H I S L A S T B O W

A R EMINIS C ENC E O F SHERL O C K HOLME S

BY A RTHUR CONAN DOYLE

HIS LA ST B OW
A HI STORY OF THE GREAT WAR
THE VALLEY OF F EA R

THE POISON B ELT

THE LO ST W O RLD
THE CA S E OF O S CAR SLA TER
THE GERMA N WA R

NEW YO RK
GEORGE H . D ORAN COMPANY
HIS L A ST B O W
A R E M I N I S C E NC E
OF SHERLO C K H O LME S

A R T H UR C O N A N D O YL E

E
THE A DV NTU RE S OF S HE RL OCK HOLME S ,

THE B O E R WA R

, E TC
.

N E W YO R K
GE O R GE H . D O R A N C O M PA N Y
 I 91 7,

BY GE O R GE H . D O RAN COMPANY

R E
P INT D IN THE UNI TED S TA TE S OF AME RIC A
 P RE F A CE

H E friend s of Mr S he rl o ck H ol me s will be
.

glad t o lea rn that he is still alive and w el l ,

though s o m ew hat crippled by occasi o nal attacks

of rheumatism H e has for many yea r s lived in
.
, ,

a small farm upon the D owns ve miles from

E astbourne where his time is divided between
,

phil o sophy and agriculture D uring this pe r iod

.

of rest he has refused the most p rincely Off ers to

take up va r ious cases havin g dete rmin e d that his
,

retir e m e nt was a permanent one T he approach .

of the German war caused him howev er to lay , ,

his remarkable combination o f inte l l e ctual and

practical activity at the disposal of the Gove r n
ment with historical r esults which are reco unted
,

in H is L as t B o w S everal previous experiences

.

which have lain long in my portfolio have been

a dded to H is L as t B o w so as to complete t he

JO H N H W AT SO N M D
. , .
 C ON T EN T S

PA GE

I TH E A D VE NT URE OF WI S T ERIA L O D GE

II TH E A D VE N T URE OF T HE CARD B O ARD B OX

TH E A DVE NT URE OF T HE R E D CI R CL E

IV TH E A DVE NT URE OF T HE B RUC E PAR T I N GTO N

-

PL AN S

TH E A D VE NT URE OF T HE D YI NG D E T E CT I VE 17 9

VI TH E D I S A PPEARAN C E OF LAD Y F RAN C E S CA R

TH E A D VE N T URE T HE D E VI L F OOT

OF S .

HI S L A S T B OW
HI S LA S T B OW
T HE A D V E N T UR E OF W I S TE R I A
L O D GE

L TIE
IE SIN GU LA R E X PE R IE N C E OF MR . J O HN
S C O TT E CCL E S

F IN D it recorded in my notebook that it

was a bleak and windy day to w ards the end
o f March in the year 1 8 9 2 H ol mes had re
.

c eiv e d a telegram whilst we sat at o ur lunch and ,

he had scribbled a reply He made no rema r k

. ,

but the matter remained in his thoughts f o r he ,

stood in front of the r e afterw ards with a

thoughtful face smoking his pipe and casting an
, ,

occasi o nal glance at th e m e ssage Sudde nl y .

he turned upon me with a mischievous t w inkle

in his eyes.

I suppose Watson we must look upon you
, ,

H o w do you

as a man of lett er s said b e
, .

dene the word

Strange rema r kable I suggest e d
,
.

He shook his head at my denition

TH E AD V E NT UR E OF W I S TE R I A
L O D GE

L THE S IN GU LA R E X PE R IE N C E OF ME . J O HN
S C O TT E CCLE S

F IN D it recorded in my notebook that it

was a bleak and windy day towards the end
o f March in the year 1 8 9 2 H o lmes had re
.

c eiv e d a telegram whilst we sat at o ur lunch and ,

he had scribbled a repl y He made no rema r k

. ,

but the matter remained in his thoughts fo r he ,

stood in front of the re afterw a r ds w ith a

thoughtful face smoking his pipe and casting an
, ,

occasi o nal glance at the message Sudd e nly .

he turned upon me with a mischievous t w inkle

in his eyes.

I suppose Watson we must look upon you
, ,

as a man O f letters said he
, H o w do y o u
.

dene the word

Strange remar kable I suggested
,
.

He shook his head at my denition

 HI S LA S T B O W
T he r e is surely something more than that ,

said he ; some unde r lying sugg e stion O f t h e
tragic and the te r rible If you cast your mind .

back to some O f those narratives with which you

have affl icted a long su ff ering public you wil l-
,

recognise how Often the grotesque has deepened

into the cri ml n al T h ink O f that little a ffair of
.

the red headed men That was grotesque enough

-
.

in the outset and yet it ended in a desperate at

,

tempt a t robbery O r again there was that .

, ,

most grotesque a ff air Of the ve o range pips ,

which led straight t o a murderous conspiracy .

T he word puts me on the alert

.

H av e you it there

! I asked .

H e read the telegram aloud .

H av e j ust had most incredible and grotesque

exp e rience May I consult y o u

.
S cott E ccles ,

Post O ffice C haring Cross

, .

Man or woman I asked
! .

O h man of c o urse N O woman would ever

, , .

send a reply paid telegram She w o uld have

-
.

com e.

Will you se e him !

My dear Watson you know h o w bored I ,

have been since we lock e d up Colonel Car r uthers .

My mind is like a racin g engine tea r ing itself ,

to pieces because it is not c o n nected up with

the work for which it was built L ife is common .

place th e papers are sterile ; audacity and ro

,

mance seem to have passed for ever from the

[ ]
1 2
 TH E A D VE N T U R E O F W I S TE R I A L ODG E

criminal world Can you a sk me then w hether

.
, ,

I am ready to look into any n ew pr o blem ho w ,

ever trivial it may prove But here un less I am

!
,

mistaken is our client
, .

A measure d step was heard u p on the stai r s ,

and a moment l a ter a stout tall grey whiskered , ,

-

and solemnl y respectable pe r son w as ushered

into the room H is life history was writt e n in
.

his heavy fe at ures and pompous mann er Fr om .

his S p ats to h is g o ld rimmed spectacles he w as -

a C onservative a Churchman a good citizen

, , ,

o r thodox and conventional to the last degree .

B ut some amazing exp er ience had disturbed his

native composure and left its traces in his bris
tling hair his ushed angry cheeks and his ur
, , ,

ried excit e d mann er He plunged instantly

, .

into his business .

I have had a most S ingular and unpleasant

expe r ience Mr Hol mes said he
,

. Never in , .

my life have I been placed in such a situation .

It is most improper most outrageous I must .

insist upon some explanation He swelled .

and pu ff ed in his anger .

Pray S it d o wn Mr S cott E ccles , said . ,

Hol mes in a soothing voice

,
May I ask in .
,

the r st place why you came to me at all
,
!

Well S ir it did n o t appear to be a mat ter
, ,

which c o ncerned the polic e and y e t when you , ,

have heard the facts you must admit that I c o uld

,

not leave it where it w a s Private detectives .

[ ]
1 3
 HI S LA S T B O W

T he r e is surely something more than that ,

said he ; some underlying suggestion O f the
tragic and the terrible If you cast your min d .

back to some o f those narratives with which y o u

have afflicted a long su ff ering public you will -
,

recognise how Often the grotesque has deepened

into the cri mInal Think Of that little a ffair of
.

the red headed men That was grotesque enough

-
.

in the outset and yet it ended in a desperate a t

,

tempt a t robbe ry O r again there w a s that

.
, ,

most grotesque a ff air o f the ve orange pips ,

which l e d straight t o a murderous conspirac y .

T he word puts me on the alert

.

H av e you it the r e

! I asked .

He read the telegram aloud .

H av e j ust had most incredible and grotesque

experience May I consult you

.

S cott E ccles ,

P o st O fce C haring Cross

, .

Man or woman I asked
! .

O h man of cou r se N O woman would ever

, , .

send a reply paid telegram She would have

-
.

come .

Will you se e him !

My dear Watson you know h o w bored I ,

have be e n S ince we l o cked up Colonel Carruthers .

My mind is like a racin g engine tea r ing itself ,

to pieces b e cause it is not conn ected up with

the wo r k for w hich it was built L ife is common .

place the papers are ste r ile ; audacity and ro

,

mance seem to have passed for ever from the

[ ]
12
 HI S LA S T B O W
are a class with whom I have absolutely no sym
pathy but none the less having heard your
, ,

name

Quite so B ut in the second place why did
.
, ,

you not come at once !

What do you mean !

Hohn es glanced at his watch .

I t is a qua r ter past two he said Your , .

tel eg r am was dispatched about one But no one .

can glance at your t o ilet and atti re w ithout seeing

that your disturbance dates from the moment of

your waking .

O ur client smoothed down his unbrushed ha ir

and felt his unshaven chin .

You are right M r Holmes I never gave
, . .

a thought to my toilet I was only too glad to .

get o ut o f such a house But I have been run .

ning round making inquiries before I came to .

you I went t o the house agents you know and

.
, ,

th e y said that Mr Ga r cia s rent w as paid up all

.

right and that everything was in order at W is

teria L odge
.

C ome come S ir
, said Holmes laughing
, , ,
.

You are like my friend D r Watson who has .

,
.

a bad habit of telling his sto r ies wrong end fore

most Please arrange your thoughts and let
.
.

me know in their due sequence exactly what

, ,

those e vents are which have sent you o ut un

brushed and unkempt with dress boots and waist ,

[ ]
14
 TH E AD VE N T U RE OF W I S TER I A L ODGE

coat button e d aw r y in search of advice and as ,

S ist a n c e .

O ur client looked do w n w ith a rueful face at

his o w n unconventional app e ar ance .

I m sure it must look ve r y bad l\Ir Ho l mes

, .
,

and I am not aw are that in my whol e life such a

thing has eve r happened before But I will t e ll .

you the whol e qu e er business and wh e n I have ,

done so you will admit I am su r e that there h as , ,

be e n eno ugh to excuse me .

But his narrative was nipped in the bud .

T he re was a bustle outsid e and M rs Hudson , .

Op e ned the do o r to ush e r in t w o robust a n d

O fc ia l l oo king individuals one of wh o m was
-
,

well kno w n t o us as Inspect o r Gr e gson O f

S cotland Yard an ene r getic gallant and with
, , , ,

in his limitations a capable o fficer H e S hoo k

,
.

hands w ith H o lmes and int ro duced his c o mr ade

,

as Inspecto r B aynes of the Su r r e y Constabulary .

We are hunting t ogeth er Mr Holm es and , .
,

our t r ail lay in this direction He tu r ne d his .

bulldog eyes upon o ur visitor Ar e y o u .

Mr John S cott E c cl e s of Popham H ouse

.
, ,

L ee

!

I am .

We have b een fol low ing yo u about all the

morni ng .

You trace d him through the telegr am no ,

d oubt said Holmes
, .

E x actly M r H o l me s W e picked up the

. .
,

[ ]
1 5
 HI S LA S T B O W
scent at Charing C ross Post O fce and c ame
o n here .

But why do you follow me Wh at do you

!

want !

We wish a statement Mr S cott E ccles as , .
,

to the events which l e d up to the death last

n ight of Mr Aloysius Garcia of Wisteria L odge
.
, ,

near E she r .

O ur client had sat up with staring eyes and

eve r y tinge of colour struck from his astonished
face.

D ead D id you say he w as dead
! !

Yes sir he is dead

, , .

But how An accident
! !

Murder if ever there was o n e upon earth

, .

Good God ! This is awful ! You don t mean

you don t mean that I am suspected !

A letter O f yours was found in the dead man s
pocket and we know by it that you had plann ed
,

to pass last night at his house .

S O I di d .

O h you did did you
,
!
,

O ut came the Official notebook .

Wait a bit Gregson said Sherlock H ohn es

, , .

A l l you desire is a plain statement is it not !
,

And it is my duty to warn Mr S cott E ccles .

that it may be used against him .

Mr E ccles was going to tell u s about it
.

when you entered the room I think Watson .

, ,

a br andy and soda would do h im no harm .

[ ]
1 6
 TH E AD VEN T UR E OF W I ST ER I A L ODG E

N ow ,
sir,
I suggest that y o u take n o n o tice of
this addition to your audience and that y o u ,

proceed with your narrative exactly as you

would have done had y ou never been inter
rup t e d .

O ur V isitor had gulped O ff the brandy and

the colour had returned to his fac e With a .

dubious glance at the inspect o r s n o tebo o k he

plunged at once into his extraordinar y state

ment .

I am a b achelor said he and being of a
, , ,

sociable turn I cultivat e a la rg e numb er o f

,

fr iends Among these ar e the family of a re

.

ti r ed brewer call e d l\I e l vil l e living at Alb ema r l e

,

Mansion Kensington It was at his tabl e that

, .

I m e t some weeks ago a y o ung f e ll ow nam e d

Garcia He was I und e rstood of S panish de
.
, ,

scent and conn ected in some way with th e E m

bassy He spoke p er f e ct E nglish was pleasing
.
,

in his ma n ners and as good looking a man a s

,
-

eve r I saw in my life .

In some way we struck up quite a friend
ship this voung f e llow and I He seem e d t o
, .

take a fancy to me from the r st and within ,

t w o days O f our meeting he came to see me a t

L ee . O ne thing led to an o th e r and it end e d in ,

his inviting m e out to spend a f ew days at his .

h o us e Wist er ia L odge betw een E she r and O x

, ,

sh o tt Yeste r day evening I went to E she r to

.

full this engagement .

w ent at

On he re .

B ut w hy
!
w a nt !

We w ish
to the c v
nigh t o f Mr .

ne a r E she r .

O ur cl ie nt
e v e ry t inge 0

face .

D ea d !
Yes sir

, ,

B ut ho w
M urd e r ,

yo u do n t

A l e t te r
p o c k et , a nd

to p ass l ast

S o I did .

O h, yo u
O ut c a me

W a it a b i
A l l yo u (1

A nd i

Mr . E
w he n yo u
a b rand y
[ ]
10
 HI S LA S T BOW

He had described his household to me before

I went there He lived w ith a faithful servant
. ,

a countryman o f his o wn w ho looked after all ,

his needs This fellow c oul d speak E ngli sh and

.

did his housekeeping for him Then there w as .

a wonderful c oo k he sai d a half breed whom

, ,
-

h e had picked up in his travels who could serve ,

an excellent dinner I remembe r that he re

.

marked what a queer household it was to nd

in the heart Of S urrey and that I agreed with ,

h im though it has proved a good deal queerer

,

t han I thought .

I drove to the place about t w o miles o n
t he south sid e o f E sher The house was a fair .

sized o ne stan di ng back from the road with

, ,

a curvi ng drive which was banked with high

ev er green S hrubs It was an Ol d tumble down
.
,
-

building in a craz y state O f dis r epair When .

th e trap pulled up o n the grass gro w n drive in -

fro nt o f the blotched and w e athe r stained door -

,

I had doubts as to my wisdom in visiting a

man whom I kne w so slightly He opened the .

d oor himself ho w ever and greeted me with a

, ,

g r eat S ho w of cordiality I w as handed over .

to the manse r vant a melancholy swarthy in

, ,

d ividual who led the way my bag in his hand

, , ,

t o my bedroom The whole plac e was depress

.

ing O ur dinner was t te cl t te and though
.
- -
,

my host did his best to be entertaining his ,

thoughts seemed to continually wander and he ,

[ ]
1 8
 HI S LA S T B O W
nine I had p articularly asked to be called at
.

eight so I was very much astonished at this

,

f org e tfulness I sprang up and rang for t he

.

se rvant There was n o response I rang aga in

. .

and again with the same result Then I came

, .

t o the conclusion that the bell was out Of order .

I huddled on my clothes and hurried downstairs

in an exceedingly bad temper to o r der some hot
water You can imagine my surprise when I
.

found that there w a s no o n e there I shouted .

i n the hall There Wa s no answer T hen I ran

. .

from room to room All were deserted My . .

h ost had sh o wn me which was his b e dro m the

night befo r e so I knock e d at the door No reply
, . .

I tu r ned the handl e and walk ed in T he room .

was empty and the bed had never been slept

,

in He had gone with the rest The foreign

. .

host the f o reign foo tman the foreign cook all

, , ,

had vanished in the night ! That was the end

o f my visit t o Wist e ria L odge .

She r l o ck Holm e s was rubbing his hands and

chuckling as he add e d this biza r re incident to
h is c o ll e ction of st r ange episodes .

Your exp e rienc e is so far as I know per , ,

fec t l y unique

said he
May I ask S ir what
, .
, ,

you did th e n !

I w as fu r ious My r st idea was that I
.

h a d been th e V ictim O f s o me absu r d practica l

j oke I pack e d my th ings ban ged the hall ,

d oor b e hind me and set O ff for E sher with m y

, ,

[ ]
2 0
 TH E AD VE N T U RE OF W I S TER I A L ODGE

bag in my hand I called at Al lan B r oth er s

.

,

the chief land agents in the village and f ound ,

that it was from this r m that the villa h a d

b een rented It struck me that the whole pr o
.

c e e d in g could hardly be for the pu r pose of

making a fool of me and that the main Obj ect ,

must be to get out of the rent I t is late in .

M a r ch so quarter day is at hand

, B ut this
-
.

theory would not work The ag e nt was obliged .

to me for my war ning but told me that the ,

rent had been paid in advance Then I made .

my way to to w n and called at the Spanish

E mbassy The man was unkn ow n th e re Aft e r
. .

this I went to se e Melville at wh o se house I ,

had r st met Ga r cia but I found that he r e ally,

kne w r ath e r less about h im than I did F inally .

,

when I got y o ur reply to my wire I came out

t o you since I gathe r that you are a p er son
,

who giv e s advice in difficult cases But n o w .

,

M r Insp e ctor I understand fro m what y o u said

.
, ,

wh e n y o u e nte r ed the ro om that y o u can carr y ,

the st o ry on and that some t r agedy has occu rred

,
.

I can assu r e you that eve r y wo r d I have said

is the t r uth and that outside of what I hav e
, ,

t o ld you I know absolut e ly nothing about the

,

fate of this man My o nly desi r e is t o h e lp the

.

l a w in ev er y possible way .

I am sure of it Mr Sc o tt E ccl e s I am sure .
,

o f it , said Insp e ctor Gregson in a ve r y amia ,

ble tone .I am bo und to say that ev erythin g

[ ]
2 1
 HI S LA ST B O W
which you have said agrees very closely w ith
the facts as they have come to our notice F or .

example there was that note which arrived dur

,

ing dinner D id you chance to Observe what

.

became Of it !

Yes I did Garcia rolled it up and threw
, .

it into the re .

What do you say to that Mr B aynes , .

The country detective w a s a stout pu ffy red , ,

man whose face was only redeemed from gross

,

n ess by two extraordinarily bright eyes almost ,

hidden behind the heavy creas e s Of cheek and

brow With a slow smile he drew a folded and
.

discoloured scrap O f paper f r om his pocket .

It was a dog grate Mr Holmes and he over -
, .
,

pitched it I picked this o ut unburned from the

.

back of it .

Holmes smiled his appre ciation .

You must have examined the house very care

ful ly to nd a single pellet of paper
, .

I did Mr Holm es I t s my way S hall I

, . .

.

read it Mr Gregson
,
! .

The L ondoner nodded .

T he note is wr itten upon ordina ry cream

l aid pap e r without wate rma r k It is a quart er .

S heet The paper is cut O ff in t w o snips with

.

a short bladed scissors

-
It h a s been folded over .

three times and seal e d with purple wax put on ,

hurrie dl y and pressed down with some a t oval ,

O bj ect It is addressed to Mr Garcia Wis teria

. .
,

[ ]
2 2
 TH E AD VE N T URE OF W I S TER I A L O DG E

L odge It says : O u r o w n c o l o u r s gre en and
.
,

white Green open white S hut Main stai r

.
, .
,

rst corridor seventh right green baize Go d

, , .

speed D . I t is a w o man s wr iting d o ne with

.

a sharp poin ted pen but the add re ss is e ith er d o n e

-
,

with another p e n or by someone else It is thicker .

and b older as you see , .

A very remarkable note said H o l m e s , ,

glancing it ov er I must c ompliment y ou
.
,

lVIr B aynes upon your attenti o n t o detail in

.
,

your examination O f it A fe w t r iing points .

might p er haps be added The oval seal is un .

doubtedly a plain sl e eve link w hat els e is Of such -

a S hape ! Th e scisso r s we r e bent nail scisso r s .

Sho r t as th e t w o snips a r e you can distinctly see ,

the same slight cu r ve in each .

The count ry detective chuckled .

I thought I had squeezed all the j uice o ut
of it but I see there was a little o ver he said
, ,
.

I m bound to say that I make n o thing o f th e

note exc e pt that there was something on hand ,

and that a woman as usual was at the bott o m , ,

of it .

Mr S cott E ccles had dget e d in his se at

.

during this conversation .

I am glad y o u found the note S ince it co r ,

ro bo ra t es my story said he But I b e g t o
, .

point out that I have not y e t hea r d what has

happened t o Mr Garcia nor what has become of
.
,

his household .
 HI S LA S T B O W
As to Garcia said Gregson that is easily
, ,

answered He was found dead this morning

.

upon O xshott C ommon nearly a mile fr om his ,

home . H is head had been smashed to pulp

by heavy b lows Of a sand bag or some such -

instrument which had crushed rather than

,

wounded I t is a lonely corner and th e re is no

.
,

house within a quarter of a mile of the sp o t He .

had apparently been stru ck d o wn rst from

behin d but his assailant had gone on b e ating h im
,

long after he was dead It was a most furious .

assault There are no footsteps nor any clu e

.

to the crimina ls .

R o bbed !

N O there was no attempt at robbery

, .

This is ve r y p ainful ve r y painful and
ter r ible said Mr S c o tt E ccles in a querulous

, .
,

voice ; but it is really uncommonly hard upon
me I had nothing to do with my host going
.

O ff upon a nocturnal excursion and me e ting SO

sad an end H o w do I come to be mixed up

.

with the case !

Very S imply S ir Inspector B aynes an
, ,

T he o nl y document found in the

sw e re d .

pocket of the dec e ased was a letter f r om yo u

saying that you would be with him on the night
O f his death It was the e nvelope of this l e tter
.

which gave us the dead man s nam e and add re ss

.

It was after nine this morning when we reached

his house and found neither you nor anyone
[ ]
2 4
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF W I S T ER I A L ODGE

else inside it I wi r ed to Mr Gregs o n to run

. .

you down in L ondon while I examined Wiste r ia

L odge T hen I came into town j oined Mr
.
, .

G r egson and here we are
, .

I think n o w said Gregson rising we , , ,

had best put this matter into an Official shap e .

You will c o me round with us to the stati o n ,

Mr S c o tt E ccles and let us have your statement

.
,

in writing .

Certainly I will come at once But I retain
, .

your se r vices Mr H o lmes I desire you to

, . .

S p a r e no expense and no pains to get at the

t ruth .

My f r iend turned to the country inspect o r .

I suppose that y o u have no Obj e ction to my

collabo r ating with you Mr B ayn e s !
, .

Highly honoured sir I am sure , , .

You app e ar t o have b e en ve ry prompt and

businesslike in all that you have done Was .

there a ny clue may I ask as to the exact hour

, ,

that the man met his d e ath !

He had been th er e since one O clock There
.

w a s rain about that time and h is death had ,

c e rtainly been before the rain .

But that is perfectly impossible M r ,
.

B aynes c ried o ur client His voice is u n

,
.

mistakable I could swear t o it that it w as h e

.

wh o addressed me in my bedroom at that very

hour .
 HI S LA S T B O W
R em arkable but by , no means impossible ,

s aid H o lmes smiling , .

You have a clu e asked Gregson
! .

O n the f ac e of it the cas e is not a very

comple x one though it certainly presents some
,

n ovel and interes t ing features A further knowl .

edge of facts is nec e ssary before I would ventur e

to give a nal and denite opinion By the way .
,

Mr B aynes did you nd anyth ing remarkable

.
,

besides thi s note in y our examination Of the

house !

The detective looked at my friend in a S ingul

way .

There were said b e o ne
, o r tw o very ,

remarkable things Perhap s when I have n .

ishe d at the police station you would care to -

come out and give me your opinion of them .

I am entirely at your service said Sherlock ,

Holmes ringing the bell

,

You will S how .

these gentlemen o ut Mrs Hudson and kin dly , .

,

send the boy with this telegram H e is t o pay .

a v e shilling reply
-
.

We sa t for some time in silence after o ur

visitors had left Holmes sm o ked hard with
.
,

his b r ows d r aw n down over his keen eyes and ,

his head thru st forward in the eager way charac

t e rist ic of the man .

Well Watson he asked turning suddenly
, , ,

upon me what do you make of it
,
!

[ ]
2 6
 H I S LA S T B O W
Ho l mes leaned back in his chair with half
closed eyes .

You must admit my dear Watson that the
, ,

idea of a j oke is impossibl e There were grave .

events af o ot as the s e quel sho we d and the

, ,

coaxing of S cott E ccles to Wisteria L odge had

some connection with them .

But w hat p o ssible connection !

L et us take it link by link There is o n .

,

the face O f it som e thing unnatural about this

,

strange and sudden friendship bet w een the

young Spani a r d and S cott E ccles I t w as .

the former who forced the pace He called .

upon E ccles at the othe r end of L ondon on the

v er y day after he r st met him and he kept ,

in Close touch with him until he got him do w n

to E sh er N o w what did he want with E ccles
.
,
!

What c o uld E ccles supply I se e no charm in

!

the man He is not particularly intelligent

.

not a man likely t o be congenial t o a quick

witted L atin Why th e n was he picked out
.
, ,

fr om all th e o th er people w hom Ga r cia met a s

pa r ticula r ly suited to his pu r pose Has b e any
!

one outstanding quality ! I sa y that he has .

He is th e v er y type O f conventional B r itish

re spectability and the v e ry man as a witness to
,

imp re ss an o th e r B r iton You sa w you r s e lf h o w

.

n e ither of the inspect or s d r eamed of questio ning

his statement extrao r dina r y as it was
, .

But what was he to witness !

[ ]
2 8
 TH E AD VEN T URE OF W I S TER IA L ODGE
Nothin g as thin gs turned out but ev e ry
, ,

thing had they gone another way That is h ow .

I read th e matt er .

I see he might have prov e d an alibi
, .

E xactly my d e a r I a t so n ; h e might have

V
,

proved an alibi IV e w ill s u ppose f or a r gu

.
,

ment s sake that the h ous e hold o f Wist er ia

L odg e a r e co n f e de r ates in s ome d e sign The .

attempt whatever it may be is t o c ome O ff we

, , ,

will say bef or e one O cl o ck B y some j uggling

,

.

O f the clocks it is quit e possibl e that they may

have g o t S c o tt E ccl e s to bed e a rli er th a n he

thought but in a n y case it is l ik e l y that w hen
,

Ga r cia we nt out of his way t o tell him that it

was one it w as r e all y n o t mo r e than twe lv e If .

Garcia could do w hat e v er h e had to do and be

back by the h o ur m e nti o n e d he had e vid e ntly
a p ow e r ful re ply to any ac cusati o n H ere w as .

t hi s irre p r oachable E nglishm a n re ady to s we ar

in any cou rt of law that the accused w as in his
house all the tim e I t w as an in s ur ance a gains t
.
-

the w o r st .

Y e s y e s I see that B ut h ow ab o ut the
, , .

dis appea r ance o f the o th er s !

I have not all my facts y e t but I d o ,

n o t think th ere a re a n y insupe r abl e diffic ul ti e s .

Still it is an error t o a rgue in f r ont o f y o u r data

,
.

You nd you r self ins ensibly t wisting them round

.

to t your th e ories .

A n d the m e ssag e .
 H I S LA S T B O W

H o w did it run O ur o wn col o urs green
!
,

and white S ounds like racing
.

Green open .
,

white shut That is clearly a signal
.

M ain .

stai r r st corridor seventh right green baize

, , , .

This is an assignation We may nd a j ealous .

husband at the bottom O f it a l l It was clearly .

a dange r ous quest She would not have s aid

.

God speed had it n o t been S O D

that sho ul d . .

be a guide .

The man was a S paniard I suggest that .

D stands for D olores a comm on female name

in S pain

.

Good Watson very good but quite in
, ,

admissible A S pania r d would write t o a

.

Spaniard in S panish The writer of this note .

is certai nl y E nglish Well we can only possess

.
,

o ur souls in patience until this excellent in ,

spector comes back for us Meanw hile we can .

thank our lucky fate which has r e scue d us for

a few sho r t hours from the insu ff erable fatigues
O f idleness .

An answer had arrived to Holmes s telegram

b e for e ou r Su rre y Ofce r had re tu r ned Holmes .

read it and was ab o ut to place it in his note

,

book when h e caught a glimpse O f my e x pecta nt

face He tossed it across with a laugh
. .

We are moving in exalted circles said he ,
.

The telegr am w as a list O f names and a d

dresses
L ord H a rringb y The D ingle ; S ir ,

[ ]
3 0
 TH E AD VE N T U RE OF W I S TER I A L ODGE

George F folliott O xsh o tt To we rs ; M r Hynes

, .

Hynes J P P urd ey Place ; M r Jame s Bak er

, . .
, .

Williams F orton O ld Hall ; M r Hende r son

, .
,

High Gable ; R ev Joshua Stone Nether Wal .

,

S ling .

This is a ve ry obvious way of limiting our

eld of Ope r ations said Holmes N O d o ubt
, .

B aynes with his methodical mind has al r eady

, ,

adopt e d some similar plan .

I don t quite understand
.

Well my dear fell ow w e have al ready

, ,

arr ived at the conclusi o n that the message

receiv e d by Gar cia at dinner was an appoint
ment or an assignati o n N o w if the Obvi o us .
,

r eading o f it is correct and in orde r to k ee p ,

this t r yst one has to ascend a main stair and

seek the seventh do or in a corridor it is p er ,

fe c t l y clea r that the house is a very la r ge o ne .

It is equally ce r tain that this house cannot be

mo r e than a mile or tw o f r om O xsh o tt sinc e ,

Garcia was w alking in that di r ection and h o p e d , ,

acco r ding to my reading of the facts to be back ,

in Wiste ria L odge in time to avail hims e lf of

an alibi which would only be valid up to on e
,

O clock As the numb er of la rge houses cl o se

.

to O xshott must be limited I adopted the ,

Obvious meth o d of s e nding to the agents men

t io n e d by S c o tt E ccles and obtaining a list of
them He r e th ey a r e in this telegram and the
.
,

[ ]
3 1
 HI S LA ST B O W
other end o f o ur tangled skein must lie among

them .

I t w as nearly six O clock before we found

ourselv e s in the pretty Surrey village o f E sher ,

with Insp e cto r B aynes as our companion .

Holm e s and I had tak e n things for the night ,

and found comfo r tabl e quarters at the Bull .

F inally we set out in the company of the d et e c

tive on our visit to Wiste ria L odge It w as a .

cold dark March evening with a sharp wind and

, ,

a ne rain b e ating upon our faces a t setting ,

f or the wild c omm on over w hich our road passed

and the tragic goal to which it led u s .

II TH E TI G E R
. O F SA N PEDR O

A cold and melancholy w alk of a couple o f

mil e s b r ought us t o a high wood e n gat e which ,

Op e ned into a gloomy avenue O f chestnuts Th e .

curved and shado we d d r ive l e d us t o a l o w

'

da r k hous e pitch black against a S late coloured

,
- -

sk y. F rom the f r ont window upon the left O f

the d oo r there peeped a glimme r O f a f e eble light .

There s a constable in poss e ssion said ,

B aynes I ll knock at the wind o w He

. .

stepp e d across the g r ass plot and tapped with

his hand o n the pane Through the fogged
.

glass I diml y saw a man spring up from a chair

[ ]
3 2
 TH E A D VEN T U RE OF W I S T ER I A L ODG E

b e side the re and hear d a sha r p c ry from ,

within the r o om An instant later a white .

faced hard breathing policeman had opened

,
-

the doo r the candle wavering in his trembling

,

hand .

What s the matter Walters asked B aynes

!
, ,

sharply .

Th e man mopped his for ehead with his hand

kerchief and gave a l o ng sigh O f re li e f .

I am glad you hav e com e sir It has b e e n , .

a long e vening and I don t think my n er ve is a s

go o d as it w as .

Y o u r n erve Walt er s I sh o uld not have
!
,

thought y o u had a n e rv e in you r body .

W e ll si r it s this lon e ly S il e nt house and
, ,

the qu eer thing in th e kitch e n Th e n w h e n y o u .

tapp e d at the window I thought it had com e

again .

That what had come again !

The d e vil sir for all I know It was at , ,

.

the w ind o w

.

What was at the window and when !
,

It w as j ust about t w o h o u r s ag o The .

light was j us t fading I w as sitting re ading in .

the chair I don t know what made m e lo o k

.

up but the r e w as a face l ooking in at me

,

th ro ugh th e l ow er pane L o r d si r w hat a fac e .

, ,

it was ! I ll see it in my d re ams
.

Tut tut Walters ! This is not talk f o r a
, ,

police constable -
.
 HI S LA S T B O W
I know S ir I know ; but it shook me sir
, , , ,

and there s no u se to deny it It wasn t black

.

sir nor w a s it W hite nor any colour that I know

, , ,

but a kind O f qu e er S hade l ike clay with a splash

of milk in it Then the r e was the size of it
.

it w a s twice yours sir A n d the l o ok O f it , .

the great sta r ing goggle eyes and the line o f ,

w hite teeth like a hungry beast I tell you .

,

sir I couldn t move a nger nor get my breath

, , ,

till it whisked away and was gone O ut I ran .

and through th e shrubbery but thank God ,

the r e was no one there .

If I didn t kn o w you were a good man

,

Walters I should put a black mark against you

,

for this If it were the devil himself a constable

.

o n duty should never thank God that he could

n o t lay his hands upon him I suppose the .

whol e thing is not a vision and a touch Of

n erve s !

That at least is very easily settled said
, , ,

Ho l mes lighting his little pocket l antern

, .

Y e s he reported after a short examination
, ,

o f the grass b e d a number t w elve shoe I , ,

S hould say If he was all on the same scale as

.

his foot he must ce r tainly have been a giant .

What becam e of him !

He seems t o have b r oken through the
shrubbery and made for the road .

Well said the inspecto r with a grave and
, ,

thoughtful face w hoever he may have been , ,

[ ]
34
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF W I S T ER I A L ODG E
and whatever he may have wanted he s g o ne ,

for the present and w e have more immediate

,

things to attend to N ow Mr Holmes with .

, .
,

your permission I will S how you round the ,

house .

The various bedrooms and sitting rooms had -

yielded nothing to a car e ful search Appa rently .

the tenants had brought little or nothing w ith

them and all the furniture d o wn to th e smallest
,

detai l s had been taken o ver with the h o us e .

A good deal of clothing with the stamp O f Mar x

and C O High Holbo r n had b e en left be hind
.
, ,
.

Telegraphic inqui r ies had been al re ady mad e

which showed that Ma r x kne w nothing of his
customer save that he was a g oo d paye r O dds .

and ends some pipe s a fe w n ov e ls t w o of th e m

, , ,

in Spani sh an Ol d fashion e d p in re rev o lve r

,
-
,

and a guitar were amongst the pe r sonal p r op er ty .

Nothing in all this said B aynes stalking , , ,

can dl e in hand from r o om to room , But .

no w, Mr Ho l mes I invite your attention to

.
,

the kitchen .

It was a gloomy high ceilinged room at the ,

-

back O f the house w ith a st r aw litt e r in one ,

co r ner which s er ved appa re ntly as a b e d fo r

,

th e cook The table was pil e d w ith half eaten

.
-

dishes and dirty plates the debris of last night s ,

dinner .

L oo k at this

said B ayn es What do , .

o u make Of it !
y
 HI S LA S T B OW

He held up his candl e before an extraordi na ry

O bj ect which stood at the back o f the dresser .

I t was so wrinkled and s hrunken and withered

that it w as difcult to say what it might h ave
been O ne could but sa y that it w a s black
.

and leathery an d that it bore some resemblan ce

to a d w a rsh hum an gure At rst a s I
, .
,

e xamined it I thought that it was a mummied

,

n egro baby a n d then it seemed a very twisted

,

a nd ancient monkey F inally I was left in .

doubt a s to whether it w as animal or hum a n .

A double band of white shells w a s strung round

the centre O f it .

Very interesting ve ry interesting indeed ! ,

s aid Holmes peering at this S inister relic

Any .

thing more !

In silence B aynes led the way to the S ink and

held forward his candle The limbs and body .

o f some large white bi r d to r n savagely t o

, ,

pieces with the feathers still on were littered all ,

o ver it . Holmes pointed to the wattles o n the

seve r ed head .

A white cock said he ; most interesting ! I t
,

is really a very curious case .

B ut Mr B aynes had kept his most S inister

.

e xhibit to the last F rom under the S ink he

.

d r ew a z inc pail which contained a quantity

of blood . Then from the table he t o ok a
p latter heaped with small pieces O f charred
bone
 TH E AD VE N T U RE OF W I S TER IA L ODGE

Something has been k illed and something

has been burned We raked all these out of .

the re We had a doctor in this morning

. .

H e says that they are not human .

Holmes smiled and rubbed his hands .

I must congratulate you inspector on , ,

h an dl ing so distinctive and inst ructive a case .

Yo ur powers if I may say SO without O ff ence

. , ,

seem superior to your opportunities .

Inspector B aynes s sma l l eyes twinkled with

pleasure .

You re right Mr Holmes We stagnate in

, . .

th e provinces A case of this sort gives a man

.

a chance and I hope that I shall t ake it What

, .

d o you mak e of th e se bones !

A lamb I sh o uld say or a kid
, , .

And the white c o ck !

Curious Mr B aynes very curious I should

, .
, .

sa y a l most unique .

Y es sir the r e must have been some very

, ,

strange people with s o me very strange w ays in

this h o use O ne of them is dead D id his
. .

c o mpani ons follo w him and kill him If they

!

did w e should have them for ev e ry port is ,

watched But my o w n V iews ar e di ff erent

. .

Yes sir my own views a r e ve r y di ff erent
, , .

You have a the or y then !

And I ll wo r k it mys e lf Mr Holmes I t s

, . .

onl y due to my o w n c r edit t o d o s o Your .

name is made but I have still to make mine ,

.

[ 7]
3
 H I S LAS T BO W

I should be glad to be able to sa y aft erwards

that I had solved it without you r help .

Holmes laughed good humo ure dl y -

.

Well well inspector
, , said he, D O yo u .

follow your path and I will follow mine My .

results are always very much at your service

if you ca r e to apply to me fo r them I think .

that I have seen all that I wish in this house ,

and that my time may be more p r otably

employed elsewhe r e A u revo z r and good luck !

I c o uld tell by nume r ous subtle signs which ,

might have been lost up o n anyone but myself ,

that Holmes was on a hot sc e nt As impassive .

as ever to the casual Observer there were none ,

the less a subdued eagerness and suggestion O f

tension in his brightened eyes and brisker
manner which assured me that the game was
afo ot After his habit he said nothing and
.
,

after mine I asked no questi o ns S ufcient f or .

me to share the sport and lend my humble

help t o the c apture without dist r acting that
int e nt brain with needless interruption A l l .

would come round to me in due time .

I waited th er efore but t o my ever deepen

,
-
,
-

ing disappointment I waited in vain D ay .

suc ce eded day and my friend took no step

,

forw a rd O ne morning he spent in to w n and

.
,

I lea r ned from a casual reference that he had

visited the British Museum S ave for this one .

excu r sion he spent his days in l o ng and Often

, ,

[ ]
3 8
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF W I S T ER I A L O DG E

so litary walks or in chatting with a numb er o f

,

villag e g o ssips whose acquaintance he had cul

tiva t e d .

Im su r e Watson a week in the count r y

, ,

w ill be invaluable to you h e rema rke d It , .

is v e ry pleasant to se e the r st gree n Sh oo ts

upon the h e dges and the catkins on th e haz e ls
o nc e again With a S pud a tin b o x and an e le
.
, ,

mentary book on b o tany th er e a re instructiv e ,

days to b e sp e nt H e p r o w led ab o ut w ith this
.

equipment himself but it w as a p oor S h ow of ,

plants w hich he w ould bring back of an e v e ning .

O ccasionally in our r ambles w e cam e ac ro ss

Inspect or B aynes His fat re d fac e wre ath e d
.
,

its e lf in smil e s and his small e yes glitt ere d as

he g r eeted my companion He said littl e ab out .

th e case but fro m that little w e gath ere d that

,

he also was not dissatis e d at the c ou r s e o f

events I must admit ho w ever that I was s o me
.
, ,

what su r p r ised wh e n S o me ve days aft er the ,

c r ime I opened my morning paper to nd in

,

large lett er s
TH E OX S HO T T MY S T E RY
A S OLUT I O N

A RR E S T OF S UP P O S E D A S S A S S IN

.

H o lmes sp r ang in his chair as if h e ha d b ee n

stung when I read the head lines -
.
 13 m
1 BO W

I s ho u l d be gl ad! ! be a bl e to sa y a fterwards
t ha t I had so l ve d w itho ut yo ur he l p
!
.

H o lmes l a ugh go o d hmn o uredly

-
.

we l l it pec to r sa id he
. , DO you
.

fo l l o w y ou r p a t h md I w il l fo ll o w mine My .

re su l t s a re a l w a y ve ry much a t y o ur service
if yo u c a re to a p l y to me fo r t he m I think
.

th a t I ha ve se e n l l tha t I w ish in t his ho use,

a nd th a t my t im may be mo re p ro tab l y
emp l oy ed e l se w he r A u ra n k a nd go o d l uc k !
!
.

I c ou ld te l l hv ume ro us s ubt l e s igns, w hic h

might ha v e be e n h t u po n a nyo ne bu t myse l f,
that H o lme s w as a a ho t sc e nt A s impassiv e
.

a s eve r t o t he ea s e l O bse rv e r t he re w e re no ne
,

t he l ess a su bd ue t b age rne ss a nd sugge s tio n O f

tens ion in h is h ghte ned e yes and b riske r
manne r w h ich assred me tha t the ga me w as
a foo t A ft e r his s hit he sa id no thing and
.
,

after mine I asket h o q ue st io ns S u fc ie nt fo r

.

me t o S hare t he po rt an d le nd my humbl e
hel p to t he c a p t l e w itho ut dist ra ct ing
intent b ra in with nee dl ess in te rrup tio n A ll .

woul d come round 1 me in d ue t ime .

,

I wa ite d t he re fce b ut to ,

ing d isa p p o
su cc e e d e d d ay ,

forwar d . O ne
I learne d fro m
visite d th e B r it
e x cursion he ,

[ ]
3 8
 HI S LA ST BOW

By Jove l he cried . Yo u don t mean that

B aynes has got him !

Ap parentl y , s a id I , as I re ad the follo w ing
report :

Great e x citement w as caused in E sher and

the neighbou ring district when it was learned
late last ni ght that an arrest had been a ff ected
in connection with the O xsh o tt murder It .

w ill be remembered that M r Garcia of Wisteri a .

,

L odge was found dead o n O xshott Comm on

, ,

his body S howing signs Of extreme violence and ,

that on the s ame night his servant and his cook

ed which appeared to show their participa
,

tion in the crime I t was suggest e d but never

.
,

p r oved that the decea sed gentleman may have

,

had valuables in the house and that the ir ,

abstraction was the motive of the c r ime E v e ry .

e ffort was made by Inspector B aynes who h a s ,

the case in hand to asce r tain the hiding place

,

Of the fugitives and he had go o d r e ason to

,

believe that they had not g o ne far but we r e ,

lurking in some retreat which had been alread y

prepared It was ce r tain f r om the r st h o w
.
,

ever that th e y would eventu al ly be det e cted as

, ,

the cook fr om th e evidence of one or two

,

t r adesp eo ple who have caught a glimpse o f him

th r ough the window was a man of most remar k ,

able appearance being a huge and hideous
mulatto with yello w ish fe atures of a pronounced
,

negroid type This man has been seen since

.

the crime for he was detected and pursued by

,

[ ]
4 0
 WM I G A f A f t

TH E AD VE N T U RE OF W I S TE R IA L ODGE

Constable Walters on the same eve ning w h e n ,

he had the audacity t o revisit Wiste r ia L odg e .

Inspect o r B aynes considering that such a visi t

,

must have some pu r pos e in V i e w and w as lik e ly , ,

ther e fore to be r epeated abandon e d the hous e

, , ,

but left an ambuscade in the sh r ubb er y The .

man w alked into the t r ap and was captu r ed ,

last night after a st ruggl e in which Constable ,

D owning was badly bitt e n by the savag e We .

understand that when th e prisone r is br ought

before the magistrates a remand will be appli e d
for by the police and that g r eat developments
,

a r e hoped from his capture .

R eally we must see B aynes at once cri e d ,

Holm e s picking up his hat
,
We will j ust .

catch h im bef ore he star ts We hu rried do w n .

the village st r eet and f o und as we had ex ,

p e cted that,
the inspec tor was j ust leaving his
lodgin gs .

You ve seen the paper MT H o hnes

!

he , .

asked h o lding o ne out to us

,
.

Y e s B ayn e s I ve se e n it Pray d o n t


.
, ,

think it a lib er ty if I give you a word of friendly

wa r ning .

O f w arning Mr Holmes ! .
,

I have lo oked into this case with some care ,

and I am n o t convinced that you a re o n th e r ight

lines I don t want you to commit yourself t o o
.

far unless v o u ar e sur e

.
.
 H I S LA S T B OW

You re very kind M r Ho l mes

, . .

