Silver Blaze - The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

<v Speaker 1>Silver blaze. I am afraid, Watson, that I shall have
<v Speaker 1>to go, said Holmes, as we sat down together to
<v Speaker 1>our breakfast one morning, Go where to to Dartmoor, to
<v Speaker 1>King's Piland. I was not surprised, Indeed, my only wonder
<v Speaker 1>was that he had not already been mixed up in
<v Speaker 1>this extraordinary case, which was the one topic of conversation
<v Speaker 1>through the length and breadth of England for a whole day.
<v Speaker 1>My companion had rambled about the room with his chin
<v Speaker 1>upon his chest and his brows knitted, charging and recharging
<v Speaker 1>his pipe with the strongest black tobacco, and absolutely deaf
<v Speaker 1>to any of my questions or remarks. Fresh editions of
<v Speaker 1>every paper had been sent up by our newsagent, only
<v Speaker 1>to be glanced over and tossed down into a corner. Yet,
<v Speaker 1>silent as he was, I knew perfectly well what it
<v Speaker 1>was over which he was brooding. There was but one
<v Speaker 1>problem before the public which could challenge his powers of analysis,
<v Speaker 1>and that was the singular disappearance of the favorite for
<v Speaker 1>the Wessex Cup and the tragic murder of its trainer.
<v Speaker 1>When therefore he suddenly announced his intention of setting out
<v Speaker 1>for the scene of the drama it was only what
<v Speaker 1>I had been expecting and hoped for. I should be
<v Speaker 1>most happy to go down with you if I should
<v Speaker 1>not be in the way, said I, my dear Watson.
<v Speaker 1>You would confer a great favor upon me by coming,
<v Speaker 1>and I think that your time will not be misspent,
<v Speaker 1>for there are points about the case which promised to
<v Speaker 1>make it an absolutely unique one. We have. I think
<v Speaker 1>just time to catch our train at Pannington, and I
<v Speaker 1>will go further into the matter upon our journey. You
<v Speaker 1>would oblige me by bringing with you your very excellent
<v Speaker 1>field glass. And so it happened that an hour or
<v Speaker 1>so later I found myself in the corner of a
<v Speaker 1>first class carriage flying along en route for Exeter, while
<v Speaker 1>Sherlock Holmes, with his sharp, eager face framed in his
<v Speaker 1>ear flapping traveling cap, dipped rapidly into the bundle of
<v Speaker 1>fresh papers which he had procured at Paddington. We had
<v Speaker 1>left reading far behind us before he thrust the last
<v Speaker 1>one of them under the seat and offered me his
<v Speaker 1>cigar case. We are going well, said he, looking out
<v Speaker 1>the window and glancing at his watch. Our rate at
<v Speaker 1>present is fifty three and a half miles an hour,
<v Speaker 1>I have not observed the quarter mile posts, said I.
<v Speaker 1>Nor have I. But the telegraph posts upon this line
<v Speaker 1>are sixty yards apart, and the calculation is a simple one.
<v Speaker 1>I presume that you have looked into this matter of
<v Speaker 1>the murder of John Straker and the disappearance of silver Blaze.
<v Speaker 1>I've seen what the telegraph and the chronicle have to say.
<v Speaker 1>It is one of those cases where the art of
<v Speaker 1>the reasoner should be used rather for the sifting of
<v Speaker 1>details than for the acquiring of fresh evidence. The tragedy
<v Speaker 1>has been so uncommon, so complete, and of such personal
<v Speaker 1>importance to so many people, that we are suffering from
<v Speaker 1>a plethora of surmise, conjecture and hypothesis. The difficulty is
<v Speaker 1>to detach the framework of fact, of absolute undeniable fact,
<v Speaker 1>from the embellishments of theorists and reporters. Then, having established
<v Speaker 1>ourselves upon this sound basis, it is our duty to
<v Speaker 1>see what inferences may be drawn, and what are the
<v Speaker 1>special points upon which the whole mystery turns. On Tuesday
<v Speaker 1>evening I received telegrams from both Colonel Ross, the owner
<v Speaker 1>of the horse, and from Inspector Gregory, who is looking
<v Speaker 1>after the case, inviting my cooperation. Tuesday evening, I exclaimed,
<v Speaker 1>and this is Thursday morning. Why didn't you go down yesterday?
<v Speaker 1>Because I made a blunder, my dear Watson, which is,
<v Speaker 1>I am afraid, a more common occurrence than any one
<v Speaker 1>would think who only knew me through your memoirs. The
<v Speaker 1>fact is that I could not believe it possible that
<v Speaker 1>the most remarkable horse in England could long remain concealed,
<v Speaker 1>especially in so sparsely inhabited a place as the north
<v Speaker 1>of Dartmoor. From hour to hour yesterday I expected to
<v Speaker 1>hear that he had been found and that his abductor
<v Speaker 1>was the murderer of John Straker. When, however, another morning
<v Speaker 1>had come and I found that, beyond the arrest of
<v Speaker 1>young Fitzroy Simpson, nothing had been done. I felt that
<v Speaker 1>it was time for me to take action. Yet in
<v Speaker 1>some ways I feel that yesterday has not been wasted.
<v Speaker 1>You have formed a theory, then at least I have
<v Speaker 1>got a grip of the essential facts of the case.
<v Speaker 1>I shall enumerate them to you, for nothing clears upper
<v Speaker 1>case so much as stating it to another person. And
<v Speaker 1>I can hardly expect your co operation if I do
<v Speaker 1>not show you the position from which we start. I
<v Speaker 1>lay back against the cushions, puffing at my cigar, while Holmes,
<v Speaker 1>leaning forward with his long, thin forefinger, checking off the
<v Speaker 1>points upon the palm of his left hand, gave me
<v Speaker 1>a sketch of the events which had led to our journey.
<v Speaker 1>Silver Blaze said, he is from the Somomi stock and
<v Speaker 1>holds as brilliant a record as his famous ancestor. He
<v Speaker 1>is now in his fifth year and has brought in
<v Speaker 1>turn each of the prizes of the turf to Colonel Ross,
<v Speaker 1>his fortunate owner. Up to the time of the catastrophe,
<v Speaker 1>he was the first favorite for the Wessex Cup, the
<v Speaker 1>betting being three to one on him. He has always, however,
<v Speaker 1>been a prime favorite with the racing public, and has
<v Speaker 1>never yet disappointed them, so that even at those odds,
<v Speaker 1>enormous sums of money have been laid upon him. It
<v Speaker 1>is obvious, therefore, that there were many peace people who
<v Speaker 1>had the strongest interest in preventing Silver Blaze from being
<v Speaker 1>there at the fall of the flag next Tuesday. The
<v Speaker 1>fact was of course appreciated at King's Piland, where the
<v Speaker 1>Colonel's training stable is situated. Every precaution was taken to
<v Speaker 1>guard the favourite. The trainer. John Straker is a retired
<v Speaker 1>jockey who rode in Colonel Ross's colours before he became
<v Speaker 1>too heavy for the weighing chair. He has served the
<v Speaker 1>Colonel for five years as jockey and for seven as trainer,
<v Speaker 1>and has always shown himself to be a zealous and
<v Speaker 1>honest servant. Under him were three lads, for the establishment
<v Speaker 1>was a small one, containing only four horses in all.
<v Speaker 1>One of these lads sat up each night in the stable,
<v Speaker 1>while the others slept in the loft. All three bore
<v Speaker 1>excellent characters. John Straker, who is a married man, lived
<v Speaker 1>in a small villa about two hundred yards from the stables, children,
<v Speaker 1>keeps one maid servant, and is comfortably off. The country
<v Speaker 1>round is very lonely, but about half a mile to
<v Speaker 1>the north there is a small cluster of villas which
<v Speaker 1>have been built by a Tavistock contractor for the use
<v Speaker 1>of invalids and others who may wish to enjoy the
<v Speaker 1>pure Dartmoor air. Tavistock itself lies two miles to the west,
<v Speaker 1>while across the moor, also about two miles distant, is
<v Speaker 1>the larger training establishment of Mapleton. Which belongs to Lord
<v Speaker 1>Backwater and is managed by Silas Brown. In every other direction,
<v Speaker 1>the moor is a complete wilderness, inhabited only by a
<v Speaker 1>few roaming gypsies. Such was the general situation last Monday
<v Speaker 1>night when the catastrophe occurred. On that evening, the horses
<v Speaker 1>had been exercised and watered as usual, and the stables
<v Speaker 1>were locked up. At nine o'clock, two of the lads
<v Speaker 1>walked up to Traynor's house, where they had supper in
<v Speaker 1>the kitchen, while the third ned hunter remained on guard.
