers iflung back the lid. we both stood gazing in astonishment. the box was empty! no wonder that it was heavy. the iron-workwas two-thirds of an inch thick all round. it was massive, well made, and solid, likea chest constructed to carry things of great price, but not one shred or crumb of metalor jewelry lay within it. it was absolutely and completely empty. "the treasure is lost," said miss morstan,calmly.
as i listened to the words and realized whatthey meant, a great shadow seemed to pass from my soul. i did not know how this agratreasure had weighed me down, until now that it was finally removed. it was selfish, nodoubt, disloyal, wrong, but i could realize nothing save that the golden barrier was gonefrom between us. "thank god!" i ejaculated from my very heart. she looked at me with a quick, questioningsmile. "why do you say that?" she asked. "because you are within my reach again," isaid, taking her hand. she did not withdraw it. "because i love you, mary, as truly asever a man loved a woman. because this treasure, these riches, sealed my lips. now that theyare gone i can tell you how i love you. that
is why i said, 'thank god.'" "then i say, 'thank god,' too," she whispered,as i drew her to my side. whoever had lost a treasure, i knew that night that i had gainedone. chapter xiithe strange story of jonathan small a very patient man was that inspector in thecab, for it was a weary time before i rejoined him. his face clouded over when i showed himthe empty box. "there goes the reward!" said he, gloomily."where there is no money there is no pay. this night's work would have been worth atenner each to sam brown and me if the treasure had been there."
"mr. thaddeus sholto is a rich man," i said."he will see that you are rewarded, treasure or no." the inspector shook his head despondently,however. "it's a bad job," he repeated; "and so mr. athelney jones will think." his forecast proved to be correct, for thedetective looked blank enough when i got to baker street and showed him the empty box.they had only just arrived, holmes, the prisoner, and he, for they had changed their plans sofar as to report themselves at a station upon the way. my companion lounged in his arm-chairwith his usual listless expression, while small sat stolidly opposite to him with hiswooden leg cocked over his sound one. as i
exhibited the empty box he leaned back inhis chair and laughed aloud. "this is your doing, small," said athelneyjones, angrily. "yes, i have put it away where you shall neverlay hand upon it," he cried, exultantly. "it is my treasure; and if i can't have the looti'll take darned good care that no one else does. i tell you that no living man has anyright to it, unless it is three men who are in the andaman convict-barracks and myself.i know now that i cannot have the use of it, and i know that they cannot. i have actedall through for them as much as for myself. it's been the sign of four with us always.well i know that they would have had me do just what i have done, and throw the treasureinto the thames rather than let it go to kith
or kin of sholto or of morstan. it was notto make them rich that we did for achmet. you'll find the treasure where the key is,and where little tonga is. when i saw that your launch must catch us, i put the lootaway in a safe place. there are no rupees for you this journey." "you are deceiving us, small," said athelneyjones, sternly. "if you had wished to throw the treasure into the thames it would havebeen easier for you to have thrown box and all." "easier for me to throw, and easier for youto recover," he answered, with a shrewd, sidelong look. "the man that was clever enough to huntme down is clever enough to pick an iron box
from the bottom of a river. now that theyare scattered over five miles or so, it may be a harder job. it went to my heart to doit, though. i was half mad when you came up with us. however, there's no good grievingover it. i've had ups in my life, and i've had downs, but i've learned not to cry overspilled milk." "this is a very serious matter, small," saidthe detective. "if you had helped justice, instead of thwarting it in this way, you wouldhave had a better chance at your trial." "justice!" snarled the ex-convict. "a prettyjustice! whose loot is this, if it is not ours? where is the justice that i should giveit up to those who have never earned it? look how i have earned it! twenty long years inthat fever-ridden swamp, all day at work under
the mangrove-tree, all night chained up inthe filthy convict-huts, bitten by mosquitoes, racked with ague, bullied by every cursedblack-faced policeman who loved to take it out of a white man. that was how i earnedthe agra treasure; and you talk to me of justice because i cannot bear to feel that i havepaid this price only that another may enjoy it! i would rather swing a score of times,or have one of tonga's darts in my hide, than live in a convict's cell and feel that anotherman is at his ease in a palace with the money that should be mine." small had dropped hismask of stoicism, and all this came out in a wild whirl of words, while his eyes blazed,and the handcuffs clanked together with the impassioned movement of his hands. i couldunderstand, as i saw the fury and the passion
of the man, that it was no groundless or unnaturalterror which had possessed major sholto when he first learned that the injured convictwas upon his track. "you forget that we know nothing of all this,"said holmes quietly. "we have not heard your story, and we cannot tell how far justicemay originally have been on your side." "well, sir, you have been very fair-spokento me, though i can see that i have you to thank that i have these bracelets upon mywrists. still, i bear no grudge for that. it is all fair and above-board. if you wantto hear my story i have no wish to hold it back. what i say to you is god's truth, everyword of it. thank you; you can put the glass beside me here, and i'll put my lips to itif i am dry.
