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diff --git a/macros/latex/contrib/shipunov/doc/add2-ex.tex b/macros/latex/contrib/shipunov/doc/add2-ex.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..c5db7f91f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/macros/latex/contrib/shipunov/doc/add2-ex.tex @@ -0,0 +1,893 @@ +\documentclass{article} +\usepackage{add2} +\nofiles + +\begin{document} + +\section*{THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB} + +Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. Sherlock +Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, there were only two +which I was the means of introducing to his notice---that of Mr. Hatherley's +thumb, and that of Colonel Warburton's madness. Of these the latter +may have afforded a finer field for an acute and original observer, +but the other was so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its +details that it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, +even if it gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of +reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story has, +I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, like all +such narratives, its effect is much less striking when set forth en +bloc in a single half-column of print than when the facts slowly evolve +before your own eyes, and the mystery clears gradually away as each new +discovery furnishes a step which leads on to the complete truth. At the +time the circumstances made a deep impression upon me, and the lapse of +two years has hardly served to weaken the effect. + +It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the events +occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned to civil +practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker Street rooms, +although I continually visited him and occasionally even persuaded +him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come and visit us. My +practice had steadily increased, and as I happened to live at no very +great distance from Paddington Station, I got a few patients from among +the officials. One of these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering +disease, was never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring +to send me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. + +One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by the maid +tapping at the door to announce that two men had come from Paddington +and were waiting in the consulting-room. I dressed hurriedly, for I +knew by experience that railway cases were seldom trivial, and hastened +downstairs. As I descended, my old ally, the guard, came out of the room +and closed the door tightly behind him. + +``I've got him here,'' he whispered, jerking his thumb over his shoulder; +``he's all right.'' + +``What is it, then?'' I asked, for his manner suggested that it was some +strange creature which he had caged up in my room. + +``It's a new patient,'' he whispered. ``I thought I'd bring him round +myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe and sound. I +must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the same as you.'' And off +he went, this trusty tout, without even giving me time to thank him. + +I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the table. He +was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a soft cloth cap +which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of his hands he had a +handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all over with bloodstains. He +was young, not more than five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, +masculine face; but he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression +of a man who was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took +all his strength of mind to control. + +``I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor,'' said he, ``but I have +had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by train this +morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I might find a doctor, +a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me here. I gave the maid a card, +but I see that she has left it upon the side-table.'' + +I took it up and glanced at it. ``Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic +engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor).'' That was the name, +style, and abode of my morning visitor. ``I regret that I have kept you +waiting,'' said I, sitting down in my library-chair. ``You are fresh +from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself a monotonous +occupation.'' + +``Oh, my night could not be called monotonous,'' said he, and laughed. He +laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, leaning back in his +chair and shaking his sides. All my medical instincts rose up against +that laugh. + +``Stop it!'' I cried; ``pull yourself together!'' and I poured out some +water from a caraffe. + +It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical outbursts +which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis is over and +gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very weary and pale-looking. + +``I have been making a fool of myself,'' he gasped. + +``Not at all. Drink this.'' I dashed some brandy into the water, and +the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. + +``That's better!'' said he. ``And now, Doctor, perhaps you would kindly +attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb used to be.'' + +He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even my +hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four protruding +fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the thumb should have +been. It had been hacked or torn right out from the roots. + +``Good heavens!'' I cried, ``this is a terrible injury. It must have +bled considerably.'' + +``Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must have +been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that it was still +bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very tightly round the +wrist and braced it up with a twig.'' + +``Excellent! You should have been a surgeon.'' + +``It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own +province.'' + +``This has been done,'' said I, examining the wound, ``by a very heavy +and sharp instrument.'' + +``A thing like a cleaver,'' said he. + +``An accident, I presume?'' + +``By no means.'' + +``What! a murderous attack?'' + +``Very murderous indeed.'' + +``You horrify me.'' + +I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered it over +with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back without wincing, +though he bit his lip from time to time. + +``How is that?'' I asked when I had finished. + +``Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. I +was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through.'' + +``Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently trying +to your nerves.'' + +``Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; but, +between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing evidence of this +wound of mine, I should be surprised if they believed my statement, +for it is a very extraordinary one, and I have not much in the way of +proof with which to back it up; and, even if they believe me, the clues +which I can give them are so vague that it is a question whether justice +will be done.'' + +``Ha!'' cried I, ``if it is anything in the nature of a problem which +you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you to come to my +friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the official police.'' + +``Oh, I have heard of that fellow,'' answered my visitor, ``and I should +be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of course I must use +the