I assure you I speak for you r go o d .

I t seemed to me that something like a wink

quive r ed for an instant o ver one o f Mr B aynes s .

tiny eyes .

We ag r eed to work on our o w n lines M r , .

Holmes That s what I am doing
.

.

O h very good said H olmes
,

D on t blam e
, .

No sir ; I believe you mean well by me

, .

B ut we all have our own systems Mr Hol mes , . .

You have yours and maybe I have mine , .

L et us say n o more about it
.

You re welcome always to my news T his

.

fellow is a perfect s avage as st r ong as a cart ,

ho r se and as erce as the devil He che w ed .

D o w ning s thumb nea r ly O ff befo re they could

mast e r him He ha r dly speaks a word o f

.

E nglish and w e can get nothing o ut of him but

,

g r unts

And you think you have evidence that b e

mu r de r ed his late master !

I didn t say so Mr Holmes ; I didn t say

, .

so. We all have o ur little ways You try .

yours and I will try mine That s the agree .

ment .

Holmes shrugged his shoulders as w e walked

a w ay together I can t make the man out
.

.

He se e ms to be r iding for a fall Well as he .

,

[ ]
4 2
 T HE A D VE N T U RE OF W I S TER I A L ODGE

s ays we must each t r y ou r o w n way and se e

,

w hat comes of it But th e re s something in .

Inspector B aynes which I can t quite under

sta nd .

Just sit down in that chair Watson said , ,

Sherlock Holm e s w h e n w e had re tu r n e d to our ,

apartme nt at th e Bull I want t o put y o u in .

touch with the situation as I may need y o u r ,

help to night L et me sho w y o u the evoluti o n

-
.

of this case so far as I have b e en abl e to f o ll o w

,

it Simple as it has been in its leading f e a

.

tu res it has n o ne the less p r esented su r p r ising

,

difficulti e s in the w ay O f an arre st Th er e a re .

gap s in that di r ection w hich we have still t o

ll .

We will go back to the note which w as

handed in to Gar cia upon the e vening o f his
death We may put aside this id e a of B ayn e s s
.

that Garcia s se r van ts were conce r ned in the

matter The p r o o f O f this li e s in th e fact that

.

it was he w ho had arr ang e d for the p r es e nce o f

Scott E ccles which could only hav e be e n d one
,

fo r th e pu r p o se Of an alibi It w as Gar cia th e n .

, ,

who had a n e nte r p r ise and appa re ntly a c r iminal ,

ente r p r ise in hand that night in th e cou r s e of

, ,

which he m e t his d e ath I say c r iminal b e caus e .

only a man w ith a c r iminal ent er p r is e d e si re s to

establish an alibi Who then is m o st lik e ly to .
,

have taken his life Surely the pers o n against

!

[ ]
4 3
 HI S LA S T B O W
whom the criminal enterprise was directed S O .

far it seems to me th a t we are on safe ground .

We can n o w see a r eason for the disappear
ance of Garcia s household
They we r e a l l .

confederates in the same unknown c r ime If .

it came o ff then Garcia returned any possible ,

suspici o n wo ul d be w arded O ff by the E nglish

man s e vidence and all would be w e ll B ut

, .

the attempt was a dangerous one and if Garcia ,

did n o t return by a certain hour i t w a s probable

that his o w n life had been sacriced It had .

be e n a r ranged therefore that in such a case his

, ,

two sub or dinates were to make f o r some p r e

ar r anged spot where they c o uld escape inve sti
,

g a t i o n and be in a position afte r w ards t o renew

their attempt That would fully explain the
.

facts would it not
,
!

Th e whole inexplicable tangle seemed to

straighten o ut before me I w o nde r ed as I .
,

al w ays did how it had not been obvious t o me

,

bef or e .

But why S hould o n e servant return !

We can imagine that in the confusion of ,

ight something precious something which he

, ,

could not bear to part with had be e n left b e hind , .

That would explain his pe r sistence would it ,

not !

Well what is the next step
,
!

The next step is th e note received by

Garcia at the dinner It indicates a con
.

[ ]
4 4
 T HE AD VEN T U R E OF W I S TER I A L ODG E

federate at the other end Now wh e re was the.

,

other end ! I have already shown you that it

could o nl y lie in some la r ge house and that the ,

number of large houses is limited My rst .

days in this village were devoted to a s er ies of

walks in which in the intervals of my b o tani cal
,

researches I made a reconnaissance o f all the

l a r ge houses and an examination of the family
hist or y of the occupants O ne house and only
.
,

o ne, rivete d my attention It is the fam o us .

O l d Jac o bean g r ange of High Gable one mile ,

o n the fa r ther S ide O f O xshott and less than ,

half a mile fr o m the sc e ne O f the t r ag e dy .

The o ther mansi o ns belonged to p r osaic and

re sp e ctable people w ho live far al o of fro m
romance But Mr Hende r son O f High Gabl e
. .
, ,

was by all accounts a cu r ious man t o w hom ,

cu r ious adventu r es might befal l I concent r ated .

my attention therefore upon him and his

, ,

household .

A singular set O f people Watson the man ,

himself the most singular of them all I man .

aged to se e him on a plausibl e pretext but ,

I seeme d t o read in his da r k d e ep se t brooding,

-
,

eyes that he was perfectly aware of my t r ue

busin e ss He is a man of fty strong active
.
, , ,

w ith iron g r ey hair great bunched black e y e

-
,

brows the step of a dee r and the air of an

, ,

empe r o r a e r ce maste r ful man with a red

, ,

hot spirit behind his parchment face He is .

[ ]
45
 H I S LA S T B O W

either a f or eigner o r has lived long in the Tropics ,

fo r he is ye llow and sapless but tough as whip ,

cord His friend and secretary Mr L ucas is

.
, .
,

undoubte dl y a fo r eigner chocolate b r own wily , , ,

suave and cat like w ith a poisonous gentleness

-

of speech Yo u see Watson we have come

.
, ,

al r eady upon t w o sets of foreigners one at

Wisteria L odge and o n e at High Gable S O our

gaps a r e beginning t o close .

These t w o men close and condential ,

friends are the centre Of the h o useh o ld ; but

,

there is one other person w ho fo r ou r immediate ,

purpose may be even more impo r tant Hen .

d e rso n h a s t w o children girls of eleven and
thirteen Their governess is a Miss Burnet an
.
,

E nglishwoman o f fo r ty o r thereabouts There .

is also o ne condential manse rvant This little .

group forms the real family for they travel ,

about t o gether and Henderson is a great,

traveller always o n the move It is only

, .

within the last fe w weeks that he has returned ,

after a year s absence to High Gable I may

,
.

add that he is eno rmously rich and whatever ,

his whims may be he can very easily satisfy

them F or the rest his house is full of butlers
.
, ,

footmen maidserv ants and the usual overfed

, , ,

underworked sta ff of a la r ge E nglish country

house .

S O much I learned pa r tly from village
gossip and partl y from my o wn O bservation .

[ ]
4 6
 HI S LA ST B O W
lashed at folk with his dog whip and only his -
,

long purse and heavy compensation have kept

him out of the courts .

Well now Watson let u s j udge the situa
, , ,

tion by this new information W e may take .

it that the letter came out O f this st r ange

h ousehold and was an invitation to Ga r cia to
,

carr y out some attempt which had al r eady been

planned Who wrote the note It was some
.
!

o n e within the citadel and it was a woman

,
.

Who then but M iss B urnet the governess

,
!
,

All our reasoning seems to point that way At .

any rate we may take it as a hypothesis and

, ,

se e what consequences it would entail I may .

add that Miss B urnet s age and character make

it certain that my rst idea that there might

be a love interest in our story is Out o f the
question.

If sh e wrote t he note she was presumably
the fr iend and confederate O f Gar cia What .
,

then might she be expected to do if sh e h e ard

,

of his death ! If he met it in some ne fa r ious

enterprise her lips might be s e aled Still in .
,

her heart she must retain bitterness and hatred

against those who had killed him and would ,

presumably help so far as she could to have

revenge upon them C ould we se e her then
.
,

and try to use her T hat was my rst thought

! .

B ut now we come to a sinister fact Miss .

B urnet has not b een seen by any human eye

[ ]
4 8
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF W I S TER I A L ODGE

since the night of the murder Fro m that .

evening she has utte r ly vanished Is she aliv e ! .

H as she pe r haps met her end on the sam e night

as the f r i e nd w hom she had summoned ! Or
is S h e me r ely a p r isoner There is the point which
!

we still have to decide .

You will appreciate the difficulty O f the
S ituation Watson
, There is nothing upon w hich
.

we can apply for a war r ant O ur wh o le .

scheme might seem fantastic if laid befo re a

magistrate The woman s disappea r ance c o unts
.

for nothing since in that extraordina r y h o use

,

h o ld any membe r o f it might be invisible f o r a

wee k And y e t she may at the pres e nt m oment
.

be in dang e r of h er life All I can d o is t o w atch

.

th e h o us e and leave my agent War ner on guar d , ,

at the gates We can t l e t such a situation c o n

.

tinn e If the law can d o nothing we must take

.

the risk ou r se lves
What do y o u suggest
.

I kn o w w hich is her room It is accessible .

from th e t o p o f an outh o use My sugg e sti o n is

.

that y o u and I go to night and s e e if w e can

-

st r ik e at the very hea r t of th e myst e ry .

It was n o t I must c o nfess a ve r y allu r ing

, ,

prosp e ct The o ld h o use with its atm o sph er e

.

O f murder the S ingula r and f or midabl e inh ab i

,

tants the unkn ow n dangers o f th e app r oach

, ,

and the fact that we w e re putting ou r s e lves

legally in a false position all c ombined to damp
,

[ ]
49
 H I S LA S T B OI V

my ardour B ut there w a s something in the

.

ice cold reasoning Of Holmes which made it

-

impossible to shrink from any adventure which

he might recommend O ne kne w that thus .
,

and only thus could a solution be found I , .

clasped his hand in silence and the die was ,

cast .

B ut it was not destined that o u r investigati o n

should have so adventurous an ending It was .

about ve O clock and the S hado w s O f the

March evening we re beginning to fall when an ,

excit e d rustic rushed into o ur room .

They ve gone Mr Holmes They went by

, . .

the last t r ain T he lady b r oke away and I ve

.
,

got h er in a cab downstairs .

E xcellent Warner ! cried Holmes spring

, ,

ing to his feet Watson the gaps are closing
.
,

rapidly .

In the cab was a woman half collapsed from ,

-

nervous exhaustion She bo r e upon her a quiline .

and emaciated face the trace s o f some recent

tragedy Her head hung listlessly upon her
.

br e ast but as she raised it and turned her dull

,

eyes upon us I saw that her pupils were dark

,

dots in the cent r e of the broad grey iris S he .

was drugged with opium .

I watched at the gate same as you advised , ,

Mr H o lmes said our emissary the discha rg e d

.
, ,

gardener Wh en the carriage came out I
.

follo w ed it to the station She was like o n e .

[ ]
5 0
 T HE AD VEN T U RE OF W I S TER I A L ODG E

w alking in her sleep ; but when th e y t r ie d to

get her in to the train sh e came to life and
struggled They pushed her into the car r iag e
. .

She fought her w ay out again I took h er par t .

,

g o t her into a cab and here we are I S han t

, .

forget the face at the car r iag e w indo w as I

l e d her a w ay I d have a short life if h e

.

had his way the black eyed scowling yell ow -
, ,

devil .

We carr ied her upstai r s laid he r o n the s o fa , ,

and a couple of cups Of the st r ongest co ff e e s oo n

clea r ed h e r b r ain f r om the mists O f the dru g .

Bayn e s had b e en summ o ned by Holm es and the ,

situation rapidly explain e d to him .

Why sir y o u ve got me the ve r y evidenc e I
, ,

want said th e insp e c tor warmly shaking my
, , ,

friend by the hand I w as on th e sam e sc e nt
as you from the r st .

What ! Y o u were aft e r H e nd er s o n !

Why Mr Holm e s w hen you wer e c r a w ling

, .
,

in the shrubb er y at High Gable I w as up o ne Of

the trees in the plantati o n and sa w y o u d own
bel o w It was j ust who w ould g e t his evid e nce
.

r st
.

Then why did you arr est the mulatt o
B aynes chuckled .

I w as su r e H e nde r s o n as he calls hims e lf , ,

felt that h e was susp e ct e d and that he wo uld ,

lie low and make no mov e s o l o ng as h e th o ught

he was in any danger I arrested the wro ng man
.

[ ]
5 1
 H I S LAS T B O W
to make him believe that o ur eyes were O ff him .

I kne w he would be likely to clear o ff th e n and

give us a chance of getting at Miss Burnet '

Holmes laid his hand upon the inspector s

shoulder .

You will rise high in your profession You .

have instinct and intuition said he , .

B aynes ushed with pleasure .

I ve had a plain clothes man waiting at the

-

stati o n all the week Whe r ev e r the High Gable

.

folk go he will keep them in sight But he must .

have been hard put to it wh e n Miss Bu r net b r oke

away However your man picked he r up and
.
, ,

it all ends well We can t ar r est without her

.

evidence that is clear so the sooner we get a

, ,

stat e ment the better .

E very minute S he gets stronger said ,

H o lmes glancing at the gove r ness
, But tell

me B aynes who is this man H e nde r son
, ,
!

H e nd er son the inspect o r ans we red is D on
, ,

Murillo onc e called the Tiger of S an Ped ro
, .

The Tiger O f S an P e dro ! The whole history

O f the man came back t o me in a ash He had .

mad e his name as the most lewd and blood

thi r sty tyrant that had ever g o ve rned any
c o untry with a p re tence to civili z ation St r ong .
,

fearless and energetic he had su fficient vi r tue

, ,

t o enable him to impose his odious vices upon a

co we ring p eo pl e for ten or t we lve y e a r s His .

name was a terror through all C entral A m erica .

[ ]
5 2
 TH E AD VE N T U RE OF W I S TER I A L ODG E

At the end of that time the r e w as a u n iv er sal

rising agains t him But h e w as as cu nning as .

he was cruel and at the rst whisp e r O f coming

,

trouble he had sec r etly conveyed his tr e asures

aboard a ship which was manned by devoted
adhe r ents It was an empty palace which was
.

sto rmed by the insu rgents next day The .

D ictato r his t w o childr en his secreta ry and his

, , ,

wealth had all escaped them F rom that mom e nt .

he had vanish e d fr om th e wo r ld and his id e ntity ,

had b e en a fr equent subj ect for comment in

the E u r opean P r ess .

Yes sir ; D on Murill o the Tig e r of San
, ,

Pedr o said B ayn e s
, If you look it up yo u .

will nd that th e S an Ped r o c o lou r s a r e gree n

and white sam e as in the not e M r H o hn e s
, , . .

H e nd er s o n he call e d himse l f but I trac e d him ,

back Pa r is and R o me and Mad r id to B a r c e lona

, ,

whe r e his ship came in in 8 6 Th e y v e been

.

lo o king for him all the time f o r th e i r re v e nge ,

but it is o nl y now that th e y have b e gun to nd

him o ut .

Th e y discovered him a year ag o said ,

Miss Bu rn e t who had sat up and w as n o w

,

intently follo w ing the c o nv er sation O nce .

al r eady his lif e has been attempt e d ; but s o me

evil S pi r it shi e lded him N o w again it is th e .
, ,

no bl e chival ro us Ga r cia w h o has fall e n w hile

, ,

the monst er go e s saf e But an o the r w ill c ome . ,

and yet anothe r until some day j ustic e will,

[ ]
5 3
 H I S LAS T B O W

be done ; that is as certain as the rise Of to

morrow s sun
. Her thin hands clenched and ,

her w o rn face blanched with the passion O f her

hatr e d .

But h o w come you in to this matter Miss ,

Burnet !
asked Holmes
Ho w can an E ng

lish lady j o in in such a mu r de r ous a ff ai r !

I j oin in it because there is no other way in

the world by which j ustic e can be gained .

What does the law Of E ngland ca r e fo r the

riv er s o f blood S h e d yea r s ago in S an Ped r o ,

o r f o r the S hip load of t r easu r e w hich this man

-

has st o l e n T o you th e y a re like c r imes com

!

mitt e d in some other planet But w e know We . .

hav e lear ned the t r uth in so r r o w and in su ff e r

ing To us the r e is no end in hell like Juan
.

Mu r illo and no pe a ce in life while his victims

,

still c r y f or vengeance .

N O d o ubt ,said Holmes he w as as you ,

sa y . I have hea r d that he was atrocious But .

h ow a r e you a ff ect e d !

I w ill t e ll you it all This villain s policy
.

was to murde r on one p r etext o r anoth er

, ,

e v er y man who S h owe d such p ro mise that he

might in time c ome to be a dange r ous r ival .

My husband yes my r eal nam e is Signora
,

V icto r D urando w as the S an Ped r o Minister
in L ondon H e m e t me and ma rr i e d me the r e
. .

A nobler man nev e r lived up o n e ar th Un .

happily Murillo h e ard of his excellenc e recall e d

, ,

[ ]
5 4
 H I S LA S T B O W
dignitary in S an Ped r o was waiting with t w o
,

trusty companions of humble station all three ,

red with the same reasons for revenge H e .

could do little during t he day for Murillo took ,

every precauti o n and never went out save

,

with his satellite L ucas o r L ope z as he w a s

,

known in the days of his greatness At night .

,

however he slept alone and the avenger might

, ,

nd him O n a certain ev e ning which had been

.
,

prearranged I sent my friend nal instructions

, ,

for the man was for ever on the ale r t and con ,

t inu a l l y changed h is room I was to se e that

.

the doors were open and the signal of a green or

white light in a window which faced the drive
was to give notice if all was safe o r if the attempt ,

had better be postponed .

But eve r y thing went wr ong with us I n .

some way I had excited the suspicion of L ope z ,

the sec r etary He crept up b e hind me and

.
,

S p r ang upon me j ust as I had nished the note .

He and his master d r agged me to my r oom ,

and held j udgment upon me as a convicted

t r aitress Then and there they w o uld hav e
.

plunged their knives into me could th e y have ,

se e n how to escape the consequ e nce o f the deed .

F inally after much debate they concluded that

, ,

my murder was too dangerous But they de .

t e rmin e d to get rid for ever O f Garcia They .

had gagged me and Murillo twisted my arm

,

round until I gave him the add re ss I swear .

[ ]
5 6
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF W I S TER I A L ODG E

that he might have t w isted it o f had I und er

stood what it would m e an to Ga r cia L o p e z .

add r essed the n o te which I had wr itt e n s e al e d ,

it with his sleeve link and sent it by th e hand

-
,

of the servant Jo s H o w th e y mu r de re d him

, .

I do n o t kno w save that it was Mu r illo s b an d

,

who st r uck him d ow n for L o pez had remain e d

,

to gua r d me I beli e ve he must hav e wait e d

.

am o ng th e go r se bushes th rough which the path

winds and st ruck him do w n as h e pass e d At .

r st th e y were o f a mind t o l e t him enter the

house and t o kill him as a d e tect e d bu r glar ;
but th e y a r gu e d that if th e y wer e mix e d up in
an inqui r y th e i r o w n id e ntity w ould at onc e be
publicly discl o sed and they w ould be o pen t o
fu r th er attacks With the death of Ga r cia th e
.

pu r suit might cease sinc e such a d e ath might

,

f r ight e n oth er s f ro m the task .

All w ould n o w have b ee n w e ll f or th e m
had it not b e en f or my kno w l e dg e o f w hat th e y
had d o n e I have n o doubt that th ere wer e
.

tim e s wh e n my lif e hung in the balanc e I w as .

c o nn e d t o my room te r ro r is e d by th e m o st
,

h orr ibl e th re ats c r u e lly ill us e d to b re ak my

,
-

sp irit
w
see this stab o n my sh o uld er and th e

b r uis e s f r om end t o end Of my a rms and a gag
was th r ust int o my mouth on th e o n e o ccasi o n
when I t r i e d t o call fr o m th e w ind ow For .

ve days this c r u e l impris o nm e nt c o ntinu e d ,

with ha r dly enough food t o h o ld b o dy and soul

[ 7]
5
 HI S LA S T B O W
together . T his afternoon a good lunch was
b rought me but the moment after I took it I
,

knew that I had been drugged In a so r t of .

dream I remember being half led half carri e d -

,
-

to the carriage ; in the same state I w a s con

v e ye d to the train O nly then when the .
,

whe e ls we r e al most moving did I suddenly

realise that my liberty lay in my o w n hands . .

I sprang out they tried to drag me back and

, ,

had it not been for the help of this good man ,

who led me to the cab I S hould never hav e ,

broken away N o w thank God I am beyond

.
, ,

their power for ever .

We had all l istened intently to this remar k

able statement I t was Holmes w ho broke the
.

silence .

O ur difficulties are not over he remarked , ,

shaking his head O ur police work ends but
.
,

our legal w ork begins .

E xactly said I

, A plausible lawyer could
.

make it out as an act of self defence There -

.

may be a hund r ed crimes in the background ,

but it is only on this one that they can be

tried.

Come come said B aynes chee r ily ; I think
, , ,

better of the la w than that S e lf defence .

-

is one thing TO entice a man in cold bloo d

.

with th e obj ect of mu r dering h im is another ,

w hatever danger you may f e ar fr om him N O .

,

no ; we shall all be j ustied when we see the

[ ]
5 8
 TH E AD VE N T U RE OF W I S TER I A L ODG E

t e nants Of High Gable at the next Guildfo r d

Assi z es .

It is a matter o f history however that a , ,

little time was still to elapse befo r e th e Tig e r of

S an Pedro should meet with his dese r ts Wily .

and bold he and his compani o n th re w their

,

pursuer Off their track by ente r in g a l o dging

house in E dm o nt o n St re et and l e aving by th e
back gate into Curzon S quar e From that day
-
.

they w er e seen n o m or e in E ngland S om e six .

months aft erw a r ds the Mar quess of M o n t al v a

and S ignor Rulli his sec re tar y wer e b o th mu r
, ,

de red in th e i r r oo ms at the H o tel E sc u r ial at

Madrid The c r ime w as asc r ibed t o Nihilism
.
,

and the mu r d e re r s w er e nev e r arre st e d I n S p e c .

tor B aynes visited us at B ake r St r ee t w ith a

p r inted d e sc r iption Of the da r k fac e of the se c
re t a r
y , and o f the mast er ful f e atu r es the mag ,

netic black e yes and th e tufted b row s o f his

,

master We c o uld n o t d o ubt that j ustic e if

.
,

belated had c om e at last

, .

A cha o tic case my dear Watson , said ,

Holm es o v er an evening pipe
,
It w ill no t .

be possibl e f or y o u to p r es e nt it in that c ompact

f o rm which is dear to y o ur h e ar t It c o v er s .

t w o contin e nts c o nce r ns t w o gro ups O f mys

,

t e rio u s p er s o ns and is fu r th e r c o mplicat e d by

,

the highly re sp e ctabl e p re s e nce O f ou r fr i e nd

S cott E ccles whose inclusion sh ow s m e that
,

[ ]
5 9
 HI S LA S T B O W
the deceased Garcia had a scheming mind and
a well developed instinct of self preservation
- -
.

It is remar kable only for the fact that amid a

perfect j ungle O f possibilities we with o ur ,

worthy collaborator the insp e ctor have kept ,

our close hold on the essentials and S O be e n

guided along the crooked and winding path .

Is there any point which is n o t quite clear t o

you !

The obj ect of the mulatto cook s r e turn !

I thi nk that the strange c r eatu r e in the

kitch e n may account for it The man was a
.

p r imitive savage f r om the back w oods of San

Ped r o n d this was his fetish When his com
, a .

panion and he had ed to some prearranged

ret r eat already occupied no d o ubt by a con
,

f e derate the companion had persuad e d him
t o l e ave S O comp r omising an article of fu r niture .

B ut the mulatto s hea r t was with it a n d he

was d r iven back to it next day when o n re , ,

c o n n o it rin
g th ro ugh the windo w he found ,

polic e man Walt er s in possession H e waited .

th r ee days long er and then his pi e ty o r his supe r

,

st it io n drove him t o try once m or e I n sp e c .

t or B aynes who with his usual astut e ness had

, , ,

minimised the incid e nt befor e me ; had really

rec o gnised its irnp o rt a n c e and had left a t r ap

,

into which the creature walked Any other point

.
,

Wats o n !

Th e t o rn bird the pail of blood the charred
, ,

[ ]
6 0
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF W I S TER I A L ODG E

bones a l l the mystery Of that wei r d ki tchen !

,

Holmes smiled as he turned up an entry in

his notebook .

I spent a mo r ning in the British Museum
reading up that and oth e r points He re is a .

quotation fro m E ckerman s V o o do o ism a nd the

n

N egro id R el igio ns

The t r ue Voodoo worshipper attempts noth
-

ing Of impo r tance without ce r tain sac r ic e s w hich

are int e nded t o propitiat e his uncl e an gods In .

ext re me cases th e s e r ites take th e f o rm o f human

sac r ic e s f o ll owe d by cannibalism The m ore .

usual victims are a whit e c o ck which is pluck e d,

in pieces alive or a black goat whose th r oat is

, ,

cut and b o dy burned !

.

SO y o u see our savage fr iend was very

orthodox in his r itual It is grotesque Watson
.
, ,

H o lmes add e d as he sl ow ly fast e ned his n o t e

,

b oo k ; but as I have had o ccasion to r e ma r k
, ,

th ere is but one step from the grotesque to the

horrible .
T HE AD V E N T UR E OF T H E CAR D
B O A RD B O X

N ch o o smg a few typical cases which illustrate

the rema r kable mental qualities o f my f r iend ,

Sherlock Holmes I have endeavou r ed as far

, ,

as p o ssible to select those which presented the

,

minim um of sensationalism while o ff e r ing a ,

fa i r e ld for his talents It is ho w ev er un

.
, ,

fo r tunat e ly impossible enti r ely to s e pa r ate the

,

sensational f r om the criminal and a ch r onicler

,

is left in the dilemma that he must either

sac r ice details which are essential to his state
ment and S O give a false imp re ssi o n O f the p r ob
,

lem o r he must use matter which chance and

, ,

not Ch o ice has provided him with With this

, .

sh or t p re fac e I shall turn t o my not e s o f what

p r ov e d to be a st r ange though a peculia r ly ter

,

rible chain O f events

,
.

I t was a blazing hot day in August B ak er .

Street was like an oven and the gla r e of the

,

sunlight upon the yellow b r ick w o r k of the house

[ ]
6 2
 HI S LA S T B O W
seem a most prep osterou s way o f settlin g a
d ispute .

l
Most preposterous ! I excla imed and ,

then sudde n ly realising how he had echoed

the inm ost thought O f my soul I sa t up in ,

my chair and stared at him in bl an k amaze

ment .

What is this Ho l mes
,
! I cried This is .

beyond anything which I could have imagined .

He laughed hea r tily at my p e rplexity .

You r emember said he that some little
, ,

time ago wh e n I read y o u the passage in one O f

Poe s sk e tches in which a close reasoner follo w s

the unspoken thoughts o f his companion y o u ,

we r e inclined to treat the matter as a m er e

t o u r d e fo rc e of the autho r
- -
O n my remarking
.

that I was constantly in the habit o f doing the

same thing you exp r essed incredulity .

O h no !
,

Pe rhaps not with your t o n gue my dea r ,

Watson but certainly w ith you r e yeb r o w s S O

, .

when I sa w you th r ow d ow n your pape r and

enter upon a train of thought I was v er y happy
,

to have the Opp or tunity of reading it O ff and ,

eventually of b re aking into it as a proof th at

,

I had been in r app ort w ith you .

But I w as still fa r f r om satised In the .

e x ampl e w hich you r e ad to me said I the , ,

r e asone r drew his conclusions from th e actions

of the man whom he observed If I remember .

[ ]
6 4
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E C ARD B O ARD B OX

right h e stumble d ove r a heap o f st o ne s l ook e d

, ,

up at the stars and so on But I have b ee n

, .

seated quietly in my chair and w hat clues can ,

I have given you !

You do you r self an inj ustice The f e atu re s .

are given to man as the m e ans by which h e shall

exp r ess his emotions and yours ar e faithful ,

servants .

D O you mean to say that you read my train

of thoughts f r om my featu r es !

Your f e atu r es and especial l y your ey e s
,
.

P e rhaps y o u cann o t y o urself recall ho w your

reve r i e commenced !

N O I cannot
, .

Then I w ill tell you Aft e r thro w ing d ow n .

you r paper which was the acti o n w hich dr e w

,

my att e nti o n to you you sat f or half a minute

,

with a vacant exp r es si o n Th e n your eyes .

x e d themselves upon y o ur ne wly fr amed pic -

tu re of General G or d o n and I saw by th e alte r a ,

ti o n in y o ur face that a train Of thought had

b ee n sta r t e d But it did n o t l e ad ve ry fa r
.
.

Y o u r eye s ash e d ac ro ss t o the unfr am e d

p or tr ait o f H e nr y Wa r d B e echer which st a nds
upon the top o f y o ur bo o ks Then y o u glanc e d .

up at th e w all and O f c ou r s e y ou r meaning w as

,

Obvious Y o u were thinking that if th e p o rt r ait

.

w e r e f r ame d it would j ust c o v er that ba r e

,

S pace and c o rrespond with Gordon s pic ture

over the r e .
 H I S LA S T B O W

You hav e followed me wonderful ly ! I

e x claimed .

S O far I could hardly have gone astray B ut

.

n o w your thoughts went back to B eecher and ,

you looked hard across as if you were studying

the chara cter in his features Then your eyes .

c eased to pucker but y ou continued to l o ok

,

across and y our face was thoughtful You

, .

were r ecalling the incidents Of B eecher s career

.

I w a s well aware that you could not do this

Without thinking o f the mission which he under
took o n behalf o f the North at the time Of the
Civil War for I remember your e x press ing your
,

passionate indignation at the way in which he

w a s received by the mor e turbulent Of o ur
people Yo u felt so strongly about it that I
.
,

k new you could not think Of B eecher without

thinking o f that also When a moment later.

I saw your eyes wander away from the pictur e ,

I suspected that your mind had now turned t o

t h e Civil War and when I Obse rved that your
,

l ips set your eyes spa r kled and your hands

, ,

clenched I was p o sitive that you were indeed

,

t hinking o f the gallant r y which was shown by

b oth S ides in that desperate struggle But then .
,

again your face grew sadder ; you shook your

,

head You were dwelling upon the sadness

.

and horror and useless waste of life Your .

hand stole tow a r d s your o w n Ol d wound and a

smile qu ivere d o n y our l ips which showed me ,

[ ]
a a
 TH E A D VEN T U RE O F TH E C ARD BOAR D Box

that the ri di cul ous side of this method o f

settling international questions h a d fo r ced itself

upon your mind At this point I ag r eed with

.

you that it was preposterou s and was glad t o ,

n d that al l m y deductions had been corr ect .

Absolutely ! said I And now that you
.

have explained it I confess th at I am a s amaz ed

,

as before .

It w a s very supercial my dear Watso n I , ,

assure you I shoul d not have in truded it

.

upon your attention had you not shown some

incredul ity the other day But I have in my .

hands here a little problem which may p r ove

to be more difficul t of solution than my small
e ssay in thought reading Have you Observed .

in the paper a short par agraph ref e rring to the

remarkable contents of a packet sent th r ough
the post t o Mi s s C ushing o f Cross Street , ,

C roydon !

N O I saw nothi ng
,
.

Ah ! then you must have overlooked it Just .

toss it ove r to me Here it is unde r the nancial

.
,

column Perhaps you wo ul d be good enough t o

.

read it aloud .

I picked up the paper which he had thr own

back to me and read the parag r aph in di cated It
,
.

was headed A G r uesome Pack e t
,
.

Miss Susan Cushing living at C r oss S t re et
, ,

C roydon h a s been made the victim of what

,

must be regarded as a peculiarly revolting

[ ]
6 7
 HI S LA S T B O W
You have followed me wonderfull y ! I
e x claimed .

S o far I could hardl y have gone astray B ut .

n o w your thoughts went b ack to B eecher and ,

you looked hard across as if you were studying

the character in his features Then your eyes .

c eased to pucker but you continued to look

,

across and y o ur face was thoughtful You

, .

were recalling the incidents of B eecher s career

.

I was well aware that you could not do this

without thinking o f the mission which he under
took On behalf o f the North at the time Of the
Civil War for I remember your e x p ressin g your
,

passionate indignation at the way in which he

w a s received by the mor e turbulent o f o ur
!

people Yo u felt so strongly a bout it that I

.
,

knew you could not think Of B eecher without

thinking o f that also When a moment later .

!I saw y our eyes wander away from the picture

,

'
I suspected that your mind had now turned t o
t he Civil War and when I Obse rved that your
,

l ips set your eye s sparkled and your hands

, ,

c lenched I was p o sitive that you were indeed

,

t hinking o f the gallantry which was shown by

both sides in that desperate struggle But then .
,

again your face grew sadder ; you shook your

,

head You were d welling upon the sadness

.

and horror and useless waste o f life Your .

hand stole towards your o w n old wound and a

smile qu ivered o n y our l ips which showed me ,
 TH E AD VEN T U RE O F TH E CA RDBOAR D B ox

that the ri di cul ous side Of this m e th o d o f

settling international questions had fo r ced itse l f

upon your mi nd At this poin t I ag r eed with

.

you that it w as preposterous and was glad to ,

n d that all m y deductions had been correct .

Absolutely ! said I And now that you.

have explained it I confess that I am as amazed

,

as before .

It w a s ver y supercial my dear Watson I , ,

assure you I shoul d not have intruded it

.

upon your attenti o n had you not shown some

incredu li t y the other day But I have in my .

hands here a little problem which may prove

to be more difficult of solution than my small
essay in thought read ing Have you Observed .

in the paper a short paragraph ref e r r ing to th e

remarkable contents of a packet sent through
the post t o Miss C ushing Of Cross Street , ,

C roydon !

N O I saw nothing
,
.

A h ! then you must have overlook e d it Just .

toss it over to me Here it is under the nancial

.
,

column Perhaps you would be good enough t o

.

read it aloud .

I picked up the paper which he had thro wn

back to me and re ad the pa r ag r aph indicated It
,
.

was headed A G r uesome Packet
,
.

Miss Susan Cushing living at Cross St re et, ,

C roydon has been made the victim o f what

,

must be regarded as a peculia rly r ev olting

[ ]
6 7
 HI S LA S T B O W
You hav e followed me wonderfully ! I
e x claimed .

S o far I could hardly have gone astray B ut .

n o w your thoughts went back to B ee cher and ,

you looked hard across a s if you were studying

the character in his features Then your eyes .

ceased to pucker but you continued to loo k

,

across and y our face was thoughtful You

, .

were recalling the incidents of B eecher s career

.

I was well aware that you could not do this

Without thinking o f the mission which h e under
took on behalf Of the North at the time Of the
Civil War for I remember your e x p ressing your
,

passionate indignation at the way in which he

w a s received by the more turbulent o f o ur
people Yo u felt so strongly about it that I
.
,

knew you could not think Of B eecher without

thinking o f that also When a moment later
.

!I saw y our eyes wander away from the picture

,

I suspected that your mind had now turned t o

t he Civil War and when I Observed that your
,

l ips se t your eyes spa rkled and your hands

, ,

clenched I was p o sitive that you were indeed

,

thinking of the gallantry which was S hown by

both S ides in that desperate struggle But then .
,

again your face grew sadder ; you shook your

,

head You were d welling upon the sadness

.

and horror and useless waste of life Your .

hand stole towards your o w n old wound and a

smil e qu ivered o n y our l ips which showed me,
 HI S LA S T B OW
practical j oke unless some more sinister mean
,

ing should prove to be attached to the incident .

At t w o O clock yesterday afternoon a sm all

packet wrapped in brown paper w a s handed in

, ,

by the postman A cardboard box was inside

.
,

which w a s lled with coarse salt O n emptying .

this Miss C ush ing w a s horried to nd two

,

hum an ears apparently quite freshly severed

, .

The box had been sent by parcel post from

B elfast upon the morning before There is no .

indication a s to the sender and the matter is the ,

more mysterious as Miss Cushing who is a '

maiden lady Of fty has led a most retired life

, ,

and ha s so few acquaintances o r correspondents

that it is a rar e event for her to receive anything
through the post S ome years ago however
.
, ,

when S he resided at Penge Sh e let apa r tments ,

in her house to three young medical students ,

whom sh e was obliged to get rid O f on account

of their noisy and ir r egula r habits The police .

a r e of op inion that this outrage may have been

perpetrated upon Miss Cushing by these youths ,

who owed her a g rudge and who hoped to ,

fr ighten h e r by sending her these relics of the

dissecting rooms S ome prob ability is lent to
-
.

the theo r y by the fact that o n e of these students

came fr om the nort h o f Ireland and to the , ,

best of Miss Cushing s beli e f from B e lfast In

, .

the meantime the matte r is being actively inv e s

,

t iga t e d Mr L estrade one of the very smartest

, .
,

[ ]
6 8
 TH E A D VE N T U RE OF TH E CAR DBOAR D B OX

Of our detective o ffice rs bein g in ch a rge Of the

,

c a se .

S O much for the D ail y C hro nicl e said ,

H o l mes as I nished reading

,

N o w for o ur .

friend L estrade I had a note from him this

.

morning in which he says : I think that this
,

case is ve r y much in your line We have e ve ry .

hope O f clea r ing the matter up but we nd a ,

little difficulty in getting anything to work

upon We have o f course wi r ed to the B elfast
.
, ,

post Oice but a la rge numbe r of parcels were
-
,

handed in upon that day and they have no ,

means of identifying this pa r ticular o n e or of ,

remembering the sende r The box is a half .

pound box O f honeydew tobacco and doe s not ,

help us in any way The medical student theo r y

.

still appears to me to be the m o st f e asible but ,

if you S hould have a few hou r s t o spar e I should ,

be ve r y happy to se e you out here I S hall be .

either at the house or in the police station all -

day .

What say you Watson Can you ris e
!
,

sup er io r to the heat and run down to Croyd o n

,

with me on the O ff chance Of a case for your

annals !

I was l o nging fo r s o mething to d o .

You shall have it th e n R ing for our boots . ,

and tell them t o o r de r a cab I ll b e back in a .

mom e nt w hen I hav e chang e d my d re ssing go w n

,
-

and ll e d my ciga r case -
.

A S hower of rain fell while we were in the

[ ]
6 9
 HI S LA ST BOW

train and the heat w a s far less oppressive in

,

C r oydon than in town H olmes had sent o n .

a wire so that L estrade a s wiry as dapper and

, , , ,

a s fe rret like a s ever w a s waiting for us at the

-
,

station A walk Of ve minute s took u s t o

.

C ross Street where Miss C ushing resided

, .

It w a s a very long street o f t w o story brick -

houses neat and prim with whi tened stone step s

, ,

and little groups o f aprone d women gossiping at

the doors Half w ay do wn L estrade stopped
'

-
.
,

and tapped at a door which was opened by a ,

small se r vant girl Miss C ushing w a s sitting .

in the front room into which we were ushered , .

She was a placid faced woman with large gentle

-
, ,

eyes and gri zz led hair curving down over her

,

temples o n each S ide A worked antim acassar .

lay upon her lap and a basket o f colo ured S ilks

stood upon a stool beside her .

They are in the outhouse those d readful ,

thin gs s a id she as L estrade entered

, ,

I wish .

that you would take them away altogether .

S O I shall Miss C ushing I o nl y kept them

.
,

here until my friend Mr Holmes should have , .

,

seen them in your presence .

Why in my presence sir !
,

In case he wished to ask any questions .

What is the use o f as k ing me questions when ,

I tell you I know nothing whatever about it !

Quite SO madam said Holmes in his sooth
, , ,

ing way I have n o doubt that yo u have been
.
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E CAR D BO AR D B OX

ann oyed more than enough already o v er this

business .

Indeed I have sir I am a qui e t w oman
, , .

a n d live a retired life It is som e thing n ew fo r

.

me to see my name in th e papers and t o nd

the police in my h o use I w o n t have th o se .

things in he r e Mr L estrade If you wish to

, . .

se e them you must go t o the outhouse .

I t was a small sh e d in the nar r o w ga r d e n

which ran behind the house L est r ade w e nt .

in and brought out a y e ll o w car db o ard box ,

with a piece O f brown pape r and s o me str ing .

There was a b e nch at th e e nd O f the path and ,

we all sat do w n w hile Ho l mes e xamin e d one ,

by one the articles which L estrade had handed

,

to him .

The string is exceedingly interesting he ,

remarked holding it up to the light and sniffing

,

at it . What do you make O f this st r ing ,

Le st r ade !

It has been tarred .

Precisely It is a piece of tarred tw ine

.
.

You have also no d o ubt remar k e d that Miss

, , ,

Cushing has cut the co r d w ith a sciss or s as ,

can be seen by the double fray on each side .

This is Of import ance .

I cannot se e the import ance said L e ,

strade .

The im portance lies in the fact that the
[ ]
7 1
 HI S LA S T BOW

train and th e heat w a s far less oppressive in

,

C roydon than in town Ho l mes had sent o n .

a wire so that L estrade a s wiry as dapper and

, , , ,

a s fe rret like as ever w a s waiting for us at the

-
,

station A wal k o f ve mi nute s took us t o

.

C ro ss S treet where Miss C ushing resided

, .

It was a very long street o f t w o story brick -

houses neat and prim with whi tened stone step s

, ,

and little groups Of aprone d women gossiping at

the doors Half w ay do wn L estrade stopped
'

-
.
,

and tapped at a door which was opened by a ,

small servant girl Miss C ushin g w as sitting .

in the front room into wh ich we were ushered, .

She was a placid faced woman with large gentle

-
, ,

eyes and gri z zled ha ir curving down over her

,

temples o n each side A worked antimacassar .

lay upon her lap and a basket Of coloured silks

'

sto o d upon a stool beside her .

They are in the outhouse those dreadful ,

things s a id she as L estrade entered

, ,

I w ish .

that you would take them away altogether .

S O I shall Miss C ushing I o nl y kept them

.
,

here until my friend Mr Hol mes shoul d have , .

,

seen them in your presence .

Wh y in m y presence sir !
,

I n case he wished to as k any questions .

What is the use o f asking me questions when ,

I tell you I know nothing whatever about it !

Quite so madam said Hohn es in his sooth
, , ,

ing way I have n o doubt that yo u h ave been
.
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E C ARD BOAR D B OX

annoyed more than enough already o v er this

business .

Indeed I have S ir I am a quiet w oman
, , .

a n d live a reti r ed lif e It is s omething ne w fo r

.

me to se e my name in the pap er s and t o nd

the police in my house I won t have th o se .

things in here Mr L est r ade If you wish to

, . .

see them you must go to the outh o us e .

I t w a s a small shed in the narr o w gar d e n

which ran behind the house L est r ade w ent .

in and brought out a yello w car db o ar d b o x ,

with a piece O f bro w n pape r and some st r ing .

The r e was a bench at th e end of th e path and ,

we all sat do w n w hile H o h nes examined one ,

by one the articles which L estrade had handed

,

to him .

The string is exceedingly interesting h e ,

remarked hold ing it up to the light and sniffing

,

at it . What do you make of this str ing ,

L estrade !

I t has been tarred .

Precisely It is a piece of tarred twine

. .

You have also no doubt r emarked that Miss

, , ,

Cushing has cut the c or d w ith a scisso r s as ,

can be seen by the double f r ay on e ach side .

This is of import ance .

I cannot se e the importance said L e ,

strade .

The im portance lies in the fact that th e
[ ]
7 1
 HI S LA S T BOW

knot is left intact and that this kn ot is of a

peculiar character .

It is ve r y neatly tied I had alread y made .

a note to that e ff ect said L es t rade com

, ,

l ac e n t l y
p .

S O much for the string then sa i d Holmes , , ,

smiling ,

now for the box w r appe r B rown .

paper with a distinct smell Of co ff ee What

, .
,

did not Observe it ! I think there can be no

doubt of it Add r ess printed in rather strag
.

gling characters : Miss S C ushing Cross Street .
, ,

C r oydon .

D one with a br o ad pointed pen -
,

p r obably a J and with very infe r ior ink The

, .

word C roydon has been originally spelt with an

i which has bee n changed to y The parcel was
, .

directed then by a man the printing is d is
t in c t l y masculine O f limited education and u n

acquainted with the town of C r oydon S O far .

,

so g o od ! The box is a yellow half pound ,

-

h o n e ydew box with nothing distinctive save

,

two thumb marks at the left bottom corner It .

is lled with rough salt of the quality used for

prese r ving hides and other O f the coarser com
me rc ia l pu r p o ses And embedded in it are these
.

ve r y S ingular enclosures
.

He took out the two ears as he S poke and ,

laying a board across his knee he examined ,

them minutely while L estrad e and I bending

, ,

forward on each side O f him glanced alternately ,

at these dre adful relics and at the thoughtful ,

[ ]
7 2
 HI S LA S T BOW

d oub t, aid he ; but there are much st o nger

s

reason s against t he other W e know that thi s .

woman h a s l e d a most quiet and respectable life

at Penge and her e for the last twenty years .

She has hardly been away from her home fo r a

day during that time Why o n earth then .
, ,

should any criminal send her the proofs o f his

guilt especially as u nl ess sh e is a most co n sum
, ,

mate actress S he understands quite as littl e O f

,

the matter a s w e do !

