The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

<v Speaker 1>The adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. I had called upon
<v Speaker 1>my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second morning after Christmas,
<v Speaker 1>with the intention of wishing him the compliments of the season.
<v Speaker 1>He was lounging upon the sofa in a purple dressing gown,
<v Speaker 1>a pipe rack within his reach upon the right, and
<v Speaker 1>a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly studied near
<v Speaker 1>at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and
<v Speaker 1>on the angle of the back hung a very seedy
<v Speaker 1>and disreputable, hard felt hat, much the worse for wear
<v Speaker 1>and cracked in several places. A linbs and a four
<v Speaker 1>SIPs lying upon the seat of the chair suggested that
<v Speaker 1>the hat had been suspended in this manner for the
<v Speaker 1>purpose of examination. You are engaged, said I, perhaps I
<v Speaker 1>interrupt you not at all. I am glad to have
<v Speaker 1>a friend with whom I can discuss my results. The
<v Speaker 1>matter is a perfectly trivial one. He jerked his thumb
<v Speaker 1>in the direction of the old hat, But there are
<v Speaker 1>points in connection with it which are not entirely devoid
<v Speaker 1>of interest and even of instruction. I seated myself in
<v Speaker 1>his arm chair and warmed my hands before his crackling fire,
<v Speaker 1>for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows
<v Speaker 1>were thick with the ice crystals. I suppose, I remarked
<v Speaker 1>that homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly
<v Speaker 1>story linked on to it. That it is the clue
<v Speaker 1>which will guide you in the solution of some mystery
<v Speaker 1>and the punishment of some crime. No, no, no crime,
<v Speaker 1>said Sherlock Holmes, laughing, Only one of those whimsical little
<v Speaker 1>incidents which will happen when you have four million human
<v Speaker 1>beings all jostling each other within the space of a
<v Speaker 1>few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so
<v Speaker 1>dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events
<v Speaker 1>may be expected to take place, and many a little
<v Speaker 1>problem will be presented, which may be striking and bizarre
<v Speaker 1>without being criminal. We have already had experience of such.
<v Speaker 1>So much so I remarked that of the last six
<v Speaker 1>cases which I have added to my notes, three have
<v Speaker 1>been entirely free of any illegal crime. Precisely allude to
<v Speaker 1>my attempt to recover the Irene Adler papers, to the
<v Speaker 1>singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the adventure
<v Speaker 1>of the man with a twisted lip. Well, I have
<v Speaker 1>no doubt that this small matter will fall into the
<v Speaker 1>same innocent category. You know Peterson the Commissionaire. Yes, it
<v Speaker 1>is to him that this trophy belongs. It is his hat. No, no,
<v Speaker 1>he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that
<v Speaker 1>you will look upon it not as a battered billy cock,
<v Speaker 1>but as an intellectual problem. And first, as to how
<v Speaker 1>it came here. It arrived upon Christmas morning in company
<v Speaker 1>with a good fat goose, which is I have no
<v Speaker 1>doubt roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's fire.
<v Speaker 1>The facts of these About four o'clock on Christmas morning, Peterson,
<v Speaker 1>who as you know, is a very honest fellow, was
<v Speaker 1>returning from some small jollification, and was making his way
<v Speaker 1>homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he
<v Speaker 1>saw in the gas light a tallish man walking with
<v Speaker 1>a slight stagger and carrying a white goose slung over
<v Speaker 1>his shoulder. As he reached the corner of Good Street,
<v Speaker 1>a row broke out between this stranger and a little
<v Speaker 1>knot of ruffs. One of the latter knocked off the
<v Speaker 1>man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself,
<v Speaker 1>and swinging it over his head smashed the shop window
<v Speaker 1>behind him. Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger
<v Speaker 1>from his assailants. But the man, shocked at having broken
<v Speaker 1>the window and seeing an official looking person in uniform
<v Speaker 1>rushing towards him, dropped his goose, took to his heels,
<v Speaker 1>and vanished amid the labyrinth of small streets which lie
<v Speaker 1>at the back of Tottenham Court Road. The Roffs had
<v Speaker 1>also fled at the appearance of Peterson, so that he
<v Speaker 1>was left in possession of the field of battle, and
<v Speaker 1>also of the spoils of victory in the shape of
<v Speaker 1>this battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose, which
<v Speaker 1>surely he restored to their owner, My dear fellow, there
<v Speaker 1>lies the problem. It is true that for missus Henry
<v Speaker 1>Baker was printed upon a small card which had been
<v Speaker 1>tied to the bird's left leg, and it is also
<v Speaker 1>true that the initial h B are legible upon the
<v Speaker 1>lining of this hat. But as there are some thousands
<v Speaker 1>of Bakers and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in this
<v Speaker 1>city of ours, it's not easy to restore lost property
<v Speaker 1>to any one of them. What then did Peterson do?
<v Speaker 1>He brought round both hat and goose to me on
<v Speaker 1>Christmas morning, knowing that even the smallest problems are of
<v Speaker 1>interest to me. The goose re retained until this morning,
<v Speaker 1>when there were signs that in spite of the slight frost,
<v Speaker 1>it would be well that it should be eaten without
<v Speaker 1>unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried it off there for
<v Speaker 1>to fulfill the ultimate destiny of a goose, while I
<v Speaker 1>continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who
<v Speaker 1>lost his Christmas dinner? Did he not advertise? No? Then?
<v Speaker 1>What clue could you have as to his identity? Only
<v Speaker 1>as much as we can deduce from his hat precisely?
<v Speaker 1>But you are joking? What can you gather from this old,
<v Speaker 1>battered felt Here is my lens, you know my methods.
<v Speaker 1>What can you gain rather yourself as to the individuality
<v Speaker 1>of the man who has worn this article? I took
<v Speaker 1>the tattered object in my hands and turned it over
<v Speaker 1>rather ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat, of
<v Speaker 1>the usual round shape, hard and much the worse for wear.
<v Speaker 1>The lining had been of red silk, but was a
<v Speaker 1>good deal discolored. There was no maker's name, but as
<v Speaker 1>Holmes had remarked, the initials H B were scrawled upon
<v Speaker 1>one side. It was pierced in the brim for a
<v Speaker 1>hat secure, but the elastic was missing. For the rest.