<v Speaker 1>At a few minutes after nine, the maid, Edith Baxter,
<v Speaker 1>carried down to the stables his supper, which consisted of
<v Speaker 1>a dish of curried mutton. She took no liquid, as
<v Speaker 1>there was a water tap in the stables and it
<v Speaker 1>was the rule that the lad on duty should drink
<v Speaker 1>nothing else. The maid carried a lantern with her, as
<v Speaker 1>it was very dark and the path ran across the
<v Speaker 1>open moor. Edith Baxter was within thirty yards of the
<v Speaker 1>stables when a man appeared out of the darkness and
<v Speaker 1>called to her to stop. As he stepped into the
<v Speaker 1>circle of yellow light thrown by the lantern. She saw
<v Speaker 1>that he was a person of gentlemanly bearing, dressed in
<v Speaker 1>a gray suit of tweeds with a cloth cap. He
<v Speaker 1>wore gaiters and carried a heavy stick with a knob
<v Speaker 1>to it. She was most impressed, however, by the extreme
<v Speaker 1>pallor of his face, and by the nervousness of his manner.
<v Speaker 1>His age, she thought, would be rather over thirty than
<v Speaker 1>under it. Can you tell me where I am, he asked.
<v Speaker 1>I had almost made up my mind to sleep on
<v Speaker 1>the moor when I saw the light of your lantern.
<v Speaker 1>You are close to the King's piland training stables, said she. Oh, indeed,
<v Speaker 1>what a stroke of luck, He cried, I understand that
<v Speaker 1>a stable boy sleeps there alone every night. Perhaps that
<v Speaker 1>is his supper which you are carrying to him. Now.
<v Speaker 1>I am sure that you would not be too proud
<v Speaker 1>to earn the price of a new dress, would you.
<v Speaker 1>He took a piece of white paper folded up out
<v Speaker 1>of his waistcoat pocket. See that the boy has this
<v Speaker 1>to night, and you shall have the prettiest frock that
<v Speaker 1>money can buy. She was frightened by the earnestness of
<v Speaker 1>his manner, and ran past him to the window through
<v Speaker 1>which she was accustomed to hand the meals. It was
<v Speaker 1>already opened, and Hunter was seated at the small table inside.
<v Speaker 1>She had ben to tell him of what had happened.
<v Speaker 1>When the stranger came up again. Good evening, said he,
<v Speaker 1>looking through the window. I wanted to have a word
<v Speaker 1>with you. The girl has sworn that. As he spoke,
<v Speaker 1>she noticed the corner of the little paper packet protruding
<v Speaker 1>from his closed hand. What business have you here, asked
<v Speaker 1>the lad. It's business that may put something into your pocket,
<v Speaker 1>said the other. You've two horses in for the Wessex Cup,
<v Speaker 1>silver Blaze and Bayard. Let me have the straight tip
<v Speaker 1>and you won't be a loser. Is it a fact
<v Speaker 1>that at the weights Bayard could give the other a
<v Speaker 1>hundred yards in five furlongs, and that the stable have
<v Speaker 1>put their money on him. So you're one of those
<v Speaker 1>damned touts, cried the lad. I'll show you how we
<v Speaker 1>serve them in King's Piland. He sprang up and rushed
<v Speaker 1>across the stable to unloose the dog. The girl fled
<v Speaker 1>away to the house, but as she ran, she looked
<v Speaker 1>back and saw that the string was leaning through the window.
<v Speaker 1>A minute later, however, when Hunter rushed out with the hound.
<v Speaker 1>He was gone, and though he ran all round the buildings,
<v Speaker 1>he failed to find any trace of him. One moment
<v Speaker 1>I asked, did the stable boy, when he ran out
<v Speaker 1>with the dog leave the door unlocked behind him? Excellent?
<v Speaker 1>What's an excellent, murmured my companion. The importance of the
<v Speaker 1>point struck me so forcibly that I sent a special
<v Speaker 1>wire to Dartmoor yesterday to clear the matter up. The
<v Speaker 1>boy locked the door before he left it. The window,
<v Speaker 1>i may add, was not large enough for a man
<v Speaker 1>to get through. Hunter waited until his fellow grooms had
<v Speaker 1>returned when he sent a message to the trainer and
<v Speaker 1>told him what had occurred. Straker was excited at hearing
<v Speaker 1>the account, although he does not seem to have quite
<v Speaker 1>realized its true significance. It left him, however, vaguely uneasy,
<v Speaker 1>and Missus Straker, waking at one in the morning, found
<v Speaker 1>that he was dressing. In reply to her inquiries, he
<v Speaker 1>said that he could not sleep on account of his
<v Speaker 1>anxiety about the horses, and that he intended to walk
<v Speaker 1>down to the stables to see that all was well.
<v Speaker 1>She begged him to remain at home, as she could
<v Speaker 1>hear the rain pattering against the window, but in spite
<v Speaker 1>of her entreaties, he pulled on his large mackintosh and
<v Speaker 1>left the house. Missus Straker awoke at seven in the
<v Speaker 1>morning to find that her husband had not yet returned.
<v Speaker 1>She dressed herself hastily, called the maid and set off
<v Speaker 1>for the stables. The door was open. Inside, huddled together
<v Speaker 1>upon a chair, Hunter was sunk in a state of
<v Speaker 1>absolute stupor. The favorite stall was empty, and there were
<v Speaker 1>no signs of his trainer. The two lads who slept
<v Speaker 1>in the chaff cutting loft above the harness room were
<v Speaker 1>quickly aroused. They had heard nothing during the night, for
<v Speaker 1>they are both sound sleepers. Hunter was obviously under the
<v Speaker 1>influence of some powerful drug, and as no sense could
<v Speaker 1>be got out of him, he was left to sleep
<v Speaker 1>it off while the two lads and the two women
<v Speaker 1>ran out in search of the absentees. They still had
<v Speaker 1>hopes that the trainer had for some reason taken out
<v Speaker 1>the horse for early exercise, But on ascending the knoll
<v Speaker 1>near the house, from which all the neighboring moors were visible,
<v Speaker 1>they not only could see no signs of the missing favorite,
<v Speaker 1>but they perceived something which warned them that they were
<v Speaker 1>in the presence of a tragedy. About a quarter of
<v Speaker 1>a mile from the stables, John Straker's overcoat was flapping
<v Speaker 1>from a furze bush. Immediately beyond there was a bowl
<v Speaker 1>shaped depression in the moor, and at the bottom of
<v Speaker 1>this was found the dead body of the unfortunate trainer.
