THE
SIGN OF THE FOUR BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
CONTENTS
THE
SIGN OF THE FOUR BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
Sherlock
Holmes took his bottle from the corner of 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
dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. Finally he thrust the sharp
point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined
arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction. Three times a day for many months I
had witnessed this performance, but custom had not reconciled my mind to it. On
the contrary, from day to day I had become more irritable at the sight, and my
conscience swelled nightly within me at the thought that I had lacked the
courage to protest. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should
deliver my soul upon the subject, but there was that in the cool, nonchalant
air of my companion which made him the last man with whom one would care to
take anything
approaching to a liberty. His great powers, his masterly manner,
and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities, all
made me diffident and backward in crossing him. Yet upon that afternoon,
whether it was the Beaune which I had taken with my lunch, or the additional
exasperation produced by the extreme deliberation of his manner, I suddenly
felt that I could hold out no longer.
 |
"Which
is it to-day?" I asked,—"morphine or cocaine?"
He
raised his eyes languidly from the old black-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 constitution has not got over the
Afghan campaign yet. I cannot afford to throw any extra strain upon it."
He
smiled at my vehemence. "Perhaps you are right, Watson," he said.
"I suppose that its influence is physically a bad one. I find it, however,
so
"But
consider!" I said, earnestly. "Count the cost! Your brain may, as you
say, be roused and excited, but it is a pathological and morbid 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
worth the candle. Why should you, for a mere passing pleasure, risk the loss of
those great powers with 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, like one 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 intricate analysis, 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 why I have chosen my own particular profession,—or rather
created it, for I am the only one in the world."
"The
only unofficial detective?" I said, raising my eyebrows.
"The
only unofficial consulting detective," he answered. "I am the last
and highest court of appeal in detection. When Gregson or Lestrade or Athelney
Jones are out of their depths—which, by the way, is their normal state—the
matter is 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 pleasure of finding a field for my peculiar
powers, is my highest reward. But you have yourself had some experience of my
methods of work in the Jefferson Hope case."
 |
"Yes,
indeed," said I, cordially. "I was never so struck by anything in my
life. I even embodied it in a small brochure with the somewhat fantastic title
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. You
have attempted to tinge it with romanticism, which produces much the same
effect as if you 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 least a just sense of proportion should be
observed in treating them. The only point in the case which deserved mention
was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes by which I
succeeded in unraveling it."
I
was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had been specially designed to
please him. I confess, too, that I was irritated by the egotism which seemed to
demand that every line of my pamphlet should be devoted to his own special
doings. More than once during the years that I had lived with him in Baker
Street I had observed that a small vanity underlay my companion's quiet and
didactic manner. I made no remark, however, but sat nursing my wounded leg. I
had a Jezail bullet through it some time before, and, though it did not prevent
me from walking, it ached wearily at every change of the weather.
"My
practice has extended recently to the Continent," said Holmes, after a
while, filling up his old brier-root pipe. "I was consulted last week by
Francois Le Villard, who, as you probably know, has come rather to the front
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 higher developments of his art. The case was concerned with a
will, and possessed some features of interest. I was able to refer him to two
parallel cases, the one at Riga in 1857, and the other at St. Louis in 1871, which
have suggested to him the true solution. Here is the letter which 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 notes of admiration, with stray "magnifiques,"
"coup-de-maitres,"
and "tours-de-force," all testifying to the ardent admiration of the
Frenchman.
"He
speaks as a pupil to his master," said I.
"Oh,
he rates my assistance too highly," said Sherlock Holmes, lightly. "He
has considerable gifts himself. He possesses two out of the three qualities
necessary for the ideal detective. He has the power of observation and that of
deduction. He is only wanting in knowledge; and that may come in time. He is
now translating my 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,
with colored plates illustrating the difference in the ash. It is a point which
is continually turning 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 was smoking an Indian lunkah, it obviously narrows
your field of search. To the trained eye there is as much difference between
the black ash of a Trichinopoly and the white fluff of bird's-eye as there is
between a cabbage and a potato."
"You
have an extraordinary genius for minutiae," I remarked.
"I
appreciate their importance. Here is my monograph upon the tracing of
footsteps, with some remarks upon the uses of plaster of Paris as a preserver
of impresses. Here, too, is a curious little work upon the influence of a 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 interest to the scientific detective,—especially in cases of
unclaimed bodies, or in discovering the antecedents of criminals. But I weary
you with my hobby."
"Not
at all," I answered, earnestly. "It is of the greatest interest to
me, especially since I have had the opportunity of observing your practical
"Why,
hardly," he answered, leaning back luxuriously in his arm-chair, and
sending up thick blue wreaths from his pipe. "For example, observation
shows me that you have been to the Wigmore Street Post-Office this morning, but
deduction lets me know that when there you dispatched a telegram."
"Right!"
said I. "Right on both points! But I 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, chuckling at my surprise,—"so
absurdly simple that an explanation is superfluous; and yet it may serve to
define the limits of observation and of deduction. Observation tells me that
you have a little reddish mould adhering to your instep. Just opposite the
Seymour Street Office they have taken up the pavement and thrown up some earth
which lies in such a way that it is difficult to avoid treading in it in
entering. The earth is of this peculiar reddish tint which is found, as far as
I know, nowhere else in the neighborhood. So much is observation. The rest is
deduction."
"How,
then, did you deduce the telegram?"
"Why,
of course I knew that you had not written a letter, since I sat opposite to you
all morning. I see also in your open desk there that you have a sheet of stamps
and a thick bundle of post-cards. What could you go into the post-office for,
then, but to send a wire? Eliminate all other factors, and the one which
remains 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 you think me
impertinent if I were to put your theories to a more severe test?"
"On
the contrary," he answered, "it would prevent me from taking a second
dose of cocaine. I should be delighted to look into any problem which you might
submit to me."
"I
have heard you say that it is difficult for a man to have any object in daily
use without leaving the impress of his individuality upon it in such a way that
a trained observer might read it. Now, I have here a watch which has recently
come into my possession. Would you have the kindness to let me have an opinion
upon the character or habits of the late owner?"
I
handed him over the watch with some slight feeling 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 occasionally assumed. He
balanced the watch in his hand, gazed hard at the dial, opened the back, and
examined the works, first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex
lens. I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally
snapped the case to and handed 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 cleaned before being sent to
me." In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and
impotent excuse to cover his failure. What data could he expect from an
uncleaned watch?
"Though
unsatisfactory, my research has not been entirely barren," he observed,
staring up at the ceiling with dreamy, lack-lustre eyes. "Subject to your
correction, I should judge that the watch belonged to your elder brother, 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 he is 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 untidy and careless. He was left with good
prospects, but he threw away his chances, lived for some time in
I
sprang from my chair and limped impatiently about 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 inquires into the history of my unhappy brother, and you now pretend to
deduce this knowledge in some fanciful way. You cannot expect me to believe
that you have read all this from his old watch! It is unkind, and, to speak
plainly, has a touch of charlatanism in it."
"My
dear doctor," said he, kindly, "pray accept my apologies. Viewing the
matter as an abstract problem, I had forgotten how personal and painful a thing
it might be to you. I assure you, however, that I never even knew that you had
a brother until you handed me the watch."
"Then
how in the name of all that is wonderful did you get these facts? They are
absolutely correct in every particular."
"Ah,
that is good luck. I could only say what was 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,—destructive to the logical faculty.
What seems strange to you is only so because you do not follow my train of
thought or observe the small facts upon which large inferences may depend. For
example, I began by stating that your brother was careless. When you observe
the lower part of that watch-case you notice that it is not only dinted in two
places, but it is cut and marked 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-guinea watch so cavalierly must be a
careless man. Neither is it a very far-fetched inference that a man who
inherits one article of such value is pretty well provided for in other
respects."
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 inside of the case.
It is more handy than a label, as there is no risk of the number being lost or
transposed. There are no less than four such numbers visible to my lens on the
inside of this case. Inference,—that your brother was often at low water.
Secondary inference,—that he 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 thousands of scratches all round the
hole,—marks where the key has slipped. What sober man's key could 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 the
mystery 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 marvellous faculty. May I ask
whether you have any professional inquiry on foot at present?"
"None.
Hence the cocaine. I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live
for? Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable
world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts 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 exert
them? Crime is commonplace, existence is commonplace, and no qualities save
those which are commonplace have 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, addressing my companion.
"Miss
Mary Morstan," he read. "Hum! I have no recollection of the name. Ask
the young lady to step up, Mrs. Hudson. Don't go, doctor. I should prefer that
you remain."
_______________________________________________________________
Miss
Morstan entered the room with a firm step and an outward composure of manner.
She was a blonde young lady, small, dainty, well gloved, and dressed in the
most perfect taste. There was, however, a plainness and simplicity about her
costume which bore with it a suggestion of limited means. The dress was a
sombre grayish beige, untrimmed and unbraided, and she wore a small turban of
the same dull hue, relieved only by a suspicion of white feather in the side.
Her face had neither regularity of feature nor beauty of complexion, but her
expression was sweet and amiable, and her large blue eyes were singularly
spiritual and sympathetic. In an experience of women which extends over many
nations and three separate continents, I have never looked upon a face which
gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature. I could not but
observe that as she took 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 domestic complication. 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 cannot say 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 embarrassing one. "You will, I am sure,
excuse me," I said, rising from my chair.
To
my surprise, the young lady held up her gloved hand to detain me. "If your
friend," she said, "would be good enough to stop, he might 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 comfortable boarding
establishment at Edinburgh, and there I remained until I was seventeen years of
age. 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 the night before
and had not yet returned. I waited all day without news of him. That night, on
the advice of the manager of the hotel, I communicated with the police, and
next morning we advertised in all the papers. Our inquiries led to no result;
and from that day to this no word has ever been heard of my unfortunate father.
He came home with his heart full of hope, to find some peace, somFe 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,—nearly ten years ago."
"His
luggage?"
"Remained
at the hotel. There was nothing in it to suggest a clue,—some clothes, some
books, and a considerable number of curiosities from the Andaman Islands. He
had been one of the officers in charge of the convict-guard there."
"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 know that his
brother officer was in England."
"A
singular case," remarked Holmes.
"I
have not yet described to you the most singular part. About six years ago—to be
exact, upon the 4th of May, 1882—an advertisement appeared in the Times asking
for the address of Miss Mary Morstan and stating that it would be to her
advantage to come forward. There was no name or address appended. I had at that
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 arrived through the post a small card-board box addressed to
me, which I found to contain a very large and lustrous pearl. No word of
writing was enclosed. Since then every year upon the same date there has always
appeared a similar box, containing a similar pearl, without any clue as to the
sender. They have been pronounced by an expert to be of a rare variety and of
considerable value. You can see for yourselves that they are very
handsome." She opened a flat box as she spoke, and showed me six of the
finest pearls that I had ever seen.
"Your
statement is most interesting," said Sherlock Holmes. "Has anything
else occurred to you?"
"Yes,
and no later than to-day. That is why I have come to you. This morning I
received this letter, which you will perhaps read for yourself."
"Thank
you," said Holmes. "The envelope too, please. Postmark, London, S.W.
Date, July 7. Hum! Man's thumb-mark on corner,—probably postman. 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 at seven o'clock. If you are distrustful, bring two friends. You are a
wronged woman, and shall have justice. Do not bring police. If you do, all will
be in vain. Your unknown friend.' 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 and I and—yes, why, Dr. Watson is the very man.
Your correspondent says two friends. He and I have worked together
before."
"But
would he come?" she asked, with something appealing 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. "I have led a retired life, and
have no friends whom I could appeal to. If I am here at six it will do, I
suppose?"
"You
must not be later," said Holmes. "There is one other point, however.
Is this handwriting the same as that upon the pearl-box addresses?"
"I
have them here," she answered, producing half a dozen pieces of paper.
"You
are certainly a model client. You have the correct intuition. Let us see,
now." He spread out the papers upon the table, and gave little darting
glances from one to the other. "They are disguised hands, except the
letter," he said, presently, "but there can be no question as to the
authorship. See how the irrepressible Greek e will break out, and see the twirl
of the final s. They are undoubtedly 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 look out for you, then, at six. Pray
allow me to keep the papers. I may look into the matter before then. It is only
half-past three. Au revoir, then."
"Au
revoir," said our visitor, and, with a bright, kindly glance from one to
the other of us, she replaced her pearl-box in her bosom and 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 leaning back 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 is to me a
mere unit,—a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to
clear reasoning. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was
hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the
most repellant man of my acquaintance is 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 disproves the rule. Have you ever had
occasion to study character in handwriting? What do you make of this fellow's
scribble?"
"It
is legible and regular," I answered. "A man 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 an e. 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 have some few references to make. Let me recommend this
book,—one of the most remarkable ever penned. It is Winwood Reade's 'Martyrdom
of Man.' I shall be back in an hour."
I
sat in the window with the volume in my hand, but my thoughts were far from the
daring speculations of the writer. My mind ran upon our late visitor,—her
smiles, the deep rich tones of her voice, the strange mystery which overhung
her life. If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she
must be seven-and-twenty now,—a sweet age, when youth has lost its
self-consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. So I sat and
mused, until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that I hurried away to
my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise 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
________________________________________________________________
It
was half-past five before Holmes returned. He was bright, eager, and in excellent
spirits,—a mood which in his case alternated with fits of 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 admit of only one
explanation."
"What!
you have solved it already?"
"Well,
that would be too much to say. I have discovered a suggestive fact, that is
all. It is, however, VERY suggestive. The details are 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 the 28th of April,
1882."
"I
may be very obtuse, Holmes, but I fail to 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 visited is Major Sholto. Major Sholto
denies having heard that he was in London. Four years later Sholto 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 her as 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's heir knows something of the mystery
and desires to make compensation? Have you any alternative theory which will
meet the facts?"
"But
what a strange compensation! And how strangely 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 suppose that her father
is still alive. There is no other injustice in her case that you know of."
"There
are difficulties; there are certainly difficulties," said Sherlock Holmes,
pensively. "But our expedition of to-night will solve them 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 she did not feel some uneasiness at
the strange enterprise upon which we were embarking, yet her self-control was
perfect, and she readily answered the few additional questions which Sherlock
Holmes put to her.
"Major
Sholto was a very particular friend of papa's," she said. "His
letters were full of allusions to the major. He and papa were in 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't suppose that it is of the slightest importance, but I
thought you might care to see it, so I brought it with me. It is here."
Holmes
unfolded the paper carefully and smoothed it 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 to be a plan of part
of a large building with numerous halls, corridors, and passages. At one point
is a small cross done in red ink, and above it is '3.37 from left,' in faded
pencil-writing. In the left-hand corner is a curious hieroglyphic like four
crosses in a 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 confess that I do not see how this bears upon
the matter. Yet it is evidently a document of importance. It has been kept
carefully in a pocket-book; for the one side is as clean as 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 to be much deeper and more subtle than
I at first supposed. I must reconsider my ideas." He leaned back in the
cab, and I could see by his drawn brow and his vacant eye that he was thinking
intently. Miss Morstan and I chatted in an undertone about our present
expedition and its possible outcome, but our companion maintained his
impenetrable reserve until the end of our journey.
