Sherlock Holmes complete collection by sir arthur conan doyle

The Return of Sherlock Holmes THE DANCING MEN

HOLMES had been seated for some hours in silence with his long, thinback curved over a chemical vessel in which he was brewing aparticularly malodorous product. His head was sunk upon his breast, andhe looked from my point of view like a strange, lank bird, with dull grayplumage and a black top-knot."So, Watson," said he, suddenly, "you do not propose to invest inSouth African securities?"I gave a start of astonishment. Accustomed as I was to Holmes'scurious faculties, this sudden intrusion into my most intimate thoughtswas utterly inexplicable."How on earth do you know that?" I asked.He wheeled round upon his stool, with a steaming test-tube in his hand,and a gleam of amusement in his deep-set eyes."Now, Watson, confess yourself utterly taken aback," said he."I am.""I ought to make you sign a paper to that effect.""Why?""Because in five minutes you will say that it is all so absurdly simple.""I am sure that I shall say nothing of the kind.""You see, my dear Watson"-he propped his test-tube in the rack, andbegan to lecture with the air of a professor addressing his class-"it is notreally difficult to construct a series of inferences, each dependent upon itspredecessor and each simple in itself. If, after doing so, one simplyknocks out all the central inferences and presents one's audience with thestarting-point and the conclusion, one may produce a startling, thoughpossibly a meretricious, effect. Now, it was not really difficult, by aninspection of the groove between your left forefinger and thumb, to feelsure that you did not propose to invest your small capital in the goldfields.""I see no connection.""Very likely not; but I can quickly show you a close connection. Hereare the missing links of the very simple chain: 1. You had chalk betweenyour left finger and thumb when you returned from the club last night. 2.You put chalk there when you play billiards, to steady the cue. 3. Younever play billiards except with Thurston. 4. You told me, four weeksago, that Thurston had an option on some South African property whichwould expire in a month, and which he desired you to share with him. 5.Your check book is locked in my drawer, and you have not asked for thekey. 6. You do not propose to invest your money in this manner.""How absurdly simple!" I cried."Quite so!" said he, a little nettled. "Every problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you. Here is an unexplained one. Seewhat you can make of that, friend Watson." He tossed a sheet of paperupon the table, and turned once more to his chemical analysis.I looked with amazement at the absurd hieroglyphics upon the paper."Why, Holmes, it is a child's drawing," I cried."Oh, that's your idea!""What else should it be?"[512] "That is what Mr. Hilton Cubitt, of Riding Thorpe Manor,Norfolk, is very anxious to know. This little conundrum came by the firstpost, and he was to follow by the next train. There's a ring at the bell,Watson. I should not be very much surprised if this were he."A heavy step was heard upon the stairs, and an instant later thereentered a tall, ruddy, clean-shaven gentleman, whose clear eyes and floridcheeks told of a life led far from the fogs of Baker Street. He seemed tobring a whiff of his strong, fresh, bracing, east-coast air with him as heentered. Having shaken hands with each of us, he was about to sit down,when his eye rested upon the paper with the curious markings, which Ihad just examined and left upon the table."Well, Mr. Holmes, what do you make of these?" he cried. "They toldme that you were fond of queer mysteries, and I don't think you can finda queerer one than that. I sent the paper on ahead, so that you might havetime to study it before I came.""It is certainly rather a curious production," said Holmes. "At first sightit would appear to be some childish prank. It consists of a number ofabsurd little figures dancing across the paper upon which they are drawn.Why should you attribute any importance to so grotesque an object?""I never should, Mr. Holmes. But my wife does. It is frightening her todeath. She says nothing, but I can see terror in her eyes. That's why Iwant to sift the matter to the bottom."Holmes held up the paper so that the sunlight shone full upon it. It wasa page torn from a notebook. The markings were done in pencil, and ranin this way:Holmes examined it for some time, and then, folding it carefully up, heplaced it in his pocketbook."This promises to be a most interesting and unusual case," said he."You gave me a few particulars in your letter, Mr. Hilton Cubitt, but Ishould be very much obliged if you would kindly go over it all again forthe benefit of my friend, Dr. Watson.""I'm not much of a story-teller," said our visitor, nervously claspingand unclasping his great, strong hands. "You'll just ask me anything that Idon't make clear. I'll begin at the time of my marriage last year, but Iwant to say first of all that, though I'm not a rich man, my people havebeen at Riding Thorpe for a matter of five centuries, and there is no betterknown family in the County of Norfolk. Last year I came up to Londonfor the Jubilee, and I stopped at a boardinghouse in Russell Square,because Parker, the vicar of our parish, was staying in it. There was anAmerican young lady there-Patrick was the name-Elsie Patrick. In someway we became friends, until before my month was up I was as much inlove as man could be. We were quietly married at a registry office, andwe returned to Norfolk a wedded couple. You'll think it very mad, Mr.Holmes, that a man of a good old family should marry a wife in thisfashion, knowing nothing of her past or of her people, but if you saw her and knew her, it would help you to understand."She was very straight about it, was Elsie. I can't say that she did notgive me [513] every chance of getting out of it if I wished to do so. 