The Adventure of Black Peter - The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

<v Speaker 1>The adventure of Black Peter. I have never known my
<v Speaker 1>friend to be in better form, both mental and physical,
<v Speaker 1>than in the year ninety five. His increasing fame had
<v Speaker 1>brought with it an immense practice, and I should be
<v Speaker 1>guilty of an indiscretion if I were even to hint
<v Speaker 1>at the identity of some of the illustrious clients who
<v Speaker 1>crossed our humble threshold in Baker Street. Holmes, However, like
<v Speaker 1>all great artists, lived for his art's sake, and save
<v Speaker 1>in the case of the Duke of Holderness, I have
<v Speaker 1>seldom known him claim any large reward for his inestimable services.
<v Speaker 1>So unworldly was he, or so capricious, that he frequently
<v Speaker 1>refused his help to the powerful and wealthy, where the
<v Speaker 1>problem made no appeal to his sympathies, while he would
<v Speaker 1>devote weeks of most intense application to the affairs of
<v Speaker 1>some humble client whose case presented those strange and dramatic
<v Speaker 1>qualities which appealed to his imagination and challenged his ingenuity.
<v Speaker 1>In this memorable year ninety five, a curious and incongruous
<v Speaker 1>succession of cases had engaged his attention, ranging from his
<v Speaker 1>famous investigation of the sudden death of Cardinal Tosca, an
<v Speaker 1>inquiry which was carried out by him at the express
<v Speaker 1>desire of his Holiness the Pope, down to his arrest
<v Speaker 1>of Wilson, the notorious Canary Trainer, which removed a plague
<v Speaker 1>spot from the east end of London. Close on the
<v Speaker 1>heels of these two famous cases came the tragedy of
<v Speaker 1>Woodman's Lee and the very obscure circumstances which surrounded the
<v Speaker 1>death of Captain Peter Carey. No record of the doings
<v Speaker 1>of mister Sherlock Holmes would be complete which did not
<v Speaker 1>include some account of this very unusual affair. During the
<v Speaker 1>first week of July. My friend had been absent so
<v Speaker 1>often and so long from our lodgings that I knew
<v Speaker 1>he had something on hand. The fact that several rough
<v Speaker 1>looking men called during that time and inquired for Captain
<v Speaker 1>Basil made me understand that Holmes was working somewhere under
<v Speaker 1>one of the numerous disguises and names with which he
<v Speaker 1>concealed his own formidable identity. He had at least five
<v Speaker 1>small refuges in different parts of London in which he
<v Speaker 1>was able to change his personality. He said nothing of
<v Speaker 1>his business to me, and it was not my habit
<v Speaker 1>to force a confidence. The first positive sign which he
<v Speaker 1>gave me of the direction which his investigation was taking
<v Speaker 1>was an extraordinary one. He had gone out before breakfast,
<v Speaker 1>and I had sat down to mine when he strode
<v Speaker 1>into the room, his hat upon his head and a
<v Speaker 1>huge barbed headed spear tucked like an umbrella under his arm. Good,
<v Speaker 1>gracious Homes, I cried, You don't mean to say that
<v Speaker 1>you've been walking about London with that thing. I drove
<v Speaker 1>to the butchers and back the butchers, and I return
<v Speaker 1>with an excellent appetite. There can be no question, my
<v Speaker 1>dear Watson, of the value of exercise before breakfast. But
<v Speaker 1>I am prepared to bet that you will not guess
<v Speaker 1>the form that my exercise has taken. I will not
<v Speaker 1>attempt it. He chuckled as he poured out the coffee.
<v Speaker 1>If you could have looked into Aladys's back shop, you
<v Speaker 1>would have seen a dead pig swung from a hook
<v Speaker 1>in the ceiling, and a gentleman in his shirt sleeves
<v Speaker 1>furiously stabbing at it with this weapon. I was that
<v Speaker 1>energetic person, and I have satisfied myself that by no
<v Speaker 1>exertion of my strength can I transfix the pig with
<v Speaker 1>a single blow? Perhaps you would care to try? Not
<v Speaker 1>for worlds, But why were you doing this? Because it's
<v Speaker 1>seemed to me to have an indirect bearing upon the
<v Speaker 1>mystery of Woodman's lee. Ah, Hopkins, I got your wire
<v Speaker 1>last night, and I have been expecting you come and
<v Speaker 1>join us. Our visitor was an exceedingly alert man, thirty
<v Speaker 1>years of age, dressed in a quiet tweed suit, but
<v Speaker 1>retaining the erect bearing of one who was accustomed to
<v Speaker 1>official uniform. I recognized him at once as Stanley Hopkins,
<v Speaker 1>a young police inspector for whose future homes had high hopes,
<v Speaker 1>while he in turn professed the admiration and respect of
<v Speaker 1>a pupil for the scientific methods of the famous amateur.
<v Speaker 1>Hopkins's brow was clouded, and he sat down with an
<v Speaker 1>air of deep dejection. Now, thank you, sir. I breakfasted
<v Speaker 1>before I came round. I spent the night in town,
<v Speaker 1>for I came up yesterday to report. And what have
<v Speaker 1>you to report? Failure, sir, absolute failure. You have made
<v Speaker 1>no progress none, Dear me, I must have a look
<v Speaker 1>at the matter. I wish to Heavens that you would,
<v Speaker 1>mister Holmes, it's my first big chance, and I'm at
<v Speaker 1>my wits end. For goodness sake, come down and lend
<v Speaker 1>me your hand. Well, well, it just happens that I
<v Speaker 1>have already read all the available evidence, including the report
<v Speaker 1>of the inquest, with some care. And by the way,
<v Speaker 1>what do you make of that tobacco pouch found on
<v Speaker 1>the scene of the crime. Is there no clue there?
<v Speaker 1>Hopkins looked surprised. It was the man's own pouch, Sir,
<v Speaker 1>His initials were inside it, and it was of seal skin,
<v Speaker 1>and he was an old sealer. But he had no pipe, No, sir,
<v Speaker 1>we could find no pipe. Indeed, he smoked very little,
<v Speaker 1>and yet he might have kept some tobacco for his friends.
<v Speaker 1>No doubt mention it, because if I had been handling
<v Speaker 1>the case, I should have been inclined to make that
<v Speaker 1>the starting point of my investigation. However, my friend Dr
<v Speaker 1>Watson knows nothing of this matter, and I should be
<v Speaker 1>none the worse for hearing the sequence of events. Once more,
<v Speaker 1>just give us some short sketches of the essentials. Stanley
<v Speaker 1>Hopkins drew a slip of paper from his pocket. I'll
<v Speaker 1>have a few dates here which will give you the
<v Speaker 1>career of the Dead Man Captain Peter Carey. He was
<v Speaker 1>born in forty five fifty years of age. He was
<v Speaker 1>the most daring and successful seal and whale fisher. In
<v Speaker 1>eighteen eighty three he commanded the steam sealer see Unicorn
<v Speaker 1>of Dundee. He had then had several successful voyages in succession,
<v Speaker 1>and in the following year eighteen eighty four, he retired.
