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Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, for
solution during the years of our intimacy, there were only two which I was the means of
introducing to his notice -- that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel
Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a finer field for an acute and
original observer, but the other was so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its
details that it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it gave my
friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of reasoning by which he achieved such
remarkable results. The story has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers,
but, like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when set forth en bloc in
a single half-column of print than when the facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and
the mystery clears gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads on to
the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a deep impression upon me, and the
lapse of two years has hardly served to weaken the effect.
It was in
the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the events occurred
which I am now about to summarize. I had returned to civil practice
and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker Street rooms, although
I continually visited him and occasionally even persuaded him to forgo
his Bohemian habits so far as to come and visit us. My practice had
steadily increased, and as I happened to live at no very great distance
from Paddington Station, I got a few patients from among the officials.
One of these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was
never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send me
on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence.
One morning,
at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by the maid tapping
at the door to announce that two men had come from Paddington and were
waiting in the consulting-room. I dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience
that railway cases were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As
I descended, my old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed
the door tightly behind him.
"I've
got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his shoulder;
"he's all right."
"What
is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was some
strange creature which he had caged up in my room.
"It's
a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him round
myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe and sound.
I must go now, Doctor; I have my duties, just the same as you."
And off he went, this trusty tout, without even giving me time to thank
him.
I entered
my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the table. He was
quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a soft cloth cap which
he had laid down upon my books. Round one of his hands he had a handkerchief
wrapped, which was mottled all over with bloodstains. He was young,
not more than five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine
face; but he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man
who was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his
strength of mind to control.
"I
am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but
I have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by train
this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I might find
a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me here. I gave the maid
a card, but I see that she has left it upon the side-table." I
took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydrauiic
engineer, 1 6A. Victoria Street (3d floor)." That was the name,
style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have kept
you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You
are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself a monotonous
occupation."
"Oh,
my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and laughed.
He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, leaning back in
his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical instincts rose up against
that laugh.
"Stop
it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured
out some water from a carafe.
It was useless,
however. He was off in one of those hysterical outbursts which come
upon a strong nature when some great crisis is over and gone. Presently
he came to himself once more, very weary and pale-looking.
"I
have been making a fool of myself," he gasped.
"Not
at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, and the
colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks.
"That's
better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would kindly
attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb used to be."
He unwound
the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even my hardened nerves
a shudder to look at it. There were four protruding fingers and a horrid
red, spongy surface where the thumb should have been. It had been hacked
or torn right out from the roots.
"Good
heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have
bled considerably."
"Yes,
it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must have been
senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that it was still
bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very tightly round the
wrist and braced it up with a twig."
"Excellent!
You should have been a surgeon."
"It
is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own province."
"This
has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very heavy
and sharp instrument."
"A
thing like a cleaver," said he.
"An
accident, I presume?"
"By
no means."
"What!
a murderous attack?''
"Very
murderous indeed."
"You
horrify me."
I sponged
the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered it over with
cotton wadding and carbolized bandages. He lay back without wincing,
though he bit his lip from time to time.
"How
is that?" I asked when I had finished.
"Capital!
Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. I was very weak,
but I have had a good deal to go through."
"Perhaps
you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently trying to your
nerves."
"Oh,
no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; but, between
ourselves, if it were not for the convincing evidence of this wound
of mine, I should be surprised if they believed my statement, for it
is a very extraordinary one, and I have not much in the way of proof
with which to back it up; and, even if they believe me, the clues which
I can give them are so vague that it is a question whether justice will
be done."
"Ha!"
cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem which you
desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you to come to my
friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the official police."
"Oh,
I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I
should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of course
I must use the official police as well. Would you give me an introduction
to him?"
"I'll
do better. I'll take you round to him myself."
"I
should be immensely obliged to you."
"We'll
call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to have a little
breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?"
"Yes;
I shall not feel easy until I have told my story."
"Then
my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an instant."
I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my wife, and in five
minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my new acquaintance to Baker
Street.