'I havehad some very disagreeable associations in my life,' said she, 'I wish toforget all about them. I would rather never allude to the past, for it is verypainful to me. If you take me, Hilton, you will take a woman who hasnothing that she need be personally ashamed of; but you will have to becontent with my word for it, and to allow me to be silent as to all thatpassed up to the time when I became yours. If these conditions are toohard, then go back to Norfolk, and leave me to the lonely life in whichyou found me.' It was only the day before our wedding that she said thosevery words to me. I told her that I was content to take her on her ownterms, and I have been as good as my word."Well, we have been married now for a year, and very happy we havebeen. But about a month ago, at the end of June, I saw for the first timesigns of trouble. One day my wife received a letter from America. I sawthe American stamp. She turned deadly white, read the letter, and threw itinto the fire. She made no allusion to it afterwards, and I made none, for apromise is a promise, but she has never known an easy hour from thatmoment. There is always a look of fear upon her face-a look as if shewere waiting and expecting. She would do better to trust me. She wouldfind that I was her best friend. But until she speaks, I can say nothing.Mind you, she is a truthful woman, Mr. Holmes, and whatever troublethere may have been in her past life it has been no fault of hers. I am onlya simple Norfolk squire, but there is not a man in England who ranks hisfamily honour more highly than I do. She knows it well, and she knew itwell before she married me. She would never bring any stain upon it-ofthat I am sure."Well, now I come to the queer part of my story. About a week ago-itwas the Tuesday of last week-I found on one of the window-sills anumber of absurd little dancing figures like these upon the paper. Theywere scrawled with chalk. I thought that it was the stable-boy who haddrawn them, but the lad swore he knew nothing about it. Anyhow, theyhad come there during the night. I had them washed out, and I onlymentioned the matter to my wife afterwards. To my surprise, she took itvery seriously, and begged me if any more came to let her see them. Nonedid come for a week, and then yesterday morning I found this paper lyingon the sundial in the garden. I showed it to Elsie, and down she droppedin a dead faint. Since then she has looked like a woman in a dream, halfdazed, and with terror always lurking in her eyes. It was then that I wroteand sent the paper to you, Mr. Holmes. It was not a thing that I could taketo the police, for they would have laughed at me, but you will tell mewhat to do. I am not a rich man, but if there is any danger threatening mylittle woman, I would spend my last copper to shield her."He was a fine creature, this man of the old English soil-simple,straight, and gentle, with his great, earnest blue eyes and broad, comelyface. His love for his wife and his trust in her shone in his features.Holmes had listened to his story with the utmost attention, and now he satfor some time in silent thought. "Don't you think, Mr. Cubitt," said he, at last, "that your best planwould be to make a direct appeal to your wife, and to ask her to share hersecret with you?"Hilton Cubitt shook his massive head."A promise is a promise, Mr. Holmes. If Elsie wished to tell me shewould. If not, it is not for me to force her confidence. But I am justified intaking my own line-and I will.""Then I will help you with all my heart. In the first place, have youheard of any strangers being seen in your neighbourhood?"[514] "No.""I presume that it is a very quiet place. Any fresh face would causecomment?""In the immediate neighbourhood, yes. But we have several smallwatering-places not very far away. And the farmers take in lodgers.""These hieroglyphics have evidently a meaning. If it is a purelyarbitrary one, it may be impossible for us to solve it. If, on the other hand,it is systematic, I have no doubt that we shall get to the bottom of it. Butthis particular sample is so short that I can do nothing, and the facts whichyou have brought me are so indefinite that we have no basis for aninvestigation. I would suggest that you return to Norfolk, that you keep akeen lookout, and that you take an exact copy of any fresh dancing menwhich may appear. It is a thousand pities that we have not a reproductionof those which were done in chalk upon the window-sill. Make a discreetinquiry also as to any strangers in the neighbourhood. When you havecollected some fresh evidence, come to me again. That is the best advicewhich I can give you, Mr. Hilton Cubitt. If there are any pressing freshdevelopments, I shall be always ready to run down and see you in yourNorfolk home."The interview left Sherlock Holmes very thoughtful, and several timesin the next few days I saw him take his slip of paper from his notebookand look long and earnestly at the curious figures inscribed upon it. Hemade no allusion to the affair, however, until one afternoon a fortnight orso later. I was going out when he called me back."You had better stay here, Watson.""Why?""Because I had a wire from Hilton Cubitt this morning. You rememberHilton Cubitt, of the dancing men? He was to reach Liverpool Street atone-twenty. He may be here at any moment. I gather from his wire thatthere have been some new incidents of importance."We had not long to wait, for our Norfolk squire came straight from thestation as fast as a hansom could bring him. He was looking worried anddepressed, with tired eyes and a lined forehead."It's getting on my nerves, this business, Mr. Holmes," said he, as hesank, like a wearied man, into an armchair. "It's bad enough to feel thatyou are surrounded by unseen, unknown folk, who have some kind ofdesign upon you, but when, in addition to that, you know that it is justkilling your wife by inches, then it becomes as much as flesh and bloodcan endure. She's wearing away under it-just wearing away before myeyes." "Has she said anything yet?""No, Mr. Holmes, she has not. And yet there have been times when thepoor girl has wanted to speak, and yet could not quite bring herself to takethe plunge. I have tried to help her, but I daresay I did it clumsily, andscared her from it. She has spoken about my old family, and ourreputation in the county, and our pride in our unsullied honour, and Ialways felt it was leading to the point, but somehow it turned off beforewe got there.""But you have found out something for yourself?""A good deal, Mr. Holmes. I have several fresh dancing-men picturesfor you to examine, and, what is more important, I have seen the fellow.""What, the man who draws them?""Yes, I