Speaker 1: The Boscombe Valley mystery. We were seated at breakfast one morning,
Speaker 1: my wife and I when the maid brought in a telegram.
Speaker 1: It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran in this way,
Speaker 1: have you a couple of days to spare? Have just
Speaker 1: been wired for from the west of England in connection
Speaker 1: with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if you will
Speaker 1: come with me air in scenery perfect leave Paddington by
Speaker 1: the eleven fifteen. What do you say, dear, said my wife,
Speaker 1: looking across at me. Will you go? I really don't
Speaker 1: know what to say. I have a fairly long list
Speaker 1: at present. Oh An Struther would do your work for you.
Speaker 1: You have been looking a little pale lately. I think
Speaker 1: that the change would do you good. And you are
Speaker 1: always so interested in mister Sherlock Holmes's cases. I should
Speaker 1: be ungrateful if I were not seeing what I gained
Speaker 1: through one of them. I answered, But if I am
Speaker 1: to go, I must pack at once, for I have
Speaker 1: only half an hour. My experience of camp life in
Speaker 1: Afghanistan had at least had the effect of making me
Speaker 1: a prompt and ready traveler. My wants were few and simple,
Speaker 1: so that in less than the time, stated, I was
Speaker 1: in a cab with my valise, rattling away to paddingson station.
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall,
Speaker 1: gaunt figure, made even gaunter and taller by his long
Speaker 1: gray traveling cloak and close fitting cloth cap. It is
Speaker 1: really very good of you to come, Watson said he.
Speaker 1: It makes a considerable difference to me having someone with
Speaker 1: me on whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is
Speaker 1: always either worthless or else biased. If you will keep
Speaker 1: the two corner seats, I shall get the tickets. We
Speaker 1: had the carriage to ourselves, save for an immense litter
Speaker 1: of papers, which Holmes had brought with him. Among these
Speaker 1: he rummaged and read, with intervals of note taking and
Speaker 1: of meditation, until we were past reading. Then he suddenly
Speaker 1: rolled them all into a gigantic ball and toss them
Speaker 1: up on to the rack. Have you heard anything of
Speaker 1: the case, he asked, Not a word. I have not
Speaker 1: seen a paper for some days. The London press has
Speaker 1: not had very full accounts. I have just been looking
Speaker 1: through all the recent papers in order to master the particulars.
Speaker 1: It seems from what I gather to be one of
Speaker 1: those simple cases which are so extremely difficult that sounds
Speaker 1: little paradoxical, but it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost
Speaker 1: invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is,
Speaker 1: the more difficult it is to bring it home. In
Speaker 1: this case, however, they have established a very serious case
Speaker 1: against the son of the murdered man. It is a murder, then,
Speaker 1: well it is conjectured to be so. I shall take
Speaker 1: nothing for granted until I have the opportunity of looking
Speaker 1: personally into it. I will explain the state of things
Speaker 1: to you as far as I have been able to
Speaker 1: understand it in a very few words. Boscombe Valley is
Speaker 1: a country district not very far from ross and Herefordshire.
Speaker 1: The largest landed proprietor in that part is a mister
Speaker 1: John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned
Speaker 1: some years ago to the old country. One of the
Speaker 1: farms which he held, that of Heatherley, was lent to
Speaker 1: mister Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex Australian. The
Speaker 1: men had known each other in the colony, so that
Speaker 1: it was not unnatural that when they came to settle
Speaker 1: down that they should do so as near each other
Speaker 1: as possible. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy
Speaker 1: became his tenant, but still remained, it seems, upon terms
Speaker 1: of perfect equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had
Speaker 1: one son, a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an
Speaker 1: only daughter of the same age, but neither of them
Speaker 1: had wives living. They appeared to have avoided the society
Speaker 1: of the neighboring English families and to have led retired lives,
Speaker 1: though both the McCarthys were fond of sport and were
Speaker 1: frequently seen at the race meetings of the neighborhood. McCarthy
Speaker 1: kept two servants, a man and girl. Turner had a
Speaker 1: considerable household, some half dozen in the least. That is
Speaker 1: as much as I have been able to gather about
Speaker 1: the families. Now for the facts. On June third, that
Speaker 1: is Monday last, McCarthy left his house at Hatherley about
Speaker 1: three in the afternoon and walked down to the Boscombe Pool,
Speaker 1: which is a small lake formed by the spreading out
Speaker 1: of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He
Speaker 1: had been out with his serving man in the morning
Speaker 1: at ross and he had told the man that he
Speaker 1: must hurry, as he had an appointment of importance to
Speaker 1: keep it free from that appointment, he never came back alive.
Speaker 1: From Hatherley Farmhouse to the Boscombe Pool as a quarter
Speaker 1: of a mile, and two people saw him as he
Speaker 1: passed over this ground. One was an old woman whose
Speaker 1: name is not mentioned, and the other was William Crowder,
Speaker 1: a gamekeeper in the employ of mister Turner. Both these
Speaker 1: witnesses deposed that mister McCarthy was walking alone. The gamekeeper
Speaker 1: adds that within a few minutes of his seeing mister
Speaker 1: McCarthy pass he had seen his son, mister Jane Miss McCarthy,
Speaker 1: going the same way with a gun under his arm.
Speaker 1: To the best of his belief, the father was actually
Speaker 1: in sight at the time and the son was following him.
Speaker 1: He thought no more of the matter until he heard
Speaker 1: in the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. The
Speaker 1: two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder,
Speaker 1: the gamekeeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is
Speaker 1: thickly wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and
Speaker 1: reeds round the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran,
Speaker 1: who is the daughter of the lodge keeper of the
Speaker 1: Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the woods picking flowers.
Speaker 1: She states that while she was there she saw at
Speaker 1: the border of the wooden close by the lake, mister
Speaker 1: McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be
Speaker 1: having a violent quarrel. She heard mister McCarthy the elder,
Speaker 1: using very strong language to his son, and she saw
Speaker 1: the latter raise up his hand as if to strike
Speaker 1: his father. She was so frightened by their violence that
Speaker 1: she ran away and told her mother when she reached
Speaker 1: home that she had left the two McCarthy's quarreling near
Speaker 1: Boscomb Pool Pool, and that she was afraid that they
Speaker 1: were going to fight. She had hardly said the words
Speaker 1: when young mister McCarthy came running up to the lodge
Speaker 1: to say that he had found his father dead in
Speaker 1: the wood and to ask for the help of the
Speaker 1: lodge keeper. He was much excited, without either his gun
Speaker 1: or his hat, and his right hand and sleeve were
Speaker 1: observed to be stained with fresh blood. On following him,
Speaker 1: they found the dead body stretched out upon the grasp
Speaker 1: side the pool. The head had been beaten in by
Speaker 1: repeated blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries
Speaker 1: were such as might very well have been inflicted by
Speaker 1: the butt end of his son's gun, which was found
Speaker 1: lying on the grass within a few paces of the body.