It
was a September evening, and not yet seven o'clock, but the day had been a
dreary one, and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city. Mud-colored
clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets. Down the Strand the lamps were but
misty splotches of diffused light which threw a feeble circular glimmer upon
the 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 faces which 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 the gloom once more. I am not
subject to impressions, but the dull, heavy evening, with the strange business
upon which we were engaged, combined to make me nervous and depressed. I could
see from Miss Morstan's manner that she was suffering from the same feeling.
Holmes alone could rise superior to petty influences. He held his open
note-book upon his knee, and from time to time he jotted down figures and
memoranda in the light of his pocket-lantern.
At
the Lyceum Theatre the crowds were already thick at the side-entrances. In
front a continuous stream of hansoms and four-wheelers were rattling up,
discharging their cargoes of shirt-fronted men and beshawled, bediamonded
women. We had hardly reached the third pillar, which was our rendezvous, before
a small, dark, brisk man 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 gentlemen are my friends," said she.
He
bent a pair of wonderfully penetrating and 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 street Arab led across a four-wheeler and
opened the door. The man who had addressed us mounted to the box, while we took
our places inside. We had hardly done so before the driver whipped up his
horse, and we plunged away at a furious pace through the foggy streets.
The
situation was a curious one. We were driving to an unknown place, on an unknown
errand. Yet our invitation was either a complete hoax,—which was an
inconceivable hypothesis,—or else we had good reason to think that important
issues might hang upon our journey. Miss Morstan's demeanor was as resolute and
collected as ever. 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 our destination that my stories were slightly
involved. To this day she declares that I told 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 the direction
in which we were driving; but soon, what with our pace, the fog, and my own
limited knowledge of London, I lost my bearings, and knew nothing, save that we
seemed to be going a very long way. Sherlock Holmes was never at fault,
however, and he muttered the names as 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 stretch of the Thames with the lamps
shining upon the broad, silent water; but our cab dashed on, and was soon
involved in a labyrinth of streets upon the other side.
"Wordsworth
Road," said my companion. "Priory Road. Lark Hall Lane. Stockwell
Place. Robert Street. Cold Harbor Lane. Our quest does not appear to take us to
very fashionable regions."
We
had, indeed, reached a questionable and forbidding neighborhood. Long lines of
dull brick houses were only relieved by the coarse glare and tawdry brilliancy
of public houses at the corner. Then came rows of two-storied villas each with
a fronting of miniature garden, and then again interminable lines of new
staring brick 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 houses were inhabited, and that at which we
stopped was as dark as its neighbors, save for a single glimmer in the kitchen
window. On our knocking, however, the door was instantly thrown open by a Hindoo
servant clad in a yellow turban, white loose-fitting clothes, and a yellow
sash. There was something strangely incongruous in this Oriental figure framed
in the commonplace door-way of a third-rate suburban dwelling-house.
 |
"The
Sahib awaits you," said he, and even as 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."
_______________________________________________________________
We
followed the Indian down a sordid and common passage, ill lit and worse
furnished, until he came to a door upon the right, which he threw open. A blaze
of yellow light streamed out upon us, and in the centre of the glare there
stood a small man with a very high head, a bristle of red hair all round the
fringe of it, and a bald, shining scalp which shot out from among it like a
mountain-peak from fir-trees. He writhed his hands together as he stood, and
his features were in a perpetual jerk, now smiling, now scowling, but never for
an instant in repose. Nature had given him a pendulous lip, and a too visible
line of yellow and irregular teeth, which he strove feebly to conceal by
constantly passing his hand over the lower part of his face. In spite of his
obtrusive baldness, he gave the impression of youth. In point of fact he had
just turned his thirtieth year.
"Your
servant, Miss Morstan," he kept repeating, in a thin, high voice.
"Your servant, gentlemen. Pray step into my little sanctum. A small place,
miss, but furnished to my own liking. An oasis of art in the howling desert of
South London."
We
were all astonished by the appearance of the apartment into which he invited
us. In that sorry house it looked as out of place as a diamond of the first
water in a setting of brass. The richest and glossiest of curtains and
tapestries draped the walls, looped back here and there to expose some
richly-mounted painting or Oriental vase. The carpet was of amber-and-black, so
soft and so thick that the foot sank pleasantly into it, as into a bed of moss.
Two great tiger-skins thrown athwart it increased the suggestion of Eastern
luxury, as did a huge hookah which stood upon a mat in the corner. A lamp in
the fashion of a silver dove was hung from an almost invisible golden wire in
the centre of the room. As it burned it filled the air with a subtle and
aromatic odor.
"Mr.
Thaddeus Sholto," said the little man, still jerking and smiling.
"That is my name. You are Miss Morstan, of course. And these gentlemen—"
"This
is Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and this is Dr. Watson."
"A
doctor, eh?" cried he, much excited. "Have you your stethoscope?
Might I ask you—would you have the kindness? I have grave doubts as to my
mitral valve, if you would be so very good. The aortic I may rely upon, but I
should value your opinion upon the mitral."
I
listened to his heart, as requested, but was unable to find anything amiss,
save indeed that he was in an ecstasy of fear, for he shivered from head to
foot. "It appears to be normal," I said. "You have no cause for
uneasiness."
"You
will excuse my anxiety, Miss Morstan," he remarked, airily. "I am a
great sufferer, and I have long had suspicions as to that valve. 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 Morstan sat down, and her face
grew white to the lips. "I knew in my heart that he was dead," said
she.
"I
can give you every information," said he, "and, what is more, I can
do you justice; and I will, too, whatever Brother Bartholomew may say. I am so
glad to have your friends here, not only as an escort to you, but also as
witnesses to what I am about to do and say. The three of us can show a bold
front to Brother Bartholomew. But let us have no outsiders,—no police or
officials. We can settle everything satisfactorily among ourselves, without any
interference. Nothing would annoy Brother Bartholomew more than any
publicity." He sat down upon a low settee and blinked at us inquiringly
with his weak, watery blue eyes.
"For
my part," said Holmes, "whatever you may choose to say will go no
further."
I
nodded to show my agreement.
"That
is well! That is well!" said he. "May I offer you a glass of Chianti,
Miss Morstan? Or of Tokay? I keep no other wines. Shall I open a flask? No?
Well, then, I trust that you have no objection to tobacco-smoke, to the mild
balsamic odor of the Eastern tobacco. I am a little nervous, and I find my
hookah an invaluable sedative." He applied a taper to the great bowl, and
the smoke bubbled merrily through the rose-water. We sat all three in a
"When
I first determined to make this communication to you," said he, "I
might have given you my address, but I feared that you might disregard my
request and bring unpleasant people with you. I took the liberty, therefore, of
making an appointment in such a way that my man Williams might be able to see
you first. I have complete confidence in his discretion, and he had orders, if
he were dissatisfied, to proceed no further in the matter. You will excuse
these precautions, but I am a man of somewhat retiring, and I might 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
contact with the rough crowd. I live, as you see, with some little atmosphere
of elegance around me. I may call myself a patron of the arts. It is my
weakness. The landscape is a genuine Corot, and, though a connoisseur might
perhaps throw a doubt upon that Salvator Rosa, there cannot be the least
question about the Bouguereau. I am partial to the modern French school."
"You
will excuse me, Mr. Sholto," said Miss Morstan, "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 all go
and try if we can get the better of Brother Bartholomew. He is very angry with
me for taking 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 perhaps be 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 in that 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 I
"My
father was, as you may have guessed, Major John Sholto, once of the Indian
army. He retired some eleven years ago, and came to live at Pondicherry Lodge
in Upper Norwood. He had prospered in India, and brought back with him a
considerable sum of money, a large collection of valuable curiosities, and a
staff of native servants. 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 which was 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 freely in his presence. He
used to join in our speculations as to what could have happened. Never for an
instant did we suspect that he had the whole secret hidden in his own breast,—that
of all men he alone knew the fate of Arthur Morstan.
"We
did know, however, that some mystery—some positive danger— overhung our father.
He was very fearful of going out alone, and he always 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 aversion to men
with wooden legs. On one occasion he actually fired his revolver at a
wooden-legged man, who proved to be a harmless tradesman canvassing for orders.
We had to pay a large sum 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 letter from India which was a great shock to him.
He nearly fainted at the breakfast-table when he opened it, and from that day
he sickened to his death. What was in the letter we could never discover, but I
could see as he held it that it was short and written in a scrawling hand. He
had suffered for years from an enlarged spleen, but he now became rapidly
worse, and towards the end of April we were informed
"When
we entered his room he was propped up with pillows and breathing heavily. He
besought us to lock the door and to come upon either side of the bed. Then,
grasping our hands, he made a remarkable statement to us, in a voice which was
broken as much by emotion as by pain. I shall try and give it to you in his own
very words.
"'I
have only one thing,' he said, 'which weighs 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 the treasure, half at
least of which should have been hers. And yet I have made no use of it myself,—so
blind and foolish a thing is avarice. The mere feeling of possession has been
so dear to me that I could not bear to share it with another. See that chaplet
dipped with pearls beside the quinine-bottle. Even that I could not bear to
part with, although I had got it out with the design of sending it to her. You,
my sons, will give her a fair share of the Agra treasure. But send her nothing—not
even the chaplet—until I am gone. After all, 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 alone knew it. When in
India, he and I, through a remarkable chain of circumstances, came into
possession of a considerable treasure. I brought it over to England, and on the
night of Morstan's arrival he came straight over here to claim his share. He
walked over from the station, and was admitted by my faithful Lal Chowdar, who
is now dead. Morstan and I 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 hand to his side, his face
turned a dusky hue, and he fell backwards, cutting his head against the corner
of the treasure-chest. When I stooped over him I found, to my horror, that he
was dead.
"'For
a long time I sat half distracted, wondering what I should do. My first impulse
was, of course, to call for assistance; but I could not but recognize that
there was every chance that I would be accused of his murder. His
 |
"'I
was still pondering over the matter, when, looking up, I saw my servant, Lal
Chowdar, in the doorway. He stole in and bolted the door behind him. "Do
not fear, Sahib," he said. "No one need know that you have killed
him. Let us hide him away, and who is the wiser?" "I did not kill
him," said I. Lal Chowdar 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 him away
together." That was enough to decide me. If my own servant could not
believe my innocence, 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 papers were full of the mysterious disappearance of Captain
Morstan. You will see from what I say that I can hardly be blamed in the
matter. My fault lies in the fact that we concealed not only the body, but also
the treasure, and that I have clung to Morstan's share as well as to my own. I
wish you, therefore, to make restitution. Put your ears down to my mouth. The
treasure is hidden in—' At this instant a horrible change came over his
expression; his eyes stared wildly, his jaw dropped, and he yelled, in a voice
which I can never forget, 'Keep him out! For Christ's sake keep him out!' We
both stared round at the window behind us upon which his gaze was fixed. A face
was looking in at us out of the darkness. We could see the whitening of the
nose where it was pressed against the glass. It was a bearded, hairy face, with
wild cruel eyes and an expression of concentrated malevolence. My brother and I
rushed towards the window, but the man was gone. When we returned to my father
his head had dropped and his pulse had ceased to beat.
"We
searched the garden that night, but found no sign of the intruder, save that
just under the window a single footmark was visible in the flower-bed. But for
that one trace, we might have thought that our imaginations had conjured up
that wild, fierce face. We soon, however, had another and a more striking proof
that there were secret agencies at work all round us.
The
window of my father's room was found open in the morning, his cupboards and
boxes had been rifled, and upon his chest was fixed a torn piece of paper, with
the words 'The sign of the four' scrawled across it. What the phrase meant, or
who our secret visitor may have been, we never knew. As far as we can judge,
none of my father's property had been actually stolen, though everything had
been turned out. My brother and I naturally associated this peculiar incident
with the fear which haunted my father during his life; but it is still a
complete mystery to us."
The
little man stopped to relight his hookah and puffed thoughtfully for a few
moments. We had all sat absorbed, listening to his extraordinary narrative. At
the short account of her father's death Miss Morstan had turned deadly 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
carafe upon the side-table. Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair with an
abstracted expression and the lids drawn low over his glittering eyes. As I
glanced at him I could not but think how on that very day he had complained
bitterly of the commonplaceness of life. Here at least was a problem which
would tax his sagacity to the utmost. Mr. Thaddeus Sholto looked from one to
the other of us with an obvious pride at the effect which his story had
produced, and then continued between the puffs of his overgrown pipe.
"My
brother and I," said he, "were, as you may imagine, much excited as
to the treasure which my father had spoken of. For weeks and for 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 he died. 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 were evidently of great value, and he was averse
to part with them, for, between friends, my brother was himself a little
inclined to my father's fault. He thought, too, that if we parted 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 address
and 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 Brother Bartholomew
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
young lady in so scurvy a fashion. 'Le mauvais gout mene au crime.' The French
have a very neat way of putting these things. Our difference of opinion on this
subject went so far that I thought it best to set up rooms for myself: so I left
Pondicherry Lodge, taking the old khitmutgar and Williams with me. Yesterday,
however, I learn that an event of extreme importance has occurred. The treasure
has been discovered. I instantly communicated with Miss Morstan, and it only
remains for us to drive out to Norwood and demand our share. I explained my
views last night to Brother Bartholomew: so we shall be expected, if not
welcome, visitors."
Mr.
Thaddeus Sholto ceased, and sat twitching on his luxurious settee. We all
remained silent, with our thoughts upon the new development which 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 throwing some 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 coiled up the tube of his hookah, and
produced from behind a curtain a very long befrogged topcoat with Astrakhan
collar and cuffs. This he buttoned tightly up, in spite of the extreme
closeness of the night, and finished his attire by putting on a rabbit-skin cap
with hanging lappets which covered the ears, so that no part of him was visible
save his mobile and peaky face. "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 programme was evidently prearranged, for
the driver started off at once at a rapid pace. Thaddeus
"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 it was somewhere indoors:
so he worked out all the cubic space of the house, and made measurements
everywhere, so that not one inch should be unaccounted for. Among other things,
he found that the height of the building was seventy-four feet, but on adding
together the heights of all the separate rooms, and making every allowance for
the space between, which he ascertained by borings, he could not bring the
total to more than seventy feet. There were four feet unaccounted 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
upon another little garret above it, which had been sealed up and was known to
no one. In the centre stood the treasure-chest, resting upon two rafters. He
lowered it through the hole, and there it lies. He computes the value of the
jewels at not less than half a million sterling."
At
the mention of this gigantic sum we all stared at one another open-eyed. Miss
Morstan, could we secure her rights, would change from a needy governess to the
richest heiress in England. Surely it was the place of a loyal friend 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 halting words of congratulation, and then sat downcast, with my head
drooped, deaf to the babble of our new acquaintance. He was clearly a confirmed
hypochondriac, and I was dreamily conscious that he was pouring forth
interminable trains of symptoms, and imploring information as to the
composition and action of innumerable quack nostrums, some of which he bore
about in a leather case in his pocket. I trust that he may not remember any of
the answers which I gave him that night. Holmes declares that he overheard me
caution him against the great danger of taking more than two drops of castor
oil, while I recommended strychnine in large doses as a sedative. However that
may be, I was certainly relieved when our cab pulled up 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.
_______________________________________________________________
It
was nearly eleven o'clock when we reached this final stage of our night's
adventures. We had left the damp fog of the great city behind us, and the night
was fairly fine. A warm wind blew from the westward, and heavy clouds 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-lamps from 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 narrow iron-clamped door formed the only
means of entrance. On this our guide knocked with a peculiar postman-like
rat-tat.