saw him at his work. But I will tell you everything in order.When I got back after my visit to you, the very first thing I saw nextmorning was a fresh [515] crop of dancing men. They had been drawn inchalk upon the black wooden door of the tool-house, which stands besidethe lawn in full view of the front windows. I took an exact copy, and hereit is." He unfolded a paper and laid it upon the table. Here is a copy of thehieroglyphics:"Excellent!" said Holmes. "Excellent! Pray continue.""When I had taken the copy, I rubbed out the marks, but, two morningslater, a fresh inscription had appeared. I have a copy of it here":Holmes rubbed his hands and chuckled with delight."Our material is rapidly accumulating," said he."Three days later a message was left scrawled upon paper, and placedunder a pebble upon the sundial. Here it is. The characters are, as you see,exactly the same as the last one. After that I determined to lie in wait, so Igot out my revolver and I sat up in my study, which overlooks the lawnand garden. About two in the morning I was seated by the window, allbeing dark save for the moonlight outside, when I heard steps behind me,and there was my wife in her dressing-gown. She implored me to come tobed. I told her frankly that I wished to see who it was who played suchabsurd tricks upon us. She answered that it was some senseless practicaljoke, and that I should not take any notice of it." 'If it really annoys you, Hilton, we might go and travel, you and I,and so avoid this nuisance.'" 'What, be driven out of our own house by a practical joker?' said I.'Why, we should have the whole county laughing at us.' " 'Well, come to bed,' said she, 'and we can discuss it in the morning.'"Suddenly, as she spoke, I saw her white face grow whiter yet in themoonlight, and her hand tightened upon my shoulder. Something wasmoving in the shadow of the tool-house. I saw a dark, creeping figurewhich crawled round the corner and squatted in front of the door. Seizingmy pistol, I was rushing out, when my wife threw her arms round me andheld me with convulsive strength. I tried to throw her off, but she clung tome most desperately. At last I got clear, but by the time I had opened thedoor and reached the house the creature was gone. He had left a trace ofhis presence, however, for there on the door was the very samearrangement of dancing men which had already twice appeared, andwhich I have copied on that paper. There was no other sign of the fellowanywhere, though I ran all over the grounds. And yet the amazing thing isthat he must have been there all the time, for when I examined the dooragain in the morning, he had scrawled some more of his pictures underthe line which I had already seen.""Have you that fresh drawing?""Yes, it is very short, but I made a copy of it, and here it is."Again he produced a paper. The new dance was in this form:"Tell me," said Holmes-and I could see by his eyes that he was muchexcited-"was this a mere addition to the first or did it appear to beentirely separate?""It was on a different panel of the door."[516] "Excellent! This is far the most important of all for our purpose. Itfills me with hopes. Now, Mr. Hilton Cubitt, please continue your mostinteresting statement.""I have nothing more to say, Mr. Holmes, except that I was angry withmy wife that night for having held me back when I might have caught theskulking rascal. She said that she feared that I might come to harm. For aninstant it had crossed my mind that perhaps what she really feared wasthat he might come to harm, for I could not doubt that she knew who thisman was, and what he meant by these strange signals. But there is a tonein my wife's voice, Mr. Holmes, and a look in her eyes which forbiddoubt, and I am sure that it was indeed my own safety that was in hermind. There's the whole case, and now I want your advice as to what Iought to do. My own inclination is to put half a dozen of my farm lads inthe shrubbery, and when this fellow comes again to give him such ahiding that he will leave us in peace for the future.""I fear it is too deep a case for such simple remedies," said Holmes."How long can you stay in London?""I must go back to-day. I would not leave my wife alone all night foranything. She is very nervous, and begged me to come back.""I daresay you are right. But if you could have stopped, I mightpossibly have been able to return with you in a day or two. Meanwhileyou will leave me these papers, and I think that it is very likely that I shallbe able to pay you a visit shortly and to throw some light upon your case."Sherlock Holmes preserved his calm professional manner until ourvisitor had left us, although it was easy for me, who knew him so well, tosee that he was profoundly excited. The moment that Hilton Cubitt'sbroad back had disappeared through the door my comrade rushed to thetable, laid out all the slips of paper containing dancing men in front ofhim, and threw himself into an intricate and elaborate calculation. For twohours I watched him as he covered sheet after sheet of paper with figuresand letters, so completely absorbed in his task that he had evidentlyforgotten my presence. Sometimes he was making progress and whistledand sang at his work; sometimes he was puzzled, and would sit for longspells with a furrowed brow and a vacant eye. Finally he sprang from hischair with a cry of satisfaction, and walked up and down the roomrubbing his hands together. Then he wrote a long telegram upon a cableform. "If my answer to this is as I hope, you will have a very pretty caseto add to your collection, Watson," said he. "I expect that we shall be ableto go down to Norfolk to-morrow, and to take our friend some verydefinite news as to the secret of his annoyance."I confess that I was filled with curiosity, but I was aware that Holmesliked to make his disclosures at his own time and in his own way, so Iwaited until it should suit him to take me into his confidence.But there was a delay in that answering telegram, and two days ofimpatience followed, during which Holmes pricked up his ears at every ring of the bell. On the evening of the second there came a letter fromHilton Cubitt. All was quiet with him, save that a long inscription hadappeared that morning upon the pedestal of the sundial. He inclosed acopy of it, which is here