Speaker 1: Under these circumstances, the young man was instantly arrested, and
Speaker 1: a verdict of wilful murder having been returned at the
Speaker 1: inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the
Speaker 1: Magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the
Speaker 1: next assizes. Those are the main facts of the case
Speaker 1: as they came out before the coroner and the police court.
Speaker 1: I could hardly imagine a more damning case, I remarked.
Speaker 1: If ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal, it does
Speaker 1: so here. Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing, answered
Speaker 1: Holmes thoughtfully. It may seem to point very straight to
Speaker 1: one thing, but if you shift your own point of
Speaker 1: view a little, you may find it pointing in an
Speaker 1: equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different. It must be confess, however,
Speaker 1: that the case looks exceedingly grave against the young man.
Speaker 1: It is very possible that he is indeed the culbrit
Speaker 1: There are several people in the neighborhood, however, and among
Speaker 1: them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighboring landowner, who
Speaker 1: believe in his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom
Speaker 1: you may recollect in connection with the study in Scarlet,
Speaker 1: to work out the case in his interest. Lestrade, being
Speaker 1: rather puzzled, has referred the case to me, and hence
Speaker 1: it is that two middle aged gentlemen are flying westward
Speaker 1: fifty miles an hour instead of quietly digesting their breakfasts
Speaker 1: at home. I am afraid, said I, that the facts
Speaker 1: are so obvious that you will find little credit to
Speaker 1: be gained out of this case. There is nothing more
Speaker 1: deceptive than an obvious fact, he answered, laughing. Besides, we
Speaker 1: may chance to hit upon some other obvious facts which
Speaker 1: may have been by no means obvious to mister Lestrade.
Speaker 1: You know me too well to think that I am
Speaker 1: boasting when I say that I shall either confirm or
Speaker 1: destroy his theory by means which he is quite incapable
Speaker 1: of employing, or even of understanding. To take the first
Speaker 1: example to hand, I very clearly perceive that in your
Speaker 1: bedroom the window is upon the right hand side. And
Speaker 1: yet I question whether miss Lestrade would have noticed even
Speaker 1: so self evident a thing as that, How on earth,
Speaker 1: my dear fellow. I know you well, I know the
Speaker 1: military neatness which characterizes you. You shave every morning, and
Speaker 1: in this season you shave by the sunlight. But since
Speaker 1: your shaving is less and less complete as we get
Speaker 1: farther back on the left side, and until it becomes
Speaker 1: positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw,
Speaker 1: it is surely very clear that that side is less
Speaker 1: illuminated than the other. I could not imagine a man
Speaker 1: of your habits looking at himself in an equal light
Speaker 1: in being satisfied with such a result. I only quote
Speaker 1: this as a trivial example of observation and inference. Therein
Speaker 1: lies my metier, and it is just possible that it
Speaker 1: may be of some service in the investigation which lies
Speaker 1: before us. There are one or two minor points which
Speaker 1: are brought out in the inquest in which are worth considering.
Speaker 1: What are they? It appears that his arrest did not
Speaker 1: take place at once, but after the return to Hatherley Farm,
Speaker 1: on the Inspector of Constabulary informing him that he was
Speaker 1: a prisoner, he remarked that he was not surprised to
Speaker 1: hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts.
Speaker 1: This observation of his had the natural effect of removing
Speaker 1: any traces of doubt which might have remained in the
Speaker 1: minds of the coroner's jury. It was a confession I
Speaker 1: ejaculated no, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence.
Speaker 1: Coming on top of such a damning series of events,
Speaker 1: it was at the least a most suspicious remark. On
Speaker 1: the contrary, said Holmes, it is the brightest rift which
Speaker 1: I can at present see in the clouds. However innocent
Speaker 1: he might be, he could not be such an absolute
Speaker 1: imbecile as not to see that the circumstances were very
Speaker 1: black against him. Had he appeared surprised at his own
Speaker 1: arrest or feigned indignation at it, I should have looked
Speaker 1: upon it as highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger
Speaker 1: would not be natural under the circumstances, and yet might
Speaker 1: appear to be the best policy to a scheming man.
Speaker 1: His frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either
Speaker 1: an innocent man, or else as a man of considerable
Speaker 1: self restraint and firmness. As to his remark about his deserts,
Speaker 1: It was also not unnatural if you consider that he
Speaker 1: stood beside the dead body of his father, and that
Speaker 1: there is no doubt that he had that very day
Speaker 1: so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words
Speaker 1: with him, and even according to the little girl, whose
Speaker 1: evidence is so important, to raise his hand as if
Speaker 1: to strike him the self. Reproach and contrition which are
Speaker 1: displayed in his remark appear to me to be the
Speaker 1: signs of a healthy mind, rather than of a guilty one.
Speaker 1: I shook my head. Many men have been hanged on
Speaker 1: far slighter evidence, I remarked. So they have, and many
Speaker 1: men have been wrongfully hanged. What is the young man's
Speaker 1: own account of the matter? It is, I am afraid,
Speaker 1: not very encouraging to his support, as though there are
Speaker 1: one or two points in it which are suggestive. You
Speaker 1: will find it here and may read it for yourself.
Speaker 1: He picked out from his bundle a copy of the
Speaker 1: local Herefordshire paper, and, having turned down the sheet, he
Speaker 1: pointed out the paragraph in which the un fortunate young
Speaker 1: man had given his own statement of what had occurred.
Speaker 1: I settled myself down in the corner of the carriage
Speaker 1: and read it very carefully. It ran in this way.
Speaker 1: Mister James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was
Speaker 1: then called and gave evidence as follows. I had been
Speaker 1: away from home for three days at Bristol, and had
Speaker 1: only just returned upon the morning of last Monday the third.
Speaker 1: My father was absent from home at the time of
Speaker 1: my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that
Speaker 1: he had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom.
Speaker 1: Shortly after my return, I heard the wheels of his
Speaker 1: trap in the yard, and looking out of my window,
Speaker 1: I saw him get out and walk rapidly out of
Speaker 1: the yard, though I was not aware in which direction
Speaker 1: he was going. I then took my gun and strolled
Speaker 1: out in the direction of the Boscombe Pool, with the
Speaker 1: intention of visiting the rabbit warren, which is upon the
Speaker 1: other side. On my way, I saw William Crowder, the gamekeeper,
Speaker 1: as he had stated in his evidence, but he is
Speaker 1: mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I
Speaker 1: had no idea that he was in front of me.