"Who
is there?" cried a gruff voice from within.
"It
is I, McMurdo. You surely know my knock by this time."
There
was a grumbling sound and a clanking and jarring of keys. The door swung
heavily back, and a short, deep-chested man stood in the opening, with the
yellow light of the lantern shining upon his protruded face and twinkling
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 brother last 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 can let you in, but your friends
must just stop where they are."
This
was an unexpected obstacle. Thaddeus Sholto 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 pays me well to do my
duty, and my duty I'll do. I don't know none o' your friends."
 |
"Not
Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" roared the prize-fighter. "God's truth! how
could I have mistook you? If instead o' standin' there so quiet you had just
stepped up and given me that cross-hit of yours under the jaw, I'd ha' known
you without a question. Ah, you're one that has wasted your gifts, you have!
You might have aimed high, if you had joined the fancy."
"You
see, Watson, if all else fails me I have still one of the scientific
professions open to me," said Holmes, laughing. "Our friend won't
keep us out in the cold now, I am sure."
"In
you come, sir, in you come,—you and your friends," he answered. "Very
sorry, Mr. Thaddeus, but orders are very strict. Had to be certain of your
friends before I let them in."
Inside,
a gravel path wound through desolate grounds to a huge clump of a house, square
and prosaic, all plunged in shadow save where a 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 Sholto seemed
ill at ease, and the lantern quivered and rattled in his hand.
"I
cannot understand it," he said. "There must be some mistake. I
distinctly told Bartholomew that we should be here, and yet there is no light
in his window. I do not know what to make of it."
"Does
he always guard the premises in this way?" 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 more than he
"None,"
said Holmes. "But I see the glint of a light in that little window beside
the door."
"Ah,
that is the housekeeper's room. That is where old Mrs. Bernstone sits. She can
tell us all about it. But perhaps you would not mind waiting here for a minute
or two, for if we all go in together and she has no word of our coming she may
be alarmed. But hush! what is that?"
He
held up the lantern, and his hand shook until 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 there sounded
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. "She is the only woman in the house.
Wait here. I shall be back in a moment." He hurried for the door, and
knocked in his peculiar way. We could see a tall old woman admit him, and sway
with pleasure at the very sight of him.
"Oh,
Mr. Thaddeus, sir, I am so glad you have come! I am so glad you have come, Mr.
Thaddeus, sir!" We heard her reiterated rejoicings until the door was
closed and her voice died away into a muffled monotone.
Our
guide had left us the lantern. Holmes swung it slowly round, and peered keenly
at the house, and at the great rubbish-heaps which 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 other before that day,
between whom no word or even look of affection had ever passed, and yet now in
an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other. I have
marvelled at it since, but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that I
should go out to her so, and, as she has often told me, there was in her also
the instinct to turn to me for comfort and protection. So we stood hand in
hand, like two children, and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark
things that surrounded us.
"What
a strange place!" she said, looking round.
"It
looks as though all the moles in England had 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. "These are the traces of the
treasure-seekers. You must remember that they were six years looking for it. No
wonder that the grounds look like a gravel-pit."
At
that moment the door of the house burst open, and Thaddeus Sholto came running
out, with his hands thrown forward and terror in his eyes.
"There
is something amiss with Bartholomew!" he cried. "I am frightened! My
nerves cannot stand it." He was, indeed, half blubbering with fear, and
his twitching feeble face peeping out from the great Astrakhan collar had the
helpless appealing expression of a terrified child.
"Come
into the house," said Holmes, in his crisp, firm way.
"Yes,
do!" pleaded Thaddeus Sholto. "I really do not feel equal to giving
directions."
We
all followed him into the housekeeper's room, which stood upon the left-hand
side of the passage. The old woman was pacing up and down with a scared look
and restless picking fingers, but the sight of Miss Morstan appeared to 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 tried this day!"
Our
companion patted her thin, work-worn hand, and murmured some few words of
kindly womanly comfort which brought the color back into the others bloodless
cheeks.
"Master
has locked himself in and will not answer me," she explained. "All
day I have waited to hear from him, for he often likes to be alone; but an hour
ago I feared that something was amiss, so I went up and peeped through 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
never saw him with such a face on him as that."
Sherlock
Holmes took the lamp and led the way, for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were
chattering in his head. So shaken was he that I had to pass my hand under his
arm as we went up the stairs, for his knees were trembling under him. Twice as
we ascended Holmes whipped his lens out of his pocket and carefully examined
marks which appeared to me to be mere shapeless smudges of dust upon the
cocoa-nut matting which 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 the frightened housekeeper.
The
third flight of stairs ended in a straight passage of some length, with a great
picture in Indian tapestry upon the right of it and three 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 down the
corridor. The third door was that which we were seeking. Holmes knocked without
receiving any 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 against it. The key being turned, however,
the hole was not entirely closed. Sherlock Holmes bent down 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 in shadow, there
hung a face,—the very face of our companion Thaddeus. There was the same high,
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 in that 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 make sure that he was indeed with us. Then
I recalled to mind that he had mentioned to us that his brother and he were
twins.
"This
is terrible!" I said to Holmes. "What is 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, but did not yield. Together
we flung ourselves upon it once more, and this time it gave way with a sudden
snap, and we found ourselves within Bartholomew Sholto's chamber.
It
appeared to have been fitted up as a chemical laboratory. A double line of
glass-stoppered bottles was drawn up upon the wall opposite the 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
or to have been broken, for a stream of dark-colored liquid had trickled out
from it, and the air was heavy with a peculiarly pungent, tar-like odor. A set of
steps stood at one side of the room, in the midst of a litter of lath and
plaster, and above them there was an opening in the ceiling large enough for a
man to pass through. At the foot of the steps a long coil of rope was thrown
carelessly together.
By
the table, in a wooden arm-chair, the master of the house was seated all in a
heap, with his head sunk upon his left shoulder, and that ghastly, inscrutable
smile upon his face. He was stiff and cold, and had clearly been dead many
hours.
 |
It
seemed to me that not only his features but all his limbs were twisted and
turned in the most fantastic fashion. By his hand upon the table there lay a
peculiar instrument,—a brown, close-grained stick, with a stone head like a
hammer, rudely lashed on with coarse twine. Beside it was a torn sheet of
note-paper with some words scrawled upon it. Holmes glanced at it, and then
handed it to me.
"You
see," he said, with a significant raising of the eyebrows.
In
the light of the lantern I read, with a thrill of horror, "The sign of the
four."
"In
God's name, what does it all mean?" I asked.
"Mr.
Sherlock Holmes—" I began, but the words had a most magical effect, for
the window instantly slammed down, and within a minute the door was unbarred
and open. Mr. Sherman was a lanky, lean old man, with stooping shoulders, a
stringy neck, and blue-tinted glasses.
"It
means murder," said he, stooping over the dead man. "Ah, I expected
it. Look here!" He pointed to what looked like a long, dark thorn 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 be careful, 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 tiny speck 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 clears every instant. I only require
a few missing links to have an entirely connected case."
We
had almost forgotten our companion's presence since we entered the chamber. He
was still standing in the door-way, the very picture of terror, wringing his
hands and moaning to himself. Suddenly, however, he broke out into a sharp,
querulous cry.
"The
treasure is gone!" he said. "They have robbed him of the treasure!
There is the hole through which we lowered it. I helped him to do it! I was the
last person who saw him! I left him here last night, and I heard him lock the
door as I came down-stairs."
"What
time was that?"
"It
was ten o'clock. And now he is dead, and the 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 that it 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
convulsive frenzy.
"You
have no reason for fear, Mr. Sholto," said Holmes, kindly, putting his
hand upon his shoulder. "Take my advice, and drive down to the station to
The
little man obeyed in a half-stupefied fashion, and we heard him stumbling down
the stairs in the dark.
_______________________________________________________________
"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 have told you, almost
complete; but we must not err on the side of over-confidence. Simple as the
case seems now, there may be something deeper underlying it."
"Simple!"
I ejaculated.
"Surely,"
said he, with something of the air of a clinical professor expounding to his
class. "Just sit in the corner there, that your footprints may not
complicate matters. Now to work! In the first place, how did these folk come,
and how did they go? The door has not been opened since last night. How of the
window?" 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 quite out of reach. Yet a man has mounted by
the window. It rained a little last night. Here is the print of a foot in mould
upon the sill. And here is a circular muddy mark, and here again upon the
floor, and here again by the table. See here, Watson! This is really a very
pretty demonstration."
I
looked at the round, well-defined muddy discs. "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 heavy boot 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,—a very able and efficient ally. Could you
scale that wall, doctor?"
I
looked out of the open window. The moon still shone brightly on that angle of
the house. We were a good sixty feet from the ground, and, look
"It
is absolutely impossible," I answered.
"Without
aid it is so. But suppose you had a friend up here who lowered you this good
stout rope which I see in the corner, securing one 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 it
on the inside, and get away in the way that he originally came. As a minor
point it may be noted," he continued, fingering the rope, "that our
wooden-legged friend, though a fair climber, was not a professional sailor. His
hands were far from horny. My lens discloses more than one blood-mark,
especially towards the end of the rope, from which I gather that he slipped
down with such velocity that he took the skin off his hand."
"This
is all very well," said I, "but the thing becomes more unintelligible
than ever. How about this mysterious ally? How came he into the room?"
"Yes,
the ally!" repeated Holmes, pensively. "There are features of
interest about this ally. He lifts the case from the regions of the
commonplace. I fancy that this ally breaks fresh ground in the annals of crime
in this country,—though parallel cases suggest themselves from India, and, if
my memory serves me, from Senegambia."
"How
came he, then?" I reiterated. "The door is 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 impossible whatever
remains, HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must be the truth? We know that he did not come
through the door, the window, or the chimney. We also know that
"He
came through the hole in the roof," I cried.
"Of
course he did. He must have done so. If you will have the kindness to hold the
lamp for me, we shall now extend our researches to the room above,—the secret
room in which the treasure was found."
He
mounted the steps, and, seizing a rafter with either hand, he swung himself up
into the garret. Then, lying on his face, he reached down for the lamp and held
it while I followed him.
The
chamber in which we found ourselves was about ten feet one way and six the
other. The floor was formed by the rafters, with thin 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
the floor.
 |
"Here
you are, you see," said Sherlock Holmes, putting his hand against the sloping
wall. "This is a trap-door which leads out on to the 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 other traces
of his individuality."
He
held down the lamp to the floor, and as he 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 covered
thickly with the prints of a naked foot,—clear, well defined, perfectly formed,
but scarce half the size of those of an ordinary man.
"Holmes,"
I said, in a whisper, "a child has done the horrid thing."
He had recovered his self-possession in an instant. "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 more to 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 be instructive
to compare results."
"I
cannot conceive anything which will cover the facts," I answered.
"It
will be clear enough to you soon," he said, in an off-hand way. "I
think that there is nothing else of importance here, but I will look." He
whipped out his lens and a tape measure, and hurried about the room on his knees,
measuring, comparing, examining, with his long thin nose only a few inches from
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 out a scent, that I could not but think what a terrible
criminal he would have made had he turned 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 crow of delight.
"We
are certainly in luck," said he. "We ought to 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-smelling mess. 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 a trailed herring
across a shire, how far can a specially-trained hound follow so pungent a smell
as this? It sounds like a sum in the rule of three. The answer should give us
the—But halloo! here are the accredited representatives of the law."
Heavy
steps and the clamor of loud voices were audible from below, and the hall door
shut with a loud crash.
"Before they come," said Holmes, "just put your 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 extreme contraction, far exceeding the usual rigor
mortis. Coupled with this distortion of the face, this Hippocratic smile, or
'risus sardonicus,' as the old writers called it, what conclusion would 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 the instant I saw the drawn muscles of the
face. On getting into the room I at once looked for the means by which the
poison had entered the system. As you saw, I discovered a thorn which had been
driven or shot with no great force into the scalp. You observe that the part
struck was that which would be turned towards the hole in the ceiling if the
man were erect in his chair. Now examine the thorn."
I
took it up gingerly and held it in the light of the lantern. It was long,
sharp, and black, with a glazed look near the point as though some gummy
substance had dried upon it. The blunt end had been trimmed and rounded off
with a knife.
"Is
that an English thorn?" he asked.
"No,
it certainly is not."
"With
all these data you should be able to draw some just inference. But here are the
regulars: so the auxiliary forces may beat a retreat."
As
he spoke, the steps which had been coming nearer sounded loudly on the passage,
and a very stout, portly man in a gray suit strode heavily into the room. He
was red-faced, burly and plethoric, with a pair of very small twinkling eyes
which looked keenly out from between swollen and puffy pouches. He was closely
followed 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 to
be as full as a rabbit-warren!"
"I
think you must recollect me, Mr. Athelney Jones," 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 all on causes and
inferences and effects in the Bishopgate jewel case. It's true you set us on
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 to own up. But what is all this? Bad
business! Bad business! Stern facts here,—no room for theories. How lucky that
I happened to be out at Norwood over another case! I was at the station when
the message arrived. What d'you think the man died of?"
"Oh,
this is hardly a case for me to theorize over," said Holmes, dryly.
"No,
no. Still, we can't deny that you hit the nail on the head sometimes. Dear me!
Door locked, I understand. Jewels worth half a million missing. How was the
window?"
"Fastened;
but there are steps on the sill."
"Well,
well, if it was fastened the steps could have nothing to do with the matter.
That's common sense. Man might have died in a fit; but then the jewels are
missing. Ha! I have a theory. These flashes come upon me at times.—Just step
outside, sergeant, and you, Mr. Sholto. Your friend can remain.—What do you
think of this, Holmes? Sholto was, on his own confession, with his brother last
night. The brother died in a fit, on which Sholto walked off with the treasure.
How's that?"
"On
which the dead man very considerately got up and locked the door on the
inside."
"Hum! There's a flaw there. Let us apply common sense 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. No
one saw the brother from the time Thaddeus left him. His bed had not been slept
in. Thaddeus is 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 facts yet," said Holmes. "This
splinter of wood, which I have every reason to believe to be poisoned, was in
the man's scalp where you still see the mark; this card, inscribed as you 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 fat detective, pompously. "House is
full of Indian curiosities. Thaddeus brought this up, and if this splinter be
poisonous Thaddeus may as well have made murderous use of it as any other 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, and immediately 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 sots si incommodes que ceux
qui ont de l'esprit!"
"You
see!" said Athelney Jones, reappearing down the steps again. "Facts
are better than mere theories, after all. My view of the case is 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?" He seemed a little crestfallen at the
discovery. "Well, whoever noticed it, it shows how our gentleman 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 the poor 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't promise too much!"
snapped
the detective. "You may find it a harder matter than you think."
"Not
only will I clear him, Mr. Jones, but I will make you a free present of the
name and description of one of the two people who were in this room last night.
His name, I have every reason to believe, is Jonathan Small. He is a
poorly-educated man, small, active, with his right leg off, and wearing a
wooden stump which is worn away upon the inner side. His left boot has a
coarse, square-toed sole, with an iron band round the heel. He is a middle-aged
man, much sunburned, and has been a convict. These few indications may be of
some assistance to you, coupled with the fact that there is a good deal of skin
missing from the palm of his hand. The other man—"
"Ah!
the other man—?" asked Athelney Jones, in a sneering voice, but impressed
none the less, as I could easily see, by the precision of the other's manner.
