The return of Sherlock Holmes (completed)

The Return Of Sherlock Holmes (part 3)

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle)

"There was a quarrel between you. He left you in a rage, and
began to make his own plans independently of you."

"It strikes me, Williamson, there isn't very much that we can
tell this gentleman," cried Carruthers, with a bitter laugh.
"Yes, we quarreled, and he knocked me down. I am level with him
on that, anyhow. Then I lost sight of him. That was when he
picked up with this outcast padre here. I found that they had
set up housekeeping together at this place on the line that she
had to pass for the station. I kept my eye on her after that,
for I knew there was some devilry in the wind. I saw them from
time to time, for I was anxious to know what they were after.
Two days ago Woodley came up to my house with this cable, which
showed that Ralph Smith was dead. He asked me if I would stand
by the bargain. I said I would not. He asked me if I would marry
the girl myself and give him a share. I said I would willingly
do so, but that she would not have me. He said, 'Let us get her
married first and after a week or two she may see things a bit
different.' I said I would have nothing to do with violence. So
he went off cursing, like the foul-mouthed blackguard that he
was, and swearing that he would have her yet. She was leaving me
this week-end, and I had got a trap to take her to the station,
but I was so uneasy in my mind that I followed her on my
bicycle. She had got a start, however, and before I could catch
her, the mischief was done. The first thing I knew about it was
when I saw you two gentlemen driving back in her dog-cart"

Holmes rose and tossed the end of his cigarette into the grate.
"I have been very obtuse, Watson," said he. "When in your report
you said that you had seen the cyclist as you thought arrange
his necktie in the shrubbery, that alone should have told me
all. However, we may congratulate ourselves upon a curious and,
in some respects, a unique case. I perceive three of the county
constabulary in the drive, and I am glad to see that the little
ostler is able to keep pace with them, so it is likely that
neither he nor the interesting bridegroom will be permanently
damaged by their morning's adventures. I think, Watson, that in
your medical capacity, you might wait upon Miss Smith and tell
her that if she is sufficiently recovered, we shall be happy to
escort her to her mother's home. If she is not quite
convalescent you will find that a hint that we were about to
telegraph to a young electrician in the Midlands would probably
complete the cure. As to you, Mr. Carruthers, I think that you
have done what you could to make amends for your share in an
evil plot. There is my card, sir, and if my evidence can be of
help in your trial, it shall be at your disposal."

In the whirl of our incessant activity, it has often been
difficult for me, as the reader has probably observed, to round
off my narratives, and to give those final details which the
curious might expect. Each case has been the prelude to another,
and the crisis once over, the actors have passed for ever out of
our busy lives. I find, however, a short note at the end of my
manuscript dealing with this case, in which I have put it upon
record that Miss Violet Smith did indeed inherit a large
fortune, and that she is now the wife of Cyril Morton, the
senior partner of Morton & Kennedy, the famous Westminster
electricians. Williamson and Woodley were both tried for
abduction and assault, the former getting seven years the latter
ten. Of the fate of Carruthers, I have no record, but I am sure
that his assault was not viewed very gravely by the court, since
Woodley had the reputation of being a most dangerous ruffian,
and I think that a few, months were sufficient to satisfy the
demands of justice.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE PRIORY SCHOOL

We have had some dramatic entrances and exits upon our small
stage at Baker Street, but I cannot recollect anything more
sudden and startling than the first appearance of Thorneycroft
Huxtable, M.A., Ph.D., etc. His card, which seemed too small to
carry the weight of his academic distinctions, preceded him by
a few seconds, and then he entered himself--so large, so
pompous, and so dignified that he was the very embodiment of
self-possession and solidity. And yet his first action, when the
door had closed behind him, was to stagger against the table,
whence he slipped down upon the floor, and there was that
majestic figure prostrate and insensible upon our bearskin
hearth-rug.