That is the problem which we h ave t o solve ,

H olmes ans w ere d and for my part I shall set ,

about it by pres um ing that my reasoning is c o r

rect and that a double murder has been com
,

mitt e d O ne o f these ears is a woman s small

.
, ,

n e y formed and pierced for an earring The

r
, .

other is a man s sun burned discoloured and

,
-
, ,

also pierced for an ea r ring These t w o peopl e .

ar e pr e sumably dead o r we should have heard ,

their st o ry before n o w TO day is F riday The .

-
.

packet was posted on Thursday mo r ning The .

tragedy then occurred o n Wednesday o r T ues

,

day or earlier If the two p e ople were mur

, .

dered who but their murderer would have sent

,

this S ign of his wo r k to Miss Cushing We may

!

take it that the sender of the packet is the man

whom we want But he must have some strong
.

reason for sending Miss C ushing this packet .

What reason then It must have been to tell

!

her that the deed w a s done ; or to p ain her p e r ,

[ ]
7 4
 T HE AD VEN T U RE O F TH E CA RD B OA RD B OX

h aps . B ut in that case

knows w hO it is sh e .

D oes she know ! I doubt it If she knew why .

,

s hould S he call the p o lice in ! She might have

buried the ears and no o ne would have been the
,

wiser That is what sh e would have done if sh e

.

had wished to S hield the crimin al But if sh e .

d oes not wish to shield him she would give his

n ame T here is a tangle here which needs
.

straightening o ut He had been talking in a .

high quick voice star ing blankl y up over the

, ,

garden fence but n o w he sprang briskly to his

,

feet and walked towards the house .

I have a few questions t o ask M iss C ush ing ,

said he .

In that case I may leave you here said L e ,

strade for I have another small busin e ss o n
,

h and I think that I have nothing fu rth er t o

.

learn from Miss Cushing Yo u will nd me at .

the police station -

.

We shall look in o n our way to the train ,

a nswered Holmes A moment late r he and I .

were back in th e fr ont ro o m w her e the impas ,

s ive lady was still quietly w o r king away at he r

a ntimacassar She put it d own o n her lap as we

.

ente r ed and looked at us with her frank search

, ,

ing blue eyes .

I am c o nvinced sir she said that this mat , , ,

t er is a mistake and that the parcel was nev e r

,

meant for me at all I hav e said this seve r al .

times t o the gentleman from Scotland Yar d but ,

[ ]
7 5
 H I S LA S T B O W

he S imply laughs at me I have not an enemy in .

the w or ld as far as I know so why S hould any

, ,

o n e play me such a trick !

I am coming t o be of the same Opinion Miss ,

C ushing said Holmes tak ing a se a t beside her

, , .

I thi nk that it is more than probable he

p aused and I was su r prised o n glancing round
, ,

to se e that he w a s staring with singular intent

ness at the lady s prole Surprise and sat isfa c

.

tion were both for an instant to be read upon his

eager face though when she glanced round to
,

nd o ut the cause Of his S ilence he had become

as demure as ever I stared hard myself at her
.

at grizzled hair her trim cap her little gilt ear

, , ,

rings her placid f e atures ; but I could see nothing

,

which could account for my companion s evident

excit e m e nt .

The r e w e re one or two questions

O h I am weary of questions ! cried Miss
,
'

Cushing impatiently , .

You have two S isters I believe , .

How could you know that !

I Observed the v ery instant that I entered

the room th a t y o u have a portrait g ro up of three
ladi e s upon the m a ntelpiece one of whom is un ,

d o ubtedly yourself while the others are so e x

,

c e e d in gl y like you that there could be no doubt

O f the relationship .

Yes you are quite right Those are my sis
, .

ters S arah and M a r y
, .

[ ]
7 6
 T HE A D VE N T U RE OF TH E C ARD BOAR D B OX

And here at my elbow is an o the r po r t rait ,

taken at L iverpool of your younger sister in the

, ,

company of a man w h o app e a r s to be a stewar d

by his uniform I Observe that she was unm ar
.

ried at the time .

You are very quick at Observing .

That is my t r ade .

Well you are quite right But she w as mar

, .

r Ie d to Mr B r owne r a few days aft erw ar ds

. .

H e was on the South A m erican lin e wh e n that

was taken but he was so f o nd of her that he
,

c o uldn t abide to leave h e r f or so long and he

g o t into the L ive r po o l and L o nd o n boats

.

Ah the C o n quero r pe r haps
,
!
,

N O the M a y D a y w h e n last I hear d

, ,
Jim .

c ame down he r e to se e me onc e That w as b e .

f or e he b r oke the pl e dg e ; but aft erw ar ds he

would al w ays take d r ink wh e n h e was asho r e ,

a n d a little d r ink would s e nd him sta r k sta r ing ,

mad Ah ! it was a bad day that ever h e t oo k

.

a glass in his hand again F i r st h e dr o pp e d .

m e then he quar re lled w ith S a r ah and n ow that

, ,

hl a ry has stopped w r iting w e don t know ho w

t hings are g o ing with th e m .

It was evident that hl iss Cushing had c ome

u pon a subj ect on w hich sh e felt v er y d ee ply .

L ike most p e ople wh o l e ad a lon e ly lif e S h e w as ,

S hy at r st but e nd e d by bec oming e xt reme ly

,

c omm unicative She t o ld us many d e tails ab o ut

.

h er brother in law the steward and th e n wan

- -
,

[ l
7 7
 HI S LA S T B O W
dering Off o n t o the subj ect Of her former l o dg
ers the medical students sh e gave us a long a c
, ,

count Of their delinquencies with their name s ,

and those Of their hospitals Holmes listened .

attentively t o everything throwing in a questio n ,

from time to time .

About your second sister S arah said he , , .

I wonder since you a r e both maiden ladies that ,

you do not keep house togethe r .

A h ! you don t know S a r ah s temper o r y o u

would wonder no more I t r ied it w hen I cam e .

to C r oydon and we kept o n until about t w o

,

month s ago when we had to part I don t want

, .

t o say a word against my o w n sister but She w as ,

always meddlesome and hard t o ple ase w as ,

S ara

You say that S he quarrelled with your L iver

pool relations .

Yes and they were the best of fr i ends at o ne
,

time Why she went up the r e to live in order t o

.
,

b e near them And now sh e has n o word hard

.

enough fo r Jim B rowner The last six month s .

that she was here she wo ul d speak o f nothing but

his drinkin g and his ways He had caught he r .

meddl ing I suspect and given her a bit o f his

, ,

mind and that was the start Of it

.
,

Thank you Miss C ushing said Hol mes
, , ,

rising and bowing

Your sister S arah lives I .
,

th ink you said at N ew St r eet Wallington !

, ,

Good bye and I am ve ry sorry that yo u shoul d

-
,

[ ]
7 8
 T HE A D VE N T U RE O F T HE C ARD BOA RD B OX

have been t r oubled over a case with which as ,

you say you have nothing whatever t o do
, .

There was a cab passing as we came out and ,

Holmes hailed it .

How far t o Wallingt on he asked
! .

O nl y about a mile Sir , .

V ery good Jump in Watson We must

.
, .

strike while the i r on is hot S imple as the case .

is there have been one o r tw o ve r y instructive

,

details in connection with it Just pull up at a .

telegraph o i c e as you pass c abb y , .

H o lmes sent O ff a short wire and for the res t ,

of the drive l a y back in the cab with his hat

tilted over his nose to keep the sun from his face .

O ur d r iver pu ll e d up at a house which was n o t

unlike the one which we had j ust quitted My .

c o mpanion o r de r ed him to w ait and had his ,

hand upon the knocker when the door opened ,

and a grave young gentleman in black with a ,

very shiny hat app e ared on the step

,
.

Is Miss Cushing at home asked Holmes
! .

Miss S arah C ushing is extremely ill said

,

he .

She has been suff ering S ince yesterday
fro m brain symptoms of g r eat severity As her .

medical adviser I cann ot p o ssibly take the re

,

sponsibility of al l o w ng anyone to see her I .

sh ould recommend you to call aga i n In ten days .

He d re w on his gloves closed the door and , ,

marched o ff do wn the street .

 HI S LA S T B O W
W ell if we can t we can t said Holmes
,

,

,

,

cheer full y .

Pe rhaps sh e coul d not o r would not have tol d
,

you much .

I did not wish her to tell me anything I .

o nly wanted to loo k at her H oweve r I think .

,

that I have got all that I want D rive us to .

some decent hotel cabby where we may have

, ,

some lunch and afterwards we shall drop down

,

upon fr iend Le strade at the police station -

.

We had a pleasant little meal together during ,

which Holmes would talk about nothing but v io

lins narrating with great exultation ho w he had
,

purchased his own S tradivarius which was worth ,

at least ve hundred guineas at a Je w b r oker s ,

in Tottenh am Court R oad for ft y v e shillings -

.

This led him to P aganini and we sa t for an hour

,

over a bottle of claret while he told me an ecdote

aft e r anecdote of that extraordinary man The .

aft er noon was far advanced and the h o t gla r e had

softened into a mellow glow befo r e we found our
selves at the police station L estrade was wait
-
.

ing for us at th e door .

A telegram for you Mr H olmes , said he .

, .

Ha ! It is the answer ! He t o re it Open ,

glanced his eyes over it and crumpled it into

,

his pocket ; That s all right said he

, .

Have yo u f o und out anything !

I have found o ut every thing !
[ ]
8 0
 HI S LA S T B OW

be s a fely trusted to do for although he is ab so ,

l u t e l y devoid o f reason he is as tenacious as a ,

bull dog when he once understands what he has

-

to do and indeed it is j ust this tenacity which

, ,

has brought him t o the top at S cotland Yard .

Your case is n o t complete then I asked
!
, .

It is fair l y complete in essentials W e .

know who the author o f the revolting business

is although o n e o f the victims still escapes u s
, .

O f course you have formed your o w n conclu

,

sions .

I presume that this Jim B rowner the steward ,

o f a L iverpool boat is the man whom you su s ,

e ct
p

O h ! it is more than a susp icion .

And yet I cannot se e anything save very

vague indications .

O n the contrary t o my mind nothing could,

be more clear L et me run over the p r incipal

.

steps We approached the case you remember

.
, ,

with an absolutely blank mind which is always ,

an advantage We had formed no theori e s We

. .

were simply there to observe and to d r aw infer

e n c e s from o u r observations What did we se e .

rst ! A very placid and r espectable lady who ,

seemed quite inn o c e nt of any secret and a por ,

trait which showed me that sh e had t w o younger

sisters I t instantly ashed across my mind that
.

the box might have been meant for one of these .

I set the idea aside a s o ne which could be dis

[ ]
8 2
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E CAR D B O AR D B OX

proved or con rm e d at our leisu r e Th e n w e .

went to the gar de n as y o u remembe r and we

, ,

sa w the V ery sin gular contents of the little yel

low box .

The st r in g was o f the quality which is used
by sail makers abo ard ship and at once a whi ff
-
,

of the sea was p erceptible in our investigati o n .

When I observed that the knot was one which

is popular with s ailo r s that the parcel had been
,

posted at a port and that the male ear was

,

pierced for an earring which is so much mo r e

common among sailo r s than landsm e n I w as ,

quite ce r tain that all the actors in the tragedy

we r e to be found among our seafaring classes .

When I came to examine the address of the
packet I observed that it w as to Miss S Cushing . .

N o w the oldest sister would of course be Miss

, , ,

Cushing and although her initial was S it might
,

belong to one of the others as well In that case .

we should have to commence our investigation

fr om a fresh basis alt ogether I the r efore went
.

in to the house with the intention of clea r ing up

this point I was about to as su r e Miss Cushing
.

that I w as conv inced that a mistake had been

made wh e n you may remember that I came sud
,

d e nl y t o a stop .Th e fact w as that I had j ust

se e n something which l led me with su r p r ise and ,

at the same time narrowed the eld o f our in

qui r y i mm e nsely .

As a medical man you are aware Watson
, , ,

[ ]
8 3
 HI S LAST B O W
that there is no part of the bo d y which v a ries
so much as the human e ar E ach ear is as a .

rule quite distinctive and di ff ers from al l other ,

ones I n l a st ye ar s A n t hrop o lo gica l Journal

.

you will nd t w o short monographs f r om my p en

upon the subj ect I had therefore examined .
, ,

the ears in the box with the eyes of an expe r t and ,

had car e fully noted their anatomical peculiarities .

Imagine my su r p r ise then when on l o oking at , ,

Miss Cushing I perceived that her ear corre

,

sp o n d e d exactly with the female ear which I had

j ust inspected The matter was entirely beyond

.

coincidenc e The r e was the same shortening of

.

the pinna the same b r oad curve of the upper

,

lobe th e same c o nvolution of the inner cartilage

, .

I n all essentials it was the same ear .

O f course I at once sa w the en o rmous impor
,

tance of the obse r vation It was evident that the .

victim w as a blood relation and p r obably a very ,

clos e one I began to talk to he r about her fam

.

ily and you rem e mber that sh e at once gave us

,

some exce e dingly valuable d etails .

In the r st place h e r sister s name was S arah
,

and her address had until recently b ee n the , ,

same so that it was quite obvi o us h o w the mis

,

take had occu rr ed and for wh o m the pack e t w as

,

m e ant T hen w e hea r d of t his ste w a r d married

.
,

to the third sister and l e arn e d that h e had at one

,

time b e e n so intimate with Miss S a r ah that sh e

had actually gone up to L ive r po o l to b e near
[ ]
8 4
 HIS LAST B O W
going further An unsuccessful love r might
.

have killed Mr and Mrs Browner and the male

. .
,

ear might have belonged to the husband There .

were many grave obj ections to this theory but ,

it was conceivable I theref o re sent o ff a tele .

gram to my friend Algar of the L ive r pool force , ,

and asked him to nd out if M rs Brown er were .

at home and if B rowner had d e parted in the

,

M ay D ay Then we went o n to Wallington to

.

V isit Miss S arah .

I w a s curious in the rst place to see how , ,

far the family ea r had been reproduced in her .

T hen o f course she might giv e us very impor

, ,

tant info r mation but I was not sanguine that ,

sh e would She must have heard of the business

.

the day before since all Croydon was ringing

,

with it and she alone could have understood for

,

whom the packet was meant If sh e had been .

willing to help j ustice she would probably have

c ommunicated with the police al r eady H ow .

ever it was clea r ly our duty to se e her so we

, ,

went We found that the news of the a r rival of

.

t he p acket for her illness dated from that time

had such an e ffect upon her as to bring on
brain fever It was clearer than ever that she
.

u nde r stood its full signicance but equally clear ,

t hat we should have to wait some time for an y

assistance from her .

How e ver we were really independent of her
,

h elp
. O ur answers were waiting for us at the
[ ]
8 6
 TH E AD VE N T U RE O F T HE CA RD BOAR D BO X

police station whe r e I had di r ect e d Alga r t o s e nd

-
,

t hem . Nothing could be m ore c o nclusive M r s . .

B ro w n er s hous e had b ee n cl o s e d f or m ore than

th re e days and th e n e ighb o u r s were of o pinion

,

that she had g o ne s o uth t o s e e h er re lativ e s It .

had been asc er tain e d at th e shipping o fc e s that

Browner had l e ft aboa r d of th e I a y D a y and ,

I calculate that she is du e in th e Tham e s t o m or -

r ow night Wh e n h e a rr iv e s he w ill be m e t by
.

the obtus e but r es o lute L e strad e and I hav e ,

no doubt that w e shall have all our details

l led in .

Sherlock H o lm e s w as not disappoint e d in his

expectations T w o days late r h e r ec e iv e d a
.

bulky envelope which contained a sh or t n o te

,

fr om the det e ctive and a type wr itt e n d o cument

,
-
,

which cove re d sev er al pages of f oo lscap .

L estrade has got him all right said Holmes

, ,

glancing up at m e Pe rhaps it woul d inte r est
.

you to hear what he says .

M Y DEA R MR HO L M E S accordance
. ,
I n
with the sch e me w hich w e had fo r m e d in or d er

to t e st o ur the or i e s th e w e is rath er ne
,

Watson is it not , I went d ow n to th e Alb er t

D ock yest er day at 6 p m and b o ar d e d th e s s . .
,
. .

M a y D a y bel o nging to the L ive r p oo l D ublin

, , ,

and L ond o n Steam Pack e t C ompany O n in .

quiry I found that the r e w as a st e ward on boar d

,

of the name o f James Browner and that h e had

[ 7]
8
 HI S LA ST B O W
act e d during the voyage in such an ext r ao r dina ry
manner that the captain had b e en compell ed to
relieve him of his duties O n desc e nding to his .

bert h I found him seated upon a chest w ith his

,

head sunk upon his hands rocking hims e lf to ,

and fro H e is a big powerful chap clean

.
, ,

shaven and ve ry swa r thy something like A l
,

d ridge who helped us in the bogus laundry a f

,

fair He j umped u p wh e n he h e ard my busi

.
'

ness and I had my whistle to my lips to call a

,

c o uple of river police who w e r e round the corner , ,

but he seemed t o have no hea rt in him and he ,

h e ld out his hands quietly en o ugh for the darbies .

We b ro ught him along t o the cells and his bo x ,

as well for we thought there might be something

,

inc r iminating ; but bar a big sha r p kni fe such

, ,

a s most sailors have we g o t nothing for our ,

t r ouble However we nd that we shall want

.
,

no more evidence for o n being br o ught before

,

the inspector at the station he asked leave to ,

make a stat e ment which was of course taken

, , ,

d ow n j ust as he made it by ou r sh or thand man

, , .

We had th re e c o pi e s type wr itten one of which -

,

I incl o se The a ff air pr o ves as I al w ays thought

.
,

it wo uld to be an ext r em e ly simple one but I

, ,

am o bliged t o y o u f or assisting me in my investi

g a t io n With. kind regards yours very tr ul y , .

G L E S TRADE
. .

Hum ! The inv e stigation real ly w a s a very

simple one remarked Holmes ; but I don t
,

think it st r uck him in that light when he rst

[ ]
8 8
 HI S LAST B O W
wife s foot mark in the mud than I did of he r

-

whole body and soul .

The r e were three sisters altogether The ol d .

one was j ust a good wom a n the second w a s a ,

devil and the third w a s an angel S arah w a s

, .

thirty three and Mary was twenty nine when I

-
,
-

ma r ried We were j ust a s happy as the day w as

.

long when we set up house together and in al l ,

L iverp o ol there was no better woman than my

Ma r y And then we ask e d S arah up for a week
.
,

and the we ek grew into a month and o ne thing ,

led to another until she w a s j ust o ne o f o ur

,

selves .

I was blue ribbon a t that time and we were ,

putting a little money by and all was as bright ,

as a n ew dollar M y God whoever would h av e

.
,

thought that it could have come to thi s Who !

eve r would have dreamed it !

I used t o be home for the week ends very -

often and sometim es if the ship we re held back

,

f or ca rgo I would have a whole w eek at a time ,

and in this way I sa w a d e al of my s ist e r in law - -

,

S a r ah Sh e w as a ne tall woman bl a ck and

.
,

quick and e r ce w ith a proud way of carrying

,

her h e ad and a glint fro m h e r ey e like a spark

,

f r om a int But when littl e Mary was there

.

I had never a thought of her and that I swear ,

as I hope fo r God s mercy

.

It had seemed to me sometimes that she liked
to be al o ne with me o r to coax me out for a walk,

[ ]
9 0
 TH E A D V E N TU RE or TH E C A R DB OA RD B OX

with her but I had never thought anything o f

,

that But one evening my eyes were o p e ne d

. .

I had come up fr om th e ship and fo und my w if e

o ut but S a r ah at h o me
, Wh er e s Mar y I ! .

asked O h she has g o n e to pay som e accounts
.
, .

I was im patient and pac e d up and d ow n th e

room Can t you be happy f or v e minut e s
.

without Ma ry Jim says she! It s a bad c o m
,

.

l im t o m e that y o u can t be cont e nt e d with

p e n t

my society fo r s o sho r t a time That s all r igh t .

my lass said I putting out my hand to w ar ds

,

,

her in a kindly way but she had it in b o th he r s ,

in an instant and they bu r ned as if th e y were in

,

a fever I looked into her e y e s and I re ad it all

.

the r e Th er e w as no n e ed f or he r t o sp e ak nor
.
,

for me eithe r I fro w ned and d rew my hand .

away Th e n sh e st oo d by my sid e in sil e nce f o r

.

a bit and th e n put up h e r hand and patt e d m e

,

on th e sh o ulde r St e ady old Jim ! said sh e ; .

and with a kind 0 m o cking laugh sh e r an o ut

o f th e r oom .

Well f r om that tim e S ar ah hat e d me w ith h er
,

whol e h e ar t and s oul and sh e is a woman w h o ,

c a n hat e t oo I w as a f oo l t o l e t h er g o on bid
, .

ing w ith u s a b e s o tt e d foo l but I n e v er said
-

a w o r d to Mar y for I kne w it wo uld g r i ev e h er,

.

Things w ent o n much as b e f ore but aft er a t ime ,

I b e gan to nd that th er e w as a bit o f a chang e

in Ma r y h er s e lf Sh e had al w ays b ee n s o t rust
.

ing and so inn o c e nt but n o w sh e becam e quee r ,

[ ]
9 1
 HI S LA ST B O W
and suspicious wanting to know where I h ad
,

b een and what I had been doing and whom my ,

letters were from an d what I had in my pockets

, ,

and a thous and such follies D ay by day she .

gre w queerer and more irritable and we had ,

caus e l e ss rows about nothing I was fai r ly puz

.

z l e d by it all
. S arah avoided me now but she and ,

Ma r y were j ust insepa r able I can se e now ho w

.

sh e was plotting and scheming and poisonin g my

wife s mind against me but I was such a blind

beetle that I could not understand it at the time .

Then I b r oke my blue ribbon and began to drink

again but I think I should not have done it if
,

Ma r y had bee n the same as ever She had some .

reason to be disgusted with me n o w and the gap ,

between us began to b e wid e r and wider And .

th e n this Al e c F airbairn chipped in and things ,

became a th o usand times black er .

It was to s e e S a r ah that he came t o my house
r st but soon it was to see us fo r he w as a man
, ,

with winning ways and he mad e fr i e nds w h e r

,

eve r h e w ent H e was a dashing swagge r ing

.
,

chap sma r t and curled wh o had s e en half the

, ,

w o r ld and c o uld talk of what he h a d seen He

, .

was good c ompany I won t d e ny it and he had

,

wond er ful p o lite ways with him f or a sailo r man ,

so that I think the r e must have be e n a t ime when

he kn e w m ore of the po o p than the f or ecastle .

F or a month he was in and out of my house and ,

n e ve r o nce did it c r oss my mind that harm might

[ ]
9 2
 H I S LAST BOW

wife by encouraging her to misbehave Any .

way she to o k a house j ust two st r eets o ff and let

, ,

lodgings to sailors F ai r bairn used to stay there .

,

and M ary would go round to have tea with her

sister and him H o w ofte n she went I don t .

know but I followed her one day and as I b r oke

, ,

in at the doo r F ai r bairn got a w ay ove r the back

,

gard e n wall like the cowardly skunk that he w as

, .

I sw o re to my wife that I would kill her if I

found her in his company again and I led her ,

back with me sobbing and trembling and as , ,

whit e as a piece of paper The r e w a s no trace .

of love between us any longer I could se e that .

sh e hated me and feared me and when the ,

th o ught of it drove me to drink then she despised ,

me as well .

Well S a r ah found that sh e could not make
,

a living in L ive r pool so sh e went back as I u n , ,

de rst a n d t o live with h e r siste r in Croydon and

, ,

things j ogged on much the same as ever at home .

And th e n came this last week and all the misery

and ruin .

It was in this way We had gone on the .

M a y D a y for a round voyage of seven days but ,

a h o gsh e ad g o t lo o se and started one of our

plat e s so that we had to put back i nto port for
,

t we lve hou r s I l e ft th e ship and came home

. ,

thinking what a su r p r ise it w ould b e fo r my wife ,

and h o ping that maybe sh e w o u l d be glad to se e

me so s oo n The th ought was in my head as I
.

[ ]
9 4
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E C AR D BOARD BO X
t urned int o my o wn st r e e t and at that m om e nt a ,

cab passed m e and there she was sitting by the

, ,

side of F ai r bairn the tw o chatting and laughing

, ,

with never a thought f o r me as I stood watching

them fr om the footpath .

I tell y o u and I give you my word fo r it that
, ,

fr om that m o m e nt I was n o t my o w n mast er ,

and it is all like a dim d r eam wh e n I lo o k back

on it I had b e en drinking har d of late and the
.
,

t w o th ings tog e ther fai r ly turned my b r ain .

The r e s s omething th r obbing in my h e ad n o w

,

like a docke r s hamm e r but that mo r ning I

s e emed to have all Niagara whi z zing and bu zz ing

in my e ars .

Well I took to my heels and I ran after the
, ,

cab I had a heavy oak stick in my hand and I

.
,

tell you I saw r ed from the rst ; but as I ran I

got cunning too and hung back a little to se e
, ,

them without bein g seen They pull e d up soon .

at the railway station There was a go o d c r o w d .

round the booking o fc e so I got quite clos e to

-
,

them without being s een Th e y took tickets for .

Ne w B r ighton S o did I but I got in th r ee

.
,

car r iages behind them When we reached it they .

walked along the P arade and I was never more ,

than a hund r ed yards fr om them At last I saw .

them hire a boat and start f o r a row fo r it w as a ,

ve r y hot day and th e y thought no doubt that

,

it woul d be cooler on the wate r .

 H I S LAST BO W

my hands There was a bit of a haze and yo u

.
,

could not see more than a few hundre d yards .

I hired a boat for myself and I pulled afte r them , .

I could see the bl urr of their craft but they were ,

going nearly as fast a s I and they must have ,

been a long mile from the shore before I caught

them up The haze was like a cu r tain all round
.

us and th ere we r e we three in the middle of it

, .

My God shall I ever forget their faces when

,

they sa w who was in the boat that was closing

in upon them ! She scream e d out He swore Ikilledti
'
r
.

like a madman and j abbed at me with an o ar

, ,

for he must have seen death in my eyes I got . mador dc

past it and got one in with my stick that crushed ,

his head like an egg I would have spared her .

,

pe rhaps for all my madness but she threw her

, ,

a rms round him crying out to him and calling

, ,

him Alec I struck again and she lay st r etch e d
.

,

b e side him I was like a wild beast th e n that

.

had tast e d blood If S arah had been there by

.
,

the L or d she should have j oined them I pulled

,
.

out my knife and well th e re ! I ve said enough
, ,

.

It gave me a kind of savage j oy w hen I thought

how S arah w ould feel when she h ad such signs
as these of what her meddling had brought about .

Then I ti e d the bodies into th e boat stove a ,

p lank, and stood by until they had sunk I .

knew ve ry well that the o w ner would think that

they had lost their bearings in t he haze and had ,

drifted o ff out to se a I cleaned myself up got .

,

[ ]
9 6
THE AD V E N T UR E OF T HE RE D
CI R C L E

PA RT I

LL Mrs Warren I cannot see that you

, .
,

have any particular cause for uneasiness ,

nor do I understand why I w h o se t ime is of some ,

value should interfere in the matter I really

, .

h ave other things to engage me S o spoke .

She r lock Holm e s and turned back to the great

,

scrapbook in which he was arranging and in

d exing s o me of his r ecent material .

But the landlady had the pertinacity and also ,

the cunning of her se x She held her ground

, .

rmly .

You arranged an a ff air for a lodger of m i ne

l ast year

sh e said
,

M r F airdale Hobbs .

.

Ah yes a simple matter
,

.

But h e would never cease t al king of it your
kindness sir and the way in w hich y o u brought
, ,

l ight int o the darkness I remembe r ed his words

.

[ ]
9 8
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E RED C I R C LE

when I was in doubt and darkness myself I .

kn o w you could if you o nl y would .

Holmes w as accessible upon the side of at

t e ry and also t o do h im j ustice upon the side
, , ,

of kindliness The t w o f or ces made him lay

.

down his gum b rush with a sigh of r esignation

-

and pushed b ack his chai r .

Well we ll Mrs Wa rr en let us hear about it
, , .
, ,

then Y o u don t obj ect to tobacco I tak e it

.

!
,

Thank you Watson the match e s ! Y o u ar e
,

uneasy as I understand because your n ew lodger

, ,

remains in his rooms and you cannot see him .

Why bl e ss you M r s Wa rre n if I w ere y our

, , .
,
'

l o dger y o u often would n o t s e e me f o r we eks on

end .

No doubt si r ; but this is di ff e rent It fr ight
,
.

ens me M r Holmes I can t sl ee p f o r fr ight

, . .

.

To hear his quick step m o ving her e and moving

there fr om e arly mo rning t o lat e at night and ,

yet never to catch so much as a gl impse o f him

it s mo r e than I can stand My husband is as

.

n er vous o v er it as I am but he is out at his w o rk ,

a l l day whil e I g e t n o r e st f ro m it
,
What is h e .

hiding f or VVh a t has h e d o ne E xc e pt f or

! !

th e gi r l I am all alon e in th e h o us e w ith him and

, ,

it s mo r e than my n er v e s can stand

.

H o lmes l e an e d fo rw ar d and laid his l o ng thi n ,

nge r s upon th e wo man s sh o uld er H e had an

.

alm o st hypn o tic p ow e r o f s oo thing w he n he

wished The scared look faded from h e r eyes
. ,

[ ]
9 9
 H I S LAST B OIV

a nd her agitated featur es smoothe d into their

usual commonplace She sat down in the chair .

w hich he had indicated .

If I take it up I must understand every de

tail said he
, Take t ime to consider The . .

smallest poin t may be the most essential You .

s a y that th e man came ten days ago and p aid you ,

fo r a f or tnight s b o ard and lodging !

H e ask e d my te rms sir I said fty shillings , .

a w ee k The re is a small sitting room and bed

.
-

ro o m and all complete at the top of the house
, , .

Well !

He said I ll p ay you ve pounds a week if
,

I can hav e it on my o w n t er ms I m a po o r .

woman sir and M r Wa rr en ea r ns little and

, ,

.
,

the money meant much t o me He to o k out a .

t e n pound note and he held it out to me th e n

-
,

a n d th er e You can have th e same e v er y fo r t
.

night f o r a long tim e to c o m e if you k ee p the

t e r ms h e said I f not I ll have no mo r e to do

.
, ,

with you .

What we r e th e terms !

W e ll si r th e y we r e that he w as to have a key

, ,

of the house That w as all right L odg er s often . .

have them Also that he was t o b e left enti re ly

.
,

to himself and neve r upon any e xcuse to be dis

, , ,

t u rb e d .

Nothing wond e rful in that surely ! ,

Not in reason sir But this is out of all rea , .

so n .He has been th e re f or ten days and ,

[ 1 00]
 H I S LA S T B O W

Why not write ! What would it suggest Wat ,

so n !

That he desired t o conceal his handwr iting .

But why What can it matte r to him that

!

his l a ndlady should have a wo r d of his writing !

Still it may be as you say Then again why

, .
, ,

s uch laconic messages !

I cannot imag i ne
.

It opens a ple a sing eld for intelligent sp ecu

lation The words are w r itten with a b r oad
.

pointed violet tint e d pencil of a not unusual pat

,
-

tern You will observe that the paper is torn

.

a way at the side here after the printing was done ,

so that the S o f S O AP is p artl y gone S ug

.

g e st iv e Watson , is it not !
,

O f caution !

E xactly There was evidentl y some ma rk

.
,

s o me thumb print something which might give

-
,

a clue to the person s identity N o w Mrs

.
,
.

Warren you sa y that the man was of middle size

, ,

da r k and bear ded What age would he be
,
! .

Youngish sir not over thirty ,

.

Well can you give me n o further in di ca

,

tions

He spoke good E nglish sir and yet I thought , ,

he was a foreigner by his accent .

And he was well dressed !

Very smartly dressed sir quite the g e ntle ,

.

m a n D a r k clothes nothing y ou would n o te .

H e gave no name !

[ 1 02 ]
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E RED C I R C LE

No S l r
, .

And has had no letters o r callers !

None .

But su re ly you o r the gi r l enter his room

o f a m or ning !

No sir ; h e lo oks after hims e lf entirely
, .

D ear me ! that is certainly remar kable .

What about his lugg a ge !


He had one big b r own bag w ith him nothing

else .

Well we d o n t seem to hav e much mat er ial
,

t o help us D o you say n o thing h a s com e out of

.

that ro om absolutely n o thing !

The landlady d r e w an envelope fro m he r bag ;

fro m it she sho o k out two bu r nt matches and a
ciga r ette end up o n th e table
-
.

Th e y w e re on his t r ay this mor ning I .

b r ought them because I had hea r d that you can

r e ad g r eat things out o f small o ne s .

Holm e s sh r ugged his should er s .

Th er e is n o thing here said h e The , .

match e s hav e of cou r s e been us e d to light cig

, ,

a re tt e s That is obvi o us f ro m the sh o rtn e ss o f

.

th e burnt e nd Half the match is c o nsum e d in .

lighting a pipe o r cigar But d e a r m e ! this cig .

,

a rette stub is c er tainly rema r kable Th e g e ntle .

man was b e a r ded and moustached you say !
,

Y e s si r
, .

I d o n t und er stand that I should say that

.

o nl y a cl e an shaven man co ul d have sm ok e d this

'

-
.

[ 1 03 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
Why Watson even your modest moustache
, ,

would have been singe d .

A holder I suggested
! .

No no ; the end is matted I suppose there

, .

could not be two people in your rooms Mrs , .

War r en !

No sir He eats so little that I often wonder
, .

it can keep life in one .

Well I think we must wait for a little more
,

material Aft e r all you have nothing to com

.
,

plain of Y o u have received your r ent and he

.
,

is not a tr o ubl e s o me lodger though he is cer ,

t a inl y an unusual one He pays you we ll and

.
,

if he ch oo ses to lie concealed it is no direct busi

ness of yours We have no excuse for an int ru
.

sion upon his privacy until we have some reason

to think that ther e is a guilty r eason for it I ve .

tak e n up the matt er and I wo n t lose sight o f it

,

.

R e po r t to me if a n v t hing fr e sh occu r s and rely ,

up o n my assistance if it should be ne e d e d .

Th er e ar e ce r tainly s o me points of inte r est in

this case Watson h e rema rk e d w h e n the land
, , ,

lady had left u s It may of cou r s e be t r ivial

.
, ,

individual eccentricity ; or it may be ve r y much

deepe r than appea r s on th e su r face The rst .

thing that strikes o ne is the o bvious possibility

that the pe r son n ow in the r o o ms may be entirely

di ff er ent fr o m th e on e who engaged them .

Why should you think so !

W e ll apart from this cigarette end was it

,
-
,

[ 1 04 ]
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E RED C I R C LE

not suggestive that the o nl y time the lodg e r we nt

out w a s immediately afte r his taking the rooms !

He came back o r som eo ne came back when
all witn e sses we r e out o f the way We have no .

proof that the p er son w ho cam e back was the pe r

so n w h o we nt out Th e n again th e man wh o
.
, ,

t oo k the r ooms sp o k e E nglish w e ll This oth er .

,

h o wev e r p r ints match w h e n it should have b ee n
,

match e s I can im a gi ne that t h e w o r d w a s
.

taken out o f a dicti o nar y which would give the ,

noun but n o t th e plu r al The laconic style may .

be to c o nceal th e abs e nc e of knowl e dg e of E ng

lish Yes Watson th er e a r e g o od r eas o ns to
.
, ,

susp e ct that the r e has been a substitution of

l o dg er s .

But f o r w hat possibl e end !

A h ! ther e lies o u r problem There is o ne .

rather obvi o us line o f inv e stigati o n He t oo k .

do w n th e g r eat b oo k in w hich day by day h e l e d , ,

th e agony c o lum ns o f the var ious L o ndon j o u r

n al s D ea r m e ! said he tu r ning o v e r the ,

pag e s what a ch or us o f gr oans c r ies and bl e at

, , ,

ings ! What a rag bag o f singula r happenings !

-

But su re ly the m o st valuable hunting gro und -

that e v er was giv e n t o a stud e nt o f th e unusual !

This p er son is al o n e and cannot be app ro ach e d
,

by l e tt er with o ut a b re ach o f that absolut e sec re cy

w hich is d e si re d H ow is any n ew s or any m e s
.

sage t o reach him fro m with o ut ! O bvi o usly

by advertis e ment th ro ugh a ne w spap er The r e .

[ 1 05 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W
seems no other way and fo r tunately w e nee d con ,

cern o urselves with the one paper only H ere .

are the D ail y Gaz e t te extracts of the last fort

night L ady with a black boa at P r ince s Skat
.

ing Club that we may pass
Su re ly J ifn my .

will not break his moth e r s heart that appears

to be irrelevant If the lady who fainted in .

the Brixton bu s she doe s not interest me
.

E very day my heart longs Bleat Watson ,

unm itigated bleat ! A h ! this is a little more

possible L isten to this : B e patient Will
. .

nd some sure means of communication Mean .

while this column G That is t w o days after

,
. .

Mrs Warren s lodger arrived I t sounds plau s

.

.

ible does it not ! The mysteriou s one could un

,

d erst a n d E nglish even if he could not print it , .

L et us see if we can pick up the trace again .

Y e s here we are three days later
,

A m mak .

ing succ e ssful arrangements P ati e nce and pru .

.

dence The clouds will pass G N o thing for a . .

we e k after that Then comes something much .

mor e denite : The path is cl e ar ing If I n d .

chance signal m e ssage remember code agre e d

o ne A two B and so on You will hear so o n
, , . .

G That was in y e sterday s paper and there

.

is nothing in to day s It s all ve r y approp r iate

-

.

t o Mrs Warre n s lodge r If we wait a little

.

.
,

Watson I d o n t doubt that the a ff air will gro w

,

m or e int e lligible .

S o it proved ; for in the morning I foun d my

[ 1 06 ]
 HIS L AST B O W

hind him threw a coat ov er his head and bundled

, ,

him into a cab that was beside the kerb They .

d r ove him an hour and then opened the door and

,

shot him out He lay in the road w ay so shaken

.

in his wits that he never sa w what became of the

cab When he picked himself up he found he
.

was o n Hampstead Heath ; so he took a bus

h o me and the r e he lies now on the sofa while I
, ,

came st r aight round to tell you what had hap

pen e d .

Most interesting said H o lmes D id he, .

obs er ve th e appearance of these men did he hear

th e m talk !

No ; he is clean dazed He j ust kno w s that .

he was lifted up as if by magic and d r opped

as if by m a gic Two at least were in it and
.
,

maybe th r ee .

And you connect this attack with your

lodg er !

W e ll we ve lived there ft e en yea r s and n o
,

such happenings ever came b e fo re I v e had .

e n o ugh of him M o ney s not e v erything I ll

.

.

have him out o f my house befo r e th e day is done .

Wait a bit Mrs Wa r ren D o n o thing rash

, . . .

I b e gin to th ink that this a ff ai r may be v e ry

much more impo r tant than app e a re d at r st
sight It is clea r n o w that s om e dang er is threat
.

e n in g you r lodge r It is equally cl e a r that his

.

en emi e s lying in wait for him near y o ur door

, ,

mist oo k your husband for h im in the foggy

[ 1 08 ]
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E RED C I R CLE

morning light O n discovering th e ir mistake

.

they released him What they woul d have d o ne .

had it not been a mi stake we can only conj ee ,

ture.

Well what am I to do Mr Holmes
,
!
,
'
.

I have a great fancy to see this lodger o f

yours Mrs Warren
, . .

I don t se e h o w that is to be managed unless

you b r eak in the d oo r I al w ays hear him u nl o ck .

it as I go d ow n the stair after I leave the tray .

He has to take the tray in Surely we could .

conceal o u r s e lves and see him do it .

The landlady thought for a moment .

W e ll sir the re s the box room opposite I
, ,

-
.

c o uld arr ange a looking glass maybe and if you -

, ,

we r e behind the door

E xcellent ! said Holmes

When does he .

lunch

About one sir , .

Then D r Watson a n d I will come round in

.

time F or the present Mrs Warren good bye
.
, .
,
-
.

At half past tw e lve w e found ourselves upon

-

the steps o f Mrs Warren s house a high thin .

, ,

yell o w brick edice in Great O rme Stre e t a nar

-
,

row tho r oughfare a t the no r th east side of the -

British Mus e um Standing as it does near the .

corner of the st r e e t it commands a vi e w down ,

Ho w e Str eet with it s more pretenti ous houses

,
.

H o lmes poin ted with a chuckle to one of these ,

[ 1 0 9 ]
 H I S LAST B O W

a row of r e sidential flats which proj ected so ,

that they could not fail to catch the eye .

See Watson ! said he
, High red hous e .

with stone facings There is the si gnal statio n

.

all right We know the place and we know t h e

.
,

code ; so surely our task sh o uld be simple There s .

a To L et ca r d in that windo w It is evidently

.

an empty at t o which the confederate has a c

cess Well M rs Warre n what now
.
,
!
.
,

I have it all ready for you If you will both .

come up and leave your boots below on the land

ing I ll put you there n o w
,

.

It was an excellent hiding place which she had -

arranged The mirror w a s so placed that seated

.
,

in the dark w e could very plainly se e the door

,

opposite We had hardly settled down in it and

.
,

M rs Warren left us when a di stant tinkle a n

.
,

n o u n c e d that o u r mysterious neighbour had rung .

Presently the landlady appeared with the tray ,

laid it do w n upon a chair beside the closed door ,

and then treading heavily departed Crouch

, , .

ing together in the angle o f the door we kept o ur ,

eyes xed upon the mirror S uddenly a s t he .

,

landlady s footsteps died away there w a s t he

creak o f a turning key the handle revolved an d , ,

t w o thin hands darted o ut and lifted the tray .

from the chair A n instant later it was hurriedly

.

replaced and I caught a glimpse of a dark beau

, ,

tiful horried face glaring at the narrow opening

,

of the box room T hen the door crash e d to th e

-
.
,

[ 11 0 ]
 HI S LA S T B O W
has recourse to the agony column o f a paper S o .

far all is clear .

But what is at the root of it !

Ah yes Watson severely p r actical a s
, , ,

usual ! What is at the r o ot of it all M rs ! .

Warre n s whims ical problem enlar ges some w hat

and ass umes a mo r e sini ster asp e ct as we p r o

c ee d
. This much we can sa y : that it is no o r di
nary l o ve escapade Yo u sa w the woman s face
.

at the sign of danger We have heard too of .

, ,

the attack upo n t h e landlord which was u n ,

doubtedly meant for the lodger These ala r ms .

,

and th e despe r ate need for sec r ecy argue that ,

the matt e r is o n e of life o r death The attack .

upon M r Warren further shows that the enemy

.
,

who e ver they are are themselves not aware of the

,

substitution of the female lodger for the male .

I t is very curi o us and complex Watson ,

.

Why should you go further in it What have
!

you to gain f r om it !

What indeed It is Art f o r Art s sake
,
!

Watson I suppose when you d o ct o red y o u

.

found yourself studying cases without thought

o f a fee !

F or my education Ho l mes , .

E ducati o n n e v er ends Watson It is a series, .

o f lessons with the greatest for the last This .

is an i nstructive case The r e is neith e r money

.

nor credit in it and yet one would wish to tidy

,

it up . When dusk comes we should nd our

[ 1 1 2 ]
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E RED C I R C LE

s e lves o ne stage advanced in our investigation .

When we re tu r n e d to l\Irs Warr en s rooms .

the glo o m of a L o nd o n w inter evening had thick

en e d int o one g r ey cu r tain a dead monot o ne o f ,

c ol o u r b r ok e n only by the sharp yellow square s

,

of the win d ow s and the blu r r e d hal oe s o f the gas

lamps As we peered fr om the dar k e ned sitting
.

r oo m of the lodging h o use one mo r e dim light -

,

glimm ered high up th r ough the obscurity .

Som eo ne is moving in that room said ,

Holmes in a whispe r his gaunt and eager face ,

th r ust f orw ar d to the w indo w pane Yes I -
.
,

can s e e his shado w Th ere h e is again ! H e has a .

candl e in his hand No w he is p eer ing across H e . .

w ants to be su r e that she is on th e l oo k o ut N o w -

.

he b e gins t o ash Tak e the message als o Wat .

,

s o n that w e may che ck each other A single ash

, .

that is A su re ly N ow th e n H ow many did

.
, .
,

you make it ! T we nty S o did I That should . .

m e an T A T that s int e lligible en ough !
.

Anothe r T Su r ely this is th e beginning of a
.

sec o nd w o r d N ow then T E NTA D e ad

.
,
.

stop That can t be all Wats o n
.
! AT T E N

TA giv e s no s e n s e No r is it any b e tt er as th re e

.

w or ds A T T E N TA unl e ss T A a re a. .
,

. .

p e rson s initials There it g o es again ! What s

.

that AT T E w hy it is the same m e ssage ov e r

!
,

again Cu r ious Wats o n v e ry cu r i o us ! N ow

.
, ,

h e is o ff onc e more ! A T why h e is r ep e ating ,

it for the third time ATT E NTA th re e times ! .

[ 1 1 3 ]
 H IS LA S T B O W

H o w often wi l l he repeat it No that seems t o !

,

be the nish He h a s withdrawn f r om the w in

.

dow What do you make of it Watson !
.
,

A cipher message Holmes , .