<v Speaker 1>It was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places,
<v Speaker 1>although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide
<v Speaker 1>the discolored patches by smearing them with ink. I can
<v Speaker 1>see nothing, said I handing it back to my friend.
<v Speaker 1>On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however,
<v Speaker 1>to reason from what you see. You are too timid
<v Speaker 1>in drawing your inferences. Then, pray, tell me what it
<v Speaker 1>is that you can infer from this hat. He picked
<v Speaker 1>it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective
<v Speaker 1>fashion which was characteristic of him. It is perhaps less
<v Speaker 1>suggestive than it might have been, he remarked. And yet
<v Speaker 1>there are a few inferences which are very distinct, and
<v Speaker 1>a few others which represent at least a small balance
<v Speaker 1>of probability. That the man was highly intellectual is of
<v Speaker 1>course obvious upon the face of it, and also that
<v Speaker 1>he was fairly well to do within the last three years,
<v Speaker 1>although he has now fallen upon evil days. He had foresight,
<v Speaker 1>but has less now than formerly. Pointing to a moral retrogression, which,
<v Speaker 1>when taken with the decline of his fortune, seems to
<v Speaker 1>indicate some evil influence, probably drink, at work upon him.
<v Speaker 1>This may account also for the obvious fact that his
<v Speaker 1>wife has ceased to love him, My dear Holmes, He has, however,
<v Speaker 1>retained some degree of self respect, he continued, disregarding my remonstrance.
<v Speaker 1>He is a man who leads a sedentary life, goes
<v Speaker 1>out little, is out of training, entirely, is middle aged,
<v Speaker 1>has grizzled hair, which he has had cut within the
<v Speaker 1>last few days, and which he annoints with lime cream.
<v Speaker 1>These are the more patent facts which may be deduced
<v Speaker 1>from his hat. Also by the way that it is
<v Speaker 1>extremely improbable that he has had gas laid on in
<v Speaker 1>his house. You are certainly joking homes. On the least,
<v Speaker 1>is it possible that, even now, when I gave you
<v Speaker 1>these results, you are unable to see how they are attained.
<v Speaker 1>I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but
<v Speaker 1>I must confess that I am unable to follow you.
<v Speaker 1>For example, how did you deduce that this man was intellectual?
<v Speaker 1>For answer, Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It
<v Speaker 1>came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge
<v Speaker 1>of his nose. It is a question of cubic capacity,
<v Speaker 1>said he. A man with so large a brain must
<v Speaker 1>have something in it the decline in his fortunes. Then
<v Speaker 1>this hat is three years old. These flat brims, curled
<v Speaker 1>at the edge, came in. Then it is a hat
<v Speaker 1>of the very best quality. Look at the band of
<v Speaker 1>ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could
<v Speaker 1>afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago
<v Speaker 1>and has had no hat since then, he has assuredly
<v Speaker 1>gone down in the world. Well, that is clear enough, certainly,
<v Speaker 1>But how about the foresight and the moral retrogression? Sherlock
<v Speaker 1>Holmes laughed. Here is the foresight, said he, putting his
<v Speaker 1>finger upon the little disk and loop of the hat.
<v Speaker 1>Secure they are never sold upon hats. If this man
<v Speaker 1>ordered one, it is a sign of a certain amount
<v Speaker 1>of foresight, since he went out of his way to
<v Speaker 1>take this precaution against the wind. But since we see
<v Speaker 1>that he has broken the elastic and is not troubled
<v Speaker 1>to replace it, it is obvious that he has less
<v Speaker 1>foresight now than formerly, which is a distinct proof of
<v Speaker 1>a weakening nature. On the other hand, he has endeavored
<v Speaker 1>to conceal some of these stains upon the felt by
<v Speaker 1>daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he
<v Speaker 1>has not entirely lost his self respect. Your reasoning is
<v Speaker 1>certainly plausible. The further points that he is middle aged,
<v Speaker 1>that his hair is grizzled, that it has has been
<v Speaker 1>recently cut, and that he uses lime cream are all
<v Speaker 1>to be gathered From a close examination of the lower
<v Speaker 1>part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number
<v Speaker 1>of hair ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber.
<v Speaker 1>They all appear to be adhesive, and there is a
<v Speaker 1>distinct odor of lime cream. This dust, as you will observe,
<v Speaker 1>is not the gritty gray dust of the street, but
<v Speaker 1>the fluffy brown dust of the house, showing that it
<v Speaker 1>has been hung up indoors most of the time, while
<v Speaker 1>the marks of moisture upon the inside are proved positive
<v Speaker 1>that the wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore hardly
<v Speaker 1>be in the best of training. But his wife, you
<v Speaker 1>said that she had ceased to love him. This hat
<v Speaker 1>has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you,
<v Speaker 1>my dear Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon
<v Speaker 1>your hat, and when your wife allows you to go
<v Speaker 1>out in such a state, I shall fear that you
<v Speaker 1>also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's affection.
<v Speaker 1>But he might be a bachelor. Nay, he was bringing
<v Speaker 1>home the goose as a peace offering to his wife.
<v Speaker 1>Remember the card upon the bird's leg. You have an
<v Speaker 1>answer for everything. But how on earth do you deduce
<v Speaker 1>that the gas is not laid on in his house?
<v Speaker 1>One tallow stain or even two might come by chance,
<v Speaker 1>But when I see no less than five, I think
<v Speaker 1>that there can be little doubt that the individual must
<v Speaker 1>be brought into frequent contact with burning tallow walks upstairs
<v Speaker 1>at night, probably with his hat in one hand and
<v Speaker 1>a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never got
<v Speaker 1>tallow stains from a gas jet. Are you satisfied? Well,
<v Speaker 1>it is very ingenious, said I, laughing. But since, as
<v Speaker 1>you said just now, there has been no crime committed
<v Speaker 1>and no harm done save the loss of a goose,
<v Speaker 1>all this seems to be rather a waste of energy.