"i am a worcestershire man myself,—bornnear pershore. i dare say you would find a heap of smalls living there now if you wereto look. i have often thought of taking a look round there, but the truth is that iwas never much of a credit to the family, and i doubt if they would be so very gladto see me. they were all steady, chapel-going folk, small farmers, well known and respectedover the country-side, while i was always a bit of a rover. at last, however, when iwas about eighteen, i gave them no more trouble, for i got into a mess over a girl, and couldonly get out of it again by taking the queen's shilling and joining the 3d buffs, which wasjust starting for india. "i wasn't destined to do much soldiering,however. i had just got past the goose-step,
and learned to handle my musket, when i wasfool enough to go swimming in the ganges. luckily for me, my company sergeant, johnholder, was in the water at the same time, and he was one of the finest swimmers in theservice. a crocodile took me, just as i was half-way across, and nipped off my right legas clean as a surgeon could have done it, just above the knee. what with the shock andthe loss of blood, i fainted, and should have drowned if holder had not caught hold of meand paddled for the bank. i was five months in hospital over it, and when at last i wasable to limp out of it with this timber toe strapped to my stump i found myself invalidedout of the army and unfitted for any active occupation.
"i was, as you can imagine, pretty down onmy luck at this time, for i was a useless cripple though not yet in my twentieth year.however, my misfortune soon proved to be a blessing in disguise. a man named abelwhite,who had come out there as an indigo-planter, wanted an overseer to look after his cooliesand keep them up to their work. he happened to be a friend of our colonel's, who had takenan interest in me since the accident. to make a long story short, the colonel recommendedme strongly for the post and, as the work was mostly to be done on horseback, my legwas no great obstacle, for i had enough knee left to keep good grip on the saddle. whati had to do was to ride over the plantation, to keep an eye on the men as they worked,and to report the idlers. the pay was fair,
i had comfortable quarters, and altogetheri was content to spend the remainder of my life in indigo-planting. mr. abelwhite wasa kind man, and he would often drop into my little shanty and smoke a pipe with me, forwhite folk out there feel their hearts warm to each other as they never do here at home. "well, i was never in luck's way long. suddenly,without a note of warning, the great mutiny broke upon us. one month india lay as stilland peaceful, to all appearance, as surrey or kent; the next there were two hundred thousandblack devils let loose, and the country was a perfect hell. of course you know all aboutit, gentlemen,—a deal more than i do, very like, since reading is not in my line. i onlyknow what i saw with my own eyes. our plantation
was at a place called muttra, near the borderof the northwest provinces. night after night the whole sky was alight with the burningbungalows, and day after day we had small companies of europeans passing through ourestate with their wives and children, on their way to agra, where were the nearest troops.mr. abelwhite was an obstinate man. he had it in his head that the affair had been exaggerated,and that it would blow over as suddenly as it had sprung up. there he sat on his veranda,drinking whiskey-pegs and smoking cheroots, while the country was in a blaze about him.of course we stuck by him, i and dawson, who, with his wife, used to do the book-work andthe managing. well, one fine day the crash came. i had been away on a distant plantation,and was riding slowly home in the evening,
when my eye fell upon something all huddledtogether at the bottom of a steep nullah. i rode down to see what it was, and the coldstruck through my heart when i found it was dawson's wife, all cut into ribbons, and halfeaten by jackals and native dogs. a little further up the road dawson himself was lyingon his face, quite dead, with an empty revolver in his hand and four sepoys lying across eachother in front of him. i reined up my horse, wondering which way i should turn, but atthat moment i saw thick smoke curling up from abelwhite's bungalow and the flames beginningto burst through the roof. i knew then that i could do my employer no good, but wouldonly throw my own life away if i meddled in the matter. from where i stood i could seehundreds of the black fiends, with their red
coats still on their backs, dancing and howlinground the burning house. some of them pointed at me, and a couple of bullets sang past myhead; so i broke away across the paddy-fields, and found myself late at night safe withinthe walls at agra. "as it proved, however, there was no greatsafety there, either. the whole country was up like a swarm of bees. wherever the englishcould collect in little bands they held just the ground that their guns commanded. everywhereelse they were helpless fugitives. it was a fight of the millions against the hundreds;and the cruellest part of it was that these men that we fought against, foot, horse, andgunners, were our own picked troops, whom we had taught and trained, handling our ownweapons, and blowing our own bugle-calls.
at agra there were the 3d bengal fusiliers,some sikhs, two troops of horse, and a battery of artillery. a volunteer corps of clerksand merchants had been formed, and this i joined, wooden leg and all. we went out tomeet the rebels at shahgunge early in july, and we beat them back for a time, but ourpowder gave out, and we had to fall back upon the city. nothing but the worst news cameto us from every side,—which is not to be wondered at, for if you look at the map youwill see that we were right in the heart of it. lucknow is rather better than a hundredmiles to the east, and cawnpore about as far to the south. from every point on the compassthere was nothing but torture and murder and outrage.
