WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:06.440 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in 2 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:12.080 the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please 3 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:20.760 visit LibriVox dot org. Reading by Robin Cotter, Toronto, Ontario, 4 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:28.760 October two thousand six. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by 5 00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:36.359 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Adventure number three. A case of identity, 6 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:41.200 My dear fellow, said Sherlock Holmes, as we sat on 7 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.640 either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street. 8 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:48.799 Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of 9 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:52.240 man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the 10 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:56.719 things which are really mere commonplaces of existence. If we 11 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:59.920 could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover 12 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:04.120 over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and peep 13 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:07.359 in at the queer things which are going on, the 14 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:13.359 strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross purposes, the wonderful chains 15 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:17.959 of events working through generations and leading to the most 16 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:22.799 utra results. It would make all fiction, with its conventionalities 17 00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:30.000 and foreseen conclusions, most stale and unprofitable. And yet I 18 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:34.159 am not convinced of it. I answered. The cases which 19 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:36.799 come to light in the papers are as a rule 20 00:01:37.159 --> 00:01:41.560 bald enough and vulgar enough. We have in our police 21 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:46.760 reports realism pushed to its extreme limits. And yet the 22 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:52.120 result is it must be confessed neither fascinating nor artistic. 23 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:57.000 A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing 24 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:01.280 a realistic effect. Remarked Holmes, this is wanting in the 25 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.040 police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps upon the 26 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:09.240 platitudes of the magistrate, than upon the details which to 27 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:12.840 an observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter 28 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:18.280 depend upon it. There is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace. 29 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:23.360 I smiled and shook my head. I can quite understand 30 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:27.680 your thinking, so I said. Of course, in your position 31 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:32.719 of unofficial adviser and helper to everybody who is absolutely 32 00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:37.479 puzzled throughout three continents, you are brought in contact with 33 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:42.039 all that is strange and bizarre. But here I picked 34 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.240 up the morning paper from the ground. Let us put 35 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:48.479 it to a practical test. Here is the first heading 36 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:52.639 upon which I come, A husband's cruelty to his wife. 37 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:55.960 There is half a column of print, but I know 38 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:59.719 without reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. 39 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:04.400 There is, of course, the other woman, the drink, the push, 40 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:09.360 the blow the bruise the sympathetic sister or landlady. The 41 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:15.080 crudest of writers could invent nothing more crude. Indeed, your 42 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:18.919 example is an unfortunate one for your argument, said Holmes, 43 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:22.159 taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. This 44 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:26.479 is the dundass separation case, and as it happens, I 45 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:29.479 was engaged in clearing up some small points in connection 46 00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:33.520 with it. The husband was a teetotaler, and there was 47 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:37.199 no other woman. And the conduct complained of was that 48 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:40.240 he had drifted into the habit of winding up every 49 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:43.719 meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling them 50 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:47.120 at his wife, which you will allow is not an 51 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:50.879 action likely to occur to the imagination of the average 52 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:55.280 story teller. Take a pinch of snuff, doctor, and acknowledge 53 00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:59.199 that I have scored over you in your example. He 54 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:01.639 held out his snuff box of old gold with a 55 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:05.919 great amethyst in the center of the lid. Its splendor 56 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:09.319 was in such contrast to his homely ways and simple 57 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:13.319 life that I could not help commenting upon it, Ah 58 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.480 said he. I forgot that I had not seen you 59 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.439 for some weeks. It is a little souvenir from the 60 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:23.000 King of Bohemia in return for my assistance in the 61 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:28.120 case of the Irene Adler papers and the ring, I asked, 62 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:32.199 glancing at a remarkable brilliant which sparkled upon his finger. 