<v Speaker 1>After that he traveled for some years, and finally he
<v Speaker 1>bought a small place called Woodman's Lee near four Forest
<v Speaker 1>Row in Sussex. There he has lived for six years,
<v Speaker 1>and there he died just a week ago today. There
<v Speaker 1>were some most singular points about the man. In ordinary life.
<v Speaker 1>He was a strict puritan, a silent, gloomy fellow. His
<v Speaker 1>household consisted of his wife, his daughter aged twenty, and
<v Speaker 1>two female servants. These last were continually changing, for it
<v Speaker 1>was never a very cheery situation, and sometimes it became
<v Speaker 1>past all bearing. The man was an intermittent drunkard, and
<v Speaker 1>when he had to fit on him he was a
<v Speaker 1>perfect fiend. He has been known to drive his wife
<v Speaker 1>and daughter out of doors in the middle of the
<v Speaker 1>night and flogged them through the park until the whole
<v Speaker 1>village outside the gates was aroused by their screams. He
<v Speaker 1>was summoned once for a savage assault upon the old vicar,
<v Speaker 1>who had called upon him to remonstrate with him upon
<v Speaker 1>his conduct. In short, mister Olmes, he would go far
<v Speaker 1>before you found a more dangerous man than Peter Carey.
<v Speaker 1>And I've heard that he bore the same character when
<v Speaker 1>he commanded his ship. He was known in his trade
<v Speaker 1>as Black Peter, and the name was given him not
<v Speaker 1>only on account of his swarthy features and the color
<v Speaker 1>of his huge beard, but for the humors which were
<v Speaker 1>the terror of all around him. I need not say
<v Speaker 1>that he was loathed and avoided by every one of
<v Speaker 1>his neighbors, and that I have not heard one single
<v Speaker 1>word of sorrow about his terrible end. You must have
<v Speaker 1>read in the account of the inquest about the man's cabin,
<v Speaker 1>mister Olmes, but perhaps your friend here has not heard
<v Speaker 1>of it. He had built himself a wooden outhouse, he
<v Speaker 1>always called it the cabin, a few hundred yards from
<v Speaker 1>his house, and it was here that he slept every night.
<v Speaker 1>It was a little, single roomed hut sixteen feet by ten.
<v Speaker 1>He kept the key in his pocket, made his own bed,
<v Speaker 1>cleaned it himself, and allowed no other foot to cross
<v Speaker 1>the threshold. There are small windows on each side, which
<v Speaker 1>were covered by curtains and never opened. One of these
<v Speaker 1>windows was turned towards the high road, and when the
<v Speaker 1>light burned in it at night, the folk used to
<v Speaker 1>point it out to each other and wonder what Black
<v Speaker 1>Peter was doing in there. That's the window, mister Holmes,
<v Speaker 1>which gave us one of the few bits of positive
<v Speaker 1>evidence that came out at the inquest. You remember that
<v Speaker 1>a stonemason named Slater, walking from Forest Row about one
<v Speaker 1>o'clock in the morning two days before the murder, stopped
<v Speaker 1>as he passed the grounds and looked at the square
<v Speaker 1>of light still shining among the trees. He swears that
<v Speaker 1>the shadow of a man's head turned sideways was clearly
<v Speaker 1>visible on the blind, and that this shadow was certainly
<v Speaker 1>not that of Peter Carey, whom he knew well. It
<v Speaker 1>was that of a bearded man, but the beard was
<v Speaker 1>short and bristled forward in a way very different from
<v Speaker 1>that of the captain, so he says, But he had
<v Speaker 1>been two hours in the public house, and it is
<v Speaker 1>some distance from the road to the window. Besides This
<v Speaker 1>refers to the Monday, and the crime was done upon
<v Speaker 1>the Wednesday. On the Tuesday, Peter Carey was in one
<v Speaker 1>of his blackest moods, flushed with drink and as savage
<v Speaker 1>as a dangerous wild beast. He roamed about the house,
<v Speaker 1>and the women ran for it when they heard him
<v Speaker 1>come in late in the evening. He went down to
<v Speaker 1>his own hut. About two o'clock the following morning, his daughter,
<v Speaker 1>who slept with her window open, heard a most fearful
<v Speaker 1>yell from that direction. But it was no unusual thing
<v Speaker 1>for him to ball and shout when he was in drink,
<v Speaker 1>so no notice was taken. On rising at seven, one
<v Speaker 1>of the maids noticed that the door of the hut
<v Speaker 1>was open. But so great was the terror which the
<v Speaker 1>man caused, that it was before anyone would venture down
<v Speaker 1>to see what had become of him. Peeping into the
<v Speaker 1>open door, they saw a sight which sent them flying
<v Speaker 1>with white faces into the village. Within an hour, I
<v Speaker 1>was on the spot and had taken over the case. Well,
<v Speaker 1>I'm fairly steady nerves, as you know, mister Holmes, but
<v Speaker 1>I'll give you my word that I got a shake
<v Speaker 1>when I put my head into that little house. It
<v Speaker 1>was droning like a harmonium, with flies and blue bottles,
<v Speaker 1>and the floor and the walls were like a slaughterhouse.
<v Speaker 1>He had called it a cabin, and a cabin it
<v Speaker 1>was sure enough, for you'd have thought that you were
<v Speaker 1>in a ship. There was a bunk at one end,
<v Speaker 1>a sea chest, maps and charts, a picture of the
<v Speaker 1>sea unicorn, a line of log books on a shelf,
<v Speaker 1>all exactly as one would expect to find it in
<v Speaker 1>a captain's room. And there in the middle of it
<v Speaker 1>was the man himself, his face twisted like a lost
<v Speaker 1>soul in torment, and his great brindled beard stuck upward
<v Speaker 1>in his agony. Right through his broad breast, a steel
<v Speaker 1>harpoon had been driven, and it had sunk deep into
<v Speaker 1>the wood of the wall behind him. He was pinned
<v Speaker 1>like a beetle on a card. Of course, he was
<v Speaker 1>quite dead, and had been so from the instant that
<v Speaker 1>he had uttered that last yell of agony. I know
<v Speaker 1>your methods, sir, and I applied them. Before I permitted
<v Speaker 1>anything to be moved. I examined most carefully the ground
<v Speaker 1>outside and also the floor of the room. There were
<v Speaker 1>no footmarks, meaning you saw none. I assure you, sir,
<v Speaker 1>that there were none. My good Hopkins, I have investigated
<v Speaker 1>many crimes, but I have never yet seen one which
<v Speaker 1>was committed by a flying creature. As long as the
<v Speaker 1>criminal remains upon two legs, so long must there be
<v Speaker 1>some indian, some abrasion, some trifling displacement which can be
<v Speaker 1>detected by the scientific searcher. It is incredible that this
<v Speaker 1>blood bespattered room contained no trace which could have aided us.