reproduced:[517] Holmes bent over this grotesque frieze for some minutes, and thensuddenly sprang to his feet with an exclamation of surprise and dismay.His face was haggard with anxiety."We have let this affair go far enough," said he. "Is there a train toNorth Walsham to-night?"I turned up the time-table. The last had just gone."Then we shall breakfast early and take the very first in the morning,"said Holmes. "Our presence is most urgently needed. Ah! here is ourexpected cablegram. One moment, Mrs. Hudson, there may be an answer.No, that is quite as I expected. This message makes it even more essentialthat we should not lose an hour in letting Hilton Cubitt know how mattersstand, for it is a singular and a dangerous web in which our simpleNorfolk squire is entangled."So, indeed, it proved, and as I come to the dark conclusion of a storywhich had seemed to me to be only childish and bizarre, I experienceonce again the dismay and horror with which I was filled. Would that Ihad some brighter ending to communicate to my readers, but these are thechronicles of fact, and I must follow to their dark crisis the strange chainof events which for some days made Riding Thorpe Manor a householdword through the length and breadth of England.We had hardly alighted at North Walsham, and mentioned the name ofour destination, when the stationmaster hurried towards us. "I supposethat you are the detectives from London?" said he.A look of annoyance passed over Holmes's face."What makes you think such a thing?""Because Inspector Martin from Norwich has just passed through. Butmaybe you are the surgeons. She's not dead-or wasn't by last accounts.You may be in time to save her yet-though it be for the gallows."Holmes's brow was dark with anxiety."We are going to Riding Thorpe Manor," said he, "but we have heardnothing of what has passed there.""It's a terrible business," said the stationmaster. "They are shot, bothMr. Hilton Cubitt and his wife. She shot him and then herself-so theservants say. He's dead and her life is despaired of. Dear, dear, one of theoldest families in the county of Norfolk, and one of the most honoured."Without a word Holmes hurried to a carriage, and during the long sevenmiles' drive he never opened his mouth. Seldom have I seen him soutterly despondent. He had been uneasy during all our journey from town,and I had observed that he had turned over the morning papers withanxious attention, but now this sudden realization of his worst fears lefthim in a blank melancholy. He leaned back in his seat, lost in gloomyspeculation. Yet there was much around to interest us, for we werepassing through as singular a countryside as any in England, where a fewscattered cottages represented the population of to-day, while on everyhand enormous square-towered churches bristled up from the flat greenlandscape and told of the glory and prosperity of old East Anglia. At lastthe violet rim of the German Ocean appeared over the green edge of theNorfolk coast, and the driver pointed with his whip to two old brick andtimber gables which projected from a grove of trees. "That's RidingThorpe Manor," said he.As we drove up to the porticoed front door, I observed in front of it,beside the tennis lawn, the black tool-house and the pedestalled sundial with which we had such strange associations. A dapper little man, with aquick, alert manner and a [518] waxed moustache, had just descendedfrom a high dog-cart. He introduced himself as Inspector Martin, of theNorfolk Constabulary, and he was considerably astonished when he heardthe name of my companion."Why, Mr. Holmes, the crime was only committed at three thismorning. How could you hear of it in London and get to the spot as soonas I?""I anticipated it. I came in the hope of preventing it.""Then you must have important evidence, of which we are ignorant, forthey were said to be a most united couple.""I have only the evidence of the dancing men," said Holmes. "I willexplain the matter to you later. Meanwhile, since it is too late to preventthis tragedy, I am very anxious that I should use the knowledge which Ipossess in order to insure that justice be done. Will you associate me inyour investigation, or will you prefer that I should act independently?""I should be proud to feel that we were acting together, Mr. Holmes,"said the inspector, earnestly."In that case I should be glad to hear the evidence and to examine thepremises without an instant of unnecessary delay."Inspector Martin had the good sense to allow my friend to do things inhis own fashion, and contented himself with carefully noting the results.The local surgeon, an old, white-haired man, had just come down fromMrs. Hilton Cubitt's room, and he reported that her injuries were serious,but not necessarily fatal. The bullet had passed through the front of herbrain, and it would probably be some time before she could regainconsciousness. On the question of whether she had been shot or had shotherself, he would not venture to express any decided opinion. Certainlythe bullet had been discharged at very close quarters. There was only theone pistol found in the room, two barrels of which had been emptied. Mr.Hilton Cubitt had been shot through the heart. It was equally conceivablethat he had shot her and then himself, or that she had been the criminal,for the revolver lay upon the floor midway between them."Has he been moved?" asked Holmes."We have moved nothing except the lady. We could not leave her lyingwounded upon the floor.""How long have you been here, Doctor?""Since four o'clock.""Anyone else?""Yes, the constable here.""And you have touched nothing?""Nothing.""You have acted with great discretion. Who sent for you?""The housemaid, Saunders.""Was it she who gave the alarm?""She and Mrs. King, the cook.""Where are they now?""In the kitchen, I believe.""Then I think we had better hear their story at once." The old hall, oak-panelled and high-windowed, had been turned into acourt of investigation. Holmes sat in a great, old-fashioned chair, hisinexorable eyes gleaming out of his haggard face. I could read in them aset purpose to devote his life to this quest until the client whom he hadfailed to save should at last be [519] avenged. The trim Inspector Martin,the old, gray-headed country doctor, myself, and a stolid villagepoliceman made up the rest of