My companion gave a sudden chuckle o f com

prehension And not a very obscu r e cipher
.
,

W atson said he

,

Why of cou r se it is Ital
.
, ,

ian ! The A means that it is addressed t o a

woman .B e w ar e ! Beware ! B eware ! H ow s

that Watson
,
!

I believe you have hit it .

Not a doubt of it I t is a very urgent mes .

sage thrice repeated to make it more so B ut

, .

beware of what Wait a bit ; he is coming to the

!

windo w once more .

Again we saw the dim silhouette of a crouch

ing man and the whisk of the small ame across
the window as the signals were r enewed Th e y
,
.

came more rapidly than before so rapid that it
was ha r d to f o llo w them .

P ER I C O L O
Pericolo E h what s that

,

Watson D ang e r isn t it Yes by Jov e it s

! !
,

, ,

a danger signal There he goes again ! P ER I . .

Halloa wh at on ea r th
,

The light had suddenly gone out the glimmer ,

ing squa r e of windo w had disappea r ed and the ,

thi r d oor formed a da rk band r ound the lofty

building with its tie r s o f shining ea seme n t s
,
.

That last warning cry had b e en suddenly cut

sh o rt How and by whom
.
!
,
The same thought
[ 1 1 4 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
J o urneys e nd with lovers meetings What
.

brings you here !

The same reasons that bring you I e x pect , ,

said Gregson How you got on to it I can t
.

im agine .

D i fferent threads but leading up t o the same ,

tangle I ve been ta king the signals
.

.

Signals !

Yes from that windo w T hey broke o ff in

, .

the middle We cam e over to see the reason

. .

But since it is safe in your hands I see no obj ect

in continuing the business .

Wait a bit ! cried Gregson eagerly I ll , .

do you this j ustice Mr Holmes that I w as never , .

,

in a case yet that I didn t f e el st r onger for having

y o u on my side There s only the o n e e xit to .

these ats so we have him safe
, .

Who is he !

W e ll well we score over you for once M r

, , , .

H o lm e s You must give us best this time
. He .

st r uck his stick sharply upon the ground on ,

which a cabman his whip in his hand sauntered , ,

over fr om a four whe e ler which stood on the far -

side o f th e st r eet
l da y I int ro duce you to Mr
. .

She r lock H o lmes he said t o the cabman This
! .

is Mr L eve r ton of Pinke r ton s American

.
,

Agency .

The hero of the L ong I sland Cave myste r y !

said H o lmes S ir I am pleased t o me e t you

.
, .

Th e Am erican a quiet businesslike young , ,

[ 1 1 6 ]
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E RED C I R C LE

man with a clean shaven hatchet face ushed

,
-
, ,

up at the wo r ds of commendation I am on .

the tr a il of my life now Mr Holmes said he , .

, .

If I can get Go rgian o

What ! Go rgian o of the R ed Circle !

O h he has a E ur o pean fame has he

,
! Well , ,

w e ve learne d all ab o ut him in A m e r ica We

.

k n o w he is at the bottom of fty mu r d er s and ,

yet w e have nothing positive we can take him on .

I tracked him over fr om N ew Yo r k and I v e ,

been clos e to him for a w eek in L ondon waiting ,

some excuse t o ge t my hand on his collar M r . .

Gr egs o n and I ran him t o g r ound in that big ten

e me n t hous e and the r e s onl y the one door s o he

, ,

can t slip us Th er e s th re e f o lk c o me out since

.

h e we nt in but I ll s w ea r he wasn t on e o f them
,

.

Mr H o lmes talks of signals said G r egs o n
.
,
.

I expect as usual he knows a good deal that

, ,

we don t
.

In a f ew cl e ar wo r ds H o lmes explained the

situation as it had app e ar e d to us The Ame r i .

can st r uck his hands together with V exation .

H e s o n t o us ! h e c r ied

.

Why d o y o u think so !

!
We ll it gu r es o ut that way does it not
, ,

H e r e he is s e nding out messages to an acc o mplice

,

-
the r e a re s e v er al of his gang in L ond o n Th e n .

sudd e nly j ust as by you r o w n acc o unt h e w as t e ll

,

ing th e m that th ere was dang e r h e b rok e sh o rt ,

of What could it mean except that from the

.

[ 7]
1 1
 HI S LAST B O W
window he had sudde nl y either caught sight of
us in the street or in some way come to under
,

stand how close the danger was and that he ,

must act right away if he w as to avoid it What!

do you suggest Mr Holmes
, .
!

That we go up at once and se e fo r ourselves .

But we have no warrant for his ar r est .

He is in unoccupied premises under su sp i

c io u s ci r cumstances ,said Gregson That is .

good enough for the m o ment When we have .

h im by the heels we can see if N e w York can t

help us to keep him I ll take the responsibility

.

o f a r resting him n o w .

O u r o fcial d e tectives may blunder in t he mat

ter of intelligence but never in that o f courage
, .

Gregs o n climbed the stair to arrest this desperate

murderer with the same absolutely qui e t and
businesslike bear ing with which he would have
ascended the of cial stai r case o f S cotland Ya r d .

Th e Pink er ton man had t r ied t o push past him ,

but Gregson had rmly elbo w ed him back L on .

don dangers we r e the privilege o f the L ondon

fo r ce .

The d o or o f the left hand at upon the third

-

landing was standi ng aj ar G re gson pushed it .

Open Within all was abs o lute silence and dark

.

ness I st ruck a match and lit the d e tective s

. ,

lantern As I did so and as the icker steadied

.
,

into a ame we all gave a gasp o f su r p r ise O n

, .

the d e al boa r ds of the carpetless oor there w as

[ 1 1 8 ]
 HI S LA S T B O W
darkn ess blew the candl e o ut and t hrew it on the
, ,

oor .

I rather think that will b e helpful said he , .

He came over and stood in deep thought whil e

the two professionals were examining the body .

You say that three people came out from t he

at while you were waiting down stairs said he , ,

a t last . D id y ou observe them closely !

Yes I did , .

W a s there a fellow about thirt y black ,

b earded dark of middle size
,
!
,

Ye s ; he was the last to pass me .

That is your man I fa ncy I can g ive y ou , .

his desc r iption a n d we have a very excellent out

,

l ine o f his footm a rk That should be enough for

.

y ou.

Not much M r Holmes among the millions
, .
,

of L ondon
.

Pe r haps not That is why I thought it bes t
.

to summ o n this lady to your aid .

We all turned round at the wo r ds Th e re .

,

framed in the doorway was a tall and beautiful ,

woman the myst er ious lodger o f Bloomsbury .

Slo w ly sh e advance d her face pale and d r awn ,

with a frightful apprehensi o n h e r eyes xed ,

and staring her te r ried gaz e riveted upon the

,

dark gu r e on the oor .

Y o u have killed him ! she muttered Oh . ,

D io mio you have killed him !
,
Then I heard
a sudd e n sharp intake of her breath and she ,

[ 1 2 0]
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E RED CIR C LE

sprang into th e air with a cry o f j oy R o und and .

r o und the r oo m sh e danced he r hands clapping , ,

her da r k ey e s gleamin g with delighted w ond e r ,

and a th o usand pr e tty Itali an exclamations p ou r

ing from h e r lips It was terr ible and amazing
.

t o s e e such a wo man so convulsed w ith j o y at such

a sight Suddenly she stopped and gaz e d at us
.

all with a qu e sti o ning sta r e .

But y o u ! Y o u a r e p o lic e are you not Y o u!
,

have kill e d Giu se p p e Go rgia no Is it n o t so ! .

W e a re p o li c e madam
r
, .

Sh e lo ok e d r o und int o th e shad ow s of th e r oo m .

But wh er e then is G e nnaro
,
sh e ask e d
,
.

H e is my husband G e nnaro L ucca I am E m , .

ilia L ucca an d we a re b o th f ro m N ew Y or k
,
.

Wh ere is Genna ro ! He call e d m e this mom e nt

fro m this w ind ow and I r an w ith all my sp ee d
,
.

It was I w h o call e d said H o lmes , .

Y o u ! H ow c o uld y o u call !

Y o u r ciphe r w as n o t difcult madam Y o ur , .

p re s e nc e h ere w as d e si r able I kn ew that I h a d .

o nly t o ash Vz en i and y o u wo uld su re ly com e


.

Th e b e autiful Italian looked with a we a t my

c o mpanio n .

I d o n o t understand h o w y o u kn ow thes e
things
sh e said .

Gius e pp e Go rgia n o h o w
,

did h e Sh e paus e d and th e n sudd e nl y h e r

,

fac e lit up w ith p r id e and d e light N ow I se e .

it ! My G e nnaro ! My spl e ndid beautiful Gen ,

na ro wh o has guard e d me saf e f ro m all Ja m he

,
r ,

[ 1 2 1 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
did it with his own strong hand he killed the
,

monster ! O h Genn aro how wonderful you are !

, ,

What woman could ever be worthy of such a

man !

Well Mrs L ucca said the prosaic Gregson
, .
, ,

l aying his hand upon the lady s sleeve with as

little sentiment as if sh e were a Notting Hil l

hooligan I am not very clear yet who you are
,

o r what you are ; but you ve said enough to make

it very clear that we shall want you at the Yard .

O ne moment Gregson said Holmes , I , .

rather fancy that thi s lad y may be as anxious t o

give us information as we can be to get it You .

understand mad am that your husband will b e ar

, ,

rested and tried for the death of the man who lies
before u s What y ou say may be used in evi
!

dence But if you thi nk that he has acted from

.

motives which are not criminal and which he ,

would wish to have known then you cannot serve ,

him bette r than by telling us the whole sto ry .

Now that Go rgian o is dead w e fear nothing ,

s aid the lady He was a devil and a monster
. ,

and there can be no j udge in the w o r ld who would

punish my husband fo r having killed him .

In that case said Holmes my suggestion
, ,

is that we lock this door leave things as we found ,

them go with this lady to her room and fo r m

, ,

our opinion after we have heard what it is that she

has A
y to
m us
a .

[ 1 2 2 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

made him head of a depa r tment and showed his ,

good w ill to w a r ds him in every way S ignor .

C a st a l o t t e was a bachelor and I believe that he ,

felt as if Gennaro was his son and both my hus ,

b and and I loved him as if he we r e our father .

We had taken and furnished a little house in

B ro oklyn and o ur whole future seemed assu r ed
, ,

when that black cloud appeared which was soon

to ove r spread our sk y .

O ne night when Gennaro r etu r ned fr om his,

work he brought a fellow countryman back with

,
-

him His name was Go rgia n o and he had come

.
,

also from P o sil ip p o He was a huge man as .

,

you can testify for you have look e d upon his ,

corpse Not only was his body that of a giant

.
,

but everything about him w as g r otesque gigan ,

tic and te rr ifying His voice was like thunder

, .

in our little h o use There was sca r ce room for .

the whi r l of his great a r ms as he talked His .

thoughts his emotions his passions all w e re ex

, , ,

a gge ra t e d and monst r ous H e talk e d o r rather .

,

roa re d with such ene rgy that others could but sit
,

and list e n co w ed with the mi ghty st r eam of

,

wor ds His eyes blazed at y o u and h e ld you at

.

his me r cy He w as a terrible and wonderful

.

man I thank God that he is d e ad !

.

He came again and again Yet I was aware .

that Gennaro was no mo r e happy than I was in

his presence My poor husband would sit pale .

and listless li stening to the en dl ess raving upon

,

[ 1 2 4 ]
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E RED C I R C LE

pol itics and upon social questions which made up

our visitor s conversation G e n na r o said noth

.

ing but I who knew him so well could read in

,

his fac e some emotion which I had neve r se e n

there b e fore At r st I th o ught that it w as dis
.

like And then gr adually I underst oo d that it

.
, ,

w as more than dislike It w a s fea r a deep s e .
,

c r et sh r i nk ing f e ar That night the night that

, .
-

I r e ad his te rr o r I put my a r ms round him and
I implored him by his love fo r me and by all that
he held de ar to hold nothing f r om m e and to tell ,

me why this huge man ove r shado w ed him so .

He told me and my o w n heart g re w cold as

,

ice as I listened My poor Genna ro in his wild

.
,

and ery days when all the wo r ld s ee m e d against

,

him and his mind w a s d r iven half mad by the

inj ustices of lif e had j oined a Neapolitan s o ci e ty
, ,

the R ed C i r cle which was allied to the old C ar

,

bonari The oaths and secrets of this b r oth er

.

hood were frightful ; but once within its rul e no

escape was possible When we had ed to .

Am e r ica G e nnaro thought that he had cast it

all o ff for ever What was his ho rr o r o ne even
.

ing to me et in the st re ets the ve r y man w ho had

initiat e d him in Naples the giant Go rgia n o a , ,

man wh o had earned the name of D eath in th e

South o f Italy fo r he was red t o th e e lb o w in

,

mu r der ! H e had c o me to Ne w Y or k t o avoid

the Italian police and he had already plant e d a
,

branch of this dr eadful society in his ne w home .

[ 1 2 5 ]
 H I S LAST B O W
All this Gennaro told me and sh o wed me a sum
,

mons which he had receiv e d that ve r y day a R ed ,

Circle dra w n upon the head of it telling him that

,

a lodge would be held upon a certain date and ,

that his presence at it was required and ordered .

That was bad enough but wo r se was t o come
, .

I had notice d for some time that when Go rgia no

came to u s as he constantly did in the eveni ng
, , ,

he spoke much t o me ; and even when his words

were to my husband those terrible glaring wild
beast eyes o f his were always turned upon me
, ,

O ne night his secret came o ut I had awakened

.

what he called love within him the love of a

b r ute a savage Gennaro had not yet returne d
.

when he came He pushed his way in seized me

.
,

in his mighty arms hugged me in his bear s em

,

brace cove r ed me with kisses and implored me

, ,

to come away with him I was struggling and

.

screaming when Gennaro entered and attack e d

him He struck Gennaro senseless and ed
.

from the house which he was nev e r more to enter .

I t was a deadly enemy that w e made that night .

A few days later came the meeting Gen .

naro returned from it with a fa ce w hich told me

that something dreadful had occur r ed It w a s .

worse than we could have imagined possible .

The funds o f the s o ciety were raised by black

mailing rich I talians and threatening them with
violence should the y refuse the money It .

seems that Ca st al o t t e o ur dear friend and ben e

,

[ 1 2 6 ]
 H I S LAST B O W
All this Gennaro told me and sh o wed me a sum
,

mons which he had receiv e d that V er y day a R ed ,

C ircle d r a w n upon the head of it telling him that

,

a lodge would be held upon a ce r tain date and ,

that his presence at it w a s required and ordered .

That w a s bad enough but worse was t o come
, .

I had notice d for some time that when Go rgia n o

came to us as he constantly did in the evening
, , ,

he spoke much t o me ; and even when his words

were to my husband those ter r ible glaring wild
beast eyes o f his were always turned upon me
, ,

O ne night his secret came o ut I had awakened

.

what he called love within him the love of a

brute a savage Gennaro had not yet returne d
.

when he came He pushed his way in sei z ed me

.
,

in his mighty arms hugged me in his bear s em

,

brace cove r ed me with kisses and implored me

, ,

to come away with him I was st r uggling and

.

screaming when Gennaro ente r ed and attack e d

him He struck Gennaro senseless and ed
.

from the house which he was never more to enter .

I t was a deadly enemy that we mad e that night .

A few days later cam e the meeting Gen .

naro returned from it with a fa ce which told me

that something d readful had occu rr ed It w a s .

worse than we could have imagined possible .

The funds o f the s o ciety were raised by black

mailing rich I talians and threatening them with
V iolence should the y refuse the money I t .

seems that Ca st al o t t e o ur dear friend and ben e

,

[ 1 2 6 ]
 TH E AD VEN T U RE OF TH E RED C I R CLE

factor, had b ee n a p p ro ache d f He had refused

to yield to thr e ats and h e had hand e d the notices
,

to the police It w as r es o lv e d now that such an

.

example sh o uld be made o f him as w o uld pr e vent

any oth e r victim fr om r e belling At the m e eting .

it was a rr ang e d that he an d his house should be

blown up w ith dynamite There was a drawin g
.

of lots as to w ho sh o uld ca r ry out the d e ed G e n .

nar o sa w our e nemy s cruel face smiling at him as

he dipped his hand in the bag No doubt it had .

b e en p r e a rr anged in some fashion for it w as the

-
,

fatal disc with the R e d Circle up o n it the man ,

dat e f or mu r d e r which lay upon his palm He

, .

was to k ill his best f r iend o r he w as to expose him

,

s e lf and me to the vengeance of his comr ad e s .

It was par t of their e ndish system t o punish

those w hom they fea r ed o r hated by inj uring not
onl y their own p er sons but those w hom they
,

loved and it was the knowledge of this which

,

hung as a t err or o ver my poor Gennar o s head

and dr ove him n e a r ly c r azy w ith app r ehension .

A l l that night we sa t togethe r o ur arms ,

r o und each o th e r each strengthening each fo r

,

the t ro ubles that lay be fo r e us The v e ry next .

evening had bee n x e d fo r the attempt By mid .

day my husband and I were on our w ay to L on

don but not b e fo r e he had giv e n ou r b e ne fa c
,

tor full warning of his danger and had also left ,

such in fo r mati o n for the police as would safe

guard his life for the future .

 H I S LA S T B O W
The rest gentlemen you know for yourselves
, , .

We w ere sure that our enemies would be b e hind

u s like our o w n shadows Go rgia n o had his .

private reasons for venge ance but in any cas e ,

w e knew how ruthless cunning and untiring he , ,

could be B oth Italy and Am er ica are full of

.

st or i e s of his d re adful po w ers If ever they we r e .

exe r ted it w ould b e no w My da r ling made use o f.

the fe w clear days which our start had given us in

a r ranging for a refug e f o r me in such a fashion
that no possible dang er could reach me F or his .

o w n pa r t he w ished t o be free that he might com

,

mun ic at e both w ith the Am erican and w ith the

I talian p o lice I do not myself know whe r e he
.

l ived o r ho w All that I learned w as through the

, .

columns of a n ew spap e r But o nce as I look e d .

,

through my window I saw two Italians watching

,

the h o us e and I und er st oo d that in som e way

,

Go rgia n o had found out our r e t r eat F inally .

Genna r o t o ld m e through the pap e r that he

, ,

would signal to me fr o m a certain w indo w but ,

when the signals came they we r e nothing but

warnings which w e re suddenly inte rrupted It
, .

is very cle a r to me now that he knew Go rgian o

to b e close upon him and that thank God ! h e, ,

was ready f o r him wh e n he came And no w .

,

g e ntl e m e n I w ould ask y o u whether we have

,

anythi n g to fear f r o m the L aw o r whether any ,

j udg e upon earth would condemn my Gennaro

for what he has done !

[ 1 2 8 ]
THE AD V E N T UR E O F TH E B RU C E
PA R T INGT O N P L AN S

N the third week of November in the year,

1 8 9 5 a dense yellow fog settled down upon

,

L ondon Fr om the Monday to the Thursday

.

I doubt whether it was ever possibl e fro m o ur

windows in B aker S t reet to see the loom of the
opposite houses The rst day Holmes had
.

spent in cross inde xing h is hug e book o f refer

-

en c e s
. The second and thir d had been patiently
occupied upon a subj ect which he had recently

made his hobby the music of the Middle Ages .

But when for the fourth time after pushing

, ,

back o u r chairs from breakfast we sa w the

greasy heavy b r own swirl still d r ifting past u s
,

and condensing in oily drops upon the w indow

panes my comrade s impatient and active
,

nature coul d endur e this drab existence no

longer He p aced r e stl e ssly ab o ut o ur sitting
.

room in a fever of suppressed energy biting his,

[ 1 3 0]
 AD VEN T U RE OF TH E B R UC E PAR T IN GT O N PLAN S
-

nails tapping the furniture and chang agains t

, ,

inacti o n .

Nothing of interest in the paper Watson !
,

he said .

I was aware that by anything of interest ,

Holm es meant anything of cr iminal interest .

The r e w as the news o f a r evolution of a possibl e ,

wa r and of an impen di ng change of G o vern

,

ment ; but these did not come within th e ho r izon

of my c ompanion I could se e nothing r ec or ded .

in th e shape of crime whi ch was n o t comm o nplace

and futile H o lm e s groaned and resumed his
.

re stless meand e rings .

The L ond o n c riminal is ce r tainly a du l l fel
l ow ,said h e in th e que r ul o us v o ice of the sports
,

man w h o se game has failed him

L ook o ut o f .

this w ind o w Watson See ho w the gu r es loom

, .

up a r e dimly s e en and th e n blend once m o re int o

, ,

th e cl o ud bank Th e thi e f o r th e mu r d erer could

-
.

roam L ondon on such a day as th e tige r d oe s t he

j ungl e unse e n until he pounces and then evi
, ,

dent only t o his victim .

Th er e have said I been numerous petty , ,

thefts .

H o lmes sn o rt e d his contempt .

This gre at and s omb re stag e is set f o r some

thing m or e wor thy than that said b e It is ,

f or tunate f o r this commun ity that I am not a

criminal .

It is indeed ! said I heartily
, , .
 H I S LA ST B O W

Suppose that I were Brooks or Woodhouse ,

or any o f the fty men who have good reason

f o r taking my life how long could I su r vive
,

against my o w n pu r suit A summons a bogus

!
,

appointment and all would be over It is w e ll

, .

they d o n t have days of fog in the L atin coun

tries the countries of assassination By Jove ! .

here comes something at last to break o ur dead

m o notony .

It was the maid with a teleg r am Holmes .

tore it open and burst o ut laughing .

Well well ! What next said he
,
! Brother .

Mycroft is c o ming round .

Why not I asked
! .

Why not ! It is as if you met a tram car -

coming do w n a count r y lane Mycr o ft has his .

rails and he runs on them His Pall Mall l o dg .

ings the D iogenes Club Whitehall that is his
, ,

cycle . O nce and only onc e he has b e en

, ,

her e What upheaval can possibly have derailed

.

him !

D o es he not explain !

H o lm e s handed m e his br o the r s tel e gram

.

Must se e you ov er Cadoga n W e st Coming .

at once MYC R OF T
. .

C adogan West ! I hav e heard the n ame .

It recalls n o thing to my mind But .

that Myc r oft sh ould break out in this er r atic

fashion ! A planet might as w ell leave its o r bit .

By the way do you kn o w what Mycroft is
,
!

[ 1 3 2 ]
 H I S LAST B O W
cent r al exchange the clea r ing house which make s
,
-
,

out the balance A l l other men are specialists

.
,

but his s pecialism is omniscience We will .

suppose that a Min ister needs information as

to a point which involves the Navy India , ,

Canada and the bimetallic question ; he could

get his sepa r ate advices from var ious depar t
ments upon each but only Mycroft can ,

focus th e m all and say o ff hand h o w each

,
-

factor w o uld a ff ect the other They b e gan by .

using him as a sh o rt cut a conveni e nce ; now

-
,

he has made hims e lf an e ssential In that g r eat .

b r ain o f his eve ryt hing is pigeon holed and can -

,

be handed out in an instant Again and again .

his w or d has decided the national policy He .

lives in it .He thinks of nothing els e save

when as an inte l lectual e x e r cise he unbends
, ,

if I call up o n him and ask him to advis e me on

o ne of my little p r obl e ms But Jupit e r is
.

d e scending to d ay What on ear th can it

.

mean Wh o is Cadogan West and what is he

!
,

to Myc r oft

I have it I cried and plunged among the
, ,

litte r o f papers upon th e s o fa Y e s yes he r e .
, ,

he is sure enough ! Cad o gan W e st was the young

,

man wh o was found d e ad on the U nde r ground on

Tuesday morning .

H o lmes sat up at attention his p ipe half way ,

-

to his lips .

This must be serious Watson A death , .

[ 134 ]
 E . F . Be n s o n

A D VEN T U RE OF TH E B R U C E PAR T I N GT O N PLANS

-

which has caused my b r othe r to alte r his habits

can be n o o r dina ry one What in the w or ld can .

he have to d o w ith it The case w as f e atu r eless

!

as I remember it The y o ung man had appa r

.

ently fallen o ut o f the t r ain and killed h ims e lf .

He had not been robbed and th ere was n o par ,

t ic ul a r reason to suspect vi o lence Is that not .

so !

The r e has be en an in quest said I and a , ,

good many fr esh facts have come out L o oked .

at more closely I should ce r tainly say that it

,

was a curious case .

Judging by its e ff ect upon my b r oth e r I ,

should think it must b e a m o st ext r a or di n a r y

one . He snuggled d o wn in his armchair Now
3,
.
,

Wats o n l e t us have the facts
, .

Th e man s name was Ar thu r Cadogan West

.

H e w as t w enty sev e n y e a r s of age unm arr i e d

-
, ,

and a cle r k at Wool w ich Ar s e nal .

G o ve r nm ent employ B ehold the link with .

brothe r Mycr o ft !

H e left Woolwich suddenly on M o nday '

night Was last seen by his anc ee Miss

.
,

Vi o let Westbu r y whom he left ab r upt ly in th e

,

f o g about that evening Th ere was no .

quarr el b e twe en them and she can give no

motive fo r his action The n e xt thing h e ar d
.

o f him was w hen his dead body was discovered

by a plate layer named Mas o n j ust o utside
-
,

[ 1 3 5 ]
 H I S LAST B O W

Aldgate S tation o n the U nderground system in

L ondon .

When !

The body w a s found at six on the Tuesday

morning . It w as lying wide of the metals
upon the left hand of the track as one goes east
ward at a point close to the station where the
, ,

line emerges from the tunnel in which it r uns .

The head was badly crushed a n inj u r y which
might w ell have been caused by a fall
from the t r ain The body could only have come
.

on the line in that way Had it be e n carried .

down from any neighbouring st r eet it must have ,

passed the station barriers where a collector is ,

always standing This point seems abs o lutely.

certain .

V ery good T he case is denite enough
. .

The man dead or alive e ither fell or was pre

, ,

c i it a t e d f r om a tam S o much is clear to me

p . .

C o ntinue .

The trains which traverse the lines o f rail
beside which the body was found are those which
run from west to east some being pu r ely Metro ,

politan and some from Will e sd e n and outlying

,

j unctions It can be stated fo r c er tain that this

.

young man wh e n he met his death was t r avelling

, ,

in this direction at some late hour of the night ,

but a t what point he entered the train it is im

possible to state .

His ticket of course would show that
, , .

[ 1 3 6 ]
 HI S LAS T B O W
tion of unc o uth physical ine r tia in the gure ,

but above this unwieldy frame there was perched

a head so masterful in it s bro w so alert in it s ,

steel grey deep se t eyes so rm in its lips and

-
,
-
, ,

so subtle in its play of express ion that after the ,

r st glance o n e forgot the g r oss body and remem

bered o nly the dominant mind .

At his heels came our old friend L estrade o f ,

S cotland Yard thin and auste r e The gravity .

of both their faces foretold some w e ighty qu e st .

The det e ctive shook hands without a w o r d My .

c r oft H o lmes struggled out o f his overcoat and

subsided into an armchair .

A most annoying business S herlock said , ,

he. I extremely dislike altering my habits b ut ,

the powers that be would take no denial In the .

p r es e nt state o f Siam it is most awkward that

I should be away from the ofce But it is a r e al .

crisis I have never seen the Prim e Minister so

.

upset As to the Adm iralty it is buzzing like
.

an o verturned bee hive Have you r ead up the

-
.

case !

We hav e j ust done so Wh at w ere the tech .

n ica l pape r s !

Ah th er e s the point ! F o r tunately it h a s
,

not come out Th e P r ess would be furiou s if it

.

did The p apers which this wretched youth had

.

in his pocket were the plans of the Bruce Part -

ingt o n subma r ine .

Mycr o ft Holmes spok e with a solem n ity which

[ 1 3 8 ]
 AD VEN T URE OF TH E B R U C E PAR T IN GT O N PLANS
-

sh owe d his s e nse o f the impo rtance o f the sub j ect .

His b r oth er and I sa t expectant .

Sur e ly yo u have heard of it I thought every
!

o n e had h e a r d o f it .

O nly as a name .

Its im po r tance can hardly be exaggerated .

It has been the most j ealously guard e d of all

Governm e nt s e c r ets You may tak e it f ro m me
.

that naval wa r fare b e comes imp o ssibl e Within th e

ra di us of a B r uce P a rt ingt o n s op e rati o n T wo
-

.

y e ars ago a v er y lar ge sum was smuggled through

the E stimat e s and w as exp e nd e d in a c qu ir
ing a mon o p o ly of the in v e nti o n E v er y e ff or t .

has b e en made to keep the s e c r et Th e plans .

,

which a r e e xce e dingly int r icate c omp r ising ,

s ome thi r ty s e par ate pat ents each essential to

,

the wo r king of the wh o l e ar e kept in an

,

elaborate saf e in a co n d e ntial ofce adj o in ing

the Ar senal w ith burglar p ro of d oor s and
,
-

w ind ow s U nd e r no co nc e ivabl e ci r cumstances

.

were the pl a ns to be tak e n from the o fc e If .

the C hi e f C o nst r uct o r of the Navy d e si re d t o

consult th e m even he w as f or ced to go t o th e
,

Woolw ich o fce for the purp o s e A n d yet h e re .

we nd th e m in the pockets o f a d e ad j uni o r

clerk in th e hea r t of L o nd o n F rom an ofcial
.

point of vie w it s simply awful

.

But you have recovere d them !

No She r l o ck no ! That s the pinch We

, ,

.

have not Ten papers we r e taken from Wo o l

.

[ 1 39 ]
 H I S LAST B O W

wich . T here were seven in the pockets o f

C adogan West The th r ee most essential are
.

gone stolen vanished You must drop every .
,

thing Sherlock Never mind your usual petty

, .

puzzles o f the police court It s a vital inter -

.

national problem that you have to solve Why .

did Cadogan West take the pap e rs w here are ,

the missing ones ho w did he die ho w came his

, ,

body whe r e it was found h ow can the evil be ,

se t right ! F in d an answer to all these questions ,

and you will have done good service for your

country .

Why do you not solve it you r self Mycr o ft !
,

You can se e as far as I .

Possibly Sherlock B ut it is a question o f
, .

g e tting details Give me y o ur details and fr o m

.
,

an arm chai r I will r etu r n you an excell e nt ex

-

pe r t opinion But to run he re and r un there to

.
,

c ro ss questi o n rail w ay guards and lie o n my fac e

-
,

with a l e ns to my eye it is not my m ti er No .
,

you ar e th e one man who can cl e a r th e matt e r up .

If y o u have a fancy to see your name in the next

honou r s list
My f r i e nd smiled and shook his head .

I play th e game f or the gam e s ow n sake

.

said he .But the problem c er tainly pr e sents
some points of inte re st and I shall be v er y ,

pleased to look into it S ome more facts .

,

please .

I have j otted down the more essential ones
[ 14 0 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

his o w n account c or rob or ated o nly by the

,

wo r d of his wife he was at h ome the whole of

,

Monday evening after o fc e hours and his key ,

has never left the watch chain upon which it -

'

hangs .

T e ll us about Cadogan West .

He has b ee n t e n y e a r s in the Service and ,

has done go o d w o rk He has the re putation of .

being hot h e a d e d and irn p et uo u s but a st r aight

-
, ,

honest man We have nothing against him He

. .

was ne xt S idn e y J o hns o n in th e o fc e His du .

ties b r ought him into daily pe r s o nal contact with ,

the plans N o o n e else had the handling of

them .

Who l o cked the plans up that ni ght !

Mr S idney J o hnson the senior clerk

.
, .

Well it is surely perfectly cl e ar who took

,

them away Th e y a r e actually found upon the

.

p er son of this j unio r cle rk C adogan West That , .

s ee ms nal do e s it n o t
,
!

It d o es She r lock and yet it l e aves so much
, ,

unexplained In the rst place why did he ta k e

.
,

them !

I p r esume they were of value !

He could have got sev e ral thousands for them

very easily .

Can you suggest any possible motive for
taking th e papers t o L ondon except to se ll

th e m !

No I cannot
,
.

[ 1 4 2 ]
 ADV E N TU RE OF TH E B R UC E PAR T I N GT O N PLANS -

Then we must tak e that as our wo rking

hypothesis Young West to o k th e papers N ow
. .

this could o nl y be done by having a false

key 3,

Several false keys He had to open the buil d

.

ing and the r o om .

He had then several fals e keys He took

, , .

the pap e rs to L o nd o n to s e ll th e s e c r et int e nd ,

ing no d o ubt to hav e th e plans th e mselves

, ,

back in th e saf e next mo r ning b e fo r e th e y w er e

miss e d Whil e in L o ndon on this t r eas o nabl e
.

missi o n he m e t his end .

How !

We w ill supp o se that he was t r avelling back

to W oo l w ich w h e n he was killed and th r o wn

out of the compar tment .

Al dgat e wh er e th e body w as found is con

, ,

sid e rab l y past th e station fo r L ondon B r idg e ,

which would be his r o ute to Wool w ich .

Many ci r cumstanc e s c o uld be imagined unde r
which he wo uld pass L o nd o n B r idge Th ere w as .

s o m e on e in the ca rr iage for example with whom

, .

he w as having an abs or bing int ervi e w This in .

t e rv ie w l e d to a vi o lent sc e n e in which he l o st his

,

lif e Possibly he t r i e d t o l e ave th e c arr iag e f e ll

.
,

o ut on th e line and so m e t his e nd Th e o th er

,
.

cl o sed the door Th e re was a thick f o g and no th

. ,

ing could be s e en .

No bett e r explanation can b e given w ith o t1r

pres e nt kn o w ledge ; and yet c o nsider Sh er l o ck , ,

[ 1 4 3 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

his own acc o unt corrob or ated only by the ,

w or d of his wife he w a s at h ome the wh o l e o f

,

M o nday ev e ning after ofce hou r s and his key ,

h a s never left the watch cha in upon which; it -

hangs .

T e ll us about Cadogan West .

He has b ee n t e n y e a r s in the Service and ,

has d o ne go o d w ork He has the re putati o n of

.

b e ing hot head e d and imp e tu o us but a st r aight

-
, ,

honest man We have nothing against him He

. .

was ne xt S idn e y J o hns o n in th e o fce His du .

ti e s b ro ught him into daily p er sonal c o ntact with ,

the plans N o o n e else had the han dl ing of

them .

Who locked the plan s up that ni ght !

Mr Sidn e y J o hns o n the senior cl e rk

.
, .

Well it is surely p erf e ctly cl e ar who took

,

th e m away Th e y a re actually found upon the

.

p er son of this j unior cle rk Cadogan West That , .

se e ms nal d oe s it not
,
!

It d oe s She r lock and yet it l e ave s so much
, ,

un e xplained In the rst place why did he tak e

.
,

th e m !

I p r esume they were of value !

He could have got several thousands for them

very easily .

C an you suggest any possible motive for
taking th e papers t o L ondon except to se ll

them !

No I cannot
,
.

[ 1 4 2 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

his o w n account co rro b or ated only by the,

w or d of his wife he w a s at h ome the wh o le o f

,

M o nday ev e ning after ofce h o u r s and his k e y ,

has never left the watch chain upon which it -

hangs .

T e ll us about Cad o gan West .

He has be e n ten y e a r s in the Ser vice and ,

has done go o d work He has the re putati o n of .

b e ing hot h ea d e d and imp e tu o us but a st r aight

-
, ,

honest man We have nothing against him He

. .

was ne xt S idn e y J o hns o n in th e ofce His du .

ti e s br o ught him in to daily p er sonal c o ntact with ,

the plans N o o n e else had the han dl in g of

them .

Wh o locked the plan s up that night !

Mr Sidn e y J o hns o n the senior cl e rk

.
, .

Well it is surely p erfectly cl e ar who to o k

,

th e m away Th e y a re actually found upon the

.

pe r son of this j unio r cle rk Cadogan West That , .

s ee ms nal d oe s it n o t
,
!

It d oe s She r lock and yet it l e ave s so much
, ,

unexplained In the rst place why did he tak e

.
,

th e m !

I p r esume they were of value !

H e could have got several thousan ds for them

very easily .

C an you suggest any possible motive for
taking the papers t o L ondon except to se ll

them !

No I cannot
, .

[ 1 4 2 ]
 AD VE N TU RE OF TH E B R UC E PAR T I N GT O N PLANS -

Then we must tak e that as our wo rking

hypothesis Y o ung West to o k th e papers N o w
. .

this could o nl y be done by having a fals e

key 9,

S everal false keys He had to open the buil d

.

ing and the room .

He had then several fals e k e ys He took

, , .

the pap e rs t o L o nd o n to s e ll th e s e c re t int e nd ,

ing no d o ubt to hav e th e plans th e ms e lv e s

, ,

back in th e saf e next mo r ning b e fo r e they we re

miss e d Whil e in L o ndon on this t r easonabl e
.

missi on he m e t his end

.

How !

We w ill supp o se that h e was t r av e lling back

to Wo o l w ich wh e n he was ki l led and th r o w n

out of the compar tment .

Al dgat e wh er e th e body was found is con

, ,

sid e rab l y past th e station fo r L ond o n B r idg e ,

which would be his route to Woolwich .

Many ci r cumstanc e s c o uld b e imagin e d unde r
which h e wo uld pass L o nd o n B r idge The re w as .

s o m e one in the ca rr iage for example with whom

,

h e was having an abs or bing int er vi e w This in .

t erv ie w l e d t o a vi o lent sc e n e in which h e l o st his

,

life Possibly he t r i e d t o l e ave th e c arr iag e f e ll

.
,

o ut on th e line and so m e t his e nd Th e o th er

,
.

cl o sed the d o or Th e re was a thick f o g and no th

. ,

ing could be se en .

N 0 bett er explanation can b e giv e n w ith o ur

pres e nt k nowledge ; and yet c o n sider Sh er l o ck , ,

[ 1 43 ]
 HI S L AST B O W
ho w much you leave untouched We will sup .

pose for argument s sake that young Cadogan

,

West had determin ed to convey these papers

to L ondon He would natu r ally have made
.

an appointment with the fo re ign agent and

kept his evening clear I nstead of that he .

took two tickets for the th e atre escorted ,

his a n c e hal f way there and then suddenly

-
,

disapp e a red .

A blind said L estrade who had sat lis
, ,

te ning with some impatience to the conversa

tion .

A ve ry singular o n e That is obj ection No . .

1. O bj ection N o 2 : We will suppose that he

.

r e ach e s L ondon and s e es the fo re ign agent He .

must bring back the papers befo r e morning or

the loss will be disc o ve r ed He took away ten . .

O nly seven were in his pocket What had b e .

c ome o f th e other th re e ! He c e rtainly w o uld

n o t leav e th e m of his own fr e e will Th e n again .
, ,

w h ere is the p r ic e o f his t re as o n ! O ne would

hav e e xp e ct e d to nd a la r ge sum of money in

his pocket .

It seems to m e p er fectly cl e ar said L es ,

t r ade I hav e no d o ubt at all as to w hat o c
.

cu rre d He took th e pap er s to sell them He

. .

sa w th e ag e nt Th e y c o uld n o t ag re e as to p r ice
. .

H e sta rt e d home again but the agent w e nt with ,

him In the train the ag e nt murder e d him took

.
,

[ 1 4 4 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W
An hour late r Holmes L e strade and I stood
, , ,

upon the und er ground railroad at the point

wh e re it eme r ges from the tunn el immediately
b e f o re Aldgate Station A cou r teous red faced
.
-

old gentl e man represented the railway company .

This is whe r e the young man s body lay

said he indicating a spot about thr e e feet f r om

,

the metals It could not have fallen fr o m
.

ab o ve for these as you see are all blank w alls

, , ,
.

Th er efo re it could onl y have come fr om a t r ain

, ,

and that t r ain so far as we can t r ace it must

, ,

have passed about midnight o n Monday .

Have the ca r riages been examined for any

sign of violence !

The r e a r e no such signs and no ticket has ,

been found .

No record of a door being found open !

N o ne .

We have had some fresh evidence this morn

ing said L e st r ade
,

A pass e ng e r wh o passed
.

Aldgat e in an o r dina r y Met ro p o litan t r ain about

on Mo nday night de clares that he hea r d a
heavy thud as of a body st r iking the line j ust
, ,

before the train r eached the stati o n Th e re was .

d e nse f o g howeve r and nothing could be see n

, , .

He made no repo r t of it at the time Why what .

,

ever is the matter with Mr H o lmes !

.

My fr iend was standing with an expression

of strained intensity upon his face sta r ing at ,

the rail w ay metals where they curved out of the

[ 1 46 ]
 AD VE N TU RE OF TH E B R UC E PA R T I N GT O N PLANS -

tunnel A l dgate is a j uncti o n and th e re was a

.
,

n e twork of p o ints O n these his eager qu e sti o n

.
,

ing eyes we re xed and I sa w o n his k ee n al er t , ,

face that tightening of the lips that quiv er of ,

the nostrils and conc e nt r ati o n o f the h e avy tuft e d

,

br ow s which I kn ew so w ell .

Points he mutt ere d ; the points
, .

What of it What d o y o u mean
! !

I supp o se th e re a re no g re at numbe r of points

on a syst e m such as this !

No ; the r e a r e v e ry few .

And a cu r v e to o Points and a cu rve By

, .
, .

Jove ! if it w er e only so .

What is it Mr H olm es Have you a clue
,
! .
!

A n idea a n indicati o n no mo r e But th e ,
.

ca se ce r tai nl y gr ow s in in ter e st U niqu e p er .

,

fe c t l y unique and yet why not

,
! I do not se e

any indicati o ns o f bl e eding o n the l ine .

The r e were ha r dly any .

But I understand that there was a consider

abl e w ound .

Th e bone was c rushed but there was no great ,

ext er nal inju r y .

And y e t o ne w o uld have expected som e ble e d
ing W o uld it be p o ssible for m e to insp e ct th e
.

t r ain which c o ntained the passenger wh o h e ar d

the thud of a fall in the fog !

I fear not M r H o lmes The t r ain has b e en
,
'

. .

b r ok e n up before n o w and the carriag e s r e dis ,

tributed .
 HI S LAST B O W
I can assure you Mr Hol mes said L estrade
, .
, ,

that every carriage has been carefully examined .

I saw to it myself .

It was o ne of my friend s most obvious weak
ness e s that he was impatient with less alert in
t e l l ige n c es than his o w n .

Ve ry likel y said he turning a w ay
, As it , .

happens it w a s not the carriages which I desired

,

to e xamine Watson we have done all we can

.
,

he r e We need not trouble you any fu r ther Mr

.
, .

L est r ade I think o ur investigations must n o w

.

ca r ry us t o Woolwich .

At L ond o n Bridge Holm e s wrote a tel e g r am

,

to his b r oth e r which he hande d to me before dis

,

p atching it I t ran thus : .

See some light in the darkness but it may pos ,

sibl y icker o u t Meanwhil e pl e ase s e nd by

.
,

m e ssenge r to await retu r n at B ak er St r eet a

, ,

complet e list of all fo r eign spies or int er national

ag e nts kn o wn t o b e in E ngland with full a d ,

d r es s S H ERL O C K
.

T hat should be helpful Watson he re , ,

marked as we t oo k o ur s e ats in th e Wool w ich

,

train . We certainly o we b ro the r Myc r oft a

debt f o r having int r oduced us to w hat promises

t o b e a really very r ema rkabl e cas e .

His e ag e r face still w ore that exp r essi o n of

intense and high st r ung e n ergy which showed
-
,

[ 1 4 8 ]
 H I S LAST BO V

b o dyhad bl e d elsewhe r e E ach fact is sugge s .

tive in itself Together they have a cumulative

.

fo rc e f

And the ticket too ! I cried , .

E xactly We could not explain the absence

.

of a ticket This wo ul d explain it E verything

. .

ts t o gether .

But suppose it were so we a r e still as far as ,

ever f r om unr avelling the myste r y o f his death .

Inde ed it becomes not simpler but strange r

, ,
.

P er haps said H o lmes th o ughtfully ; p e r
, ,

haps . He relapsed into a sil e nt reverie which ,

laste d until the sl o w train drew up at last in

Wo o lwich Station There he called a cab and .

drew Mycro ft s paper from his pocket

.

We have quite a little r ound of aftern o on

calls to make said he I think that S ir James
, .

Walter claim s o u r rst attenti o n .

The house of the famous o ffi cial was a n e

villa with green lawns str e tching down to th e
Thames As we reached it th e f o g was lifting
.
,

and a thin wate r y sunshine was breaking

,

th r ough A butler answe re d our ring

. .

S i r James sir ! said he with solemn face
, , .

S ir James died this mo r ning .

Good heav e ns ! c r i e d Holmes in amazement ,
.

H ow did he die !

P erhaps you would care to st e p in sir and , ,

see his b r othe r C o lonel V alentine !
,

Y e s we had best do so
, .

[ 1 5 0]
 AD V E N TU RE OF TH E B R UC E PA R T I N GT O N PLANS -

We were ushe r ed into a dim lit dra w ing ro om - -

,

whe re an instant later w e we r e j o ined by a ve r y

tall handsom e light beard e d man of fty the
, ,
-
,

younger b r other of the dead scientist His .

wild eyes stained cheeks and unk empt hair all

, ,

sp ok e of th e sudden blow which had fal len upon

the hous ehold He was hardly articulate as he
.

poke of it .

It was this horrible scandal said he My , .

brothe r Si r James w as a man of ve r y sensitive

, ,

honour and h e coul d not surviv e such an a ff air

, .

It b r oke his heart He w as al w ays so p r oud of

.

th e e fci e ncy o f his d e partment and this w a s a ,

c r ushing blow .

We had hoped that he might have given us
some indications which w ould have helped us to

clear the matter up .