"the city of agra is a great place, swarmingwith fanatics and fierce devil-worshippers of all sorts. our handful of men were lostamong the narrow, winding streets. our leader moved across the river, therefore, and tookup his position in the old fort at agra. i don't know if any of you gentlemen have everread or heard anything of that old fort. it is a very queer place,—the queerest thatever i was in, and i have been in some rum corners, too. first of all, it is enormousin size. i should think that the enclosure must be acres and acres. there is a modernpart, which took all our garrison, women, children, stores, and everything else, withplenty of room over. but the modern part is nothing like the size of the old quarter,where nobody goes, and which is given over
to the scorpions and the centipedes. it isall full of great deserted halls, and winding passages, and long corridors twisting in andout, so that it is easy enough for folk to get lost in it. for this reason it was seldomthat any one went into it, though now and again a party with torches might go exploring. "the river washes along the front of the oldfort, and so protects it, but on the sides and behind there are many doors, and thesehad to be guarded, of course, in the old quarter as well as in that which was actually heldby our troops. we were short-handed, with hardly men enough to man the angles of thebuilding and to serve the guns. it was impossible for us, therefore, to station a strong guardat every one of the innumerable gates. what
we did was to organize a central guard-housein the middle of the fort, and to leave each gate under the charge of one white man andtwo or three natives. i was selected to take charge during certain hours of the night ofa small isolated door upon the southwest side of the building. two sikh troopers were placedunder my command, and i was instructed if anything went wrong to fire my musket, wheni might rely upon help coming at once from the central guard. as the guard was a goodtwo hundred paces away, however, and as the space between was cut up into a labyrinthof passages and corridors, i had great doubts as to whether they could arrive in time tobe of any use in case of an actual attack. "well, i was pretty proud at having this smallcommand given me, since i was a raw recruit,
and a game-legged one at that. for two nightsi kept the watch with my punjaubees. they were tall, fierce-looking chaps, mahomet singhand abdullah khan by name, both old fighting-men who had borne arms against us at chilian-wallah.they could talk english pretty well, but i could get little out of them. they preferredto stand together and jabber all night in their queer sikh lingo. for myself, i usedto stand outside the gate-way, looking down on the broad, winding river and on the twinklinglights of the great city. the beating of drums, the rattle of tomtoms, and the yells and howlsof the rebels, drunk with opium and with bang, were enough to remind us all night of ourdangerous neighbors across the stream. every two hours the officer of the night used tocome round to all the posts, to make sure
that all was well. "the third night of my watch was dark anddirty, with a small, driving rain. it was dreary work standing in the gate-way hourafter hour in such weather. i tried again and again to make my sikhs talk, but withoutmuch success. at two in the morning the rounds passed, and broke for a moment the wearinessof the night. finding that my companions would not be led into conversation, i took out mypipe, and laid down my musket to strike the match. in an instant the two sikhs were uponme. one of them snatched my firelock up and levelled it at my head, while the other helda great knife to my throat and swore between his teeth that he would plunge it into meif i moved a step.
"my first thought was that these fellows werein league with the rebels, and that this was the beginning of an assault. if our door werein the hands of the sepoys the place must fall, and the women and children be treatedas they were in cawnpore. maybe you gentlemen think that i am just making out a case formyself, but i give you my word that when i thought of that, though i felt the point ofthe knife at my throat, i opened my mouth with the intention of giving a scream, ifit was my last one, which might alarm the main guard. the man who held me seemed toknow my thoughts; for, even as i braced myself to it, he whispered, 'don't make a noise.the fort is safe enough. there are no rebel dogs on this side of the river.' there wasthe ring of truth in what he said, and i knew
that if i raised my voice i was a dead man.i could read it in the fellow's brown eyes. i waited, therefore, in silence, to see whatit was that they wanted from me. "'listen to me, sahib,' said the taller andfiercer of the pair, the one whom they called abdullah khan. 'you must either be with usnow or you must be silenced forever. the thing is too great a one for us to hesitate. eitheryou are heart and soul with us on your oath on the cross of the christians, or your bodythis night shall be thrown into the ditch and we shall pass over to our brothers inthe rebel army. there is no middle way. which is it to be, death or life? we can only giveyou three minutes to decide, for the time is passing, and all must be done before therounds come again.'
"'how can i decide?' said i. 'you have nottold me what you want of me. but i tell you now that if it is anything against the safetyof the fort i will have no truck with it, so you can drive home your knife and welcome.' "'it is nothing against the fort,' said he.'we only ask you to do that which your countrymen come to this land for. we ask you to be rich.if you will be one of us this night, we will swear to you upon the naked knife, and bythe threefold oath which no sikh was ever known to break, that you shall have your fairshare of the loot. a quarter of the treasure shall be yours. we can say no fairer.' "'but what is the treasure, then?' i asked.'i am as ready to be rich as you can be, if
you will but show me how it can be done.' "'you will swear, then,' said he, 'by thebones of your father, by the honor of your mother, by the cross of your faith, to raiseno hand and speak no word against us, either now or afterwards?' "'i will swear it,' i answered, 'providedthat the fort is not endangered.' "'then my comrade and i will swear that youshall have a quarter of the treasure which shall be equally divided among the four ofus.' "'there are but three,' said i. "'no; dost akbar must have his share. we cantell the tale to you while we await them.
do you stand at the gate, mahomet singh, andgive notice of their coming. the thing stands thus, sahib, and i tell it to you becausei know that an oath is binding upon a feringhee, and that we may trust you. had you been alying hindoo, though you had sworn by all the gods in their false temples, your bloodwould have been upon the knife, and your body in the water. but the sikh knows the englishman,and the englishman knows the sikh. hearken, then, to what i have to say. "'there is a rajah in the northern provinceswho has much wealth, though his lands are small. much has come to him from his father,and more still he has set by himself, for he is of a low nature and hoards his goldrather than spend it. when the troubles broke
out he would be friends both with the lionand the tiger,—with the sepoy and with the company's raj. soon, however, it seemed tohim that the white men's day was come, for through all the land he could hear of nothingbut of their death and their overthrow. yet, being a careful man, he made such plans that,come what might, half at least of his treasure should be left to him. that which was in goldand silver he kept by him in the vaults of his palace, but the most precious stones andthe choicest pearls that he had he put in an iron box, and sent it by a trusty servantwho, under the guise of a merchant, should take it to the fort at agra, there to lieuntil the land is at peace. thus, if the rebels won he would have his money, but if the companyconquered his jewels would be saved to him.