"Is
a rather curious person," said Sherlock Holmes, turning upon his heel.
"I hope before very long to be able to introduce you to the pair of them.—A
word with you, Watson."
He
led me out to the head of the stair. "This unexpected occurrence," he
said, "has caused us rather to lose sight of the original purpose of 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 with Mrs. Cecil Forrester, in Lower
Camberwell: so it is not very far. I will wait for you here if you will drive
out again. Or perhaps you are too tired?"
"By no means. I don't think I could rest until I 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
my nerve completely. I should like, however, to see
the matter through with you, now that I have got so far."
"Your
presence will be of great service to me," he answered. "We shall work
the case out independently, and leave this fellow Jones to exult over any
mare's-nest which he may choose to construct. When you have dropped Miss
Morstan I wish you to go on to No. 3 Pinchin Lane, down near the water's edge
at Lambeth. 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 tell him, with my compliments, that I want Toby at once.
You will bring Toby back in the cab with you."
"A
dog, I suppose."
"Yes,—a
queer mongrel, with a most amazing power of scent. I would rather have Toby's
help than that of the whole detective force of London."
"I
shall bring him, then," said I. "It is one now. I ought to be back
before three, if I can get a fresh horse."
"And I," said Holmes, "shall see what I can learn from
Mrs. Bernstone, and from the Indian servant, who, Mr. Thaddeus tell me, sleeps
in the next garret. Then I shall study the great Jones's methods and listen to
his not too delicate sarcasms. 'Wir sind gewohnt das die Menschen verhoehnen
was sie nicht verstehen.' Goethe is always pithy."
_______________________________________________________________
The police had brought a cab with them, and in 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 herself to
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,—so sorely had she been tried by the adventures of the
night. She has told me since that she thought me cold and distant upon that
journey. She little guessed the struggle within my breast, or the effort of
self-restraint which held me back. My sympathies and my love went out to her,
even as my hand had in the garden. I felt that years of the conventionalities
of life could not teach me to know her sweet, brave nature as had this one day
of strange experiences. 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 disadvantage to obtrude love upon her at such a time.
Worse still, she was rich. If Holmes's researches were successful, she would be
an heiress. Was it fair, was it honorable, that a half-pay surgeon should take
such advantage of an intimacy which chance had brought about? Might she not
look upon me as a mere vulgar fortune-seeker? I could not bear to risk that
such a thought should cross her mind. This Agra treasure intervened like an
impassable barrier between us.
It
was nearly two o'clock when we reached Mrs. Cecil Forrester's. The servants had
retired hours ago, but Mrs. Forrester had been so interested by the strange
message which Miss Morstan had received that she had sat up in the hope of her
return. She opened the door herself, a middle-aged, graceful woman, and it gave
me joy to see how tenderly her arm stole round the other's waist and how
motherly was the voice in which she greeted her. She was clearly no mere paid
dependant, but an honored friend. I was introduced, and Mrs. Forrester
earnestly begged me to step in and tell her our adventures. I explained, however,
the importance of my errand, and promised faithfully to call and report any
progress which we might make
And
the more I thought of what had happened, the wilder and darker it grew. I
reviewed the whole extraordinary sequence of events as I rattled on through the
silent gas-lit streets. There was the original problem: that at 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
only led us, however, to a deeper and far more tragic mystery. The Indian
treasure, the curious plan found among Morstan's baggage, the strange scene at
Major Sholto's death, the rediscovery of the treasure immediately followed by
the murder of the discoverer, the very singular accompaniments to the crime,
the footsteps, the remarkable weapons, the words upon the card, corresponding
with those upon Captain Morstan's chart,—here was indeed a labyrinth in which a
man less singularly endowed than my fellow-lodger might well despair of ever
finding the clue.
Pinchin
Lane was a row of shabby two-storied brick houses in the lower quarter of
Lambeth. I had to knock for some time at No. 3 before I could make my
impression. At last, however, there was the glint of a candle behind the blind,
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 upon you."
"If
you'll let one out it's just what I have come 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."
 |
"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 and
red eyes between the bars of its cage. "Don't mind that, sir: it's only a
slow-worm. It hain'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 the children, and there's many a one just comes
down this lane to knock me up. What was it that 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." He moved slowly forward with his candle
among the queer animal family which he had gathered round 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 above
our heads were lined by solemn fowls, who lazily shifted their weight from one
leg to the other as our voices disturbed their slumbers.
Toby
proved to be an ugly, long-haired, lop-eared creature, 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 about accompanying me. It had just struck three on the Palace
clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. The ex-prize-fighter
McMurdo had, I found, been arrested as an accessory, and both he and Mr. Sholto
had been marched off to the station. Two constables guarded the narrow gate,
but they allowed me to pass with the dog on my mentioning the detective's name.
Holmes
was standing on the door-step, with his 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 the Indian
servant. We have the place to ourselves, but for a sergeant up-stairs. Leave
the dog here, and come up."
We
tied Toby to the hall table, and reascended the stairs. The room was as he had
left it, save that a sheet had been draped over the central figure. A
weary-looking police-sergeant reclined in the corner.
"Lend
me your bull's-eye, sergeant," said my 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 with you, 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 turned his 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 small woman."
"Apart
from their size, though. Is there nothing else?"
"They
appear to be much as other footmarks."
"Not
at all. Look here! This is the print of a right foot in the dust. Now I make
one with my naked foot beside it. What is the chief difference?"
"Your
toes are all cramped together. The other print has each toe distinctly
divided."
"Quite so. That is the point. Bear that in mind. 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 conscious of a strong tarry smell.
"That
is where he put his foot in getting out. If YOU can trace him, I should think
that Toby will have no difficulty. Now run down-stairs, loose the dog, and look
out for Blondin."
By
the time that I got out into the grounds Sherlock Holmes was on the roof, and I
could see him like an enormous glow-worm crawling very slowly along the ridge.
I lost sight of him behind a stack of chimneys, but he presently reappeared,
and then vanished once more upon the opposite side. When I made my way 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 thing down there?"
"A
water-barrel."
"Top
on it?"
"Yes."
"No
sign of a ladder?"
"No."
"Confound
the fellow! It's a most break-neck place. I ought to be able to come down where
he could climb up. The water-pipe feels pretty firm. Here goes, anyhow."
There
was a scuffling of feet, and the lantern began to come steadily down the side
of the wall. Then with a light spring he came on to the barrel, and from there
to the earth.
"It was easy to follow him," he said, drawing on his stockings
and boots. "Tiles were loosened the whole way along, and in his hurry he
had dropped this. It confirms my diagnosis, as you doctors express it."
The
object which he held up to me was a small pocket 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. "Look out that you don't prick
yourself. I'm delighted to have them, for the chances are that they are 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! Smell it, Toby, smell it!" He pushed the
creasote handkerchief under the dog's nose, while the creature 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
handkerchief to a distance, fastened a stout cord to the mongrel's collar, and
led him to the foot of
the water-barrel. The creature instantly broke into a
succession of high, tremulous yelps, and, with his nose on the ground, and his
tail in the air, pattered off upon the trail at a pace which strained his leash
and kept us at the top of our speed.
 |
The
east had been gradually whitening, and we could now see some distance in the
cold gray light. The square, massive house, with its black, empty windows and
high, bare walls, towered up, sad and forlorn, behind us. Our course led right
across the grounds, in and out among the trenches and pits with which they were
scarred and intersected. The whole place, with its scattered dirt-heaps and
ill-grown shrubs, had a blighted, ill-omened look which harmonized with the
black tragedy which hung over it.
On reaching the boundary wall Toby ran along, whining eagerly,
underneath its shadow, and stopped finally in a corner screened by a young
beech. Where the two walls joined, several bricks had been loosened, and the crevices left were worn down and rounded upon
the lower side, as though they had frequently been used as a ladder. Holmes
clambered up, and, taking the dog from me, he dropped it over upon the other
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 white plaster. 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 when I 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 on in his
peculiar rolling fashion. Clearly, the pungent smell of the creasote rose high
above all other contending scents.
"Do
not imagine," said Holmes, "that I depend for my success in this case
upon the mere chance of one of these fellows having put his foot in the
chemical. I have knowledge now which would enable me to trace them in many
different ways. This, however, is the readiest and, since fortune has put it
into our hands, I should be culpable if I neglected it. It has, however,
prevented the case from becoming the pretty little intellectual problem which
it at one time promised to be. There might have been some credit to be gained
out of it, but for this too palpable clue."
"There
is credit, and to spare," said I. "I assure 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 deeper and
more inexplicable. How, for example, could you describe with such confidence
the wooden-legged man?"
"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 command
of a convict-guard learn an important secret as to buried treasure. A map is
drawn for them by an Englishman named Jonathan Small. You remember that we saw
the name upon the chart in Captain Morstan's possession. He had signed it in
behalf of himself and his associates,—the sign of the four, as he somewhat
dramatically called it. Aided by this 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, why did not
Jonathan Small get the treasure himself? The answer is obvious. The chart is
dated at a time when Morstan was brought into close association with convicts.
Jonathan Small did not get the treasure because he and his associates were
themselves convicts and could not get away."
"But
that is mere speculation," said I.
"It
is more than that. It is the only hypothesis which covers the facts. Let us see
how it fits in with the sequel. Major Sholto remains at peace for some years,
happy in the possession of his treasure. Then he receives a letter from India
which gives him a great fright. What was that?"
"A
letter to say that the men whom he had wronged 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 a surprise to him. What does he do
then? He guards himself against a wooden-legged man,—a white man, mark you, for
he mistakes a white tradesman for him, and actually fires a pistol at 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-legged man 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 place of Jonathan Small. Let us look at it
from his point of view. He comes to England with the double idea of regaining
what he would consider to be his rights and of having his revenge upon the man
who had wronged him. He found out where Sholto lived, and very possibly 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. Small could not find out, however, where the treasure was hid,
for no one ever knew, save the major and 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
"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 against Bartholomew
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 savage instincts of his companion had broken out, and the poison had done
its work: so Jonathan Small left his record, lowered the treasure-box to the
ground, and followed it himself. That was the train of events as far as I can
decipher them. Of course as to his personal appearance he must be middle-aged,
and must be sunburned after serving his time in such an oven as the Andamans.
His height is readily calculated from the length of his stride, and we know
that he was bearded. His hairiness
was the one point which impressed itself upon Thaddeus Sholto when he saw him
at the window. I don't know that there is anything else."
"What
now?" I asked. "Toby has lost his character for infallibility."
"What
is it, my man?" I asked.
"Well,
Jonathan Small," said Holmes, lighting a cigar, "I am sorry that it
has come to this."
"Very
clearly."
"Now,
what could Jonathan Small do? He could only continue to keep a secret watch
upon the efforts made to find the treasure. Possibly he leaves England and only
comes back at intervals. Then comes the discovery of the garret, and he 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 Bartholomew Sholto. 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-pay officer with a
damaged tendo Achillis."
"But
it was the associate, and not Jonathan, who committed the crime."
"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 that one little cloud floats like
a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. Now the red rim of 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 petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces
of nature! Are you well up in your Jean Paul?"
"Fairly
so. I worked back to him through Carlyle."
"That
was like following the brook to the parent lake. He makes one curious but
profound remark. It is that the chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his
perception of his own smallness. It argues, you see, a power of comparison and
of appreciation which is in itself a proof of nobility. There is much food for
thought in Richter. You have not a pistol, have you?"
"I
have my stick."
"It
is just possible that we may need something of the sort if we get to their
lair. Jonathan I shall leave to you, but if the other turns nasty I shall shoot
him dead." He took out his revolver as he spoke, and, having loaded two of
the chambers, he put it back into the right-hand pocket of his jacket.
We
had during this time been following the guidance 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 already
astir, and slatternly women were taking down shutters and brushing door-steps.
At the square-topped corner public houses business was just beginning, and
rough-looking men were emerging, rubbing their sleeves across their beards
after their morning wet. Strange dogs sauntered up and stared wonderingly at us
as we passed, but our inimitable Toby looked neither to the right nor to the
left, but trotted onwards with his nose to the ground and an occasional eager
whine which spoke of a hot scent
"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," I suggested.
"Ah!
it's all right. He's off again," said my companion, in a tone of relief.
He
was indeed off, for after sniffing round again he suddenly made up his mind,
and darted away with an energy and determination such as he had not yet shown.
The
scent appeared to be much hotter than before, for he had not even to put his
nose on the ground, but tugged at his leash and tried to break into a run. I
cold see by the gleam in Holmes's eyes that he thought we were nearing the end
of our journey.
Our
course now ran down Nine Elms until we came to Broderick and Nelson's large
timber-yard, just past the White Eagle tavern. Here the dog, 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 triumphant yelp, sprang upon a
large barrel which still stood upon the hand-trolley on which it had been
brought. With lolling tongue and blinking eyes, Toby stood upon the cask,
looking from one to the other of us for some sign of appreciation.
The
staves of the barrel and the wheels of the trolley were smeared with a dark
liquid, and the whole air was heavy with the smell of creasote.
Sherlock
Holmes and I looked blankly at each other, and then burst simultaneously into
an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
 |
"He
acted according to his lights," said Holmes, lifting him down from the
barrel and walking him out of the timber-yard. "If you consider how much
creasote is carted about London in one day, it is no great wonder that our
trail should 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 distance to go. Evidently what puzzled the dog at
the corner of Knight's Place was that there were two different trails running
in opposite directions. We took the wrong one. It only remains to follow the
other."
There
was no difficulty about this. On leading Toby to the place where he had
committed his fault, he cast about in a wide circle and finally dashed off in a
fresh direction.
"We
must take care that he does not now bring us to the place where the
creasote-barrel came from," I observed.
"I
had thought of that. But you notice that he keeps on the pavement, whereas the
barrel passed down the roadway. No, we are on the true scent now."
It
tended down towards the river-side, running through Belmont Place and Prince's
Street. At the end of Broad Street it ran right down to the water's edge, where
there was a small wooden wharf. Toby led us to the very edge of this, and there
stood whining, looking out on the dark current beyond.
"We are out of luck," said Holmes. "They have taken to a
boat here." Several small punts and skiffs were lying about in the water
and on 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 small brick 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 or
day." A second inscription above the door informed us that a steam launch
was kept,—a statement which was confirmed by a great pile of coke upon the
jetty. Sherlock Holmes looked slowly round, and his face assumed an ominous
expression.
"This
looks bad," said he. "These fellows are 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 a stoutish, 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'll let 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 like a shillin'," said he.
"Nothing
you would like better?"
"I'd
like two shillin' better," the prodigy answered, 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 disappointed voice. "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 about a boat, sir,
maybe I could serve as well."
"I
wanted to hire his steam launch."
"Why,
bless you, sir, it is in the steam launch that he has gone. That's what puzzles
me; for I know there ain't more coals in her than would take her to about
Woolwich and back. If he'd been away in the barge I'd ha' thought nothin'; for
many a time a job has taken him as far as Gravesend, and then if there was much
doin' there he might ha' stayed over. But what good is a steam launch without
coals?"
"He
might have bought some at a wharf down the river."