<v Speaker 1>His head had been shattered by a savage blow from
<v Speaker 1>some heavy weapon, and he was wounded on the thigh,
<v Speaker 1>where there was a long, clean cut, inflicted evidently by
<v Speaker 1>some very sharp instrument. It was clear, however, that Straker
<v Speaker 1>had defended himself vigorously against his assailants, for in his
<v Speaker 1>right hand he held a small knife which has clotted
<v Speaker 1>with blood up to the handle, while in his left
<v Speaker 1>he clasped a red and black silk cravat, which was
<v Speaker 1>recognized by the maid as having been worn on the
<v Speaker 1>preceding evening by the stranger who had visited the stables. Hunter,
<v Speaker 1>on recovering from his stupor, was also quite positive as
<v Speaker 1>to the ownership of the cravat. He was equally certain
<v Speaker 1>that the same stranger had, while standing at the window,
<v Speaker 1>drugged his curried mutton, and so deprived the stables of
<v Speaker 1>their watchmen. As to the missing horse, there were abundant
<v Speaker 1>proofs in the mud which lay at the bottom of
<v Speaker 1>the fatal hollow, that he had been there at the
<v Speaker 1>time of the struggle. But from that morning he has disappeared,
<v Speaker 1>and although a large reward has been offered and all
<v Speaker 1>the gyps of Dartmoor are on the alert, no news
<v Speaker 1>has come of him. Finally, an analysis has shown that
<v Speaker 1>the remains of his supper left by the stable lad
<v Speaker 1>contained an appreciable quantity of powdered opium, while the people
<v Speaker 1>at the house partook of the same dish on the
<v Speaker 1>same night without any ill effect. Those are the main
<v Speaker 1>facts of the case, stripped of all surmise, and stated
<v Speaker 1>as baldly as possible. I shall now recapitulate what the
<v Speaker 1>police have done in the matter. Inspector Gregory, to whom
<v Speaker 1>the case has been committed, is an extremely competent officer.
<v Speaker 1>Were he but gifted with imagination, he might rise to
<v Speaker 1>great heights in his profession. On his arrival, he promptly
<v Speaker 1>found and arrested the man upon whom suspicion naturally rested.
<v Speaker 1>There was little difficulty in finding him, for he inhabited
<v Speaker 1>one of those villas which I have mentioned. His name,
<v Speaker 1>it appears, was Fitzroy Simpson. He was a man of
<v Speaker 1>excellent birth and education, who had squandered a fortune upon
<v Speaker 1>the turf, and who lived now by doing a little
<v Speaker 1>quiet and genteel book making in the sporting clubs of London.
<v Speaker 1>An examination of his betting book shows that betts to
<v Speaker 1>the amount of five thousand pounds had been registered by
<v Speaker 1>him against the favorite. On being arrested, he volunteered the
<v Speaker 1>statement that he had come down to Dartmoor in the
<v Speaker 1>hope of getting some information about the King's piland horses,
<v Speaker 1>and also about Desborough, the second favorite, which was in
<v Speaker 1>charge of Silas Brown at the Mapleton stables. He did
<v Speaker 1>not attempt to deny that he had acted as described
<v Speaker 1>upon the evening before, but declared that he had no
<v Speaker 1>sinister designs and had simply wished to obtain first hand information.
<v Speaker 1>When confronted with his cravat, he turned very pale and
<v Speaker 1>was utterly unable to account for its presence in the
<v Speaker 1>hand of the murdered man. His wet clothing showed that
<v Speaker 1>he had been out in the storm of the night before,
<v Speaker 1>and his stick which was a penang lawyer weighted with lead,
<v Speaker 1>was just such a weapon as might my repeated blows
<v Speaker 1>have inflicted the terrible injuries to which the trainer had succumbed.
<v Speaker 1>On the other hand, there was no wound upon his person,
<v Speaker 1>while the state of Straker's knife would show that one
<v Speaker 1>at least of his assailants must bear his mark upon him.
<v Speaker 1>There you have it all in a nutshell, Watson, and
<v Speaker 1>if you can give me any light, I shall be
<v Speaker 1>infinitely obliged to you. I had listened with the greatest
<v Speaker 1>interest to the statement which Holmes, with characteristic clearness, had
<v Speaker 1>laid before me. Though most of the facts were familiar
<v Speaker 1>to me, I had not sufficiently appreciated their relative importance,
<v Speaker 1>nor their connection to each other. Is it not possible,
<v Speaker 1>I suggested that the incised wound upon Straker may be
<v Speaker 1>caused by his own knife in the convulsive struggles which
<v Speaker 1>follow any brain injury. It is more than possible, It
<v Speaker 1>is probable, said Holmes. In that case, one of the
<v Speaker 1>main points in favor of the accused disappears. And yet
<v Speaker 1>said I, even now I fail to understand what the
<v Speaker 1>theory of the police can be. I am afraid that
<v Speaker 1>whatever theory we state has very grave objections to it,
<v Speaker 1>returned my companion. The police imagine. I take it that
<v Speaker 1>this Fitzroy Simpson, having drugged the lad and having in
<v Speaker 1>some way obtained a duplicate key, opened the stable door
<v Speaker 1>and took out the horse with the intention apparently of
<v Speaker 1>kidnapping him altogether. His bridle is missing, so that Simpson
<v Speaker 1>must have put this on. Then, having left the door
<v Speaker 1>open behind him, he was leading the horse away over
<v Speaker 1>the moor when he was either met or overtaken by
<v Speaker 1>the trainer. A row naturally ensued. Simpson beat out the
<v Speaker 1>trainer's brains with his heavy stick, without receiving any injury
<v Speaker 1>from the small knife which Straker used in self defense,
<v Speaker 1>and then the thief either led the horse on to
<v Speaker 1>some secret hiding place, or else it may have bolted
<v Speaker 1>during the struggle and be now wandering out on the moors.
<v Speaker 1>That is the case as it appears to the police,
<v Speaker 1>and improbable as it is. All other explanations are more
<v Speaker 1>improbable still. However, I shall very quickly test the matter
<v Speaker 1>when I am once upon the spot, and until then
<v Speaker 1>I cannot really see how we can get much further
<v Speaker 1>than our present position. It was evening before we reached
<v Speaker 1>the little town of Tavistock, which lies like the boss
<v Speaker 1>of a shield, in the middle of the huge circle
<v Speaker 1>of Dartmoor. Two gentlemen were waiting us in the station,
<v Speaker 1>the one a tall fair man with lion like hair
<v Speaker 1>and beard and curiously penetrating light blue eyes. The other
<v Speaker 1>a small, alert person, very neat and dapper, in a
<v Speaker 1>frock coat and gaiters with trim little side whiskers and
<v Speaker 1>an eye glass. The latter was Colonel Ross, the well
<v Speaker 1>known sportsman. The other Inspector Gregory, a man who was
<v Speaker 1>rapidly making his name in the English detective service. I
<v Speaker 1>am delighted that you have come down, mister Holmes, said
<v Speaker 1>the colonel. The inspector here has done all that could
<v Speaker 1>possibly be suggested, but I wish to leave no stone
<v Speaker 1>unturned in trying to avenge poor Straker and in recovering
<v Speaker 1>my horse. Have there been any fresh developments, asked Holmes.
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry to say that we have made very little progress,
<v Speaker 1>said the inspector. We have an open carriage outside, and
<v Speaker 1>as you would no doubt like to see the place
<v Speaker 1>before the light falls, we might talk it over as
<v Speaker 1>we drive a minute later, we were all seated in
<v Speaker 1>a comfortable landown and were rattling through the quaint old
<v Speaker 1>Devonshire City Inspector Gregory was full of his case and
<v Speaker 1>poured out a stream of remarks while Holmes threw in
<v Speaker 1>an occasional question or interjection. Colonel Ross leaned back with
<v Speaker 1>his arms folded and his hat tilted over his eyes.
<v Speaker 1>While I listened with interest to the dialogue of the
<v Speaker 1>two detectives. Gregory was formulating his theory, which was almost
<v Speaker 1>exactly what Holmes had foretold in the train. The net
<v Speaker 1>is drawn pretty close round Fitzroy Simpson, he remarked, and
<v Speaker 1>I believe myself that he is our man. At the
<v Speaker 1>same time, I recognize that the evidence is purely circumstantial,
<v Speaker 1>and that some new development may upset it. How about
<v Speaker 1>Straker's knife, we have quite come to the conclusion that
<v Speaker 1>he wounded himself in his fall. My dear friend, doctor
<v Speaker 1>Watson made that suggestion to me as we came down.
<v Speaker 1>If so, it would tell against this man Simpson. Undoubtedly
<v Speaker 1>he has neither a knife nor any sign of a wound.