<v Speaker 1>I understand, however, from the inquest, that there were some
<v Speaker 1>objects which you failed to overlook. The young inspector winced
<v Speaker 1>at my companion's ironical comments, I was a fool not
<v Speaker 1>to call you in at the time, mister Holmes. However,
<v Speaker 1>that's past praying for now. Yes, there were several objects
<v Speaker 1>in the room which called for special attention. One was
<v Speaker 1>the harpoon with which the deed was committed. It had
<v Speaker 1>been snatched down from a rack on the wall. Two
<v Speaker 1>others remained there, and there was a vacant place for
<v Speaker 1>the third. On the stock was engraved s S. Seacorn Dundee.
<v Speaker 1>This seemed to establish that the crime had been done
<v Speaker 1>in a moment of fury, and that the murder had
<v Speaker 1>seized the first weapon which came his way. The fact
<v Speaker 1>that the crime was committed at two in the morning,
<v Speaker 1>and yet Peter Carey was fully dressed, suggested that he
<v Speaker 1>had an appointment with the murderer, which is borne out
<v Speaker 1>by the fact that a bottle of rum and two
<v Speaker 1>dirty glasses stood upon the table. Yes, said Holmes, I
<v Speaker 1>think that both inferences are permissible. Was there any other
<v Speaker 1>spirit but rum in the room? Yes? And there was
<v Speaker 1>a tantalus containing brandy and whiskey on the sea chest.
<v Speaker 1>It is of now importance to us, however, since the
<v Speaker 1>decanters were full, and it had therefore not been used
<v Speaker 1>for all that its presence has some significance, said Holmes. However,
<v Speaker 1>let us hear some more about the objects which do
<v Speaker 1>seem to you to bear upon the case. There was
<v Speaker 1>this tobacco pouch upon the table. What part of the
<v Speaker 1>table it lay in the middle. It was, of course
<v Speaker 1>seal skin, the straight haired skin, with a leather thong
<v Speaker 1>to bind it. Inside was p c on the flap.
<v Speaker 1>There was half an ounce of strong ship's tobacco in it. Excellent.
<v Speaker 1>What more, Stanley Hopkins drew from his pocket drab covered notebook.
<v Speaker 1>The outside was rough and worn, the leaves discolored. On
<v Speaker 1>the first page were written the initials j h N
<v Speaker 1>and the date eighteen eighty three. Holmes laid it on
<v Speaker 1>the table and examined it in his minute way, while
<v Speaker 1>Hopkins and I gazed over each shoulder. On the second
<v Speaker 1>page were the printed letters C P R, and then
<v Speaker 1>came several sheets of numbers. Another heading was Argentine, another
<v Speaker 1>Costa Rica, and another San Paolo, each with pages of
<v Speaker 1>s and figures after it. What do you make of these,
<v Speaker 1>asked Holmes. They appear to be lists of stock exchange securities.
<v Speaker 1>I thought that JHN were the initials of a broker,
<v Speaker 1>and that CPR may have been his client. Try Canadian
<v Speaker 1>Pacific Railway, said Holmes. Stanley Hopkins swore between his teeth
<v Speaker 1>and struck his thigh with his clenched hand. What a
<v Speaker 1>fool I have been, he cried. Of course, it is
<v Speaker 1>as you say, then, JH N are the only initials
<v Speaker 1>we have to solve. I have already examined the old
<v Speaker 1>stock exchange lists, and I can find no one in
<v Speaker 1>eighteen eighty three, either in the house or among the
<v Speaker 1>outside brokers whose initials correspond with these, Yeah, I feel
<v Speaker 1>that the clue is the most important one that I hold.
<v Speaker 1>You will admit, mister Holmes, that there is a possibility
<v Speaker 1>that these initials are those of the second person was present,
<v Speaker 1>in other words, of the murderer. I would also urge
<v Speaker 1>that the introduction into the case of a document relating
<v Speaker 1>to large masses of valuable securities gives us, from the
<v Speaker 1>first time some indication of a motive for the crime.
<v Speaker 1>Sherlock Holmes's face showed that he was thoroughly taken aback
<v Speaker 1>by this new development. I must admit both your points,
<v Speaker 1>said he. I confess that this notebook, which did not
<v Speaker 1>appear at the inquest, modifies any views which I may
<v Speaker 1>have formed. I had come to a theory of the
<v Speaker 1>crime in which I even find no place for this.
<v Speaker 1>Have you endeavored to trace any of the securities here mentioned?
<v Speaker 1>Inquiries are now being made at the offices, but I
<v Speaker 1>fear that the complete register of the stockholders of these
<v Speaker 1>South American concerns is in South America, and that some
<v Speaker 1>weeks must elapse before we can trace the share. Holmes
<v Speaker 1>had been examining the cover of the note book with
<v Speaker 1>his magnifying lends surely there is some discoloration here, said he, yes, sir,
<v Speaker 1>it is a blood stain. I told you that I
<v Speaker 1>picked the book off the floor. Was the blood stain
<v Speaker 1>above or below on the side next the boards, which proves,
<v Speaker 1>of course that the book was dropped after the crime
<v Speaker 1>was committed. Exactly, mister Holmes, my appreciated that point, and
<v Speaker 1>I conjectured that it was dropped by the murderer in
<v Speaker 1>his hurried flight. It lay near the door. I suppose
<v Speaker 1>that none of these securities have been found among the
<v Speaker 1>property of the dead man. Now, sir, have you any
<v Speaker 1>reason to suspect robbery? No, sir, nothing seemed to have
<v Speaker 1>been touched. Dear me, it is certainly a very interesting case.
<v Speaker 1>Then there was a knife, was there not? A sheath? Knife?
<v Speaker 1>Still in its sheath? It lay at the feet of
<v Speaker 1>the dead man. Missus carey As identified it as being
<v Speaker 1>her husband's property. Holmes was lost in thought for some time, well,
<v Speaker 1>said he At last, I suppose I shall have to
<v Speaker 1>come out and have a look at it. Stanley Hopkins
<v Speaker 1>gave a cry of joy, Thank you, sir. That will
<v Speaker 1>indeed be a way off my mind. Holmes shook his
<v Speaker 1>finger at the inspector. It would have been an easier
<v Speaker 1>task a week ago, said he. But even now my
<v Speaker 1>visit may not be entirely fruitless. Watson, if you can
<v Speaker 1>spare the time, I should be very glad of your company.