I assu r e you that it was all a mystery to him
as it is to you and to all of us H e had al r eady .

put all his kn ow ledg e at th e disposal o f the p o lic e .

Natu r ally he had n o d o ubt that Cad o gan West

,

was guilty But all the rest w as inc o nceivable
. .

You cannot throw any n ew light upon the

a ff ai r !

I kn o w n o thing mys e lf save what I have read
or h e ar d I hav e n o desi r e to be disc o u r t e ous
.
,

but you can und er stand Mr H o lm e s that w e , .

,

ar e much distu r b e d at present and I must ask ,

you t o hasten this in te r view to an end .

This is indeed an unexp e ct e d dev e lopment ,

[ 1 5 1 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
said my friend when we had regained the cab .

I wonder if the de ath was n atural o r wh ether ,

the poor old fellow killed himself ! If the latter ,

may it be taken a s some sign of self repro ach for -

duty neglected We must leave that question

!

to the future Now we shall turn to the C ad o

.

gan Wests .

A small but well kept house in the outski r ts -

of the town sheltered the bereaved mother The .

old lady was too dazed with grief to be of any

use to us but at her side was a white faced young
,
-

l ady who introduced herself as Miss V iolet West

,

bury the anc ee of the dead man and the last

, ,

to see him upon that fatal night .

I cannot explain it Mr Holmes she said ,
'
.
,
.

I have not shut an eye since the tragedy think ,

ing thinking thinking night and day what the

, , , ,

true meaning of it can be Arthu r was the most .

single minde d chivalrous pat r iotic man upon

-
, ,

ear th He would have cut his r ight hand o ff b e

.

fo r e he w o uld sell a State sec re t con ded to his

keeping It is absurd impossible preposterous
.
, ,

to anyone w ho kne w him .

But the facts Miss Westbury !
,

Ye s yes ; I admit I cann ot explain them

, .

Was h e in any w ant of money !

No ; his needs were ve r y simpl e and his sal ary

ample He had saved a fe w hundreds and we
.
,

were to marry at the N e w Year .

[ 1 5 2 ]
 HIS L AST B O W

Was it o nl y recently that he made such re

marks !

Yes quite recently
, .

N o w tell u s of that last eveni ng .

We were to go to the theat r e The fog was .

so thick that a cab w a s usele ss We walked and .

,

o ur way took us close to the o fce Suddenl y he .

darted away into the fog .

Without a word !

He gave an exclamation ; that was all I .

waited but he never returned Then I walked .

home Next morning after t he ofce opened

.
, ,

they came to inquire About twelve o clock we .

heard the terrible news O h Mr Holmes if you .

, .

could onl y o nl y save his honour ! I t w as so much

,

t o him .

Holmes shoo k his head sadly .

Come Watson said he o ur ways lie else
, , ,

whe r e O ur next station must be the o fce from

.

which the papers we re tak e n .

It was black enough befo r e against this young

man but our inquiries mak e it blacker he re
, ,

ma r ked as the cab lumber e d o f
, His coming .

ma rr iag e gives a motive for the crime He natu .

rally wanted money The id e a was in his h e ad

.
,

sinc e he S poke ab o ut it H e nearly m a de the gi r l

.

an accomplice in the t r eason by t e lling her his

plans It is all ve ry bad
. .

But surely Ho lm es cha r acter goes for some
, ,

thing ! Then again why should he leave the

, ,

[ 1 5 4 ]
 AD VE N TU RE OF TH E B R UC E PAR T I N GT ON PLANS -

gi r l in the street and dart away to commit a

felony !

E xactly ! There are ce r tai nl y obj ections .

But it is a formidable case which they have to

meet .

Mr Sidney Johnson the se nior cle r k met us

.
, ,

at the o fce and r eceived us with that r e spect

,

which my c o mpanion s card al w ays commande d

.

He was a thin gru ff besp e ctacl e d man o f mid dl e

, ,

age his ch e eks haggard and his hands t w itching

, ,

fr o m th e nervous st r ain to which he had been

subj ected .

It is bad Mr Hol mes ve r y bad ! Have you

, .
,

heard of the d e ath of th e chief !

W e hav e j ust com e fr o m his h o use .

The place is diso r ganized The chief dead .

,

Cadogan West d e ad o ur papers stolen And , .

yet when we cl o s e d o ur d o or on Monday evening

,

we we r e as e fcient an o fce as any in th e G o v

e rnm e n t se r vice Good G o d it s d r eadful to
.
,

think o f ! That West of all men sh o uld have , ,

done such a thing !

Y o u are su r e of his guilt then !
,

I can see no o the r w ay out of it And yet .

I would hav e t r ust e d him as I trust mys e lf .

At what hour w as the o fce closed on Mon

day !

At ve .

D id you close it !

I am always the last man o ut .

 HI S LA S T B O W

Where were the plans !

In that safe I put them there myself

. .

I s there no watchman to the bu ilding !

Th e re is ; but he has other d e pa r tments to

look aft e r as well He is an old soldier and a
.

most trust w orthy man He saw nothing that .

evening O f course the fog was ve r y thick

.
, .

Suppose that C adogan West wish e d to make
his way into the building after h o u r s ; he would
need three keys would he not before he could
, ,

reach the p apers !

Ye s he would The key of the outer door

, .
,

the key of the o f ce and the key o f th e safe
, .

O nly S ir James Walter and you had those

keys !


I had n o keys o f the do o rs only o f the safe .

Was Sir James a man who was or derly in his

habits !

Yes I think he was I know that so far as

, .

those th r e e keys are c o ncern e d h e k e pt them on

the sam e r ing I have oft e n se e n them there
. .

And that r ing went with him to L ondon !

H e said so .

And y o ur key never left your possession !

Never .

Then West if h e is the culp r it must hav e

, ,

had a duplicate And y e t none w as found up o n

.

his body O ne othe r point : if a cle r k in this

.

ofce desired to sell the plans would it not be ,

[ 1 5 6 ]
 H I S LA S T BO W

s e lv e s they c o uld n o t make the boat O f course .

,

they might soon get over the di fculty .

But the three missing drawings are the most

important !

Undoubtedly .

I think with your permission I will n o w take

, ,

a st r oll round the premises I do not r ecall any .

other qu e stion which I d e si r ed to ask .

He examined the lock of th e safe the d o or ,

of the room and nally the iron shutte r s o f the

,

window It was only wh e n w e we r e on the

.

lawn outside that his int e rest was st r ongly ex

cited There was a lau r el bush outside the win
.

dow and several of the branches bo r e signs of

,

having been twisted or snapped He examined .

them carefully with his lens and then some d im ,

and vague marks upon the ea r th beneath F i .

nally he ask e d the chief cle r k t o close the iron

shutters and he point e d o ut to me that they
,

ha r dly met in the centre and that it w ould b e ,

possible for anyone outside to see what w as

going on within the room .

The indicati o ns are ruined by the th r ee days

delay They may m e an someth ing o r nothing

. .

Well Watson I do not think that Woolwich

, ,

can help us further It is a small c r op which we

.

have gathe r ed L et us se e if we can do better

.

in L ondon
.

Yet we added one more sheaf to our harvest

before we left Woolwich S tation The clerk in .

[ 1 5 8 ]
 AD VE N TU RE OF TH E B R UC E PART I N GT O N PLANS
-

the ticket o fce was able to sa y with c o ndence

that he saw Cad o gan West whom he kn ew w e ll

by sight upon the Monday night and that he ,

went to L ondon by the t o L ond o n B r idge .

H e was alone and t oo k a single thi r d class ticket

,
-
.

The cle r k w as st r uck at th e tim e by his excited

and ne r v o us manner S o shaky w as he that he
.

could ha r dly pick up his chang e and th e cl erk ,

had h e lp e d him w ith it A r e f er enc e t o the time

.

tabl e sho we d that the w as the r st t r ain

w hich it w as p o ssible f o r West to take after he
had l e ft th e lady ab o ut
L et us re c o nst r uct Watson said H o lm e s
, , ,

aft er half an h o ur o f sil e nce . I am n o t aw a r e
that in all o u r j o int r e sea r ch e s we hav e eve r had
a case w hich was m o re difcult to g e t at E v er y .

fr e sh advance which we mak e only rev e als a f r esh

r idge beyond And yet we have sur ely made
.

s ome appr e ciable p r og r ess .

The e ff e ct o f ou r inquiri e s at Wool w ich has
in the main be e n against young Cadogan W e st ;
but the indicati o ns at the window wo uld lend
th e mselve s t o a m or e fav o u r able hyp o th e sis .

L e t us suppose for example that he had be e n

, ,

app r oached by some f ore ign ag e nt It might .

have be e n d o ne und e r such ple dges as w ould

have p r evented him fr o m speaking of it and ,

yet would have a ffe cted his thoughts in the

direction indicated by his remar ks to his ancee .

Very good W e will no w suppose that a s be

.

[ 1 5 9 ]
 H I S L A sr B OW
'

went to the theatre with th e young lady he su d

d en l y in the fog caught a glimpse o f this sam e
, ,

agent going in the di rection of the o fce He .

w a s an irn p e t u o u s man quick in his decisions

,
.

E ve rything gav e way t o his duty He f o llowed .

the man reached th e window sa w th e abst r action

, ,

of the doc um ents and pu r sued the thief In

,
.

this way we ge t over the o bj ection that no one

would tak e o r iginals when he could make copies .

This outsider had to take originals S o far it .

holds t o gether .

What is the next step !

Then we come into difculties O ne would .

imagine that unde r such circumstances the r st

act of young C a doga n West would be t o s e ize
the v illain and rais e the alarm Why did he not .

do so ! Could it have been an o fcial supe r ior

who took the pap e rs ! That would explain
W e st s conduct O r could the chief have given

.

West th e slip in the fog and West sta r t e d at ,

once to L ond o n to head him o ff f r om his own

r o oms p re suming that he kn e w w her e the r ooms
,

were ! The call must have be e n ve r y p r essing ,

since he left his gi r l standing in th e fog and made ,

no e ff o rt to c o mmunicate with h er O ur scent .

runs cold he re and th er e is a vast gap b e t w ee n

,

either hypothesis and the laying of West s body

with seven papers in his pocket on the roof of a ,

Metropolitan train My instinct now is to work

.

from the other end If Mycroft has giv e n us

.

[ 1 00]
 HI S LA S T B O W
a fter all He slapped me o n the shoulder with
.

a sudden burst o f hila r ity I am going o ut
.

now It is o nl y a reconnaissance I will d o

. .

n oth ing serious without my t rust e d comrade and

biographer at my e lbow D o you stay here and

.
,

the odds are that you will see me again in an

hour o r t w o If time hangs h e avy get foolscap
.

a n d a pen and be gin your narrative of h o w we

,

saved the State .

I felt some reection of his e lati o n in my own

mind for I kne w well that he would not depart
,

so far fr om h is usual austerity of d e meanour u n

less the r e was good cause f o r exultation A l l th e .

long November evening I wait e d lled with im ,

patience f o r his return At last shortly after

.
,

nine o clock there arrived a messe n ge r with a

note

Am dining at Go l dim 8 R estaurant Gl o u ,

c e st er R oad Kensingto n Pl e ase come at once

, .

and j oin m e the r e B r ing with you a j e mmy a

.
,

d ark lantern a c h isel and a revolver

,

, S H

. . .

I t was a nice equipment f o r a respectable citi

z en to carry through the dim fog d r aped streets ,
-
.

I sto we d them all discretely a w ay in my overcoat ,

and drove straight to the add r ess given There .

sa t my fr iend at a little round table near the door

o f the garish I talian restau r ant .

Have you had something to eat Then j oin
!

[ 1 6 2 ]
 AD VE N TU RE OF TH E B R UC E PAR T I N GT O N PLAN S -

me in a co ff ee and cu r a coa T r y one o f th e p r o .

e t o r s ciga r s They a e l ss pois n us than

p r i . r e o o

one w ould expect Have you the t o ols .
!

Th e y a r e h ere in my ove r c o at , .

E xcell e nt L et me give y o u a sh o rt sk e tch of

.

what I hav e d o n e with s o me indicati o n of w hat

,

we a re about to do N o w it must be e vid e nt to .

you Wats o n that this young man s b o dy w a s

, ,

p l a ce d o n th e r o o f o f the t r ain That w as cl. e ar

from the instant that I d e t ermined th e fact that
it was fr om th e r o o f and n o t f r om a carri age , ,

that h e had fall e n .

C o uld it n o t have b ee n dropp e d fr om a

bridg e !

I should say it w as impossible If you e x .

amine the r o o fs yo u w ill nd that th e y a re slightly

round e d and th er e is no railing r ound them
,
.

The re f or e we can say f o r c er tain that young

,

Cad o gan W e st w as placed on it .

How could he be plac e d the re !

That w as the question which we had to an

swer Th ere is o nly one possibl e way Y o u are
. .

a w a r e that th e und er g ro und runs cl e a r o f tunne ls

at som e p o ints in th e West end I had a vague -
.

mem or y that as I have t r av e ll e d by it I hav e o c

c a sio n a l l
y seen wind ow s j ust ab o ve my h e ad .

No w supp o s e that a t r ain halt e d und er such

,

a window would th ere be any difculty in laying

,

a body upon the roo f !

It se e ms most imp r obable .
 HI S L AS T B O W
We mu st fal l back upon the o l d axiom that
when a ll other c o nt ingen mes fail whatever re ,

mains however improbable must be the t ruth

, , .

H ere all other contingencies ha ve fa iled When .

I f o und that t he leading international agent who ,

had j ust left L ondon lived in a ro w of house s ,

which abutted upon the U nderground I w a s so ,

pleased that you were a little astonished at my

sudden f r ivolity .

O h that was it was it
,
!
,

Yes that was it Mr Hugo O b erstein o f

,
. .
,

1 3 C a ul e l d Ga r d e ns had b e come my obj ective

, , .

I began my op er ations at Gloucester R oad Sta

tion wh e re a very h e lpful o fcial w alked with me
,

along the t r ack and allo w ed me to satisfy myself

, ,

not only that the back stai r wind o ws o f Caul el d -

Garde ns open on the line but the ev e n more ,

essential fact that owi ng to th e int er s e ction of

,

on e of the la rg e r rail w ays th e U nderground ,

t r ains a r e fr equently held motionless for some

minut e s at that v er y spot .

S pl e ndid Holmes ! You have got it !
,

S o far so far Watson We advance but
, .
,

the goal is afar Well having seen the back of

.
,

C aul e l d Ga r d e ns I visited the f ro nt and satis

,

e d myself that the bird was indeed o w n It is .

a conside r able h o use unfurnish e d so far as I , ,

could j udge in the upp e r r ooms O be r stein

, .

lived there w ith a single valet who was probably ,

a conf e derate enti r ely in his condence We .

[ 1 6 4 ]
 HIS LA S T B O W
ments I beg Your arr e st as a suspicious char
, .

acter w ould be a m o st unfo r tunate complication .

C a ul e l d Ga r d e ns was o n e o f those lin e s of

a t faced pillared and po r ticoed houses w hich
-
, ,

a re so p r omine nt a p r oduct of th e middl e V ic t o

r ian epoch in the W e st end of L ondon Next -
.

d o or th ere appea r ed to be a child r en s party

,

for the m e rr y buzz of young voic e s and th e clat

te r of a piano resounded th ro ugh the night The .

fog still hung about and scr e ened us with its

fr i e ndly shade Holmes had lit his lantern and
.

ashed it upon the massiv e door .

This is a se r ious pr o position said he It
, .

is certainly bolted as well as lock e d We would .

d o better in the area There is an excellent arch

.

way down yonder in case a too zealous police

man should int r ude Give me a hand Watson .
, ,

and I ll d o the same for you

.

A minute later we we r e b o th in the area .

Ha r dly had w e reache d the da r k shado w s bef or e

the step of the polic e man w as hea r d in the fog
above As its s o ft rhythm died a w ay Holmes
.
,

se t to wo r k up o n the lo w er door I saw him .

st 00p and st r ain until with a sha r p c r ash it e w

Op e n We sp r ang through int o the da rk pas

.

sage closing the a r ea door b e hind us Holmes

, .

l e d the way up the curving uncar p e ted stair His, .

little fan of yello w light shone upon a l o w win

dow .

Here we are Watson this must be th e o n e
, .

[ 1 6 6 ]
 AD VE N TU RE OF TH E B R UC E PAR T I N GT O N PLANS -

He th r e w it o p e n and as he did s o th ere w as a

,

low har sh mu rmu r g r o w ing steadily int o a l o ud

, ,

r oar as a tr ain dash e d past us in th e da rk

n e ss H o lm e s sw e pt his light along th e win
.

d ow sill It w as thickly coat e d w ith s o ot fro m

-
.

the pas sing engin e s but the black su r face w as ,

blu rr ed and r ubbed in places .

Y o u can see wh e r e they rest e d the body .

Halloa Watson ! what is this

,
! Th er e can be

no doubt that it is a bl oo d mark H e was p o int .

ing t o faint disc o l or ati o ns along the w ood wor k of

the w ind o w H er e it is on th e st o ne of the stai r
.

also The de m o nst r ati o n is c o mplete L et us

. .

stay he r e until a t r ain st o ps .

W e had n o t l o ng to wait Th e v er y next t r ain .

ro ar ed fro m th e tunnel as b e f ore but sl owe d in ,

th e o pen and th e n with a c re aking o f b r ake s

, , ,

pull e d up imm e diat ely b e n e ath us It w as n o t .

fo u r f ee t fro m t he w indow l e dg e t o th e ro of -

o f the carriages Holme s softly clos e d the w in

.

dow .

S o fa r w e a r e j ustied said he What d o , .

y o u thi nk o f it Wats o n !
,

A mast er pi e ce Y o u have nev er r isen t o
.

a gre at er h e ight .

I cann o t ag ree with y o u th ere Fro m th e .

m om e nt that I c o nc e iv e d th e id e a o f th e b o dy
b e ing up o n th e r oo f which su r ely was n o t a v er y
,

abst r us e on e all the r e st was in e vitabl e If it

, .

we r e n o t for the grave interests inv o lv e d th e

[ 7]
1 6
 HIS LA S T B O IV

ments I beg Your arr e st as a suspicious char

, .

acte r wo uld be a m o st unfo r tunate complication .

C a u l el d Ga r d e ns w a s o n e o f those lin e s of
at fac e d pillared and po r ticoed houses w hich
-
, ,

a r e so p ro mine nt a p r oduct o f the middl e V ic t o

r ian e p o ch in the W e st end of L ondon Next
-
.

door th ere appea r ed to be a child r en s pa r ty

,

for the m e rry buzz o f young voic e s and th e clat

te r of a piano resounded th ro ugh the night The .

fog still hung about and scr ee ned us with its

fr iendly shade Holmes had lit his lantern and
.

ash e d it upon the massiv e door .

This is a se r ious pr o position said he It
,

is cert ainly bolted as well as lock e d We would .

do better in the area There is an excellent arch

.

way down yonder in case a too zealous police

man should intrude Give me a hand Watson .
, ,

and I ll do the same for you

.

A minute late r we were b o th in the area .

Ha r dly had we reache d the da r k shado w s b e f or e

the step of the polic e man w as h e a r d in the fog
abov e As its s o ft rhythm died a w ay Holmes
.
,

s e t to wo r k upon the lower door I saw him .

stoop and st r ain until with a sharp c r ash it ew

Open We sprang through int o the da rk pas
.

sage closing the area door b e hind us Holmes

, .

l e d the way up the curving unca r p e ted stair His

, .

littl e fan o f y e llow light shone upon a l o w win

dow .

Here we are Watson this must be th e o ne
, .

[ 1 6 6 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
air up to this point would be insignicant
a ff .

O ur difcu lties are still before us But pe rhap s .

we may nd something here whi ch may help

us .

We had ascended the kitchen stair and e u

te re d the suite of rooms upon the rst fl oor O ne .

w a s a dining room sev e rely furnished and co n

-
,

taining n o thing of interest A sec o nd w a s a .

bedroom which also drew blank The remain

, .

in g r oom appeared more promising and my com ,

panion settled down to a systematic examination .

It was littered with books and papers and was ,

evidently us e d as a study Swiftly and method .

ic a l l y Hol mes turned over the contents of drawer

after d r awer and cupboard after cupboard but ,

no gleam o f suc cess came to brighten h is aus

te r e face At the end of an hour he w a s no fur
.

ther than when he started .

The cunni ng dog has cove r ed his tracks ,

said he . He has left nothing to incriminate
him His dange r ou s co rre spond e nce has been
.

dest r oy e d o r removed This is our last chance
. .

It was a small tin cash box which stood upon -

the w r iting d e sk H o lm e s p r ised it open with

-
.

his chisel S e ver al r o lls O f paper were within

.
,

covered with gures and calculations w ithout ,

any note to show t o what th e y refe r r e d The re .

curr ing words Wat e r p r essu r e and P r essur e
,

to the squa r e inch sugg e sted some possible r e la
tion to a submarine Holmes tossed them all im
.

[ 1 68 ]
 ADVE N TU RE OF TH E B R UC E PAR T IN GT O N P L A NS -

patie ntly aside There only remained an e n

.

v el o p e with some small ne w spaper slips inside it .

He shook them out on the table and at once I ,

sa w by his eager fac e that his hopes had been

raised .

!
What s this Watson E h What s this

! !
,

Record of a se r l es of messages in the advertise

ments of a pape r D ail y Tel egrap h agony c o l
.

by the p r int and paper Right hand top .

-

co r ner of a page N O dates but messages a r
.

range themselv e s This must be the r st .

H o p e d to h e ar so o ner Terms agr ee d t o . .

Writ e fully t o addr e ss given on ca r d Pierrot . .

N e xt c om e s : TO O compl e x f or d e scription .

Must have full rep or t Stu ff awaits y o u w h e n .

goods deliv er ed Pierrot . .

Then com e s Matter presses Must with .

d r aw o ff er unless c o ntract c ompleted Make a p .

p o intment by letter Will conrm by adve r tise .

ment Pi err ot
. .

F inally : M o nday night after nine T w o .

taps O nly o u r s e lv e s D o not b e so suspici o us

. . .

Paym e nt in hard cash when goods d e liv er ed .

Pi erro t .

A fai r ly complete reco r d Watson ! If w e ,

could only g e t at th e man at the o th er e nd ! H e
sat l o st in th o ught tapping his ngers o n th e,

table F inally h e sp r ang to his f ee t

. .

W e ll p er haps it wo n t be so difcult aft e r all
,

.

The r e is nothing m or e t o be d o ne h ere Wats o n ,

.

[ 1 6 9 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
I think we might d r ive round t o the o fces o f
the D a il y Tel egrap h and so bring a good day s
,

work to a conclusion .

Mycroft Holmes a n d L estrade had come

round by appointment after breakfast next day
and She r lock Holmes had recounted to th e m our
p r oceedings o f the day before The p ro fe s .

sio ual shook his head over o ur confessed bur

gla ry .

We can t do these things in the force Mr

, .

Holmes said he
,

No wonder you get results
.

that a r e beyond u s But some of these days

.

you ll go too far and you ll nd y ourself and

your friend in trouble .

F or E ngland home and beauty eh Wat
,
,

son Ma r tyr s o u th e altar of our country B ut

! .

what d o you think of it Mycroft ,

E xcellent She r lock ! Admirable ! B ut what
,

use will you make of it !

Holm e s picked up the D ail y Tel egra p h which

lay up o n the table .

Have you seen Pierrot s advertisement t o

day !

What ! Another o n e !

Yes here it is : To night S ame hour
,
-
. .

S ame place Two taps Most vitally impor

. .

.

tant Your own s af e ty at stake Pie r r o t . .

By Geo r ge ! cri e d L estrade

I f he a n .

sw e rs that we ve got him !

[ 1 7 0]
 H I S LA S T B O W

nine O clock we were all seated in the study wait

ing patiently for o ur man .

An h o ur passed and y e t anothe r Whe n eleven .

struck the measu r ed beat of the g r eat church

,

clock seemed to sound the d irge of our hopes .

L estrad e and Myc ro ft were dge t in g in their

seats and looking t w ice a minut e at their watch e s .

H o lmes sat silent and comp o s e d his eyelids half ,

shut but every sense on the alert He raised his

, .

head with a sudden j erk .

H e is c oming said he , .

Th e re had b e en a fu r tive step past the door .

N o w it retu r ned We hea r d a shu fing sound

.

outside and then two shar p taps with the

,

kn o cker Holm es rose motioning to us to re

.
,

main seated The gas in the hall was a m e re

.

p o int o f light He o pened the out e r do o r and

.
,

then as a dark gu r e slipped past h im he clos e d

and fast e ned it This way ! we hea r d him say
.
,

and a m oment later our man sto o d b e fo r e us .

Holm e s had followed him closely and as the man ,

turned with a c r y of su r p r ise and alarm he caught

him by the collar and threw him back into the
room B e fo r e our p risoner had r e covered his
.

balance the door was shut and Holmes standing

w ith his back against it The man glared r ound .

him staggere d and fell senseless up o n the oor

, ,
.

With th e shock his broad brimm ed hat ew from

,
-

his head his cravat slipped down f r om his lips

, ,

and there was the long light be ard and the soft ,

[ 1 7 2 ]
 ADV E N TU RE OF TH E B R UC E PAR T IN GT O N PLANS -

handsome delicate features of Colonel V alentine

Walte r .

'
H o lm es gave a whistle o f surprise .

You can wr ite m e d ow n an ass this time ,

Watson said he , This was not the b ird that
.

I was lo o king fo r .

Who is he asked Mycr o ft eagerly
! .

The y o ung e r b ro th e r o f th e lat e Sir Jam e s

Walte r the h e ad O f th e Submar in e D e pa r tment
,
.

Yes yes ; I s ee th e fall of th e ca r ds H e is c o m

, .

in g to I think that you h a d best leave his exam

.

in a t io n t o m e .

We had ca rr i e d th e prostrate body to th e sofa .

N o w o u r p r is o n er sat up l o ok e d ro und him with ,

a h orror st r ick e n fac e and pass e d his hand ov er

-
,

his f o r e h e ad like one who cannot believe his o w n

,

senses .

What is this he asked
! I came here to .

visit Mr O be r st e in . .

E v er ything is kn o wn C o lonel Walt er said

, ,

Ho l mes H o w an E nglish g e ntl eman could b e

.

have in such a mann er is b e yo nd my comp re

h e n sio n But y o u r whole co rre spond e nce and
.

relati o ns with O b e rstein are w ithin our kno w l

edg e S O als o a r e the cir cumstances c o nn ect e d
.

with the d e ath of y o ung Cad o gan W e st L e t .

me advise you to gain at l e ast th e small credit

f or rep e ntance and confession sinc e th er e are ,

still s o m e details which we can o nly l e arn from

your lips .
 H I S LA S T B O W

The others we will stu ff into the pocket o f this

young man When he is found the whole busi
.

ness will assure dl y b e put to his account I .

!

could se e no other way o ut of it s o we did as he ,

suggested W e waited half an hour at the win

.

d o w before a train stopped It was so thick

.

that nothing could be s e en and we had no d if

,

culty in lowering West s body on to the train

.

T hat w a s the e n d o f the matter so far as I w a s

conce r ned.

And your brother !

He said nothing but he had caught me once

,

with his keys and I think that he suspected I

,
.

read in his e yes that he suspected As you k n o w .

,

he never h e ld up his head again .

Th er e was sil e nce in the ro o m I t w a s broken .

by Mycr o ft Holmes .

C an you n o t make reparation ! It would

ease your conscience and possibly your punish
,

ment .

What repa r ation can I make !

Where is O be r stein with the papers !

I do not know .

D id h e give you no add r ess !

He said that lett er s t o the H Ot el du L ouvre ,

P a r is would eventually reach him
, .

Then reparation is still within your power ,

s aid Sh er lock H o lmes .

I will do anything I can I o w e this fellow
.

[ 1 7 6 ]
 H I S L AST B O W
Colon e l Walter died in prison towards the end
of the second year o f his sentence As to Ho l mes
.
,

he returned refreshed to his mon o graph upon

the Polyphonic M otets of L assus which has since
,

been printed for p rivate c irculation and is said

,

by exp er ts to be the last word upon the subj ect .

S ome weeks afterwards I learned incidentally

that my fr i e nd spent a day at Winds or w hence
,

he returned with a rema r kably ne eme r ald tie

pin When I asked him if he had bought it he
.
,

answer e d that it was a present f r om a certain

gracious lady in wh o se int e rests he had onc e been
f o rtunate enough to carry o ut a small commis
sion He said no more ; but I fancy that I
.

could guess at that lady s august name and I

have little doubt that the eme r ald pin will for
ever recall to my friend s memory the adv e nture

of th e B ruce Partington plans

-
.
 TH E A D V E NT URE OF TH E D YING
D E T E CTI VE

R S H UD S O N the landlady of Sh er loc k

.
,

Holmes w a s a l o ng su ff e r ing woman

,
-
.

Not only was h e r rst o o r at invaded at all

-

hou r s by th r ongs of singular and oft e n u n d e sira

ble cha r act er s but h er remar kabl e l o dg e r sh ow ed
,

an ecc e nt r icity and i rr egula r ity in his lif e w hich

must have s ore ly t r i e d h er pati e nce His in c re d.

ibl e untidin e ss his addicti o n t o music at st r ang e

,

h o urs his o ccasi o nal re volver p r actic e w ithin

,

doors his wei r d and Oft e n malod oro us sci e ntic

,

exp e riments and the atm o sph ere o f viole nc e and

,

danger which hung a ro und him mad e him th e

very w or st tenant in L o nd o n O n th e oth er .

hand his paym e nts w ere p r inc ely I hav e n o

, .

d o ubt that the h o us e might have b ee n pu r chased

at the p r ice w hich Holm e s paid f or his r oo ms
du ring the year s that I was w ith him .

1
Th e landlady st o od in th e dee p e st a we o f him ,

and never da r ed t o int er f e re with him h owe v er ,

[ 1 7 9 ]
 HI S LAST
BO V

out r ageou s his proceedings might seem She .

was fond of him too for he had a remarkable

, ,

gentleness and courtesy in his dealings with

women He disliked and distrusted the sex
.
,

but he was always a chivalrous opponent .

Knowing h o w genuine was her regard for

him I listened e arnestly to h e r story when
,

sh e came to my rooms in the second year

o f my marr ied life and t o ld me of the sad condi
tion t o which my poor f r iend was r e duced .

,

H e s dying D r Watson said sh e . F or , .

th r ee days he has been sinking and I doubt if ,

he will last the day He would not let me get.

a doctor This mo r ning wh e n I sa w his bones

.

sticking out of his face and his great b r ight

eyes looking at me I could stand n o mo r e of it .

With your leave or with o ut it Mr Holm e s I , .

,

am going f o r a doctor this v er y hou r said I ,

.

L et it be Watson then said he I wouldn t

, ,

.

waste an hou r in comin g to him sir or you may , ,

not s e e him alive .

I w as h orr ied for I had heard nothing of his

,

illness I need n o t sa y that I r ush e d for my coat

.

and my hat As we drove back I ask e d for the

.

details .

There is little I can tell you sir He has been , .

working at a case down at R othe r hith e in an ,

all e y n e a r the river and he has brought this ill

,

ness back with him H e took t o his b e d on .

Wednesday afternoon and has never mov e d since .

[ 1 8 0]
 H I S LA S T B O W
Ye s Mrs H udson was right
, . He was m ore
.

masterful than ever . I t was pitiful howe ver , ,

to see his exhaustion .

I o nl y wished to help I explained
E xactly ! Yo u will help best by doing w
.
,

hat
you ar e told .

Certai nl y Holmes , .

He relaxed the austerity of his manner .

You are not a ngry he ask e d gasping for
!
,

breath .

Poo r d e vil how c o uld I b e angry when I saw

,

him lying in such a plight befo r e m e !

It s for your o w n sake Watson he croaked

, , .

F or my sake !

I kno w what is the matter with me It is a .

coolie diseas e f ro m Sumat r a a thing that the -

D utch know mo r e ab o ut than we though th e y ,

have made little O f it up t o date O n e thing o nly .

is c e rtain It is infallibly deadly and it is hor

.
,

r ib l y contagious .

H e sp o k e no w with a f e ve r ish e ne r gy the long ,

hands twitching and j e rking as h e motioned me

a w ay .

Contagious by touch Watson that s it by ,

touch K ee p y o ur distance and all is w e ll

. .

Good heavens H o lm e s ! D o you suppose
,

that such a consideration w e ighs with me for an

instant ! It woul d not a ff ect me in the case of a
strange r D o you imagine it would prevent me
.

from doing my duty to so o l d a friend !
[ 1 8 2 ]
 TH E AD VE N TU RE OF TH E D Y I N G DE TE C T IVE

Again I advanced but he repulsed me with a

,

l o ok o f furious anger .

If yo u will stand there I w ill talk If you .

do not you must l e ave th e room .

I have so d ee p a r esp e ct f or th e e xt r aordinary

qualities of Ho l mes that I have al w ays d e f err ed
t o his w ishes ev e n when I least und er st oo d them
, .

But now all my pr o f e ssional instincts w e re

ar o us e d L e t him be my master elsew he r e I at
.
,

least was his in a sick r oom -

.

Ho lm e s said I y o u are not yourself A
, , .

sick man is but a child and s o I w ill tr e at you , .

Wh e the r you like it o r n o t I w ill e xamine your ,

symptoms and t r eat you f or th em .

He looked at me w ith ven om o us e y e s .

If I am t o have a d o ct o r w heth er I w ill or
not let me at least have some o ne in whom I have
,

co ndence said he , .

Then you have n o ne in me !

In you r fr iendship ce r tai nl y But facts are

,
.

facts Wats o n and after all you ar e only a gen

, ,

e ral p r actiti o ne r with very limited e xpe r ience and

m e di o c r e qualications It is painful to have to .

say th e se things but you leave me no ch o ice
, .

I was bitt er ly hurt .

Such a re ma r k is unwort hy of you H o lmes , .

It sh ow s m e v er y cl e a rly the state O f your own

nerv e s But if you have no con denc e in me I
.

w ould not int r ude my services L e t me bring .

Sir Jasper Meek or Pe nr ose F isher or any of ,

[ 1 83 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
the best men in L ondon But someone you must .

hav e and that is nal I f you think that I am

, .

going to stand here and se e you die without either

helping y ou myself or bringing anyone else to

help you then you have mistaken your man
, .

You mean well Watson said the sick man , , ,

with something between a so b and a groan Shall .

I demonstrate your o w n ignorance ! What do

you know pray of Tapanuli fever What do
,
!
,

y ou know of the black F ormosa corruption !

I have never heard of either .

T here are many problems o f disease many ,

strange path o logical possibilities in the E ast , ,

Watson He paused after e ach sentence to

.

collect his failing strength I have lea r ned so .

much during some recent researches w hich have a

medico criminal aspect It was in the course of
-
.

them that I contracted this complaint You can .

do nothing .

Possibly not B ut I happen to know that .

D r A in st re e the g r eatest living authority upon

.
,

tropical diseas e is now in L ondon All remon

,
.

strance is useless Holmes I am going this in , .

stant to fetch him I turned resolutely to the .

door .

Never have I h ad such a shock ! I n an in

stant with a tiger spring the dying man had
,
-
,

inte r cepted me I h e ard the sha r p snap of a

.

twist e d key The next moment he had stag

.

[ 1 8 4 ]
 HI S LA S T B O W
that hour and in circumstances which gave me
,

a shock ha r dly second to that caused by his

S p r ing to the door I had stood for s ome mi n

.

utes looking at the silent gure in the bed His .

face was almost covered by the cl o thes and he

appea r ed to be asleep T hen unable to sett l e .
,

down t o reading I walked slowly r o und the room

, ,

examining the pictures of cel e b r ated c r iminals

with which every wall was ado r ned F inally .
,

in my a imless pe r ambulation I cam e t o the man ,

t el p ie c e.

A litt e r o f pipes tobacco pouches syr, ,

inges p e nknives revolver cart r idges and o ther

, , ,

d ebris was scattered over it In the midst of .

these was a small black and whit e iv or y box with

a sliding lid It was a neat littl e thing and I had
.
,

st r etched out my hand to examine it more closely ,

when
It was a dreadful cry that he gave a y e ll

which might have been hea r d d ow n the str e et .

My skin went cold and my hair b r istled at that

ho rr ible sc re am As I tu r ned I caught a glimpse
.

of a convuls e d face and frantic ey e s I st o od .

paralys e d with the little b o x in my hand

,
.

Put it down ! D own this instant Watson , ,

this instant I say ! ,

H is head sank back upon
the pillo w and he gave a deep sigh of r e lief as I

replaced the box upon the mantelpiece I hate .

to hav e my things touch e d Watson Y o u kno w , .

that I hate it You dget me beyond endur

.

.
,

ance You a doctor you are enough to d r ive
[ 1 8 6 ]
 T HE AD VEN TU RE OF TH E DY I N G DE TE C T IVE

a pati e nt into an asylum Sit down man and .

, ,

let me have my rest !
The incident left a most unpleasant impression
upon my mind The violent and caus e less ex
.

cit em e n t follo w ed by this brutality of speech

, ,

so far removed from his usual suavity sho w ed me ,

how deep was the disorganisati o n of his mind .

O f all ruins that of a noble mind is the most de

,

p l o ra b l e .I sa t in sil ent dej ecti o n until the stip

ul a t e d t ime had pass e d He seemed t o have
.

been watching the clock as well as I for it w as ,

har dly six be f or e he began to talk with the same

feve r ish animation as b e fore .

N o w Wats o n s aid he
, , Have you any .

chang e in your pocket !

Yes .

Any silv er !

A g o od deal .

H o w many hal f crowns -

I have ve .

Ah t o o f ew ! TOO few ! How v e ry un fo r

,

t un ate Wats o n !
, However such as they a re y o u ,

can put them in your watch p o cket A n d all -

.

the rest of y our mone y in yo ur left t r ous e r ,

pocket Thank you It wil l b alance y ou so

. .

much b e tter like that .

Thi s was raving insanity He shuddered and .

,

a gain made a s o und be tween a cough and a so b .

You wi l l n o w light the gas Watson but y o u , ,

w ill be very careful that not for o n e instant shall

[ 7]
1 8
 H I S LAST B O W
it be more than half on I implore you to be .

careful Watson Thank you that is excellent

, .
,
.

No you need not draw the blind Now you will

, .

have the kindness to place some l e tte r s a n d p a

pers upon this table within my reach Thank you . .

No w some of that litter from the mantelpiece .

E xcellent Watson ! T here is a sugar tongs

,
-

there K indly raise that small ivory bo x with its

.

assistance Place it here am o ng the pap e rs

. .

Good ! You can now go and fetch Mr Culver

.

ton Smith of 1 3 L ower B u r ke Street

, ,

.

T o t e ll the truth my desire to fetch a doctor

,

had som e what w e akene d for poo r Holm e s was so ,

obviously d e lirious that it s e emed dange r ous to

l e ave him However he was as eag e r no w to
.
,

consult the p e rson named as he had be e n o b

st in a t e in r e fusing .

I never heard the name said I , .

Possibly not my g o od Watson It may sur

, .

p r ise you to kno w that the man upon e a rth wh o

is b e st ve r s e d in this dis e ase is n o t a m e dical m an ,

but a planter Mr Culv e rton Smith is a well

. .

kno w n r e sident of Sumatra n o w visiting L on ,

dc n . An outbr e ak of th e disease up o n his plan

t a t io n w hich was distant fr om m e dical aid
, ,

caus e d him t o study it hims e lf with som e rathe r ,

far reaching consequences He is a v e ry m e

-
.

t ho d ic a l pe r son and I did not desire you to start

,

b e f or e six because I was w e ll a w are that you

would n o t nd him in his study If you could .

[ 1 8 8 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
s ee it The boy died ho rr ibly He has a grudge
. .

a gainst me You will soften him Watson

.
, .

B eg him pray him get him here by any means

, ,
.

He can save me onl y he !

I will b r ing him in a cab if I have to carry ,

him down t o it .

Y o u will do nothing o f the s or t You will .

persuade him to come And th e n you will re .

tu r n in front of him M ake any excuse so as .

n o t to come with him D on t f or get Wats o n .

, .

You won t fa il me You never did fail me N O

. .

d o ubt the r e are natu r al enemie s which limit the

inc r ease o f th e creatures You and I Wats o n .
, ,

we have done o ur part Shall the w or ld then be .

, ,

overrun by oysters N O no ; horrible ! You ll

!
,

convey all that is in you r mind .

I left him full of the image of this magnicent

intell ect babbling like a foolish child He had .

han ded me the key and with a happy th o ught ,

I took it with me lest he should l o ck himself in .

M r s Hudson was waiting t re mbling and weep

.
,

ing in the passage B e hind m e as I pass e d

, .

fr om the at I h e a r d Holm e s s high thin voice

in s o me d e li r i o us chant B e l o w as I stood w his .

,

tling fo r a cab a man came on m e th r ough the fog

,
.

Ho w is hI r Holmes si r h e asked
!
.
, .

It was an old acquaintance Inspector Morton , ,

of S cotland Ya r d d re ss e d in un o fcial t w eeds

, .

He is very ill I answ ere d , .

He looked at me in a most singular fashion .

[ 1 9 0]
 TH E AD V E N TU RE OF TH E Y IN G
D D ETE C T IVE

Had it n o t be e n too e ndish I could have ima g ,

in e d that the gleam of the fa nl ight showed exul

t a t io n in his face .

I hea r d s o m e rumour of it said he , .

The cab had d r iv e n up and I l e ft him , .

L o wer Bu r ke Str eet proved to b e a line of

n e h o us e s lying in the vague borderland b e t wee n
Notting Hill and Kensington The part icular .

o n e at which my cabman pull e d up had an ai r

o f smug and de mu r e respectability in its o ld

fashion e d i r on railings its massive f o lding d oor,
-
,

and its shining b r ass wor k All was in k ee ping .

w ith a s o l emn butl er wh o app e a re d fr am e d in

th e pink r adiance of a tint e d e l e ct r ic light b e hind
him .

Ye s Mr Culv er ton Smith is in D r Wat

. .
, .

so n ! Ve ry g oo d si r I will tak e up y o u r ca r d
, , .

My humbl e name and titl e did n o t app e a r t o

imp re ss M r Culv er t o n Smith Th ro ugh the
. .

half o pen d o or I hea r d a high petulant p e ne

-
, ,

t ra t in g voice .

Who is this p er s o n What d o es h e want
! !

De a r me Stapl e s h ow o ft e n hav e I said that

, ,

I am n o t t o b e distu r b e d in my h o u r s o f study !

The re cam e a g e ntl e o w of s o othing e xplana

tion fro m th e butl er .

W e ll I w o n t se e him S taples I can t hav e
,

, .

my wo r k int err upt e d lik e this I am n o t at .

h o me S ay s o T e ll him t o come in the morn

. .

ing if he really must se e m e .
 HI S LAST B O W
Again the gentle murmur .

Well well give him that message H e c an
, , .

c ome in the morning o r he can stay away ,My .

work must not be hindered .

I thought of Holm es tossing upon his bed of

s ickness and counting the minutes p e rhaps until
, , ,

I could bring help to him It was not a time .

t o stand upon ceremony His life depend e d .

upon my promptness B efore the apologetic .

butler had delive r ed his message I ha d pushed

p ast him and w a s in the r o om .

With a shrill cry of a nger a man rose fr o m

a reclining chair beside the r e I saw a gre at .

ye l low face coarse grained and g r easy with

,
-
,

heavy double chin and two sullen menacing

,
-
, ,

grey eyes which glared at me f ro m under tufted

a n d sandy brows A high bald h e ad had a small
.

velvet smoking cap poised c o qu e ttishly up o n one

-

side of its pink curve The skull was of enor .

mous capacity and yet as I l ook e d d ow n I sa w

, ,

to my amazement that the gu r e of the man was

small and frail t w ist e d in the shoulde r s and back
,

like one who has su ff ered from rickets in his

childhood .

Wh at s th is he cried in a high screaming
!

, ,

voice . What is the meaning of this intrusion !

D idn t I send you wo r d that I would se e you

to morrow morning
- !

I am sorry said I but the matter cannot
, ,

be delayed Mr Sherlock Hoh nes

. .

[ 1 9 2 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

high opinion o f you and thought that you were

,

the one man in L ondon w ho could h e lp him

.

The little man sta r ted and the j aunty smo k ,

ing cap slid to the oo r

-
.

Why he asked
! Why should M r Holmes
. .

think that I could help h im in his t ro ubl e !

B ecause o f your kno w ledge of E ast er n dis
e a se sf

But why should he think that this disease
which he has contract e d is E ast e rn !

B ecause in some p ro fessional inqui r y he has
, ,

b een working among Chinese sa ilors down in the

docks .

Mr Culve r ton Smith smiled pleasantly and

.

picked up his smoking cap -

.

O h th at s it is it
,

!
said he I trust the .

matt e r is not so g r ave as you suppos e H o w .

l o ng has he b een ill !

Abou t th r ee days .

Is he d e li r ious !

O ccasionally .

Tut tut ! This sounds s e rious It would be

,
.

inhuman not to ans we r h is call I very much re .

sent a ny interru ption t o my wo r k D r Watson , .

,

but this case is ce r tainly exceptional I will .

c ome with you at once .

I remembe r ed Holmes s inj unction .

I have anothe r appointment said I , .

Ver y good I will go alone I have a note

. .