<v Speaker 1>The evidence against him is certainly very strong. He had
<v Speaker 1>a great interest in the disappearance of the favorite. He
<v Speaker 1>lies under suspicion of having poisoned the stable boy. He
<v Speaker 1>was undoubtedly out in the storm. He was armed with
<v Speaker 1>a heavy stick when his cravat was found in the
<v Speaker 1>dead man's hand. I really think we have enough to
<v Speaker 1>go before a jury, Holmes shook his head. A clever
<v Speaker 1>counsel would tear it all to rags, said he. Why
<v Speaker 1>should he take the horse out of the stable if
<v Speaker 1>he wished to injure it? Why could he not do it?
<v Speaker 1>There has a duplicate key been found in his possession?
<v Speaker 1>What chemists sold him the powdered opium? Above all, where
<v Speaker 1>could he, a stranger to the district, hide a horse,
<v Speaker 1>and such a horse as this. What is his own
<v Speaker 1>explanation as to the paper which he wished the maid
<v Speaker 1>to give to the stable boy. He says that it
<v Speaker 1>was a ten pound note, and one was found in
<v Speaker 1>his purse. But your other difficulties are not so formidable
<v Speaker 1>as they seem. He is not a stranger to the district.
<v Speaker 1>He has twice lodged at Tavistock in the summer. The
<v Speaker 1>opium was probably brought from London. The key, having served
<v Speaker 1>its purpose, will be hurled away. The horse may be
<v Speaker 1>at the bottom of one of the pits or old
<v Speaker 1>mines upon the moor. What does he say about the cravat?
<v Speaker 1>He acknowledges that it is his and declares that he
<v Speaker 1>had lost it. But a new element has been introduced
<v Speaker 1>into the case which may account for his leading the
<v Speaker 1>horse from the stable. Holmes pricked up his ears. We
<v Speaker 1>have found traces which show that a party of gypsies
<v Speaker 1>encamped on Monday night within a mile of the spot
<v Speaker 1>where the murder took place. On Tuesday they were gone. Now,
<v Speaker 1>presuming that there was some understanding between Simpson and these gypsies,
<v Speaker 1>might not have been leading the oars to them when
<v Speaker 1>he was overtaken, and may they not have him now?
<v Speaker 1>It is certainly possible the moor is being scoured for
<v Speaker 1>these gypsies. I have also examined every stable and outhouse
<v Speaker 1>in Tavistock, and for a radius of ten miles there
<v Speaker 1>is another training stable quite close. I understand, yes, and
<v Speaker 1>that is a factor which we must certainly not neglect.
<v Speaker 1>As desper their horse was second in the betting. They
<v Speaker 1>had an interest in the disappearance of the favorite Silas Brown.
<v Speaker 1>The trainer is known to have had large bets upon
<v Speaker 1>the event, and he was no friend to poor Straker.
<v Speaker 1>We have, however, examined the stables, and there is nothing
<v Speaker 1>to connect him with the affair, and nothing to connect
<v Speaker 1>this man Simpson with the interests of the Mapleton Stables,
<v Speaker 1>nothing at all. Holmes leaned back in the carriage and
<v Speaker 1>the conversation ceased. A few minutes later, our driver pulled
<v Speaker 1>up at a neat, little red brick villa with overhanging eaves,
<v Speaker 1>which stood by the road. Some distance off across a
<v Speaker 1>paddock lay a long, gray tiled outbuilding. In every other direction,
<v Speaker 1>the low curves of the moor bronze colored from the
<v Speaker 1>fading ferns, stretched away to the sky line, broken only
<v Speaker 1>by the steeples of Tavistock, and by a cluster of
<v Speaker 1>houses away to the westward, which marked the Mapleton Stables.
<v Speaker 1>We all sprang out, with the exception of Homes, who
<v Speaker 1>continued to lean back with his eyes fixed upon the
<v Speaker 1>sky in front of him, entirely absorbed in his own thoughts.
<v Speaker 1>It was only when I touched his arm that he
<v Speaker 1>roused himself with a violent start and stepped out of
<v Speaker 1>the carriage. Excuse me, said he, turning to Colonel Ross,
<v Speaker 1>who had looked at him in some surprise. I was daydreaming.
<v Speaker 1>There was a gleam in his eyes, and a suppressed
<v Speaker 1>excitement in his manner, which convinced me, used as I
<v Speaker 1>was to his ways, that his hand was upon a clew,
<v Speaker 1>though I could not imagine where he had found it.
<v Speaker 1>Perhaps you would prefer at once to go on to
<v Speaker 1>the scene of the cry, mister Elmes, said Gregory. I
<v Speaker 1>think that I should prefer to stay here a little
<v Speaker 1>and go into one or two questions of detail. Straker
<v Speaker 1>was brought back here. I presume, yes, Milah is upstairs.
<v Speaker 1>The inquest is to morrow. He has been in your
<v Speaker 1>service some years, Colonel Ross. I have always found him
<v Speaker 1>an excellent servant. I presume that you made an inventory
<v Speaker 1>of what he had in his pockets at the time
<v Speaker 1>of his death. Inspector, I have the things themselves in
<v Speaker 1>the sitting room. If you would care to see them,
<v Speaker 1>I should be very glad. We all filed into the
<v Speaker 1>front room and sat round the central table while the
<v Speaker 1>inspector unlocked a square tin box and laid a small
<v Speaker 1>heap of things before us. There was a box of vestas,
<v Speaker 1>two inches of tallow candle an, a d P brier
<v Speaker 1>root pipe, a pouch of seal skin with half an
<v Speaker 1>ounce of long cut cavendish, a silver watch with a
<v Speaker 1>gold chain, five sovereigns in gold, an aluminum pencil case,
<v Speaker 1>a few papers, and an ivory handled knife with a
<v Speaker 1>very delicate inflexible blade marked weissen Co. London. This is
<v Speaker 1>a very singular knife, said Holmes, lifting it up and
<v Speaker 1>examining it minutely. I presume, as I see bloodstains upon it,
<v Speaker 1>that it is the one which was found in the
<v Speaker 1>dead man's grasp. Watson, this knife is surely in your line.
<v Speaker 1>It's what we call a cataract knife, said I. I
<v Speaker 1>thought so. A very delicate blade devised for very delicate work.
<v Speaker 1>A strange thing for a man to with him upon
<v Speaker 1>a rough expedition, especially as it would not shut in
<v Speaker 1>his pocket. The tip was guarded by a disk of cork,
<v Speaker 1>which we found beside his body, said the inspector. His
<v Speaker 1>wife tells us that the knife had lain upon the
<v Speaker 1>dressing table and they had picked it up as he
<v Speaker 1>left the room. It was a poor weapon, but perhaps
<v Speaker 1>the best that he could lay his hands on at
<v Speaker 1>the moment. Very possible. How about these papers. Three of
<v Speaker 1>them are a seated hay dealer's accounts. One of them
<v Speaker 1>is a letter of instructions from Colonel Ross. This other
<v Speaker 1>is a milliner's account for thirty seven pounds fifteen made
<v Speaker 1>out by Madame Lazuria of bond Streak to William Derbyshire.
<v Speaker 1>Missus Straker tells us that Derbyshire was a friend of
<v Speaker 1>her husband's, and that occasionally his letters were addressed here.
<v Speaker 1>Madame Derbyshire has somewhat expensive tastes, remarked Holmes, glancing down
<v Speaker 1>the account. Twenty two guineas is rather head for a
<v Speaker 1>single costume. However, there appears to be nothing more to learn,
<v Speaker 1>and we may now go down to the scene of
<v Speaker 1>the crime. As we emerged from the sitting room, a
<v Speaker 1>woman who had been waiting in the passage took a
<v Speaker 1>step forward and laid her hand upon the inspector's sleeve.
<v Speaker 1>Her face was haggard and thin and eager, stamped with
<v Speaker 1>the print of a recent horror. Have you got them?
<v Speaker 1>Have yer found them? She panted? Now, Missus Striker. But
<v Speaker 1>mister Elmes ear has come from London to help us,
<v Speaker 1>and we shall do all that is possible. Surely, I
<v Speaker 1>met you in Plymouth at a garden party some little
<v Speaker 1>time ago. Missus Straker said Holmes, No, sir, you are mistaken.