63 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:35.560 It was from the reigning family of Holland. Though the 64 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:38.279 matter in which I served them was of such delicacy 65 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:41.560 that I cannot confide it even to you, who have 66 00:04:41.639 --> 00:04:44.040 been good enough to chronicle one or two of my 67 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:48.160 little problems. And have you any on hand just now? 68 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:52.439 I asked, with interest, some ten or twelve, but none 69 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:56.480 which present any feature of interest. They are important, you understand, 70 00:04:56.759 --> 00:05:00.959 without being interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is 71 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:04.680 usually in unimportant matters that there is a field for 72 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:09.000 the observation and for the quick analysis of cause and effect, 73 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:13.639 which gives the charm to an investigation. The larger crimes 74 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:16.720 are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, 75 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:20.920 the more obvious. As a rule is the motive. In 76 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:24.839 these cases. Save for one rather intricate matter, which has 77 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:28.160 been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing which 78 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:32.519 presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, that 79 00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:35.800 I may have something better before very many minutes are over, 80 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:39.000 For this is one of my clients, or I am 81 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:43.279 much mistaken. He had risen from his chair and was 82 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:47.000 standing between the parted blinds, gazing down into the dull, 83 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:52.000 neutral tinted London street. Looking over his shoulder, I saw 84 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:55.199 that on the pavement opposite there stood a large woman 85 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:58.920 with a heavy fur boa round her neck and a 86 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:03.120 large curling red feather in a broad brimmed hat, which 87 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:07.600 was tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over 88 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:12.959 her ear. From under this great panoply, she peeped up 89 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:16.959 in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her 90 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:21.759 body oscillated backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with 91 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:26.040 her glove buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the 92 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:29.120 swimmer who leaves the bank, she hurried across the road, 93 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:33.240 and we heard the sharp clang of the bell. I 94 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:36.879 have seen those symptoms before, said Holmes, throwing his cigarette 95 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:41.279 into the fire. Oscillation upon the pavement always means an 96 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:44.920 affair de cours. She would like advice, but she is 97 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:48.199 not sure that the matter is not too delicate for communication. 98 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:52.959 And yet even here we may discriminate. When a woman 99 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.560 has been seriously wronged by a man. She no longer oscillates, 100 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.639 and the usual symptom is a broken bell wire. Here 101 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:02.839 we may take it that there is a love matter, 102 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:05.959 but that the maiden is not so much angry as 103 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:10.079 perplexed or grieved. But here she comes in person to 104 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:14.240 resolve our doubts. As he spoke, there was a tap 105 00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:17.079 at the door, and the boy in buttons entered to 106 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:21.639 announce miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself loomed behind 107 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:26.079 his small black figure, like a full sailed merchantman behind 108 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:30.120 a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed her with the 109 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:34.519 easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and having closed 110 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:37.560 the door and bowed her into an arm chair, he 111 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:41.120 looked her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion 112 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:45.800 which was peculiar to him. Do you not find? He said, that, 113 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:48.519 with your short sight, it is a little trying to 114 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:52.600 do so much typewriting. I did it first, she answered, 115 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:57.120 but now I know where the letters are without looking. Then, 116 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:00.800 suddenly realizing the full purport of his words, she gave 117 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:04.600 a violent start and looked up with fear and astonishment 118 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:08.959 upon her broad, good humored face. You've heard about me, 119 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:12.959 mister Holmes, she cried, Else, how could you know all that? 120 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:17.879 Never mind, said Holmes, laughing, it is my business to 121 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:21.279 know things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what 122 00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:25.560 others overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me? 123 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:29.279 I came to you, sir, because I heard of you 124 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:33.080 from missus Ethridge, whose husband you found so easy when 125 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:37.159 the police and every one had given him up for dead. Oh, 126 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:39.840 mister Holmes, I wish you would do as much for me. 127 00:08:40.679 --> 00:08:43.440 I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a 128 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:46.240 year in my own right, besides the little that I 129 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:49.000 make by the machine, and I would give it all 130 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:53.519 to know what has become of mister Hosmer Angel. Why 131 