Speaker 1: When about a hundred yards from the pool, I heard
Speaker 1: a cry of COUI, which is an unusual signal between
Speaker 1: my father and myself. I then hurried forward and found
Speaker 1: him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much
Speaker 1: surprised at seeing me, and asked me rather roughly what
Speaker 1: I was doing there. A conversation ensued which led to
Speaker 1: high words and almost blows. For my father was a
Speaker 1: man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his passion
Speaker 1: was becoming ungovernable, I left him in returned towards Hatherly Farm.
Speaker 1: I had not gone more than one hundred fifty yards, however,
Speaker 1: when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused
Speaker 1: me to run back again. I found my father expiring
Speaker 1: upon the ground, with his head terribly injured. I dropped
Speaker 1: my gun and held him in my arms, but he
Speaker 1: almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for some minutes,
Speaker 1: and then made my way to mister Turner's lodge keeper
Speaker 1: his house, being the nearest to ask for assistance. I
Speaker 1: saw no one near my father when I returned, and
Speaker 1: I have no idea how he came by his injuries.
Speaker 1: He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and
Speaker 1: forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as
Speaker 1: I know, no active enemies. I know nothing further of
Speaker 1: the matter. The coroner did your father make any statement
Speaker 1: to you before he died, Witness. He mumbled a few words,
Speaker 1: but I could only catch some allusion to a rat.
Speaker 1: The coroner. What did you understand by that? Witness? It
Speaker 1: conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was delirious,
Speaker 1: the Coroner. What was the point upon which in your
Speaker 1: father had this final quarrel? Witness, I should prefer not
Speaker 1: to answer the Coroner. I am afraid that I must
Speaker 1: press it. Witness, it is really impossible for me to
Speaker 1: tell you. I can assure you that it has nothing
Speaker 1: to do with the sad tragedy which followed. The Coroner.
Speaker 1: That is for the court to decide. I need not
Speaker 1: point out to you that your refusal to answer will
Speaker 1: prejudice your case considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. Witness.
Speaker 1: I still must refuse the Coroner. I understand that the
Speaker 1: cry of coui was a common signal between you and
Speaker 1: your father, Witness, it was the coroner. How was it
Speaker 1: then that he uttered it before he saw you, and
Speaker 1: before he even knew that you would return from Bristol, Witness,
Speaker 1: with considerable confusion, I do not know, a juryman, did
Speaker 1: you see nothing which aroused your suspicions when you returned
Speaker 1: on hearing the cry and found your father fatally injured. Witness,
Speaker 1: nothing definite, the coroner, What do you mean, Witness. I
Speaker 1: was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into
Speaker 1: the open that I could think of nothing except my father.
Speaker 1: Yet I have a vague impression that as I ran forward,
Speaker 1: something lay upon the ground to the left of me.
Speaker 1: It seemed to be something gray in color, a coat
Speaker 1: of some sort, or a plaid. Perhaps. When I rose
Speaker 1: from my father, I looked round for it, but it
Speaker 1: was gone. Do you mean that it had disappeared before
Speaker 1: you went to help? Yes, it was gone. You cannot
Speaker 1: say what it was. No, I had a feeling something
Speaker 1: was there. How far from the body a dozen yards
Speaker 1: or so, and how far from the edge of the
Speaker 1: wood about the same. Then, if it was removed, it
Speaker 1: was while you were within a dozen yards of it, Yes,
Speaker 1: but with my back towards it. This concluded the examination
Speaker 1: of the witness. I see, said I as I glanced
Speaker 1: down the column that the coroner, in his concluding remarks,
Speaker 1: was rather severe upon young McCarthy. He calls attention and
Speaker 1: with reason to the discrepancy about his father having signaled
Speaker 1: to him before seeing him, and also to his refusal
Speaker 1: to give details of his conversation with his father, and
Speaker 1: his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all,
Speaker 1: as he remarks, very much against the son. Holmes laughed
Speaker 1: softly to himself and stretched himself out upon the cushioned seat.
Speaker 1: Both you and the Corrodor have been at some Paines,
Speaker 1: said he to single out the very strongest points in
Speaker 1: the young man's favor. Don't you see that you alternately
Speaker 1: give him credit for having too much imagination and too little?
Speaker 1: Too little if he could not invent a cause of
Speaker 1: quarrel which would give him the sympathy of the jury,
Speaker 1: too much, if he evolved from his own inner consciousness,
Speaker 1: anything so outree as a dying reference to a rat
Speaker 1: and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, Sir, I
Speaker 1: shall approach this case from the point of view that
Speaker 1: what this young man says is true, and we shall
Speaker 1: see whither that hypothesis will lead us. And now here
Speaker 1: is my pocket, Petrarch, And not another word shall I
Speaker 1: say of this case until we are on the scene
Speaker 1: of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that
Speaker 1: we shall be there in twenty minutes. It was nearly
Speaker 1: four o'clock when we, at last, after passing through the
Speaker 1: beautiful Stroud Valley and over the broad gleaming Severn, found
Speaker 1: ourselves at the pretty little country town of Ross. A
Speaker 1: lean ferret like man, furtive and sly looking, was waiting
Speaker 1: for us upon the platform. In spite of the light
Speaker 1: brown dustcoat and leather leggings which he wore in deference
Speaker 1: to his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognizing
Speaker 1: Lestrade of Scotland. Yard. With him, we drove to the
Speaker 1: Hereford Arms, where room had already been engaged for us.
Speaker 1: I have ordered a carriage, said Lestrade, as we sat
Speaker 1: over a cup of tea. I knew your energetic nature
Speaker 1: and that you would not be happy until you had
Speaker 1: been on the scene of the crime. It was very
Speaker 1: nice and complimentary of you, Holmes answered, it is entirely
Speaker 1: a question of barometric pressure. Lestrade looked startled. I do
Speaker 1: not quite follow, he said, how is the glass twenty nine?
Speaker 1: I see no wind and not a cloud in the sky.
Speaker 1: I have a case full of cigarettes here which needs smoking,
Speaker 1: and the sofa is very much superior to the usual
Speaker 1: country hotel abomination. I do not think that it is
Speaker 1: probable that I shall use the carriage to night, Lustrade
Speaker 1: laughed indulgently. You have no doubt already formed your conclusions
Speaker 1: from the newspapers, he said. The case is as plain
Speaker 1: as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it,
Speaker 1: the plainer it becomes. Still. Of course, one can't refuse
Speaker 1: a lady in such a very positive one. Too. She
Speaker 1: has heard of you and would have your opinion, though
Speaker 1: I repeatedly told her that there was nothing which you
Speaker 1: could do which I had not already done. Why, bless
Speaker 1: my soul, here is her carriage at the door. He
Speaker 1: had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one
Speaker 1: of the most lovely young women that I have ever
Speaker 1: seen in my life, her violet eyes shining, her lips parted,
Speaker 1: a pink flush upon her cheeks. All thought of her
Speaker 1: natural reserve lost in her overpowering excitement and concern. Oh,
Speaker 1: mister Sherlock Holmes, she cried, glancing from one to the
Speaker 1: other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition
Speaker 1: fastening upon my companion, I am so glad that you
Speaker 1: have come. I have driven down to tell you. So
Speaker 1: I know, oh, that James didn't do it. I know it,
Speaker 1: and I want you to start upon your work knowing
Speaker 1: it too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We
Speaker 1: have known each other since we were little children, and
Speaker 1: I know his faults as no one else does. But
Speaker 1: he is too tender hearted to hurt a fly. Such
Speaker 1: a charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him.
