1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,120 Speaker 1: The Five Orange Pips by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. When 2 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:07,559 I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlockombs 3 00:00:07,679 --> 00:00:10,800 cases between the years eighty two and ninety, I am 4 00:00:10,839 --> 00:00:14,199 faced by so many which present strange and interesting features 5 00:00:14,679 --> 00:00:16,920 that it is no easy matter to know which to 6 00:00:17,039 --> 00:00:20,879 choose and which to leave. Some, however, have already gained 7 00:00:20,879 --> 00:00:23,960 publicity through the papers, and others have not offered a 8 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,239 field for those peculiar qualities which my friend possessed in 9 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:29,600 so high a degree, and which it is the object 10 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,359 of these papers to illustrate. Some too, have baffled his 11 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:38,200 analytical skill, and would be as narratives beginnings without an ending, 12 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,799 while others have been but partially cleared up, and have 13 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,600 their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and surmise than on 14 00:00:45,719 --> 00:00:49,240 that absolute logical proof which were so dear to him. 15 00:00:50,039 --> 00:00:52,600 There is, however, one of these last, which was so 16 00:00:52,759 --> 00:00:56,119 remarkable in its details and so startling in its results, 17 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:58,479 that I am tempted to give some account of it, 18 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:00,799 in spite of the fact that there are points in 19 00:01:00,799 --> 00:01:03,280 connection with it which have never been and probably never 20 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:09,040 will be entirely cleared up. The year eighty seven furnished 21 00:01:09,079 --> 00:01:11,159 us with a long series of cases of greater or 22 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,120 less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my 23 00:01:15,159 --> 00:01:18,000 headings under this one twelve months, I find an account 24 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,560 of the adventures of the Paradol Chamber of the Amateur 25 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,000 Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower 26 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,400 vult of Furniture Warehouse, of the facts connected with the 27 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,719 loss of the British bark Sophie Anderson, of the singular 28 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,280 adventures of the Greis Pattersons in the island of Upha, 29 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,760 And finally of the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, 30 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,879 as may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding 31 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,359 up the dead's man's watch, to prove that it had 32 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,480 been wound up two hours before, and that therefore the 33 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:50,760 deceased had gone to bed within that time, a deduction 34 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,200 which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the case. 35 00:01:54,439 --> 00:01:57,120 All these I may sketch out at some future date, 36 00:01:57,799 --> 00:02:00,560 but none of them present such singular features as the 37 00:02:00,599 --> 00:02:03,920 strange strain of circumstances which had now taken up my 38 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:08,039 pen to describe. It was in the latter days of 39 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:12,360 September and the equinoctial gales had set in with exceptional violence. 40 00:02:13,199 --> 00:02:15,800 All day, the wind had screamed and the rain had 41 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,840 beaten against the windows, so that even here in the 42 00:02:18,879 --> 00:02:22,199 heart of grand hand made London, we were forced to 43 00:02:22,319 --> 00:02:24,840 raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life, 44 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,240 and to recognize the presence of those great elemental forces 45 00:02:28,439 --> 00:02:31,680 which shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilization, 46 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,639 like untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, 47 00:02:37,039 --> 00:02:40,520 the storm grew higher and louder, and the wind cried 48 00:02:40,599 --> 00:02:45,000 and sobbed like a child in the chimney. Sholockolms sat 49 00:02:45,039 --> 00:02:47,919 moodily at one side of the fireplace, cross indexing his 50 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,560 records of crime, while I at the other, was deep 51 00:02:51,599 --> 00:02:55,000 in one of Clark Russell's fine sea stories, until the 52 00:02:55,039 --> 00:02:57,039 howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with 53 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,759 the text, and the splash of the rain to lengthen 54 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,599 out into the long swash of the sea waves. My 55 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,000 wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for 56 00:03:06,039 --> 00:03:08,520 a few days I was a dweller once more in 57 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:13,840 my old quarters at Baker Street. Why said I, glancing 58 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,000 up at my companion, that was surely the bell who 59 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:21,800 could come to night some friend of yours, perhaps, except yourselves, 60 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,759 I have none, he answered, I do not encourage visitors 61 00:03:25,759 --> 00:03:29,240 a cland then if so it is a serious case. 62 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:30,960 Nothing less would bring a man out on such a 63 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,080 day and at such an hour. But I take it 64 00:03:33,159 --> 00:03:35,000 that it is more likely to be some crony of 65 00:03:35,039 --> 00:03:40,000 the landlady's Sherlock. Combs was wrong in his conjecture, however, 66 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,240 for there came a step in the passage, and a 67 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,520 tapping at the door. He