having thus divided his hoard, he threw himselfinto the cause of the sepoys, since they were strong upon his borders. by doing this, markyou, sahib, his property becomes the due of those who have been true to their salt. "'this pretended merchant, who travels underthe name of achmet, is now in the city of agra, and desires to gain his way into thefort. he has with him as travelling-companion my foster-brother dost akbar, who knows hissecret. dost akbar has promised this night to lead him to a side-postern of the fort,and has chosen this one for his purpose. here he will come presently, and here he will findmahomet singh and myself awaiting him. the place is lonely, and none shall know of hiscoming. the world shall know of the merchant
achmet no more, but the great treasure ofthe rajah shall be divided among us. what say you to it, sahib?' "in worcestershire the life of a man seemsa great and a sacred thing; but it is very different when there is fire and blood allround you and you have been used to meeting death at every turn. whether achmet the merchantlived or died was a thing as light as air to me, but at the talk about the treasuremy heart turned to it, and i thought of what i might do in the old country with it, andhow my folk would stare when they saw their ne'er-do-well coming back with his pocketsfull of gold moidores. i had, therefore, already made up my mind. abdullah khan, however, thinkingthat i hesitated, pressed the matter more
closely. "'consider, sahib,' said he, 'that if thisman is taken by the commandant he will be hung or shot, and his jewels taken by thegovernment, so that no man will be a rupee the better for them. now, since we do thetaking of him, why should we not do the rest as well? the jewels will be as well with usas in the company's coffers. there will be enough to make every one of us rich men andgreat chiefs. no one can know about the matter, for here we are cut off from all men. whatcould be better for the purpose? say again, then, sahib, whether you are with us, or ifwe must look upon you as an enemy.' "'i am with you heart and soul,' said i.
"'it is well,' he answered, handing me backmy firelock. 'you see that we trust you, for your word, like ours, is not to be broken.we have now only to wait for my brother and the merchant.' "'does your brother know, then, of what youwill do?' i asked. "'the plan is his. he has devised it. we willgo to the gate and share the watch with mahomet singh.' "the rain was still falling steadily, forit was just the beginning of the wet season. brown, heavy clouds were drifting across thesky, and it was hard to see more than a stone-cast. a deep moat lay in front of our door, butthe water was in places nearly dried up, and
it could easily be crossed. it was strangeto me to be standing there with those two wild punjaubees waiting for the man who wascoming to his death. "suddenly my eye caught the glint of a shadedlantern at the other side of the moat. it vanished among the mound-heaps, and then appearedagain coming slowly in our direction. "'here they are!' i exclaimed. "'you will challenge him, sahib, as usual,'whispered abdullah. 'give him no cause for fear. send us in with him, and we shall dothe rest while you stay here on guard. have the lantern ready to uncover, that we maybe sure that it is indeed the man.' "the light had flickered onwards, now stoppingand now advancing, until i could see two dark
figures upon the other side of the moat. ilet them scramble down the sloping bank, splash through the mire, and climb half-way up tothe gate, before i challenged them. "'who goes there?' said i, in a subdued voice. "'friends,' came the answer. i uncovered mylantern and threw a flood of light upon them. the first was an enormous sikh, with a blackbeard which swept nearly down to his cummerbund. outside of a show i have never seen so talla man. the other was a little, fat, round fellow, with a great yellow turban, and abundle in his hand, done up in a shawl. he seemed to be all in a quiver with fear, forhis hands twitched as if he had the ague, and his head kept turning to left and rightwith two bright little twinkling eyes, like
a mouse when he ventures out from his hole.it gave me the chills to think of killing him, but i thought of the treasure, and myheart set as hard as a flint within me. when he saw my white face he gave a little chirrupof joy and came running up towards me. "'your protection, sahib,' he panted,—'yourprotection for the unhappy merchant achmet. i have travelled across rajpootana that imight seek the shelter of the fort at agra. i have been robbed and beaten and abused becausei have been the friend of the company. it is a blessed night this when i am once morein safety,—i and my poor possessions.' "'what have you in the bundle?' i asked. "'an iron box,' he answered, 'which containsone or two little family matters which are
of no value to others, but which i shouldbe sorry to lose. yet i am not a beggar; and i shall reward you, young sahib, and yourgovernor also, if he will give me the shelter i ask.' "i could not trust myself to speak longerwith the man. the more i looked at his fat, frightened face, the harder did it seem thatwe should slay him in cold blood. it was best to get it over. "'take him to the main guard,' said i. thetwo sikhs closed in upon him on each side, and the giant walked behind, while they marchedin through the dark gate-way. never was a man so compassed round with death. i remainedat the gate-way with the lantern.