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:55.759 did you come away to consult me in such a hurry, 132 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:59.639 asked Sherlock Holmes, with his finger tips together and his 133 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:04.039 eyes to the ceiling. Again, A startled look came over 134 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:09.360 the somewhat vacuous face of miss Mary Sutherland. Yes, I 135 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:12.519 did bang out of the house, she said, for it 136 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:15.559 made me angry to see the easy way in which 137 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:19.960 mister Windebank, that is, my father, took it all. He 138 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.320 would not go to the police, and he would not 139 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:25.519 go to you. And so at last, as he would 140 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:28.279 do nothing and kept on saying that there was no 141 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:31.720 harm done. It made me mad, and I just on 142 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.840 with my things and came right away to you. Your father, 143 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:41.639 said Holmes, your stepfather, surely since the name is different, Yes, 144 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:46.679 my stepfather, I call him father, though it sounds funny too, 145 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:50.000 for he is only five years and two months older 146 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:55.000 than myself. And your mother is alive. Oh, yes, mother 147 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.919 is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased mister Holmes 148 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:02.960 when she married again so soon after father's death, and 149 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:06.480 a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. 150 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:11.279 Father was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and 151 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.879 he left a tidy business behind him, which mother carried 152 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:19.679 on with mister Hardy, the foreman. But when mister Windebank came, 153 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:23.440 he made her sell the business, for he was very superior, 154 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:28.440 being a traveler in wines. They got forty seven hundred 155 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:32.000 pounds for the good will and interest, which wasn't near 156 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:34.519 as much as father could have got if he had 157 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:39.200 been alive. I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient 158 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:43.600 under this rambling and inconsequential narrative, but on the contrary, 159 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:49.039 he had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. Your 160 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.240 own little income, he asked, Does it come out of 161 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:56.320 the business. Oh no, sir, it is quite separate and 162 00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:00.279 was left me by my uncle ned in Auckland. It 163 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:03.919 is in New Zealand, stock paying four and a half percent. 164 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:08.480 Two thousand, five hundred pounds was the amount. But I 165 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:13.639 can only touch the interest. You interest me extremely, said Holmes. 166 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:16.200 And since you draw so large a sum as a 167 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:19.360 hundred a year with what you earn into the bargain, 168 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:22.879 you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in 169 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:26.120 every way. I believe that a single lady can get 170 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:30.639 on very nicely upon an income of about sixty pounds. 171 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:33.440 I could do with much less than that, mister Holmes. 172 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:36.799 But you understand that as long as I live at home, 173 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:39.879 I don't wish to be a burden to them, and 174 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:42.399 so they have the use of the money just while 175 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:46.159 I am staying with them. Of course, that is only 176 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:50.759 just for the time. Mister Windebank draws my interest every 177 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:54.399 quarter and pays it over to mother. And I find 178 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:56.559 that I can do pretty well with what I earn 179 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:00.120 at type writing. It brings me twopence a sheet, and 180 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:03.360 I can often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in 181 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:07.240 a day. You have made your position very clear to me, 182 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:12.120 said Holmes. This is my friend, doctor Watson, before whom 183 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:16.240 you can speak as freely as before myself. Kindly tell 184 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:20.200 us now all about your connection with mister Hosmer. Angel 185 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:24.960 A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked 186 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:28.799 nervously at the fringe of her jacket. I met him 187 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:32.600 first at the gas Footer's ball. She said. They used 188 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:35.559 to send Father tickets when he was alive, and then 189 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:39.720 afterwards they remembered us and sent them to mother. Mister 190 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:43.440 Windebank did not wish us to go. He never did 191 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:46.600 wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad 192 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:48.840 if I wanted so much as to join a Sunday 193 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:52.320 school treat. But this time I was set on going, 194 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:56.000 and I would go. For what right had he to prevent? 