Sherlock
Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his sittingroom in his dressing-gown,
reading the agony column of The Times and smoking his before-breakfast
pipe, which was composed of all the plugs and dottles left from his
smokes of the day before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner
of the mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, ordered
fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. When it was
concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the sofa, placed a pillow
beneath his head, and laid a glass of brandy and water within his reach.
"It
is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, Mr. Hatherley,"
said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself absolutely at
home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are tired and keep up
your strength with a little stimulant."
"Thank
you," said my patient. "but I have felt another man since
the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has completed
the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable time as possible,
so l shall start at once upon my peculiar experiences."
Holmes sat
in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded expression which veiled
his keen and eager nature, while I sat opposite to him, and we listened
in silence to the strange story which our visitor detailed to us.
"You
must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor,
residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a hydraulic
engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my work during the
seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & Matheson, the well-known
firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, having served my time, and having
also come into a fair sum of money through my poor father's death, I
determined to start in business for myself and took professional chambers
in Victoria Street.
"I
suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in business
a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. During two
years I have had three consultations and one small job, and that is
absolutely all that my profession has brought me. My gross takings amount
to 27 pounds lOs. Every day, from nine in the morning until four in
the afternoon, I waited in my little den, until at last my heart began
to sink, and I came to believe that I should never have any practice
at all.
"Yesterday,
however, just as I was thinking of leaving the office, my clerk entered
to say there was a gentleman waiting who wished to see me upon business.
He brought up a card, too, with the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark'
engraved upon it. Close at his heels came the colonel himself, a man
rather over the middle size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not
think that I have ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened
away into nose and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite
tense over his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his
natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his step
brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly dressed, and
his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than thirty.
" 'Mr.
Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. 'You have been
recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man who is not only proficient
in his profession but is also discreet and capable of preserving a secret.'
"I
bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an address.
'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?'
" 'Well,
perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just at this moment.
I have it from the same source that you are both an orphan and a bachelor
and are residing alone in London.'
" 'That
is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if I say that
I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional qualifications.
I understand that it was on a professional matter that you wished to
speak to me?'
" 'Undoubtedly
so. But you will find that all I say is really to the point. I have
a professional commission for you, but absolute secrecy is quite essential
-- absolute secrecy, you understand, and of course we may expect that
more from a man who is alone than from one who lives in the bosom of
his family.'
" 'If
I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely depend upon
my doing so.'
"He
looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I had never
seen so suspicious and questioning an eye.
" 'Do
you promise, then?' said he at last.
" 'Yes,
I promise.'
" 'Absolute
and complete silence before, during, and after? No reference to the
matter at all, either in word or writing?'
" 'I
have already given you my word.'
" 'Very
good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning across the
room he flung open the door. The passage outside was empty.
" 'That's
all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know the clerks are sometimes curious
as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk in safety.' He drew up
his chair very close to mine and began to stare at me again with the
same questioning and thoughtful look.
"A
feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun to rise
within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. Even my dread
of losing a client could not restrain me from showing my impatience.
" 'I
beg that you will state your business, sir,' said l; 'my time is of
value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the words came
to my lips.
" 'How
would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked.
" 'Most
admirably.'
" 'I
say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I simply
want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which has got out
of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon set it right ourselves.
What do you think of such a commission as that?'
" 'The
work appears to be light and the pay munificent.'
" 'Precisely
so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last train.'
" 'Where
to?'
" 'To
Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders of Oxfordshire,
and within seven miles of Reading. There is a train from Paddington
which would bring you there at about 11:15.'
" 'Very
good.'
" 'I
shall come down in a carriage to meet you.'
" 'There
is a drive, then?'
" 'Yes,
our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good seven miles
from Eyford Station.'
" 'Then
we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there would be no
chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop the night.'
" 'Yes,
we could easily give you a shake-down.'
" 'That
is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient hour?'
" 'We
have judged it best that you should come late. It is to recompense you
for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a young and unknown
man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the very heads of your profession.
Still, of course, if you would like to draw out of the business, there
is plenty of time to do so.'
"I
thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they would be to
me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to accommodate myself
to your wishes. I should like, however, to understand a little more
clearly what it is that you wish me to do.'