"i could hear the measured tramp of theirfootsteps sounding through the lonely corridors. suddenly it ceased, and i heard voices, anda scuffle, with the sound of blows. a moment later there came, to my horror, a rush offootsteps coming in my direction, with the loud breathing of a running man. i turnedmy lantern down the long, straight passage, and there was the fat man, running like thewind, with a smear of blood across his face, and close at his heels, bounding like a tiger,the great black-bearded sikh, with a knife flashing in his hand. i have never seen aman run so fast as that little merchant. he was gaining on the sikh, and i could see thatif he once passed me and got to the open air he would save himself yet. my heart softenedto him, but again the thought of his treasure
turned me hard and bitter. i cast my firelockbetween his legs as he raced past, and he rolled twice over like a shot rabbit. erehe could stagger to his feet the sikh was upon him, and buried his knife twice in hisside. the man never uttered moan nor moved muscle, but lay were he had fallen. i thinkmyself that he may have broken his neck with the fall. you see, gentlemen, that i am keepingmy promise. i am telling you every work of the business just exactly as it happened,whether it is in my favor or not." he stopped, and held out his manacled handsfor the whiskey-and-water which holmes had brewed for him. for myself, i confess thati had now conceived the utmost horror of the man, not only for this cold-blooded businessin which he had been concerned, but even more
for the somewhat flippant and careless wayin which he narrated it. whatever punishment was in store for him, i felt that he mightexpect no sympathy from me. sherlock holmes and jones sat with their hands upon theirknees, deeply interested in the story, but with the same disgust written upon their faces.he may have observed it, for there was a touch of defiance in his voice and manner as heproceeded. "it was all very bad, no doubt," said he."i should like to know how many fellows in my shoes would have refused a share of thisloot when they knew that they would have their throats cut for their pains. besides, it wasmy life or his when once he was in the fort. if he had got out, the whole business wouldcome to light, and i should have been court-martialled
and shot as likely as not; for people werenot very lenient at a time like that." "go on with your story," said holmes, shortly. "well, we carried him in, abdullah, akbar,and i. a fine weight he was, too, for all that he was so short. mahomet singh was leftto guard the door. we took him to a place which the sikhs had already prepared. it wassome distance off, where a winding passage leads to a great empty hall, the brick wallsof which were all crumbling to pieces. the earth floor had sunk in at one place, makinga natural grave, so we left achmet the merchant there, having first covered him over withloose bricks. this done, we all went back to the treasure.
"it lay where he had dropped it when he wasfirst attacked. the box was the same which now lies open upon your table. a key was hungby a silken cord to that carved handle upon the top. we opened it, and the light of thelantern gleamed upon a collection of gems such as i have read of and thought about wheni was a little lad at pershore. it was blinding to look upon them. when we had feasted oureyes we took them all out and made a list of them. there were one hundred and forty-threediamonds of the first water, including one which has been called, i believe, 'the greatmogul' and is said to be the second largest stone in existence. then there were ninety-sevenvery fine emeralds, and one hundred and seventy rubies, some of which, however, were small.there were forty carbuncles, two hundred and
ten sapphires, sixty-one agates, and a greatquantity of beryls, onyxes, cats'-eyes, turquoises, and other stones, the very names of whichi did not know at the time, though i have become more familiar with them since. besidesthis, there were nearly three hundred very fine pearls, twelve of which were set in agold coronet. by the way, these last had been taken out of the chest and were not therewhen i recovered it. "after we had counted our treasures we putthem back into the chest and carried them to the gate-way to show them to mahomet singh.then we solemnly renewed our oath to stand by each other and be true to our secret. weagreed to conceal our loot in a safe place until the country should be at peace again,and then to divide it equally among ourselves.
there was no use dividing it at present, forif gems of such value were found upon us it would cause suspicion, and there was no privacyin the fort nor any place where we could keep them. we carried the box, therefore, intothe same hall where we had buried the body, and there, under certain bricks in the best-preservedwall, we made a hollow and put our treasure. we made careful note of the place, and nextday i drew four plans, one for each of us, and put the sign of the four of us at thebottom, for we had sworn that we should each always act for all, so that none might takeadvantage. that is an oath that i can put my hand to my heart and swear that i havenever broken. "well, there's no use my telling you gentlemenwhat came of the indian mutiny. after wilson
took delhi and sir colin relieved lucknowthe back of the business was broken. fresh troops came pouring in, and nana sahib madehimself scarce over the frontier. a flying column under colonel greathed came round toagra and cleared the pandies away from it. peace seemed to be settling upon the country,and we four were beginning to hope that the time was at hand when we might safely go offwith our shares of the plunder. in a moment, however, our hopes were shattered by our beingarrested as the murderers of achmet. "it came about in this way. when the rajahput his jewels into the hands of achmet he did it because he knew that he was a trustyman. they are suspicious folk in the east, however: so what does this rajah do but takea second even more trusty servant and set
him to play the spy upon the first? this secondman was ordered never to let achmet out of his sight, and he followed him like his shadow.he went after him that night and saw him pass through the doorway. of course he thoughthe had taken refuge in the fort, and applied for admission there himself next day, butcould find no trace of achmet. this seemed to him so strange that he spoke about it toa sergeant of guides, who brought it to the ears of the commandant. a thorough searchwas quickly made, and the body was discovered. thus at the very moment that we thought thatall was safe we were all four seized and brought to trial on a charge of murder,—three ofus because we had held the gate that night, and the fourth because he was known to havebeen in the company of the murdered man. not