<v Speaker 1>Dear me, why I could have sworn to it. You
<v Speaker 1>wore a costume of dove colored silk with ostrich feather trimming.
<v Speaker 1>I never had such a dress, sir, answered the lady. Ah,
<v Speaker 1>that quite settles it, said Holmes, and with an apology,
<v Speaker 1>he followed the inspector outside. A short walk across the
<v Speaker 1>moor took us to the hollow in which the body
<v Speaker 1>had been found. At the brink of it was the
<v Speaker 1>furze bush upon which the coat had been hung. There
<v Speaker 1>was no wind that night, I understand, said Holmes, none,
<v Speaker 1>but very heavy rain. In that case, the overcoat was
<v Speaker 1>not blown against the furze bush, but placed there. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>it was laid across the bush. You fill me with interest.
<v Speaker 1>I perceive that the ground has been trampled up a
<v Speaker 1>good deal, no doubt. Many feet have been here since
<v Speaker 1>Monday night. A piece of man has been laid here
<v Speaker 1>at the side, and we have all stood upon it. Excellent.
<v Speaker 1>In this bag I have one of the boots which
<v Speaker 1>strike a war one of Fitzroy Simpson's shoes, and a
<v Speaker 1>cast horseshoe of silver. Blaze, My dear inspector, you surpass yourself.
<v Speaker 1>Holmes took the bag, and, descending into the hollow, he
<v Speaker 1>pushed the matting into a more central position. Then, stretching
<v Speaker 1>himself upon his face and leaning his chin upon his hands,
<v Speaker 1>he made a careful study of the trampled mud in
<v Speaker 1>front of him. Hullo said he suddenly, what's this? It
<v Speaker 1>was a wax vesta, half burned, which was so coated
<v Speaker 1>with mud that it looked at first like a little
<v Speaker 1>chip of wood. I cannot think our kind to overlook it,
<v Speaker 1>said the inspector, with an expression of annoyance. It was invisible,
<v Speaker 1>buried in the mud. I only saw it because I
<v Speaker 1>was looking for it. What you expected to find it?
<v Speaker 1>I thought it not unlikely. He took the boots from
<v Speaker 1>the bag and compared the impressions of each of them
<v Speaker 1>with marks upon the ground. Then he clambered up to
<v Speaker 1>the rim of the hollow and crawled about among the
<v Speaker 1>ferns and bushes. I am afraid that there are no
<v Speaker 1>more tracks, said the inspector. I have examined the ground
<v Speaker 1>very carefully for a hundred yards in each direction. Indeed,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes, rising, I should not have the impertinence to
<v Speaker 1>do it again after what you say, but I should
<v Speaker 1>like to take a little walk over the moor before
<v Speaker 1>it grows dark, that I may know my ground to morrow.
<v Speaker 1>And I think that I shall put this horse shoe
<v Speaker 1>into my pocket for luck. Colonel Ross, who had shown
<v Speaker 1>some signs of impatience at my companion's quiet and systematic
<v Speaker 1>method of work, glanced at his watch. I wish you
<v Speaker 1>would come back with me, inspector, said he. There are
<v Speaker 1>several points on which I should like your advice, and
<v Speaker 1>especially as to whether we do not owe it to
<v Speaker 1>the public to remove our horse's name from the entries
<v Speaker 1>for the cup. Certainly not, cried Holmes, with decision, I
<v Speaker 1>should let the name stand. The colonel bowed. I am
<v Speaker 1>very glad to have had your opinion, Sir, said he.
<v Speaker 1>You will find us a poor straker's when you have
<v Speaker 1>finished your walk, and we can drive together into Tavistock.
<v Speaker 1>He turned back with the inspector while Holmes and I
<v Speaker 1>walked slowly across the moor. The sun was beginning to
<v Speaker 1>sink behind the stables of Mapleton, and the long sloping
<v Speaker 1>plain in front of us was tinged with gold, deepening
<v Speaker 1>into rich ruddy browns, where the faded ferns and brambles
<v Speaker 1>caught the evening light. But the glories of the landscape
<v Speaker 1>were all wasted upon my companion, who was sunk in
<v Speaker 1>the deepest thought. It's this way, Watson said he. At
<v Speaker 1>last we may leave the question of who killed John
<v Speaker 1>Straker for the instant, and confine ourselves to finding out
<v Speaker 1>what has become of the horse. Now, supposing that he
<v Speaker 1>broke away during or after the tragedy, where could he
<v Speaker 1>have gone to? The horse is a very gregarious creature.
<v Speaker 1>If left to himself, his instincts would have been either
<v Speaker 1>to return to King's Piland or go over to Mapleton.
<v Speaker 1>Why should he run wild upon the moor? He would
<v Speaker 1>surely have been seen by now, And why should gipsies
<v Speaker 1>kidnap him? These people always clear out when they hear
<v Speaker 1>of trouble, for they do not wish to be pestered
<v Speaker 1>by the police. They could not hope to sell such
<v Speaker 1>a horse. They would run a great risk and gain
<v Speaker 1>nothing by taking him. Surely that is clear. Where is he? Then?
<v Speaker 1>I have already said that he must have gone to
<v Speaker 1>King's Piland or to Mapleton. He is not at King's Piland.
<v Speaker 1>Therefore he is at Mapleton. Let us take that as
<v Speaker 1>a working hypothesis and see what it leads us to.
<v Speaker 1>This part of the moor, as the inspector remarked, is
<v Speaker 1>very hard and dry, but it falls away towards Mapleton,
<v Speaker 1>and you can see from here that there is a
<v Speaker 1>long hollow over Yonder, which must have been very wet
<v Speaker 1>on Monday night. If our supposition is correct, then the
<v Speaker 1>horse must have crossed that, and there is a po
<v Speaker 1>where we should look for his tracks. We had been
<v Speaker 1>walking briskly during this conversation, and a few more minutes
<v Speaker 1>brought us to the hollow in question. At Holmes's request,
<v Speaker 1>I walked down the bank to the right, and he
<v Speaker 1>to the left. But I had not taken fifty paces
<v Speaker 1>before I heard him give a shout and saw him
<v Speaker 1>waving his hand to me. The track of a horse
<v Speaker 1>was plainly outlined in the soft earth in front of him,
<v Speaker 1>and the shoe which he took from his pocket exactly
<v Speaker 1>fitted the impression. See the value of imagination, said Holmes.
<v Speaker 1>It is the one quality which Gregory lacks. We imagined
<v Speaker 1>what might have happened, acted upon the supposition and find
<v Speaker 1>ourselves justified. Let us proceed. We crossed the marshy bottom
<v Speaker 1>and passed over a quarter of a mile of dry,
<v Speaker 1>hard turf. Again the ground sloped, and again we came
<v Speaker 1>on the tracks. Then we lost them for half a mile,
<v Speaker 1>but only to pick them up once more, quite close
<v Speaker 1>to Mapleton. It was Holmes who saw them first, and
<v Speaker 1>he stood pointing, with a look of triumph upon his face.
<v Speaker 1>A man's track was visible beside the horses. The horse
<v Speaker 1>was alone before, I cried, quite so it was alone
<v Speaker 1>before HULLO, what is this? The double track turned sharp
<v Speaker 1>off and took the direction of King's Piland. Holmes whistled,
<v Speaker 1>and we both followed along after it. His eyes were
<v Speaker 1>on the trail, but I happened to look a little
<v Speaker 1>to one side and saw, to my surprise, the same
<v Speaker 1>tracks coming back again in the opposite direction. One for you, Watson,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes, when I pointed it out. You have saved
<v Speaker 1>us a long walk which would have brought us back
<v Speaker 1>on our own traces. Let us follow the return track.
<v Speaker 1>We had not to go far. It ended at the
<v Speaker 1>paving of asphalt which led up to the gates of
<v Speaker 1>the Mapleton stables. As we approached, a groom ran out
<v Speaker 1>from them. We don't want any loiterers about here, said he.