[ 19 4 ]
 TH E A Dv EN TU RE OF TH E D Y I N G DE TE C T IV E

of M r H o l m e s s addre ss You can rely upon

'

.

.

my b e ing the r e within half an h o ur at most .

It was with a s inking heart that I re entered -

Holmes s b e dr o om F or all that I kn e w the

.

w orst might hav e happened in my abs e nce To .

my e n ormous r e li e f he had imp rov e d g re atly in

,

th e int er val His app e arance was as ghastly as

.

e v er but all t r ac e of d e li r ium had l e ft him and

,

h e sp o k e in a f ee ble v o ic e it is t r ue but w ith e v e n

, ,

m ore than his usual c r ispn e ss and lucidity .

Well did y o u s e e him Watson
,
!
,

Y e s ; h e is c o ming .

Admi r abl e Wats o n ! Admi r able ! You are

,

th e b e st o f m e sseng er s .

H e wish e d t o r e tu r n with m e .

That w ould n e v er d o Wats o n That would , .

b e o bvi o usly imp o ssible D id h e ask w hat ailed .

me !

I t o ld him ab o ut the Chines e in th e E ast end -
.

E xactly ! We ll Wats o n y o u hav e d o n e all

, ,

that a g oo d fr i e nd c o uld Y o u can n o w disap .

p e a r fro m th e sc e ne .

I must w ait and h e a r his o pinion H o lm e s ,
.

O f cou r s e y o u must But I hav e re as o ns t o .

supp o s e that this o pini o n wo uld b e v er y much

m ore fr ank and valuabl e if h e imagin e s that we
a re al o n e Th ere is j ust roo m b e hind the head
.

O f my b e d Watson , .

My d e a r H o lm e s !
I f e ar th ere is n o alte r nativ e Watson The , .

[ 1 9 5 ]
 H I S LAST B O W
'
room does not lend itself to concealment which is ,

as well a s it is the less likely to arouse suspicion

, .

B ut j ust the r e Watson I fancy that it could be

, ,

done . Sudde nly he sat up with a rigid intent
ness upon his haggard face There are the .

wheels Watson Quick man if you love me !

, .
, ,

And don t budge whatever happens whatever

,

happens do you hear D on t sp e ak ! D on t

,
!

move ! Just listen with all your ear s Then .

in an instant his sudden access of strength de

pa r ted and his masterful purposeful talk droned
, ,

a w ay into the l o w vague murmuring s o f a semi

,

deli r ious man .

Fr om the hiding place int o which I had been so

-

swiftly hustled I heard the footfalls upon the

stai r with the o pening and the closing of the bed
,

room door Then to my su r p r ise the r e came

.
, ,

a long silence broken only by the heavy ,

b r eathings and gaspings o f the sick man I .

c ould im agine that our visitor was standing by

the bedside and looking down at the su ff erer .

At last that strang e hush was broken .

Holmes ! he cried Hohn es ! in the insist .

ent tone of one who awakens a sleeper Can t .

you hear me Holmes !
, There was a rustling ,

as if he had shaken the sick man roughly by the

shoulder .

Is that you Mr Smith Holmes whispered
!
, . .

I hardly dared hope that you would come .

The other laughed .

[ 1 9 6 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

I hea r d the rasping labou re d b r eathing o f the ,

sick man Giv e me th e w at er ! he gasped
. .

You re p re cious n e a r y o ur e nd my fr iend

, ,

but I d o n t w ant you t o g o till I hav e had a w ord

with you That s why I give you wat er Th er e

.

.
,

don t sl o p it about ! That s right C an you un

.

d e rst a n d what I say !

H o lmes g r oan e d .

D o what you can for me L et bygon e s be .

bygon e s h e whispered
, I ll put th e wo r ds out .

of my h e ad I swear I will O nly cure mg and .
,

I ll f or g e t it

.

F orget what !

Well about Victor S avage s death You as

,

.

go o d as admitted j ust n o w that you had done it .

I ll forget it

.

You can fo r get it or remember it j ust as ,

you like I d o n t see you in the witness box

.

-
.

Quite another shaped box my good H o lmes I , ,

assu r e y o u It matte r s n o thing to me that you

.

should kno w h o w my nephe w di e d It s n o t h im .

we a r e talking about I t s you .

.

Yes yes
, .

Th e f e llow wh o came for me I ve forgotten

his name said that you c o nt r acted it down in
the E ast end among the sailo r s
-

.

I could only account f o r it so .

You are proud o f y o u r b r ains Holmes are , ,

you not ! Think you r s e lf smar t d o n t you !

,

You came across someone who was smar ter th is

[ 1 98 ]
 TH E AD VE N TU RE OF TH E D Y I N G DETE C T I VE

time . N ow cast you r mind back Holmes Can , .

y o u think O f no other way you could hav e got

this thing !

I can t think My mind is gone F or H e av

. .

en s sak e h e lp me !

Y e s I w ill help you I ll help you t o un
, .

d erst a n d j ust wh ere you a re and h ow y o u got

the r e I d lik e y o u t o know b e f or e y o u die
.

.

Give m e s om e thing to ease my pain .

Painful is it Yes the c o oli e s us e d t o do

!
, ,

s ome squealing towa r ds the end Tak e s you as .

cramp I fancy , .

Yes yes ; it is c r amp
, .

W e ll y o u can h e ar w hat I say anyh ow L is

, , .

ten no w ! Can y o u r em embe r any unusual inci

dent in you r life j ust about the time y o ur symp

t oms b e gan !

N O no ; nothing
, .

Think again .

I m too ill to think

.

Well th e n I ll help y o u D id anything

, ,

.

c ome by post !

By p o st !

A b o x by chanc e !


I m fainting I m g o ne !

L ist e n H o lm e s !
,Th ere was a sound as if
he was shaking th e dying man and it w as a l l ,

that I c o uld d o t o h o ld mys e lf quiet in my hiding

plac e . Y o u must h e a r m e Y o u sha l l h e a r m e . .

D O y o u re memb e r a box a n iv o ry b o x ! It
[ 1 99 ]
 HI S LA ST B O W
came o n Wednesday Yo u .

opened it d o yo u

remember !

Yes yes I opened it There was a sharp
, , .

spring in side it S ome j ok e .

It was no j oke as you will nd to your cost ,
.

You fool you wo ul d have it and you have got it

, .

Who asked you to cross my path ! If you had

left me alone I would not have hurt you .

I remember Ho l mes gasped ,The spring ! .

I t drew blood This box this on the table .
-
.

The very o ne by George ! And it may as ,

well leave the room in my p ocket There goes .

your last shred of evidence B ut you have the .

truth now Holm es and you can die with the

, ,

knowledge that I killed you You knew t oo .

much o f the fate of V ictor S avage so I have ,

sent you t o sha r e it You are very near your .

end H o lmes I wi ll sit here and I wi l l watch

, .

you die .

Holmes s voice had sunk to an almost in au d i

ble whisper .

What is that s aid Smith
! Turn up the .

g a s ! Ah th e shadows
, b e gin to fall do they !
,

Yes I will tu r n it up that I may see y ou the

, ,

better He crossed the room and the light sud
.

d e nl y b r ight e ned Is the r e any other little

.

service that I can d o you my f r iend !
,

A match and a cigarette .

I nea r ly called out in my j o y and my amaze

ment He w a s speak ing in h is natural voic e a
.

[ 2 00 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

ge rl
y if I w e r e you Put it down he r e It may
. .

play its part in the t r ial .

Th ere w as a sudden r ush and a scuffle fo llowe d ,

by th e clash o f iron and a c r y of pai n .

You ll onl y get you r s e lf hu r t said the in

,

sp e ct or .Stand still will y o u ! The r e was
,

the click of the closing handcuffs .

A nice trap ! cried th e high sna r ling voice , .

It will b r ing yo u into the d o ck Holm e s not , ,

me He ask e d me to come he r e to cur e him I

. .

was so rr y f o r him and I cam e No w he will p r e .

tend no doubt that I have said anything which

, ,

h e may invent which will co rr obo r ate his insane

suspic i o ns Y o u can lie as y o u like H o lmes
.
,
.

M y wo r d is al w ays as g o od as yours .

Good heavens ! cri e d Holmes I had to .

tally f or g o tt e n him My dear Watson I o w e you

.
,

a thousand apologies TO think that I sh o uld .

hav e ov er look e d y o u ! I n e ed n o t int ro duc e you

to Mr Culv er ton Smith sinc e I und er stand that
.
,

y o u m e t s o me w hat e ar li er in the evening Have .

y o u the cab below ! I will follo w y o u when I am

d r ess e d f or I may b e o f s o m e use at the station
, .

I neve r need e d it more said Holmes as he , ,

refr e shed hims e lf with a glass o f cla re t and s om e

biscuits in the intervals of his toil e t H owe v er .

as you know my habits a re i rre gular and such a

, ,

f e at means less to me than to m o st men It w as .

v e r y essential that I should impress M r s Hud .

so n w ith the realit y O f m y condition since she w as ,

[ 2 02 ]
 TH E AD VE N TU RE OF TH E D Y I N G DE TE C T I VE

to convey it to you and you in tu r n t o him You , .

won t be o ff ended Wats o n You will realis e

!
,

that among y o u r many talents dissimulation nds

no place and that if y o u had sha r ed my secret
,

y o u woul d n e ve r have been abl e t o imp re ss Smith

with th e u r gent nec e ssity of his p r es e nce w hich ,

w as the vital p o int O f th e wh o le sch em e Kno w .

ing his vindictive natu r e I was p er f e ctly c er tain ,

that he would c o m e t o l o ok up o n his handi wor k .

But your appe ar ance H o hn e s your ghastly ,

face !

Th re e days o f abs o lut e fast does n o t imp r ove
on e s b e auty Wats o n F o r th e r e st th er e is

, .
,

n o thing w h ich a sp o nge may n o t cu r e With .

vaseline up o n o n e s fore h e ad b e llad o nna in on e s

ey e s ro ug e o v e r th e ch ee k bon e s and c r usts o f

,
-
,

bees w ax ro und o n e s lips a ve ry satisfying e ff e ct

can b e p r oduc e d Maling er ing is a sub j e ct up o n

.

which I hav e s o m e tim e s th o ught o f wr iting a

monog r aph A littl e occasi o nal talk ab ou t half
.

crowns o yste r s o r any o th er e xt r ane o us subj ect

, ,

p ro duc e s a pl e asing e ff ect o f d e li r ium .

But w hy wo uld y o u n o t l e t me nea r y o u since ,

there w as in t r uth no infection !

Can y o u ask my d e a r Wats o n D O y o u im
,
!

agine that I hav e no r e spect fo r y ou r m e dical

tal e nts ! C ould I fancy that you r astut e j udg
ment w ould pass a dying man w h o ho w ever ,

weak had no r ise of pulse or tempe r ature

,
! At
four yar ds I coul d deceive you If I failed to do
, .

[ 2 03 ]
A D Q

H I S LAST B O W

so ,who would bring my Smith within my grasp !

No Watson I would not touch that box You

, , .

can j ust see if you look at it sideways where the

sha r p spring like a vipe r s tooth eme r ges a s you

Open it I dar e say it w a s by s o m e such device

.

that poor S avage w ho stood bet we en this mon

,

ster and a reve r sion was done t o death My

,
.

correspondence however is as you know a v a

, , , ,

ried o ne and I am somewhat upon my guar d

,

against any packages which reach me I t w as .

clear to me howeve r that by p r etending that he

, ,

had really succeeded in his design I might sur

prise a confession That pret e nce I have carrie d
.

out with the thoroughness o f the t r ue artist .

Thank you Watson you must help me on with

, ,

my coat When we have nished at the police

.

station I think that something nut r itious

S impson s would not be o ut o f place

.
 H I S LA S T B O W

logical mind and yet I should be obliged to you

,

if you wo uld indicate it .

The t r ain of reas o ning is not very obscure ,

Wats o n said H olm e s w ith a mischievous twin

, ,

kl e
. It belongs to the same el em e nta r y class of
deducti o n which I sh o uld illust r at e if I w er e to
ask you who sha r ed your cab in your d r1v e this

m or ning .

I don t admit that a fr esh illust r ation is an ex

planati o n said I with s o me aspe r ity

, , .

B r avo Watson ! A ve r y digni e d and logi
,

cal re m o nst r ance L e t me se e what wer e the

.
,

p o ints !
Tak e the last o n e rst th e cab You .

obse r ve that you hav e some splash e s on the left

sle e ve and shoulde r o f your coat Had you sat .

in th e cent r e of a hansom y o u w o uld p r obably

hav e had n o splashes and if you had they w o ul d
,

ce r tainly have b e en symmet r ical Th ere fore it .

is cl e a r that you sat at t h e sid e Th ere for e it is .

equally cl e a r that y o u had a companion .

That is v e ry e vid e nt .

Absu r dly commonplace is it not !
,

But the b o ots and the bath !

E qually childish You are in the habit of

.

doing up y o u r b o ots in a ce r tain w ay I se e .

th e m o n this occasi o n fastened w ith an elab o rate

d o uble bow which is not you r u su al method o f
,

tying th e m You have the re fo r e had them o ff

.
, , .

VVh o h a s ti e d them !
A bo o tmak e r o r th e boy
at the bath It is unlik e ly that it is the boot
.

[ 2 06 ]
TH E D I SAPP EAR ANC E OF L AD Y FRA NC E S CARFAX

mak e r since you r b oo ts a r e near ly new Well

,
.
,

!
w hat remains ! Th e bath Absu r d is it not .
,

But f o r al l that the Turkish bath has served a

, ,

pu r pose .

What is that !

You say that you have had it because y o u need

a change L e t me sugg e st that you take on e
. .

Ho w would L ausann e d o my d e a r Wats o n ,

rst class tick e ts and all e x penses paid o n a

-

p r incely scale !

Sple ndid ! But w hy !

H o lm e s l e aned back in his armchair and to o k

his n o t e bo o k fr om his pocket .

O ne of the m o s t dange r ous class e s in the

w orld said h e is th e d r ifting and fr iendl e s s
, ,

woman Sh e is th e most harmless and oft e n the

.
,

most useful o f mo r tals but she is the inevitabl e ,

incite r o f c r im e in othe r s She is helpless She . .

is mig r ato r y She has sufci e nt means to take

.

her fr om count r y t o c o unt r y and f ro m h o t e l t o

h o tel She is l o st as often as n o t in a m a ze o f
.
, ,

Obscu r e p ensio ns and b o ar ding h o us e s Sh e is -

.

a st r ay chick e n in a w o r ld o f fo x e s Wh e n sh e is .

g o bbl e d up she is ha r dly miss e d I much f e a r .

that s om e evil has come to the L ady F rance s

C a r fax .

I w as re liev e d at this sudden desc e nt from t h e

general to the part icular Holm e s cons ul ted his .

notes .

L ady F rance s he continued is th e s o l e su r
, ,
-s

[ 7]
2 0
 HI S LAST B O W
v iv o r o f the direct family o f the late E arl o f R uf
ton The estates went as you may remember
.
, ,

in the male line She was left with limited means

.
,

but with some very remarkable o l d Sp anish j ewel

lery o f silver and curiously cut diamonds to which -

she was fondly attached too attached for she re ,

fused to leave them with her banker and always

ca r ried them about with her A rath e r pathetic .

gure the L ady F rances a beautiful woman

, , ,

still in f r esh middle age and yet by a st r ange , ,

chance the last derelict of what o nl y twenty years

,

ago was a goodly eet .

What has happened to her then !
,

Ah what h a s happened to the L ady F rances

,
!

Is sh e alive or dead ! There is our problem .

She is a lady o f precise habits and for four y e ars ,

it has been her invariable custom to write eve r y

second week to Miss B ohney he r Ol d g o ve r ness , ,

w ho has long retired and lives in Camb er well

,
.

It is this Miss D o b n ey who has consulted me .

N e arly ve weeks hav e passed w ithout a word .

The last letter was f r om the H Ot el National at

L ausanne L ady F r ances seems to have left
.

the r e and given no add r ess Th e family a r e .

anxious and as they a r e exceedingly wealthy

, , ,

no sum will be spared if we can clear the matter

up .

Is Miss D o b n e y the only sourc e of info rma

tion ! S u r ely sh e had other co rrespond e nts !

Ther e is o n e correspondent who is a sure
[ 2 08 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
v iv o r o f the direct family o f the late E arl o f R uf
ton The estates went as you may remember
.
, ,

in the male line She was left with limited means

.
,

but with some very remarkable o l d Spanish j ewel

lery o f silver and cu r iously cut diamonds to which -

she was fondly attached too attached for she re ,

fused to leave them with her b anker and always

car ried them about with her A rather pathetic .

gu r e the L ady F rances a beautiful woman

, , ,

sti l l in f r esh mi ddle age and yet by a st r ange

, ,

chance the last derelict of what onl y twenty years

,

ago was a goodly fl eet .

What has happened to her then !
,

Ah what h a s happened to the L ady F rances

,
!

Is she aliv e or dead ! There is our problem .

She is a lady o f precise habits and for four y e ars ,

it has been her inva r iable custom to write eve r y

second week to Miss D o b n ey he r old g o ve r ness , ,

w ho has long retired and lives in Camb er well

,
.

It is this Miss D o b n ey who has consulted me .

N e arly ve weeks hav e passed w ithout a word .

The last letter was from the H Ot el National a t

L ausanne L ady F r ances seems to have left
.

the r e and given no add r ess The family are .

anxious and a s they a r e exceedingly wealthy

, , ,

no sum will be spared if we can clear the matter

up .

Is Miss D o bn e y the only source of informa

tion ! Surely sh e had othe r correspond e nts !

Ther e is o n e correspondent who is a sure
[ 2 08 ]
T HE D I SAPP EAR AN C E OF LADY FRAN C E S C ARFAX

dr aw, Watson That is the bank Single l a di e s

. .

must live and th e ir pass books are compressed

,
-

diar i e s She banks at S ilveste r s I have glanced

.

.

over her account The last cheque but one paid .

her b ill at L ausan ne but it was a la rge one and ,

probably left her with cash in hand O nl y one .

cheque h as been drawn since .

To whom and w here !
,

To Miss Marie D e vine There is nothing t o .

show wh er e the cheque was draw n It was .

cashed at the C r dit L yo nn ais at M o ntpelie r less

than three weeks ago The sum was fty .

pound s

And who is Miss Marie D evine !

That also I have been able to disc o ver Miss .

Marie D evine was th e maid of L ady F rances

C ar fax Why sh e sh o uld have paid h e r this
.

cheque we have not yet d e te rmined I have n o .

d o ubt h ow eve r that your resear ches will soon

, ,

clear the matt e r up .

M y r es e a r ches !
'

Hence th e health giving expedition to L au -

sanne Y o u kn o w that I cann ot possibly leav e

.

L ondon whil e old Abrahams is in such m o rtal

t e r r or o f his lif e Besides o n general principles
.
,

it is b e st that I sh o ul d not l e av e the country .

S cotland Ya r d f e els lonely with o ut m e and it ,

caus e s an unh e althy e xcitement am o ng the c r im

inal clas s e s G o th e n my d e ar Wats o n and if
.
, , ,

my hum bl e counsel can ever be valu e d at so e x

[ 2 09 ]
 HI S LA S T B O W
a rate as two pence a word it waits
t ra v a ga n t ,

your dispos al night and day at the end o f the

Continental wir e .

Two days later found me at the National H o

tel a t L ausanne whe r e I received every courtesy
,

at the hands of M Moser the well known man

.
,
-

ager L ady F rances a s he informed me had

.
, ,

stayed ther e for several weeks She had been .

much liked by all who met her Her age was not .

mo r e than forty She w a s still handsome and

.
,

bo r e every sign o f having in her youth been a

ve r y lovely woman M Moser knew nothing Of
. .

any valuable j ewellery but it had been remar ked

,

by the servants that the heavy trunk in the lady s

b e d r oom was always scrupulously locked Marie .

D evine the maid was as popular as her mistress

, , .

She w as actually engaged to one of the head

waite r s in the h o tel and there was no di fculty
,

in getting her address It was 1 1 Rue d e Tra

.
,

j an Montpeli er All this I j o tted do w n and

, .
,

felt that H o lmes hims e lf could n o t have been

mo r e ad r oit in c o ll e cting his facts .

O nly on e co r n e r still re mained in the shadow .

No light w hich I possessed c o uld clear up the

cause f or th e lady s sudden d e parture She was

.

very happy at L ausann e The re w as ev er y rea .

son to believe that she intende d to remain for

the season in her luxu r i o us rooms o verlooking
the lake And yet sh e had left at a single day s
.

[ 2 1 0]
 HI S LAST B O W
manager o f Cook s local o fce S o to B aden I

.

went after disp atching to Holmes an account of

,

all m y proceed ings and receiving in reply 3 tele

gram O f half h umorous com
,

mendation
-
.

At B aden the track was not difcult to follow -

L ady F rances had stayed at the E nglischer Hof

for a fortnight Whilst there sh e had made the
.

acquaintance of a D r S hl e ssinger and his wife . ,

a missionary from S outh A m e r ica L ike most .

lone ly ladies L ady F rances found her c o mfort

,

and occup ation in religion D r S hl e ssinger s . .

remarkable personality his whole hearted devo ,

-

tion and the fact that he was recove r ing from a

,

disease contracted in the exe r cise of his apostolic

duties a ff ected her de e ply She had helped Mrs
, . .

S hl e ssinge r in the nursing of the convalesce nt

saint He spent his day as the manager de
.
,

scribed it to me upon a lounge chair o n the ver

,
-

andah with an attendant lady upon either side of

,

him He w as preparing a map of the Holy

.

L and with special reference to the kingdom of

,

the Midianites upon which he was writing a

,

monograph F inally having improved much in

.
,

health he and his wife had return e d to L ondon

, ,

and L ady F rances had started thither in their

company This was j ust three weeks before and
.
,

the manager had hea r d nothing since As to the .

maid Ma r ie she had gone o ff some days before

, ,

hand in oods O f tears after info r ming the other ,

maids that she was leaving service for ever D r . .

[ 2 1 2 ]
TH E D I SAPP EARAN C E OF LAD Y FR AN C E S CARFA X

S hl e ssin gerhad paid the bill of the whole party

before his departure .

By the way said the landlord in conclusion
, , ,

you are not the only f r iend O f L ady F rances

C arfax who is inquiring after he r j us t n o w O nly .

a week o r so ago we had a man here upon the

s ame e r rand .

D id he give a name I asked
! .

None ; but he was an E nglishman though O f ,

an unusual type .

A savage said I linking my facts after the
!
,

fashi o n o f my i l lustrious fr i e nd .

E xactly That describes him very w e ll He
. .

is a bulky bearded sunburned f e llo w wh o lo oks

, , ,

as if h e would be mo r e at h ome in a fa rme r s inn

than in a fashionable h o tel A ha r d er ce man .

, ,

I should think and one wh o m I should be so rry

,

to O ff end .

A l ready the mystery began to dene itself ,

as gur es g r ow clearer with th e lifting of a f o g .

Here w a s this good and pious lady pu r su e d fro m

place to plac e by a sinister and unrelenting g
ure She fea r ed him o r she wo ul d not have e d
.
,

from L ausanne He had still follo w ed S o on er

. .

o r later he would ov e rtake he r Had he already .

o ver taken h er Was t ha t the secr e t o f her con

!

t in e d silence
u ! C ould th e go o d pe o pl e w ho were
her c o mpanions not scr e en he r from his violence
or his blackmail What horrible purp o se what
!
,

[ 2 1 3 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
d eep design lay beh ind this long p ursuit There
,
!

was the problem which I had to solve .

To Holmes I wrote showing ho w rapidly and

surely I had got down to the roots of the matter .

In reply I had a telegram asking for a d esc rip

tion of D r Shl essinger s left ear Holmes s ideas
.

.

o f h um our are strange and occasionally o ff ensive ,

s o I took no notice of h is ill timed j est indeed -
,

I had already reached Montpelier in my pursuit

'

o f the maid Marie before his message came

, , .

I had no difculty in nding the ex servant -

and in learning a l l that sh e could tell me She .

was a devoted creature who had only left her ,

mistress because she was sure that she w as in good

hands and because her own approaching mar
,

r ia e made a s e paration inevitable in any case

g .

Her mistress had as she conf e ssed with distress

, ,

sh ow n some i rritability o f temper to w ards her

d uring their stay in B aden and had e v e n ques ,

t io n e d h e r once as if she had suspicions o f her

honesty and this had made th e pa r ting easier than
,

it would othe rw ise hav e been L ady F rances .

ha d given h e r fty pounds as a w edding present -

.

L ike me Marie Vi e wed with d ee p dist rust the

,

stranger wh o had d r iven he r mist r ess from L au

sanne With her o w n eyes she had seen him seize
.

the lady s wrist with great vi o lence on the public

promenade by the lake He was a erce and .

terrible man She believed that it w as out of

.

dread o f him that L ady F rances had accepted

[ 2 1 4 ]
 HI S LAS T B O W
many truggle but the man had a grip o f iron
a s ,

a n d t he f ur y o f a end His hand was o n my .

t hroat a n d my senses were nearly gone before an

unshaven F rench o uvrier in a blue blouse darted , ,

o ut from a c a bare t opposite with a cudgel in his ,

h and and struck m y assailant a sharp crack over

,

the forearm which made him leave go his hold

, .

H e stood for an instant fuming with rage and

un certain whether he should not renew h is attack .

Then with a snarl o f anger he left me and e n

, ,

t ere d the cottage from which I had j ust come .

I t urned to thank my preserver w ho stood beside ,

me in the roadway .

Well Watson s aid he a very pretty hash
, , ,

you have made o f it ! I rather think you had

better come back with me t o L ondon by the night

express .

A n hour afterwards S herlock H olmes in his ,

us ual garb and style w a s seated in my private ,

ro o m at the hotel His explanation of his sud

.

den and opportune appearance was simplicity it

self for nding that he could get away from
, ,

L ondon he determined to head me O ff at the next

,

obvious point of my travels In the disguise of .

a working man he had sat in the ca baret waiting

-

fo r my appearance .

A n d a singularl y consistent investigat ion you

have made my dear Watson said he
, I can , .

not at the moment recall any possible blunder

which you have omitted T he total e ff ect of .

[ 2 1 6 ]
TH E D ISAPP EARAN C E OF LAD Y FRANC E S C AR FA X
y o ur proceedings has been to give the al arm ev

e r w h e re and yet to discover nothing
y .

Pe r haps y o u would have done no better I ,

n sw ere d bitterly , .

There is no perhaps about it I ha ve done
.

better H er e is the Hon Philip G r e e n w h o is

. .
,

a fellow lodger with you in this hotel and we

-
,

may nd in him the start ing point for a mo r e -

successful inv e stigation .

A car d had come up on a salve r and it w as ,

f o llowed by the same bearded rufa n wh o had

attack e d me in the st r eet He starte d when he .

saw me .

What is this Mr Holmes ,
! he asked
. I .

had y o u r not e and I have come B ut what has .

this man t o do w ith the matter !

This is my o ld fri e nd and ass o ciate D r Wat , .

son who is h e lping u s in this a ff air
, .

The st r anger held out a huge sunburned hand , ,

with a few words O f apol o gy .

I h o pe I didn t harm you When you a o

.

c u se d me of hurting her I lost my g r ip of m

y
self Indeed I m not responsible in th e se days
.
,

.

My nerv e s a r e like live wi r es But this situa .

tion is bey o nd me What I w ant to kno w in

.
,

the r st plac e Mr Holmes is h o w in the w o r ld

, .
, ,

y o u came t o hear of my exist e nce at al l .

I a m in touch with Miss D o bn ey L ady ,

F ran ce s s governess

.
 HI S LA S T B O W
O ld Susan D o b n ey w ith the mob cap ! I re

member he r well .

And sh e r ememb e rs you It was in the days .

bef ore b e fore you found it better to go to South
Afr ica .

Ah I see you kno w my whole sto r y I nee d
, .

hide nothing f r om you I s w ea r t o you Mr .

, .

Ho h nes that th ere n e ver was in this w o r ld a man

,

who lov e d a woman with a more wh o le heart e d -

love than I had for F rances I was a w ild .

y o ungster I kno w not w or se than othe r s of my
,

class But her mind w a s pu r e as snow She

. .

co ul d not bear a shadow of coa r seness S o .

,

when sh e came to hear of things that I had done ,

sh e would have no more t o sa y to me And yet .

sh e loved me
that is the wonder o f it loved
me well enough to r e main singl e all her sainted
days j ust f o r my sake alone Wh e n th e y e ars .

had passed and I had made my mon e y at B a r

b er ton I thought perhaps I could s e ek h e r o ut and
soft e n h e r I had h e a r d that sh e was still u n
.

ma rr ied I found h er a t L ausann e and tried all

.
,

I knew She weakened I think but her w ill

.
, ,

w as st r ong and w h e n next I called sh e had l e ft

,

the to w n I traced her to B aden and then afte r

.
,

a time hear d that h e r maid was he r e I m a .

r ough f e llow f r esh from a r o ugh lif e and when

, ,

Dr Watson S poke to me as h e did I l o st hold o f

.

mys e lf f o r a moment But for God s sak e t e ll

.

m e what has become o f the L ady F rances

.

[ 2 1 8 ]
 HI S LA ST B O W
What does it S how !

I t shows my dear Watson that we are deal

, ,

ing with an exceptionally astute and dange r ous

man The R ev D r S hl e ssinge r missionary
. . .
,

from South A m e r ica is none other than Holy ,

Pete r s one of the most unscrupul o us r ascals that

,

Aust r alia has ever evolved and for a yo un g
c o unt r y it has turned out some ve r y ni shed
types His particular specialty is the begu iling
.

of lone ly ladi e s by playing upon their religious

fe e lings and his so called wife an E n gl ishw o
,
-
,

man named Fr aser is a worthy helpmate The , .

natu r e of his tactics suggested his id e ntity t o

me and this physical peculia r ity h e was badly
,

bitt e n in a saloon gh t at Adelaide in 8 9 con

-

rm e d my suspicion This po o r lady is in the .

hands of a m o st infernal couple who will stick ,

at n o thing Watson That S he is al r eady dead is

, .

a ve r y likely supposition If not sh e is u m .

,

d o ubtedly in some sort of con n e m e nt a n d u n ,

abl e to w r ite t o Miss D o b ne y or h er o th er f r i e nds .

It is al w ays p o ssible that she neve r r each e d L o n

don o r that sh e has passed th ro ugh it but the
, ,

fo r m er is imp ro bable as with th e i r system of , ,

r e gist r ati o n it is n o t easy for fo r eign er s to play

,

t r icks with th e Continental p o lice ; and th e latt er

is also unlik e ly as th e se rogu e s could n o t h o pe to
,

nd a n y othe r place whe r e it w o uld b e as e asy

to k e ep a pe r son under r e st r aint All my in .

st in c t s t e ll m e that sh e is in L ondon but as we , ,

[ 2 2 0 ]
TH E DI SA PPE A R A N C E O F LADY F RA N C E S C A RFAX

have at p r esent no p o ssible m e ans of telling

w here we can only take the Obvious steps eat
, ,

our dinner and possess our s o uls in p atience

, .

L ater in the evening I will str o ll down and have

a wo r d with fr iend L estrade at S cotland Yard
.

But neither the o fcial p o lice nor Ho l mes s

own small but very efcient organisation sufced

, ,

to cl e ar away the mystery A m id the c r o w ded .

milli o ns of L o ndon the three persons we sought

we r e as completely obliterated as if they had
never lived Adve r tisements w ere tried and
.
,

failed Clues we r e foll owe d and led to n o thing

.
, .

E v er y criminal reso r t which S hl e ssin ger might

f r equ e nt was d r awn in vain His old associates .

we r e watch e d but th e y k e pt clea r o f him And

,
.

th e n sudd e nl y aft e r a we e k of h e lpl e ss suspense

, ,

the r e came a ash o f light A silv e r and bril .

- -

liant pendant of O l d S panish d e sign had be e n

pawn e d at B e vington s in W e stminst er R oad

,
.

Th e p aw n er w a s a lar g e cl e an S hav e n man of

,
-

cl er ical appea r ance His nam e and add re ss

.

w ere dem o nst r ably false Th e ear had e scaped

.

n o tic e but th e description was sur e ly that of

,

S hl e ssin ger .

Thre e tim e s had ou r b e ar d e d f r i e nd fro m the

L angham call e d for n ew s the thi r d t im e w ithin

an h o ur of this f re sh devel o pm e nt His cloth e s .

w e re g e tting l oo s e r o n his g re at b o dy H e .

se emed to b e wilting a w ay in his a nx i e ty If .

you will o nl y give me s o mething to do ! was his
[ 2 2 1 ]
 H I S LAST B O IV

constant wail At last Holmes could oblige him

. .

He has be gun to pawn the j ewels We .

should get him n o w .

But does this mean that any harm ha s be
fallen the L ady Fr ances !

H o lm e s sh oo k his head v e ry g r avely .

Supp o sing that they have held h er prison e r
up to n o w it is cl e a r that th e y cann o t l e t h er loose
,

with o ut th e i r own destruction W e must p r e .

pare for th e w or st .

What can I do !

These people do not kno w you by sight !

NO .

It is possible that he wil l go to som e other

pawnb roker in the futur e In that case we must .
,

begin again O n the other hand he has had a

.
,

fair p r ice and no questions as k e d so if he 1s m ,

ne e d of ready mon e y he w ill probably com e b ac k

-

0 B evington s I will giv e you a note to them

.
,

and they will let you wait in the shop If the .

fello w comes you will f o llo w him home But no .

indiscr e ti o n a n d above all no violence I put

, , , .

you on you r honour that you will take no step

without my kno w l e dg e and consent .

F or two days the Hon Philip Green (h e w a s . ,

I may mention the so n of the famous admi r al

,

of that name who commanded the S ea of Azof

ee t in the Crimean War ! b r ought us no news .

O n the evening of the thi r d he rushed into our

sitting room pale trembling with ever y muscle
-
, , ,

[ 2 2 2 ]
 HIS L AST B OW
V

constant wail At last H o lmes could oblige him

. .

He has be gun to pawn the j ewels We .

should g e t him now .

But d o es this m e an that any harm h a s be
fallen the L ady Fr ances !

H o lmes sh oo k his head v e ry g r av e ly .

Supp o sing that they have h e ld h er prison e r
up to n o w it is clear that the y cann o t l e t he r lo o se
,

with o ut th e i r o wn dest r uction We must p r e .

par e for th e wor st .

What can I do !

These people do not know you by sight !

No .

It is possible that he w ill go to som e other

pawnb roker in the future In that cas e we must .
,

begin again O n the other hand h e has had a

.
,

fair p r ice and no qu e stions ask e d so if he is in ,

need of ready mon e y h e will probably come b a ck

-

0 B evington s I will give you a note to them

.
,

and they will let you w ait in the S h o p If th e .

fello w c o mes you will fo llo w him h o me But no .

indiscr e tion a n d abov e all no V i o lence I put

, , , .

y o u on you r honour that you will take no step

without my kno w ledge and consent .

F or two days the Hon Philip Green (h e w a s . ,

I may mention the so n of the famous admi r al

,

of that name who comm anded th e S ea of Azof

ee t in the Crimean War ! b r ought us no news .

O n the evening of th e thi r d he rushed into our

sitting room pale trembling with ever y muscle
-
, , ,

[ 2 2 2 ]
TH E D ISAPP EARAN C E O F LA D Y FRAN C E S CARF AX

o f his powe r ful f r ame quive ring with excit ement .

We have him ! We hav e him he cri e d .

H e w as inc o herent in his agitati o n H o lm e s .

s o o th e d him w ith a fe w w o rds and th r ust him ,

int o an a rmchai r .

C o me n o w giv e us th e o r d er o f events said
, , ,

Sh e cam e o nly an h o u r ag o It w as th e .

w if e this tim e but th e p e ndant sh e b ro ught w a s

, ,

th e f e ll ow o f th e o th er Sh e is a tall pale w o .
,

man w ith f erre t e y e s
, .

That is th e lady said Holmes , .

Sh e left th e O fc e and I foll owe d h e r Sh e .

w alke d up th e K e nningt o n R o ad and I k e pt b e ,

hind he r P re s e ntly sh e we nt into a shop hIr

. . .

H o lm e s it was an und er tak er s
,

.

My companion sta r t e d W e ll he ask e d in
! .
,

that vib r ant v o ic e which told of the er y s o ul

b e hind the c o ld grey face , .

She was talking to the woman behind the

c o unt e r I e nt ere d as we ll
. It is lat e I hea r d .
,

h er say or w or ds t o that e ff e ct The wo man

,
.

w as e xcusing h e rs e lf It S h o uld b e th ere b e f or e
.

n ow sh e a n sw re d
,

It t oo k l o nger b e ing out
.
,

o f the or dina ry Th e y b o th st o pp e d and l oo k e d

.

at m e S O I asked som e qu e stion and th e n l e ft the

,

sh o p f

Y o u did e xcellently we l l What happene d .

next !

The woman came o ut but I had hid myself in ,

[ 2 2 3 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
a doorway Her suspicion s had been arous ed
.
,

I think for she l ooked round her Then S he

, .

called a cab and got in I was luck y enough t o .

get another and so to follow her She got down .

at last at N O 3 6 Poultney S quare B r ixton I

.
, , .

drove p ast l e ft my cab at the corner o f the square

, ,

and watched the h o use .

D id you se e anyone !

The windows w er e all in darkness save one o n
the lo w er oor The blind was down and I .
,

could not see in I was standing there wonder .

,

ing what I should d o next when a covered v a n ,

d r ove up with t w o men in it They descended .

,

took something out of th e v a n and car r i e d it ,

up the steps to the hall door Mr Holmes it . .

,

was a co fn .

Ah !
CC 33

For an instant I was on the p o int of rushing

in Th e d oor had b e en op e n e d t o admit th e men
.

and th e i r bu r den It w as the woman w ho had .

ope ned it But as I sto o d the r e she caught a

.

glimpse of m e and I think that she r e cognis e d

,

me I sa w h er start and sh e hastil y closed th e

.
,

door I r e membe r ed my promise to you and

.
,

he r e I am .

You have done excellent wo r k said H o hn es ,

scribbling a fe w wo r ds upon a half she e t of p a -

per We can do n o thing l e gal without a war
.

r ant and you can serve the caus e best by taking

,

this note d o wn to the authorities and getting o ne .

[ 2 2 4 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

course denounce them Therefore sh e must not

, .
,

b e released But they cannot keep her under

.

lock and ke y for ever S o murder is the ir only .

solution .

That seems very clear .

Now we will take another line o f reasoning .

W hen you follo w t w o separate chains of thought ,

Watson y o u will nd some p o int of intersection

,

which should approximate to the truth We will .

start n o w n o t fr om the lady but from the co fn

, , ,

and argue backwards That incident proves .

,

I f e ar bey o nd all doubt that the lady is dead

,
.

It points also to an ort hodox bu r ial with prop e r

a ccompaniment o f m e dical certicate and O f cial

sanction Had the lady been obviously mur

.

dered they would have buried her in a hole in the

,

b ac k ga r den B ut here all is open and regular

. .

What does that mean ! Surely that they have

done her to death in some way which has de
c e iv e d the docto r a n d s imulated a natural end
,

p o is o ning pe r haps
-
And yet how strange
, .

that th e y S hould eve r let a d o ct or app r oach her

unl e ss he we r e a confederate which is hardly a ,

cr e dible propositi o n .

Could they have forged a medical c ert i

cate
! !

D angerous W atson very dangerous No

'

, , .
,

I ha r dly s e e them doing that Pull up cabby ! .

,

This is evid e ntly the und er taker s for we have

j ust pass e d the pawnbroker s Would you go

.

[ 2 2 6 ]
TH E D ISAPP EARANC E OF L AD Y FRAN C E S CARF AX

in Watson Y o u r appearance inspires co n

,
!

dence A sk what hour the Poultney S quare

.

fun er al takes place t o m o rro w -

.

The woman in th e S h o p answe r ed me without

hesitation that it was to b e at e ight o clock in

the mo r ning You se e Watson no myste r y ;
.
, ,

eve r ything above b o a r d ! In some way th e legal

-

fo r ms have undoubtedly be e n compli e d w ith and ,

they think that th e y have little to fear Well .

,

the r e s nothing fo r it no w but a direct frontal a t

t ac k Ar e you armed
.
!

My stick !
Well w ell we shall be strong enough
, .

Th r ice is he armed w ho hath his qua rr el j ust .

We simply can t a ff o r d t o wait fo r the polic e or

to keep within the four corne r s o f the l aw You .

can d r ive o ff cabby N ow Wats o n w e ll j ust

, .
, ,

take our luck together as we have occasionally ,

d o ne in the past .

He had r ung loudly at th e d o or of a gr e at dark

house in the centre of Poultney S qua r e It w a s .

Opened imm ediately and th e gu re of a tall w o

,

man w as outlined against the dim lit hall -

.

Well what do y o u w ant she ask e d sha r ply
,
!
, ,

p ee r ing at us th ro ugh the da r kn e ss .

I want to speak to D r S hl e ssinge r .
,

Holmes .

Th er e is no such person he r e sh e answe re d , ,

and t r i e d t o close the do o r but Hol mes had ,

j ammed it with his foot .

 HI S LA ST B O W
Well I want t o se e the man who live s here
, ,

whatever h e may c al l h imself said Holm es , ,

rml y .

She hesitated T hen she threw open the door

. .

Well come in ! said S he

,

M y husband is not .

afraid to face any man in the world She closed .

t h e door b e hind us and sh o wed us into a S itting

,

r oom on the r ight side of the hall tu r ning up the ,

gas as she left us Mr Peters wil l be with yo u

. .

in an instant she said , .

Her words were literally true for w e had ,

hardly time to look around the dusty and moth

e aten ap artment in which we found ours e lves b e

fore the door opened and a big clean shaven ,

-

bald headed man st e pped lightly into the r o om

-
.

He had a lar ge red face with pendulous cheeks , ,

a nd a general air o f supercial benevolence

w hich was marred by a cruel vicious mouth , .

There is surely some mistake here ge ntle ,

men he said in an unctuous make eve r ything
, , ,
-

easy voice I fancy that you have be e n mis
.

directed Possibl y if you tried far ther down the

.

street

That will do ; we have no t ime to waste said ,

my companion rmly You are Hen r y Peters
, .
,

o f Adelaide late the R ev D r S hl e ssinger o f

, . .
,

B aden and South America I am as sure of that .

a s that my o wn n ame is Sherlock Holmes .

Pete r s as I wil l now call him started and

, ,

st a red hard at his formidable pursuer I guess .

[ 2 2 8 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W
O ur Opponent opened the door .

F etch a policeman Annie ! said he T here

, .

w a s a whisk o f femini ne skirts do w n the passage .

a n d the hall door was opened and shut .

O ur time is limited Watson said Holmes , , .

If you t r y to stop us Peters you will most cer , ,

t a inl y get hu r t Where is that cofn which was

.

brought int o your house !

What do you w ant with the c ofn ! I t is in

u se. Th er e is a body in it .

I must see that body .

Never with my co nsent .

Then without it With a quick movement
.

H olmes pushed the fellow to one side and passed

int o the hall A d o or half open stood imme di
.

at e ly before us We entered I t was the d in

. .

ing room O n the table under a half lit chan

-
.
,
-

d e l ier the co ffin was lying

, Holmes tu r ned up .

th e gas and raised the lid D e e p do w n in the .

recesses o f the co fn lay a n emaciat e d gu r e .

The glare from the lights above beat down upon

an aged and with er ed face B y no possible p r oc .

ess of cruelty starvation or disease could this

, ,

worn out wreck be the still beautiful L ady

-

F rances H o hn es s face showed his ama z ement

.

and also his relief .

Thank God ! he muttered I t s someone .

Ah you ve blundered badly for once Mr

,

, .

[ 2 3 0]
TH E D I SAPP EARAN C E OF LAD Y FRAN C E S CARFAX

Sh e rlock H o lmes said Peters who had fol , ,

l owe d us int o th e room .

Wh o is this dead woman !

W e ll if you really must know sh e is an Old

, ,

nurse o f my wife s R o se Sp e nd er h er name

, ,

whom we found in the Brixton Wo r kh o use I n

rm ary We brought her round he r e called in
.
,

Dr H o rso m o f 1 3 F irbank V illas mind you

.
,
,

take the addr ess Mr Holmes and had h e r , .

care fully tended as Ch r istian folk S h o uld O n

, .

t h e third day sh e died c e rt i c a t e says senile d e

cay but that s o nl y the docto r s opini o n and

, ,

o f cou r se you kn ow better We or de r ed h er

, .

fune r al to be ca rr i e d out by S tims o n and C O .

,

o f the Kenn ington R o ad wh o wi l l bury he r at ,

e ight O clock to mo r ro w mo r ning Can you pick

-
.

any h o le in that Mr H o m es You v e made a

l !
, .

S illy blund er and you may as w e ll o w n up to it

, .

I d give something for a ph o t o g r aph o f y o u r

gaping sta r ing face w hen you pull e d aside t hat

,

l id e xpecting to se e the L ady Fr ances Carfax ,

and o n ly found a poor o ld w oman of nin e ty .

H o lmes s exp r ession w as as impassive as e ver

und er th e j e er s o f his antag o nist but his cl e nch e d ,

hands b e t r ay e d his acute annoyance .

I am going th r ough y o u r hous e said h e ,
.

A r e y o u th o ugh ! c r i ed P e te r s as a wo man s

, ,

v o ic e and heavy st e ps sound e d in the pass ag e .