stretched out his long arm 68 00:03:45,599 --> 00:03:47,639 to turn the lamp away from himself and towards the 69 00:03:47,719 --> 00:03:51,479 vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. Come in, 70 00:03:52,159 --> 00:03:56,080 said he. The man who entered was young, some two 71 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,120 and twenty at the outside, well groomed and trimly clad, 72 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:03,199 with something of refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The 73 00:04:03,199 --> 00:04:05,680 streaming umbrella which he held in his hand, and his 74 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,159 long shining waterproof told of the fierce weather through which 75 00:04:09,159 --> 00:04:12,599 he had come. He looked about him anxiously on the 76 00:04:12,599 --> 00:04:14,439 glare of the lamp, and I could see that his 77 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,759 face was pale, and his eyes heavy, like those of 78 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,439 a man who is weighed down with some great anxiety. 79 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:24,839 I owe you an apology, he said, raising his golden 80 00:04:24,879 --> 00:04:27,360 parson ney to his eyes. I trust that I am 81 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,800 not intruding. I fear that I have brought some traces 82 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,240 of the storm and rain into your snug chamber. Now 83 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:35,759 give me your coat and umbrella, said Holmes. They may 84 00:04:35,759 --> 00:04:37,560 rest here on the hook and will be dry. Presently. 85 00:04:38,399 --> 00:04:41,480 You have come up from the southwest. I see, yes, 86 00:04:41,519 --> 00:04:44,959 from Horsham. That clay and chalk mixture which I see 87 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,480 upon your toe caps is quite distinctive. I've come for advice, 88 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,079 and that is easy to God, and help that is 89 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,680 not always so easy. I have heard of you, mister Holmes. 90 00:04:57,199 --> 00:04:59,480 I heard from Major Prendergarst how you saved him in 91 00:04:59,519 --> 00:05:02,800 the tank of the club scandal, and of course he 92 00:05:02,879 --> 00:05:06,360 was wrongly accused of cheating at cards. He said that 93 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:10,040 you could solve anything. He said too much, that you 94 00:05:10,079 --> 00:05:13,600 are never beaten. I have been beaten four times, three 95 00:05:13,639 --> 00:05:16,720 times by men and once by a woman. But what 96 00:05:16,879 --> 00:05:20,040 is that compared with the number of your successes. It 97 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,439 is true that I have been generally successful. Then you 98 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,160 may be so with me. I beg that you will 99 00:05:26,199 --> 00:05:27,759 draw your chair up to the far and favor him 100 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,160 with some details as to your case. It is no 101 00:05:31,319 --> 00:05:33,920 ordinary one. None of those which come to me are. 102 00:05:34,399 --> 00:05:38,079 I am the last court of appeal. And yet I 103 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,319 question sir, whether, in all your experience you have ever 104 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,680 listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of events 105 00:05:43,879 --> 00:05:46,879 than those which have happened in my own family. Hm. 106 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,560 You fill me with interest, said Holmes. Pray, give us 107 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,000 your central facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards 108 00:05:52,079 --> 00:05:54,160 question you as to those details which seem to me 109 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:58,560 to be most important. The young man pulled up his 110 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,439 chair and pushed his way feet out towards the blaze. 111 00:06:03,319 --> 00:06:07,199 My name, said, he is John Openshaw. But my own 112 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,560 affairs have, as far as I can understand, little to 113 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,360 do with this awful business. It's an hereditary matter. So 114 00:06:13,439 --> 00:06:15,360 in order to give you any idea of the facts, 115 00:06:15,399 --> 00:06:17,560 I must go back to the commencement of the affair. 116 00:06:19,199 --> 00:06:22,560 You must know that my grandfather had two sons, my 117 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,560 uncle Elias and my father Joseph. My father had a 118 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,920 small factory at Coventry, which he enlarged at the time 119 00:06:28,959 --> 00:06:32,040 of the invention of bicycling. He was a patentee of 120 00:06:32,079 --> 00:06:35,560 the open Show Unbreakable tire, and his business met with 121 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,160 such success that he was able to sell it and 122 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:43,600 to retire upon a handsome competence. My uncle Elias emigrated 123 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:45,759 to America when he was a young man and became 124 00:06:45,879 --> 00:06:48,800 a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have 125 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:51,759 done very well. At the time of the war, he 126 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:55,160 fought in Jackson's army and afterwards under Hood, where he 127 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,279 rose to be a colonel. When Lee laid down his arms, 128 00:06:59,319 --> 00:07:01,920 my uncle returned and to his plantation, where he remained 129 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:06,040 for three or four years. About eighteen sixty nine or 130 00:07:06,079 --> 00:07:08,879 eighteen seventy he came back to Europe and took a 131 00:07:08,879 --> 00:07:12,600 small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. He had made a 132 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,360 very considerable fortune in the States, and his reason for 133 00:07:15,439 --> 00:07:18,439 leaving them was his aversion to the Negroes and his 134 00:07:18,519 --> 00:07:21,959 dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to them. 135 00:07:23,439 --> 00:07:26,720 He was a singular man, fierce and quick tempered, very 136 00:07:26,839 --> 00:07:29,480 foul mouthed when he was angry, and of a most 137 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:33,920 retiring disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, 138 00:07:34,319 --> 00:07:36,040 I doubt if he ever set foot in the town. 139 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:39,360 He had a garden and two or three fields round 140 00:07:39,399 --> 00:07:42,639 his house, and there he would take his exercise, though 141 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,040 very often for weeks on end he would never leave 142 00:07:45,079 --> 00:07:48,279 his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and 143 00:07:48,319 --> 00:07:51,480 smoked very heavily, but he would see no society and 144 00:07:51,519 --> 00:07:53,639 did not want any friends, not even his own brother. 