195 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:58.879 He said the folk were not fit for us to 196 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:02.480 know when all father's friends were to be there. And 197 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:05.159 he said that I had nothing fit to wear when 198 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.840 I had my purple plush, that I had never so 199 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:11.799 much as taken out of the drawer. At last, when 200 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.840 nothing else would do, he went off to France upon 201 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:18.200 the business of the firm. But we went Mother and 202 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:21.399 I with mister Hardy, who used to be our foreman, 203 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:27.559 and it was there I met mister hosmer Angel. I suppose, 204 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:31.799 said Holmes, that when mister Windebank came back from France, 205 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:34.519 he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball. 206 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:38.600 Oh well, he was very good about it, he laughed, 207 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:41.759 I remembered, and shrugged his shoulders and said there was 208 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:44.799 no use denying anything to a woman, for she would 209 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:49.360 have her way. I see, then at the Gasford's ball, 210 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:55.639 you met, as I understand, a gentleman called mister hosmer Angel. Yes, sir, 211 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:59.039 I met him that night, and he called next day 212 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:02.039 to ask if we had got home all safe. And 213 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:04.759 after that we had met him, that is to say, 214 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:08.480 mister Holmes, I met him twice for walks. But after 215 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:12.919 that Father came back again, and mister hosmer Angel could 216 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:17.320 not come to the house any more. No, well, you 217 00:14:17.399 --> 00:14:20.759 know Father didn't like anything of the sort. He wouldn't 218 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:23.519 have any visitors if he could help it. And he 219 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:25.720 used to say that a woman should be happy in 220 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:29.240 her own family circle. But then, as I used to 221 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:32.240 say to Mother, a woman wants her own circle to 222 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:36.720 begin with, and I had not got mine yet. But 223 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:40.399 how about mister Hosmer Angel. Did he make no attempt 224 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:44.159 to see you? Well? Father was going off to France 225 00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:47.240 again in a week, and Hosemer wrote and said that 226 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:50.240 it would be safer and better not to see each 227 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:53.840 other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, 228 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:57.080 and he used to write every day. I took the 229 00:14:57.159 --> 00:14:59.799 letters in in the morning, so there was no need 230 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:03.759 for father to know. Were you engaged to the gentleman 231 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:08.039 at this time? Oh, yes, mister Holmes, we were engaged 232 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:12.320 after the first walk that we took, Holsmer. Mister Angel 233 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:16.559 was a cashier in an office in Leadenhall Street. And 234 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:21.000 what office? That's the worst of it, mister Holmes. I 235 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:25.000 don't know where did he live? Then he slept on 236 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:30.000 the premises, and you don't know his address, no, except 237 00:15:30.039 --> 00:15:33.919 that it was Leadenhall Street. Where did you address your letters? 238 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:38.799 Then to the Leadenhall Street post office to be left 239 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:41.799 till called for. He said that if they were sent 240 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:44.200 to the office, he would be chafed by all the 241 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:47.559 other clerks about having letters from a lady. So I 242 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:51.039 offered to typewrite them like he did his, but he 243 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:53.879 wouldn't have that, for he said that when I wrote 244 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:56.759 them they seemed to come from me, but when they 245 00:15:56.759 --> 00:16:00.000 were typewritten, he always felt that the machine had come 246 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.159 between us. That will just show you how fond he 247 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.039 was of me, mister Holmes, and the little things that 248 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:10.559 he would think of It was most suggestive, said Holmes. 249 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:13.639 It has long been an axiom of mine that the 250 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:17.759 little things are infinitely the most important. Can you remember 251 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:22.000 any other little things about mister Hosmer Angel He was 252 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:25.679 a very shy man, mister Holmes. He would rather walk 253 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:28.480 with me in the evening than in the daylight, for 254 00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:33.000 he said that he hated to be conspicuous, very retiring 255 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:37.440 and gentlemanly he was. Even his voice was gentle. He'd 256 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:40.080 had the quinsy and swollen glands when he was young, 257 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:42.600 he told me, and it had left him with a 258 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:47.519 weak throat and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He 259 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:51.360 was always well dressed, very neat and plain, but his 260 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:54.679 eyes were weak, just as mine are, and he wore 261 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:59.559 tinted glasses against the glare. Well, and what happened when 262 00:16:59.559 --> 00:17:05.359 mister Wik your stepfather returned to France. Mister Hosmer Angel 263 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.359 came to the house again and proposed that we should 264 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:12.440 marry before Father came back. He was in dreadful earnest 265 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:15.640 and made me swear with my hands on the testament 266 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:19.200 that whatever happened, I would