" 'Quite
so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which we have exacted
from you should have aroused your curiosity. I have no wish to commit
you to anything without your having it all laid before you. I suppose
that we are absolutely safe from eavesdroppers?'
" 'Entirely.'
" 'Then
the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that fuller's-earth is
a valuable product, and that it is only found in one or two places in
England?'
" 'I
have heard so.'
" 'Some
little time ago I bought a small place -- a very small place -- within
ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to discover that there
was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my fields. On examining it,
however, I found that this deposit was a comparatively small one, and
that it formed a link between two very much larger ones upon the right
and left -- both of them, however, in the grounds of my neighbours.
These good people were absolutely ignorant that their land contained
that which was quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to
my interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value,
but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I took
a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they suggested that
we should quietly and secretly work our own little deposit and that
in this way we should earn the money which would enable us to buy the
neighbouring fields. This we have now been doing for some time, and
in order to help us in our operations we erected a hydraulic press.
This press, as I have already explained, has got out of order, and we
wish your advice upon the subject. We guard our secret very jealously,
however, and if it once became known that we had hydraulic engineers
coming to our little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if
the facts came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these
fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you promise
me that you will not tell a human being that you are going to Eyford
to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?'
" 'I
quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not quite understand
was what use you could make of a hydraulic press in excavating fuller's-earth,
which, as I understand, is dug out like gravel from a pit.'
" 'Ah!'
said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress the earth
into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing what they are. But
that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully into my confidence now,
Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I trust you.' He rose as he
spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at Eyford at 11:15.'
" 'I
shall certainly be there.'
" 'And
not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, questioning
gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank grasp, he hurried from
the room.
"Well,
when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very much astonished,
as you may both think, at this sudden commission which had been intrusted
to me. On the one hand, of course, I was glad, for the fee was at least
tenfold what I should have asked had I set a price upon my own services,
and it was possible that this order might lead to other ones. On the
other hand, the face and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant
impression upon me, and I could not think that his explanation of the
fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my coming
at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell anyone of my
errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate a hearty supper,
drove to Paddington, and started off, having obeyed to the letter the
injunction as to holding my tongue.
"At
Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. However,
I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I reached the little
dim-lit station aher eleven o'clock. I was the only passenger who got
out there, and there was no one upon the platform save a single sleepy
porter with a lantern. As I passed out through the wicket gate, however,
I found my acquaintance of the morning waiting in the shadow upon the
other side. Without a word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage,
the door of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either
side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the horse
could go."
"One
horse?" interjected Holmes.
"Yes,
only one."
"Did
you observe the colour?"
"Yes,
I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the carriage. It
was a chestnut."
"Tired-looking
or fresh?"
"Oh,
fresh and glossy."
"Thank
you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue your most interesting
statement."
"Away
we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel Lysander Stark
had said that it was only seven miles, but I should think, from the
rate that we seemed to go, and from the time that we took, that it must
have been nearer twelve. He sat at my side in silence all the time,
and I was aware, more than once when I glanced in his direction, that
he was looking at me with great intensity. The country roads seem to
be not very good in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted
terribly. I tried to look out of the windows to see something of where
we were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out nothing
save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now and then I hazarded
some remark to break the monotony of the journey, but the colonel answered
only in monosyllables, and the conversation soon flagged. At last, however,
the bumping of the road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a
gravel-drive, and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark
sprang out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch
which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of the
carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the most fleeting
glance of the front of the house. The instant that I had crossed the
threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, and I heard faintly the
rattle of the wheels as the carriage drove away.
"It
was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled about looking
for matches and muttering under his breath. Suddenly a door opened at
the other end of the passage, and a long, golden bar of light shot out
in our direction. It grew broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp
in her hand, which she held above her head, pushing her face forward
and peering at us. I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss
with which the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a
rich material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as
though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a gruff
monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly fell from her
hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered something in her ear,
and then, pushing her back into the room from whence she had come, he
walked towards me again with the lamp in his hand.
" 'Perhaps
you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a few minutes,'
said he, throwing open another door. It was a quiet, little, plainly
furnished room, with a round table in the centre, on which several German
books were scattered. Colonel Stark laid down the lamp on the top of
a harmonium beside the door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,'
said he, and vanished into the darkness. "I glanced at the books
upon the table, and in spite of my ignorance of German I could see that
two of them were treatises on science, the others being volumes of poetry.