official police as well. Would you give me an introduction to him?'' + +``I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself.'' + +``I should be immensely obliged to you.'' + +``We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to have a +little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?'' + +``Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story.'' + +``Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an +instant.'' I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my wife, +and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my new acquaintance +to Baker Street. + +Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his sitting-room in +his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The Times and smoking +his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed of all the plugs and +dottles left from his smokes of the day before, all carefully dried +and collected on the corner of the mantelpiece. He received us in his +quietly genial fashion, ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us +in a hearty meal. When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance +upon the sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of +brandy and water within his reach. + +``It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, +Mr. Hatherley,'' said he. ``Pray, lie down there and make yourself +absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are tired +and keep up your strength with a little stimulant.'' + +``Thank you,'' said my patient, ``but I have felt another man since +the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has completed +the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable time as possible, +so I shall start at once upon my peculiar experiences.'' + +Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded expression +which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat opposite to him, and +we listened in silence to the strange story which our visitor detailed +to us. + +``You must know,'' said he, ``that I am an orphan and a bachelor, residing +alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a hydraulic engineer, +and I have had considerable experience of my work during the seven years +that I was apprenticed to Venner \& Matheson, the well-known firm, of +Greenwich. Two years ago, having served my time, and having also come into +a fair sum of money through my poor father's death, I determined to start +in business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria Street. + +``I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in business +a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. During two years +I have had three consultations and one small job, and that is absolutely +all that my profession has brought me. My gross takings amount to . 27 +10s. Every day, from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, +I waited in my little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I +came to believe that I should never have any practice at all. + +``Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the office, +my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who wished to +see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with the name of +`Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at his heels came the +colonel himself, a man rather over the middle size, but of an exceeding +thinness. I do not think that I have ever seen so thin a man. His whole +face sharpened away into nose and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was +drawn quite tense over his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed +to be his natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, +his step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly +dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than thirty. + +```Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. `You +have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man who is not +only proficient in his profession but is also discreet and capable of +preserving a secret.' + +``I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an +address. `May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' + +```Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just at +this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both an orphan +and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' + +```That is quite correct,' I answered; `but you will excuse me +if I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional +qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter that +you wished to speak to me?' + +```Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to the +point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute secrecy +is quite essential---absolute secrecy, you understand, and of course we +may expect that more from a man who is alone than from one who lives in +the bosom of his family.' + +```If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, `you may absolutely depend +upon my doing so.' + +``He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I had +never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. + +```Do you promise, then?' said he at last. + +```Yes, I promise.' + +```Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No reference +to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' + +```I have already given you my word.' + +```Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning across +the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was empty. + +```That's all right,' said he, coming back. `I know that clerks are +sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk in +safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to stare at +me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. + +``A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun to rise +within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. Even my dread of +losing a client could not restrain me from showing my impatience. + +```I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; `my time is +of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the words came +to my lips. + +```How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. + +```Most admirably.' + +```I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I +simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which has +got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon set it right +ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as that?' + +```The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' + +```Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last train.' + +```Where to?' + +```To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders of +Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a train from +Paddington which would bring you there at about 11:15.' + +```Very good.' + +```I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' + +```There is a drive, then?' + +```Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good seven +miles from Eyford Station.' + +```Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there would +be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop the night.' + +```Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' + +```That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient hour?' + +```We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to recompense +you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a young and +unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the very heads of +your profession. Still, of course, if you would like to draw out of the +business, there is plenty of time to do so.' + +``I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they would +be to me. `Not at all,' said I, `I shall be very happy to accommodate +myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to understand a little +more clearly what it is that you wish me to do.' + +```Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which we have +exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I have no wish to +commit you to anything without your having it all laid before you. I +suppose that we are absolutely safe from eavesdroppers?' + +```Entirely.' + +```Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that fuller's-earth +is a valuable product, and that it is only found in one or two places +in England?' + +```I have heard so.' + +```Some little time ago I bought a small place---a very small place---within +ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to discover that there was a +deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my fields. On examining it, however, I +found that this deposit was a comparatively small one, and that it formed +a link between two very much larger ones upon the right and left---both of +them, however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were +absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was quite as +valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my interest to buy their +land before they discovered its true value, but unfortunately I had no +capital by which I could do this. I took a few of my friends into the +secret, however, and they suggested that we should quietly and secretly +work our own little deposit and that in this way we should earn the +money which would enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have +now been doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations +we erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already explained, +has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the subject. We guard +our secret very jealously, however, and if it once became known that we +had hydraulic engineers coming to our little house, it would soon rouse +inquiry, and then, if the facts came out, it would be good-bye to any +chance of getting these fields and carrying out our plans. That is why +I have made you promise me that you will not tell a human being that +you are going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' + +```I quite follow you,' said I. `The only point which I could not quite +understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press in excavating +fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out like gravel from +a pit.' + +```Ah!' said he carelessly, `we have our own process. We compress the +earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing what they +are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully into my confidence +now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I trust you.' He rose as +he spoke. `I shall expect you, then, at Eyford at 11:15.' + +```I shall certainly be there.' + +```And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, +questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank grasp, +he hurried from the room. + +``Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very much +astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission which had +been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was glad, for the fee +was at least tenfold what I should have asked had I set a price upon my +own services, and it was possible that this order might lead to other +ones. On the other hand, the face and manner of my patron had made an +unpleasant impression upon me, and I could not think that his explanation +of the fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my +coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell anyone of +my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate a hearty supper, +drove to Paddington, and started off, having obeyed to the letter the +injunction as to holding my tongue. + +``At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. However, +I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I reached the little +dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the only passenger who got +out there, and there was no one upon the platform save a single sleepy +porter with a lantern. As I passed out through the wicket gate, however, I +found my acquaintance of the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other +side. Without a word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the +door of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either side, +tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the horse could go.'' + +``One horse?'' interjected Holmes. + +``Yes, only one.'' + +``Did you observe the colour?'' + +``Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the +carriage. It was a chestnut.'' + +``Tired-looking or fresh?'' + +``Oh, fresh and glossy.'' + +``Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue your most +interesting statement.'' + +``Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel Lysander +Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I should think, from +the rate that we seemed to go, and from the time that we took, that +it must have been nearer twelve. He sat at my side in silence all the +time, and I was aware, more than once when I glanced in his direction, +that he was looking at me with great intensity. The country roads +seem to be not very good in that part of the world, for we lurched and +jolted terribly. I tried to look out of the windows to see something of +where we were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make +out nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now +and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the journey, +but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the conversation +soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the road was exchanged +for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, and the carriage came to a +stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang out, and, as I followed after him, +pulled me swiftly into a porch which gaped in front of us. We stepped, +as it were, right out of the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed +to catch the most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant +that I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, +and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage drove away. + +``It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled about +looking for matches and muttering under his breath. Suddenly a door +opened at the other end of the passage, and a long, golden bar of light +shot out in our direction. It grew broader, and a woman appeared with +a lamp in her hand, which she held above her head, pushing her face +forward and peering at us. I could see that she was pretty, and from +the gloss with which the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that +it was a rich material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in +a tone as though asking a question, and when my companion answered in +a gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly fell +from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered something in her +ear, and then, pushing her back into the room from whence she had come, +he walked towards me again with the lamp in his hand. + +```Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a few +minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a quiet, little, +plainly furnished room, with a round table in the centre, on which several +German books were scattered. Colonel Stark laid down the lamp on the top +of a harmonium beside the door. `I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' +said he, and vanished into the darkness. + +``I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my ignorance +of German I could see that two of them were treatises on