"He
might, sir, but it weren't his way. Many a time I've heard him call out at the
prices they charge for a few odd bags. Besides, I don't like that wooden-legged
man, wi' his ugly face and outlandish talk. What did he want always knockin'
about here for?"
"A
wooden-legged man?" said Holmes, with bland surprise.
"Yes,
sir, a brown, monkey-faced chap that's called more'n once for my old man. It
was him that roused him up yesternight, and, what's more, 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, shrugging his shoulders, "You are
frightening yourself about nothing. How could you possibly tell that it was the
wooden-legged man who came in the night? I don't quite understand how you can
be so sure."
"His
voice, sir. I knew his voice, which is kind o' thick and foggy. He tapped at
the winder,—about three it would be. 'Show a leg, matey,' says he: 'time to
turn out guard.' My old man woke up Jim,—that's my eldest,—and away 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 hear no one else."
"I
am sorry, Mrs. Smith, for I wanted a steam launch, 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 with a yellow line, very broad in the
beam?"
"No,
indeed. She's as trim a little thing as any on the river. She's been fresh
painted, black with two red streaks."
"Thanks.
I hope that you will hear soon from Mr. Smith. I am going down the river; and
if I should see anything of the Aurora I shall let 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 were black. Good-morning, Mrs. Smith.—There
is a boatman here with a wherry, Watson. We shall take 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 their information can be
of the slightest importance to you. If you do, they will instantly shut up like
an oyster. If you listen to them under protest, as it were, you are very likely
to get what you want."
"Our
course now seems pretty clear," said I.
"What
would you do, then?"
"I
would engage a launch and go down the river on 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 take you days and
days to exhaust them, if you set about it alone."
"Employ
the police, then."
"No. I shall probably call Athelney Jones in at the last moment. He
is not a bad fellow, and I should not like to do anything which would injure
him professionally. But I have a fancy for working it out myself, now that we
have gone so far."
"Could
we advertise, then, asking for information from wharfingers?"
"Worse
and worse! Our men would know that the 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 they will be in no hurry. Jones's
energy will be of use to us there, for his view of the case is sure to push
itself into the daily press, and the runaways will think that every one is off
on the wrong scent."
"What
are we to do, then?" I asked, as we landed 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 resumed our
journey.
"I
am sure I don't know."
"You
remember the Baker Street division of the detective police force whom I
employed in the Jefferson Hope case?"
"Well,"
said I, laughing.
"This
is just the case where they might be invaluable. If they fail, I have other
resources; but I shall try them first. That wire was to my dirty little
lieutenant, Wiggins, and I expect that he and his gang will be with us 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. I was limp and
weary, befogged in mind and fatigued in body. I had not the professional
enthusiasm which carried my companion on, nor could I look at the matter as a
mere abstract intellectual problem. 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 different matter. That, or part of
it, belonged rightfully to Miss Morstan. While there was a chance of recovering
it I was ready to devote my life to the one object. True, if I found it it would probably put her forever
beyond my reach. Yet it would be a petty and selfish love which would be
influenced by such a thought as that. If Holmes could work to find the
criminals, I had a tenfold stronger reason to urge me on to find the treasure.
A
bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully. When I
came down to our room I found the breakfast laid and Homes pouring out the
coffee.
"Here
it is," said he, laughing, and pointing to an open newspaper. "The
energetic Jones and the ubiquitous reporter have fixed it up 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 short notice, which was headed
"Mysterious Business at Upper Norwood."
"About
twelve o'clock last night," said the Standard, "Mr. Bartholomew
Sholto, of Pondicherry Lodge, Upper Norwood, was found dead in his room under
circumstances which point to foul play. As far as we can learn, no actual
traces of violence were found upon Mr. Sholto's person, but a valuable
collection of Indian gems which the deceased gentleman had inherited from his
father has been carried off. The discovery was first made by Mr. Sherlock
Holmes and Dr. Watson, who had called at the house with Mr. Thaddeus Sholto,
brother of the deceased. By a singular piece of good fortune, Mr. Athelney
Jones, the well-known member of the detective police force, happened to be at
the Norwood Police Station, and was on the ground within half an hour of the
first alarm. His trained and experienced faculties were at once directed
towards the detection of the criminals, with the gratifying result that the
brother, Thaddeus Sholto, has already been arrested, together with 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 with the house, for Mr. Jones's well-known technical knowledge
and his powers of minute observation have enabled him to prove conclusively
that the miscreants could not have entered by the door 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 was found.
This fact,
"Isn't
it gorgeous!" said Holmes, grinning over his coffee-cup. "What do you
think of it?"
"I
think that we have had a close shave ourselves of being arrested for the
crime."
"So
do I. I wouldn't answer for our safety now, if he should happen to have another
of his attacks of energy."
At
this moment there was a loud ring at the bell, and I could hear Mrs. Hudson, our
landlady, raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and 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 is the unofficial force,—the Baker Street
irregulars."
As
he spoke, there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs, a clatter
of high voices, and in rushed a dozen dirty and ragged little street-Arabs.
There was some show of discipline among them, despite their tumultuous entry,
for they instantly drew up in line and stood facing us with expectant faces.
One of their number, taller and older than the others, stood forward with an
air of 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 some silver. "In future they can
report to you, Wiggins, and you to me. I cannot have the house invaded in
"Yes,
guv'nor," said Wiggins.
"The
old scale of pay, and a guinea to the boy who finds the boat. Here's a day in
advance. Now off you go!" He handed them a shilling each, and away they
buzzed down the stairs, and I saw them a moment later streaming down the
street.
"If
the launch is above water they will find her," 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 spotted her.
In the mean while, we can do nothing but await results. We cannot pick up the
broken trail 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 going to 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
so common, 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,—to you, anyway. But you must have formed
your own opinion. Now, do consider the data. Diminutive footmarks, 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 those Indians
who were the associates of Jonathan Small."
 |
"Hardly
that," said he. "When first I saw signs of strange weapons I was
inclined to think so; but the remarkable character of the footmarks caused me
to reconsider my views. Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are
small men, but none could have left such marks as that. The Hindoo proper has
long and thin feet. The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well
separated from the others, because the thong is commonly passed between. These
little darts, too, could only be 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 a bulky volume from the shelf. "This
is the first volume of a gazetteer which is now being published. It may be
looked upon as the very latest authority. What have we here? 'Andaman Islands,
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, Rutland Island, cottonwoods—Ah, here we are. 'The aborigines
of the Andaman Islands may perhaps claim the distinction of being the smallest
race upon this earth, though some anthropologists prefer the Bushmen of Africa,
the Digger Indians of America, and the Terra del Fuegians. The average height
is rather below four feet, although many full-grown adults may be found who 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, are remarkably small. So
intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the British official
have failed to win them over in any degree. They have always been a terror to
shipwrecked crews, braining the survivors with their stone-headed clubs, or
shooting them 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 this affair might have taken an even
more ghastly turn. I fancy that, even as it is, Jonathan Small 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 very wonderful that this
islander should be with him. No doubt we shall know all about it in time. Look
here, Watson; you look regularly done. Lie down there on the sofa, and see if I
can put you to sleep."
He took up his violin from the corner, and as 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 remembrance of his gaunt
limbs, his earnest face, and the rise and fall of his bow. Then I seemed to 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.
_______________________________________________________________
It
was late in the afternoon before I woke, strengthened and refreshed. Sherlock
Holmes still sat exactly as I had left him, save that he had laid aside his
violin and was deep in a book. He looked across at me, as I stirred, and I
noticed that his face was dark and troubled.
"You
have slept soundly," he said. "I feared that our talk would wake
you."
"I
heard nothing," I answered. "Have you had fresh news, then?"
"Unfortunately,
no. I confess that I am surprised and disappointed. I expected something
definite by this time. Wiggins has just been up to report. He says that no
trace can be found of the launch. It is a provoking check, for every 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 can do what you will, but I must remain
on guard."
"Then
I shall run over to Camberwell and call upon Mrs. Cecil Forrester. She asked me
to, yesterday."
"On
Mrs. Cecil Forrester?" asked Holmes, with the twinkle of a smile in his
eyes.
"Well,
of course Miss Morstan too. They were anxious 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 atrocious sentiment. "I shall be
back in an hour or two," I remarked.
"All
right! Good luck! But, I say, if you are crossing the river you may as well
return Toby, for I don't think it is at all likely that 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 Camberwell I found Miss Morstan a
little weary after her night's adventures, but very eager to hear the news.
Mrs.
Forrester, too, was full of curiosity. I told them all that we had done,
suppressing, however, the more dreadful parts of the tragedy. Thus, although I
spoke of Mr. Sholto's death, I said nothing of the exact manner and method of
it. With all my omissions, however, there was enough to startle and amaze them.
"It
is a romance!" cried Mrs. Forrester. "An injured 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," added Miss Morstan, with a bright
glance at me.
"Why,
Mary, your fortune depends upon the issue of this search. I don't think that
you are nearly excited enough. Just imagine what it must be to be so rich, and
to have the world at your feet!"
It
sent a little thrill of joy to my heart to notice that she showed no sign of
elation at the prospect. On the contrary, she gave a 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 kindly and
honorably throughout. It is our duty to clear him of this dreadful and
unfounded charge."
It was evening before I left Camberwell, and quite 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 gone out," I said to Mrs. Hudson as
she came up to lower the blinds.
"No,
sir. He has gone to his room, sir. Do you 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 was gone he walked and he walked, up and
down, and up and down, until I was weary of the sound of his footstep. Then I
heard him talking to himself and muttering, and every time the bell rang out he
came on the stairhead, with 'What is that, Mrs. Hudson?' And now he has slammed
off to his room, but I can hear him walking away the same as ever. I hope he's
not going to be ill, sir. I ventured to say something to him about cooling
medicine, but he 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 to be uneasy, Mrs. Hudson," I
answered. "I have seen him like this before. He has some small matter 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 heard the dull sound of his tread, and knew how his keen
spirit was chafing against this involuntary inaction.
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," I remarked. "I heard you marching
about in the night."
"No, I could not sleep," he answered. "This infernal
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 can get 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. Smith heard of her husband. I shall come to the
conclusion soon that they have scuttled the craft. But there are objections to
that."
"Or
that Mrs. Smith has put us on a wrong scent."
"No,
I think that may be dismissed. I had inquiries made, and there is a launch of
that description."
"Could
it have gone up the river?"
"I
have considered that possibility too, and there 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 us either from Wiggins or from the other
agencies. There were articles in most of the papers upon the Norwood tragedy.
They all appeared to be rather hostile to the unfortunate Thaddeus Sholto. No
fresh details were to be found, however, in any of them, save that an inquest
was to be held upon the following day. I walked over to Camberwell in the
evening to report our 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 abstruse chemical analysis which involved much
heating of retorts and distilling of vapors, ending at last in a smell which
fairly drove me out of the apartment. Up to the small hours of the morning I
could hear the clinking of his test-tubes which told me that he was still
engaged in his malodorous experiment.
In
the early dawn I woke with a start, and was 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 worth trying, at all
events."
"Surely
I can come with you, then?" said I.
"No;
you can be much more useful if you will remain here as my representative. I am
loath to go, for it is quite on the cards that some message may come during the
day, though Wiggins was despondent about
"Most
certainly."
"I
am afraid that you will not be able to wire 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
that the 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 could have been in any way concerned in the matter. He and
the housekeeper, Mrs. Bernstone, were both released yesterday evening. It is
believed, however, that the police have a clue as to the real culprits, and
that it is being prosecuted by Mr. Athelney Jones, of Scotland Yard, with all
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, but at 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 in the steam launch Aurora, black with two red
stripes, funnel black with a white band, the sum of five pounds will be paid to
any one who can give information to Mrs. Smith, at Smith's Wharf, or at 221b
Baker Street, as to the whereabouts of the said Mordecai Smith and the launch
Aurora."
This was clearly Holmes's doing. The Baker Street address was enough to
prove that. It struck me as rather ingenious, because it might be read by the
fugitives without their seeing in it more than the natural anxiety of a wife
for her missing husband.
It
was a long day. Every time that a knock came to the door, or a sharp step
passed in the street, I imagined that it was either Holmes returning or an
answer to his advertisement. I tried to read, but my thoughts would wander off
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 suffering from some huge self-deception? Was it not
possible that his nimble and speculative mind had 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, to fall into
error through the over-refinement of his logic,— his preference for a subtle
and 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 reasons for his deductions. When I looked back on the long chain of
curious circumstances, many of them trivial in themselves, but all tending in
the same direction, I could not disguise from myself that even if Holmes's
explanation were incorrect the true theory must be equally outre and startling.
At
three o'clock in the afternoon there was a loud peal at the bell, an
authoritative voice in the hall, and, to my surprise, no less 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 so
confidently at Upper Norwood. His expression was downcast, and his bearing meek
and even apologetic.
"Good-day,
sir; good-day," said he. "Mr. Sherlock Holmes is out, I
understand."
"Yes,
and I cannot be sure when he will be back. 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 the time of year; and I have had a good deal
to worry and try me. You know my theory about this 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 the middle of it. He was able
to prove an alibi which could not be shaken. From the time that he left his
brother's room he was never out of sight of some one or other. So it could not
be he who climbed over roofs and through trap-doors. It's a very dark case, and
my professional 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 wonderful man, 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 that he
could not throw a light upon. He is irregular in his methods, and a little
quick perhaps in jumping at theories, but, on the whole, I think he would have
made a most promising officer, and I don't care who knows it. I have had a wire
from him this morning, by which I understand that he has got some clue to this
Sholto business. Here is the message."
He
took the telegram out of his pocket, and handed it to me. It was dated from
Poplar at twelve o'clock. "Go to Baker Street at once," it said.
"If I have not returned, wait for me. I am close on the track of the
Sholto gang. You can come with us to-night if you want to be in at the
finish."
"This
sounds well. He has evidently picked up the scent again," said I.
"Ah,
then he has been at fault too," exclaimed Jones, with evident
satisfaction. "Even the best of us are thrown off sometimes. Of course
this may prove to be a false alarm; but it is my duty as an officer of the law
to allow no 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 made his 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 his throat. 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 the air into his lungs. He had a colored scarf round his chin,
and I could see little of his 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 fallen into years and
poverty.
 |
He
looked about him in the slow methodical fashion of old age.
"Is
Mr. Sherlock Holmes here?" said he.
"No;
but I am acting for him. You can tell me 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 knows where 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 day to 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 Athelney Jones got in front of him.
"Wait a bit, my friend," said he. "You have important
information, and you must not walk off. We shall keep you, whether you like or
not, until our friend returns."
The
old man made a little run towards the door, but, as Athelney Jones put his
broad back up against it, he recognized the uselessness of 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 in my life, seize me and treat
me in this fashion!"
"You
will be none the worse," I said. "We shall recompense you for the
loss of your time. Sit over here on the sofa, and you will not have long to
wait."
He
came across sullenly enough, and seated himself 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 Holmes sitting close to us with an air of
quiet amusement.
"Holmes!"
I exclaimed. "You here! But where is the old man?"
"Here
is the old man," said he, holding out a heap of white hair. "Here he
is,—wig, whiskers, eyebrows, and all. I thought my disguise 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, and those weak legs
of yours are worth ten pound a week. I thought I knew the glint of your eye,
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 know me,—especially
since our friend here took to publishing some of my cases: so I can only go 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 to release two of my
prisoners, and there is no evidence against the other two."