that strange company.The two women told their story clearly enough. They had been arousedfrom their sleep by the sound of an explosion, which had been followed aminute later by a second one. They slept in adjoining rooms, and Mrs.King had rushed in to Saunders. Together they had descended the stairs.The door of the study was open, and a candle was burning upon the table.Their master lay upon his face in the centre of the room. He was quitedead. Near the window his wife was crouching, her head leaning againstthe wall. She was horribly wounded, and the side of her face was red withblood. She breathed heavily, but was incapable of saying anything. Thepassage, as well as the room, was full of smoke and the smell of powder.The window was certainly shut and fastened upon the inside. Bothwomen were positive upon the point. They had at once sent for the doctorand for the constable. Then, with the aid of the groom and the stable-boy,they had conveyed their injured mistress to her room. Both she and herhusband had occupied the bed. She was clad in her dress-he in hisdressing-gown, over his night-clothes. Nothing had been moved in thestudy. So far as they knew, there had never been any quarrel betweenhusband and wife. They had always looked upon them as a very unitedcouple.These were the main points of the servants' evidence. In answer toInspector Martin, they were clear that every door was fastened upon theinside, and that no one could have escaped from the house. In answer to Holmes, they both remembered that they were conscious of the smell ofpowder from the moment that they ran out of their rooms upon the topfloor. "I commend that fact very carefully to your attention," said Holmesto his professional colleague. "And now I think that we are in a positionto undertake a thorough examination of the room."The study proved to be a small chamber, lined on three sides withbooks, and with a writing-table facing an ordinary window, which lookedout upon the garden. Our first attention was given to the body of theunfortunate squire, whose huge frame lay stretched across the room. Hisdisordered dress showed that he had been hastily aroused from sleep. Thebullet had been fired at him from the front, and had remained in his body,after penetrating the heart. His death had certainly been instantaneous andpainless. There was no powder-marking either upon his dressing-gown oron his hands. According to the country surgeon, the lady had stains uponher face, but none upon her hand."The absence of the latter means nothing, though its presence maymean everything," said Holmes. "Unless the powder from a badly fittingcartridge happens to spurt backward, one may fire many shots withoutleaving a sign. I would suggest that Mr. Cubitt's body may now beremoved. I suppose, Doctor, you have not recovered the bullet whichwounded the lady?""A serious operation will be necessary before that can be done. Butthere are still four cartridges in the revolver. Two have been fired and twowounds inflicted, so that each bullet can be accounted for.""So it would seem," said Holmes. "Perhaps you can account also forthe bullet which has so obviously struck the edge of the window?"He had turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was pointing to a holewhich had been drilled right through the lower window-sash, about aninch above the bottom."By George!" cried the inspector. "How ever did you see that?""Because I looked for it."[520] "Wonderful!" said the country doctor. "You are certainly right,sir. Then a third shot has been fired, and therefore a third person musthave been present. But who could that have been, and how could he havegot away?""That is the problem which we are now about to solve," said SherlockHolmes. "You remember, Inspector Martin, when the servants said thaton leaving their room they were at once conscious of a smell of powder, Iremarked that the point was an extremely important one?""Yes, sir; but I confess I did not quite follow you.""It suggested that at the time of the firing, the window as well as thedoor of the room had been open. Otherwise the fumes of powder couldnot have been blown so rapidly through the house. A draught in the roomwas necessary for that. Both door and window were only open for a veryshort time, however.""How do you prove that?""Because the candle was not guttered.""Capital!" cried the inspector. "Capital!""Feeling sure that the window had been open at the time of the tragedy, I conceived that there might have been a third person in the affair, whostood outside this opening and fired through it. Any shot directed at thisperson might hit the sash. I looked, and there, sure enough, was the bulletmark!""But how came the window to be shut and fastened?""The woman's first instinct would be to shut and fasten the window.But, halloa! what is this?"It was a lady's hand-bag which stood upon the study table-a trim littlehand-bag of crocodile-skin and silver. Holmes opened it and turned thecontents out. There were twenty fifty-pound notes of the Bank ofEngland, held together by an india-rubber band-nothing else."This must be preserved, for it will figure in the trial," said Holmes, ashe handed the bag with its contents to the inspector. "It is now necessarythat we should try to throw some light upon this third bullet, which hasclearly, from the splintering of the wood, been fired from inside the room.I should like to see Mrs. King, the cook, again. You said, Mrs. King, thatyou were awakened by a loud explosion. When you said that, did youmean that it seemed to you to be louder than the second one?""Well, sir, it wakened me from my sleep, so it is hard to judge. But itdid seem very loud.""You don't think that it might have been two shots fired almost at thesame instant?""I am sure I couldn't say, sir.""I believe that it was undoubtedly so. I rather think, Inspector Martin,that we have now exhausted all that this room can teach us. If you willkindly step round with me, we shall see what fresh evidence the gardenhas to offer."A flower-bed extended up to the study window, and we all broke intoan exclamation as we approached it. The flowers were trampled down,and the soft soil was imprinted all over with footmarks. Large, masculinefeet they were, with peculiarly long, sharp toes. Holmes hunted aboutamong the grass and leaves like a retriever after a wounded bird. Then,with a cry of satisfaction, he bent forward and picked up a little brazencylinder."I thought so," said he; "the revolver had an ejector, and here is thethird cartridge. I really think, Inspector Martin, that our case is almostcomplete."