Then I walked across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse
of the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded
across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old clock
ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise everything was
deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began to steal over me.
Who were these German people, and what were they doing living in this
strange, out-of-the-way place? And where was the place? I was ten miles
or so from Eyford, that was all I knew, but whether north, south, east,
or west I had no idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other
large towns, were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded,
after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, that
we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, humming a tune
under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling that I was thoroughly
earning my fifty-guinea fee.
"Suddenly,
without any preliminary sound in the midst of the utter stillness, the
door of my room swung slowly open. The woman was standing in the aperture,
the darkness of the hall behind her, the yellow light from my lamp beating
upon her eager and beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she
was sick with fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She
held up one shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few
whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, like
those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her.
" 'I
would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to speak calmly;
'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no good for you to do.'
" 'But,
madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I cannot possibly
leave until I have seen the machine.'
" 'It
is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass through
the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled and shook
my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and made a step forward,
with her hands wrung together. 'For the love of Heaven!' she whispered,
'get away from here before it is too late!'
"But
I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to engage in
an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I thought of my fifty-guinea
fee, of my wearisome journey, and of the unpleasant night which seemed
to be before me. Was it all to go for nothing? Why should I slink away
without having carried out my commission, and without the payment which
was my due? This woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With
a stout bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than
I cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention
of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties when
a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps was heard
upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up her hands with
a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and as noiselessly as
she had come.
"The
newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man with a chinchilla
beard growing out of the creases of his double chin, who was introduced
to me as Mr. Ferguson.
" 'This
is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the way, I was under
the impression that I left this door shut just now. I fear that you
have felt the draught.'
" 'On
the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I felt the
room to be a little close.'
"He
shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had better proceed
to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I will take you up to
see the machine.'
" 'I
had better put my hat on, I suppose.'
" 'Oh,
no, it is in the house.'
" 'What,
you dig fuller's-earth in the house?'
" 'No,
no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. All we wish
you to do is to examine the machine and to let us know what is wrong
with it.'
"We
went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the fat manager
and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, with corridors,
passages, narrow winding staircases, and little low doors, the thresholds
of which were hollowed out by the generations who had crossed them.
There were no carpets and no signs of any furniture above the ground
floor, while the plaster was peeling off the walls, and the damp was
breaking through in green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as
unconcerned an air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings
of the lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon
my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent man,
but I could see from the little that he said that he was at least a
fellow-countryman.
"Colonel
Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which he unlocked.
Within was a small, square room, in which the three of us could hardly
get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, and the colonel ushered
me in.
" 'We
are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and it would
be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were to turn it
on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the end of the descending
piston, and it comes down with the force of many tons upon this metal
floor. There are small lateral columns of water outside which receive
the force, and which transmit and multiply it in the manner which is
familiar to you. The machine goes readily enough, but there is some
stiffness in the working of it, and it has lost a little of its force.
Perhaps you will have the goodness to look it over and to show us how
we can set it right.'
"I
took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very thoroughly.
It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of exercising enormous pressure.
When I passed outside, however, and pressed down the levers which controlled
it, I knew at once by the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage,
which allowed a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders.
An examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was round
the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to fill the socket
along which it worked. This was clearly the cause of the loss of power,
and I pointed it out to my companions, who followed my remarks very
carefully and asked several practical questions as to how they should
proceed to set it right. When I had made it clear to them, I returned
to the main chamber of the machine and took a good look at it to satisfy
my own curiosity. It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth
was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose that so
powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a purpose. The
walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a large iron trough,
and when I came to examine it I could see a crust of metallic deposit
all over it. I had stooped and was scraping at this to see exactly what
it was when I heard a muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous
face of the colonel looking down at me.
" 'What
are you doing there?' he asked.
"I
felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as that which
he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' said I; 'I think
that I should be better able to advise you as to your machine if I knew
what the exact purpose was for which it was used.'
"The
instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of my speech.
His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in his gray eyes.