"Never
mind. We shall give you two others in the place of them. But you must put
yourself under my orders. You are welcome to all the official 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 want a fast police-boat—a steam launch—to be
at the Westminster Stairs at seven o'clock."
"That
is easily managed. There is always one about there; but I can step across the
road and telephone to make sure."
"Then
I shall want two stanch men, in case of resistance."
"There
will be two or three in the boat. What else?"
"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 young lady 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 at it. The treasure must
afterwards be handed over to the authorities until after the official
investigation."
"Certainly.
That is easily managed. One other point. I should much like to have a few
details about this matter from the lips of Jonathan Small himself. You know I
like to work the detail of my cases out. There is no objection to 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. I have had no proof yet of the existence of
this Jonathan Small. However, if you can catch him 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 with us. It will be ready in half an hour. I
have oysters and a brace of grouse, with something a little choice in white
wines.—Watson, you have never yet recognized my merits as a housekeeper."
_______________________________________________________________
Our
meal was a merry one. Holmes could talk exceedingly well when he chose, and
that night he did choose. He appeared to be in a state of nervous exaltation. I
have never known him so brilliant. He spoke on a quick succession of subjects,—on
miracle-plays, on medieval pottery, on Stradivarius violins, on the Buddhism of
Ceylon, and on the war-ships of the future,—handling each as though he had made
a special study of it. His bright humor marked the reaction from his black
depression of the preceding days. Athelney Jones proved to be a sociable soul
in his hours of relaxation, and faced his dinner with the air of a bon vivant.
For myself, I felt elated at the thought that we were nearing the end of our
task, and I caught something of Holmes's gaiety. None of us alluded during
dinner to the cause which had brought us together.
When
the cloth was cleared, Holmes glanced at his watch, and filled up three glasses
with port. "One bumper," said he, "to the success 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 to be 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 reached the 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 man at the rudder, one to tend
the engines, and two burly police-inspectors forward.
"Where to?" asked Jones.
"To
the Tower. Tell them to stop opposite Jacobson's Yard."
Our
craft was evidently a very fast one. We shot past the long lines of loaded
barges as though they were stationary. Holmes smiled with satisfaction as we
overhauled a river steamer and left her behind us.
"We
ought to be able to catch anything on the river," he said. "Well,
hardly that. But there are not many launches to beat us."
"We
shall have to catch the Aurora, and she has a name for being a clipper. I will
tell you how the land lies, Watson. You recollect how annoyed I was at being
balked by so small a thing?"
"Yes."
"Well,
I gave my mind a thorough rest by plunging into a chemical analysis. One of our
greatest statesmen has said that a change of work is the best rest. So it is.
When I had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon which I was at work at, I
came back to our problem of the Sholtos, and thought the whole matter out
again. My boys had been up the river and down the river without result. The
launch was not at any landing-stage or wharf, nor had it returned. Yet it could
hardly have been scuttled to hide their traces,— though that always remained as
a possible hypothesis if all else failed. I knew this man Small had a certain
degree of low cunning, but I did not think him capable of anything in the
nature of delicate finesse. That is usually a product of higher education. I
then reflected that since he had certainly been in London some time—as we had
evidence that he maintained a continual watch over Pondicherry Lodge—he could
hardly leave at a moment's notice, but would need some little time, if it were
only a day, to arrange his affairs. That was the balance of probability, at any
rate."
"It
seems to me to be a little weak," said I. "It is more probable that
he had arranged his affairs before ever he set out upon his expedition."
"No, I hardly think so. This lair of his would be too valuable a
retreat in case of need for him to give it up until he was sure that he could
do without it. But a second consideration struck me. Jonathan Small must have
felt that the peculiar appearance of his companion, however much he may have
top-coated
him, would give rise to gossip, and possibly be associated with this Norwood
tragedy. He was quite sharp enough 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 people would be about in an
hour or so. Therefore, I argued, they did not go very far. They paid Smith well
to hold his tongue, reserved his launch for the final escape, and hurried to
their lodgings with the treasure-box. In a couple of nights, when they had time
to see what view the papers took, and whether there was any suspicion, they
would make their way under cover of darkness to some ship at Gravesend or in
the Downs, where no doubt they had already arranged for passages to America or
the Colonies."
"But
the launch? They could not have taken that to their lodgings."
"Quite
so. I argued that the launch must be no great way off, in spite of its
invisibility. I then put myself in the place of Small, and looked at it as a
man of his capacity would. He would probably consider that to send back the
launch or to keep it at a wharf would make pursuit easy if the police did
happen to 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 way of doing it. I might land the launch over
to some boat-builder or repairer, with directions to make a trifling change in
her. She would then be removed to his shed or yard, and so be 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 which are extremely liable to be overlooked.
However, I determined to act on the idea. I started at 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 over to 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 the red streaks.' At that moment who should
come down but Mordecai Smith, the missing
"You
have planned it all very neatly, whether they are the right men or not,"
said Jones; "but if the affair were in my hands I should have had a body
of police in Jacobson's Yard, and arrested them when they came down."
"Which
would have been never. This man Small is a pretty shrewd fellow. He would send
a scout on ahead, and if anything made him suspicious lie 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 as he has liquor and good pay,
why should he ask questions? They send him messages what to 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 City the last rays of the sun
were gilding the cross upon the summit of St. Paul's. It was twilight before we
reached the Tower.
"That
is Jacobson's Yard," said Holmes, pointing to a bristle of masts and
rigging on the Surrey side. "Cruise gently up and down here under cover of
this string of lighters." He took a pair of night-glasses from his pocket
and gazed some time at the shore. "I see my sentry at his post," he
remarked, "but no sign of a handkerchief."
"Suppose
we go down-stream a short way and lie in wait for them," said Jones,
eagerly. We were all eager by this time, even the policemen and 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 be certain. From
this point we can see the entrance of the yard, and they can hardly see us. It
will be a clear night and plenty of light. We must stay where we are. See how
the folk swarm over yonder in the gaslight."
 |
"They
are coming from work in the yard."
"Dirty-looking
rascals, but I suppose every one has some little immortal spark concealed about
him. You would not think it, to look at them. There is no a priori probability
about it. A strange enigma is man!"
"Some
one calls him a soul concealed in an animal," I suggested.
"Winwood
Reade is good upon the subject," said Holmes. "He remarks that, while
the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a
mathematical certainty. You can, for example, never foretell what any one man
will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to.
Individuals vary, 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 see him plainly."
"And
there is the Aurora," exclaimed Holmes, "and going like the devil!
Full speed ahead, engineer. Make after that launch with the yellow light. By
heaven, I shall never forgive myself if she proves to have the heels of
us!"
She
had slipped unseen through the yard-entrance and passed behind two or three
small craft, so that she had fairly got her speed up before we saw her. Now she
was flying down the stream, near in to the shore, going at a tremendous rate.
Jones looked gravely at her and shook his head.
"She
is very fast," he said. "I doubt if we shall catch her."
"We
MUST catch her!" cried Holmes, between his teeth. "Heap it on,
stokers! Make her do all she can! If we burn the boat we must have them!"
We
were fairly after her now. The furnaces roared, and the powerful engines
whizzed and clanked, like a great metallic heart. Her sharp, steep prow cut
through the river-water and sent two rolling waves to right and to left 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
front of us. Right ahead a dark blur upon the water showed where the Aurora
lay, and the swirl of 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 hailed us out of the darkness, but still
the Aurora thundered on, and still we followed close upon 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, with his eyes on the Aurora.
"I
am sure of it," said I. "We shall be up with her in a very few
minutes."
At that moment, however, as our evil fate would have it, a tug with
three barges in tow blundered in between us. It was only by putting our helm
hard down that we avoided a collision, and before we could round them and
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. Our boilers were strained to their utmost, and the frail
shell vibrated and creaked with the fierce energy which was driving us along.
We had shot through the Pool, past the West India 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 upon her 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 whether we were really pursuing them, but now as
we followed every winding and turning which they took there could no longer be
any question about it. At Greenwich we were about three hundred paces behind
them. At Blackwall we could not have been more than two hundred and 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 hear the panting and clanking of their machinery. The man in the
stern still crouched upon the deck, and his arms were moving as though he were
busy, while every now and then he would look up and measure with a glance the
distance which still separated us. Nearer we came and nearer. 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 Barking
Level upon one side and the melancholy Plumstead Marshes upon the other. At our
hail the man in the stern sprang up from the deck and shook his two clinched
fists at us, cursing the while in a high, cracked voice. He was a good-sized,
powerful man, and as he stood poising himself with legs astride I could see
that from the thigh downwards there was but a wooden stump upon the right side.
At the sound of his strident, angry cries there was movement in the huddled
bundle upon the deck. It straightened itself into a little black man—the
smallest I have ever seen—with a great, misshapen head and a shock of tangled,
dishevelled hair. Holmes had already drawn his revolver, and I whipped out mine
at the sight of this savage, distorted creature. He was wrapped in some sort of
dark ulster or blanket, which left only his face exposed; but that face was
enough to give a man a sleepless night. Never have I seen features so deeply
marked with all bestiality and cruelty. His small eyes glowed and burned with a
sombre light, and his thick lips were writhed back from his teeth, which
grinned and 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 our quarry. 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 yellow
teeth gnashing at us in the light of our lantern.
It was well that we had so clear a view of him.
Even as we looked he plucked out from under his covering a short, round piece
of wood, 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 into the stream. I caught one glimpse of his venomous, menacing
eyes amid the white swirl of the waters. At the same moment the wooden-legged
man threw himself upon the rudder and put it hard down, so that his boat made
straight in for the southern bank, while we shot past her stern, only clearing
her by a few feet. We were round after her in an instant, but she was already
nearly at the bank. It was a wild and desolate place, where the moon glimmered
upon a wide expanse of marsh-land, with pools of stagnant water and beds of
decaying vegetation. The launch with a dull thud ran up upon the mud-bank, with
her bow in the air and her stern flush with the water. The fugitive sprang out,
but his stump instantly sank its whole length into the sodden soil. In vain he
struggled and writhed. Not one step 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 his wooden pin the deeper into the
sticky bank. When we brought our launch alongside he was so firmly anchored
that it was only by throwing the end of a rope over his shoulders that we were
able to haul him out, and to drag him, like some evil fish, over our side. The
two Smiths, father and son, sat sullenly in their launch, but came aboard
meekly enough when commanded. The Aurora herself we hauled off and made fast to
our stern. A solid iron chest of Indian workmanship stood upon the deck. This,
there could be no question, was the 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 we steamed slowly
up-stream again, we flashed our search-light in every direction, but there was
no sign of the Islander. Somewhere in the dark ooze at the bottom of the Thames
lie the bones of that strange visitor to our shores.
"See
here," said Holmes, pointing to the wooden hatchway. "We were hardly
quick enough with our pistols." There, sure enough, just behind where we
had been standing, stuck one of those murderous darts which we knew so well. It
must have whizzed between us at the instant that we fired. Holmes smiled at it
and shrugged his shoulders in his easy fashion, but I confess that it turned me
sick to think of the horrible death which had passed so close to us that night.
_______________________________________________________________
Our
captive sat in the cabin opposite to the iron box which he had done so much and
waited so long to gain. He was a sunburned, reckless-eyed fellow, with a
net-work of lines and wrinkles all over his mahogany features, which told of a
hard, open-air life. There was a singular prominence about his bearded chin
which marked a man who was not to be easily turned from his purpose. His age
may have been fifty or thereabouts, for his black, curly hair was thickly shot
with gray. His face in repose was not an unpleasing one, though his heavy brows
and aggressive chin gave him, as I had lately seen, a terrible expression when
moved to anger. He sat now with his handcuffed hands upon his lap, and his head
sunk upon his breast, while he looked with his keen, twinkling eyes at the box
which had been the cause of his ill-doings. It seemed to me that there was more
sorrow than anger in his rigid and contained countenance. Once he looked up at
me with a gleam of something like humor in his eyes.
 |
"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 I never raised hand
against Mr. Sholto. It was that little hell-hound Tonga who shot one of his
cursed darts into him. I had no part in it, sir. I was as grieved as if it had
been 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 had best take a pull out of my flask,
for you are very wet. How could you expect so small and weak a man as this
black fellow to overpower Mr. Sholto and hold him while you were climbing the
rope?"
"You seem to know as much about it as if you were there, sir. The
truth is that I hoped to find the room clear. I knew the habits of 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
simple truth. 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 cursed hard that I should be lagged over this young Sholto,
with whom I had no quarrel whatever."
"You
are under the charge of Mr. Athelney Jones, of Scotland Yard. He is going to
bring you up to my rooms, and I shall ask you for a true account of the matter.
You must make a clean breast of it, for if you do I hope that I may be of use
to you. I think I can prove that the poison acts so quickly that the man was
dead before ever you reached the room."
"That
he was, sir. I never got such a turn in my life as when I saw him grinning at
me with his head on his shoulder as I climbed through the window. It fairly
shook me, sir. I'd have half killed Tonga for it if he had not 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 kept on it
is more than I can tell. I don't feel no malice against you for it. But it does
seem a queer thing," he added, with a bitter smile, "that I who have
a fair claim to nigh upon half a million of money should spend the first half
of my life building a breakwater in the Andamans, and am like to spend the
other half digging drains at Dartmoor. It was an evil day for me when first I
clapped eyes upon the merchant Achmet and had to do with the Agra treasure,
which never brought anything but a curse yet upon the man who owned it. To him
it brought murder, to Major Sholto it brought fear and guilt, to me it has
meant slavery for life."
At
this moment Athelney Jones thrust his broad face and heavy shoulders into the
tiny cabin. "Quite a family party," he remarked. "I think I
shall have a pull at that flask, Holmes. Well, I think we may all congratulate
each other. Pity we didn't take the other alive; but there was no choice. I
say, Holmes, you must 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 launches on the river, and that if he had had
another man to help him with the engines we should never have caught her. He
swears he knew nothing of this Norwood business."
"Neither
he did," cried our prisoner,—"not a 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 see that no wrong comes to him. If we are
pretty quick in catching our men, we are not so quick in condemning them."
It was amusing to notice how the consequential Jones was already beginning to
give himself airs on the strength of the capture. From the slight smile which
played over 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 tell you 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, send an 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 may make 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 unnecessary trouble. We have had work enough
already through you. However, doctor, I need not warn you to be careful. Bring
the box back with you to the Baker Street rooms. You will find us there, on our
way to the station."
They
landed me at Vauxhall, with my heavy iron box, and with a bluff, genial
inspector as my companion. A quarter of an hour's drive brought 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, dressed in some sort of white diaphanous
material, with a little touch of scarlet at the neck and waist. The soft light
of a shaded lamp fell upon her as she leaned back in the basket chair, playing
over her sweet, grave face, and tinting with a dull, metallic sparkle the rich
coils of her luxuriant hair. One white arm and hand drooped over the side of
the chair, and her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy. At
the sound of my foot-fall she sprang to her feet, however, and a bright flush
of surprise and of pleasure colored her pale cheeks.
"I
heard a cab drive up," she said. "I thought that 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, though my heart was
heavy within me. "I have brought you something which is worth all the news
in the world. I have brought you a fortune."
She
glanced at the iron box. "Is that the treasure, then?" she asked,
coolly enough.