always be true to him. 267 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:22.680 Mother said he was quite right to make me swear, 268 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:26.400 and that it was a sign of his passion. Mother 269 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.279 was all in his favor from the first and was 270 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:33.240 even fonder of him than I was. Then, when they 271 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:36.319 talked of marrying within the week, I began to ask 272 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:39.960 about Father, but they both said never to mind about Father, 273 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:43.759 but just to tell him afterwards, and Mother said she 274 00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:46.720 would make it all right with him. I didn't quite 275 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.880 like that, mister Holmes. It seemed funny that I should 276 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:52.599 ask his leave, as he was only a few years 277 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:55.440 older than me. But I didn't want to do anything 278 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:58.680 on the sly, so I wrote to Father at Bordeaux, 279 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:02.400 where the company has its French offices. But the letter 280 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:04.960 came back to me on the very morning of the wedding. 281 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:09.440 It missed him, then, yes, sir, for he had started 282 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:13.799 to England just before it arrived. Huh, that was unfortunate. 283 00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:17.559 Your wedding was arranged then for the Friday, was it 284 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:22.000 to be in church, Yes, sir, but very quietly it 285 00:18:22.119 --> 00:18:25.680 was to be at Saint Xavier's near King's Cross, and 286 00:18:25.799 --> 00:18:29.640 we were to have breakfast afterwards at the Saint Pancras hotel. 287 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:33.480 Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there 288 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:35.920 were two of us, he put us both into it 289 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.519 and stepped himself into a four wheeler, which happened to 290 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:42.640 be the only other cab in the street. We got 291 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:45.880 to the church first, and when the four wheeler drove up, 292 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:49.200 we waited for him to step out, but he never did, 293 00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:52.880 and when the cabman got down from the box and looked, 294 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:56.359 there was no one there. The cabman said that he 295 00:18:56.440 --> 00:18:59.160 could not imagine what had become of him, for he 296 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.119 had seen him get in with his own eyes. That 297 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:05.559 was last Friday, mister Holmes, and I have never seen 298 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:09.279 or heard anything since then to throw any light upon 299 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:12.720 what became of him. It seems to me that you 300 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:17.119 have been very shamefully treated, said Holmes. Oh no, sir, 301 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.039 he was too good and kind to leave me. So 302 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:23.880 why all the morning he was saying to me that 303 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:28.039 whatever happened I was to be true, and that even 304 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:32.400 if something quite unforeseen occurred to separate us. I was 305 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:36.119 always to remember that I was pledged to him, and 306 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:39.480 that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It 307 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:42.920 seemed strange talk for a wedding morning, But what has 308 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:47.440 happened since gives a meaning to it? Most certainly it does. 309 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:52.279 Your own opinion is then, that some unforeseen catastrophe has 310 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:56.559 occurred to him, Yes, sir, I believe that he foresaw 311 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.680 some danger, or else he would not have talked so. 312 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:04.640 And then I think that what he foresaw happened, But 313 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:08.920 you have no notion as to what it could have been. None. 314 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:12.160 One more question, how did your mother take the matter? 315 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.440 She was angry and said that I was never to 316 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:19.000 speak of the matter again. And your father? Did you 317 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:23.319 tell him? Yes? And he seemed to think with me 318 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:26.559 that something had happened, and that I should hear of 319 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:30.880 Hosemer again, As he said, what interest could anyone have 320 00:20:31.079 --> 00:20:33.599 in bringing me to the doors of the church and 321 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:36.839 then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my money, 322 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:39.599 or if he had married me and got my money 323 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:43.440 settled on him, there might be some reason. But Hosemer 324 00:20:43.559 --> 00:20:47.000 was very independent about money and never would look at 325 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:50.240 a shilling of mine. And yet what could have happened? 326 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:53.680 And why could he not write? Oh? It drives me 327 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:56.039 half mad to think of it, and I can't sleep 328 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:59.720 a wink at night. She pulled a little handkerchief out 329 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:04.240 of her and began to sob heavily into it. I 330 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:07.400 shall glance into the case for you, said Holmes, rising, 331 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:10.319 and I have no doubt that we shall reach some 332 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:13.799 definite result. Let the weight of the matter rest upon 333 00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:17.359 me now, and do not let your mind dwell upon it. Further, 334 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:21.920 above all, try to let mister Hosmer Angel vanish from 335 00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:25.960 your memory as he has done from your life. Then 336 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:29.200 you don't think I'll see him again? I fear not. 337 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:33.039 Then what has happened to him? You will leave that 338 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.480 question in my hands. I should like an accurate description 339 00:21:36.599 --> 00:21:39.720 of him, and any letters of his which you can spare. 