<v Speaker 1>I only wish to ask a question, said Holmes, with
<v Speaker 1>his finger and thumb in his waistcoat pocket. Should I
<v Speaker 1>be too early to see your master, mister Silas Brown,
<v Speaker 1>if I were to call at five o'clock to morrow morning,
<v Speaker 1>bless you, sir. If any one is about, he will be,
<v Speaker 1>for he's always the first stirring. But here he is, sir,
<v Speaker 1>to answer your questions for himself. No, sir, no, it
<v Speaker 1>is as much as my places were to let him
<v Speaker 1>see me. Touch your money afterwards if you like. As
<v Speaker 1>Sherlock Holmes replaced the half crown which he had drawn
<v Speaker 1>from his pocket. A fierce looking elderly man strode out
<v Speaker 1>from the gate with a hunting crop swinging in his hand.
<v Speaker 1>What's this, dawsum, he cried, No gossiping, Go about your business,
<v Speaker 1>and you, what the devil do you want here? Ten minutes?
<v Speaker 1>Talk with you, my good sir, said Holmes, in the
<v Speaker 1>swing of voices. I've no time to talk. Every gut
<v Speaker 1>a boat. We want no stranger. Ear be off, or
<v Speaker 1>you may find a dog at your eels. Holmes leaned
<v Speaker 1>forward and whispered something in the trainer's ear. He started
<v Speaker 1>violently and flushed to the temples. It's a lie, he shouted,
<v Speaker 1>an infernal lie. Very good. Shall we argue about it
<v Speaker 1>here in public? Or talk it over in your parlor? Oh,
<v Speaker 1>come in if you wish to Holmes smiled. I shall
<v Speaker 1>not keep you more than a few minutes, Watson said
<v Speaker 1>he Now, mister Brown, I am quite at your disposal.
<v Speaker 1>It was twenty minutes and the reds had all faded
<v Speaker 1>into graze before Holmes and the trainer reappeared. Never have
<v Speaker 1>I seen such a change as had been brought about
<v Speaker 1>in Silas Brown in that short time. His face was ashy, pale,
<v Speaker 1>beads of perspiration shone upon his brow, and his hands
<v Speaker 1>shook until the hunting crop wagged like a branch in
<v Speaker 1>the wind. And his bullying, overbearing manner was all gone too,
<v Speaker 1>and he cringed along at my companion's side, like a
<v Speaker 1>dog with its master. Your instructions will be done. It
<v Speaker 1>shall all be done, said he. There must be no mistake,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes, looking round at him. The other winced as
<v Speaker 1>he read the menace in his eyes. Oh no, there
<v Speaker 1>shall be no mistake. It shall be here. Should I
<v Speaker 1>change it first or not? Holmes thought a little, and
<v Speaker 1>then burst out laughing. No don't, said he. I shall
<v Speaker 1>write to you about it. No tricks now, or oh
<v Speaker 1>you can trust me? You can trust me? Yes, I
<v Speaker 1>think I can. Well, you shall hear from me to morrow.
<v Speaker 1>He turned upon his heel, disregarding the trembling hand which
<v Speaker 1>the other held out to him, and we set off
<v Speaker 1>for King's Piland. A more perfect compound of the bully,
<v Speaker 1>coward and sneak than Master Silas Brown I have seldom
<v Speaker 1>met with, remarked Holmes, as we trudged along together. He
<v Speaker 1>has the horse. Then he tried to bluster out of it.
<v Speaker 1>But I described to him so exactly what his actions
<v Speaker 1>had been upon that morning, that he is convinced that
<v Speaker 1>I was watching him. Of course, you observed the peculiarly
<v Speaker 1>square toes in the impressions, and that his own boots
<v Speaker 1>exactly corresponded to them. Again, of course, no subordinate would
<v Speaker 1>have dared to do such a thing. I described to him, how,
<v Speaker 1>when according to his custom, he was the first down,
<v Speaker 1>he perceived a strange horse wondering over the moor. How
<v Speaker 1>he went out to it, and his astonishment at recognizing
<v Speaker 1>from the white forehead which has given the favorite its name,
<v Speaker 1>that chance had put in his power the only horse
<v Speaker 1>which could beat the one upon which he had put
<v Speaker 1>his money. Then I described how his first impulse had
<v Speaker 1>been to lead him back to King's Piland, and how
<v Speaker 1>the devil had shown him how he could hide the
<v Speaker 1>horse until the race was over, and how he had
<v Speaker 1>led it back and concealed it at Mapleton. When I
<v Speaker 1>told him every detail, he gave it up and thought
<v Speaker 1>only of saving his own skin. But his stables had
<v Speaker 1>been searched. Oh, an old horse faker like him has
<v Speaker 1>many a dodge. But are you not afraid to leave
<v Speaker 1>the horse in his power now? Since he has every
<v Speaker 1>interest in injuring it, my dear fellow, he will guard
<v Speaker 1>it as the apple of his eye. He knows that
<v Speaker 1>his only hope of mercy is to produce it safe.
<v Speaker 1>Colonel Ross did not impress me as a man who
<v Speaker 1>would be likely to show much mercy. In any case,
<v Speaker 1>the matter does not rest with Colonel Ross. I follow
<v Speaker 1>my own methods and tell as much or as little
<v Speaker 1>as I choose. That is the advantage of being unofficial.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know whether you observed it, Watson. But the
<v Speaker 1>colonel's manner has been just a trifle cavalier to me.
<v Speaker 1>I am inclined now to have a little amusement at
<v Speaker 1>his expense. Say nothing to him about the horse, certainly
<v Speaker 1>not without your permission. And of course this is all
<v Speaker 1>quite a minor point compared to the question of who
<v Speaker 1>killed John Straker, and you will devote yourself to that.
<v Speaker 1>On the contrary, we both go back to London by
<v Speaker 1>the night train. I was thunderstruck by my friend's words
<v Speaker 1>we had only been a few hours in Devonshire, and
<v Speaker 1>that he should give up an investigation which he had
<v Speaker 1>begun so brilliantly was quite incomprehensible to me. Not a
<v Speaker 1>word more could I draw from him until we were
<v Speaker 1>back at the trainer's house. The colonel and the inspector
<v Speaker 1>were awaiting us in the parlor. My friend and I
<v Speaker 1>returned to town by the night express, said Holmes, we
<v Speaker 1>have had a charming little breath of your beautiful Dartmoor air.
<v Speaker 1>The inspector opened his eyes, and the Colonel's lip curled
<v Speaker 1>in a sneer. So you would despair of arresting the
<v Speaker 1>murderer of poor Straker. He Holmes shrugged his shoulders. There
<v Speaker 1>are certainly grave difficulties in the way, said he. I
<v Speaker 1>have every hope, however, that your horse will start upon Tuesday,
<v Speaker 1>and I beg that you will have your jockey in readiness.
<v Speaker 1>Might I ask for a photograph of mister John Straker.
<v Speaker 1>The inspector took one from an envelope and handed it
<v Speaker 1>to him. My dear Gregory, you anticipate all my wants.
<v Speaker 1>If I might ask you to wait here for an
<v Speaker 1>instant I have a question which I should like to
<v Speaker 1>put to the maid. I must say that I am
<v Speaker 1>rather disappointed in our London consultant, said Colonel Ross bluntly.
<v Speaker 1>As my friend left the room. I do not see
<v Speaker 1>that we are any further than when he came. At
<v Speaker 1>least you have his assurance that your horse will run,
<v Speaker 1>said I. Yes, I have his assurance, said the colonel,
<v Speaker 1>with a shrug of his shoulders. I should prefer to
<v Speaker 1>have the horse. I was about to make some reply
<v Speaker 1>in defense of my friend when he entered the room again. Now, gentlemen,
<v Speaker 1>he said, I am quite ready for Tavistoc. As we
<v Speaker 1>stepped into the carriage, one of the stable lads held
<v Speaker 1>the door open for us. A sudden idea seemed to
<v Speaker 1>occur to Holmes, for he leaned forward and touched the
<v Speaker 1>lad upon the sleeve. You have a few sheep in
<v Speaker 1>the paddock, he said, Who attends to them? I do, sir?