Speaker 1: I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner, said, Sherlock Holmes.
Speaker 1: You may rely upon my doing all that I can.
Speaker 1: But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion.
Speaker 1: Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you
Speaker 1: not yourself think that he is innocent? I think that
Speaker 1: it is very probable. There now, she cried, throwing back
Speaker 1: her head and looking defiantly at Lestrade. You hear he
Speaker 1: gives me hopes. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. I am afraid
Speaker 1: that my colleague has been a little quick in forming
Speaker 1: his conclusions, he said, But he is right. Oh, I
Speaker 1: know that he is right. James never did it. And
Speaker 1: about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that
Speaker 1: the reason why he would not speak about it to
Speaker 1: the coroner is because I was concerned in it in
Speaker 1: what way? Asked Holmes. It is no time for me
Speaker 1: to hide anything. James and his father had many disagreements
Speaker 1: about me. Mister MacCarthy was very anxious that there should
Speaker 1: be a marriage between us. James and I have always
Speaker 1: loved each other as brother and sister. But of course
Speaker 1: he is young and has seen very little of life yet,
Speaker 1: and and well, naturally he did not wish to do
Speaker 1: anything like that yet. So there were quarrels, and this,
Speaker 1: I am sure was one of them. And your father,
Speaker 1: asked Holmes, was he in favor of such a union? No,
Speaker 1: he was averse to it. Also, No one but mister
Speaker 1: McCarthy was in favor of it. A quick blush passed
Speaker 1: over her fresh young face as Holmes shot one of
Speaker 1: his keen questioning glances at her. Thank you for this information,
Speaker 1: said he. May I see your father if I call
Speaker 1: to morrow. I am afraid the doctor won't allow it.
Speaker 1: The doctor, yes, have you not heard? Poor father has
Speaker 1: never been strong for years back, but this has broken
Speaker 1: him down completely. He is taken to his bed and
Speaker 1: doctor Willows says that he is a wreck and that
Speaker 1: his nervous system is shattered. Mister mc carthy was the
Speaker 1: only man alive who had known Dad in the old
Speaker 1: days in Victoria. Ha, in Victoria. That is important. Yes,
Speaker 1: at the mines, quite so, at the gold mines, where
Speaker 1: as I understand mister Turner made his money. Yes, certainly,
Speaker 1: Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance
Speaker 1: to me. You will tell me if you have any
Speaker 1: news tomorrow. No doubt you will go to the prison
Speaker 1: to see James. Oh. If you do, mister Holmes, do
Speaker 1: tell him that I know him to be innocent. I will,
Speaker 1: miss Turner. I must go home now, for Dad is
Speaker 1: very ill and he misses me. So if I leave him,
Speaker 1: good bye, and God help you in your undertaking. She
Speaker 1: hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered,
Speaker 1: and we heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off
Speaker 1: down the street. I am ashamed of you, Holmes, said Lestrade,
Speaker 1: with dignity, after a few minutes silence. Why should you
Speaker 1: raise up hopes which you are bound to disappoint. I
Speaker 1: am not over tender of heart, but I call it cruel.
Speaker 1: I think that I see my way to clearing. James
Speaker 1: mc carthy said, Holmes, have you in order to see
Speaker 1: him in prison, yes, but only for you and me.
Speaker 1: Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We
Speaker 1: have still time to take a train to Hereford and
Speaker 1: see him to night. Ample, then let us do so.
Speaker 1: Wats an. I fear that you will find it very slow,
Speaker 1: But I shall only be away a couple of hours.
Speaker 1: I walked down to the station with them, and then
Speaker 1: wandered through the streets of the little town, finally returning
Speaker 1: to the hotel, where I lay upon the sofa and
Speaker 1: tried to interest myself in a yellow backed novel. The
Speaker 1: puny plot of the story was so thin, however, when
Speaker 1: compared to the deep mystery through which we were groping,
Speaker 1: and I found my attention wander so continually from the action,
Speaker 1: to the fact that I at last flung it across
Speaker 1: the room and gave myself up entirely to a consideration
Speaker 1: of the events of the day. Supposing that this unhappy
Speaker 1: young man's story were absolutely truth, and what hellish thing,
Speaker 1: what absolutely unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between
Speaker 1: the time when he parted from his father and the
Speaker 1: moment when drawn back by his screams, he rushed into
Speaker 1: the glade. It was something terrible and deadly. What could
Speaker 1: it be? Might not the nature of the injuries reveal
Speaker 1: something to my medical instincts? I rang the bell and
Speaker 1: called for the weekly country paper, which contained a verbatim
Speaker 1: account of the inquest. In the surgeon's deposition, it was
Speaker 1: stated that the posterior third of the left parietal bone
Speaker 1: and left half of the occipital bone had been shattered
Speaker 1: by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked
Speaker 1: the spot upon my own head. Clearly, such a blow
Speaker 1: must have been struck from behind. That was to some
Speaker 1: extent in favor of the accused, as when seen quarreling,
Speaker 1: he was face to face with his father. Still it
Speaker 1: did not go for very much for the older man
Speaker 1: my have turned his back before the blow fell. Still
Speaker 1: it might be worth while to call Holmes' attention to it.
Speaker 1: Then there was the peculiar dying reference to a rat.
Speaker 1: What could that mean? It could not be delirium. A
Speaker 1: man dying from a sudden bload as not commonly become delirious. No,
Speaker 1: it was more likely to be an attempt to explain
Speaker 1: how he met his fate. But what could it indicate?
Speaker 1: I cuddled my brains to find some possible explanation, and
Speaker 1: then the incident of the gray cloth seen by young McCarthy.
Speaker 1: If that were true, the murderer must have dropped some
Speaker 1: part of his dress, presumably his overcoat, in his flight,
Speaker 1: and must have had the hardihood to return and to
Speaker 1: carry it away at the instant when the sun was
Speaker 1: kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off.
Speaker 1: What a tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was.