<v Speaker 1>If you will call a four wheeler Hopkins, we shall
<v Speaker 1>be ready to start for Forest Row in a quarter
<v Speaker 1>of an hour. Alighting at the small wayside station, we
<v Speaker 1>drove for some miles through the remains of widespread woods
<v Speaker 1>which were once part of that great forest which for
<v Speaker 1>so long held the Saxon invaders at bay, the impenetrable
<v Speaker 1>Wheeld for sixty years the bulwark of Britain. Vast sections
<v Speaker 1>of it have been cleared. For this is at the
<v Speaker 1>seat of the first iron works of the country, and
<v Speaker 1>the trees have been felled to smelt the ore. Now
<v Speaker 1>the richer fields of the north have absorbed the trade,
<v Speaker 1>and nothing save those ravaged groves and great scars in
<v Speaker 1>the earth show the work of the past. Here, in
<v Speaker 1>a clearing, upon the green slope of a hill stood
<v Speaker 1>a long, low stone house, approached by a curving drive.
<v Speaker 1>Running through the fields. Nearer the road, and surrounded on
<v Speaker 1>three sides by bushes, was a small outhouse, one window
<v Speaker 1>and the door facing in our direction. It was the
<v Speaker 1>scene of the murder. Stanley Hopkins led us first to
<v Speaker 1>the house, where he introduced us to a haggard, gray
<v Speaker 1>haired woman, the widow of the murdered man, whose gaunt
<v Speaker 1>and deep lined face, with the furtive look of terror
<v Speaker 1>in the depths of her red rimmed eyes, told of
<v Speaker 1>the years of hardship and ill usage which she had endured.
<v Speaker 1>With her was her daughter, a pale, fair haired girl,
<v Speaker 1>whose eyes blazed defiantly at us as she told us
<v Speaker 1>that she was glad that her father was dead, and
<v Speaker 1>that she blessed the hand which had struck him down.
<v Speaker 1>It was a terrible household that Black Peter Carey had
<v Speaker 1>made for himself, and it was with a sense of
<v Speaker 1>relief that we found ourselves in the sunlight again, and
<v Speaker 1>making our way along a path which had been worn
<v Speaker 1>across the fields by the feet of the dead man.
<v Speaker 1>The outhouse was the simplest of dwellings, wooden walled, shingle roofed,
<v Speaker 1>one window beside the door and one on the farther side.
<v Speaker 1>Stanley Hopkins drew the key from his pocket and had
<v Speaker 1>stooped to the lock when he paused, with a look
<v Speaker 1>of attention and surprise upon his face. Some one has
<v Speaker 1>been tampering with it, he said. There could be no
<v Speaker 1>doubt of the fact. The woodwork was cut, and the
<v Speaker 1>scratches showed white through the paint, as if they'd been
<v Speaker 1>that instant done. Holmes had been examining the window. Some
<v Speaker 1>one has tried to force this also, whoever it was,
<v Speaker 1>has failed to make his way in. He must have
<v Speaker 1>been a very poor burglar. This is a most extraordinary thing,
<v Speaker 1>said the inspector. I could swear that these marks were
<v Speaker 1>not here yesterday evening. Some curious person from the village, perhaps,
<v Speaker 1>I suggested, Very unlikely a few of them would dare
<v Speaker 1>to set foot in the grounds, far less try to
<v Speaker 1>force their way into the cabin. What do you think
<v Speaker 1>of it, mister Holmes, I think that fortune is very
<v Speaker 1>kind to us. You mean that the person will come again.
<v Speaker 1>It is very probable he came expecting to find the
<v Speaker 1>door open. He tried to get in with the blade
<v Speaker 1>of a very small pen knife. He could not manage it.
<v Speaker 1>What would he do come again next night with a
<v Speaker 1>more useful tool. So I should say it will be
<v Speaker 1>our fault if we are not there to receive him. Meanwhile,
<v Speaker 1>let me see the inside of the cabin. The traces
<v Speaker 1>of the tragedy had been removed, but the furniture within
<v Speaker 1>the little room still stirred as it had been on
<v Speaker 1>the night of the crime. For two hours, with most
<v Speaker 1>intense concentration, Holmes examined every object in turn, but his
<v Speaker 1>face showed that his quest was not a successful one.
<v Speaker 1>Only once he paused in his patient investigation. Have you
<v Speaker 1>taken anything off this shelf, Hopkins? Now I've moved nothing.
<v Speaker 1>Something has been taken. There is less dust in this
<v Speaker 1>corner of the shelf than elsewhere. It may have been
<v Speaker 1>a book lying on its side, It may have been
<v Speaker 1>a box. Well, well, I can do nothing more. Let
<v Speaker 1>us walk in these beautiful woods, Watson, and give a
<v Speaker 1>few hours to the birds and the flowers. We shall
<v Speaker 1>meet you here later, Hopkins, and see if we can
<v Speaker 1>come closer quarters with the gentleman who has paid this
<v Speaker 1>visit in the night. It was past eleven o'clock when
<v Speaker 1>we formed our little ambuscade. Hopkins was for leaving the
<v Speaker 1>door of the hut open, but Holmes was of the
<v Speaker 1>opinion that this would rouse the suspicions of the stranger.
<v Speaker 1>The lock was a perfectly simple one, and only a
<v Speaker 1>strong blade was needed to push it back. Holmes also
<v Speaker 1>suggested that we should wait not inside the hut, but
<v Speaker 1>outside it, among the bushes which grew round the farther window.
<v Speaker 1>In this way we shall be able to watch our
<v Speaker 1>man if he struck a light, and see what his
<v Speaker 1>object was. In this stealthy, nocturnal visit, it was a
<v Speaker 1>long and melancholy vigil, and yet brought with it something
<v Speaker 1>of the thrill which the hunter feels when he lies
<v Speaker 1>beside the water pool and waits for the coming of
<v Speaker 1>the thirsty beast of prey. What savage creature was it
<v Speaker 1>which might steal upon us out of the darkness. Was
<v Speaker 1>it a fierce tiger of crime, which could only be
<v Speaker 1>taken fighting hard with flashing fang and claw. Or would
<v Speaker 1>it prove to be some skulking jackal, dangerous only to
<v Speaker 1>the weak and unguarded. In absolute silence, we crouched amongst
<v Speaker 1>the bushes, waiting for whatever might come. At first, the
<v Speaker 1>steps of a few belated villagers or the sound of
<v Speaker 1>voices from the village lightened our vigil. But one by
<v Speaker 1>one these interruptions died away, and an absolute stillness fell
<v Speaker 1>upon us. Say for the chimes of the distant church,
<v Speaker 1>which told us of the progress of the night, and
<v Speaker 1>for the rustle and the whisper of a fine rain
<v Speaker 1>falling amid the foliage, which roofed us in Halfasto had chimed.