<v Speaker 1>Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply when the
<v Speaker 1>door flew open, and Peterson, the Commissionaire rushed into the
<v Speaker 1>apartment with flushed cheeks, and the face of a man
<v Speaker 1>who is dazed with astonishment. The goose, mister Holmes, the goose, sir,
<v Speaker 1>He gasped, Eh, what of it? Then, as it returned
<v Speaker 1>to life and flapped off through the kitchen window, Holmes
<v Speaker 1>twisted himself round upon the sofa to get a fairer
<v Speaker 1>view of the man's excited face. See here, sir, see
<v Speaker 1>what my wife found in its crop. He held out
<v Speaker 1>his hand and displayed upon the center of the palm
<v Speaker 1>a brilliantly scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean
<v Speaker 1>in size, but of such purity and radiance that it
<v Speaker 1>twinkled like an electric point in the dark hollow of
<v Speaker 1>his hand. Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle by jove.
<v Speaker 1>Peterson said he this is a treasure trove. Indeed, I
<v Speaker 1>suppose you know what you've got? A diamond, sir, A
<v Speaker 1>precious stone. It cuts into glasses though it were putty.
<v Speaker 1>It's more than a precious stone. It's the precious stone,
<v Speaker 1>not the Countess of more Car's blue carbuncle. I ejaculated precisely,
<v Speaker 1>so I ought to know its size and shape, seeing
<v Speaker 1>that I have read the advertisement about it in the Times.
<v Speaker 1>Every day lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value
<v Speaker 1>can only be conjectured. But the reward offered of a
<v Speaker 1>thousand pounds is certainly not within a twentieth part of
<v Speaker 1>the market price. A thousand pounds, Great Lord a Mercy,
<v Speaker 1>the Commissionaire plumped down into a chair and stared from
<v Speaker 1>one to the other of us. That is the reward.
<v Speaker 1>And I have reason to know that there are sentimental
<v Speaker 1>considerations in the background which could induce the Countess to
<v Speaker 1>part with half her fortune if she could just recover
<v Speaker 1>the gem it was lost. If I remember arride at
<v Speaker 1>the Hotel Cosmopolitan, I remarked precisely so. On the twenty
<v Speaker 1>second of December, just five days ago, John Horner, a plumber,
<v Speaker 1>was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's jewel case.
<v Speaker 1>The evidence against him was so strong that the case
<v Speaker 1>has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account
<v Speaker 1>of the matter here. I believe he rummaged amid his newspapers,
<v Speaker 1>glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out,
<v Speaker 1>doubled it over, and read the following paragraph. Hotel Cosmopolitan
<v Speaker 1>Jewel robbery. John On Horner, twenty six, plumber was brought
<v Speaker 1>up upon the charge of having, upon the twenty second instant,
<v Speaker 1>abstracted from the jewel case of the Countess of Morcar
<v Speaker 1>the valuable gem known as the blue Carbuncle. James Ryder,
<v Speaker 1>upper attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the
<v Speaker 1>effect that he had shown Horner up to the dressing
<v Speaker 1>room of the Countess of Morcar upon the day of
<v Speaker 1>the robbery, in order that he might solder the second
<v Speaker 1>bar of the grate, which was loose. He had remained
<v Speaker 1>with Horner some little time, but had finally been called away.
<v Speaker 1>On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, that the
<v Speaker 1>bureau had been forced open, and that the small Morocco casket,
<v Speaker 1>in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was accustomed
<v Speaker 1>to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the dressing table.
<v Speaker 1>Rider instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was arrested the
<v Speaker 1>same evening, but the stone could not be found either
<v Speaker 1>upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack made
<v Speaker 1>of the Countess deposed to having heard writer's cry of
<v Speaker 1>dismay on discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into
<v Speaker 1>the room where she found matters as described by the
<v Speaker 1>last witness, Inspector Bradstreet, b Division, gave evidence as to
<v Speaker 1>the arrest of Horner, who struggled frantically and protested his
<v Speaker 1>innocence in the strongest terms, evidence of a previous conviction
<v Speaker 1>for robbery having been given against the prisoner. The magistrate
<v Speaker 1>refused to deal summarily with the offense, but referred it
<v Speaker 1>to the assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense
<v Speaker 1>emotion during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and
<v Speaker 1>was carried out of court. Hmm, so much for the
<v Speaker 1>police court, said Holmes, thoughtfully, tossing aside the paper. The
<v Speaker 1>question for us now to solve is the sequence of
<v Speaker 1>events leading from a rifle jewel case at one end
<v Speaker 1>to the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road
<v Speaker 1>at the other. You see, Watson, our little deductions have
<v Speaker 1>suddenly assumed a much more important and less innocent aspect.
<v Speaker 1>Here is the stone. The stone came from the goose,
<v Speaker 1>and the goose came from mister Henry Baker, the gentleman
<v Speaker 1>with a bad hat, and all the other characteristics with
<v Speaker 1>which I have bored you. So now we must set
<v Speaker 1>ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman, and ascertaining what
<v Speaker 1>part he has played in this little mystery. To do this,
<v Speaker 1>we must try the simplest means first, and these lie
<v Speaker 1>undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If
<v Speaker 1>this fail, I have recourse to other methods. What will
<v Speaker 1>you say, give me a pencil in that slip of
<v Speaker 1>paper now then found at the corner of Good Street,
<v Speaker 1>a goose and a black felt hat. Mister Henry Baker
<v Speaker 1>can have the same by applying at six thirty this
<v Speaker 1>evening at two twenty one B Baker Street. That's clear
<v Speaker 1>and concise. Very, but will he see it well? He
<v Speaker 1>is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since
<v Speaker 1>to a poor man the loss was a heavy one.