340 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:44.799 I advertised for him in last Saturday's chronicle, said she. 341 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:48.440 Here is the slip, and here are four letters from him. 342 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:54.599 Thank you, and your address thirty one Lyons Place, Camberwell, 343 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:59.240 mister Angel's address you never had. I understand. Where is 344 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:03.119 your father's place of business? He travels for west House 345 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:09.480 and Marbank. The Great Claret Importers of Fenchurch Street. Thank you. 346 00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:12.640 You have made your statement very clearly. You will leave 347 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:15.359 the papers here and remember the advice which I have 348 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:19.240 given you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, 349 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:23.000 and do not allow it to affect your life. You 350 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:26.079 are very kind, mister Holmes, but I cannot do that. 351 00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:29.759 I shall be true to Hosmer. He shall find me 352 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:34.519 ready when he comes back. For all the preposterous hat 353 00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:38.359 and the vacuous face, there was something noble in the 354 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:43.359 simple faith of our visitor which compelled our respect. She 355 00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:46.480 laid her little bundle of papers upon the table and 356 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:50.240 went her way, with a promise to come again whenever 357 00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:54.720 she might be summoned. Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a 358 00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:58.960 few minutes, with his finger tips still pressed together, his 359 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:02.200 legs stretched out in front of him, and his gaze 360 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:05.799 directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down from 361 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:09.279 the rack the old and oily clay pipe which was 362 00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:13.400 to him as a counselor, and having lit it, he 363 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:16.960 leaned back in his chair, with the thick blue cloud 364 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:20.839 wreathed spinning up from him, and a look of infinite 365 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:25.599 languor upon his face. Quite an interesting study that maiden, 366 00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:29.880 he observed. I found her more interesting than her little problem, 367 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:33.200 which by the way, is rather a trite one. You 368 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:37.279 will find parallel cases if you consult my index in 369 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:41.480 andover in seventy seven. And there was something of the 370 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:45.799 sort at the Hague last year old, as is the idea. However, 371 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:48.960 there were one or two details which were new to me. 372 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:54.640 But the maiden herself was most instructive. You appeared to 373 00:23:54.680 --> 00:23:57.519 read a good deal upon her, which was quite invisible 374 00:23:57.559 --> 00:24:03.319 to me, I remarked, not invisible but unnoticed. Watson, you 375 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:05.880 did not know where to look, and so you missed 376 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:09.000 all that was important. I can never bring you to 377 00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:13.160 realize the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb nails, 378 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:17.519 or the great issues that may hang from a boot lace. Now, 379 00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:22.680 what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe it well? 380 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:26.799 She had a slate colored, broad brimmed straw hat with 381 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:30.400 a feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, 382 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:34.279 with black beads sewn upon it and a fringe of 383 00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:38.799 little black jet ornaments. Her dress was brown, rather darker 384 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:42.839 than coffee color, with a little purple plush at the neck. 385 00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:47.079 And sleeves. Her gloves were grayish and were worn through 386 00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:51.279 at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't observe. She 387 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:55.400 had small, round hanging gold earrings, and her general air 388 00:24:55.480 --> 00:24:59.400 of being fairly well to do in a vulgar, comfortable, 389 00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:04.200 easy going way. Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together 390 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:09.720 and chuckled. Upon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. 391 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:13.000 You have really done very well. Indeed, it is true 392 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:15.599 that you have missed everything of importance, but you have 393 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:18.079 hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye 394 00:25:18.119 --> 00:25:22.359 for color. Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but 395 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:27.440 concentrate yourself upon details. My first glance is always at 396 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:31.519 a woman's sleeve. In a man, it is perhaps better 397 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:35.559 first to take the knee of the trouser. As you observe. 398 00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:38.720 This woman had plushed upon her sleeves, which is a 399 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:43.200 most useful material for showing traces. The double line a 400 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:46.519 little above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the 401 00:25:46.599 --> 00:25:51.519