<v Speaker 1>And it was the darkest hour which precedes the dawn
<v Speaker 1>when we all started as a low but sharp click
<v Speaker 1>came from the direction of the gate. Some one had
<v Speaker 1>entered the drive again. There was a long silence, and
<v Speaker 1>I had begun to fear that it was a false alarm,
<v Speaker 1>when a stealthy step was heard upon the other side
<v Speaker 1>of the hut, and a moment later a metallic scraping
<v Speaker 1>and clinking. The man was trying to force the lock.
<v Speaker 1>This time his skill was greater, or his tool was better,
<v Speaker 1>for there was a sudden snap and the creak of
<v Speaker 1>the hinges. Then a match was struck, and next instant
<v Speaker 1>the steady light from a candle filled the interior of
<v Speaker 1>the hut through the gauze curtain. Our eyes were all
<v Speaker 1>riveted upon the scene. Within. The nocturnal visitor was a
<v Speaker 1>young man, rail and thin, with a black mustache which
<v Speaker 1>intensified the deadly pallor of his face. He could not
<v Speaker 1>have been much above twenty years of age. I have
<v Speaker 1>never seen any human being who appeared to be in
<v Speaker 1>such a pitiable fright, for his teeth were visibly chattering,
<v Speaker 1>and he was shaking in of every limb. He was
<v Speaker 1>dressed like a gentleman in Norfolk jacket and knickerbockers, with
<v Speaker 1>a cloth cap upon his head. We watched him staring
<v Speaker 1>round with frightened eyes. Then he laid the candle end
<v Speaker 1>upon the table and disappeared from our view into one
<v Speaker 1>of the corners. He returned with a large book, one
<v Speaker 1>of the log books, which formed a line upon the shelves.
<v Speaker 1>Leaning on the table, he rapidly turned over the leaves
<v Speaker 1>of this volume until he came to the entry which
<v Speaker 1>he sought. Then, with an angry gesture of his clenched hand,
<v Speaker 1>he closed the book, replaced it in the corner, and
<v Speaker 1>put out the light. He had hardly turned to leave
<v Speaker 1>the hut when Hopkins's hand was on the fellow's collar,
<v Speaker 1>and I heard his loud gasp of terror as he
<v Speaker 1>understood that he was taken. The candle was re lit,
<v Speaker 1>and there was our wretched captive shivering and cowering in
<v Speaker 1>the grasp of the detective. He sank down upon the
<v Speaker 1>sea chest and looked helplessly from one of us to
<v Speaker 1>the other. Now, my fine fellow, said Stanley Hopkins. Who
<v Speaker 1>are you? And what do you want here? The man
<v Speaker 1>pulled himself together and faced us with an effort at
<v Speaker 1>self composure. You are detectives, I suppose, said he You
<v Speaker 1>imagine I am connected with the death of Captain Peter Carey.
<v Speaker 1>I assure you that I am innocent. We'll see about that,
<v Speaker 1>said Hopkins. First of all, what is your name? It
<v Speaker 1>is John Hopley Nelligan. I saw Holmes and Hopkins exchange
<v Speaker 1>a quick glance. What are you doing here? Can I
<v Speaker 1>speak confidentially? Now? Certainly not? Why should I tell you?
<v Speaker 1>If you have no answer, it may go badly with
<v Speaker 1>you at the trial. The young man winced, Well, I
<v Speaker 1>will tell you, he said, Why should I not? And
<v Speaker 1>yet I hate to think of this old scandal gaining
<v Speaker 1>a new lease of life. Did you ever hear of
<v Speaker 1>Dawson and Nelligan? I could see from Hopkins's face that
<v Speaker 1>he never had. But Holmes was keenly interested. You mean
<v Speaker 1>the West Country bankers, said he theyy failed for a million,
<v Speaker 1>ruined half the county families of Cornwall, and Nelligan disappeared exactly.
<v Speaker 1>Nelligan was my father. At last, we were getting something positive,
<v Speaker 1>and yet it seemed a long gap between an absconding
<v Speaker 1>banker and Captain Peter Carey. Pinned against the wall with
<v Speaker 1>one of his own harpoons. We all listened intently to
<v Speaker 1>the young man's words. It was my father who was
<v Speaker 1>really concerned Dawson had retired. I was only ten years
<v Speaker 1>of age at the time, but I was old enough
<v Speaker 1>to feel the shame and horror of it all. It
<v Speaker 1>has always been said that my father stole all the
<v Speaker 1>securities and fled. It is not true. It was his
<v Speaker 1>belief that if he were given time in which to
<v Speaker 1>realize them, all would be well and every creditor paid
<v Speaker 1>in full. He started in his little yacht for Norway
<v Speaker 1>just before the warrant was issued for his arrest. I
<v Speaker 1>can remember that last night, when he bade farewell to
<v Speaker 1>my mother, he left us a list of the securities
<v Speaker 1>he was taking, and he swore that he would come
<v Speaker 1>back with his honor cleared, and that none who had
<v Speaker 1>trusted him would suffer well. No word was ever heard
<v Speaker 1>from him again. Both the yacht and he vanished utterly.
<v Speaker 1>We believed, my mother and I, that he and it,
<v Speaker 1>with the securities that he had taken with him, were
<v Speaker 1>at the bottom of the sea. We had a faithful friend, however,
<v Speaker 1>who is a business man, and it was he who
<v Speaker 1>discovered some time ago that some of the securities which
<v Speaker 1>my father had with him had reappeared on the London market.
<v Speaker 1>You can imagine our amazement. I spent months in trying
<v Speaker 1>to trace them, and at last, after many doubtings and difficulties,
<v Speaker 1>I discovered that the original seller had been Captain Peter Carey,
<v Speaker 1>the owner of this hut. Naturally, I made some inquiries
<v Speaker 1>about the man. I found that he had been in
<v Speaker 1>command of a whaler which was due to return from
<v Speaker 1>the Arctic seas at the very time when my father
<v Speaker 1>was crossing to Norway. The autumn of that year was
<v Speaker 1>a stormy one, and there was a long succession of
<v Speaker 1>southerly gales. My father's yacht may well have been blown
<v Speaker 1>to the north and there met by Captain Peter Carey's ship.
<v Speaker 1>If that were so, what had become of my father?
<v Speaker 1>In any case, if I could prove from Peter Carry's
<v Speaker 1>evidence how these securities came on the market. It would
<v Speaker 1>be a proof that my father had not sold them
<v Speaker 1>and that he had no view to personal profit when
<v Speaker 1>he took them. I came down to Sussex with the
<v Speaker 1>intention of seeing the captain, but it was at this
<v Speaker 1>moment that his terrible death occurred. I read at the
<v Speaker 1>inquest a description of his cabin in which it stated
<v Speaker 1>that the old log books of his vessel were preserved
<v Speaker 1>in it. It struck me that if I could see
<v Speaker 1>what occurred in the month of August eighteen eighty three
<v Speaker 1>on board the Sea Unicorn, I might settle the mystery
<v Speaker 1>of my father's fate. I tried last night to get
<v Speaker 1>at these log books, but was unable to open the door.