a word about the jewels came out at the trial,for the rajah had been deposed and driven out of india: so no one had any particularinterest in them. the murder, however, was clearly made out, and it was certain thatwe must all have been concerned in it. the three sikhs got penal servitude for life,and i was condemned to death, though my sentence was afterwards commuted into the same as theothers. "it was rather a queer position that we foundourselves in then. there we were all four tied by the leg and with precious little chanceof ever getting out again, while we each held a secret which might have put each of us ina palace if we could only have made use of it. it was enough to make a man eat his heartout to have to stand the kick and the cuff
of every petty jack-in-office, to have riceto eat and water to drink, when that gorgeous fortune was ready for him outside, just waitingto be picked up. it might have driven me mad; but i was always a pretty stubborn one, soi just held on and bided my time. "at last it seemed to me to have come. i waschanged from agra to madras, and from there to blair island in the andamans. there arevery few white convicts at this settlement, and, as i had behaved well from the first,i soon found myself a sort of privileged person. i was given a hut in hope town, which is asmall place on the slopes of mount harriet, and i was left pretty much to myself. it isa dreary, fever-stricken place, and all beyond our little clearings was infested with wildcannibal natives, who were ready enough to
blow a poisoned dart at us if they saw a chance.there was digging, and ditching, and yam-planting, and a dozen other things to be done, so wewere busy enough all day; though in the evening we had a little time to ourselves. among otherthings, i learned to dispense drugs for the surgeon, and picked up a smattering of hisknowledge. all the time i was on the lookout for a chance of escape; but it is hundredsof miles from any other land, and there is little or no wind in those seas: so it wasa terribly difficult job to get away. "the surgeon, dr. somerton, was a fast, sportingyoung chap, and the other young officers would meet in his rooms of an evening and play cards.the surgery, where i used to make up my drugs, was next to his sitting-room, with a smallwindow between us. often, if i felt lonesome,
i used to turn out the lamp in the surgery,and then, standing there, i could hear their talk and watch their play. i am fond of ahand at cards myself, and it was almost as good as having one to watch the others. therewas major sholto, captain morstan, and lieutenant bromley brown, who were in command of thenative troops, and there was the surgeon himself, and two or three prison-officials, craftyold hands who played a nice sly safe game. a very snug little party they used to make. "well, there was one thing which very soonstruck me, and that was that the soldiers used always to lose and the civilians to win.mind, i don't say that there was anything unfair, but so it was. these prison-chapshad done little else than play cards ever
since they had been at the andamans, and theyknew each other's game to a point, while the others just played to pass the time and threwtheir cards down anyhow. night after night the soldiers got up poorer men, and the poorerthey got the more keen they were to play. major sholto was the hardest hit. he usedto pay in notes and gold at first, but soon it came to notes of hand and for big sums.he sometimes would win for a few deals, just to give him heart, and then the luck wouldset in against him worse than ever. all day he would wander about as black as thunder,and he took to drinking a deal more than was good for him. "one night he lost even more heavily thanusual. i was sitting in my hut when he and
captain morstan came stumbling along on theway to their quarters. they were bosom friends, those two, and never far apart. the majorwas raving about his losses. "'it's all up, morstan,' he was saying, asthey passed my hut. 'i shall have to send in my papers. i am a ruined man.' "'nonsense, old chap!' said the other, slappinghim upon the shoulder. 'i've had a nasty facer myself, but—' that was all i could hear,but it was enough to set me thinking. "a couple of days later major sholto was strollingon the beach: so i took the chance of speaking to him. "'i wish to have your advice, major,' saidi.
"'well, small, what is it?' he asked, takinghis cheroot from his lips. "'i wanted to ask you, sir,' said i, 'whois the proper person to whom hidden treasure should be handed over. i know where half amillion worth lies, and, as i cannot use it myself, i thought perhaps the best thing thati could do would be to hand it over to the proper authorities, and then perhaps theywould get my sentence shortened for me.' "'half a million, small?' he gasped, lookinghard at me to see if i was in earnest. "'quite that, sir,—in jewels and pearls.it lies there ready for any one. and the queer thing about it is that the real owner is outlawedand cannot hold property, so that it belongs to the first comer.'
"'to government, small,' he stammered,—'togovernment.' but he said it in a halting fashion, and i knew in my heart that i had got him. "'you think, then, sir, that i should givethe information to the governor-general?' said i, quietly. "'well, well, you must not do anything rash,or that you might repent. let me hear all about it, small. give me the facts.' "i told him the whole story, with small changesso that he could not identify the places. when i had finished he stood stock still andfull of thought. i could see by the twitch of his lip that there was a struggle goingon within him.
"'this is a very important matter, small,'he said, at last. 'you must not say a word to any one about it, and i shall see you againsoon.' "two nights later he and his friend captainmorstan came to my hut in the dead of the night with a lantern. "'i want you just to let captain morstan hearthat story from your own lips, small,' said he. "i repeated it as i had told it before. "'it rings true, eh?' said he. 'it's goodenough to act upon?' "captain morstan nodded.