<v Speaker 1>Have you noticed anything amiss with them of late? Well, sir,
<v Speaker 1>not of much account, but three of them have gone lame, sir.
<v Speaker 1>I could see that Holmes was extremely pleased, for he
<v Speaker 1>chuckled and rubbed his hands together. A long shot, Watson,
<v Speaker 1>A very long shot, said he, pinching my arm. Gregory,
<v Speaker 1>let me recommend to your attention this singular epidemic among
<v Speaker 1>the sheep drive on coachman. Colonel Ross still wore an
<v Speaker 1>expression which showed the poor opinion which he had formed
<v Speaker 1>of my companion's ability. But I saw by the inspector's
<v Speaker 1>face that his attention had been keenly aroused. You consider
<v Speaker 1>that to be important, he asked, exceedingly. So is there
<v Speaker 1>any point to which you would wish to draw my
<v Speaker 1>attention to the curious incident of the dog in the
<v Speaker 1>night time? The dog did nothing in an art time.
<v Speaker 1>That was the curious incident, remarked Sherlock Holmes. Four days later,
<v Speaker 1>Holmes and I were again in the train bound for
<v Speaker 1>Winchester to see the race for the Wessex Cup. Colonel
<v Speaker 1>Ross met us by appointment outside the station, and we
<v Speaker 1>drove in his drag to the course beyond the town.
<v Speaker 1>His face was grave and his manner was cold in
<v Speaker 1>the extreme. I have seen nothing of my horse, said he.
<v Speaker 1>I suppose that you would know him when you saw him,
<v Speaker 1>asked Holmes. The colonel was very angry. I have been
<v Speaker 1>on the turf for twenty years and never was ask
<v Speaker 1>such a question as that before, said he, A child
<v Speaker 1>with no silver blaze, with his white forehead and his
<v Speaker 1>mottled off fore leg. How is the betting, Well, that
<v Speaker 1>is the curious part of it. You could have got
<v Speaker 1>fifteen to one yesterday, but the price has become shorter
<v Speaker 1>and shorter, until you can hardly get three to one now,
<v Speaker 1>hum said Holmes. Somebody knows something that is clear. As
<v Speaker 1>the drag drew up in the enclosure near the grandstand,
<v Speaker 1>I glanced at the card to see the entries. Wessex Plate.
<v Speaker 1>It ran fifty sovs each eh feet, with one thousand
<v Speaker 1>sovs added for four and five year olds. Second l
<v Speaker 1>three hundred, third, l two hundred new course, one mile
<v Speaker 1>and five furlongs, Mister Heath Newton's the Negro red cap,
<v Speaker 1>cinnamon jacket, Colonel Wardlaw's Pugilist pink cap, blue and black jacket,
<v Speaker 1>Lord Backwater's Desbra yellow cap and sleeves, Colonel Ross's Silver Blaze,
<v Speaker 1>black cap, red jacket, Duke of Bellmoral's Iris, yellow and
<v Speaker 1>black stripes, Lord Singleford's Rasper purple cap, black sleeves. We
<v Speaker 1>scratched our other one and put all our hopes on
<v Speaker 1>your word, said the colonel. Why what is that silver
<v Speaker 1>Blaze favorite? Five to four against silver Blaze, roared the ring,
<v Speaker 1>five to four against silver Blaze, five to fifteen against Desbra,
<v Speaker 1>five to four. On the field, there are the numbers up,
<v Speaker 1>I cried. They are all six there, all six there.
<v Speaker 1>Then my horse is running, cried the Colonel, in great agitation.
<v Speaker 1>But I don't see him. My colors have not passed,
<v Speaker 1>only five have passed. This must be he As I spoke,
<v Speaker 1>a powerful bay horse swept out from the weighing enclosure
<v Speaker 1>and cantered past us, bearing on its back the well
<v Speaker 1>known black and red of the Colonel. That's not my horse,
<v Speaker 1>cried the owner, that beast has not a white hair
<v Speaker 1>upon his body. What is this that you've done, mister Holmes. Well, well,
<v Speaker 1>let us see how he gets on, said my friend, imperturbably.
<v Speaker 1>For a few minutes he gazed through my field glass capital.
<v Speaker 1>An excellent start, he cried. Suddenly, there they are, coming
<v Speaker 1>round the curve. From our drag, we had a superb
<v Speaker 1>view as they came up the strait. The six horses
<v Speaker 1>were so close together that a carpet could have covered them,
<v Speaker 1>but half way up the yellow of the Mapleton's stable
<v Speaker 1>showed to the front. Before they reached us, however, Desper's
<v Speaker 1>bolt was shot, and the Colonel's horse, coming away with
<v Speaker 1>a rush, passed the post a good six lengths before
<v Speaker 1>its rival, the Duke of Balmoral's iris making a bad third.
<v Speaker 1>It's my race, anyhow, gasped the Colonel, passing his hand
<v Speaker 1>over his eyes. I confess that I can make neither
<v Speaker 1>head nor tail of it. Don't you think that you've
<v Speaker 1>kept up your mystery long enough, mister Holmes, certainly, colonel,
<v Speaker 1>you shall know everything. Let us all go round and
<v Speaker 1>have a look at the horse together. Here he is,
<v Speaker 1>he continued, as we made our way into the weighing
<v Speaker 1>enclosure where only owners and their friends find admittance. You
<v Speaker 1>have only to wash his face and his leg in
<v Speaker 1>the spirits of wine, and you will find that he
<v Speaker 1>is the same old silver blaze as ever you take
<v Speaker 1>my breath away. I found him in the hands of
<v Speaker 1>a fakir and took the liberty of running him just
<v Speaker 1>as he was sent over. My dear sir, you have
<v Speaker 1>done wonders. The horse looks very fit and well. It
<v Speaker 1>never went better in his life. I owe you a
<v Speaker 1>thousand apologies for having doubted your ability. You have done
<v Speaker 1>me a great service by recovering my horse. You would
<v Speaker 1>do me a greater still if you could lay your
<v Speaker 1>hands on the murderer of John Straker. I have done so,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes quietly. The Colonel and I stared at him
<v Speaker 1>in amazement. You've got him? Where is he? Then? He
<v Speaker 1>is here? Here, where in my company at the present moment,
<v Speaker 1>The Colonel flushed angrily. I quite recognize that I am
<v Speaker 1>under obligations to you, mister Holmes, said he. But I
<v Speaker 1>must regard what you have just said as either a
<v Speaker 1>very bad joke or an insult. Sherlock Holmes laughed. I
<v Speaker 1>assure you that I have not associated you with the crime.
<v Speaker 1>Colonel said he. The real murderer is standing immediately behind you.
<v Speaker 1>He stepped past and laid his hand upon the glossy
<v Speaker 1>neck of the thoroughbred. The horse, cried both the Colonel
<v Speaker 1>and myself. Yes, the horse. And it may lessen his
<v Speaker 1>guilt if I say that it was done in so
<v Speaker 1>self defense, and that John Straker was a man who
<v Speaker 1>was entirely unworthy of your confidence. But there goes the bell,
<v Speaker 1>and as I stand to win a little on this
<v Speaker 1>next race, I shall defer a lengthy explanation until a
<v Speaker 1>more fitting time. We had the corner of a pullman
<v Speaker 1>car to ourselves that evening as we whirled back to London,
<v Speaker 1>and I fancy that the journey was a short one
<v Speaker 1>to Colonel Ross as well as to myself. As we
<v Speaker 1>listened to our companion's narrative of the events which had
<v Speaker 1>occurred at the Dartmoor training stables upon the Monday night,
<v Speaker 1>and the means by which he had unraveled them, I confess,
<v Speaker 1>said he that any theories which I had formed from
<v Speaker 1>the newspaper reports were entirely erroneous, and yet there were
<v Speaker 1>indications there had they not been overlaid by other details
<v Speaker 1>which concealed their true import. I went to Devonshire with
<v Speaker 1>the conviction that Fitzroy Simpson was the true culprit, although
<v Speaker 1>of course I saw that the evidence against was by
<v Speaker 1>no means complete. It was while I was in the carriage,
<v Speaker 1>just as we reached the trainer's house, that the immense
<v Speaker 1>significance of the curried mutton occurred to me. You may
<v Speaker 1>remember that I was distray and remained sitting after you
<v Speaker 1>had all alighted. I was marveling in my own mind
<v Speaker 1>how I could possibly have overlooked so obvious a clue.