"Yes,
this is the great Agra treasure. Half of it is yours and half is Thaddeus
Sholto's. You will have a couple of hundred thousand each. Think of that! An
annuity of ten thousand pounds. There will be few richer young ladies in
England. Is it not glorious?"
I
think that I must have been rather overacting my delight, and that she detected
a hollow ring in my congratulations, for I saw her eyebrows 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 my friend Sherlock Holmes. With
all the will in the world, I could never have followed up a clue which has
taxed
"Pray
sit down and tell me all about it, Dr. Watson," said she.
I
narrated briefly what had occurred since I had seen her last,—Holmes's new
method of search, the discovery of the Aurora, the appearance of Athelney
Jones, our expedition in the evening, and the wild chase down the Thames. 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 feared that she was about to faint.
"It
is nothing," she said, as I hastened to pour her out some water. "I
am all right again. It was a shock to me to hear that I had placed my 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 the treasure. What
could be brighter than that? I got leave to bring it with me, thinking that 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, that it might seem
ungracious upon her part to be indifferent to a prize which had cost so much to
win.
"What
a pretty box!" she said, stooping over it. "This is Indian work, I
suppose?"
"Yes;
it is Benares metal-work."
"And
so heavy!" she exclaimed, trying to raise it. "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, wrought
in the image of a sitting Buddha. Under this I thrust the end of the poker and
twisted it outward as a lever. The hasp sprang open with a loud snap. With
trembling fingers I flung back the lid. We both stood gazing in astonishment.
The box was empty!
No
wonder that it was heavy. The iron-work was two-thirds of an inch thick all
round. It was massive, well made, and solid, like a chest constructed to carry
things of great price, but not one shred or crumb of metal or 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 what they meant, a great shadow seemed to
pass from my soul. I did not know how this Agra treasure had weighed me down,
until now that it was finally removed. It was selfish, no doubt, disloyal,
wrong, but I could realize nothing save that the golden barrier was gone from
between us. "Thank God!" I ejaculated from my very heart.
She
looked at me with a quick, questioning smile. "Why do you say that?"
she asked.
"Because
you are within my reach again," I said, taking her hand. She did not
withdraw it. "Because I love you, Mary, as truly as ever a man loved a
woman. Because this treasure, these riches, sealed my lips. Now that they are
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 gained one.
_______________________________________________________________
A
very patient man was that inspector in the cab, for it was a weary time before
I rejoined him. His face clouded over when I showed him the empty box.
"Yes, I have put it away where you shall never lay hand upon
it," he cried, exultantly. "It is my treasure; and if I can't have
the loot I'll take darned good care that no one else does. I tell you that no
living man has any right 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 acted all 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 treasure into the Thames rather than
let it go to kith or kin of Sholto or of Morstan. It was not to 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 loot away in a safe place.
There are no rupees for you this journey."
"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 left to guard the door. We took him to
a place which the Sikhs had already prepared. It was some distance off, where a
winding passage leads to a great empty hall, the brick walls of which were all
crumbling to pieces. The earth floor had sunk in at one place, making a natural
grave, so we left Achmet the merchant there, having first covered him over with
loose bricks. This done, we all went back to the treasure.
"There
goes the reward!" said he, gloomily. "Where there is no money there
is no pay. This night's work would have been worth a tenner 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 the detective 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 so far as to
report themselves at a station upon the way. My companion lounged in his
arm-chair with his usual listless expression, while Small sat stolidly opposite
to him with his wooden leg cocked over his sound one. As I exhibited the empty
box he leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud.
"This
is your doing, Small," said Athelney Jones, angrily.
 |
"You
are deceiving us, Small," said Athelney Jones, sternly. "If you had
wished to throw the treasure into the Thames it would have been easier for you
to have thrown box and all."
"Easier
for me to throw, and easier for you to recover," he answered, with a
shrewd, sidelong look. "The man that was clever enough to hunt me down is
clever enough to pick an iron box from the bottom of a river. Now that they are
scattered over five miles or so, it may be a harder job. It went to my heart to
do it, though. I was half mad when you came up with us. However, there's no
good grieving over it. I've had ups in my life, and I've had downs, but I've
learned not to cry over spilled milk."
"This
is a very serious matter, Small," said the detective. "If you had
helped justice, instead of thwarting it in this way, you would have had a
better chance at your trial."
"Justice!"
snarled the ex-convict. "A pretty justice! Whose loot is this, if it is
not ours? Where is the justice that I should give it up to those who have never
earned it? Look how I have earned it! Twenty long years in that fever-ridden
swamp, all day at work under the mangrove-tree, all night chained up in the
filthy convict-huts, bitten by mosquitoes, racked with ague, bullied by every
cursed black-faced policeman who loved to take it out of a white man. That was
how I earned the Agra treasure; and you talk to me of justice because I cannot
bear to feel that I have paid 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 another man is at his ease in a
palace with the money that should be mine." Small had dropped his mask 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 could understand, as I saw the fury and the passion of the man, that
it was no groundless or unnatural terror which had possessed Major Sholto when
he first learned that the injured convict was 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 justice may originally
have been on your side."
"Well,
sir, you have been very fair-spoken to me, though I can see that I have you to
thank that I have these bracelets upon my wrists. Still, I bear no grudge for
that. It is all fair and above-board. If you want to hear my story I have no
wish to hold it back. What I say to you is God's truth, every word of it. Thank
you; you can put the glass beside me here, and I'll put my lips to it if I am
dry.
"I
am a Worcestershire man myself,—born near Pershore. I dare say you would find a
heap of Smalls living there now if you were to look. I have often thought of
taking a look round there, but the truth is that I was never much of a credit
to the family, and I doubt if they would be so very glad to see me. They were
all steady, chapel-going folk, small farmers, well known and respected over the
country-side, while I was always a bit of a rover. At last, however, when I was
about eighteen, I gave them no more trouble, for I got into a mess over a girl,
and could only get out of it again by taking the queen's shilling and joining
the 3d Buffs, which was just 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 was fool enough to go
swimming in the Ganges. Luckily for me, my company sergeant, John Holder, was
in the water at the same time, and he was one of the finest swimmers in the
service. A crocodile took me, just as I was half-way across, and nipped off my
right leg as clean as a surgeon could have done it, just above the knee. What
with the shock and the loss of blood, I fainted, and should have drowned if
Holder had not caught hold of me and paddled for the bank. I was five months in
hospital over it, and when at last I was able to limp out of it with this
timber toe strapped to my stump I found myself invalided out of the army and
unfitted for any active occupation.
"I
was, as you can imagine, pretty down on my 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
"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 still and peaceful, to all
appearance, as Surrey or Kent; the next there were two hundred thousand black
devils let loose, and the country was a perfect hell. Of course you know all
about it, gentlemen,—a deal more than I do, very like, since reading is not in
my line. I only know what I saw with my own eyes. Our plantation was at a place
called Muttra, near the border of the Northwest Provinces. Night after night
the whole sky was alight with the burning bungalows, and day after day we had
small companies of Europeans passing through our estate 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 and the 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 huddled together at
the bottom of a steep nullah. I rode down to see what it was, and the cold
struck through my heart when I found it was Dawson's wife, all cut into
ribbons, and half eaten by jackals and native dogs. A little further up the
road Dawson himself was lying on his face, quite dead, with an empty revolver
in his hand and four Sepoys lying across each other in front of him. I
"As
it proved, however, there was no great safety there, either. The whole country
was up like a swarm of bees. Wherever the English could collect in little bands
they held just the ground that their guns commanded.
Everywhere
else 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, and gunners, were our own picked troops, whom we had
taught and trained, handling our own weapons, 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 clerks and merchants had been
formed, and this I joined, wooden leg and all. We went out to meet the rebels
at Shahgunge early in July, and we beat them back for a time, but our powder
gave out, and we had to fall back upon the city. Nothing but the worst news
came to us from every side,—which is not to be wondered at, for if you look at
the map you will see that we were right in the heart of it. Lucknow is rather
better than a hundred miles to the east, and Cawnpore about as far to the
south. From every point on the compass there was nothing but torture and murder
and outrage.
"The
city of Agra is a great place, swarming with fanatics and fierce
devil-worshippers of all sorts. Our handful of men were lost among the narrow,
winding streets. Our leader moved across the river, therefore, and took up his
position in the old fort at Agra. I don't know if any of you gentlemen have
ever read or heard anything of that old fort. It is a very queer place,— the
queerest that ever I was in, and I have been in some rum corners, too. First of
all, it is enormous in size. I should think that the enclosure must be acres
and acres. There is a modern part, which took all our garrison, women,
"The
river washes along the front of the old fort, and so protects it, but on the
sides and behind there are many doors, and these had to be guarded, of course,
in the old quarter as well as in that which was actually held by our troops. We
were short-handed, with hardly men enough to man the angles of the building and
to serve the guns. It was impossible for us, therefore, to station a strong
guard at every one of the innumerable gates. What we did was to organize a
central guard-house in the middle of the fort, and to leave each gate under the
charge of one white man and two or three natives. I was selected to take charge
during certain hours of the night of a small isolated door upon the southwest
side of the building. Two Sikh troopers were placed under my command, and I was
instructed if anything went wrong to fire my musket, when I might rely upon
help coming at once from the central guard. As the guard was a good two hundred
paces away, however, and as the space between was cut up into a labyrinth of
passages and corridors, I had great doubts as to whether they could arrive in
time to be of any use in case of an actual attack.
"Well,
I was pretty proud at having this small command given me, since I was a raw
recruit, and a game-legged one at that. For two nights I kept the watch with my
Punjaubees. They were tall, fierce-looking chaps, Mahomet Singh and 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 preferred to stand together and jabber all night in their queer
Sikh lingo. For myself, I used to stand outside the gate-way, looking down on
the broad, winding river and on the twinkling lights of the great city. The
beating of drums, the rattle of tomtoms, and the yells and howls of the rebels,
drunk with opium and with bang, were enough to remind us all night of our
dangerous neighbors across the stream. Every two
"The
third night of my watch was dark and dirty, with a small, driving rain. It was
dreary work standing in the gate-way hour after hour in such weather. I tried
again and again to make my Sikhs talk, but without much success. At two in the
morning the rounds passed, and broke for a moment the weariness of the night.
Finding that my companions would not be led into conversation, I took out my
pipe, and laid down my musket to strike the match. In an instant the two Sikhs
were upon me. One of them snatched my firelock up and levelled it at my head,
while the other held a great knife to my throat and swore between his teeth
that he would plunge it into me if I moved a step.
"My
first thought was that these fellows were in league with the rebels, and that
this was the beginning of an assault. If our door were in the hands of the
Sepoys the place must fall, and the women and children be treated as they were
in Cawnpore. Maybe you gentlemen think that I am just making out a case for
myself, but I give you my word that when I thought of that, though I felt the
point of the knife at my throat, I opened my mouth with the intention of giving
a scream, if it was my last one, which might alarm the main guard. The man who
held me seemed to know 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 was the 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 what it was that
they wanted from me.
"'Listen
to me, Sahib,' said the taller and fiercer of the pair, the one whom they
called Abdullah Khan. 'You must either be with us now or you must be silenced
forever. The thing is too great a one for us to hesitate. Either you are heart
and soul with us on your oath on the cross of the Christians, or your body this
night shall be thrown into the ditch and we shall pass over to our brothers in
the rebel army. There is no middle way. Which is it to be, death or life? We
can only give you three minutes to decide, for the time is passing, and all
must be done before the rounds come again.'
"'How
can I decide?' said I. 'You have not told me what you want of me. But I tell
you now that if it is anything against the safety of 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 by the threefold
oath which no Sikh was ever known to break, that you shall have your fair share
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 the bones of your father, by the honor of your
mother, by the cross of your faith, to raise no hand and speak no word against
us, either now or afterwards?'
"'I
will swear it,' I answered, 'provided that the fort is not endangered.'
"'Then
my comrade and I will swear that you shall have a quarter of the treasure which
shall be equally divided among the four of us.'
"'There
are but three,' said I.
"'No;
Dost Akbar must have his share. We can tell the tale to you while we await
them. Do you stand at the gate, Mahomet Singh, and give notice of their coming.
The thing stands thus, Sahib, and I tell it to you because I know that an oath
is binding upon a Feringhee, and that we may trust you. Had you been a lying
Hindoo, though you had sworn by all the gods in their false temples, your blood
would 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 provinces who 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 gold rather than spend it.
When the troubles broke out he would be friends both with the lion and the
tiger,—with the Sepoy and with the Company's Raj. Soon,
"'This
pretended merchant, who travels under the name of Achmet, is now in the city of
Agra, and desires to gain his way into the fort. He has with him as
travelling-companion my foster-brother Dost Akbar, who knows his secret. 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
find Mahomet Singh and myself awaiting him. The place is lonely, and none shall
know of his coming. The world shall know of the merchant Achmet no more, but
the great treasure of the rajah shall be divided among us. What say you to it,
Sahib?'
"In
Worcestershire the life of a man seems a great and a sacred thing; but it is
very different when there is fire and blood all round you and you have been
used to meeting death at every turn. Whether Achmet the merchant lived or died
was a thing as light as air to me, but at the talk about the treasure my heart
turned to it, and I thought of what I might do in the old country with it, and
how my folk would stare when they saw their ne'er-do-well coming back with his
pockets full of gold moidores. I had, therefore, already made up my mind.
Abdullah Khan, however, thinking that I hesitated, pressed the matter more
closely.
"'Consider,
Sahib,' said he, 'that if this man is taken by the commandant he will be hung
or shot, and his jewels taken by the government, so that no man will be a rupee
the better for them. Now, since we do the taking of him,
"'I
am with you heart and soul,' said I.
"'It
is well,' he answered, handing me back my 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 you will do?' I asked.
"'The
plan is his. He has devised it. We will go to the gate and share the watch with
Mahomet Singh.'
"The
rain was still falling steadily, for it was just the beginning of the wet
season. Brown, heavy clouds were drifting across the sky, and it was hard to
see more than a stone-cast. A deep moat lay in front of our door, but the water
was in places nearly dried up, and it could easily be crossed. It was strange
to me to be standing there with those two wild Punjaubees waiting for the man
who was coming to his death.
"Suddenly
my eye caught the glint of a shaded lantern at the other side of the moat. It
vanished among the mound-heaps, and then appeared again 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 do the rest while you stay here on
guard. Have the lantern ready to uncover, that we may be sure that it is indeed
the man.'
"The
light had flickered onwards, now stopping and now advancing, until I could see
two dark figures upon the other side of the moat. I let them scramble down the
sloping bank, splash through the mire, and climb half-way up to the gate,
before I challenged them.
"'Who
goes there?' said I, in a subdued voice.
"'Friends,'
came the answer. I uncovered my lantern and threw a flood of light upon them.
The first was an enormous Sikh, with a black beard which swept nearly down to
his cummerbund. Outside of a show I have never seen so tall a man. The other
was a little, fat, round fellow, with a great yellow turban, and a bundle in
his hand, done up in a shawl. He seemed to be all in a quiver with fear, for
his hands twitched as if he had the ague, and his head kept turning to left and
right with 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 my heart set as hard as a flint within me. When he saw my
white face he gave a little chirrup of joy and came running up towards me.