<v Speaker 1>To night, I tried again and succeeded, But I find
<v Speaker 1>that the pages which deal with that month have been
<v Speaker 1>torn from the book. It was that moment I found
<v Speaker 1>myself a prisoner in your hands? Is that all? Asked Hopkins. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>that is all. His eyes shifted as he said, you
<v Speaker 1>have nothing else to tell us, he hesitated, No, there
<v Speaker 1>is nothing. You have not been here before last night. No, then,
<v Speaker 1>how do you account for that, cried Hopkins as he
<v Speaker 1>held up the damning note book with the initials of
<v Speaker 1>our prisoner on the first leaf and the blood stain
<v Speaker 1>on the cover. The wretched man collapsed. He sank his
<v Speaker 1>face in his hands and trembled all over. Where did
<v Speaker 1>you get it, he groaned? I didn't know. I thought
<v Speaker 1>I'd lost it at the hotel. That's enough, said Hopkins sternly.
<v Speaker 1>Whatever else you have to say, you must say it
<v Speaker 1>in court. You will walk down with me now to
<v Speaker 1>the police station. Well, mister Holmes, I am very much
<v Speaker 1>obliged to you and to your friend for coming down
<v Speaker 1>to help me. As it turns out, your presence was
<v Speaker 1>unnecessary and I would have brought the case to this
<v Speaker 1>successful issue without you. But none the less, I am
<v Speaker 1>grateful romes have been reserved for you at the Bramoti Hotel,
<v Speaker 1>so we can all walk down to the village together. Well, Watson,
<v Speaker 1>what do you think of it? Asked Holmes as we
<v Speaker 1>traveled back next morning. I can see that you are
<v Speaker 1>not satisfied. Oh, yes, my dear Watson, I am perfectly satisfied.
<v Speaker 1>At the same time, Stanley Hopkins's methods do not commend
<v Speaker 1>themselves to me. I am disappointed in Stanley Hopkins. I
<v Speaker 1>had hoped for better things from him. One should always
<v Speaker 1>look for a possible alternative and provide against it. It
<v Speaker 1>is the first rule of criminal investigation. What then, is
<v Speaker 1>the alternative? The line of investigation which I have myself
<v Speaker 1>been pursuing. It may give us nothing, I cannot tell,
<v Speaker 1>but at least I shall follow it to the end.
<v Speaker 1>Several letters were waiting for homes at Baker Street. He
<v Speaker 1>snatched one of them, opened it and burst out into
<v Speaker 1>a triumphant chuckle of laughter. Ha, excellent, Watson, the alternative develops.
<v Speaker 1>Have you telegraph forms? Just write a couple of messages
<v Speaker 1>for me, Sumner Shipping Agent, Ratcliffe Highway. Send three men
<v Speaker 1>on to arrive ten tomorrow morning, Basil. That's my name
<v Speaker 1>in those parts, and the other is Inspector Stanley Hopkins,
<v Speaker 1>forty six Lord Street, Brixton, Come breakfast tomorrow at nine
<v Speaker 1>point thirty. Important why if unable to come? Sherlock Holmes. There, Watson,
<v Speaker 1>this infernal case has haunted me for ten days. I
<v Speaker 1>hereby banish it completely from my presence tomorrow. I trust
<v Speaker 1>that we shall hear the last of it forever. Sharp
<v Speaker 1>at the hour named Inspector Stanley Hopkins appeared and we
<v Speaker 1>sat down together to the excellent breakfast which missus Hudson
<v Speaker 1>had prepared. The young detective was in high spirits at
<v Speaker 1>his success. You really think that your solution must be correct,
<v Speaker 1>asked Holmes. I could not imagine a more complete case.
<v Speaker 1>It did not seem to me conclusive. You astonish me,
<v Speaker 1>mister Holmes. What more could one ask for? Does your
<v Speaker 1>explanation cover every point? Undoubtedly? I find that young Nelligan
<v Speaker 1>arrived at the Bramilty Hotel on the very day of
<v Speaker 1>the crime. He came on the pretense of playing golf.
<v Speaker 1>His room was on the ground floor, and he could
<v Speaker 1>get out when he liked. That very night he went
<v Speaker 1>down to the woman's lee, saw Peter Carey at the hut,
<v Speaker 1>quarreled with him, and killed him with a harpoon. Then,
<v Speaker 1>horrified by what he'd done, he fled out of the hut,
<v Speaker 1>dropping the notebook which he had brought with him in
<v Speaker 1>order to question Peter Carey about those different secures. You
<v Speaker 1>may have observed that some of them were marked with ticks,
<v Speaker 1>and the others the great majority were not. Those which
<v Speaker 1>had ticked have been traced on the London market, but
<v Speaker 1>the others presumably were still in the possession of Cary,
<v Speaker 1>and young Nelligan, according to his own account, was anxious
<v Speaker 1>to recover them in order to do the right thing
<v Speaker 1>by his father's creditors. After his flight, he did not
<v Speaker 1>dare to approach the hut again for some time, but
<v Speaker 1>at last he forced himself to do so in order
<v Speaker 1>to obtain the information which he needed. Surely that is
<v Speaker 1>all simple and obvious, Holmes smiled and shook his head.
<v Speaker 1>It seems to me to have only one drawback, Hopkins,
<v Speaker 1>and that is that it is intrinsically impossible. Have you
<v Speaker 1>tried to drive a harpoon through a body? No? Tut, tut,
<v Speaker 1>my dear sir. He must really pay attention to these details.
<v Speaker 1>My friend Watson could tell you that I spent a
<v Speaker 1>whole morning in that exercise. It is no easy matter
<v Speaker 1>and requires a strong and practiced arm. But this blow
<v Speaker 1>was delivered with such violence that the head of the
<v Speaker 1>weapon sank deep into the wall. Do you imagine that
<v Speaker 1>this anemic youth was capable of so frightful an assault?
<v Speaker 1>Is he the man who hobnobbed in rum and water
<v Speaker 1>with Black Peter in the dead of the night. Was
<v Speaker 1>it his profile that was seen on the blind two
<v Speaker 1>nights before? No, No, Hopkins, it is another and more
<v Speaker 1>formidable person for whom we must seek. The detective's face
<v Speaker 1>had grown longer and longer during Holmes's speech. His hopes
<v Speaker 1>and his ambitions were all crumbling about him, but he
<v Speaker 1>would not abandon his position without a struggle. You can't
<v Speaker 1>deny that Nelligan was present that night, mister Holmes. The
<v Speaker 1>book will prove that. I fancy that I have evidence
<v Speaker 1>enough to satisfy a jewelry, even if you are able
<v Speaker 1>to pick a hole in it. Besides, mister Holmes, I
<v Speaker 1>have laid my hand upon my man as to this
<v Speaker 1>terrible person of yours. Where is he? I rather fancy
<v Speaker 1>that he is on the stair, said Holmes serenely. I think, Watson,
<v Speaker 1>that you would do well to put that revolver where
<v Speaker 1>you can reach it. He rose and laid a written
<v Speaker 1>paper upon a side table. Now we are ready, said he.