[521] The country inspector's face had shown his intense amazement atthe rapid and masterful progress of Holmes's investigation. At first he hadshown some disposition to assert his own position, but now he wasovercome with admiration, and ready to follow without questionwherever Holmes led."Whom do you suspect?" he asked."I'll go into that later. There are several points in this problem which Ihave not been able to explain to you yet. Now that I have got so far, I hadbest proceed on my own lines, and then clear the whole matter up onceand for all.""Just as you wish, Mr. Holmes, so long as we get our man.""I have no desire to make mysteries, but it is impossible at the momentof action to enter into long and complex explanations. I have the threadsof this affair all in my hand. Even if this lady should never recoverconsciousness, we can still reconstruct the events of last night, and insurethat justice be done. First of all, I wish to know whether there is any innin this neighbourhood known as 'Elrige's'?"The servants were cross-questioned, but none of them had heard ofsuch a place. The stable-boy threw a light upon the matter byremembering that a farmer of that name lived some miles off, in thedirection of East Ruston."Is it a lonely farm?""Very lonely, sir.""Perhaps they have not heard yet of all that happened here during the night?""Maybe not, sir."Holmes thought for a little, and then a curious smile played over hisface."Saddle a horse, my lad," said he. "I shall wish you to take a note toElrige's Farm."He took from his pocket the various slips of the dancing men. Withthese in front of him, he worked for some time at the study-table. Finallyhe handed a note to the boy, with directions to put it into the hands of theperson to whom it was addressed, and especially to answer no questionsof any sort which might be put to him. I saw the outside of the note,addressed in straggling, irregular characters, very unlike Holmes's usualprecise hand. It was consigned to Mr. Abe Slaney, Elrige's Farm, EastRuston, Norfolk."I think, Inspector," Holmes remarked, "that you would do well totelegraph for an escort, as, if my calculations prove to be correct, you mayhave a particularly dangerous prisoner to convey to the county jail. Theboy who takes this note could no doubt forward your telegram. If there isan afternoon train to town, Watson, I think we should do well to take it, asI have a chemical analysis of some interest to finish, and this investigationdraws rapidly to a close."When the youth had been dispatched with the note, Sherlock Holmesgave his instructions to the servants. If any visitor were to call asking forMrs. Hilton Cubitt, no information should be given as to her condition,but he was to be shown at once into the drawing-room. He impressedthese points upon them with the utmost earnestness. Finally he led theway into the drawing-room, with the remark that the business was nowout of our hands, and that we must while away the time as best we mightuntil we could see what was in store for us. The doctor had departed to hispatients, and only the inspector and myself remained."I think that I can help you to pass an hour in an interesting andprofitable manner," said Holmes, drawing his chair up to the table, andspreading out in front of him the various papers upon which wererecorded the antics of the dancing men. "As to you, friend Watson, I oweyou every atonement for having allowed your [522] natural curiosity toremain so long unsatisfied. To you, Inspector, the whole incident mayappeal as a remarkable professional study. I must tell you, first of all, theinteresting circumstances connected with the previous consultationswhich Mr. Hilton Cubitt has had with me in Baker Street." He thenshortly recapitulated the facts which have already been recorded. "I havehere in front of me these singular productions, at which one might smile,had they not proved themselves to be the forerunners of so terrible atragedy. I am fairly familiar with all forms of secret writings, and ammyself the author of a trifling monograph upon the subject, in which Ianalyze one hundred and sixty separate ciphers, but I confess that this isentirely new to me. The object of those who invented the system hasapparently been to conceal that these characters convey a message, and togive the idea that they are the mere random sketches of children."Having once recognized, however, that the symbols stood for letters, and having applied the rules which guide us in all forms of secretwritings, the solution was easy enough. The first message submitted to mewas so short that it was impossible for me to do more than to say, withsome confidence, that the symbol stood for E. As you are aware, E isthe most common letter in the English alphabet, and it predominates to somarked an extent that even in a short sentence one would expect to find itmost often. Out of fifteen symbols in the first message, four were thesame, so it was reasonable to set this down as E. It is true that in somecases the figure was bearing a flag, and in some cases not, but it wasprobable, from the way in which the flags were distributed, that they wereused to break the sentence up into words. I accepted this as a hypothesis,and noted that E was represented by"But now came the real difficulty of the inquiry. The order of theEnglish letters after E is by no means well marked, and anypreponderance which may be shown in an average of a printed sheet maybe reversed in a single short sentence. Speaking roughly, T, A, O, I, N, S,H, R, D, and L are the numerical order in which letters occur; but T, A, O,and I are very nearly abreast of each other, and it would be an endlesstask to try each combination until a meaning was arrived at. I thereforewaited for fresh material. In my second interview with Mr. Hilton Cubitthe was able to give me two other short sentences and one message, whichappeared-since there was no flag-to be a single word. Here are thesymbols:Now, in the single word I have already got the two E's coming secondand fourth in a word of five letters. It