Speaker 1: I did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I
Speaker 1: had so much faith in Sherlock Holmes's insight that I
Speaker 1: could not lose hope as long as every fresh fact
Speaker 1: seemed to strengthen his conviction of young McCarthy's. It was
Speaker 1: late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, for
Speaker 1: Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. The glass
Speaker 1: still keeps very high, he remarked, as he sat down.
Speaker 1: It is of importance that it should not rain before
Speaker 1: we are able to go over the ground. On the
Speaker 1: other hand, a man should be at his very best
Speaker 1: and keenness for such a nice work as that, and
Speaker 1: I did not wish to do it when fagged by
Speaker 1: a long journey. I have seen young MacCarthy, and what
Speaker 1: did you learn from him? Nothing? Could he throw no light,
Speaker 1: none at all. I was inclined to think at one
Speaker 1: time that he knew who had done it and was
Speaker 1: screening him or her. But I am convinced now that
Speaker 1: he is as puzzled as every one else. He is
Speaker 1: not a very quick witted use, though comely to look at,
Speaker 1: and I should think sound at heart. I cannot admire
Speaker 1: his taste, I remarked. If it is indeed a fact
Speaker 1: that he was averse to a marriage with so charming
Speaker 1: a young lady as this mister berner, Ah, thereby hangs
Speaker 1: a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, insanely in
Speaker 1: love with her, but some two years ago, when he
Speaker 1: was only a lad, and before he really knew her,
Speaker 1: for she had been away five years at a boarding school.
Speaker 1: What does the idiot do but get into the clutches
Speaker 1: of a bar maid in Bristol and marry her at
Speaker 1: a registry office. No one knows a word of the matter,
Speaker 1: but you can imagine how madning it must be to
Speaker 1: him to be upbraided for not doing what he would
Speaker 1: give his very eyes to do, but which he knows
Speaker 1: to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this
Speaker 1: sort which made him throw his hands up into the
Speaker 1: air when his father, at their last interview, was goading
Speaker 1: him on to propose to Miss Turner. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: he had no means of supporting himself, and his father,
Speaker 1: who was by all accounts a very hard man, would
Speaker 1: have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth.
Speaker 1: It was with his bar made wife that he had
Speaker 1: spent the last three days in Bristol, and his father
Speaker 1: did not know where he was. Mark that point, it
Speaker 1: is of importance good has come out of evil, however,
Speaker 1: for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is
Speaker 1: in serious trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown
Speaker 1: him over utterly, and has written to him to say
Speaker 1: that she has a husband already in the Bermuda dockyard,
Speaker 1: so that there is really no tie between them. I
Speaker 1: think that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for
Speaker 1: all that he has suffered. But if he is innocent,
Speaker 1: who has done it? Ah? Who? I would call your
Speaker 1: attention very particularly to two points. One is that the
Speaker 1: murdered man had an appointment with someone at the pool,
Speaker 1: and that the someone could not have been his son,
Speaker 1: for his son was away and he did not know
Speaker 1: when he would return. The second is that the murdered
Speaker 1: man was heard to cry cooie before he knew that
Speaker 1: his son had returned. Those are the crucial points upon
Speaker 1: which the case depends. And now let us talk about
Speaker 1: George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all
Speaker 1: minor matters until tomorrow. There was no rain as home
Speaker 1: had foretold, and the morning broke bright and cloudless. At
Speaker 1: nine o'clock Less Strade called for us with the carriage,
Speaker 1: and we set off for Hazily Farm in the Boscombe Pool.
Speaker 1: Very serious news this morning, the Strade observed. It is
Speaker 1: said that mister Turner of the whole is so ill
Speaker 1: that his life is despaired. Of an elderly man, I presume,
Speaker 1: said Holmes, about sixty, but his constitution has been shattered
Speaker 1: by his life abroad, and he has been in failing
Speaker 1: health for some time. This business has had a very
Speaker 1: bad effect upon him. He was an old friend of McCarthy's,
Speaker 1: and I may add a great benefactor to him, for
Speaker 1: I have learned that he gave him heavily farm rent free. Indeed,
Speaker 1: that is interesting, said Holmes. Oh, yes, in a hundred
Speaker 1: other ways he has helped him. Everybody about here speaks
Speaker 1: of his kindness to him. Really, does it not strike
Speaker 1: you as a little singular that this McCarthy, who appears
Speaker 1: to have had little of his own, and to have
Speaker 1: been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of
Speaker 1: marrying his son to turn his daughter, who is presumably
Speaker 1: heiress to the estate, and that in such a very
Speaker 1: coture manner, as if it were merely a case of proposal,
Speaker 1: and all else would follow. It is the more strange
Speaker 1: since we know that Turner himself was averse to the idea.
Speaker 1: The daughter told us, as much, do you not deduce
Speaker 1: something from that? We have got to the deduces and
Speaker 1: the inferences, said Lestrade, winking at me. I find it
Speaker 1: hard enough to tackle facts, Holmes was out flying away
Speaker 1: after theories and fancies. You are right, said Holmes, demurely.
Speaker 1: You do find it very hard to tackle the facts. Anyhow,
Speaker 1: I have grasped one fact which you seem to find
Speaker 1: it difficult to get hold of, replied Lestrade with some warmth,
Speaker 1: and that is that McCarthy senior met his death from
Speaker 1: McCarthy junior, and that all theories still the contrary are
Speaker 1: the merest moonshine. Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog,
Speaker 1: said Holmes, laughing, But I am very much mistake. And
Speaker 1: if this is not Hatterly Farm upon the left, yes,
Speaker 1: that is it. It was a widespread, comfortable looking building,
Speaker 1: two storied, slate roofed, with great yellow blotches of lichen
Speaker 1: upon the gray walls. The drawn blinds and smokeless chimneys, however,
Speaker 1: gave it a stricken look, as though the weight of
Speaker 1: this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at
Speaker 1: the door, when the maid, at Holmes's request, showed us
Speaker 1: the boots which her master wore at the time of
Speaker 1: his death, and also a pair of the suns, though
Speaker 1: not the pair which he had then had. Having measured
Speaker 1: these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes
Speaker 1: desire to be led to the courtyard, from which we
Speaker 1: all followed the winding track which led to Boscombe pool
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot. Upon such
Speaker 1: ascent as this, men who had only known the quiet
Speaker 1: thinker and logician of Baker Street would have failed to
Speaker 1: recognize him. His face flushed and darkened. His brows were
Speaker 1: drawn into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone
Speaker 1: out from beneath them with a steely glitter. His face
Speaker 1: was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips compressed, and
Speaker 1: the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, sinewy neck.