"'look here, small,' said the major. 'we havebeen talking it over, my friend here and i, and we have come to the conclusion that thissecret of yours is hardly a government matter, after all, but is a private concern of yourown, which of course you have the power of disposing of as you think best. now, the questionis, what price would you ask for it? we might be inclined to take it up, and at least lookinto it, if we could agree as to terms.' he tried to speak in a cool, careless way, buthis eyes were shining with excitement and greed. "'why, as to that, gentlemen,' i answered,trying also to be cool, but feeling as excited as he did, 'there is only one bargain whicha man in my position can make. i shall want
you to help me to my freedom, and to helpmy three companions to theirs. we shall then take you into partnership, and give you afifth share to divide between you.' "'hum!' said he. 'a fifth share! that is notvery tempting.' "'it would come to fifty thousand apiece,'said i. "'but how can we gain your freedom? you knowvery well that you ask an impossibility.' "'nothing of the sort,' i answered. 'i havethought it all out to the last detail. the only bar to our escape is that we can getno boat fit for the voyage, and no provisions to last us for so long a time. there are plentyof little yachts and yawls at calcutta or madras which would serve our turn well. doyou bring one over. we shall engage to get
aboard her by night, and if you will dropus on any part of the indian coast you will have done your part of the bargain.' "'if there were only one,' he said. "'none or all,' i answered. 'we have swornit. the four of us must always act together.' "'you see, morstan,' said he, 'small is aman of his word. he does not flinch from his friend. i think we may very well trust him.' "'it's a dirty business,' the other answered.'yet, as you say, the money would save our commissions handsomely.' "'well, small,' said the major, 'we must,i suppose, try and meet you. we must first,
of course, test the truth of your story. tellme where the box is hid, and i shall get leave of absence and go back to india in the monthlyrelief-boat to inquire into the affair.' "'not so fast,' said i, growing colder ashe got hot. 'i must have the consent of my three comrades. i tell you that it is fouror none with us.' "'nonsense!' he broke in. 'what have threeblack fellows to do with our agreement?' "'black or blue,' said i, 'they are in withme, and we all go together.' "well, the matter ended by a second meeting,at which mahomet singh, abdullah khan, and dost akbar were all present. we talked thematter over again, and at last we came to an arrangement. we were to provide both theofficers with charts of the part of the agra
fort and mark the place in the wall wherethe treasure was hid. major sholto was to go to india to test our story. if he foundthe box he was to leave it there, to send out a small yacht provisioned for a voyage,which was to lie off rutland island, and to which we were to make our way, and finallyto return to his duties. captain morstan was then to apply for leave of absence, to meetus at agra, and there we were to have a final division of the treasure, he taking the major'sshare as well as his own. all this we sealed by the most solemn oaths that the mind couldthink or the lips utter. i sat up all night with paper and ink, and by the morning i hadthe two charts all ready, signed with the sign of four,—that is, of abdullah, akbar,mahomet, and myself.
"well, gentlemen, i weary you with my longstory, and i know that my friend mr. jones is impatient to get me safely stowed in chokey.i'll make it as short as i can. the villain sholto went off to india, but he never cameback again. captain morstan showed me his name among a list of passengers in one ofthe mail-boats very shortly afterwards. his uncle had died, leaving him a fortune, andhe had left the army, yet he could stoop to treat five men as he had treated us. morstanwent over to agra shortly afterwards, and found, as we expected, that the treasure wasindeed gone. the scoundrel had stolen it all, without carrying out one of the conditionson which we had sold him the secret. from that day i lived only for vengeance. i thoughtof it by day and i nursed it by night. it
became an overpowering, absorbing passionwith me. i cared nothing for the law,—nothing for the gallows. to escape, to track downsholto, to have my hand upon his throat,—that was my one thought. even the agra treasurehad come to be a smaller thing in my mind than the slaying of sholto. "well, i have set my mind on many things inthis life, and never one which i did not carry out. but it was weary years before my timecame. i have told you that i had picked up something of medicine. one day when dr. somertonwas down with a fever a little andaman islander was picked up by a convict-gang in the woods.he was sick to death, and had gone to a lonely place to die. i took him in hand, though hewas as venomous as a young snake, and after
a couple of months i got him all right andable to walk. he took a kind of fancy to me then, and would hardly go back to his woods,but was always hanging about my hut. i learned a little of his lingo from him, and this madehim all the fonder of me. "tonga—for that was his name—was a fineboatman, and owned a big, roomy canoe of his own. when i found that he was devoted to meand would do anything to serve me, i saw my chance of escape. i talked it over with him.he was to bring his boat round on a certain night to an old wharf which was never guarded,and there he was to pick me up. i gave him directions to have several gourds of waterand a lot of yams, cocoa-nuts, and sweet potatoes. "he was stanch and true, was little tonga.no man ever had a more faithful mate. at the
night named he had his boat at the wharf.as it chanced, however, there was one of the convict-guard down there,—a vile pathanwho had never missed a chance of insulting and injuring me. i had always vowed vengeance,and now i had my chance. it was as if fate had placed him in my way that i might paymy debt before i left the island. he stood on the bank with his back to me, and his carbineon his shoulder. i looked about for a stone to beat out his brains with, but none couldi see. then a queer thought came into my head and showed me where i could lay my hand ona weapon. i sat down in the darkness and unstrapped my wooden leg. with three long hops i wason him. he put his carbine to his shoulder, but i struck him full, and knocked the wholefront of his skull in. you can see the split
in the wood now where i hit him. we both wentdown together, for i could not keep my balance, but when i got up i found him still lyingquiet enough. i made for the boat, and in an hour we were well out at sea. tonga hadbrought all his earthly possessions with him, his arms and his gods. among other things,he had a long bamboo spear, and some andaman cocoa-nut matting, with which i made a sortof sail. for ten days we were beating about, trusting to luck, and on the eleventh we werepicked up by a trader which was going from singapore to jiddah with a cargo of malaypilgrims. they were a rum crowd, and tonga and i soon managed to settle down among them.they had one very good quality: they let you alone and asked no questions.