<v Speaker 1>He was clearly so scared by his mischance in breaking
<v Speaker 1>the window and by the approach of Peterson, that he
<v Speaker 1>thought of nothing but flight. But since then he must
<v Speaker 1>have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop
<v Speaker 1>his bird. And then again the introduction of his name
<v Speaker 1>will cause him to see it for or everyone who
<v Speaker 1>knows him will direct his attention to it. Here you are, Peterson,
<v Speaker 1>run down to the advertising agency and have this put
<v Speaker 1>in the evening papers. In which sir, oh in the Globe, Star,
<v Speaker 1>Pall Mall, Saint James, Evening News, Standard Echo, and any
<v Speaker 1>others that occur. To you very well, sir, and this stone. Ah, yes,
<v Speaker 1>I shall keep the stone, thank you. And I say, Peterson,
<v Speaker 1>just buy a goose on your way back and leave
<v Speaker 1>it here with me, for we must have one to
<v Speaker 1>give to this gentleman in place of the one which
<v Speaker 1>your family is now devouring. When the Commissionaire had gone,
<v Speaker 1>Holmes took up the stone and held it against the light.
<v Speaker 1>It's a bonny thing, said he. Just see how it
<v Speaker 1>glints and sparkles. Of course, it is a nucleus and
<v Speaker 1>focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the
<v Speaker 1>devil's pet baits. In the larger and older jewels, every
<v Speaker 1>facet may stand for a bloody deed. This stone is
<v Speaker 1>not yet twenty years old. It was found in the
<v Speaker 1>banks of the Amoy River in southern China, and is
<v Speaker 1>remarkd argable in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save
<v Speaker 1>that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red.
<v Speaker 1>In spite of its youth, it is already a sinister history.
<v Speaker 1>There have been two murders, a vitrial throwing a suicide
<v Speaker 1>and several robberies brought about for the sake of this
<v Speaker 1>forty grain weight of crystallized charcoal. Who would ever think
<v Speaker 1>that so pretty a toy could be a purveyor of
<v Speaker 1>the gallows in the prison. I'll lock it up in
<v Speaker 1>my strong box now and drop a line to the
<v Speaker 1>Countess to say that we have it. Do you think
<v Speaker 1>that this man Horner is innocent? I cannot tell. Well,
<v Speaker 1>then do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker,
<v Speaker 1>had anything to do with the matter. It is I
<v Speaker 1>think much more likely that Henry Baker is an absolutely
<v Speaker 1>innocent man who had no idea that the bird which
<v Speaker 1>he was carrying was of considerable more value than if
<v Speaker 1>it were made of solid gold. That, however, I shall
<v Speaker 1>determine by a very simple test. If we have an
<v Speaker 1>answer to our advertisement, and you can do nothing till,
<v Speaker 1>then nothing. In that case I shall continue my professional round.
<v Speaker 1>But I shall come back in the evening at the
<v Speaker 1>hour you have mentioned, for I would like to see
<v Speaker 1>the solution of so tangled a business. Very glad to
<v Speaker 1>have you, I dine at seven. There is a woodcock,
<v Speaker 1>I believe, by the way, in view of recent occurrences.
<v Speaker 1>Perhaps I ought to ask missus Hudson to examine its crop.
<v Speaker 1>I had been delayed a case, and it was a
<v Speaker 1>little after half past six when I found myself in
<v Speaker 1>Baker Street once more. As I approached the house, I
<v Speaker 1>saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a
<v Speaker 1>coat which was buttoned up to his chin, waiting outside
<v Speaker 1>in the bright semicircle which was thrown from the fan light.
<v Speaker 1>Just as I arrived, the door was opened and we
<v Speaker 1>were shown up together to Holmes's room. Mister Henry Baker,
<v Speaker 1>I believe, said he rising from his arm chair and
<v Speaker 1>greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which
<v Speaker 1>he could so readily assume. Pray, take this chair by
<v Speaker 1>the fire, mister Baker. It's a cold night, and I
<v Speaker 1>observed that your circulation is more adapted for summer than
<v Speaker 1>for winter. Ah Watson, you have just come at the
<v Speaker 1>right time. Is that your hat, mister Baker, Yes, sir,
<v Speaker 1>that is undoubtedly my hat. He was a large man
<v Speaker 1>with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a broad, intelligent
<v Speaker 1>face sloping down to a pointed beard of grizzled brown,
<v Speaker 1>a touch of red in nose, and cheeks with a
<v Speaker 1>slight trimmer in his extended hand, recalled Holmes's surmise as
<v Speaker 1>to his habits. His rusty brown frock coat was buttoned
<v Speaker 1>right up in front, with the collar turned up, and
<v Speaker 1>his lank wrists protruded from his sleeves without a sign
<v Speaker 1>of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a slow, staccato fashion,
<v Speaker 1>choosing his words with care, and gave the impression generally
<v Speaker 1>of a man of learning and letters who had had
<v Speaker 1>ill usage at the hands of fortune. We have retained
<v Speaker 1>these things for some days, said Holmes, because we expected
<v Speaker 1>to see an advertisement from you giving your address. I
<v Speaker 1>am at a loss to know now why you did
<v Speaker 1>not advertise. Our visitor gave a rather shame faced laugh.
<v Speaker 1>Shillings have not been so plentiful with me as they
<v Speaker 1>once were, he remarked. I had no doubt that the
<v Speaker 1>gang of ruffs who assaulted me had carried off both
<v Speaker 1>my hat and the bird. I did not care to
<v Speaker 1>spend more money in a hopeless attempt to recover them.
<v Speaker 1>Very naturally, by the way, about the bird, we were
<v Speaker 1>compelled to eat it. To eat it, our visitor half
<v Speaker 1>rose from his chair in his excitement. Yes, it would
<v Speaker 1>have been no use to anyone had we not done so.
<v Speaker 1>But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard,
<v Speaker 1>which is about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will
<v Speaker 1>answer your purpose equally. Well. Oh, certainly certainly, answered mister Baker,
<v Speaker 1>with a sigh of relief. Of course, we still have
<v Speaker 1>the feathers, legs, crop and so on of your own bird.
<v Speaker 1>So if you wish, the man burst into a hearty laugh,
<v Speaker 1>they might be useful to me as relics of my adventure,
<v Speaker 1>said he. But beyond that, I can hardly see what
<v Speaker 1>use the dejective member of my late acquaintance are going
<v Speaker 1>to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with
<v Speaker 1>your permission, I will confine my attentions to the excellent
<v Speaker 1>bird which I perceive upon the sideboard. Sherlock Holmes glanced
<v Speaker 1>sharply across at me with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
<v Speaker 1>There is your hat, then, and there your bird, said he.