"'Your
protection, Sahib,' he panted,—'your protection for the unhappy merchant
Achmet. I have travelled across Rajpootana that I might seek the shelter of the
fort at Agra. I have been robbed and beaten and abused because I have been the
friend of the Company. It is a blessed night this when I am once more in
safety,—I and my poor possessions.'
"'What
have you in the bundle?' I asked.
"'An
iron box,' he answered, 'which contains one or two little family matters which
are of no value to others, but which I should be sorry to lose. Yet I am not a
beggar; and I shall reward you, young Sahib, and your governor also, if he will
give me the shelter I ask.'
"I
could not trust myself to speak longer with the man. The more I looked at his
fat, frightened face, the harder did it seem that we should slay him in cold
blood. It was best to get it over.
"'Take
him to the main guard,' said I. The two Sikhs closed in upon him on each side,
and the giant walked behind, while they marched in through the dark gate-way.
Never was a man so compassed round with death. I remained at the gate-way with
the lantern.
"I
could hear the measured tramp of their footsteps sounding through the lonely
corridors. Suddenly it ceased, and I heard voices, and a scuffle, with the
sound of blows. A moment later there came, to my horror, a rush of
He
stopped, and held out his manacled hands for the whiskey-and-water which Holmes
had brewed for him. For myself, I confess that I had now conceived the utmost
horror of the man, not only for this cold-blooded business in which he had been
concerned, but even more for the somewhat flippant and careless way in which he
narrated it. Whatever punishment was in store for him, I felt that he might
expect no sympathy from me. Sherlock Holmes and Jones sat with their hands upon
their knees, 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 he proceeded.
"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 this loot when they knew that
they would have their throats cut for their pains. Besides, it was my life or
his when once he was in the fort. If he had got out, the whole business would
come to light, and I should have been court-martialled and shot as likely as
not; for people were not very lenient at a time like that."
"Go
on with your story," said Holmes, shortly.
 |
"It
lay where he had dropped it when he was first attacked. The box was the same
which now lies open upon your table. A key was hung by a silken cord to that
carved handle upon the top. We opened it, and the light of the lantern gleamed
upon a collection of gems such as I have read of and thought about when I was a
little lad at Pershore. It was blinding to look upon them. When we had feasted
our eyes we took them all out and made a list of them. There were one hundred
and forty-three diamonds of the first water, including one which has been
called, I believe, 'the Great Mogul' and is said to be the second largest stone
in existence. Then there were ninety-seven very 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 great
quantity of beryls, onyxes, cats'-eyes, turquoises, and other stones, the very
names of which I did not know at the time, though I have become more familiar
with them since. Besides this, there were nearly three hundred very fine
pearls, twelve of which were set in a gold coronet. By the way, these last had
been taken out of the chest and were not there when I recovered it.
"After
we had counted our treasures we put them 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. We agreed 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, for
if gems of such value were found upon us it would cause suspicion, and there
was no privacy in the fort nor any place where we could keep them. We carried
the box, therefore, into the same hall where we had buried the body, and there,
under certain bricks in the
 |
"Well,
there's no use my telling you gentlemen what came of the Indian mutiny. After
Wilson took Delhi and Sir Colin relieved Lucknow the back of the business was
broken. Fresh troops came pouring in, and Nana Sahib made himself scarce over
the frontier. A flying column under Colonel Greathed came round to Agra 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 off with our shares of the plunder. In a moment, however, our hopes
were shattered by our being arrested as the murderers of Achmet.
"It came about in this way. When the rajah put his jewels into the
hands of Achmet he did it because he knew that he was a trusty man. They are
suspicious folk in the East, however: so what does this rajah do but take a
second even more trusty servant and set him to play the spy upon the first?
This second man 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 thought he had taken refuge in the fort, and
applied for admission there himself next day, but could find no trace of
Achmet. This seemed to him so strange that he spoke about it to a sergeant of
guides, who brought it to the ears of the commandant. A thorough search was
quickly made, and the body was discovered. Thus at the very moment that we
thought that all was safe we were all four seized and brought to trial on a
charge of murder,—three of us because we had held the gate that night, and the
fourth because he was known to have been 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 particular interest in them.
The murder, however, was clearly made out, and it was certain that we 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 the others.
"It
was rather a queer position that we found ourselves in then. There we were all
four tied by the leg and with precious little chance of ever getting out again,
while we each held a secret which might have put each of us in a palace if we
could only have made use of it. It was enough to make a man eat his heart out
to have to stand the kick and the cuff of every petty jack-in-office, to have
rice to eat and water to drink, when that gorgeous fortune was ready for him
outside, just waiting to be picked up. It might have driven me mad; but I was
always a pretty stubborn one, so I just held on and bided my time.
"At
last it seemed to me to have come. I was changed from Agra to Madras, and from
there to Blair Island in the Andamans. There are very 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 a small
place on the slopes of Mount Harriet, and I was left pretty much to myself. It
is a dreary, fever-stricken place, and all beyond our little clearings was
infested with wild cannibal 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 we were busy enough all
day; though in the evening we had a little time to ourselves. Among other
things, I learned to dispense drugs for the surgeon, and picked up a smattering
of his knowledge. All the time I was on the lookout for a chance of escape; but
it is hundreds of miles from any other land, and there is little or no wind in
those seas: so it was a terribly difficult job to get away.
"The
surgeon, Dr. Somerton, was a fast, sporting young 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 small window
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 a hand at cards myself, and it was almost as good as having
one to watch the others. There was Major Sholto, Captain Morstan, and
Lieutenant Bromley Brown, who were in command of the native troops, and there
was the surgeon himself, and two or three prison-
"Well,
there was one thing which very soon struck 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-chaps had done little else than
play cards ever since they had been at the Andamans, and they knew each other's
game to a point, while the others just played to pass the time and threw their
cards down anyhow. Night after night the soldiers got up poorer men, and the poorer
they got the more keen they were to play. Major Sholto was the hardest hit. He
used to 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 would set 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 than usual. I was sitting in my hut when he and
Captain Morstan came stumbling along on the way to their quarters. They were
bosom friends, those two, and never far apart. The major was raving about his
losses.
"'It's
all up, Morstan,' he was saying, as they passed my hut. 'I shall have to send
in my papers. I am a ruined man.'
"'Nonsense,
old chap!' said the other, slapping him 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 strolling on the beach: so I took the
chance of speaking to him.
"'I
wish to have your advice, major,' said I.
"'Well,
Small, what is it?' he asked, taking his cheroot from his lips.
"'I
wanted to ask you, sir,' said I, 'who is the proper person to whom hidden
treasure should be handed over. I know where half a million worth lies, and, as
I cannot use it myself, I thought perhaps the best thing that I could do
"'Half
a million, Small?' he gasped, looking hard 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 outlawed and cannot hold property, so
that it belongs to the first comer.'
"'To
government, Small,' he stammered,—'to government.' 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 give the 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 changes so that he could not identify the
places. When I had finished he stood stock still and full of thought. I could
see by the twitch of his lip that there was a struggle going on 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 again soon.'
"Two
nights later he and his friend Captain Morstan came to my hut in the dead of
the night with a lantern.
"'I
want you just to let Captain Morstan hear that 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 good enough to act upon?'
"Captain
Morstan nodded.
"'Look
here, Small,' said the major. 'We have been talking it over, my friend here and
I, and we have come to the conclusion that this secret of yours is hardly a government
matter, after all, but is a private concern of your own,
"'Why,
as to that, gentlemen,' I answered, trying also to be cool, but feeling as
excited as he did, 'there is only one bargain which a man in my position can
make. I shall want you to help me to my freedom, and to help my three
companions to theirs. We shall then take you into partnership, and give you a
fifth share to divide between you.'
"'Hum!'
said he. 'A fifth share! That is not very tempting.' "'It would come to
fifty thousand apiece,' said I.
"'But
how can we gain your freedom? You know very well that you ask an
impossibility.'
"'Nothing
of the sort,' I answered. 'I have thought it all out to the last detail. The only
bar to our escape is that we can get no boat fit for the voyage, and no
provisions to last us for so long a time. There are plenty of little yachts and
yawls at Calcutta or Madras which would serve our turn well. Do you bring one
over. We shall engage to get aboard her by night, and if you will drop us 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 sworn it. The four of us must always act
together.'
"'You
see, Morstan,' said he, 'Small is a man 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. Tell me where the box is
"'Not
so fast,' said I, growing colder as he got hot. 'I must have the consent of my
three comrades. I tell you that it is four or none with us.'
"'Nonsense!'
he broke in. 'What have three black fellows to do with our agreement?'
"'Black
or blue,' said I, 'they are in with me, 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 the matter over again, and at last
we came to an arrangement. We were to provide both the officers with charts of
the part of the Agra fort and mark the place in the wall where the treasure was
hid. Major Sholto was to go to India to test our story. If he found the 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
finally to return to his duties. Captain Morstan was then to apply for leave of
absence, to meet us at Agra, and there we were to have a final division of the
treasure, he taking the major's share as well as his own. All this we sealed by
the most solemn oaths that the mind could think or the lips utter. I sat up all
night with paper and ink, and by the morning I had the 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 long story, 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 came back again.
Captain
Morstan showed me his name among a list of passengers in one of the mail-boats
very shortly afterwards. His uncle had died, leaving him a fortune, and he had
left the army, yet he could stoop to treat five men as he had treated us.
Morstan went over to Agra shortly afterwards, and found, as we expected, that
the treasure was indeed gone. The scoundrel had stolen it all, without carrying
out one of the conditions on which we had sold him the secret. From that day I
lived only for vengeance. I thought of it by day and I nursed it by night. It
became an overpowering, absorbing passion with me. I cared nothing for the law,—nothing
for the gallows. To escape, to
"Well,
I have set my mind on many things in this life, and never one which I did not
carry out. But it was weary years before my time came. I have told you that I
had picked up something of medicine. One day when Dr.
Somerton
was 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 he was as venomous as a young snake, and after a
couple of months I got him all right and able 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 made him all the
fonder of me.
"Tonga—for
that was his name—was a fine boatman, and owned a big, roomy canoe of his own.
When I found that he was devoted to me and 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 water and 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 Pathan who 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 pay my
debt before I left the island. He stood on the bank with his back to me, and
his carbine on his shoulder. I looked about for a stone to beat out his brains
with, but none could I see. Then a queer thought came into my head and showed
me where I could lay my hand on a weapon. I sat down in the darkness and
unstrapped my wooden leg. With three long hops I was on him. He put his carbine
to his shoulder, but I struck him full, and knocked the whole front of his
skull in. You can see the split in the wood now where I hit him. We both went
down together, for I could not keep my balance, but when I got up I found him
still lying quiet enough. I
"Well,
if I were to tell you all the adventures that my little chum and I went
through, you would not thank me, for I would have you here until the sun was
shining. Here and there we drifted about the world, something always turning 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 great difficulty in finding where Sholto lived, and I set to
work to discover whether he had realized the treasure, or if he still had it. I
made friends with someone who could help me,—I name no names, for I don't want
to get any one else in a hole,—and I soon found that he still had the jewels.
Then I tried to get at him in many ways; but he was pretty sly, and had always
two prize-fighters, besides his sons and his khitmutgar, on guard over him.
"One
day, however, I got word that he was dying. I hurried at once to the garden,
mad that he should slip out of my clutches like that, and, looking through the
window, I saw him lying in his bed, with his sons on each side of him. I'd have
come through and taken my chance with the three of them, only even as I looked
at him his jaw dropped, and I knew that he was gone. I got into his room that
same night, though, and I searched his papers to see if there was any record of
where he had hidden our jewels. There was not a line, however: so I came away,
bitter and savage as a man could be. Before I left I bethought me that if I
ever met my Sikh friends again it would be a satisfaction to know that I had
left some mark of our hatred: so I scrawled down the sign of the four of us, as
it had been on the chart, and I pinned it
"We
earned a living at this time by my exhibiting poor Tonga at fairs and other
such places as the black cannibal. He would eat raw meat and dance his
war-dance: so we always had a hatful of pennies after a day's work. I still
heard all the news from Pondicherry Lodge, and for some years there was no news
to hear, except that they were hunting for the treasure. At last, however, came
what we 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 seemed to me that I could manage
the thing easily through Tonga. I brought him out with me with a long rope
wound round his waist. He could climb like a cat, and he soon made his way
through 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 came up by the rope I found him strutting about as
proud as a peacock. Very much surprised was he when I made at him with the
rope's end and cursed him for a little blood-thirsty imp. I took the treasure-box
and let it down, and then slid down myself, having first left the sign of the
four upon the table, to show that the jewels had come back at last to those who
had most right to them. Tonga then pulled up the rope, closed the window, and
made off the way that he had come.
"I
don't know that I have anything else to tell you. I had heard a waterman speak
of the speed of Smith's launch the Aurora, so I thought she would be a handy
craft for our escape. I engaged with old Smith, and was to give him a big sum
if he got us safe to our ship. He knew, no doubt, that there was some screw
loose, but he was not in our secrets. All this is the truth, and if I tell it
to you, gentlemen, it is not to amuse you,—for you have not done me a very good
turn,—but it is because I believe the best defence I can make is just to hold
back nothing, but let all the world know how badly I have myself been served by
Major Sholto, and how innocent I am of the death of his son."
"A
very remarkable account," said Sherlock Holmes. "A fitting wind-up to
an extremely interesting case. There is nothing at all new to me in the latter
part of your narrative, except that you brought your own rope. That I did not
know. By the way, I had hoped that Tonga had lost all his darts; yet he managed
to shoot one at us in the boat."
"He
had lost them all, sir, except the one which was in his blow-pipe at the
time."
"Ah,
of course," said Holmes. "I had not thought of that."
"Is
there any other point which you would like to ask about?" asked the
convict, affably.
"I
think not, thank you," my companion answered.
"Well,
Holmes," said Athelney Jones, "You are a man to be humored, and we
all know that you are a connoisseur of crime, but duty is duty, and I have gone
rather far in doing what you and your friend asked me. I shall feel more at
ease when we have our story-teller here safe under lock and key. The cab still
waits, 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 Jonathan Small.
"You
first, Small," remarked the wary Jones as they left the room. "I'll
take particular care that you don't club me with your wooden leg, whatever you
may have done to the gentleman at the Andaman Isles."
"Well,
and there is the end of our little drama," I remarked, after we had set
some time smoking in silence. "I fear that it may be 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 as much," said he. "I really
cannot congratulate you."
I
was a little hurt. "Have you any reason to be dissatisfied with my
choice?" I asked.
"Not
at all. I think she is one of the most charming young ladies I ever met, and
might have been most useful in such work as we have been doing. She had a
decided genius that way: witness the way in which she preserved that 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 judgment may survive the ordeal.
But you look weary."
"Yes,
the reaction is already upon me. I shall be as limp as a rag for a week."
"Strange,"
said I, "how terms of what in another man I should call laziness alternate
with your fits of splendid energy and vigor."
"Yes,"
he answered, "there are in me the makings of a very fine loafer and also
of a pretty spry sort of fellow. I often think of those lines of old Goethe,—
Schade
dass die Natur nur EINEN Mensch aus Dir schuf, Denn zum wuerdigen Mann war und
zum Schelmen der 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 than Lal Rao, the
butler: so Jones actually has the undivided honor of having caught one fish in
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 still remains the cocaine-bottle."
And he stretched his long white hand up for it.
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