science, the +others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked across to the window, +hoping that I might catch some glimpse of the country-side, but an oak +shutter, heavily barred, was folded across it. It was a wonderfully +silent house. There was an old clock ticking loudly somewhere in the +passage, but otherwise everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of +uneasiness began to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what +were they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And where +was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was all I knew, +but whether north, south, east, or west I had no idea. For that matter, +Reading, and possibly other large towns, were within that radius, so +the place might not be so secluded, after all. Yet it was quite certain, +from the absolute stillness, that we were in the country. I paced up and +down the room, humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and +feeling that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. + +``Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the utter +stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman was standing +in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind her, the yellow light +from my lamp beating upon her eager and beautiful face. I could see at a +glance that she was sick with fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own +heart. She held up one shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she +shot a few whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing +back, like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. + +```I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to speak +calmly; `I would go. I should not stay here. There is no good for you +to do.' + +```But, madam,' said I, `I have not yet done what I came for. I cannot +possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' + +```It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. `You can pass through +the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled and shook my +head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and made a step forward, +with her hands wrung together. `For the love of Heaven!' she whispered, +`get away from here before it is too late!' + +``But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to engage +in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I thought of my +fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of the unpleasant night +which seemed to be before me. Was it all to go for nothing? Why should +I slink away without having carried out my commission, and without +the payment which was my due? This woman might, for all I knew, +be a monomaniac. With a stout bearing, therefore, though her manner +had shaken me more than I cared to confess, I still shook my head and +declared my intention of remaining where I was. She was about to renew +her entreaties when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several +footsteps was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw +up her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and as +noiselessly as she had come. + +``The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man with +a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double chin, who +was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. + +```This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. `By the way, +I was under the impression that I left this door shut just now. I fear +that you have felt the draught.' + +```On the contrary,' said I, `I opened the door myself because I felt +the room to be a little close.' + +``He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. `Perhaps we had better +proceed to business, then,' said he. `Mr. Ferguson and I will take you +up to see the machine.' + +```I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' + +```Oh, no, it is in the house.' + +```What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' + +```No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. All +we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us know what is +wrong with it.' + +``We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the fat +manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, with +corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little low doors, +the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the generations who had +crossed them. There were no carpets and no signs of any furniture +above the ground floor, while the plaster was peeling off the walls, +and the damp was breaking through in green, unhealthy blotches. I tried +to put on as unconcerned an air as possible, but I had not forgotten the +warnings of the lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen +eye upon my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent +man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at least +a fellow-countryman. + +``Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which he +unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three of us +could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, and the colonel +ushered me in. + +```We are now,' said he, `actually within the hydraulic press, and it +would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were to turn it +on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the end of the descending +piston, and it comes down with the force of many tons upon this metal +floor. There are small lateral columns of water outside which receive the +force, and which transmit and multiply it in the manner which is familiar +to you. The machine goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in +the working of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will +have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set it right.' + +``I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very +thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of exercising +enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and pressed down +the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by the whishing sound +that there was a slight leakage, which allowed a regurgitation of water +through one of the side cylinders. An examination showed that one of the +india-rubber bands which was round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk +so as not quite to fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly +the cause of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who +followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical questions +as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I had made it clear +to them, I returned to the main chamber of the machine and took a good +look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. It was obvious at a glance that +the story of the fuller's-earth was the merest fabrication, for it would +be absurd to suppose that so powerful an engine could be designed for so +inadequate a purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of +a large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a crust +of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was scraping at this +to see exactly what it was when I heard a muttered exclamation in German +and saw the cadaverous face of the colonel looking down at me. + +```What are you doing there?' he asked. + +``I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as that +which he had told me. `I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' said I; +`I think that I should be better able to advise you as to your machine +if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it was used.' + +``The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of my +speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in his grey eyes. + +```Very well,' said he, `you