might be 'sever,' or 'lever,' or'never.' There can be no question that the latter as a reply to an appeal isfar the most probable, and the circumstances pointed to its being a replywritten by the lady. Accepting it as correct, we are now able to say thatthe symbolsstand respectively for N, V, and R."Even now I was in considerable difficulty, but a happy thought put mein possession of several other letters. It occurred to me that if theseappeals came, as I expected, from someone who had been intimate with the lady in her early life, a combination which contained two E's withthree letters between might very well stand for the name 'ELSIE.' Onexamination I found that such a combination formed the termination ofthe message which was three times repeated. It was certainly some appealto 'Elsie.' In this way I had got my L, S, and I. But what appeal could itbe? There were only four letters in the word which preceded 'Elsie,' andit ended in E. Surely the word must be 'COME.' I tried all other fourletters ending [523] in E, but could find none to fit the case. So now I wasin possession of C, O, and M, and I was in a position to attack the firstmessage once more, dividing it into words and putting dots for eachsymbol which was still unknown. So treated, it worked out in this fashion:. M . ERE . . E SL . NE."Now the first letter can only be A, which is a most useful discovery,since it occurs no fewer than three times in this short sentence, and the His also apparent in the second word. Now it becomes:AM HERE A . E SLANE.Or, filling in the obvious vacancies in the name:AM HERE ABE SLANEY.I had so many letters now that I could proceed with considerableconfidence to the second message, which worked out in this fashion:A . ELRI . ES. Here I could only make sense by putting T and G forthe missing letters, and supposing that the name was that of some houseor inn at which the writer was staying."Inspector Martin and I had listened with the utmost interest to the fulland clear account of how my friend had produced results which had led toso complete a command over our difficulties."What did you do then, sir?" asked the inspector."I had every reason to suppose that this Abe Slaney was an American,since Abe is an American contraction, and since a letter from Americahad been the starting-point of all the trouble. I had also every cause tothink that there was some criminal secret in the matter. The lady'sallusions to her past, and her refusal to take her husband into herconfidence, both pointed in that direction. I therefore cabled to my friend,Wilson Hargreave, of the New York Police Bureau, who has more thanonce made use of my knowledge of London crime. I asked him whetherthe name of Abe Slaney was known to him. Here is his reply: 'The mostdangerous crook in Chicago.' On the very evening upon which I had hisanswer, Hilton Cubitt sent me the last message from Slaney. Workingwith known letters, it took this form:ELSIE . RE . ARE TO MEET THY GO .The addition of a P and a D completed a message which showed me thatthe rascal was proceeding from persuasion to threats, and my knowledgeof the crooks of Chicago prepared me to find that he might very rapidlyput his words into action. I at once came to Norfolk with my friend andcolleague, Dr. Watson, but, unhappily, only in time to find that the worsthad already occurred.""It is a privilege to be associated with you in the handling of a case,"said the inspector, warmly. "You will excuse me, however, if I speakfrankly to you. You are only answerable to yourself, but I have to answerto my superiors. If this Abe Slaney, living at Elrige's, is indeed themurderer, and if he has made his escape while I am seated here, I shouldcertainly get into serious trouble.""You need not be uneasy. He will not try to escape.""How do you know?""To fly would be a confession of guilt."[524] "Then let us go to arrest him.""I expect him here every instant.""But why should he come?""Because I have written and asked him.""But this is incredible, Mr. Holmes! Why should he come because youhave asked him? Would not such a request rather rouse his suspicions andcause him to fly?""I think I have known how to frame the letter," said Sherlock Holmes."In fact, if I am not very much mistaken, here is the gentleman himselfcoming up the drive."A man was striding up the path which led to the door. He was a tall,handsome, swarthy fellow, clad in a suit of gray flannel, with a Panamahat, a bristling black beard, and a great, aggressive hooked nose, andflourishing a cane as he walked. He swaggered up the path as if the placebelonged to him, and we heard his loud, confident peal at the bell."I think, gentlemen," said Holmes, quietly, "that we had best take upour position behind the door. Every precaution is necessary when dealingwith such a fellow. You will need your handcuffs, Inspector. You canleave the talking to me."We waited in silence for a minute-one of those minutes which one cannever forget. Then the door opened and the man stepped in. In an instantHolmes clapped a pistol to his head, and Martin slipped the handcuffsover his wrists. It was all done so swiftly and deftly that the fellow washelpless before he knew that he was attacked. He glared from one to theother of us with a pair of blazing black eyes. Then he burst into a bitterlaugh."Well, gentlemen, you have the drop on me this time. I seem to haveknocked up against something hard. But I came here in answer to a letterfrom Mrs. Hilton Cubitt. Don't tell me that she is in this? Don't tell methat she helped to set a trap for me?""Mrs. Hilton Cubitt was seriously injured, and is at death's door."The man gave a hoarse cry of grief, which rang through the house."You're crazy!" he cried, fiercely. "It was he that was hurt, not she.Who would have hurt little Elsie? I may have threatened her-God forgiveme! -but I would not have touched a hair of her pretty head. Take itback-you! Say that she is not hurt!""She was found, badly wounded, by the side of her dead husband."He sank with a deep groan on to the settee, and buried his face in hismanacled hands. For five minutes he was silent. Then he raised his faceonce more, and spoke with the cold composure of despair."I have nothing to hide from you, gentlemen," said he. "If I shot theman he had his shot at me, and there's no murder in that. But if you