<v Speaker 1>There had been some talking in gruff voices outside, and
<v Speaker 1>now missus Hudson opened the door to say that there
<v Speaker 1>were three men inquiring for Captain Basil. Show them in
<v Speaker 1>one by one, said Holmes. The first who entered was
<v Speaker 1>a little ribston pippin of a man with ruddy cheeks
<v Speaker 1>and fluffy white side whiskers. Holmes had drawn a letter
<v Speaker 1>from his pocket. What name, he asked, James Lancaster. I
<v Speaker 1>am sorry, Lancaster, but the berth is full. Here is
<v Speaker 1>half a sovereign for your trouble. Just step into this
<v Speaker 1>room and wait there for a few minutes. The second
<v Speaker 1>man was a long, dried up creature with lank hair
<v Speaker 1>and sallow cheeks. His name was Hugh Pattins. He also
<v Speaker 1>received his dismissal, his half sovereign, and the order to wait.
<v Speaker 1>The third applicant was a man of remarkable appearance. A
<v Speaker 1>fierce bulldog face was framed in a tangle of hair
<v Speaker 1>and beard, and two bold, dark eyes gleamed behind the
<v Speaker 1>cover of thick tufted overhung eyebrows. He saluted and stood
<v Speaker 1>sailor fashion, turning his cap round in his hands. Your name,
<v Speaker 1>asked Holmes, Patrick Cairns, harpooner, Yes, sir, twenty six voyages dundee.
<v Speaker 1>I suppose, yes, sir, and ready to start with an
<v Speaker 1>exploring ship. Yes, sir, what wages eight pounds a month?
<v Speaker 1>Could you start at once, as soon as I get
<v Speaker 1>my kit. Have you your papers, yes, sir, He took
<v Speaker 1>a sheaf of worn and greasy forms from his pocket.
<v Speaker 1>Holmes glanced over them and returned them. You are just
<v Speaker 1>the man I want, said he. Here's the agreement on
<v Speaker 1>the side table. If you sign it, and the whole
<v Speaker 1>matter will be settled. The seaman lurched across the room
<v Speaker 1>and took up the pen. Shall I sign here, he asked,
<v Speaker 1>stooping over the table. Holmes leaned over his shoulder and
<v Speaker 1>passed both hands over his neck. This will do, said he.
<v Speaker 1>I heard a click of steel and a bellow like
<v Speaker 1>an enraged bull. The next instant, Holmes and the seamen
<v Speaker 1>were rolling on the ground together. He was a man
<v Speaker 1>of such gigantic strength that, even with the handcuffs which
<v Speaker 1>Holmes had so deftly fasten upon his wrists, he would
<v Speaker 1>have very quickly overpowered my friend, had Hopkins, and I
<v Speaker 1>not rushed to his rescue. Only when I pressed the
<v Speaker 1>cold muzzle of the revolver to his temple did he
<v Speaker 1>at last understand that resistance was vain. We lashed his
<v Speaker 1>ankles with cord and rose breathless from the struggle. I
<v Speaker 1>must really apologize, Hopkins, said Sherlock Holmes. I fear that
<v Speaker 1>the scrambled eggs are cold. However, you will enjoy the
<v Speaker 1>rest of your breakfast all the better, will you, not,
<v Speaker 1>for the thought that you have brought your case to
<v Speaker 1>a triumphant conclusion. Stanley Hopkins was speechless with amazement. I
<v Speaker 1>don't know what to say, mister Holmes, he blurted out
<v Speaker 1>at last, with a very red face. It seems to
<v Speaker 1>me that I've been making a fool of myself from
<v Speaker 1>the beginning. I understand now what I should never have forgotten.
<v Speaker 1>That I am the pupil and you are the master.
<v Speaker 1>Even now I see what you have done, but I
<v Speaker 1>don't know how you did it or what it signifies. Well, well,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes, good humoredly. We all learn by experience, and
<v Speaker 1>your lesson this time is that you should never lose
<v Speaker 1>sight of the alternative. You were so absorbed in young
<v Speaker 1>Nelligan that you could not spare a thought to Patrick Cairns,
<v Speaker 1>the true murderer of Peter Carey. The hoarse voice of
<v Speaker 1>the seamen broke in on our conversation. See here, mister
<v Speaker 1>said he. I make no complaint of being man handled
<v Speaker 1>in this fashion. But I would have you call things
<v Speaker 1>by their right names. You say I murdered Peter Carey.
<v Speaker 1>I say I killed Peter Carey. And there's all the difference.
<v Speaker 1>Maybe you don't believe what I say. Maybe you think
<v Speaker 1>I'm just slinging you a yarn. Not at all, said Holmes.
<v Speaker 1>Let us hear what you have to say. It's soon told,
<v Speaker 1>and by the Lord, every word of its truth. I
<v Speaker 1>knew Black Peter, and when he pulled out his knife,
<v Speaker 1>I whipped a parpoon through him sharp, for I knew
<v Speaker 1>that it was him or me. That's how he died.
<v Speaker 1>You can call it murder anyway. I'd as soon die
<v Speaker 1>with a rope round my neck as with Black Peter's
<v Speaker 1>knife in my heart. How came you there, asked Holmes.
<v Speaker 1>I'll tell you from the beginning. Just sit me up
<v Speaker 1>a little so as I can speak easy. It was
<v Speaker 1>in eighty three that had happened. August of that year.
<v Speaker 1>Peter Carey was master of the Sea Unicorn, and I
<v Speaker 1>was spare harpooner. We were coming out of the ice
<v Speaker 1>pack on our way home with head winds and a
<v Speaker 1>weak southerly gale. When we picked up a little craft
<v Speaker 1>that had been blown north. There was one man on her,
<v Speaker 1>a landsman. The crew had thought she would found her
<v Speaker 1>and made for the Norwegian coast in the dinghy. I
<v Speaker 1>guess they were all drowned. Well, he took him on board,
<v Speaker 1>and this man and he and the skipper had some
<v Speaker 1>long talks in the cabin. All the baggage we took
<v Speaker 1>off with him was in one tin box. So far
<v Speaker 1>as I know. The man's name was never mentioned, and
<v Speaker 1>on the second night he disappeared as if he'd never been.