shall know all about the machine.' He took +a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key in the +lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it was quite +secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and shoves. `Hullo!' I +yelled. `Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' + +``And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my heart +into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish of the leaking +cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp still stood upon the +floor where I had placed it when examining the trough. By its light I +saw that the black ceiling was coming down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, +as none knew better than myself, with a force which must within a minute +grind me to a shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, +and dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let me +out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my cries. The +ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with my hand upraised +I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it flashed through my mind +that the pain of my death would depend very much upon the position in +which I met it. If I lay on my face the weight would come upon my spine, +and I shuddered to think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, +perhaps; and yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black +shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand erect, when +my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope back to my heart. + +``I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the walls +were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw a thin line +of yellow light between two of the boards, which broadened and broadened +as a small panel was pushed backward. For an instant I could hardly +believe that here was indeed a door which led away from death. The next +instant I threw myself through, and lay half-fainting upon the other +side. The panel had closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, +and a few moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told +me how narrow had been my escape. + +``I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and I +found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, while a +woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, while she held +a candle in her right. It was the same good friend whose warning I had +so foolishly rejected. + +```Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. `They will be here in a +moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste the +so-precious time, but come!' + +``This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to my +feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding stair. The +latter led to another broad passage, and just as we reached it we heard +the sound of running feet and the shouting of two voices, one answering +the other from the floor on which we were and from the one beneath. My +guide stopped and looked about her like one who is at her wit's end. Then +she threw open a door which led into a bedroom, through the window of +which the moon was shining brightly. + +```It is your only chance,' said she. `It is high, but it may be that +you can jump it.' + +``As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the passage, +and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark rushing forward with a +lantern in one hand and a weapon like a butcher's cleaver in the other. I +rushed across the bedroom, flung open the window, and looked out. How +quiet and sweet and wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it +could not be more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, +but I hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between +my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, then at +any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. The thought had +hardly flashed through my mind before he was at the door, pushing his +way past her; but she threw her arms round him and tried to hold him back. + +```Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, `remember your promise after +the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be silent! Oh, +he will be silent!' + +```You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from +her. `You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me pass, +I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the window, cut at +me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and was hanging by the +hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was conscious of a dull pain, +my grip loosened, and I fell into the garden below. + +``I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and rushed +off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I understood that I was +far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, however, as I ran, a deadly +dizziness and sickness came over me. I glanced down at my hand, which was +throbbing painfully, and then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had +been cut off and that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured +to tie my handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my +ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the rose-bushes. + +``How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been a +very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was breaking +when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with dew, and my +coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded thumb. The smarting +of it recalled in an instant all the particulars of my night's adventure, +and I sprang to my feet with the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe +from my pursuers. But to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, +neither house nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle +of the hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was +a long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the very +station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were it not for +the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed during those dreadful +hours might have been an evil dream. + +``Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning +train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The same porter +was on duty, I found, as had been there when I arrived. I inquired of +him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Lysander Stark. The name was +strange to him. Had he observed a carriage the night before waiting for +me? No, he had not. Was there a police-station anywhere near? There was +one about three miles off. + +``It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined to +wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the police. It +was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first to have my wound +dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to bring me along here. I +put the case into your hands and shall do exactly what you advise.'' + +We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to this +extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down from the shelf +one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he placed his cuttings. + +``Here is an advertisement which will interest you,'' said he. ``It +appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: `Lost, +on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged twenty-six, a hydraulic +engineer. Left his lodgings at ten o'clock at night, and has not been +heard of since. Was dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last +time that the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy.'' + +``Good heavens!'' cried my patient. ``Then that explains what the +girl said.'' + +``Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and desperate +man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should stand in the +way of his little game, like those out-and-out pirates who will leave +no survivor from a captured ship. Well, every moment now is precious, +so if you feel equal to it we shall go down to Scotland Yard at once as +a preliminary to starting for Eyford.'' + +Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train together, +bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. There were Sherlock +Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, +a plain-clothes man, and myself. Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map +of the county out upon the seat and was busy with his compasses drawing +a circle with Eyford for its centre. + +``There you are,'' said he. ``That circle is drawn at a radius of ten +miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere near that +line. You said ten miles, I think, sir.'' + +``It was an hour's good drive.'' + +``And you think that they brought you back all that way when you were +unconscious?'' + +``They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having been +lifted and conveyed somewhere.'' + +``What I cannot understand,'' said I, ``is why they should have spared +you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. Perhaps the villain +was softened by the woman's entreaties.'' + +``I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face in +my life.'' + +``Oh, we shall soon clear up all that,'' said Bradstreet. ``Well, I have +drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon it the folk +that we are in search of are to be found.'' + +``I think I could lay my finger on it,'' said Holmes quietly. + +``Really, now!'' cried the inspector, ``you have formed your +opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is south, +for the country is more deserted there.'' + +``And I say east,'' said my patient. + +``I am for west,'' remarked the plain-clothes man. ``There are several +quiet little villages up there.'' + +``And I am for north,'' said I, ``because there are no hills there, +and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up any.'' + +``Come,'' cried the inspector, laughing; ``it's a very pretty diversity +of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do you give your +casting vote to?'' + +``You are all wrong.'' + +``But we can't all be.'' + +``Oh, yes, you can. This is my point.'' He placed his finger in the +centre of the circle. ``This is where we shall find them.'' + +``But the twelve-mile drive?'' gasped Hatherley. + +``Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the horse +was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that if it had +gone twelve miles over heavy roads?'' + +``Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough,'' observed Bradstreet +thoughtfully. ``Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature of +this gang.'' + +``None at all,'' said Holmes. ``They are coiners on a large scale, +and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the place +of silver.'' + +``We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work,'' said the +inspector. ``They have been turning out half-crowns by the thousand. We +even traced them as far as Reading, but could get no farther, for they +had covered their traces in a way that showed that they were very old +hands. But now, thanks to this lucky chance, I think that we have got +them right enough.'' + +But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not destined to +fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into Eyford Station we saw +a gigantic column of smoke which streamed up from behind a small clump +of trees in the neighbourhood and hung like an immense ostrich feather +over the landscape. + +``A house on fire?'' asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off again on +its way. + +``Yes, sir!'' said the station-master. + +``When did it break out?'' + +``I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, and +the whole place is in a blaze.'' + +``Whose house is it?'' + +``Dr. Becher's.'' + +``Tell me,'' broke in the engineer, ``is Dr. Becher a German, very thin, +with a long, sharp nose?'' + +The station-master laughed heartily. ``No, sir, Dr. Becher is an +Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a better-lined +waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, a patient, as +I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as if a little good +Berkshire beef would do him no harm.'' + +The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all +hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low hill, +and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in front of us, +spouting fire at every chink and window, while in the garden in front +three fire-engines were vainly striving to keep the flames under. + +``That's it!'' cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. ``There is the +gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That second +window is the one that I jumped from.'' + +``Well, at least,'' said Holmes, ``you have had your revenge upon +them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, when +it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, though no +doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to observe it at the +time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for your friends of last +night, though I very much fear that they are a good hundred miles off +by now.'' + +And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this no word +has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the sinister German, +or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a peasant had met a cart +containing several people and some very bulky boxes driving rapidly in the +direction of Reading, but there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, +and even Holmes' ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to +their whereabouts. + +The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements which +they had found within, and still more so by discovering a newly severed +human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. About sunset, +however, their efforts were at last successful, and they subdued the +flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, and the whole place been +reduced to such absolute ruin that, save some twisted cylinders and +iron piping, not a trace remained of the machinery which had cost our +unfortunate acquaintance so dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin +were discovered stored in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, +which may have explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have +been already referred to. + +How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to the +spot where he recovered his senses might have remained forever a mystery +were it not for the soft mould, which told us a very plain tale. He had +evidently been carried down by two persons, one of whom had remarkably +small feet and the other unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most +probable that the silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous +than his companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man +out of the way of danger. + +``Well,'' said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return once +more to London, ``it has been a pretty business for me! I have lost my +thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what have I gained?'' + +``Experience,'' said Holmes, laughing. ``Indirectly it may be of value, +you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the reputation of +being excellent company for the remainder of your existence.'' + +\end{document} |