"well, if i were to tell you all the adventuresthat my little chum and i went through, you would not thank me, for i would have you hereuntil the sun was shining. here and there we drifted about the world, something alwaysturning up to keep us from london. all the time, however, i never lost sight of my purpose.i would dream of sholto at night. a hundred times i have killed him in my sleep. at last,however, some three or four years ago, we found ourselves in england. i had no greatdifficulty in finding where sholto lived, and i set to work to discover whether he hadrealized the treasure, or if he still had it. i made friends with someone who couldhelp me,—i name no names, for i don't want to get any one else in a hole,—and i soonfound that he still had the jewels. then i
tried to get at him in many ways; but he waspretty sly, and had always two prize-fighters, besides his sons and his khitmutgar, on guardover him. "one day, however, i got word that he wasdying. i hurried at once to the garden, mad that he should slip out of my clutches likethat, and, looking through the window, i saw him lying in his bed, with his sons on eachside of him. i'd have come through and taken my chance with the three of them, only evenas i looked at him his jaw dropped, and i knew that he was gone. i got into his roomthat same night, though, and i searched his papers to see if there was any record of wherehe had hidden our jewels. there was not a line, however: so i came away, bitter andsavage as a man could be. before i left i
bethought me that if i ever met my sikh friendsagain it would be a satisfaction to know that i had left some mark of our hatred: so i scrawleddown the sign of the four of us, as it had been on the chart, and i pinned it on hisbosom. it was too much that he should be taken to the grave without some token from the menwhom he had robbed and befooled. "we earned a living at this time by my exhibitingpoor tonga at fairs and other such places as the black cannibal. he would eat raw meatand dance his war-dance: so we always had a hatful of pennies after a day's work. istill heard all the news from pondicherry lodge, and for some years there was no newsto hear, except that they were hunting for the treasure. at last, however, came whatwe had waited for so long. the treasure had
been found. it was up at the top of the house,in mr. bartholomew sholto's chemical laboratory. i came at once and had a look at the place,but i could not see how with my wooden leg i was to make my way up to it. i learned,however, about a trap-door in the roof, and also about mr. sholto's supper-hour. it seemedto me that i could manage the thing easily through tonga. i brought him out with me witha long rope wound round his waist. he could climb like a cat, and he soon made his waythrough the roof, but, as ill luck would have it, bartholomew sholto was still in the room,to his cost. tonga thought he had done something very clever in killing him, for when i cameup by the rope i found him strutting about as proud as a peacock. very much surprisedwas he when i made at him with the rope's
end and cursed him for a little blood-thirstyimp. i took the treasure-box and let it down, and then slid down myself, having first leftthe sign of the four upon the table, to show that the jewels had come back at last to thosewho had most right to them. tonga then pulled up the rope, closed the window, and made offthe way that he had come. "i don't know that i have anything else totell you. i had heard a waterman speak of the speed of smith's launch the aurora, soi thought she would be a handy craft for our escape. i engaged with old smith, and wasto give him a big sum if he got us safe to our ship. he knew, no doubt, that there wassome screw loose, but he was not in our secrets. all this is the truth, and if i tell it toyou, gentlemen, it is not to amuse you,—for
you have not done me a very good turn,—butit is because i believe the best defence i can make is just to hold back nothing, butlet all the world know how badly i have myself been served by major sholto, and how innocenti am of the death of his son." "a very remarkable account," said sherlockholmes. "a fitting wind-up to an extremely interesting case. there is nothing at allnew to me in the latter part of your narrative, except that you brought your own rope. thati did not know. by the way, i had hoped that tonga had lost all his darts; yet he managedto shoot one at us in the boat." "he had lost them all, sir, except the onewhich was in his blow-pipe at the time." "ah, of course," said holmes. "i had not thoughtof that."
"is there any other point which you wouldlike to ask about?" asked the convict, affably. "i think not, thank you," my companion answered. "well, holmes," said athelney jones, "youare a man to be humored, and we all know that you are a connoisseur of crime, but duty isduty, and i have gone rather far in doing what you and your friend asked me. i shallfeel more at ease when we have our story-teller here safe under lock and key. the cab stillwaits, and there are two inspectors down-stairs. i am much obliged to you both for your assistance.of course you will be wanted at the trial. good-night to you." "good-night, gentlemen both," said jonathansmall.
"you first, small," remarked the wary jonesas they left the room. "i'll take particular care that you don't club me with your woodenleg, whatever you may have done to the gentleman at the andaman isles." "well, and there is the end of our littledrama," i remarked, after we had set some time smoking in silence. "i fear that it maybe the last investigation in which i shall have the chance of studying your methods.miss morstan has done me the honor to accept me as a husband in prospective." he gave a most dismal groan. "i feared asmuch," said he. "i really cannot congratulate you."
i was a little hurt. "have you any reasonto be dissatisfied with my choice?" i asked. "not at all. i think she is one of the mostcharming young ladies i ever met, and might have been most useful in such work as we havebeen doing. she had a decided genius that way: witness the way in which she preservedthat agra plan from all the other papers of her father. but love is an emotional thing,and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which i place above all things.i should never marry myself, lest i bias my judgment." "i trust," said i, laughing, "that my judgmentmay survive the ordeal. but you look weary." "yes, the reaction is already upon me. i shallbe as limp as a rag for a week."
"strange," said i, "how terms of what in anotherman i should call laziness alternate with your fits of splendid energy and vigor." "yes," he answered, "there are in me the makingsof a very fine loafer and also of a pretty spry sort of fellow. i often think of thoselines of old goethe,— schade dass die natur nur einen mensch ausdir schuf, denn zum wuerdigen mann war und zum schelmender stoff. "by the way, a propos of this norwood business,you see that they had, as i surmised, a confederate in the house, who could be none other thanlal rao, the butler: so jones actually has the undivided honor of having caught one fishin his great haul."
"the division seems rather unfair," i remarked."you have done all the work in this business. i get a wife out of it, jones gets the credit,pray what remains for you?" "for me," said sherlock holmes, "there stillremains the cocaine-bottle." and he stretched his long white hand up for it.
Tidak ada komentar
Posting Komentar