" 'Very
well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He took a step
backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key in the lock. I
rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it was quite secure,
and did not give in the least to my kicks and shoves. 'Hello!' I yelled.
'Hello! Colonel! Let me out!'
"And
then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my heart into
my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish of the leaking
cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp still stood upon the
floor where I had placed it when examining the trough. By its light
I saw that the black ceiling was coming down upon me, slowly, jerkily,
but, as none knew better than myself, with a force which must within
a minute grind me to a shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against
the door, and dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel
to let me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my
cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with my
hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it flashed
through my mind that the pain of my death would depend very much upon
the position in which I met it. If I lay on my face the weight would
come upon my spine, and I shuddered to think of that dreadful snap.
Easier the other way, perhaps; and yet, had I the nerve to lie and look
up at that deadly black shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was
unable to stand erect, when my eye caught something which brought a
gush of hope back to my heart.
"I
have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the walls
were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw a thin line
of yellow light between two of the boards, which broadened and broadened
as a small panel was pushed backward. For an instant I could hardly
believe that here was indeed a door which led away from death. The next
instant I threw myself through, and lay half-fainting upon the other
side. The panel had closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp,
and a few moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told
me how narrow had been my escape.
"I
was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and I found
myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, while a woman
bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, while she held a candle
in her right. It was the same good friend whose warning I had so foolishly
rejected.
" 'Come!
come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a moment. They
will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste the so-precious time,
but come!'
"This
time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to my feet and
ran with her along the corridor and down a winding stair. The latter
led to ancther broad passage, and just as we reached it we heard the
sound of running feet and the shouting of two voices, one answering
the other from the floor on which we were and from the one beneath.
My guide stopped and looked about her like one who is at her wit's end.
Then she threw open a door which led into a bedroom, through the window
of which the moon was shining brightly.
" 'It
is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be that you
can jump it.'
"As
she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the passage,
and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark rushing forward
with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a butcher's cleaver in
the other. I rushed across the bedroom, flung open the window, and looked
out. How quiet and sweet and wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight,
and it could not be more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon
the sill, but I hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed
between my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used,
then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. The
thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at the door,
pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round him and tried
to hold him back.
" 'Fritz!
Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise after the last
time. You said it should not be again. He will be silent! Oh, he will
be silent!'
" 'You
are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from her. 'You
will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me pass, I say!' He
dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the window, cut at me with his
heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and was hanging by the hands to the
sill, when his blow fell. I was conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened,
and I fell into the garden below.
"I
was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and rushed
off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I understood that I
was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, however, as I ran, a
deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. I glanced down at my hand,
which was throbbing painfully, and then, for the first time, saw that
my thumb had been cut off and that the blood was pouring from my wound.
I endeavoured to tie my handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden
buzzing in my ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the
rose-bushes.
"How
long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been a very
long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was breaking
when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with dew, and my coat-sleeve
was drenched with blood from my wounded thumb. The smarting of it recalled
in an instant all the particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang
to my feet with the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my
pursuers. But to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither
house nor garden were to be seen. I had been Iying in an angle of the
hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a long
building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the very station
at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were it not for the
ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed during those dreadful hours
might have been an evil dream.
"Half
dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning train. There
would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The same porter was on
duty, I found, as had been there when I arrived. I inquired of him whether
he had ever heard of Colonel Lysander Stark. The name was strange to
him. Had he observed a carriage the night before waiting for me? No,
he had not. Was there a police-station anywhere near? There was one
about three miles off.
"It
was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined to wait
until I got back to town before telling my story to the police. It was
a little past six when I arrived, so I went first to have my wound dressed,
and then the doctor was kind enough to bring me along here. I put the
case into your hands and shall do exactly what you advise."
We both
sat in silence for some little time after listening to this extraordinary
narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down from the shelf one of the
ponderous commonplace books in which he placed his cuttings.
"Here
is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It
appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this:
"Lost,
on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged
twenty-six,
a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten
o'clock
at night, and has not been heard of since. Was
dressed
in - etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that the colonel needed
to have his machine overhauled, I fancy."
"Good
heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the girl
said."