thinkI could have hurt that woman, then you don't know either me or her. I tellyou, there was never a man in this world loved a woman more than Iloved her. I had a right to her. She was pledged to me years ago. Who wasthis Englishman that he should come between us? I tell you that I had thefirst right to her, and that I was only claiming my own.""She broke away from your influence when she found the man that youare, " said Holmes, sternly. "She fled from America to avoid you, and shemarried an honourable gentleman in England. You dogged her andfollowed her and made her life a misery to her, in order to induce her toabandon the husband whom she loved and respected in order to fly withyou, whom she feared and hated. You have ended by [525] bringing aboutthe death of a noble man and driving his wife to suicide. That is yourrecord in this business, Mr. Abe Slaney, and you will answer for it to thelaw.""If Elsie dies, I care nothing what becomes of me," said the American.He opened one of his hands, and looked at a note crumpled up in hispalm. "See here, mister," he cried, with a gleam of suspicion in his eyes,"you're not trying to scare me over this, are you? If the lady is hurt as badas you say, who was it that wrote this note?" He tossed it forward on tothe table."I wrote it, to bring you here.""You wrote it? There was no one on earth outside the Joint who knewthe secret of the dancing men. How came you to write it?""What one man can invent another can discover," said Holmes. "Thereis a cab coming to convey you to Norwich, Mr. Slaney. But, meanwhile,you have time to make some small reparation for the injury you have wrought. Are you aware that Mrs. Hilton Cubitt has herself lain undergrave suspicion of the murder of her husband, and that it was only mypresence here, and the knowledge which I happened to possess, which hassaved her from the accusation? The least that you owe her is to make itclear to the whole world that she was in no way, directly or indirectly,responsible for his tragic end.""I ask nothing better," said the American. "I guess the very best case Ican make for myself is the absolute naked truth.""It is my duty to warn you that it will be used against you," cried theinspector, with the magnificent fair play of the British criminal law.Slaney shrugged his shoulders."I'll chance that," said he. "First of all, I want you gentlemen tounderstand that I have known this lady since she was a child. There wereseven of us in a gang in Chicago, and Elsie's father was the boss of theJoint. He was a clever man, was old Patrick. It was he who invented thatwriting, which would pass as a child's scrawl unless you just happened tohave the key to it. Well, Elsie learned some of our ways, but she couldn'tstand the business, and she had a bit of honest money of her own, so shegave us all the slip and got away to London. She had been engaged to me,and she would have married me, I believe, if I had taken over anotherprofession, but she would have nothing to do with anything on the cross.It was only after her marriage to this Englishman that I was able to findout where she was. I wrote to her, but got no answer. After that I cameover, and, as letters were no use, I put my messages where she could readthem."Well, I have been here a month now. I lived in that farm, where I hada room down below, and could get in and out every night, and no one thewiser. I tried all I could to coax Elsie away. I knew that she read themessages, for once she wrote an answer under one of them. Then mytemper got the better of me, and I began to threaten her. She sent me aletter then, imploring me to go away, and saying that it would break herheart if any scandal should come upon her husband. She said that shewould come down when her husband was asleep at three in the morning,and speak with me through the end window, if I would go awayafterwards and leave her in peace. She came down and brought moneywith her, trying to bribe me to go. This made me mad, and I caught herarm and tried to pull her through the window. At that moment in rushedthe husband with his revolver in his hand. Elsie had sunk down upon thefloor, and we were face to face. I was heeled also, and I held up my gunto scare him off and let me get away. He fired and missed me. I pulled offalmost at the same instant, and down he dropped. I made away across thegarden, and as [526] I went I heard the window shut behind me. That'sGod's truth, gentlemen, every word of it; and I heard no more about ituntil that lad came riding up with a note which made me walk in here,like a jay, and give myself into your hands."A cab had driven up whilst the American had been talking. Twouniformed policemen sat inside. Inspector Martin rose and touched hisprisoner on the shoulder."It is time for us to go." "Can I see her first?""No, she is not conscious. Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I only hope that, ifever again I have an important case, I shall have the good fortune to haveyou by my side."We stood at the window and watched the cab drive away. As I turnedback, my eye caught the pellet of paper which the prisoner had tossedupon the table. It was the note with which Holmes had decoyed him."See if you can read it, Watson," said he, with a smile.It contained no word, but this little line of dancing men:"If you use the code which I have explained," said Holmes, "you willfind that it simply means 'Come here at once.' I was convinced that it wasan invitation which he would not refuse, since he could never imaginethat it could come from anyone but the lady. And so, my dear Watson, wehave ended by turning the dancing men to good when they have so oftenbeen the agents of evil, and I think that I have fulfilled my promise ofgiving you something unusual for your notebook. Three-forty is our train,and I fancy we should be back in Baker Street for dinner."Only one word of epilogue. The American, Abe Slaney, wascondemned to death at the winter assizes at Norwich, but his penalty waschanged to penal servitude in consideration of mitigating circumstances,and the certainty that Hilton Cubitt had fired the first shot. Of Mrs. HiltonCubitt I only know that I have heard she recovered entirely, and that shestill remains a widow, devoting her whole life to the care of the poor andto the administration of her husband's estate.