Speaker 1: His nostril seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust
Speaker 1: for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated
Speaker 1: upon the matter before him that a question or remark
Speaker 1: fell unheeded upon his ears, or at the most only
Speaker 1: provoked a quick, impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently,
Speaker 1: he made his way along the track, which ran through
Speaker 1: the meadows, and so by way of the woods to
Speaker 1: the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is
Speaker 1: all that district, and there were marks of many feet,
Speaker 1: both upon the path and amid the short grass which
Speaker 1: bounded it on either side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on,
Speaker 1: sometimes stop dead, and once he made quite a little
Speaker 1: detour into the meadow Lestrade and I walked behind him,
Speaker 1: the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while I watched my friend
Speaker 1: with the interest which sprang from the conviction that every
Speaker 1: one of his actions was directed towards a definite end.
Speaker 1: The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed girt sheet
Speaker 1: of water some fifty yards across, is situated at the
Speaker 1: boundary between the Heatherley farm and the private park of
Speaker 1: the wealthy mister Turner, above the woods which lined it.
Speaker 1: Upon the farther side we could see the red jutting
Speaker 1: pinnacles which marked the site of the rich land owner's dwelling.
Speaker 1: On the heathery side of the pool, the woods grew
Speaker 1: very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden
Speaker 1: grass twenty paces across between the edge of the trees
Speaker 1: and the reeds which lined the lake. The strage showed
Speaker 1: us the exact spot at which the body had been found,
Speaker 1: and indeed, so moist was the ground that I could
Speaker 1: plainly see the traces which had been left by the
Speaker 1: fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could
Speaker 1: see by his eager face and peering eyes, very many
Speaker 1: other things were to be read upon the trampled grass.
Speaker 1: He ran round like a dog who was picking up
Speaker 1: a scent, and then turned upon my companion, What did
Speaker 1: you go into the pool for? He asked? I fished
Speaker 1: about with a rake. I thought there might be some
Speaker 1: weaponer traits. But how on earth, Oh, tut tut, I
Speaker 1: have no time. That left foot of yours with it
Speaker 1: inward twist is all over the place. A mole could
Speaker 1: trace it, and their advantishes among the wreaths. Oh, how
Speaker 1: simple it would have all been had I been here
Speaker 1: before they came like a herd of buffalo and wallowed
Speaker 1: all over it. Here is where the party with the
Speaker 1: lodge keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for
Speaker 1: six or eight feet round the body. But here are
Speaker 1: three separate tracks of the same feet. He drew out
Speaker 1: a lens and lay down upon his waterproof to have
Speaker 1: a better view, talking all the time rather to himself
Speaker 1: than to us. These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he
Speaker 1: was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the
Speaker 1: soles are deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That
Speaker 1: bears out his story. He ran when he saw his
Speaker 1: father on the ground. Then here are the father's feet
Speaker 1: as he paced up and down. What is this? Then?
Speaker 1: It is the butt end of the gun as the
Speaker 1: son stood listening in this Ha ha, what have we here?
Speaker 1: Tiptoes tiptoes square to quite unusual. Boots, they come, they go,
Speaker 1: they come again. Of course I was for the cloak.
Speaker 1: Now where did they come from? He ran up and down,
Speaker 1: sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track, until we were well
Speaker 1: within the edge of the wood and under the shadow
Speaker 1: of a great beach, the largest tree in the neighborhood.
Speaker 1: Holmes traced his way to the farther side of this
Speaker 1: and lay down once more, upon his face with a
Speaker 1: little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he remained there,
Speaker 1: turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering up what
Speaker 1: seemed to me to be dust into an envelope, and
Speaker 1: examining with his lens not only the ground, but even
Speaker 1: the bark of the tree. As far as he could reach.
Speaker 1: A jagged stone was lying among the moss, and this
Speaker 1: he also carefully examined and retained. Then he followed a
Speaker 1: pathway through the wood until he came to the high road,
Speaker 1: where all traces were lost. It has been a case
Speaker 1: of considerable interest, he remarked, returning to his natural manner.
Speaker 1: I fancy that this gray house on the right must
Speaker 1: be the lodge. I think that I will go in
Speaker 1: and have a word with Moran, and perhaps write a
Speaker 1: little note. Having done that, we may drive back to
Speaker 1: our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, and I
Speaker 1: shall be with you. Presently. It was about ten minutes
Speaker 1: before we've regained our cab and drove back into Ross
Speaker 1: Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he had
Speaker 1: picked up in the wood. This may interest you, lestrade,
Speaker 1: he remarked, holding it out. The murder was done with it.
Speaker 1: I see no marks, there are none. How do you know? Then?
Speaker 1: The grass was growing under it? It had only lain
Speaker 1: there a few days. There was no sign of a
Speaker 1: place whence it had been taken. It corresponds with the injuries.
Speaker 1: There is no sign of any other weapon, and the
Speaker 1: murderer is a tall man, left handed, limps with the
Speaker 1: right leg where its thick soled, shooting boots and a
Speaker 1: gray cloak. Smokes Indian cigars, uses a cigar holder, and
Speaker 1: clarries a blunt penknife in his pocket. There are several
Speaker 1: other indications, but these may be enough to aid us
Speaker 1: in our search. The Strade laughed, I am afraid that
Speaker 1: I am still a skeptic. He saides, are all very well,
Speaker 1: but we have to deal with a hard headed British jury.
Speaker 1: Nou vent, answered Holmes, calmly. You work your own method,
Speaker 1: and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon,
Speaker 1: and shall probably return to London by the evening train,
Speaker 1: and leave your case unfinished. No finished, But the mystery
Speaker 1: it is solved. Who is the criminal? Then the gentleman
Speaker 1: I describe? But who is he? Surely it would not
Speaker 1: be difficult to find out that this is not such
Speaker 1: a populous neighborhood. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. I am a
Speaker 1: practical man, he said, and I really cannot undertake to
Speaker 1: go about the country looking for a left handed gentleman
Speaker 1: with a game leg. I should become the laughing stock
Speaker 1: of Scotland. Yard all right, said Holmes quietly. I have
Speaker 1: given you the chance. Here are your lodgings. Good bye.
Speaker 1: I shall drop your line before I leave. Having left
Speaker 1: Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where
Speaker 1: we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and
Speaker 1: buried in thought, with a pain expression upon his face,
Speaker 1: as one who finds himself in a perplexing position. Look here, Watson,
Speaker 1: he said. When the cloth was cleared, just sit down
Speaker 1: in this chair and let me preach to you. For
Speaker 1: a little. I don't know quite what to do when
Speaker 1: I should value your advice. Light a cigar and let
Speaker 1: me expound. Pray do so well. Now, in considering this case,
Speaker 1: there are two points about young mac carthy's narrative which
Speaker 1: struck us both instantly, although they impressed me in his
Speaker 1: favor and you against him. One was the fact that
Speaker 1: his father should, according to his account, cry coui before
Speaker 1: seeing him. The other was his singular, dying reference to
Speaker 1: a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but that
Speaker 1: was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this
Speaker 1: double point, our research must commence, and we will begin
Speaker 1: it by presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true.