VVe l l soon se e about that This w ay o fc er s

.
, ,

if y o u please Th e se m e n have f o rced thei r way

.

[ 2 3 1 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
into m y house a n d I cannot get rid o f them , .

Help me t o put them o ut .

A sergeant and a constable stood in the door

w ay . Ho l mes drew his card from his case .

T his is my name and a ddress T hi s is my .

friend D r Watson , . .

Bless you sir we know you very well s aid , , ,

the serge ant but yo u can t stay here without a
,

warrant .

O f course not I quite understand that . .

Arrest him ! cried Peters .

We know where to lay o ur hands o n this gen

t l ema n if he is wanted said the sergeant maj es , ,

tically but you ll have to go Mr Holmes
,

, . .

Yes Watson we shall have to go
, , .

A minute later we were in the street once

more Holmes was as cool as ever but I was
.
,

hot with anger and humiliation The sergeant .

had followed us .

S o rr y Mr Holmes but that s the law

, .
,

.

E xactly serge an t ; yo u co ul d not do other

,

wise .

I expect there was good reason for your pres
ence the r e If there is anything I can d o
.

It s a missing lady sergeant and we th ink

, ,

sh e is in that house I expect a warrant pres .

e n y .

Then I ll keep my eye on the parties Mr

,
.

H olmes If anything comes along I will surely

.
,

let you know .

[ 2 3 2 ]
 H I S LA S T BO W

entered We c o uld but pray for patience and

.
,

wait for the morrow .

Sherlock Holmes was too irritable for conver

s ation and too restl e ss f o r sleep I left him .

smoking har d with his heavy da r k brows knot

, ,

ted tog e the r and his l o ng n e rv o us ng e rs tap

, ,
'

ping upon the a rms o f his chai r as he tu r ne d o ver ,

in his mind every p o ssible s o lution of the mys

t e ry . S everal tim e s in the cou r se of the night I
heard him p row ling about the h o use F inally .
,

j ust aft e r I had b een called in th e morning he ,

rush e d into my room H e was in his dr e ssing .

g o wn but his pale hollow ey e d face told me that

, ,
-

h is night had been a sleepless one .

What time w a s the fune r al E ight was it

!
,

not ! he asked eage r ly Well it is seven
, .
,

t w enty now Good heavens Watson what has

.
, ,

become of any brains that God has given me !

Quick man quick ! I t s life or d e ath a hun

,

d r e d chances on death to o n e on life I l l never .

f or give mys e lf never if we are too late !
, ,

F ive minutes had not passed before w e were

ying in a hansom do w n B aker St r eet But .

e ven so it was twenty v e to eight as we pass e d -

Big Ben and eight struck as we to r e down the

,

B r ixton R oad But others we r e lat e as well as

.

w e T e n minutes after the hour the h e arse was

.

still standing at the door of the house and even ,

a s our f o aming ho r se came to a halt the co fn ,

suppo r t e d by three men appeared o n the thresh ,

[ 2 34 ]
TH E D I SAPP E ARAN C E OF LAD Y FRAN C E S CAR A X

old Hol mes darted forwa r d and barred their

.

way .

Take it back ! he c r i e d laying his hand on ,

the b r east of the fo r emost T ake it back this .

instant !

What the devil do you mean ! O nce again I

ask you wh ere is your w a rr ant
,
! sh o ut e d th e
fu r i ous P e t er s his big red face gla r ing over the
,

fa r ther end of the c o fn .

The w arrant is o n its way This cofn shall .

remain in th e h o us e until it com e s .

The auth or ity in H o l m e s s v o ic e had its e ff ect

up o n the b e a rer s Pete r s had sudd e n ly v a n

.

ish e d in t o th e house and they obeyed th e se n ew

,

or de r s Quick Wats o n quick ! H ere is a

.
, ,

sc r e w d r iv er ! h e sh o ut e d as the co fn w as re
-
,

placed up o n th e tabl e H ere s on e f or you my
.

man ! A s ove r eign if the lid comes O ff in a min

ute ! Ask no qu e sti o ns wo r k a w ay ! That s

go o d ! An o th e r ! A n d anoth er ! No w pull all

t o g e the r ! It s giving ! I t s giving ! A h that

,

d o es it at last !
With a unit e d e ff ort we tore o ff the c o i n lid -
.

As w e did s o th ere cam e fro m th e insid e a stup e

fyin g and o v er p ower ing sm e ll o f chl oro f or m A .

b o dy lay w ithin its head all wre ath e d in c o tt o n

,

woo l w hich had b ee n s o ak e d in th e na r c o tic

, .

H o lm e s pluck e d it O ff and discl o s e d the statu

esque fac e o f a hands o m e and S pi r itual woman of
middl e age In an instant h e had pass e d his
.
-

[ 2 3 5 ]
 H I S LAST B O W

arm round the gure an d raised her t o a sittin g

position .

I s S he gone Watson

! I s there a spark l eft
,
!

S urely we are not too late !

F or half an hour it seemed that we were .

Wh at with actual su ff ocation and what with the ,

poisonous fumes of the chlorofo rm the L ady ,

F rances seemed to have passed th e l ast point of

recall And then at last with articial respira
.
, ,

tion with inj ected ether with eve r y device that

, ,

s cience could suggest some utter o f life some, ,

quiver o f the eyelids some dimm ing of a mirror

, ,

spoke Of the slowly returning life A cab had .

d r iven up and Hol mes parting the bl ind looked

, , ,

out at it
H e r e is L estrade with his war r ant
.
,

said he He will nd that his birds have ow n

. .

And here he add e d as a heavy st e p hu r ried
, ,

along the passage is someone who has a b e tt e r
,

right to nu r se this lady than we have Good .

mo r ni ng Mr Green ; I think that the so o n e r we

, .

can move the L ady F ranc e s the better Mean .

w hile the fune r al may proceed and the poor Ol d

, ,

w o man who still lies in that co fn may g o to her

last resting place alone -
.

S hould you care to add the case to your a n

n al s my dear Watson
, said H o lmes that even
,

ing it can o nl y b e as an example of that tem
,

p o r ar y eclipse to w hich even the best balanced -

mind may be exposed S uch S lips are common .

[ 2 3 6 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

S he we r e exhumed there was a chanc e for them .

I h o ped that such considerati o ns might preva il

with them You can reconstruct th e scene well
.

enough You saw the ho rr ible d e n upstai r s

.
,

w her e the po o r lady had be e n kept S O long Th e y.

r ushed in and ove r powered her w ith their chlo r o

f o rm ca rr ied her down poured mo r e into the
, ,

c o fn to insu r e against h e r wakin g and th e n

,

scre we d down the lid A cleve r device Wats o n

.
, .

It is n e w to me in the annals Of c r ime If our .

ex m1S S 1o n ary fr i e nds escape the clutch e s of

-

L est r ade I shall exp e ct to hea r of some brilliant

,

incid e nts in their future career .

TH E ADV E NT URE O F TH E D E V I L S

FOO T

N rec or ding fr om time to time some of th e

cu r i o us e xp e ri e nc e s and interesting re c o l
l e cti o ns w hich I ass o ciat e with my l o ng and inti
mate fr iendship with M r Sh er l o ck Ho h n e s I
.
,

have continually b e en faced by dif culties caus e d

by his own av er sion t o publicity T o his s omb r e
.

and cynical spi r it all popular applause was a l

w ays abh orre nt and n o thing amus e d him more
,

at the end o f a succ e ssful cas e than t o hand o v e r

the actual exp o su re t o som e or thod o x Ofcial ,

and to list e n w ith a m o cking smile t o th e g e n er al

cho r us o f misplac e d cong r atulation It w as in
.

d ee d this attitud e up o n the par t o f my fr i e nd

, ,

and c er tainly n o t any lack o f int ere sting mat er ial

w hich has caus e d me of lat e y e a r s to lay v er y few
o f my r ec or ds b e for e the public My par tici
.

p a t io n in s o me o f his adventu r es was always a

p r ivil e ge which entailed d iscreti o n and re ticence
upon me .
 HI S L AST B O W
It was then with considerable su r prise that I
, ,

received a telegram from Holmes last Tuesday

-
he has never been known to write where a tele

gram would serve in the follo w ing terms : Why

not tell them o f the C o r nish horror strangest

case I have handl e d I have no id e a w hat back
.

wa r d sweep o f memo r y had brought the matter

f r esh to his mind o r what freak had caused him
,

to desire that I should recount it ; but I hasten ,

befo r e another cancelling teleg r am may arrive

,

to hunt out the notes which giv e me the ex a ct

details o f the case and to lay the narrative before
,

my r eaders .

It was then in the sp r ing o f the year 1 8 9 7

, ,

that H o lmes s iron constitution sh o wed some

sympt o ms of giving way in the face of constant

ha r d wo r k of a most e xacting kind aggravated , ,

perhaps by occasional indiscretions of his o w n

,
.

In Ma r ch O f that yea r Dr Moo r e Aga r of .

,

Ha r ley St re et wh o se d r amatic int r oduction

,

to Holmes I may s o me day recount gave ,

positive inj unctions that th e famous p r ivate

agent would lay a side all his cases and sur
r ender hims e lf to complete r est if he w ished

to avert an abs o lute b r eak d ow n The state .

o f his health was n o t a matter in which he

himself took th e faintest inte re st for his men ,

tal detachment was absolute but he was induced ,

at last on the th r eat of being pe r manently dis

,

q ual ied from work to give himself, a compl e te

[ 2 4 0]
 H I S LA S T B O W

at p r ehisto r i c st r ife The glamour and myst er y

.

of th e place with it s S inister atmosphere o f for

,

go tt e n nations appealed to the imagination O f

,

my friend and he sp e nt much of his time in long

,

w alks and solita r y meditations up o n the moo r .

The ancient Corni sh lan guage had also ar rested

his attention and he had I remember conceived
, , ,

th e idea that it was akin to the Chaldean and ,

had been largely de r ived from the Phoenician

t r ad e rs in tin He had received a consignm ent
.

of books upon philology and w a s settling do w n to

d e velop this thesis wh e n suddenl y to my sorrow
, ,

and t o his unfeigned d e light we found ourselv e s , ,

even in that land of d r eams plung e d into a p ro b ,

lem at ou r very doors which was more int e nse ,

mo r e e ng ro ssing and innit e ly more mysterious

,

than any o f those which had d r iven us fr om L on

don O u r simpl e lif e and p e ac e ful h e althy r o u
.
,

tine were violently int e r r upt e d and we w er e p r e ,

c ip it a t e d into the midst of a se r ies of ev e nts w hich

caus e d th e utmost excitement not o nl y in Corn

wall but th r oughout the wh o le West of E ng
,

land Many o f my r eaders may retain some rec

.

o l l e c t io n of what was call e d at the time The
C ornish Ho rr or though a most imperfect a c
,

count O f the matt e r reached the L ondon Press .

Now after thirteen years I will give the true

, ,

details of this inconceivable a ff air to the public .

I have said that scattered to w ers mark e d the

villages which dotted this part of Cornwall The .

[ 2 4 2 ]
 TH E AD VE N TUR E OF TH E DE VI L S FOO T

n e a r est of these was the hamlet of Tre d a n nick

W o l l a s wh er e the c o ttag e s of a couple of hun
,

dre d inhabitants cluste r ed round an ancient ,

m o ss g r o w n chu r ch Th e V icar of the parish Mr

-
.
, .

R o undhay w as som e thing of an a rchmo l o gist and

, ,

as such Holm e s had made his acquaintance He .

w as a middl e aged man po r tly and a ff abl e w ith

-
, ,

a c o nsid er able fund of local lo r e At his invita .

ti o n we had taken tea at the V icarage and h a d ,

come to kno w also M r M o rtim er Tre ge nn is an

, , .
,

ind e p e ndent gentleman who inc r eased the cl er ,

m scan y resou r ces by taking roo ms in

gy a n s t
his la rge st r aggling house Th e vica r b e ing a
, .
,

bachelor was glad to come to such an a rr ange

,

ment th o ugh he had little in common w ith his

,

l o dge r wh o was a thin dark sp e ctacl e d man

, , , ,

w ith a sto o p w hich gave the imp re ssi o n o f actual ,

p hysical defo r mity I r e m e mbe r that

. du r ing
o u r sh or t V isit we f o und th e vica r ga rr ul o us but ,

his l o dg e r st r ang e ly re tic e nt a sad fac e d int ro ,

-
,

sp e c t iv e man sitting w ith av er ted eyes bro o di ng

, ,

appare ntly up o n his o w n a ff ai r s .

Th e se w ere th e t w o m e n w ho ente re d abruptly

int o ou r littl e sitting r oom o n Tu e sday Ma r ch -
,

the 1 6 t h sh or tly aft er o u r b re akfast h o u r as we

, ,

were sm o king t o g e the r p r epa r at o ry to ou r daily

,

excu r si o n up o n the m o o r s .

M r H o lm e s said the V icar in an agitated
.
, ,

voic e the most ext r a or dinary and t r agic a ff ai r
,

has occu r red during the night It is the most .

[ 2 4 3 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
unh eard Of business We can o nl y regard it as
-
.

a special Providence that you should chance to

be here at the time for in all E ngland y ou a re

,

the o n e man we need .

I glared at the intrusive vicar with n o very

friendly eyes ; but Ho l mes toke his pipe from h is
lips and sat up in his chair like an old hound
who hears the V iew halloa He wave d his hand
-
.

to the sofa and o ur p alpitating V isitor with h is

,

agitated companion sat S ide by side upon it Mr . .

Mortimer Tregen ni s was more self contained -

than the clergyman but the twitching o f hi s thin

,

hands and t he brightness of his dark eyes S howed

that they shared a common emotion .

Shall I speak or you he asked o f the V ic ar
!
.

Well as you seem to have made the d isco v

,

ery whatever it may be and the V ic a r to have

, ,

had it second hand perhaps y ou had better do

-
,

the speaking s aid Holmes
, .

I glanced at the h a stily clad clergyman with

-
,

the formally d r essed lodger seated beside h im

-
,

and was amused at the surp r ise w hich H o hn e s s

simple deduction had brought to their faces .

Perhaps I had best say a few w or ds r st ,

said the V icar and then you can j udge if you

,

will listen to the details from Mr Tregen nis or .

,

wh e ther we should not hasten at once to the scene

of this mysterious a ff air I may explain then
.
, ,

that o ur friend here spent last evenin g in the

co mpany of his two brothers O wen and George , ,

[ 2 4 4 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
death and two strong men o u t of their sens e s .

There is the situation Mr Holmes in a nutshell

, .
, ,

and if you can help u s to clear it up you will have

done a great w o r k .

I had hoped that in some way I could coax my

companion back into the quiet which had been the
Obj ect of our j ourney ; but one glance at his in
tense face and c o ntracted eyeb r ows told me how
vain was now the expectation He sat fo r some .

little time in silence absorbe d in the strange

,

drama w hich had broken in upon ou r peace .

I w ill look into this matte r he said at last ,
.

O n the face of it it would appear to be a case

,

o f a V ery exceptional nature Have you been .

the r e yourself Mr R oundhay

, .
!

N O Mr Holmes Mr Tregenn is brought
, . . .

back the account to the V icarage an d I at once ,

hur r i e d ove r w ith him to consult you .

How far is it to the house w here this singular

tragedy occu rre d !

About a mile i nl and .
easonto
r ,

Then we shall walk over together But b e .

,

fore w e start I must ask you a fe w questions

, ,

Mr Mo r timer Tre ge nn is
. .

The oth er had been silent all this time but I ,

had Observed that his mo r e cont r olled e xcitement

was even g r eater than the obt rusive e moti o n of
the cl e rgyman H e sat w ith a pale d r aw n fac e
.
, ,

his anxious gaze xed upon Holmes and his thin ,

hands clas pe d convulsively together H is p ale .

[ 2 4 6 ]
 TH E AD VE N TU RE OF TH E D E V I L S FOO T

lips quivered as he list e ned to the dreadful ex p e ri

ence which had befallen his family and his dark ,

eye s seemed to reect something O f the horror of

the scene .

Ask what you like Mr Holmes said he , .
,

e agerly . It is a bad thing to speak of but ,

I will ans w er you the t r uth .

Tell me about last night .

Well M r H o hn es I supped there as th e

, .
, ,

vicar has said and my elder brother Geo rge pro

,

posed a gam e o f w hist aft e r w a r ds W e sat do w n .

about nin e O cl o ck It was a quar ter past t e n

.
-

when I mov e d to g o I l e ft them all round the

.

tabl e as m err y as c o uld be

, .

Wh o l e t y o u o ut !

M r s P o rte r had gone to bed so I let myself

.
,

out I S hut the hall d o o r b e hind me The w in

. .

d ow of the r oom in w hich they sat was cl o sed but ,

th e blind was not d r aw n do w n There w as no .

change in door or window this morning no r any ,

reas o n to think that any strange r had be e n to

th e h o use Yet the r e they sat driven clean mad
.
,

with te rror and Grenda lying d e ad of fr ight

, ,

with her h e ad hanging ove r the a r m of the chai r .

I ll neve r g e t th e sight o f that room out of my
mind s o l o ng as I live .

The facts as y o u state them are ce r tainly
, ,

most rema r kable said H o hn es , I take it that .

you have no th eory yourself which can in any

w ay account for them !
 HI S LA ST B O W
It

devilish Mr H o l mes ; devil ish ! cried
s , .

Mortimer Tregennis It is not of thi s world . .

Something h a s c om e into that room which ha s

dashed the light o f reason from their minds .

What human contrivance could do that !

I fear said Holmes that if the matter is
, ,

beyond hum a nity it is cert ainly beyond me Yet .

we must e xhaust all natural explanation s before

we fal l b ack upon such a theory as this A s to .

yo ur self Mr Tregenn is I take it you were di

,

.
,

v ide d in some way from your family since they ,

lived together and y ou had rooms apa r t !

T hat is so M r Hol mes though the matte r
, .
,

is past and done with We were a family o f tin .

miners at R edruth but we sold out o ur venture ,

to a company and so retired with enough to keep

,

us I won t deny that there was some feeling

.

about the division o f the money and it stood be

tween us for a time but it was all forgiven and ,

forgotten and we were the best of friends to

,

gether .

L ooking back at the evening which you spent
together does anything stand out in your mem
,

ory as thro w ing any possible light upon th e trag

edy Thi nk carefully Mr Tregenn is for any
!
, .
,

clue which can h e lp me

There is nothing at al l S ir , .

Your people were in their usual spirits !

Never better .

[ 2 4 8 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
started when the doctor in his ca r riage ove r took
me He told me that Old Mrs Po r ter had sent
. .

a boy do w n with an urgent message I sprang .

in beside him and we drove on When we got .

there we looked into that dreadful room The .

candles and the re must have burned out hours

before and they h ad bee n sitting there in the
,

dark until dawn had broke n The doctor said

.

Brenda must h ave been dead at least six hou r s .

There we r e no S igns of violence She j ust lay .

across the a r m of the chair with that look on her

face Ge o rge and O wen were sin ging snatches
.

of songs and gibbering like two g r eat ap e s O h .

,

it was awful to se e ! I couldn t stand it and

the doctor was as white as a sheet Ind ee d he .

,

f e ll into a chair in a so rt of faint and we n e a r ly

,

had him on o ur hands as well .

R emarkabl e most remarkable ! said H o lmes

,

rising and taking his hat . I think pe rhaps we , ,

had b e tt e r go do w n to Tre d an n ic k Wa r tha with

out fu r the r delay I c o nfess that I have seldom
.

kno w n a cas e which at r st sight p r esented a

mo r e singula r p ro bl em.

O ur proce e dings o f that r st morning did little

t o advance the inv e stigation It w as ma r k e d
. ,

h o wever at the outset by an incid e nt w hich left

,

the most sinist er imp r ession upon my mind The .

app r oach to the sp o t at which the t r a gedy o c

cu rre d is down a narrow winding c o unt r y lane
, ,
.

[ 2 5 0]
 TH E AD V E N TU RE OF TH E DE V I L S FOO T

While w e made our way al o ng it we heard the

rattl e of a carr iage coming to w ards u s and stood ,

aside t o l e t it pass A s it d r ove by u s I caught a

.

glimps e through the closed window of a ho r ribly

c o nto r ted grinning face glar ing out at us
, .

Those staring e yes and gnashi ng teeth ashed

past us like a d re adful V ision .

My b ro th e rs ! cried Mortimer Tregen nis ,

whit e to his lips They a re taking them to
.

H e lst o n .

We lo oked with horror after the black carriage ,

lumbe r ing up o n its w ay Th e n we tur ned our .

st e ps t ow a r ds this ill omened house in which they

-

had m e t th e i r st r ange fate .

It w as a la rge and b r ight dwelling rather a ,

villa than a c o ttage w ith a considerable gar d e n

,

w hich was al re ady in that Co r nish ai r we ll lled

, ,

with sp r ing o w er s To w ar ds this ga r den the

.

w indo w of the sitting r o o m f ro nted and fr om it

-
, ,

acc or ding to Mo r timer Tre ge n n is must have ,

c ome that thing of e vil w hich had by shee r h orror

in a singl e instant blast e d th e ir minds H o lmes .

walk e d S lo w ly and th o ughtfully am o ng the

ow e r plots and along the path bef o r e we entered
-

the porch S o abso r b e d w as he in his th o ughts

. ,

I r ememb er that he stumbled ove r the w at e ring

,

pot upset its c o nt e nts and deluged b o th ou r fe et

, ,

and the gar d e n path Inside the house we were.

met by th e e ld er ly Co r nish h o usek ee per Mrs , .

P o rte r w ho w ith the aid O f a young gi r l lo oked

, , ,

[ 2 5 1 ]
 H IS L A ST BOW

after the wants o f the family She readily a n .

sw e re d all Holmes s questions She had hear d

.

nothing in the night Her employe r s had all been

.

in e x cellent spirits lately and sh e had never ,

known them mo r e cheerful and prosperous She .

had fain ted with horror upon entering the r o om

in the m o rning and seeing that dread ful company
round the table She had when she recove r ed
.
, ,

thrown o pen the window t o let the morning air

in and had run down t o the lane wh e nce sh e sent
, ,

a farm lad for the doctor The lady was on her

-
.

bed upstai r s if we cared to se e her It t o ok four

, .

strong men to get the brothers into the asylu m

carriage She would not herself stay in the
.

house another day and was starting that very

,

afternoon to re Join her famil y at S t Ives . .

We ascended the stairs and viewed the body .

Miss Brenda Tre ge nn is had been a ve r y beau

tiful gi rl though now verging upon middle age
, .

Her da r k clear cut face was handsome even in

,
-
,

death but th ere still ling er ed up o n it something

,

of that c o nvulsion of h o rror w hich had been her

last human emoti o n F rom her bed r oom we de
.

scended to the sitting room where this st r ange

-

tragedy had actually occurred The cha r red .

ashes of the overnight r e lay in the grate O n .

the table were the fou r guttered and bu r ned out -

candles w ith the cards scattered over its surface

,
.

The chair s had been moved back against the

walls but all e l se w as as it had been the night
,

[ 2 5 2 ]
 TH E A D VE N TU RE or TH E D E V I L S FOO T

before Holmes p aced with light swift steps

.
,

about the ro o m ; he sat in the various chairs d r aw ,

ing them up and reconstructing their positions .

He tested ho w much of the garden was visible ;

he examined the oor the ce iling and th e re
, ,

place ; but n e v e r o nce did I se e that sudden

b r ightening of his e ye s and tightening of his lips
which would have told me that he saw some gleam
of light in this utter dar kness .

Why a re he asked once Had they a l .

ways a re in this smal l room o n a spring even

ing !

M o rtim e r Trege nn is explained that the night

was c o ld and damp F or that reason after his
.
,

a rr ival the re was lit
, What are you going
.

to d o now M r Holm e s h e ask e d
, .
! .

My f r iend smile d and laid his hand upon my

arm . I think Wats o n that I shall resume that
, ,

c o urse o f tobacc o p o isoning w hich you have so

-

o ften and so j ustly cond em ned said he

With, .

y o u r p ermission gentlem e n we will n o w return

, ,

t o o u r cottage fo r I am not awa r e that any n ew

,

fact or is like ly t o c o me t o ou r notice he r e I will .

tu r n th e facts o ve r in my mind M r Tre ge nn is , .

,

and sh o uld anything o ccu r to me I w ill cer tainly

communicate with you and the vicar In the .

meantime I wish y o u both good mo r ning .

It was not until long afte r we wer e back in

P o l dhu C o ttage that H o lm e s br o ke his complete
and abso rbed silence He sat coiled in his arm
.

[ 2 5 3 ]
 HI S LAST B OW

chai r his hagga r d and ascetic face hardly visibl e

,

amid the blue sw i r l o f his tobacco smoke his black ,

bro w s d r awn down his forehead contract e d his

, ,

eyes vacant and far away F inally he laid down .

,

his pipe and sprang to his feet .

It won t do Watson ! said he with a laugh

, ,
.

L et us wal k along the cli ff s together and sea r ch

f or flint a r rows We a r e more lik e ly to nd them
.

than clues to this problem To l e t the brain wo r k .

without su fcient mat er ial is like racing an e n

gine It racks itself to pieces The sea ai r
. .
,

sunshine and patience Watson all else will

,
,

come .

Now let us calmly dene our position Wat
, ,

so n, he continued as we skirt e d the cli ff s to

,

gethe r
.L et us get a r m grip of the very little
which we do know so that when fresh facts a r ise
,

we may be ready to t them into their places I .

take it in the r st place that neithe r of us is pre

, ,

pa r ed t o admit diab o lical intrusions into the a f

fai r s o f me n L et us begin by r uling that e n
.

t irel y out of our minds V e r y go o d The r e re

. .

main th re e p er s o ns who have been g r ievously

st r icken by s o me conscious o r unconscious h uman
agency That is rm ground N o w wh e n did
. .
,

this occur E vid e ntly assuming his nar rative

!
,

to be true it was imm e diat e ly after Mr Morti

,
.

mer Trege n n is had l e ft the ro om That is a very .

important poi nt The presumption is that it

.

was within a few minutes afterwa r ds T he cards .

[ 2 5 4 ]
 HI S LA ST B O W
of their senses The o nl y suggestion in this di
!

r ection comes from Mortimer Tre gen nis himself ,

w h o says that his brother spoke about some move

ment in the ga r den That is certai nl y remark
.

a ble, a s the night w a s rainy cloudy and dark, , .

Anyone who had the design to alarm these peo

ple would be compelled to place his ve r y face
against the glass before he could be see n There .

is a three foot ower border outside this win

- -

d o w but no indication o f a footma r k

, I t is dif .

cul t t o imagine then h o w an outsider could

, ,

have made so te rrible an impression upon the

compan y nor have we found any possible mo
,

tive for so strange and elaborate an attempt .

Yo u perceive o ur dif culties Watson

!
,

They a re o nl y t o o clear I answered with
, ,

conviction .

A n d yet with a l ittle more material we may
, ,

prove that they are not insurmountable said ,

H olmes . I fancy that among your extensive

a rchives Watson you may nd some which were
, ,

nearly as obscure Meanwhile we shall put the

.
,

case aside until more accurate data are available ,

a n d dev o te the rest of our morning to the pursuit

o f neolithic man .

I may have commented upon my friend s
p ower of mental detachment but never have ,I
wonder e d at it more than upon that spring morn
ing in Cornwall when for two hours he discoursed
upon celts arrowheads and shards as lightl y as
, , ,

[ 2 5 6 ]
 TH E AD VE N TU RE OF TH E D EVI L S FOO T

if no sinister myste r y was waiting for his solu

tion I t was not until we had return ed in the
.

aft e rnoon to our cottage that we f o und a visitor

awaiting us who s o on br o ught our minds back
,

to the matt e r in hand N e ither of us ne e ded to

.

be told who that visitor was The huge body .

,

the craggy and de e ply seamed face with th e e r ce

-

eyes and hawk like n o se t h e g r izzled hair w hich

-
,

nea r ly b r ush e d our cottage c e iling th e b e a r d ,

gold e n at the fr inges and white near the lips save ,

for th e nicotine stain f r om his p er pe t ual cigar

all thes e w er e as w e ll kn own in L ondon as in
Af r ica and c o uld o nl y be associated with th e t r e
,

me n d o u s pe r sonality of D r L eon S terndale the .

,

g re at li o n hunter and explorer

-
.

W e had h e a r d of his pres e nce in the dist r ict ,

and had once or t w ice caught sight of his tall

gu r e upon the moo r land paths He mad e no .

advanc e s to us h o wever nor would we have

, ,

d re am e d o f d o ing so to him as it was w e ll kno w n ,

that it w as his lov e of seclusi o n which caus e d him

t o sp e nd th e gre ater pa r t of th e int er vals b e t wee n
his j ou r n e ys in a small bungalow bu r i e d in the
l o n e ly w oo d o f B e auchamp Arr ianc e H er e .
,

amid his b oo ks and his maps he liv e d an ab so ,

l ut e l y l o n e ly lif e att e nding to his ow n simple

,

wants and paying little appare nt h ee d to the

,

a ffai r s o f his n e ighb o u r s It was a su rp r ise to

.

me th ere fo r e t o h e a r him asking H o l m e s in an

, ,

eager voice whethe r he had made any advance

,

[ 7]
2 5
 H I S LA ST B O W
in his reconstructi o n o f this myste r i o us episode .

The county police are utterly at fault said b e ; ,

but pe rhaps y our wider e xperience has sug

gested some conc e ivable explanati o n My o nl y .

c laim to being taken int o your condence is that

d uring my many residences here I have come to

know this family of Tre ge n n is v e ry well indeed ,

u pon my Cor ni sh mother s side I c o uld call them

cousins and th e ir strange fate has naturally
been a great shock t o me I may tell you that
.

I had got as far as Plym outh upon my way to

Africa but the news reached me this mor ni ng
, ,

and I came st r aight b ack again to help in the in

quiry .

Holmes raised his eyebrows .

D id you lose your boat through it !

I will take the next .

D ear m e ! that is friendship indeed .

I tell you they w e re r e latives .

Quite so cousins of your mother W as

.

your baggag e ab o ar d the ship

S om e of it but th e main pa r t at the hotel
, .

I se e But su re ly this e v e nt could not have

.

found its way into the Plymouth morning p a

pers

No sir ; I had a tel e gram
, .

Might I ask f r om whom !
'

A shadow passed over the gaunt face o f the

e x pl ore r .

Y o u are very inquisitive Mr Holmes ,
'

. .

[ 2 5 8 ]
 H I S LAST B O W
ally allowed some o f his b aggage to go o n t o
Africa wh ile he returne d t o be present at this
,

investigation Wh at do yo u make o f that W at

.
,

so n !

He is deeply interested .

D eeply inte r ested yes T here is a thread .

he r e which we have not yet grasped and which ,

might lead us through the tangle Cheer up .

,

W atson for I am very sure that o ur material h a s

,

not yet all come to hand When it does we may.

,

soon leave our difculties behind us .

L ittle did I think how soon the words o f

Holmes would be realised o r how strange and ,

sinister would b e that new development which

opened up an entirely fresh line of investigation .

I was shaving at my window in the morning when

I h e a r d the rattle of hoofs and lookin g up saw , , ,

a dogca r t coming at a gallop do w n the road .

I t pulled up at our door and our friend the ,

V icar sp r ang from it and rushed up o ur garden

path H o lmes was al r eady dressed and we

.
,

hastene d d o wn to meet him .

O ur visitor was so e xcit e d that he could hardly

articulate but at last in gasps and bu r sts his
,

tragic sto r y came out of him .

We a r e devil ridden Mr Holmes ! My poor
-
,
'

parish is dev il ridden ! he cried
-
S atan himself .

is loose in it ! We are given ove r into his hands !
H e danced about in his agitation a ludicrous ,
 TH E AD V E N TURE OF TH E DEV I L S FOO T

o b j ect if it were not for his ashy face and startled

e yes . F inally he shot out his terr ible n ew s .

Mr Mortimer Trege nnis die d du r ing the
.

night and with e xactly the same symptoms as

,

the rest of his family .

Holmes sprang to his feet all energy in an ,

instant .

Can you t u s both into your d o gcart
Yes I can , .

Then Watson we will postpone our break

, ,

fast . Mr R oundhay we a r e enti re ly at your

.
,

disposal Hurry hurry before things get dis
.
,

a rranged .

t The l o dger occupied two rooms at the vicar

a ge which were in an angle by th e ms e lves
, the ,

o n e above the oth e r B e low was a la rg e sitting

.

ro o m ; above his bedro om They l o oked out

, .

upon a c ro quet l aw n which came up to the win

do w s We had arrived befor e the doctor or the
.

police so that everything was absolutely undis

,

t u rb e d L et me desc r ibe exactly the sc e ne as we

.

saw it upon that misty March morning It has .

left an impr e ssion which can never be e ff aced

from my mind .

The atmosphere of the room was of a hor rible

and d e p r essing stufn e ss The se r vant wh o had .

r st ent ere d had th r own up th e wind o w or it ,

would have b ee n even m or e int o l er able This .

might pa r tly be due t o the fact that a lamp stood

aring and smoking on the centre table Besid e .

[ 2 6 1 ]
 HI S LA ST B O W
it sat the dead man leaning b ack in his chair
, ,

his thin bea r d proj ecting his spectacles pushe d ,

up on to his forehead and his lean dark face , ,

turned towards the window and t w iste d into t he

s ame distortion of terror which had marked the
features of his dead sister H is limbs were con .

v ul se d and his ngers conto rted as though he

had died in a very paroxysm o f fear He w a s .

fully clothed though there were signs that his

,

dr e ssing had been done in a hurry We had al .

read y learned that his be d had been slept in and ,

that the t r agic e nd had com e t o him in the early

mo r ning .

O ne realised the red hot ene rgy which u nder

-

l ay Holmes s phlegmatic exterior when one saw

the sudden change which c ame over h im from the

moment that he e ntered the fatal apartment In .

an instant he was tense and ale r t his eyes shining , ,

his face set his limbs quive r ing with eager a c t iv

,

ity He was o ut on the lawn in through the

.
,

win dow round the room and up into the bed

, ,

room for all the world like a dashing foxhound

,

drawing a cover I n the bedroom he made a

.

rapid cast around and ended by throwing open

,

the window which appeared to give him some

,

fresh cause for excitement for he lean e d out of ,

it with loud ej aculations of interest and delight .

T hen he rushed down the stair out through the ,

open window threw himself upon his face on

,

the lawn sprang up and in t o the room once more

, ,

[ 2 6 2 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
and d r eaming in the cottage ; but a g r eater por
tion in count r y walks which he und e rtook alone ,

r eturning after many hours without remark a s

t o whe r e he had b e en O ne expe r iment se rved

.

t o show me the line of his investigati o n He h a d .

bought a lamp which was the duplicate of t he

o n e which had bu r ned in the room of Mortimer

Trege n n is on the morning of the tragedy Thi s .

he ll e d with the same Oil as that us e d at t he

V icarage and he carefully tim ed the pe r iod which
,

it would take to be exhausted Another e xp eri

.

ment which he made was of a m o re unpleasant

nature and one which I am not likely ever to
,

forget .

You wil l remember Watson he remarked
, ,

one afternoon that there is a single common
,

point of res e mblance in the va r ying reports ,

which have reach e d us This conc er ns the

.

e ff e ct of the atmosphe r e of th e r o om in each

case upon those wh o had r st e nt e r e d it You .

w ill recoll e ct that Mo r tim e r Trege n nis in de ,

scribing th e episod e o f his last visit to his brother s

house rema rked that the doct or on e ntering the

,

room fell into a chair ! Y o u had fo r gotten !

Well I can ans w er for it that it was so N o w

, .
,

you will remember also that M r s Po r ter the .

,

h o us e keepe r told us that she he r s e lf fainted

,

up o n entering th e room and had afterw ards

opened the window I n the second case that
.


of Mo r timer Trege nn is himself you cannot
[ 2 6 4 ]
 TH E AD VE N TU RE OF TH E E V I L S FOO T
D

have f orgott e n the hor r ible st ufn e ss of the

room wh e n we arrived th o ugh the servant had ,

thrown open the window That servant I found .

,

upon inquiry was so ill that sh e had gone to

,

h e r bed You will admit Watson that these

.
, ,

facts are ve r y suggesti ve In each case there .

is evid e nce of a poisonous atmosph er e In each .

c ase, als o there is combusti o n going o n in the

,

room in the one case a r e in the other a lamp .
,

The r e w as n ee ded but the lamp w as lit as a

,

compa r ison of th e o il consum e d w ill sho w long

aft e r it was b ro ad daylight Why ! Su re ly b e .

c ause th er e is some connection betwee n th r ee

things the bu r ning the stu ff y atm o sphe re and
, , ,

nally th e madn e ss or d e ath o f th o se u n fo rtu

,

nate p eo pl e That is clea r is it not
.
!
,

It w o uld app e a r so .

At l e ast we may accept it as a wo r king

hypoth e sis W e will supp o s e th e n that some
.
, ,

thing was burned in each case which p r oduced

an atm o sph e re causing st r ange toxic e ff e cts .

V e r y g o od In th e r st instance that o f the
.

Tre ge n n is family this substance was placed in

the r e N o w the w indo w was shut but the
.
,

r e would naturally carr y fum e s to s om e e xtent

up th e chimn e y H e nce on e wo uld e xp e ct the
.

e ffects o f the p o ison to be l e ss than in th e s e cond

case wh er e th ere w as l e ss escap e f or th e vapour
, .

Th e result se e ms to indicat e that it w as s o since ,

in the r st case only th e woman who had pre ,

[ 2 65 ]
 H I S LAST B O W

su mab l y the more s e nsitive organism was kill ed, ,

the others exhibiting that temporar y or pe rma

nent lunacy which is evidently the rst e ff ec t o f
the drug In the second case the r e sult was com
.

p l e t e The facts therefo r e seem

, to bear out t he ,

t heory o f a poison which worked by combustion .

With this tra in of reasoning in my head I
naturally looked about in Mortimer Tregennis s

room to nd s o me remains of this substance The .

obvious place to look was the talc shield or smoke

gua r d of the lamp There sure enough I per .
, ,

c e iv e d a num ber of aky ashes and round the ,

edges a fringe of brownish powder which h a d ,

not yet been consumed Half of this I took .

,

as you saw and I placed it in an envelope

, .

Why half Holmes ,
!

It is not for me my dear W atson to stand

, ,

in the way o f the o fcial police fo r ce I l e ave .

them all the evidence which I fo und The poison .

still remained upon the talc had they the wit to ,

nd it Now Watson we will light our lamp ;

.
, ,

we will however take the precaution to open our

, ,

window t o avoid the p r ematu r e decease of t w o

d e se rving m e mbers of society and you will seat ,

you r self near that op e n windo w in an arm chair -

,

u nl e ss like a s e nsibl e man you dete r mine to have

, ,

nothing to do with the a ff air O h you will se e .

,

i t out w ill you

,
! I thought I kn ew my Watson .

This chair I will place opposite y o urs so that we ,

may be the same distance f r om the p o ison and ,

[ 2 6 6 ]
 H I S LAST B O W

su mab l y the more sensitive o rganism kill ed , w as ,

the others exhibiting that temporar y or pe rma

nent lunacy which is evidently the rst e ff ect o f
the drug In the second case the r e sult was com
.

p l e t e T h e facts therefore seem

, to bear out t h e,

t heory of a poison which worked by combustion .

With this train of reasoning in my head I
naturally looked about in Mortimer Tregennis s

r o om t o nd some remains of this substance The .

o bvious place to look w a s the talc shield or smoke

guard of the lamp There sure enough I per .

, ,

c e iv e d a num ber of aky ashes and round the ,

edges a fr inge of brownish po w der which ha d ,

not yet been consumed Half of this I took .

,

as you saw and I plac e d it in an envelope

, .

Why half Hohn es ,

It is not fo r me my dear W atson to stand

, ,

in the w ay o f the ofcial police force I l e ave .

them all th e e vidence which I fo und The poison .

still remained upon the talc had they the wit to ,

nd it Now Watson we will light our lamp ;

.
, ,

we will howev e r take th e pr e caution to open our

, ,

window t o avoid the p r emature decease of two

d e serving members o f society and you will seat ,

y o u r s e lf near that op e n wind ow in an arm chair -

,

unl e ss like a sensibl e man you d e te r mine to have

, ,

nothing to do with the a ff air O h you will see .

,

i t out will you

,
! I thought I kn ew my Watson .

This chair I will place opposit e you r s s o that we ,

may be the same distance f r om the poison and ,

[ 2 6 6 ]
 T HE AD VE N TU RE OF TH E E VI L S FOO T

D

face to face The door we will leave ajar E ach

. .

is n o w in a position to watch the othe r and to

bring th e expe r im e nt to an end should the symp
toms seem ala rming Is that all clea r W e ll !.
,

then I take our po w der o r what remains of it
,

-
from the envelope and I lay it above the bu r n
,

ing lamp So ! N o w Watson let us sit down

.
, ,

and await dev e lopments .

Th e y w e r e not l o ng in coming I had ha r dly .

settled in my chair b e f o re I was conscious of a

thick musky o d o u r subtle and nause o us At
, ,
.

the very r st whi ff O f it my b r ain and my imag

in at io n w e r e b e yond all control A thick black .
,

cloud swi r l e d b e fo r e my eyes and my mind told ,

me that in this cloud unseen as yet but about t o

, ,

spring out upon my appalled senses lu r ked all ,

that was vagu e ly h or rible all that was monst ro us ,

and inconceivably wicked in the univ er se V a gue .

l

shapes s w irled and s w am amid the dark cl o ud

bank e ach a menace and a wa r ning of s o m e thing
,

coming the adv e nt of some unspeakable d w ell e r

,

up o n the th re sh o ld w h o s e v er y shad ow wo uld

,

blast my s o ul A fre ezing h o rr or t o ok p o ss e s

.

si o n of m e I f e lt that my hai r was r ising that

.
,

my ey e s wer e p r ot r uding that my m o uth w as ,

opened and my t o ngue lik e l e ath er The tur

, .

m o il within my b r ain w as such that som e thing !

must surely snap I t r ied t o sc re am and was

.
,

vaguely aw a r e of s o m e hoa r s e c ro ak which was

my own voice but distant and detached fr om my
,

[ 7]
2 6
 H I S LA S T B O W
self At the same moment in some e ffort of
.
,

escape I broke through that cloud of despair and

, ,

had a glimpse of Holmes s face white rigid and

, , ,

drawn with horror the very look which I had -

seen upon the features of the dead It was that .

vision which gave me an instant of sanity and of

strength I dashed from my chai r th r ew my
.
,

arms round Hohn es and together we lurched ,

th ro ugh the doo r and an instant after w a r ds had

,

th r own ou r selves do w n upon the grass plot and

were lying side by side conscious only of the ,

gl o rious sunshine which was bursting its way

through the hellish cloud of terror which had girt
us in S lowly it rose from our s o uls like the
.

mists from a landscape until peace and reason ,

had r e turned and we w ere sitting up o n th e grass

, ,

wiping our clammy for e heads and lo o king with ,

apprehension at e ach other to ma r k the last

t r ac e s of that terric experience which we had
unde r gone .

U pon my word Watson ! said Holmes at
,

last w ith an unst e ady voice I ow e you both my
, ,

thanks and an ap o l o gy It was an unj ustiable .

expe r im e nt even f or one self and doubly so for a ,

fr i e nd I am really v er y so rr y
. .

You know I answered w ith s ome emotion
, , ,

for I had never seen so much o f H o lmes s h e art

bef o re that it is mv greatest j oy and p r ivilege

,

to h e lp y o u .

H e relapsed at once into the half humorous -

,

[ 2 68 ]
 H I S LAST B O W
giving disposition Well in the next place you
.
, ,

will remember that this ide a of someone moving

in the garden which took our attention for a mo
,

ment from the real cause of the tragedy ema ,

n a te d from him H e had a motive in misleading

.

us F in all y if he did not throw this substanc e

.
,

into the r e at the moment of leaving the room ,

who did do so ! T he a ff air happened imm e di

ately after his depa rture Had anyone else come .

in the family would certa inly have risen from

,

the table B esides in peaceful C ornwall visitors

.
, ,

do not arrive after ten o clock at night We

.

may take it then that all the evidence po ints

, ,

t o Mortimer Trege nn is as the culprit .

Then his own death was suicide !
Well Watson it is o n the face o f it a not
, ,

impossible supposition T he man who had the .

guilt upon his soul of having brought su ch a fate

upon his own family might w ell be d r iven by re
morse to in i ct it upon himself The r e are how .
,

ever some cogent reasons against it F o rt u

, .

n a t el y there is one man in E ngland who kn ows

,

all about it and I have made arrangements by

,

w hich we shall hear the facts thi s afternoon from

his o w n li ps Ah ! he is a little before his time
. .

Perhaps you would k indly step this way D r , .

L eon S terndale We have been conducting a

.

chemical experiment indoors which has left o ur

little room hardly t for the reception o f so dis
t inguish e d a visitor .

[ 2 7 0]
 TH E A D VE N T U RE or TH E D EVIL S FOO T

I had hea r d the click o f the garden gate and ,

now the maj estic gure of the great African ex

p l o re r appeared upon the path H e t urned in .

some sur prise towards the rus t ic arbour in which

we sa t .

You sent for me Mr H ol mes I had your
,
'

. .

note ab out an hour ago and I have come though , ,

I really do not kn o w why I shoul d obey yo ur

summ ons .