<v Speaker 1>By the way, what it bore you to tell me
<v Speaker 1>where you got the other one from? I am somewhat
<v Speaker 1>of a foul fancier, and I have seldom seen a
<v Speaker 1>better grown goose. Certainly, sir, said Baker, who had risen
<v Speaker 1>and tucked his newly gained property under his arm. There
<v Speaker 1>are a few of us who frequently alpha nne near
<v Speaker 1>the museum. We are to be found in the museum
<v Speaker 1>itself during the day. You understand. This year, our good host,
<v Speaker 1>Windygate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, on
<v Speaker 1>consideration of some few pence every week, we were each
<v Speaker 1>to receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid,
<v Speaker 1>and the rest is familiar to you. I am much
<v Speaker 1>indebted to you, sir, for a Scotch bonnet is fitted
<v Speaker 1>neither to my years nor my gravity. With a comical
<v Speaker 1>pomposity of manner, he bowed solemnly to both of us,
<v Speaker 1>and strode off upon his way. So much for mister
<v Speaker 1>Henry Baker, said Holmes, when he had closed the door
<v Speaker 1>behind him. It is quite certain that he knows nothing
<v Speaker 1>whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson, not particularly? Then?
<v Speaker 1>I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper
<v Speaker 1>and follow up this clue while it is still hot. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>by all means. It was a bitter night, so we
<v Speaker 1>drew on our ulsters and wrapped cravats around our throats. Outside,
<v Speaker 1>the stars were shining coldly in a cloudless sky, and
<v Speaker 1>the breath of the passers by blew out into smoke
<v Speaker 1>like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out crisply
<v Speaker 1>and loudly as we swung through the Doctor's Quarter, Wimpole Street,
<v Speaker 1>Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into Oxford Street.
<v Speaker 1>In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury
<v Speaker 1>at the Alpha Inn, which is a small public house
<v Speaker 1>at the corner of one of the streets that runs
<v Speaker 1>down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open the door of the
<v Speaker 1>private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from the
<v Speaker 1>ruddy faced, white aproned landlord. Your beer should be excellent
<v Speaker 1>if it is as good as your geese, said he
<v Speaker 1>my geese. The man seems surprised. Yes, I was speaking
<v Speaker 1>only half an hour ago to mister Henry Baker, who
<v Speaker 1>was a member of your goose club. Ah, yes, I see,
<v Speaker 1>But you see, sir, them's not our geese. Indeed, who's then? Well,
<v Speaker 1>I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden.
<v Speaker 1>Indeed I know some of them. Which one was it?
<v Speaker 1>Breckinridge is his name? Ah? I don't know him. Well,
<v Speaker 1>here's your good health, Landlord, and prosperity to your house.
<v Speaker 1>Good night now for mister Breckinridge. He continued buttoning up
<v Speaker 1>his coat as we came into the frosty air. Remember Watson,
<v Speaker 1>that though we have so homely a thing as a goose,
<v Speaker 1>at one end of this chain, we have at the
<v Speaker 1>other a man who will certainly get seven years penal
<v Speaker 1>servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible
<v Speaker 1>that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt. But in
<v Speaker 1>any case we have a line of investigation which has
<v Speaker 1>been missed by the police, and which a singular chance
<v Speaker 1>has placed into our hands. Let us follow it out
<v Speaker 1>to the bitter end faces to the south. Then, and
<v Speaker 1>quick march we passed across Holborn down Dull Street, and
<v Speaker 1>so threw a zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market.
<v Speaker 1>One of the largest stalls bore the name of Breckinridge
<v Speaker 1>upon it, and the proprietor, a horsey looking man with
<v Speaker 1>a sharp face and trim side whiskers, was helping a
<v Speaker 1>boy to put up the shutters. Good evening, it's a
<v Speaker 1>cold night, said Holmes. The salesman nodded and shot a
<v Speaker 1>questioning glance at my companion sold out of geese. I see,
<v Speaker 1>continued Holmes, pointing at the bare slabs of marble, that
<v Speaker 1>you have five hundred tomorrow morning. That's no good. Well,
<v Speaker 1>there are some on the stall with the gas flare. Ah.
<v Speaker 1>But I was recommended to you Huby, the landlord of
<v Speaker 1>the Alpha. Oh, yes, I sent him a couple of
<v Speaker 1>dozen fine birds. They were too Now where did you
<v Speaker 1>get them from? To my surprise, the question provoked a
<v Speaker 1>burst of anger from the salesman. Now, then, mister said he,
<v Speaker 1>with his head cocked in his arms. Akimbo, what are
<v Speaker 1>you driving at? Let's have it straight now out, it's
<v Speaker 1>straight enough. I should like to know who sold you
<v Speaker 1>the geese which you supplied to the Alpha. Well, then
<v Speaker 1>I shan't tell you so now, Oh, it's a matter
<v Speaker 1>of no importance. But I don't know why you should
<v Speaker 1>be so warm over such a trifle. Warm. You'd be
<v Speaker 1>as warm maybe if you were pestered as I am.
<v Speaker 1>When I pay good money for a good article, there
<v Speaker 1>should be an end of the business. But it's where
<v Speaker 1>the geese? And who did you sell the geese to?
<v Speaker 1>And what will you take for the geese? One would
<v Speaker 1>think they're the only geese in the world to hear
<v Speaker 1>the fuss that's made over them. Well, I have no
<v Speaker 1>connection with any other people who have been making inquiries,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes carelessly. If you won't tell us, the BET's off,
<v Speaker 1>that's all. But I'm always ready to back my opinion
<v Speaker 1>on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiber
<v Speaker 1>on it that the bird I ate is country bread. Well,
<v Speaker 1>then you've lost your fiber, for it's town bread, snapped
<v Speaker 1>the salesman. It's nothing of the kind I say it is.