"Undoubtedly.
It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and desperate man, who
was absolutely determined that nothing should stand in the way of his
little game, like those out-and-out pirates who will leave no survivor
from a captured ship. Well, every moment now is precious, so if you
feel equal to it we shall go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary
to starting for Eyford."
Some three
hours or so afterwards we were all in the train together, bound from
Reading to the little Berkshire village. There were Sherlock Holmes,
the hydraulic engineer, Inspector Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes
man, and myself. Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county
out upon the seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with
Eyford for its centre.
"There
you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of ten
miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere near that
line. You said ten miles, I think, sir."
"It
was an hour's good drive."
"And
you think that they brought you back all that way when you were unconscious?"
"They
must have done so.l have a confused memory, too, of having been lifted
and conveyed somewhere."
"What
I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have spared
you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. Perhaps the villain
was softened by the woman's entreaties."
"I
hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face in my life."
"Oh,
we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well,
I have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon it
the folk that we are in search of are to be found."
"I
think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly.
"Really,
now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your opinion!
Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is south, for
the country is more deserted there."
"And
I say east," said my patient.
"I
am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are several
quiet little villages up there."
"And
I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there,
and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up any."
"Come,"
cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty diversity of
opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do you give your casting
vote to?"
"You
are all wrong."
"But
we can't all be."
"Oh,
yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the centre
of the circle. "This is where we shall find them."
"But
the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley.
"Six
out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the horse was
fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that if it had gone
twelve miles over heavy roads?"
"Indeed,
it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet thoughtfully.
"Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature of this gang."
"None
at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale,
and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the place
of silver."
"We
have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," said
the inspector. "They have been turning out halfcrowns by the thousand.
We even traced them as far as Reading, but could get no farther, for
they had covered their traces in a way that showed that they were very
old hands. But now, thanks to this lucky chance, I think that we have
got them right enough."
But the
inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not destined to fall
into the hands of justice. As we rolled into Eyford Station we saw a
gigantic column of smoke which streamed up from behind a small clump
of trees in the neighbourhood and hung like an immense ostrich feather
over the landscape.
"A
house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off again
on its way.
"Yes,
sir!" said the station-master.
"When
did it break out?"
"I
hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, and the
whole place is in a blaze."
"Whose
house is it?"
"Dr.
Becher's."
"Tell
me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very
thin, with a long, sharp nose?"
The station-master
laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an Englishman, and there
isn't a man in the parish who has a bener-lined waistcoat. But he has
a gentleman staying with him, a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner,
and he looks as if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm."
The station-master
had not finished his speech before we were all hastening in the direction
of the fire. The road topped a low hill, and there was a great widespread
whitewashed building in front of us, spouting fire at every chink and
window, while in the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly
striving to keep the flames under.
"That's
it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is the
gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That second
window is the one that I jumped from."
"Well,
at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon them.
There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, when it was
crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, though no doubt
they were too excited in the chase after you to observe it at the time.
Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for your friends of last night,
though I very much fear that they are a good hundred miles off by now."
And Holmes's
fears came to be realized, for from that day to this no word has ever
been heard either of the beautiful woman, the sinister German, or the
morose Englishman. Early that morning a peasant had met a cart containing
several people and some very bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction
of Reading, but there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even
Holmes's ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their
whereabouts.
The firemen
had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements which they had found
within, and still more so by discovering a newly severed human thumb
upon a window-sill of the second floor. About sunset, however, their
efforts were at last successful, and they subdued the flames, but not
before the roof had fallen in, and the whole place been reduced to such
absolute ruin that, save some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not
a trace remained of the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance
so dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored
in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have explained
the presence of those bulky boxes which have been already referred to.
How our
hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to the spot where
he recovered his senses might have remained forever a mystery were it
not for the soft mould, which told us a very plain tale. He had evidently
been carried down by two persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet
and the other unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable
that the silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his
companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out of
the way of danger.
"Well,"
said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return once more
to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I have lost my
thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what have I gained?"
"Experience,"
said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of value, you know;
you have only to put it into words to gain the reputation of being excellent
company for the remainder of your existence."
Reposted with permission.