Perhaps we can clea r the point up before

we separate said Holmes , Meanwh ile I am .
,

much obliged to you for y o ur c o urt e o u s a c quies ,

-L

cence You will excuse this informal reception

.

in the open air but my friend Watson and I have

,

nearly furnished an additional chapte r to what

the pape r s call the C o r nish Horror and we p re ,

fer a clear atmosphe r e f o r the present Pe rhaps .

,

s ince the matte r s w hich we have to discuss wi ll a f

fe ct you personally in a very intimate fashion ,

it is as well that we sh o uld talk w here the r e can

b e no eavesdropping .

The explorer took his cigar from his lips and

gazed st e rnl y at my companion .

I am at a loss to kn ow sir he said w hat , , ,

you can have to speak about w hich a ff ects me

personally in a very in timate fashion .

The killing o f Mortimer Tregenni s ,

Holmes .

F or a moment I wished that I were armed .

S t ern dal e s erce fac e tur ned to a dusky red

[ 2 7 1 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
his eyes glared and the knotted passionate veins
, ,

start e d out in his forehead while he sprang for ,

w ard with clenched hands towa r ds my compa u

ion Then he stopped and with a violent e ff ort
.
,

he resumed a cold rigid calmness which was per , , ,

haps more suggestive o f danger than his hot

,

h eaded out burst -

.

I have lived so long among savages and b e

yond the l aw said he that I have got into the
, ,

way of being a l aw to myself Y o u would do .

w ell Mr Ho hn es not to forget it for I have no

, .
, ,

d esi r e to do you an inj ury .

Nor have I any desire to do you an inj ury ,

D r Sterndale Su r ely the clearest proof of it is

. .

that knowing what I know I have sent for you

, ,

a n d not for the police .

S terndale sat down with a gasp overawed for , ,

perhaps the rst time in his adv e nturous life

,
.

T here was a calm assurance of power in Holmes s

manner which could not be withstood O ur v is .

it o r stamme re d for a moment his great hands ,

o pening and shutting in his agitation .

What do you mean he ask e d at last
! If , .

this is bluff upon your part M r Holmes you , .

,

h ave chosen a bad man for your exp er iment L et .

us have no more beating about the bush What .

d o you mean !

I will tell you said Holmes and the reason
, ,

why I tell you is that I hOp e f r ankness may beget

frankness What my next step may be will de
.

[ 2 7 2 ]
 HI S LA ST B O W
That is what y ou may expect to se e whe n
I follow you Yo u spent a restless night at your.

cottage and you formed certain plans which in

, ,

the early morning you proceeded to put into exe

c u t io n L eaving your doo r j ust as day was
.

breaking you lled your pocket with some red

,

dish gravel that was lying heaped beside your

gate .

Sterndale gave a violent start and looked at

Holmes in ama z ement .

You then walked swiftly for the mile which
separated you from the Vicarage You w ere .

wearing I may remark the same pair o f ribbed

, ,

tennis shoes which a re at the present moment

upon your feet At the V icarage you passed .

through the orchard and the side hedge coming ,

out under the window of the lodger Trege nn is .

It was now daylight but the household was not ,

yet stirring You d r ew some of the gravel from

.

y o ur pocket and you threw it up at the w indow

,

above you .

S terndale sprang to his feet .

I believe that y o u are the devil himself ! he
c r ied .

Holmes smiled at the compliment It took .

two o r possibly three handfuls befo r e th e lodger

, ,

came to the window You beckoned him to come .

down He d r essed hur r i e dly and d e scend e d to

.

his sitting room Y o u entered by the wind o w

-
. .

T here was an interview a short one during -

[ 2 7 4 ]
 T H E AD VEN T UR E D EVIL S FOO T
OF TH E

whi ch you walked up and do w n the room Then .

you passed out and closed the window standing ,

on the lawn outside smoking a cigar and watch

ing what occurred F inally after th e death o f .
,

Tregen ni s you withd r ew as you had c o me No w

, .
,

D r St e rndale how d o you j ustify such conduct

.
, ,

and what wer e the motives for your actions ! If

you preva r icat e or t r ie with me I give you my ,

assurance that the mat t er will pass out of my

hands for ever .

O ur visito r s face had turned ashen grey as he

listened to th e wor ds of his accuser N o w he sat .

for some tim e in thought with his face sunk in

his hands Th e n with a sudden impulsive ges
.

t u r e he plucked a photograph from his breast

pocket and th r e w it on the rustic table before u s .

That is why I have done it said he , .

I t showe d the bust and face of a very beaut iful

woman H o lmes stooped over it
. .

Brenda Trege nn is s a id he , .

Y e s B re nda Tregenn is r epeated our visi
, ,

to r . F or yea r s I have l o ved her F or years .

she has l o ved me There is th e secret o f that.

Cor ni sh seclusi o n which p e ople have marvelled

at It has b r ought me close to th e o ne thing on
.

earth that w as d e ar to me I could not ma rr y .

he r for I have a w ife w ho h as left me fo r yea rs

,

and yet wh o m by th e deplorable law s of E ng

,

land I could n o t di vorc e F or year s Brenda

, .

waited F or years I waited And this is what

. . .

[ 2 7 5 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W
we have waited for A terrible so b shook his
.

g reat frame and he clutched

, his th r oat under his
b r indled beard The n with an e ffort he mastered
.

himself and spoke o n .

The vicar kn ew He was in our condence . .

He would tell you that sh e was an angel upon

earth That was why he telegraphed to me and
.

I returned Wh at was my baggage or Africa to

.

me when I learned that such a fate had come

upon my darling ! There you have the miss ing
c lue to my action M r Hohn es
'

.
, .

Proceed said my friend
, .

D r S t er ndale drew from his pocket a p aper

.

packet and laid it upon the table O n the out .

side was written R a dz m p edis dia bo l i with a
'

re d poison label beneath it He pushed it .

towards me I understand that you are a doc
.

tor sir Have you ever heard o f this prepara

, .

t ion !

D evil s foot root ! N o I have never heard

-
,

o f it .

It is no reection upon your professional

k nowledge said he for I believe that save for
, , ,

o n e sample in a laboratory at B uda there is ,

no other specimen in E urope It has not y et .

found its way either into the pharmacopoeia or

in to the literature of toxicology The root is .

shaped like a foot half human half goatlike ; , ,

hence the fanciful name given by a botanical mis

sio n a ry . I t is used as an ordeal poison by the
[ 2 7 6 ]
 HI S LAST B OW

H o w he took it I cannot y for I never

sa left
, t h e

room but there is no doubt that it was then while

, ,

I was opening cabinets and stooping to boxes ,

that he managed t o abstract some of the devil s

foot root I well remember how he plied me with

.

questions as to the amount and the time that w as

needed for its e ff ect but I little dreamed that he
,

c oul d have a personal re a son for asking .

I thought no more of the matter until th e
vi car s telegram reached me at Plymouth This

.

V illain had thought that I would be at se a before

the news could re a ch me and that I sho ul d be
x
,

lo st for years in Africa B ut I returned at once

. .

O f co urse I could not listen to the details without

,

feeling assured that my poison had been used I .

c a me round to se e you o n the c hance that some

other e x planation ha d suggeste d itself to you .

B ut there could be non e I was convin ced that

.

Mortimer Tre ge nnis w as the murderer ; that for

the sake o f mone y and with the idea perhaps
, , ,

that if the other members of his family were all

insane he would be the so le guardian of their j oint
property he had used the devil s foot powder
,

-

upon them d r iven two of them out of their senses

, ,

and killed his sister B renda the one human bein g

,

whom I have e ver loved or who has ever loved me .

There w a s his crime ; what w a s to be his punish

ment !

Should I a ppeal to the law Where were my
!

proofs ! I knew th a t the fact s wer e true but ,

[ 2 7 8 ]
 TH E A D VE N T U RE OF TH E DEV IL
S F OO T

co uld I help to make a j ury of countrymen b e

li eve so fan tastic a story ! I might or I might
not But I could not a ff ord to fail My soul
. .

c ried out for revenge I have said to you once .

b efore Mr Ho l mes that I have S pent much of

, .
,

my life outside the law and that I have come ,

at last to be a l aw to myself So it was now I . .

determined that the fate which he had given to

others should be shared by himself E ithe r that or .

I would do j ustice upon h im wi th my own hand .

In all E ngland there can be n o man who sets less

value upon his own life than I do at the present
moment .

N o w I have told you all You have yourself .

supplied the rest I did a s you say after a rest

.
, ,

less night se t o ff ear ly from my cottage I

, .

foresaw the difculty of a rousing him so I gath ,

ered some gravel from the pil e which you have

mentioned a n d I used it to throw up to his win
,

dow He c ame down and admitted me through

.

the window of the sitting room I laid his o f -

.

fence be fo r e him I told him that I had come

.

b oth as j udge and e xecutioner The wr e tch sank .

into a chair paralysed at the sight of my revolver .

I lit the lamp put the powder above it and st o od

, ,

outside the window ready to carry out my th r eat

,

to sho o t him S hould he t r y to leave the room In .

ve minutes h e died My God ! ho w he died ! .

But my heart was int for he e ndured nothing ,

which my innocent darling had not f e lt before

[ 2 7 9 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
h im. There is my story Mr Holmes Per , . .

haps if you loved a woman you would have done

, ,

as much yourself At any rate I am in your

.
,

hands You can take w hat steps you like A S

. .

I have already said there is no man living who

,

can fear death less than I do .

Holmes sa t for some little tim e in silence .

What were your plans he asked at last
!
, .

I had intended to bury mys e lf in C entral

Africa My work there is but half nished
.

Go and do the other half said Holmes I , .
,

at least am n o t p r epared to prevent you
, .

D r Ste r ndale raised his giant gure bowed

.
,

g r avely and walked from the arbour Holmes

, .

lit his pipe and handed me his pouch .

Some fumes which a r e not poison o us would be

a welcome change said he I think you must
, .

agree Watson that it is not a case in which we

, ,

are called upon to interfe r e O ur investigation .

has been independent and o ur action S hall be ,

so also You would not denoun ce the man
.
!

Certainly not I ans w ered , .

I hav e never loved Watson but if I did and

, ,

if the woman I loved had met such an end I ,

might act even as our lawl e ss li o n hunt e r has -

done Who knows Well Watson I will not

.
!
, ,

O ff end your intelligence by explaining what is

obvious The gravel upon the window S ill w as
.
-
,

of course the starting point of my research I t

,
-
.

w a s unlike anything in the V icarage garden .

[ 2 8 0]
 H I S L AS T B O W

AN E P IL O GU E O F S HERLO C K HOLM E S

T was nine o clock at night upon t he second

of August the most terrible August in the
history of the world O ne might have though t
.

already that God s curse hung heavy over a de

generate world for there was an awesome hush

,

and a feeling of vague expectancy in the s ul try

and stagnant air The sun had long se t but one
.
,

blood red gash like an open wound lay low in the

-

dista nt west Above the stars were shining

.
,

brightly ; and below the lights of the shipp ing

,

glimmered in the bay T he two famou s Ger .

mans stood be side the stone parapet o f the gar

den walk with the long l o w heavily gabled hou se
, ,

behind them and they looked down upon the

,

broad sweep of the beach at the foot of the gre at

chalk cli ff on which Von Bork like some wander ,

ing eagle had perched himself four years be fore

, .

T hey stood with their hea ds close together tal k ,

[ 2 8 2 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W
ing in low cond e ntial tones F rom bel ow the
, .

tw o glowing ends of their cigars might have been

the sm ouldering eyes of some malignant end
looking down in the darkne ss .

A r emar kable man this V on Bork a man who
could hardl y be matched among all th e devoted
agents of the K ai se r It was his tal e nts w hich
.

had rst recommended him for th e E nglish mis

sion the most M p o rt an t mission of all but sinc e
, ,

he had taken it over those talents had b e come

,

mo r e and more manifest to the half dozen pe o ple -

in the wo r ld who were really in touch with the

t r uth O ne of these was his present companion
.
,

B aron Von Herling the chief secretary o f the

,

legation whose huge l OO ho r se p ow er B enz car

,
- -

was blockin g the country lane as it waited to

waft its owner b ack to L ondon .

S o far as I can j udge the trend of events ,

you will probably b e back in Berlin within the

week the secretary was saying
, When y o u .

get there my dear V on Bork I think you will be

, ,

surpris e d at the welcome you will receiv e I .

happen to know what is th o ught in th e highest

quarte r s of you r work in this country H e w as .

a huge man the sec r etary deep b ro ad and tall

, , , , ,

with a slow heavy fashion of speech which had

,

been his main as set in his political career .

V on Bork laughed .

They are not very hard to deceive he re ,

[ 2 8 3 ]
 H I S LAST B O W
marked A more doc ile simple folk could n o t
.
,

be imagined .

I don t know about that said the other

,

thoughtfully They have strange lim its and
.

one must learn to observe them It is that sur .

face simplicity o f thei r s which makes a t r ap for

the st r anger O ne s r st imp r ession is that they
.

a r e enti r ely soft Then one c o m e s suddenly .

upon something very hard and y o u know that ,

y o u have reach e d th e limit and must adapt your ,

self to the fact They have for example their

.
, ,

insular conventions which S iin p l y must be Ob

served .

Meaning good form and that sort of thing
,
!

V on B ork sighed a s one who had su ff ered much , .

Meaning British prej udice in all its queer
manifestations As an example I may quote one
.

of my own w o rst blunders I can a ff ord to talk
of my blunders for you know my work well ,

enough to be aware of my success e s It was on .

my r st arrival I was invited to a week end .

-

gathe r ing at the country house o f a cabinet mini s

te r The conversation was amaz ingly indis
.

crect .

V on B ork nodded
I ve been there said he .

,

dryly .

E xactly Well I naturally sent a r s um

.
,

of the info rmation to B erlin U nfortunately our .

good Chancellor is a little heavy handed in these -

matters and he transmitte d a remark which

,

[ 2 8 4 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
the terrace V on B ork pushed it back and
.
, ,

leading the way he clicked the switch of the ele c

,

tric light He then closed the door behind the

.

bul ky form which followed him and carefull y ad ,

j usted the heavy curtain over the latticed win

dow . O nly when all these precautions had been
taken and teste d did he turn his sunb urned aqui
line face to his guest .

S ome of my papers have gone said he , ,

when my wife and the ho ush o l d left yesterday

for F lushi n g they too k the less important with
them I must of course claim the protection
.
, ,

o f the embassy for the others .

Your name has already been led as o ne o f
the personal suite There will be no difficulties
.

for you o r your baggage O f course it is j ust .

,

possible that we may not have to go E ngland .

may leave F rance to her fate We are sure that .

there is no binding treaty between them .

And B elgium !

Yes and B elgium t o o

, , .

V on Bork shook his hea d I don t see how .

that could be There is a de nite treaty there

. .

She cou l d never recover fro m such a humiliation

.

S he would at least h ave p eace for the mo

ment .

B ut her honour !

T ut my dear sir we l ive in a utilit arian age

, , .

H onour is a mediaeval conception B esides E ng .

land is not ready I t is an inconceivable thing

. ,

[ 2 8 6 ]
 H I S LAST B OW

but even our special war tax of fty million ,

which o ne would think made our p ur p o se as clear

as if we had advertised it on the front page of
the Times has not roused these people from their
,

slumbers Here and there one h e ar s a question

. .

It is my business to nd an answe r H e re and .

the r e also there is an irr itation It is my business .

to so o th e it But I can assure you that SO far as

.

the essentials go the storage of munitions the ,

p re pa r ation f o r submarine attack the ar range ,

me nts for making high expl o sives nothing is
p r epared How then can E ngland come in e s
.
, , ,

e c ia l l y when we have sti r red her up such a devil s

p
b re w of I r ish civil war window breaking F uries
,
-
,

and God knows what to keep her thoughts at

home .

She must think o f her future .

A h that is another matter

,
I fancy that in .

the future we have our own very denite plans

,

about E ngland and that your information will

,

be ve r y vital to us It is to day or to morrow

.
- -

with Mr J o hn Bull If he prefers to day we

. .
-

ar e p er fectly ready If it is to morrow we shall

.
-

b e more r eady still I S h o uld think they would

.

be wiser to ght with allies than w ith o ut th em ,

but that is their o w n a ff air This week is th e ir

.

week of destiny But y o u were speaking of y o ur

.

papers . H e sat in th e armchair with the light

shining up o n his broad bald head whil e he ,

pu ff ed sedately at his cigar .

 H I S LA S T B O W

T he large oak p ann elled book lined room had

-
,
-

a curtain hung in the further corner When this .

was drawn it disclosed a large brass bound s afe ,

-
.

V on B ork detached a sma l l key from his watch

chain and after some considerable m a nipulation
,

o f the lock he s w ung open the heavy door .

L ook ! said he standing clear with a wave o f

, ,

his hand .

The light shone vivi dl y int o the opened safe ,

and the secretary o f the embassy ga z ed with an

absorbed int e rest at the rows o f stu ff ed pigeon
holes with which it w a s furni shed E ach pigeon .

hole had its label and his eyes as he glance d along

,

them read a long series of such titles a s F ords

,

Harbour defences -
Aeroplane s , Ireland , ,

E gypt ,

Portsmouth forts
The C hannel , ,

R o sy the ,and a score o f others E ach com .

artme n t was b r istling with papers and plans

p .

Colossal ! said the secreta r y Putting down .

his cigar he softly clapped his fat hands .

And all in four years B ar o n Not such a
, .

ba d S how fo r the hard drinking ha r d riding

-
,
-

country squi r e B ut the gem o f my collection

.

is coming and there is the setting all ready for it .

He pointed to a S pace over which Naval S ig
n a l s was printed .

But you have a good dossier there already .

O ut of date and waste paper The A dmir .

alty in some way got the ala rm and every code

has been changed I t w as a blo w B aron the
.
,

[ 2 8 8 ]
 H I S LAST B O W

S ides he is not a traitor I assure you that o ur .

most pan Germanic Ju nk er is a sucking dove in

-

his feelings towa r ds E ngland as compared with a

real bitter I rish A m erican -
.

O h an I rish American
,
! -

If you heard him talk you w o ul d n o t doubt

it Sometimes I assure you I can har dl y under
.

stand him He s e ems t o have declared war o n

.

th e K ing s E nglish as well as on the E nglish

K ing Must you really go

.
! He may be here
any moment .

No I m sorry but I have already over
.

stayed my time We shall expect you early to

.

morrow and when you get that S ign a l book

,

through the little door o n the D uke of York s

steps you can put a triumphant F inis to your

record in E ngland What ! Tokay ! .H e in '

d ic a t e d a heavily s e aled dust covered b o ttle which -

stood with two high glasses upon a salver .

M ay I o ff er y ou a glass before your j our

ney !

N 0 thanks But it looks like revelry
, . .

Altamont has a nice taste in wines a n d he ,

took a fancy to my Tokay He is a touchy fel .

l o w and needs humourin g in small things I .

have to study him I assure you They had
, .

strolled out on to the terrace again and along it ,

to the fu r ther end wh er e at a touch from the

B aron s chau ffeur the great car shivered and

chuckl e d . Those are the lights o f Ha r wich I ,

[ 2 9 0]
 H I S LA ST B O W

suppose said th e sec re tary pul l ing on his dust

, ,

coat . How still and peac e ful it all seems .

There may be other lights within the week and ,

th e E nglish coast a l e ss t r anquil place ! The

heavens t o o may not be quite so peaceful if all
, ,

that the good Zeppelin promises us comes true .

By the way who is that !
,

O nly one window S howed a light behind them ;

in it there stood a lamp and beside it seated at
, ,

a table was a dear old ruddy face d woman in a

,
-

country cap She wa s bending over her knitting

.

and stopping occasionally to stroke a large black

cat up o n a stool beside her .

That is Martha the onl y servant I have left

, .

The sec re tar y chuckled .

She might alm o st personify B ritannia said ,

he with her complete self absorption and gen

,
-

eral air of c o mfo r table somnolence Well au .

,

revoir V on Bo r k !
,

with a nal w ave of his
hand he sprang into the car and a moment later ,

the tw o golden cones from the h e adlights shot

f o rwa r d th r ough the da rkness The sec r etary .

lay back in the cushions of the luxurious limou

sine with his thoughts so full of the impending
,

E u r opean t r age dy that he har dly obs e rv e d that

as his car s w ung r o und the villag e st r e e t it nea r ly
passed over a little F ord coming in the opposite
dir e ction .

Von Bo rk walke d slo w ly back to the study

when the last gleams of the motor lamps had
[ 2 9 1 ]
 HI S LA ST B O W
f aded into the distance A s he passed he o b .

s erved that his o l d housekeeper had put o ut her

lamp and retired I t was a n e w experience to .

h im the silence and darkness o f his widespread

,

house for his family and household had been a

,

l arge one It was a relief to him however t o

.
, ,

t hink that they were all in safety and that b ut ,

for that one old woman who had lingered in th e

kitchen he had the whole pl a ce to himself Ther e
, .

was a good deal of tidying up to do inside his

study and he set him self to do it until his keen , ,

h andsome face w as ushed with the heat o f the

burning papers A leather vali se stood be side .

his table and into this he began to pack very

,

n eatly and systematically the precious contents

o f his safe He had ha r dly got sta r ted with t he

.

work however when his qui ck ears caught the

, ,

sound of a dist a nt car I ns tantly he gave an e x .

clamati o n of satisfaction strapped up the valise , ,

S hut the safe locked it and hurried out on to the

, ,

terrace He was j ust in t ime to se e the lights o f

.

a small car come to a halt at the gate A p as .

senger sprang out of it and advanced swiftly

towards him while the chau ff eur a heavily built
, , ,

elderly man with a grey moustache settled down

, ,

like one who resigns him self to a long vigil .

Well asked V on B ork eagerly running for
!
,

ward to mee t his visitor .

F or answer the man waved a small brown

p aper parcel triumphantly above his head .

[ 2 9 2 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

And they reckon you to be some sp y Why a .

,

Yankee crook would be into that with a can

opener If I d known that any letter of mine
.

was g o in to lie loose in a thing like that I d have

been a mug to write to you at all .

It would pu z zle any crook t o f o rc e that safe ,

V on B ork answered Yo u won t cut that metal

.

with any tool .

B ut the lock !

N 0 it s a doubl e combin a tion lock You
,

.

know what that is !

S earch me said the A m erican

, .

Well you need a word as well as a set o f

,

gures before you can get the lock to work .

He rose and showed a double radiating disc -

round the keyhole This outer o n e is fo r the

.

lette r s the inner one for the gures
, .

Well well that s ne

, ,

.

So it s not quite as simpl e as you thought

.

It was four years ago that I had it made and ,

what do you thi nk I chose for the word and g

ures.

It s beyond me

.

Well I ch o se Au gust for the word a n d 19 1 4

, ,

for the gu r es and h er e w e are , .

The Am e r ican s face showed his surprise and

a dmiration .

My but that w a s smart ! You had it down
,

to a ne thing .

Yes a few of us even then co ul d have
,

[ 2 9 4 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

g uessed the date He r e it is and I m

. shut ,

ting do w n to morr o w morning -
.

Vt e l l I guess you ll have t o x me up also
T
/
.
,

I m n o t staying in this g o ldar ned c o unt r y all on

my lonesome In a week o r l e ss f r om what I see

.
,

J o hn Bull will be on his hind l e gs and fai r ramp

ing I d rather watch him fr om over the water
.

.

But you r e an Ame r ican citiz e n

!

Well so was Jack James an Ame r ican citi

,

zen but he s doing time in Po r tland all th e same

,

.

It cuts no ice with a B r itish c o pper to tell him

you re an Am erican citizen

It s British law and .

o r der over here says he B y the way Miste r

,

.
, ,

talking of Jack James it seems to me you don t ,

do much to cover your men .

Wh at d o you mean !
V on B ork asked
S harply .

We ll you are their employer ain t you I t s
,
!
,

up to you to see that they d o n t fall down But

.

they do fall do w n and when did you ever pick ,

them up Th e re s James
!

It was Jam e s s ow n fault You know that
.

you r self He w as t oo self willed for the j o b

.
-
.

James was a bone head I give you that .

Then there was Hollis .

The man w as mad .

Well he went a bit woo z y towards the end

, .

It s enough to make a man bughouse when he

has to play a part from morning to night with a

[ 2 9 5 ]
 H IS LA ST B O W

hundred guys a l l ready t o set t he coppers wis e

to him But now there is S teiner
.

V on B ork started violently and his ruddy fac e ,

turned a shade p aler .

What about S teiner !

Well they ve got h im that s all T hey

,

,

.

r aided his store last night and he and h is paper s,

are all in Portsmouth gaol You l l go o ff a n d .

he poor devil will have to stand the racket and

, , ,

lucky if he gets o ff with his life That s why I .

want to get over the water a s soon as you do .

V on B ork was a strong self contained man ,

-
,

but it w a s easy t o se e that the news had S haken

How c ould they have got on to S teiner he ,

muttered . That s the worst blow yet

.

Well y ou nearly had a worse o ne for I be
, ,

lieve they a r e n o t far o ff me .

You don t mean that !

S ure thing My landlady down F rat t o n way

.

had some inqu iries and when I heard of it I

,

guessed it was tim e for me to hustle But what .

I want to know Mister is how the coppers kno w

, ,

these things ! Steiner is the fth man you v e

lost S ince I signed on with you and I know the ,

name of the sixth if I don t get a move on How

.

do you explain it and ain t you ashamed to se e

,

y our men go do w n like this !

Von B o r k ush e d c r imson .

How da r e you speak in such a way !
[ 2 9 6 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
the last hundred did it I t s cost me two hun .

d r ed pound from rst to last so it isn t likely I d ,

giv e it up without g e ttin my wad

.

Von B or k smil e d with some bitterness You .

don t se e m to have a very high opinion of my

honour said he you want the money before
, ,

you give up the book .

W e ll Mist e r it IS a business proposition
, , .

All right Have your way

. He sa t down
at the table and scribbled a ch e que w hich he ,
~

t o re from the book but he refrained from handing

,

it to his companion
After all S ince we ar e
.
,

to be on such te rms M r A l tamont said he , .

, ,

I don t se e why I shoul d trust you any more

than you trust me D o y o u understand .
! he
added looking back over his! S houlder at the
,

Ame r ican There s the cheque upon the table
.

.

I claim the right to examine that parcel before

you pick the money up .

The American passed it over without a word .

V on B or k undid a winding of string and two

w rappe r s of paper Then he sat gazing for a
.

moment in sil e nt ama z ement at a small blue book

which lay b e fo r e him Across the cover was .

printed in golden letters P ra c tica l H a n d bo o k of

B 6 6 C ul ture O nly for one instant did the mas
.

t e r spy glare at this strangely ir r elevant 1n scrip

tion The next he was gripped at the back o f
.

his neck by a grasp of i r on and a chloroformed ,

sponge was held in front o f his writhing fac e .

[ 2 9 8 ]
 H I S LA S T B O W

An o the r glass Watson ! said Mr Sh e rlock
, .

Holm es as he exte nd ed the bottle o f Imperial

,

Tokay .

The thickset chau ff eur who had seated him ,

self by the table pushed fo r ward his glass with

,

some e agerness .

It is a g o od wine Hohn es ,
.

A remar kable wine Watson O ur f r iend , .

upon the s o fa has assured me that it is fro m

F ranz J o seph s special cellar at the S ch oe n

b r unn Palace Might I tr o uble you to op e n the

.

window for chloroform vapour does not help the

,

palate .

The safe was aj ar and Holmes standing in ,

front of it was removing dossier after dossi er ,

swiftly examining each and then packing it ,

n e atly in Yo u B ork s valise The Ge r man lay

.

up o n the sofa S l ee ping st er t o rously with a str ap

r o und his uppe r a r ms and an o th e r r o und his l e gs .

W e need n o t hu r ry ourselv e s Watson W e , .

are safe fr om inter r uption Would y o u mind .

t o uching the bell The re is no one in the h o us e

.

exc e pt old Ma r tha who has play e d her p a r t t o

a dmi r ati o n I g o t h er the S ituati o n he re wh e n
.

r st I t oo k th e matter up Ah Ma r tha you .

, ,

will be glad to h e a r that all is w ell .

The pl e asant old lady had appea r ed in th e

d o o rway She cu r ts e y e d with a smile to Mr
. .

H o lm e s but glanc e d with some apprehe nsi o n

,

at the gure upon the sofa .

 HIS LA S T B O W
It is all right M artha H e has not bee n , .

hurt at all .

I am glad of that Mr Holmes According t o , . .

his lights he has been a kind master He wanted .

me to go with his wife to G er many yest e rday ,

but that would hardly have suited your pla ns ,

would it S ir !
,

No ind e ed M artha S O long as you were
, , .

he r e I was easy in my mind We waited some .

tim e for your signal to night -

It was the secretary S ir , .

I know His car passed ours . .

I th o ught he would never go I knew that .

it would not suit y our plans S ir t o nd him , ,

he r e.

N O inde ed
, W ell it only meant that we
.
,

waited half an hour or so until I saw your lamp

go o ut and knew that th e coast was clear You .

can re p or t t o me t o morrow in L ondon Mar tha -

, ,

at Cl a ridge s Hotel
.

V ery good S i r
, .

I supp o se you have ev e rything ready t o

leave !

Y e s sir H e p o sted seven letters to day
, .
-
.

I have the add r ess e s as usual .

V e r y go o d Ma rtha I will lo o k into them
, .

to morrow Good night These pape r s

-
. he -
.
,

c o ntinued as the old lady va ni shed a r e not of
, ,

very gr e at importance for of cou r se the in fo r , ,

mation which they represent has been sent o ff

[ 3 0 0]
 HI S LAST B O W
But you had reti r ed H o lmes We hea r d of, .

you as living the life of a h er mit among your

bees and your books in a small farm upon the

S outh D owns .

E xactly Watson Here is the fruit of my
, .

leisure d ease the magnum opus of my latter

,

years ! He picked up the volume fr om the ta
ble and read out the whole title P ra c tica l H a nd ,

bo o k o f B e e C u l t ure ,
wit h so me O bserva tiom
up o n t he S egrega tio n
f Q Alone
o I t he u een .

did it B ehold the fruit of pensive nights and

.

labo r ious days w hen I watch e d the little working

,

gangs as once I watched the crimin al world o f

L ondon
.

But how did you get to work again !

Ah I have Often marvelled at it myself T he

, .

Fo r e ign Minister alone I could have withstood ,

but when the Premier also deign ed to visit my

humble roof The fact is Wat s n t h at ,
o .

this gentleman upon the sofa was a bit t o o good

for our people He was in a class by himself
. .

Things we r e going wrong and no o ne could un ,

d e rst a n d why t h ey were going wrong Age nts .

were suspect e d or even caught but there was evi ,

d e nce of some strong and s e cret central force It .

was absolutely necessary to expose it S trong .

pressure was brought upon me to look into the

matter It has cost me two years Watson but
.
, ,

they have not been devoid of excitement When .

I say that I start ed my pilgrimage at C hicago ,

[ 3 02 ]
 H I S LA S T B OIV

g r aduated in an I r ish s e c r et soci e ty at Bu ff alo ,

gave serious trouble to the c o nstabulary at

S kibb are en and so eve ntually caught the eye of
a subo r dinate ag e nt of Vo n B o rk who re co m ,

mend e d me as a lik e ly man you will realise that ,

the matter was complex Sinc e th e n I have been .

honou r ed by his condence which has not p r e ,

vented most of his plans g o ing subtly w ro ng and

ve of his best agents being in pris o n I .

watch e d them Watson and I picked them as

, ,

they r ipened Well sir I hope that you are

.
, ,

none the worse !

The last remark was addressed to V on B ork
himself who aft e r much gasping and blinking
,

had lain quietly listening t o Holm e s s statement

.

He broke out no w into a furious stream of Ger

man invective his face convulsed with passion
,
.

Ho l m e s continu e d his swift investigation of docu

ments w hil e his p r is o ner cu r sed and s w ore .

Though unmusical G erman is the m o st ex
,

p ressive of all lan g uag e s he observed w
, hen ,

Vo n Bo rk had stopped f r om pu re e xhausti o n .

Hullo ! Hull o ! h e added as he l o ok e d har d at ,

the co r ne r of a tracing b e fore putting it in the

box . This sh ould put anothe r bi r d in the cage .

I had n o id e a that the paymaste r was such a

rascal though I have long had an ey e upon him
, .

Mist e r Von Bork you have a great deal to a n

,

s w e r for .

The p ris i r had raised himself with s ome dif

Tr
'

[ 3 03 ]
 HI S LAS T B O W
c ulty up o n the sofa and was staring with a strange
mixture of amazement and hatred at his captor .

I shall get leve l with you A ltamont he , ,

said speaking with slow deliberati o n if it take s
, ,

me all my life I shall ge t level with you !

The old sweet song said H ohnes

, H ow .

o ften have I heard it in days gone by I t was .

a favourite ditty of the late lamented Professor

Mo r iarty C olo nel S e b as tian Moran has als o

.

been know n to warble it A n d yet I live and

.

k eep bees upon the S outh D owns .

Curse you yo u double traitor ! t rie d the
,

German stra ining against his bonds and glaring

,

murder from his furious eyes .

No no it is not so bad as that said H olmes
, , , ,

smiling . As my speech surely shows y ou Mr , .

Altamont of C hicago had n o e x istence in fact .

I used him and he is gone .

Then who are you !

It is really imma terial w ho I am but since ,

t h e matter seems to interest you Mr V on B ork , .

,

I may sa y that this is not my rst acqu aintance

with the members o f your family I have done .

a good deal of business in Germany in the past

a n d my name is probably fami l iar to you .

I woul d w ish to k now it said the Pruss ian
,

gr imly .

It was I who brought about the separat ion
betwee n I rene Adler and the late K ing of B 0
b emia when your cousin H e in rich was the I m
[ 3 04 ]
 H I S LAST B O W

to fall b e fore some more ignoble foe These pa .

;

pers a r e now ready Watson If you will help

, .

me with our prisoner I think that we may get

,

sta r ted for L ondon at once

.

I t was no easy task to move V on B ork for ,

he was a strong and a desperate man F inally .

,

holding eithe r arm the t w o friends walked him

,

very slowly down the garden walk which he had

trod with such proud condence when he re
c e iv e d the congratulations o f the famous diplo

ma t ist only a few hours before After a S hort .

,

nal struggle he was hoisted still bound hand ,

and foot into the S pare seat o f the little car

,
.

H is precious valise was wedge d in beside him .

I trust that you are as comfortable a s circum

stances permit said Holmes when the nal
, ,

arrangements were made S hould I be guilty

.

of a liberty if I lit a cigar and place d it between

your lips !

But all amenit ies were wasted upon the angry

German .

I suppose you realis e M r S herlock H o l mes
, .
,

said he that if your Governm ent bears you
,

out in this treatment it becomes an act of war .

What about your Gove rnm ent and all this

treatment said Holmes tapping the valise
!
, .

You are a private individual You have no .

warrant for my arrest The whole proceeding

.

is absolutely illegal and outrageous .

Absolutely said Holmes
, .

[ 3 06 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
Kidnapping a German sub j ect .

And stealing his private papers .

Well you realise your position you and your

, ,

accomplice he re If I were to shout for help

.

as we pass through the village

My dear sir if you did anything so foolish
,

you would probably enlarge the two limited title s

of our village inns by giving us The D anglin g
P russian as a sign post T he E nglishman is a

-
.

patient creatu r e but at present his temper is a

,

little in amed and it would be a s well not t o try

him too far N O Mr V on B ork you will go
.
, .
,

with us in a quiet sensible fashion t o S cotland

,

Yard whence you can send for y our friend

, ,

B aron Von H erling and see if eve n now you may

,

not ll that place which he has reserved for you in

the ambassadorial suite A s to you Watson .
, ,

you are j oining us with y o ur Ol d service as I ,

understand so L ondon won t be out of your way

,

.

Stand with me here upon the terrace for it may

be the last quiet talk that we S hall ever have
.

T he two fr iends chatted in intimate converse

for a few m inutes recal li ng once again the days
,

of the p ast whilst their prisoner vainly wriggled

to undo the bonds that held him A S they turned .

t o the car Holmes pointed b ac k to the moonlit

,

sea and S hook a thoughtful head

, .

There s an east wind coming Watson

, .

I think not H o lmes I t is very warm

, . .

Goo d ol d W atson ! Y ou are the one x ed

[ 7]
3 0
 HI S LA S T B O W
c ulty upon the sofa and was staring with a strange
mixture of amazement and hatred at his captor .

I S hall get leve l with you Altamont he , ,

said speaking with slow deliberation if it take s
, ,

me all my life I shall ge t level with you !

The old sweet song said H olmes

, H ow .

o ften have I heard it in days gone by I t was .

a favou r ite ditty of the late lamented Profess o r

Moriarty C olo nel S e b as tian Mor a n has also

.

been known to warble it And yet I live and .

k eep bees upon the S outh D owns .

Curse you yo u double traitor ! (cried the
,

German straining against his bonds and glaring

,

murder from his furious eyes .

No no it is not so bad as that said H ohn es
, , , ,

A S my speech s urely S hows y ou Mr

smiling .
, .

Altamont of C hic ago had n o existence in fact .

I used him and he is gone .

Then who are you !

It is really imma terial w ho I am but since ,

t h e matter seems to interest you Mr V on B ork , . ,

I may say that this is not my rst acqu aintance

with the members of your family I hav e done .

a good deal of business in Germ any in the past

a n d my name is probably familiar to you .

I woul d w ish to k now it said the Prussian ,

griml y .

It was I who b rough t about the separation
betwee n I rene Adler and the late K ing of B 0
b emia when your cous in H einrich was the I m
[ 3 04 ]
 H I S LAS T B O W

to fall befo r e some more ignoble foe These p a .

a

pers a r e now ready Watson I f y ou wi l l help

, .

me with our prisoner I think that we may get

,

started for L ondon at once

.

It was no easy task to move V on B ork for ,

he was a strong and a desperate man F inally .

,

holding either arm the t w o friends walked him

,

very S lowly down the garden walk which he had

trod with such proud condence when he re
ce iv e d the congratulations o f the famous diplo

ma t ist only a few hours before After a short .

,

nal struggle he was hoisted still bound hand ,

and foot into the S pare seat o f the little car

, .

H is precious valise w a s wedged in beside him .

I trust that you are as comfortable as circum

stances permit said Hol mes when the nal
, ,

arrangements were made Should I be guilty

.

of a liberty if I lit a cigar and placed it between

your lips !

But all amenities were wasted upon the angry

Ge rman .

I suppose yo u real ise M r S herlock H olmes
, .
,

said he that if your Governm ent bears you
,

out in this treatment it becomes an act of war .

What about your Gove rnment and all this

treatment said Holmes tapping the valise
!
, .

You are a private individual You have no .

wa r rant for my arrest The whole proceeding

.

is absolutely illegal and outrageous .

Abs o lutely said Holmes
, .

[ 3 06 ]
 HI S LAST B O W
Kidnapping a German sub j ect .

And stealing his private papers .

Well you realise your position you and your

, ,

accomplice here I f I were to shout for help

.

as we pass through the vil lage

My dear sir if you did anything SO foolish
,

you would probably enlarge the t w o limited titl e s

of our village inns by giving u s The D angling
Prussian as a sign post T he E nglishm an is a

-
.

patient creature but at present his temper is a

,

little inamed and it would be a s well not t o t ry

him too far N 0 Mr Von B ork you will go
.
, .
,

with us in a quiet sensible fashion t o S cotland

,

Yard whence you can send for y our friend

, ,

B ar o n Von Herling and see if even now you may

,

not ll that place which he has reserved for you in

the ambassadorial suite A s to you Watson .
, ,

you are j oining us with your old service a s I ,

understand so L ondon won t be o ut of your way

,

.

Stand with me here upon the terrace for it may

be the last quiet talk that we S hall ever have
.

T he two fr iends chatted in intimate converse

for a few m in utes recalling once again the days
,

of the past whilst their prisoner va inly wriggled

to undo the bonds that held him As they turned .

t o the car Holmes pointed b ac k to the moonlit

,

se a and shook a thoughtful head

, .

There s an east wind coming Watson

, .

I think not Hohn es I t is very warm

, . .

Good ol d W atson ! Y ou are the one x ed

[ 7]
3 0 1
 H I S LAS T B O W

to fall b e fo r e some more ignoble foe These p a .

pers are now ready Watson If you wi l l help

, .

me with our prisoner I think that we may get

,

started for L ondon at once

.

It was no easy task to move V on B ork for ,

he was a strong and a desperate man F inally .

,

holding either arm the t w o friends walked him

,

very slowly down the garden walk which he had

trod with such proud condence when he re
c e iv e d the congratulations o f the famous diplo

ma t ist only a few hours before After a S hort .

,

nal struggle he was hoisted still bound hand ,

and foot into the spare seat o f the little car

,
.

His precious valise was wedge d in beside him .

I t r ust that you are as comfortable a s c ircum

stances permit said Holmes when the nal
, ,

arrangements were made Should I be guilty

.

of a liberty if I lit a cigar and place d it between

your lips !

But all amenities were wasted upon the angry

German .

I suppose yo u real ise M r S herlock Holmes
, .
,

said he that if your Governme n t bears you
,

out in this treatment it becomes an act of war .

What about your Gove rnm ent and all this

treatment said Holmes tapping the valise
!
, .

You are a private individual You have no .

warrant for my arrest The whole proceeding

.

is absolutely illegal and outrageous .

Abs o lutely said Holmes
, .

[ 3 06 ]
 HI S LAST B O W

p oint in a c hanging age T here s an east

. wind

coming all t he same such a wind a s never blew

,

o n E ngland y et I t will be cold and bitter Wat

.
,

so n and a go o d man y o f u s may wither befor e

,

B ut it s God s o w n wind none the less

it s blast

.
,

a n d a cleaner bett er stronger land will lie in the

, ,

sunshine when the storm ha s cleared S tart her .

up Watson fo r it s time that we were on our

, ,

Wa y I have a cheque for ve hundred p ounds

.

which should be cashed early for the dr awer is ,

quit e c apable o f stopping it if he can , .

TH E E ND
 D C L I U U

am ng E ngli h g n tl f l k
b Ll l l b Da a a i
r
gg P
o s e e o Ne t ,
F Te nny s o n Je s s e
.

S E C R ET B RE AD
A b i g n v l t and i ng h ad and h uld

o e s e s o er s
ab v t h uc k
,

o h
e pa ag alm t e r as ss es os
f g a tn N w S t t m n N t
o re ess . e a es a . e ,

M ar y R o b e rt s R i n e h art
BAB : A S u b -D e b

m t cl v and amu i ng f all M
Th e os e er s o rs
R i n ha t b k N w Y k Tim
.

e r s oo s e or es
Illu t at d b y M y Wi l n P t n
. .

s r e a so re s o .

12 mo Ne t ,
S ap p e r
.

NO M AN S LAN D

tt t i f t h W w ill ha dl y b
Be er s o r e s o e ar r e
i tt n N w Y k Gl b
wr N t
e

e or o e e

G B L an a t
.
.
,

c s er
FOO L DIVINE A n v l f t h t p i c a
. .

o e o e ro se s

pa i n w i th t h ma t
r so N t e s er s . e ,

Ba n ro O y e ss rc z

A S HE AF OF B LUE BE LLS
A high pi i t e d manc e f t h e day s of
-
s r ro o
B napa t e b y t h auth
o f Th
r S car , e or o

e
l t Pimp n e l
e 12 m o N e t er

He n r y O y e n
. .
,

GAS T ON O LAF
A b ig ut fd o ors st y laid i n t h e
Y u k n f t h c n ict f t ng w ill f
o -
o or
,

o o e o o s ro s, o
l v e and cha ac t w lding N t
,

o r er e . e ,

Pe rl e y Po o r e S h e e h an
T H O S E WH O WALK IN DARK NE SS
S t ng ali m cl thing a g a t pi itual
ro re s o re s r
m ag e ss 12 m N t
e o e

Ge o rge A llan En glan d

. .
,

T H E GIF T S UPRE M E
A t y f up m l v and t h e ex
s or o s re e o e,
t m f B t n life ; b y t h e auth
re es o f os o or o
Th e A lib i

12 m N t . o . e ,

Ho r a c e A nn e sl e y V a c h e ll
F IS HP IN GL E
I n w hich a q ua i nt E ngl i h vi ng man s s er -
,

uni q u
as Quinn y d cid t h c u e as e -
e es e o rse
f v nt
,

o e 12 m
e N t s . o . e ,

St p h n M K n n
e e c e a
S ON IA B t w n Tw W l d: e ee o or s

F in

than any thing inc Di a l i
er S e sr e .

P ub l i s h e rs Ne w Yo rk
 HESE l a te r re m in is c e n

ce s a b o un d in g ro t e s q u e

sit u a t i o n s a n d co mp l i c a t io n s
in a d v e n t u re s c h a ra c t e r

is t ic o f S h e rl o c k Ho l m e s in
m y s t e ri e s d i n t ri c a t e p ro b
an

le ms n e a t l y s o l v e d b y t he

m a t c hle ss an d m a s t e r de t e c
t iv e o f fi c t i o n as w e ll as o f
S o me La t e r the re a l w o rl d
Re min is c e n c e s
Do y l e

Co n a n s a na ly tic a l
of
p o w e rs ha v e n e v e r be e n m o re
S h e rl o c k a de q ua te ly d e m o n s t ra t e d
Ho l me s ne ve r h a s h is s k i ll in d e duc
t io n ha d .
m o re fa s c i n a t i n g
i
s e t t n gs t h a n in t h e s e re mi
n is c e n c e s .