RubyGems - git-scribe - Versions diffs - 0.0.4 → 0.0.5 - Mend

git-scribe 0.0.4 → 0.0.5

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data/example/output/the_adventure_of_the_engineer_s_thumb.html DELETED Viewed

@@ -1,851 +0,0 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
-<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
-  <head>
-    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
-    <link rel="stylesheet" href="master.css" type="text/css" />
-    <title>The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb</title>
-  </head>
-  <body>
-    <div class="nav" id="navheader">
-    <table width="100%">
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-         <a href="the_adventure_of_the_speckled_band.html">Prev</a><br/>
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-    <hr/>
-    <div class="content">
-      <div class="section" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
-<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">
-<a id="_the_adventure_of_the_engineer_8217_s_thumb"></a>The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb</h2></div></div></div>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"I’ve got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his
-shoulder; "he’s all right."</p>
-<p>"What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was
-some strange creature which he had caged up in my room.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>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."</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out
-some water from a caraffe.</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped.</p>
-<p>"Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water,
-and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks.</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have
-bled considerably."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"Excellent! You should have been a surgeon."</p>
-<p>"It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own
-province."</p>
-<p>"This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very
-heavy and sharp instrument."</p>
-<p>"A thing like a cleaver," said he.</p>
-<p>"An accident, I presume?"</p>
-<p>"By no means."</p>
-<p>"What! a murderous attack?"</p>
-<p>"Very murderous indeed."</p>
-<p>"You horrify me."</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"How is that?" I asked when I had finished.</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently
-trying to your nerves."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"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?"</p>
-<p>"I’ll do better. I’ll take you round to him myself."</p>
-<p>"I should be immensely obliged to you."</p>
-<p>"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?"</p>
-<p>"Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story."</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"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 &amp;
-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.</p>
-<p>"I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in
-business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so.
-During two years I have had three consultations and one small
-job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought
-me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 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.</p>
-<p>"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 <span class="emphasis"><em>Colonel Lysander Stark</em></span> 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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Mr. Hatherley?</em></span> said he, with something of a German accent.
-<span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an
-address. <span class="emphasis"><em>May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>That is quite correct,</em></span> I answered; <span class="emphasis"><em>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?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>If I promise to keep a secret,</em></span> said I, <span class="emphasis"><em>you may absolutely
-depend upon my doing so.</em></span></p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Do you promise, then?</em></span> said he at last.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Yes, I promise.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No
-reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I have already given you my word.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Very good.</em></span> He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning
-across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was
-empty.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>That’s all right,</em></span> said he, coming back. <span class="emphasis"><em>I know that clerks are
-sometimes curious as to their master’s affairs. Now we can talk
-in safety.</em></span> He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to
-stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I beg that you will state your business, sir,</em></span> said I; <span class="emphasis"><em>my time
-is of value.</em></span> Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the
-words came to my lips.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>How would fifty guineas for a night’s work suit you?</em></span> he asked.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Most admirably.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last
-train.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Where to?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Very good.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>There is a drive, then?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good
-seven miles from Eyford Station.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient
-hour?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they
-would be to me. <span class="emphasis"><em>Not at all,</em></span> said I, <span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Entirely.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I have heard so.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I quite follow you,</em></span> said I. <span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Ah!</em></span> said he carelessly, <span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span> He rose as he spoke. <span class="emphasis"><em>I shall expect you, then, at
-Eyford at 11:15.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I shall certainly be there.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>And not a word to a soul.</em></span> 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.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"One horse?" interjected Holmes.</p>
-<p>"Yes, only one."</p>
-<p>"Did you observe the colour?"</p>
-<p>"Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the
-carriage. It was a chestnut."</p>
-<p>"Tired-looking or fresh?"</p>
-<p>"Oh, fresh and glossy."</p>
-<p>"Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue
-your most interesting statement."</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a
-few minutes,</em></span> 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. <span class="emphasis"><em>I shall not keep you waiting an instant,</em></span> said he, and
-vanished into the darkness.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I would go,</em></span> said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to
-speak calmly; <span class="emphasis"><em>I would go. I should not stay here. There is no
-good for you to do.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>But, madam,</em></span> said I, <span class="emphasis"><em>I have not yet done what I came for. I
-cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>It is not worth your while to wait,</em></span> she went on. <span class="emphasis"><em>You can pass
-through the door; no one hinders.</em></span> 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. <span class="emphasis"><em>For the love
-of Heaven!</em></span> she whispered, <span class="emphasis"><em>get away from here before it is too
-late!</em></span></p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>This is my secretary and manager,</em></span> said the colonel. <span class="emphasis"><em>By the
-way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just
-now. I fear that you have felt the draught.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>On the contrary,</em></span> said I, <span class="emphasis"><em>I opened the door myself because I
-felt the room to be a little close.</em></span></p>
-<p>"He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. <span class="emphasis"><em>Perhaps we had
-better proceed to business, then,</em></span> said he. <span class="emphasis"><em>Mr. Ferguson and I
-will take you up to see the machine.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I had better put my hat on, I suppose.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Oh, no, it is in the house.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>What, you dig fuller’s-earth in the house?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>We are now,</em></span> said he, <span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>What are you doing there?</em></span> he asked.</p>
-<p>"I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as
-that which he had told me. <span class="emphasis"><em>I was admiring your fuller’s-earth,</em></span>
-said I; <span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Very well,</em></span> said he, <span class="emphasis"><em>you shall know all about the machine.</em></span> 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. <span class="emphasis"><em>Hullo!</em></span> I yelled. <span class="emphasis"><em>Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!</em></span></p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Come! come!</em></span> she cried breathlessly. <span class="emphasis"><em>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!</em></span></p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>It is your only chance,</em></span> said she. <span class="emphasis"><em>It is high, but it may be
-that you can jump it.</em></span></p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Fritz! Fritz!</em></span> she cried in English, <span class="emphasis"><em>remember your promise
-after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be
-silent! Oh, he will be silent!</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>You are mad, Elise!</em></span> he shouted, struggling to break away from
-her. <span class="emphasis"><em>You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me
-pass, I say!</em></span> 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.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It
-appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this:
-<span class="emphasis"><em>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,</em></span> etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that
-the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy."</p>
-<p>"Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the
-girl said."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"It was an hour’s good drive."</p>
-<p>"And you think that they brought you back all that way when you
-were unconscious?"</p>
-<p>"They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having
-been lifted and conveyed somewhere."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face
-in my life."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly.</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"And I say east," said my patient.</p>
-<p>"I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are
-several quiet little villages up there."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"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?"</p>
-<p>"You are all wrong."</p>
-<p>"But we can’t all be."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley.</p>
-<p>"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?"</p>
-<p>"Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet
-thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature
-of this gang."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off
-again on its way.</p>
-<p>"Yes, sir!" said the station-master.</p>
-<p>"When did it break out?"</p>
-<p>"I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse,
-and the whole place is in a blaze."</p>
-<p>"Whose house is it?"</p>
-<p>"Dr. Becher’s."</p>
-<p>"Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very
-thin, with a long, sharp nose?"</p>
-<p>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."</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"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?"</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
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