Speaker 1: What of this coui? Then, well, obviously it could not
Speaker 1: have been meant for the sun. The sun, as far
Speaker 1: as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance
Speaker 1: that he was within earshot. The coui was meant to
Speaker 1: attract the attention of whoever it was that he had
Speaker 1: the appointment with. But coui is a distinctly Australian cry,
Speaker 1: and one which is used between Australians. There is a
Speaker 1: strong presumption that the person whom MacCarthy expected to meet
Speaker 1: him at Boscombe Pool was someone who had been in Australia.
Speaker 1: What of the rat, then, Sherlock Holmes took a folded
Speaker 1: paper from his pocket and flattened it out on the table.
Speaker 1: This is a map of the colony of Victoria, he said,
Speaker 1: I wired to Bristol for it last night. He put
Speaker 1: his hand over part of the map. What do you read,
Speaker 1: A rat? I read, And now he raised his hand. Balarat.
Speaker 1: Quite so, that was the word the man uttered, and
Speaker 1: of which his son only caught the last two syllables.
Speaker 1: He was trying to utter the name of his murderer,
Speaker 1: so and so of Ballarat. It is wonderful, I exclaimed,
Speaker 1: it is obvious, And now you see I had narrowed
Speaker 1: the field down considerably. The possession of a gray garment
Speaker 1: was a third point, which, granting the Sun's statement to
Speaker 1: be correct, was a certainty. We have come now out
Speaker 1: of mere vagueness to the definite conception of an Australian
Speaker 1: from Ballarat with a gray cloak, certainly, and one who
Speaker 1: was at home in the district. For the pool can
Speaker 1: only be approached by the farm or by the estate,
Speaker 1: where strangers could hardly wander. Quite So then comes our
Speaker 1: expedition of to day. By an examination of the ground,
Speaker 1: I gained the trifling details which I gave to that
Speaker 1: imbecile astrade as to the personality of the criminal. But
Speaker 1: how did you gain them? You know my method? It
Speaker 1: is founded upon the observation of trifles. His height, I
Speaker 1: might know that you might roughly judge from the length
Speaker 1: of his stride. His boots, too might be told from
Speaker 1: their traces. Yes, they were peculiar boots. But his lameness,
Speaker 1: the impression of his right foot was always less distinct
Speaker 1: than his left. He put less weight upon it. Why
Speaker 1: because he limped he was lame. But his left handedness.
Speaker 1: You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury.
Speaker 1: As recorded by the surgeon at the inquest, the blow
Speaker 1: was struck from immediately behind it, yet was upon the
Speaker 1: left side. Now, how can that be unless it were
Speaker 1: by a left handed man. He had stood behind that
Speaker 1: tree during the interview between the father and son. He
Speaker 1: had even smoked. There. I found the ash of a cigar,
Speaker 1: which my special knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to
Speaker 1: pronounce as an Indian cigar. I have, as you know,
Speaker 1: devoted some attention to this and written a little monograph
Speaker 1: on the ashes of one hundred and forty different varieties
Speaker 1: of pipe cigar and cigarette tobacco. Having found the ash,
Speaker 1: I then looked round and discovered the stump among the
Speaker 1: moss where he had tossed it. It was an Indian
Speaker 1: cigar of the variety which are rolled in Rottendam, and
Speaker 1: the cigar holder I could see that the end had
Speaker 1: not been in his mouth, therefore he used to hold her.
Speaker 1: The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but
Speaker 1: the cut was not a clean one, so I deduced
Speaker 1: a blunt penknife. Holmes, I said, you have drawn a
Speaker 1: net round this man, from which he cannot escape, and
Speaker 1: you have saved an innocent human life, as truly as
Speaker 1: if you had cut the cord which was hanging him.
Speaker 1: I see the direction in which all this points the
Speaker 1: culprit is mister John Turner, cried the hotel waiter, opening
Speaker 1: the door of our sitting room and uttering in a visitor.
Speaker 1: The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure.
Speaker 1: His slow limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance
Speaker 1: of decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep lined, craggy features,
Speaker 1: and his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of
Speaker 1: unusual strength of body and of character. His tangled beard,
Speaker 1: grizzled hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an
Speaker 1: air of dignity and power to his appearance. But his
Speaker 1: face was of an ashen white, while his lips and
Speaker 1: the corners of his nostrils were tinged with a shade
Speaker 1: of blue. It was clear to me at a glance
Speaker 1: that he was in the grip of some deadly and
Speaker 1: chronic disease. Pray, sit down on the sofa, said Holmes gently.
Speaker 1: You had my note, Yes, the lodge keeper brought it up.
Speaker 1: You said that you wished to see me here to
Speaker 1: avoid scandal. I thought people would talk if I went
Speaker 1: to the hall. And why did you wish to see me?
Speaker 1: He looked across at my companion with despair in his
Speaker 1: weary eyes, as though his question was already answered. Yes,
Speaker 1: said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. It
Speaker 1: is so I know all about MacCarthy. The old man
Speaker 1: sank his face in his hands. God help me, he cried.
Speaker 1: But I would not have let the young man come
Speaker 1: to harm. I give you my word that I would
Speaker 1: have spoken out if it went again to him at
Speaker 1: the assizes. I am glad to hear you say so,
Speaker 1: said Holmes gravely. I would have spoken now had it
Speaker 1: not been for my dear girl. It would break her heart.
Speaker 1: It will break her heart when she hears that I
Speaker 1: am arrested. It may not come to that, said Holmes.
Speaker 1: What I am no official agent. I understand that it
Speaker 1: was your daughter who required my presence here, and I
Speaker 1: am acting in her interests. Young MacCarthy must be got off. However,
Speaker 1: I am a dying man, said old Turner. I have
Speaker 1: had diabetes for years. My doctor says it is a
Speaker 1: question whether I shall live a month. Yet I would
Speaker 1: rather die under my own roof than in a jail.
Speaker 1: Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his
Speaker 1: pen in his hand and a bundle of paper before him.
Speaker 1: Just tell us the truth, he said. I shall jot
Speaker 1: down the facts, you will sign it, and Watson here
Speaker 1: can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at
Speaker 1: the last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you
Speaker 1: that I shall not use it unless it is absolutely needed.
Speaker 1: It's as well, said the old man. It's a question
Speaker 1: whether I shall live to the assizes. So it matters
Speaker 1: little to me, but I should wish to spare Alice
Speaker 1: the shock. And now I will make the thing clear
Speaker 1: to you. It has been a long time in the acting,
Speaker 1: but it will not take me long to tell you
Speaker 1: didn't know this dead man McCarthy. He was a devil incarnate.