<v Speaker 1>I don't believe it. Do you think you know more
<v Speaker 1>about fowls than I, who have handled them every since
<v Speaker 1>I was a nipper. I tell you all those birds
<v Speaker 1>that went to the Alpha were town bred. You'll never
<v Speaker 1>persuade me to believe that, will you. Bet, then it's
<v Speaker 1>merely taking your money, for I know that I am right.
<v Speaker 1>But I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to
<v Speaker 1>teach you not to be obstinate. The salesman chuckled grimly.
<v Speaker 1>Bring me the books, bill, said he. The small boy
<v Speaker 1>brought round a small, thin volume and a great greasy
<v Speaker 1>backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging light.
<v Speaker 1>Now then, mister cocksure, said the salesman. I thought that
<v Speaker 1>I was out of geese, but before I finish, you'll
<v Speaker 1>find that there's still one left in my shop. You
<v Speaker 1>see this little book, Well, that's the list of the
<v Speaker 1>folk from whom I buy. You see, well, then here
<v Speaker 1>on this page of the country folk, and the numbers
<v Speaker 1>after the names are where their accounts are in the
<v Speaker 1>big ledger. Now then you see this other page in
<v Speaker 1>read ink. Well that's a list of my town suppliers.
<v Speaker 1>Now look at that third name. Just read it out
<v Speaker 1>to me, Missus Oakshot one seventeen Brixton Road, two forty nine,
<v Speaker 1>read Holmes. Quite so, now turn that up in the ledger.
<v Speaker 1>Holmes turned to the page indicated There you are, missus
<v Speaker 1>Oakshot one seventeen Brixton Road, Egg and poultry supplier. Now then,
<v Speaker 1>what's the last entry? December twenty second, twenty four geese
<v Speaker 1>at seven shillings sixpence. Quite so, there you are, and
<v Speaker 1>underneath sold to mister Windygate of the Alpha at twelve shillings.
<v Speaker 1>What do you have to say now, Sherlock Holmes looked
<v Speaker 1>deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from his pocket, and
<v Speaker 1>threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the
<v Speaker 1>air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words.
<v Speaker 1>A few yards off he stopped under a lamp post
<v Speaker 1>and laughed in the hearty, noiseless fashion which was peculiar
<v Speaker 1>to him. When you see a man with whiskers of
<v Speaker 1>that cut and the pink un protruding out of his pocket,
<v Speaker 1>you can always draw him by a bet, said he.
<v Speaker 1>I dare say that if I had put a hundred
<v Speaker 1>pounds down in front of him, that man would not
<v Speaker 1>have given me such complete information as was drawn from
<v Speaker 1>him by the idea that he was doing me on
<v Speaker 1>a wager. Well, Watson, we are I fancy nearing the
<v Speaker 1>end of our quest, and the only point which remains
<v Speaker 1>to be determined is whether we should go on to
<v Speaker 1>this missus oakshot to night, or whether we should reserve
<v Speaker 1>it for tomorrow. It is clear from what that surly
<v Speaker 1>fellow said that there are others besides ourselves who are
<v Speaker 1>anxious about this matter, and I should His remarks were
<v Speaker 1>suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke out
<v Speaker 1>from the stall which we had just left. Turning round,
<v Speaker 1>we saw a little rat faced fellow standing in the
<v Speaker 1>center of the circle of yellow light which was thrown
<v Speaker 1>by the swinging lamp, while Breckinridge, the salesman framed in
<v Speaker 1>the door of his stall, was shaking his fists fiercely
<v Speaker 1>at the cringing figure. I've got enough of you and
<v Speaker 1>your geese, he shouted. I wish you were all at
<v Speaker 1>the Devil together. If you come pestering me any more
<v Speaker 1>with your silly talk, I'll set the dog at you.
<v Speaker 1>You bring Missus Oakshot here and I'll answer to her.
<v Speaker 1>But what do you have to do with it? Did
<v Speaker 1>I buy the geese off you? No, but one of
<v Speaker 1>them was mine all the same, whined the little man. Well,
<v Speaker 1>then ask Missus Oakshott for it. She told me to
<v Speaker 1>ask you where you can ask the King of Prussia
<v Speaker 1>for all I care. I've had enough of it. Get
<v Speaker 1>out o this, he rushed fiercely forward, and the inquirer
<v Speaker 1>flitted away into the darkness. Huh, this may save us
<v Speaker 1>a visit to Brixton Road, whispered Holmes. Come with me
<v Speaker 1>and we will see what is to be made of
<v Speaker 1>this fellow striding through the scattered knots of people who
<v Speaker 1>lounged round the flaring stalls. My companion speedily overtook the
<v Speaker 1>little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang round,
<v Speaker 1>and I could see in the gas light that every
<v Speaker 1>vestige of color had been driven from his face. Who
<v Speaker 1>are you then? What do you want? He asked in
<v Speaker 1>a quavering voice. You will excuse me, said Sherlock Holmes blandly,
<v Speaker 1>But I could not help overhearing the questions which you
<v Speaker 1>put to the salesman. Just now, I think that I
<v Speaker 1>could be of assistance to you. You Who are you?
<v Speaker 1>How could you know any of the matter? My name
<v Speaker 1>is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what
<v Speaker 1>other people don't know. But you can know nothing of this.
<v Speaker 1>Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavoring
<v Speaker 1>to trace some geese which were sold by missus Oakshot
<v Speaker 1>of Brixton Road to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him
<v Speaker 1>in turn to mister Windegate of the Alpha, and by
<v Speaker 1>him to his club of which mister Henry Baker is
<v Speaker 1>a member. Oh sir, you are the very man whom
<v Speaker 1>I have longed to meet, cried the little fellow, with
<v Speaker 1>outstretched arms and quivering fingers. I can hardly explain to
<v Speaker 1>you how interested I am in this matter. Sherlock Holmes
<v Speaker 1>hailed a four wheeler which was passing. In that case,
<v Speaker 1>we had better discuss it in a cozy room rather
<v Speaker 1>than in this wind swept market place, said he. But
<v Speaker 1>pray tell me before we go further. Who is it
<v Speaker 1>that I have the pleasure of assisting? The man hesitated
<v Speaker 1>for an instant. My name is John Robinson, he answered,
<v Speaker 1>with a sidelong glance. No, No, the real name, said
<v Speaker 1>Holmes sweetly. It is always awkward doing business with an alias.