<v Speaker 1>I confess, said the Colonel, that even now I cannot
<v Speaker 1>see how it helps us. It was the first link
<v Speaker 1>in my chain of reasoning. Powdered opium is by no
<v Speaker 1>means tasteless. The flavor is not disagreeable, but it is perceptible.
<v Speaker 1>Were it mixed with any ordinary dish, the eater would
<v Speaker 1>undoubtedly detect it and would probably eat no more. A
<v Speaker 1>curry was exactly the medium which would disguise this taste.
<v Speaker 1>By no possible supposition could this stranger Fitzroy Simpson have
<v Speaker 1>caused curry to be served in the trainer's family that night,
<v Speaker 1>And it is surely too monstrous a coincidence to suppose
<v Speaker 1>that he happened to come along with powdered opium upon
<v Speaker 1>the very night when a dish happened to be served,
<v Speaker 1>which would disguise the flavor. That is unthinkable. Therefore, Simpson
<v Speaker 1>becomes eliminated from the case, and our attention centers upon
<v Speaker 1>Straker and his wife, the only two people who could
<v Speaker 1>have chosen curried mutton for supper that night. The opium
<v Speaker 1>was added after the dish was set aside for the
<v Speaker 1>stable boy, for the others had the same for supper
<v Speaker 1>with no ill effects. Which of them then had access
<v Speaker 1>to that dish without the maid seeing them? Before deciding
<v Speaker 1>that question, I had grasped the significance of the silence
<v Speaker 1>of the dog, for one true inference invariably suggests others.
<v Speaker 1>The Simpson incident had shown me that a dog was
<v Speaker 1>kept in the stables, and yet though some one had
<v Speaker 1>been in and had fetched out a horse, he had
<v Speaker 1>not barked enough to arouse the two lads in the loft. Obviously,
<v Speaker 1>the midnight visitor was some one whom the dog knew well.
<v Speaker 1>I was already convinced or almost convinced, that John Straker
<v Speaker 1>went down to the stables in the dead of the
<v Speaker 1>night and took out silver Blaze for what purpose? For
<v Speaker 1>a dishonest one, obviously, or why should he drug his
<v Speaker 1>own stable boy? And yet I was at a loss
<v Speaker 1>to know why. There have been cases before now where
<v Speaker 1>trainers have made sure of great sums of money by
<v Speaker 1>laying against their own horses through agents, and then preventing
<v Speaker 1>them from winning by fraud. Sometimes it is a pulling jockey,
<v Speaker 1>sometimes it is some surer and subtler means, what was
<v Speaker 1>it here? I hoped that the contents of his pockets
<v Speaker 1>might help me to form a conclusion, and they did so.
<v Speaker 1>You cannot have forgotten the singular knife which was found
<v Speaker 1>in the dead man's hand, a knife which certainly no
<v Speaker 1>sane man would choose for a weapon. It was, as
<v Speaker 1>Dr Watson told us, a form of knife which is
<v Speaker 1>used for the most delicate operations known in surgery, and
<v Speaker 1>it was to be used for a delicate operation that night.
<v Speaker 1>You must know, with your wide experience of turf matters,
<v Speaker 1>Colonel Ross, that it is possible to make a slight
<v Speaker 1>nick upon the tendons of a horse's ham and to
<v Speaker 1>do it subcutaneously, so as to leave absolutely no trace.
<v Speaker 1>Our horse so treated would develop a slight lameness, which
<v Speaker 1>would be put down to a strain in exercise or
<v Speaker 1>a touch of rheumatism, but never to foul play. Fillin scoundrel,
<v Speaker 1>cried the colonel. We have here the explanation of why
<v Speaker 1>John Straker wished to take the horse out on to
<v Speaker 1>the moor. So spirited a creature would have certainly roused
<v Speaker 1>the soundest of sleepers when it felt the prick of
<v Speaker 1>the knife. It was absolutely necessary to do it in
<v Speaker 1>the open air. I have been blind, cried the colonel.
<v Speaker 1>Of course, that was why he needed the candle and
<v Speaker 1>struck the match, undoubtedly. But in examining his belongings, I
<v Speaker 1>was fortunate enough to discover not only the method of
<v Speaker 1>the crime, but even its motives. As a man of
<v Speaker 1>the world, Colonel, you know that men do not carry
<v Speaker 1>other people's bills about in their pockets. We have, most
<v Speaker 1>of us quite enough to do to settle our own.
<v Speaker 1>I at once concluded that Straker was leading a double
<v Speaker 1>life and keeping a second establishment. The nature of the
<v Speaker 1>bill showed that there was a lady in the case,
<v Speaker 1>and one who had expensive tastes. Liberal as you are
<v Speaker 1>with your servants, one can hardly expect that they can
<v Speaker 1>buy twenty guineas walking dresses for their ladies. I questioned
<v Speaker 1>missus Straker as to the dress, without her knowing it,
<v Speaker 1>and having satisfied myself that it had never reached her,
<v Speaker 1>I made a note of the Milliner's address, and felt
<v Speaker 1>that by calling there with Straker's photograph I could easily
<v Speaker 1>dispose of the mythical Derbisher. From that time on all
<v Speaker 1>was plain. Straker had led out the horse to a
<v Speaker 1>hollow where his light would be invisible. Simpson, in his
<v Speaker 1>flight had dropped his cravat, and Straker had picked it up,
<v Speaker 1>with some idea, perhaps that he might use it in
<v Speaker 1>securing the horse's leg. Once in the hollow, he had
<v Speaker 1>got behind the horse and had struck a light. But
<v Speaker 1>the creature, frightened at the sudden glare, and with a
<v Speaker 1>strange instinct of animals, feeling that some mischief was intended,
<v Speaker 1>had lashed out, and the steel shoe had struck Straker
<v Speaker 1>full on the forehead. He had, already, in spite of
<v Speaker 1>the rain, taken off his overcoat in order to do
<v Speaker 1>his delicate task, and so as he fell, his knife
<v Speaker 1>gashed his thigh. Do I make it clear? Wonderful, cried
<v Speaker 1>the colonel. Wonderful you might have been there. My final
<v Speaker 1>shot was, I confess a very long one. It struck
<v Speaker 1>me that so astute a man as Straker would not
<v Speaker 1>undertake this delicate tender nicking without a little practice. What
<v Speaker 1>could he practice on? My eyes fell upon the sheep,
<v Speaker 1>and I asked a question, which, rather to my surprise,
<v Speaker 1>showed that my surmise was correct. When I returned to London,
<v Speaker 1>I called upon the milliner, who had recognized Straker as
<v Speaker 1>an excellent customer of the name of Derbyshire, who had
<v Speaker 1>a very dashing wife with a strong partiality for expensive dresses.
<v Speaker 1>I have no doubt that this woman had plunged him
<v Speaker 1>over head and ears in debt, and so led him
<v Speaker 1>into this miserable plot. You have explained all but one thing,
<v Speaker 1>cried the Colonel. Where was the horse? Ah, it bolted
<v Speaker 1>and was cared for by one of your neighbors. We
<v Speaker 1>must have an amnesty in that direction. I think this
<v Speaker 1>is Clapham junction if I am not mistaken, and we
<v Speaker 1>shall be in Victoria in less than ten minutes. If
<v Speaker 1>you care to smoke a cigar in our rooms, Colonel
<v Speaker 1>I shall be happy to give you any other details
<v Speaker 1>which might interest you. End of Silver Blaze