Speaker 1: I tell you that God keep you out of the
Speaker 1: clutches of such a man as he. His grip has
Speaker 1: been upon me these twenty years, and he has blasted
Speaker 1: my life. I'll tell you first how I came to
Speaker 1: be in his power. It was in the early sixties
Speaker 1: at the Diggings. I was a young chap then, hot
Speaker 1: blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at anything
Speaker 1: I got among bad companions. Took to drink, had no
Speaker 1: luck with my care, took to the bush, and a
Speaker 1: word became what you would call over here a highway rubber.
Speaker 1: There were six of us, and we had a wild,
Speaker 1: free life of it, sticking up a station from time
Speaker 1: to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to
Speaker 1: the Diggings. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I
Speaker 1: went under, and our party is still remembered in the
Speaker 1: colony as the Ballarat gang. One day a gold convoy
Speaker 1: came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and we lay in
Speaker 1: wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers
Speaker 1: and six of us, so it was a close thing,
Speaker 1: but we emptied four of their saddles. At the first volley,
Speaker 1: three of our boys were killed. However, before we got
Speaker 1: the swag, I put my pistol to the head of
Speaker 1: the wagon driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I
Speaker 1: wished to the Lord that I had shot him then,
Speaker 1: but I spared him, though I saw his wicked little
Speaker 1: eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every feature.
Speaker 1: We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and
Speaker 1: made our way over to England without being suspected. There
Speaker 1: I parted from my old pals and determined to settle
Speaker 1: down to a quiet and respectable life. I bought this estate,
Speaker 1: which chanced to be in the market, and I set
Speaker 1: myself to do a little good with my money to
Speaker 1: make up for the way in which I had earned it.
Speaker 1: I married, too, and though my wife died young, she
Speaker 1: left me my dear little Alice, even when she was
Speaker 1: just a baby. Her wee hand seemed to lead me
Speaker 1: down the right path, as nothing else had ever done.
Speaker 1: In a word, I turned over a new leaf and
Speaker 1: did my best to make up for the past. All
Speaker 1: was going well when MacCarthy laid his grip upon me.
Speaker 1: I had gone up to town about an investment, and
Speaker 1: I met him in Regent Street with hardly a coat
Speaker 1: to his back or a boot to his foot. Here
Speaker 1: we are, jack, says he, touching me on the arm.
Speaker 1: We'll be as good as a family to you. There's
Speaker 1: two of us, me and my son, and you can
Speaker 1: have the keeping of us if you don't. It's a fine,
Speaker 1: law abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman
Speaker 1: within hail well down. They came to the West Country.
Speaker 1: There was no shaking them off, and there they have
Speaker 1: lived rent free on my best land ever since. There
Speaker 1: was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness. Turned
Speaker 1: where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at
Speaker 1: my elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for
Speaker 1: he soon saw I was more afraid of her knowing
Speaker 1: my past than of the police. Whatever he wanted he
Speaker 1: must have, and whatever it was I gave him without question, land, money, houses,
Speaker 1: until at last he asked a thing which I could
Speaker 1: not give he asked for alice. His son, you see,
Speaker 1: had grown up, and so had my girl, and as
Speaker 1: I was known to be in weak health, it seemed
Speaker 1: to find stroke to him that his lad should step
Speaker 1: into the whole property. But there I was firm. I
Speaker 1: would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine. Not
Speaker 1: that I had any dislike to the lad, but his
Speaker 1: blood was in him, and that was enough. I stood firm.
Speaker 1: MacCarthy threatened, I braved him to do his worst. We
Speaker 1: were to meet at the pool midway between our houses
Speaker 1: to talk it over. When I went down there, I
Speaker 1: found him talking with his son. So I smoked a
Speaker 1: cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone.
Speaker 1: But as I listened to his talk, all that was
Speaker 1: black and bitter in me seemed to come uppermost. He
Speaker 1: was urging his son to marry my daughter, with his
Speaker 1: little regard for what she might think, as if she
Speaker 1: were a slut from off the streets. It drove me
Speaker 1: mad to think that I and all that I held
Speaker 1: most dear, should be in the power of such a
Speaker 1: man as this. Could I not snap the bond. I
Speaker 1: was already a dying and desperate man, though clear of
Speaker 1: mind and fairly strong of limb. I knew that my
Speaker 1: own fate was sealed, but my memory and my girl
Speaker 1: both could be saved if I could but silence that
Speaker 1: foul tongue. I did it, mister Holmes. I would do
Speaker 1: it again, deeply as I have sinned. I have led
Speaker 1: a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that
Speaker 1: my girl should be entangled in the same meshes which
Speaker 1: held me was more than I could suffer. I struck
Speaker 1: him down with no more compunction than if he had
Speaker 1: been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought back
Speaker 1: his son, but I had gained the cover of the wood,
Speaker 1: though I was forced to go back to fetch the
Speaker 1: cloak which I had dropped in my flight. That is
Speaker 1: the true story, gentlemen, of all that occurred. Well, it
Speaker 1: is not for me to judge, you, said Holmes, as
Speaker 1: the old man signed the statement which had been drawn out.
Speaker 1: I pray that we may never be exposed to such
Speaker 1: a temptation. I pray not, sir. And what do you
Speaker 1: intend to do in view of your health? Nothing. You
Speaker 1: are yourself aware that you will soon have to answer
Speaker 1: for your deed at a higher court than the Assizes.
Speaker 1: I will keep your confession, and if MacCarthy is condemned,
Speaker 1: I shall be forced to use it. If not, it
Speaker 1: shall never be seen by mortal eye. And your secret,
Speaker 1: whether you be alive or dead, shall be safe with us. Farewell, then,
Speaker 1: said the old man, solemnly. Your own death beds, when
Speaker 1: they come, will be the easier for the thought of
Speaker 1: the peace which you have given to mine. Tottering and
Speaker 1: shaking in all his giant frame, he stumbled slowly from
Speaker 1: the room. God help us, said Holmes, after a long silence.
Speaker 1: Why does fate play such tricks with poor helpless worms.
Speaker 1: I never hear of such a case as this that
Speaker 1: I do not think of Baxter's words and say, there
Speaker 1: but for the grace of God, go Sherlock Holmes. James
Speaker 1: McCarthy was a quick at the assizes on the strength
Speaker 1: of a number of objections which had been drawn out
Speaker 1: by Holmes and submitted to the defending council. Old Turner
Speaker 1: lived for seven months after our interview. But he is
Speaker 1: now dead, and there is every prospect that the son
Speaker 1: and daughter may come to live happily together in ignorance
Speaker 1: of the black cloud which rests upon their past.