<v Speaker 1>A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. Well,
<v Speaker 1>then said he, My real name is James Rider. Precisely so,
<v Speaker 1>head attendant of the hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray step into the cab,
<v Speaker 1>and I shall soon be able to tell you everything
<v Speaker 1>which you would wish to know. The little man stood
<v Speaker 1>glancing from one to the other of us with half frightened,
<v Speaker 1>half hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure whether
<v Speaker 1>he is on the verge of a windfall or a catastrophe.
<v Speaker 1>Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an
<v Speaker 1>hour we were back in the sitting room at Baker Street.
<v Speaker 1>Nothing had been said during our drive. But the high,
<v Speaker 1>thin breathing of our new companion in the claspings and
<v Speaker 1>unclaspings of his hands spoke of the nervous tension within him.
<v Speaker 1>Here we are, said Holmes cheerily, as we filed into
<v Speaker 1>the room. The fire looks very seasonable in this weather.
<v Speaker 1>You look cold, mister Rider. Pray take the basket chair.
<v Speaker 1>I will just put on my slippers before we settle
<v Speaker 1>this little matter of yours. Now, then you want to
<v Speaker 1>know what became of those geese, yes, sir, Or rather
<v Speaker 1>I fancy of that goose. It was one bird I
<v Speaker 1>imagine in which you were interested, white with a black
<v Speaker 1>bar across the tail. Rider quivered with emotion. Oh, sir,
<v Speaker 1>he cried, Can you tell me where it went to?
<v Speaker 1>It came here here? Yes, and a most remarkable bird,
<v Speaker 1>it proved. I don't wonder that you should take an
<v Speaker 1>interest in it. It laid an egg after it was dead,
<v Speaker 1>the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen.
<v Speaker 1>I have it here in my museum, our visitors. Staggered
<v Speaker 1>to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece with his right hand.
<v Speaker 1>Holmes unlocked his strong box and held up the blue carbuncle,
<v Speaker 1>which shone out like a star with a cold, brilliant,
<v Speaker 1>many pointed radiance. Rider stood glaring with a drawn face,
<v Speaker 1>uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. The game's up, Rider,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes quietly. Hold up, man, or you'll be into
<v Speaker 1>the fire. Give him an arm back into his chair, Watson,
<v Speaker 1>he's not got blood enough to go in for felony
<v Speaker 1>with impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So now
<v Speaker 1>he looks a little more human. What a shrimp it is,
<v Speaker 1>to be sure. For a moment he had staggered and
<v Speaker 1>nearly fallen. But the brandy brought a tinge of color
<v Speaker 1>into his cheeks, and he sat staring with frightened eyes
<v Speaker 1>at his accuser. I have almost every link in my hands,
<v Speaker 1>and all the proofs which I could possibly need, So
<v Speaker 1>there is little which you need. Tell me still, that
<v Speaker 1>little may as well be cleared up to make your
<v Speaker 1>case complete. You had heard Rider of this blue stone,
<v Speaker 1>of the Countess of more Cars. It was Katherine Cousac
<v Speaker 1>who told me of it, said he, in a crackling voice.
<v Speaker 1>I see her Ladyship's waiting maid. Well, the temptation of
<v Speaker 1>sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you,
<v Speaker 1>as it has been for better men before you. But
<v Speaker 1>you were not very scrupulous, and the means you used
<v Speaker 1>it seems to me writer that there is the making
<v Speaker 1>of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that
<v Speaker 1>this man Horner the plumber, had been concerned in some
<v Speaker 1>such matter before, and that suspicion would rest more readily
<v Speaker 1>upon him. What did you do? Then? You made some
<v Speaker 1>small job in my lady's room, you and your confederate Cusack,
<v Speaker 1>and you managed that he should be the man sent for.
<v Speaker 1>And then when he had left, you rifled the jewel case,
<v Speaker 1>raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man arrested. You.
<v Speaker 1>Then Rider threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and
<v Speaker 1>clutched at my companion's knees. For God's sake, have mercy,
<v Speaker 1>he shrieked. Think of my father, of my mother. It
<v Speaker 1>would break their hearts. I never went wrong before, I
<v Speaker 1>never will again. I swear it. I swear it on
<v Speaker 1>a bible. Oh don't bring it into court. For Christ's sake,
<v Speaker 1>don't get back into your chair, said Holmes sternly. It
<v Speaker 1>is very well to cringe and crawl now, But you
<v Speaker 1>thought little enough of this poor Horner in the dock
<v Speaker 1>for a crime of which he knew nothing. I I
<v Speaker 1>will fly, mister Holmes, I will leave the country, sir.
<v Speaker 1>Then the charge against him will break down. HM. We
<v Speaker 1>will talk about that. And now let us hear a
<v Speaker 1>true account of the next act. How came the stone
<v Speaker 1>into the goose, and how came the goose into the
<v Speaker 1>open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies your
<v Speaker 1>only hope and safety. Rider passed his tongue over his
<v Speaker 1>parched lips. I will tell you it just as it happened, sir,
<v Speaker 1>said he. When Horner had been arrested, it seemed to
<v Speaker 1>me that it would be best for me to get
<v Speaker 1>away with the stone at once, for I did not
<v Speaker 1>know at what moment the police might not take it
<v Speaker 1>into their heads to search me and my room. There
<v Speaker 1>was no place about the hotel where it would be safe.