<v Speaker 1>It was given out that he had either thrown himself
<v Speaker 1>overboard or fallen overboard in the heavy weather that we
<v Speaker 1>were having. Only one man knew what had happened to him,
<v Speaker 1>and that was me, For with my own eyes I
<v Speaker 1>saw the skipper tip up his heels and put him
<v Speaker 1>over the rail in the middle watch of a dark night,
<v Speaker 1>two days before we sighted the Shetland lights. Well, I
<v Speaker 1>kept my knowledge to myself and waited to see what
<v Speaker 1>would come of it. When we got back to Scotland,
<v Speaker 1>it was easily hushed up and nobody asked any questions.
<v Speaker 1>A stranger died by accident, and it was nobody's business
<v Speaker 1>to inquire. Shortly after Peter Carey gave up the sea,
<v Speaker 1>and it was long years before I could find where
<v Speaker 1>he was. I guessed that he had done the deed
<v Speaker 1>for the sake of what was in that tin box,
<v Speaker 1>and that he could afford now to pay me well
<v Speaker 1>for keeping my mouth shut. I found out where he
<v Speaker 1>was from a sailorman that had met him in London,
<v Speaker 1>and down I went to squeeze him. The first night,
<v Speaker 1>he was reasonable enough and was ready to give me
<v Speaker 1>what would make me free of the sea for life.
<v Speaker 1>We were to fix it all. Two nights later, when
<v Speaker 1>I came, I found him three parts drunk and in
<v Speaker 1>a vile temper. We sat down and we drank, and
<v Speaker 1>we yarned about old times. But the more he drank,
<v Speaker 1>the less I liked the look on his face. I
<v Speaker 1>spotted that harpoon upon the wall, and I thought I
<v Speaker 1>might knead it before I was through. Then at last
<v Speaker 1>he broke out at me, spitting and cursing, with murder
<v Speaker 1>in his eyes and a great clasp knife in his hand.
<v Speaker 1>He had not time to get it from the sheath
<v Speaker 1>before I had the harpoon through him. Heavens, what a
<v Speaker 1>yell he gave, and his face gets between me and
<v Speaker 1>my sleep. I stood there with his blood splashing round me,
<v Speaker 1>and I waited for a bit, but all was quiet,
<v Speaker 1>so I took heart once more. I looked round and
<v Speaker 1>there was the tin box on the shelf. I had
<v Speaker 1>as much right to it as Peter Carey, anyhow, so
<v Speaker 1>I took it with me and left the hut like
<v Speaker 1>a fool. I left my backy pouch upon the table.
<v Speaker 1>Now I'll tell you the queerest part of the whole story.
<v Speaker 1>I had hardly got outside the hut when I heard
<v Speaker 1>someone coming, and I hid among the bushes. A man
<v Speaker 1>came slinking along, went into the hut, gave a cry
<v Speaker 1>as if he'd seen a ghost, and legged it as
<v Speaker 1>hard as he could run until he was out of sight.
<v Speaker 1>Who he was or what he wanted is more than
<v Speaker 1>I can tell. For my part, I walked ten miles,
<v Speaker 1>got a train at Tunbridge Wells, and so reached London,
<v Speaker 1>and no one the wiser well. When I came to
<v Speaker 1>examine the box, I found there was no money in it,
<v Speaker 1>and nothing but papers that I would not dare to sell.
<v Speaker 1>I had lost my hold on Black Peter and was
<v Speaker 1>stranded in London without a shilling there was only my
<v Speaker 1>trade left. I saw these advertisements about harpooners and high wages,
<v Speaker 1>so I went to the shipping agents and they sent
<v Speaker 1>me here. That's all I know. And I say again
<v Speaker 1>that if I killed Black Peter, the law should give
<v Speaker 1>me thanks for I saved them the price of a
<v Speaker 1>hemp and rope. A very clear statement, said Holmes, rising
<v Speaker 1>and lighting his pipe. I think, Hopkins, that you should
<v Speaker 1>lose no time in conveying your prisoner to a place
<v Speaker 1>of safety. This room is not well adapted for a cell,
<v Speaker 1>and mister Patrick Keirns occupies too large a proportion of
<v Speaker 1>our carpet. Mister Holmes, said Hopkins. I do not know
<v Speaker 1>how to express my gratitude even now. I don't understand
<v Speaker 1>how you attain this result simply by having the good
<v Speaker 1>fortune to get the right clue from the beginning. It
<v Speaker 1>is very possible if I had known about this note book,
<v Speaker 1>it might have led away my thoughts, as it did yours.
<v Speaker 1>But all I heard pointed in the one direction. The
<v Speaker 1>amazing strength, the skill in the use of the harpoon,
<v Speaker 1>the rum and water, the seal skin tobacco pouch with
<v Speaker 1>the coarse tobacco. All these pointed to a seaman and
<v Speaker 1>one who had been a whaler. I was convinced that
<v Speaker 1>the initials p C upon the pouch were a coincidence
<v Speaker 1>and not those of Peter Carey, since he seldom smoked
<v Speaker 1>and no pipe was found in his cabin. You remember
<v Speaker 1>that I asked whether was Ski and Brandy were in
<v Speaker 1>the cabin. You said they were. How many landsmen are
<v Speaker 1>there who would drink rum when they could get these
<v Speaker 1>other spirits? Yes? I was certain it was a seaman.
<v Speaker 1>And how did you find him? My dear sir? The
<v Speaker 1>problem had become a very simple one. If it were
<v Speaker 1>a seaman, it could only be a seaman who had
<v Speaker 1>been with him on the Sea Unicorn. So far as
<v Speaker 1>I could learn, he had sailed in no other ship.
<v Speaker 1>I spent three days in wiring to Dundee, and at
<v Speaker 1>the end of that time I had ascertained the names
<v Speaker 1>of the crew of the Sea Unicorn. In eighteen eighty three,
<v Speaker 1>when I found Patrick Keirns among the harpooners, my research
<v Speaker 1>was nearing its end. I argued that the man was
<v Speaker 1>probably in London and that he would desire to leave
<v Speaker 1>the country for a time. I therefore spent some days
<v Speaker 1>in the East End, devised an Arctic expedition, put forth
<v Speaker 1>tempting terms for harper pooners who would serve under Captain Basil,
<v Speaker 1>and behold the result. Wonderful, cried Hopkins. Wonderful. You must
<v Speaker 1>obtain the release of young Nellighan as soon as possible,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes. I confess that I think you owe him
<v Speaker 1>some apology. The tin box must be returned to him.
<v Speaker 1>But of course the securities which Peter Carey has sold
<v Speaker 1>are lost forever. There's the cab, Hopkins, and you can
<v Speaker 1>remove your man if you want me for the trial.
<v Speaker 1>My address and that of Watson will be somewhere in Norway.
<v Speaker 1>I'll send particulars later. End of the Adventure of Black
<v Speaker 1>Peter