<v Speaker 1>I made out, as if on some commission, and I
<v Speaker 1>made for my sister's house. She had married a man
<v Speaker 1>named Oakshot and lived in Brixton Road, where she fattened
<v Speaker 1>fowls for the market. All the way there, every man
<v Speaker 1>I met seemed to me to be a policeman or
<v Speaker 1>a detective, and for all that it was a cold night,
<v Speaker 1>the sweat was pouring down my face. Before I came
<v Speaker 1>to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me what was
<v Speaker 1>the matter and why I was so pale, But I
<v Speaker 1>told her that I had been upset by the jewel
<v Speaker 1>robbery at the hotel. Then I went back into the
<v Speaker 1>backyard and smoked a pipe and wondered what would be
<v Speaker 1>the best to do. I had a friend once called Maudsley,
<v Speaker 1>who went to the bad and had just been serving
<v Speaker 1>his time in Pentonville. One day he had met me
<v Speaker 1>and fallen to talk about the way of thieves and
<v Speaker 1>how they could get rid of what they stole. I
<v Speaker 1>knew that he would be true to me, for I
<v Speaker 1>knew one or two things about him. So I made
<v Speaker 1>up my mind to go right on to Kilburn, where
<v Speaker 1>he lived, and take him into my confidence. He would
<v Speaker 1>show me how to turn the stone into money, but
<v Speaker 1>how to get to him in safety. I thought of
<v Speaker 1>the agonies I had gone through, and coming from the hotel,
<v Speaker 1>I might at any moment be seized and searched, and
<v Speaker 1>there would be the stone in my waistcoat pocket. I
<v Speaker 1>was leaning against the wall at the time and looking
<v Speaker 1>at the geese which were waddling about round my feet,
<v Speaker 1>and suddenly an idea came into my head which showed
<v Speaker 1>me how I could beat the best detective that ever lived.
<v Speaker 1>My sister had told me some weeks before that I
<v Speaker 1>might have the pick of her geese for a Christmas present,
<v Speaker 1>and I knew that she was always as good as
<v Speaker 1>her word. I could take my goose now, and in
<v Speaker 1>it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was
<v Speaker 1>a little shed in the yard, and behind this I
<v Speaker 1>drove one of the birds, a fine, big one, white
<v Speaker 1>with a barred tail. I caught it, and prising its
<v Speaker 1>bill opened, I thrust the stone down its throat as
<v Speaker 1>far as my finger could reach. The bird gave a gulp,
<v Speaker 1>and I felt the stone pass along its gullet and
<v Speaker 1>down into its crop. But the creature flapped and struggled,
<v Speaker 1>and out came my sister to know what was the matter.
<v Speaker 1>As I turned to speak to her, the brute broke
<v Speaker 1>loose and fluttered off among the others. Whatever were you
<v Speaker 1>doing with that bird, Jim, says, she well said, I
<v Speaker 1>you said you'd give me one for Christmas. And I
<v Speaker 1>was feeling which was the fattest Oh says she. We've
<v Speaker 1>set yours aside for you, Jem's bird, we call it.
<v Speaker 1>It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty six
<v Speaker 1>of them, which makes one for you and one for us,
<v Speaker 1>and two dozen for the market. Thank you, Maggie, says I.
<v Speaker 1>But if it's all the same to you, I'd rather
<v Speaker 1>have that one I was handling just now. The other
<v Speaker 1>is a good three pounds heavier, said she, and we
<v Speaker 1>fattened it expressly for you. Never mind, I'll have the other,
<v Speaker 1>and I'll take it now, said I. Oh, just as
<v Speaker 1>you like, said she a little huffed. Which is it
<v Speaker 1>you want, then, that white one with the barred tail,
<v Speaker 1>right in the middle of the flock, Oh, very well,
<v Speaker 1>kill it and take it with you. Well. I did
<v Speaker 1>what she had, said, mister Holmes, and I carried the
<v Speaker 1>bird all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal
<v Speaker 1>what I had done, for he was a man that
<v Speaker 1>it was easy to tell a thing like that too.
<v Speaker 1>He laughed until he choked, and we got a knife
<v Speaker 1>and opened the goose. My heart turned to water, for
<v Speaker 1>there was no sign of the stone, and I knew
<v Speaker 1>that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird
<v Speaker 1>rushed back to my sisters and hurried into the back yard.
<v Speaker 1>There was not a bird to be seen there. Where
<v Speaker 1>are they all, Maggie, I cried, gone to the dealer's Jim,
<v Speaker 1>which dealers Breckinridge of Covent Garden. But was there another
<v Speaker 1>with a barred taale? I asked, the same as the
<v Speaker 1>one I chose. Yes, Jim, there were two barred tailed ones,
<v Speaker 1>and I could never tell them apart. Well, then, of
<v Speaker 1>course I saw it all, and I ran off as
<v Speaker 1>hard as my feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge.
<v Speaker 1>But he had sold the lot at once, and not
<v Speaker 1>one word would he tell me as to where they
<v Speaker 1>had gone. You hurt him yourselves tonight. Well, he has
<v Speaker 1>always answered me like that. My sister thinks that I'm
<v Speaker 1>going mad. Sometimes I think that I am myself and
<v Speaker 1>now and now I am myself a branded thief, without
<v Speaker 1>ever having touched the wealth for which I sold my character.
<v Speaker 1>God help me, God help me. He burst into convulsive sobbing,
<v Speaker 1>with his face buried in his hands. There was a
<v Speaker 1>long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and by
<v Speaker 1>the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes's finger tips upon the
<v Speaker 1>edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw
<v Speaker 1>open the door. Get out, said he, what sir, Oh,
<v Speaker 1>Heaven bless you. No more words? Get out, And no
<v Speaker 1>more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter
<v Speaker 1>upon the stairs, the bang of a door, and the
<v Speaker 1>crisp rattle of running footfalls from the street. After all,
<v Speaker 1>Watson said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his clay pipe.
<v Speaker 1>I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies.
<v Speaker 1>If Horner were in danger, it would be another thing.
<v Speaker 1>But this fellow will not appear against him, and the
<v Speaker 1>case must collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony,
<v Speaker 1>but it is just possible that I am saving a soul.
<v Speaker 1>This fellow will not go wrong again. He is too
<v Speaker 1>terribly frightened. Send him to Gale now, and you make
<v Speaker 1>him a Gale bird for life. Besides, it's the season
<v Speaker 1>of forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most
<v Speaker 1>singular and whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward.
<v Speaker 1>If you will have the goodness to touch the bell, doctor,
<v Speaker 1>we will begin another investigation, in which also a bird
<v Speaker 1>will be the chief feature. End of the Adventure of
<v Speaker 1>the Blue carbuncle,