145 00:07:55,399 --> 00:07:58,360 He didn't mind me, in fact, he took a fancy 146 00:07:58,399 --> 00:08:00,680 to me, for at the time when he saw me first, 147 00:08:00,759 --> 00:08:04,079 I was a youngster of twelve or so. This would 148 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:06,839 be the year eighteen seventy eight, after he had been 149 00:08:06,879 --> 00:08:10,360 eight or nine years in England. He begged my father 150 00:08:10,439 --> 00:08:12,680 to let me live with him, and he was very 151 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,800 kind to me in his way. When he was sober. 152 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,079 He used to be fond of playing black gammon and 153 00:08:18,199 --> 00:08:20,600 drafts with me, and he would make his representative both 154 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,319 with the servants and with the tradespeople, so that by 155 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:25,600 the time I was sixteen, I was quite master of 156 00:08:25,639 --> 00:08:28,959 the house. I kept all the keys, and he could 157 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,319 go where I liked and do what I liked, so 158 00:08:31,399 --> 00:08:33,639 long as I did not disturb in him his privacy. 159 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,080 There was one singular exception, however, for he had a 160 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,320 single room, a lumber room up among the attics, which 161 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,279 was invariably locked, and which he would never permit either 162 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,960 me or any one else to enter. With a boy's curiosity, 163 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,399 I had peeped through the keyhole, but I was never 164 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:54,240 able to see more than such a collection of old 165 00:08:54,279 --> 00:08:57,120 trunks and bundles as would be expected in such a room. 166 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:03,000 One day he was in March eighteen eighty three, a 167 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:05,399 letter with a foreign stamp lay upon the table in 168 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,799 front of the colonel's plate. It was not a common 169 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,399 thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were 170 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,000 all paid in ready money, and he had no friends 171 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,679 of any sort from India, said he. He took it up. 172 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:22,759 PONDI jerry postmark, what can this be? Opening it hurriedly, 173 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:28,440 out there jumped five little dried orange pips, which pattered 174 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:32,120 down upon his plate. I began to laugh at this, 175 00:09:32,799 --> 00:09:34,720 but the laugh was struck from my lips at the 176 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:37,960 sight of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes 177 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,759 were protruding, his skin the color of putty, and he 178 00:09:40,879 --> 00:09:43,720 glared the envelope, which he still held in his trembling hand. 179 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:48,559 Kay Kay, Kay, he shrieked. And then, my god, my god, 180 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:54,480 my sins have overtaken me. What is it? Uncle? I cried? Death, 181 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,320 said he, and rising from the table, he retired to 182 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:03,960 his room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up 183 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,360 the envelope and saw scrawled in red ink upon the 184 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,919 inner flap, just above the gum, the letter K three 185 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:15,720 times repeated. There was nothing else save the five dried pips. 186 00:10:16,399 --> 00:10:20,279 What could be the reason of his overpowering terror? I 187 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:22,799 left the breakfast table, and as I ascended the stair 188 00:10:22,879 --> 00:10:25,320 I met him coming down with an old, rusty key 189 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:28,159 which must have belonged to the attic in one hand, 190 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,080 and a small brass box like a cash box in 191 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,519 the other. They may do what they like, but I'll 192 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,200 check me them, still, said he, with an oath, tell 193 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:39,679 Mary that I shall want a fire in my room 194 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,080 to day and send down to Fordham the horseom lawyer. 195 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:46,720 I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived, 196 00:10:46,759 --> 00:10:50,080 I was asked to step up to the room. The 197 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:52,200 fire was burning brightly, and in the grate there was 198 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,480 a mass of black, fluffy ashes as of burnt paper, 199 00:10:56,159 --> 00:10:59,279 while the brass box stood open and emptied beside it. 200 00:11:00,919 --> 00:11:03,000 As I glanced at the box, I noticed with a 201 00:11:03,039 --> 00:11:05,799 start that upon the lid was printed the treble K, 202 00:11:06,399 --> 00:11:10,080 which I read in the morning upon the envelope. I 203 00:11:10,159 --> 00:11:12,840 wish you, John, said my uncle, to witness my will. 204 00:11:13,519 --> 00:11:15,759 I leave my state, with all its advantages and all 205 00:11:15,759 --> 00:11:19,000 its disadvantages, to my brother, your father. Whence it will 206 00:11:19,039 --> 00:11:21,039 no doubt descend it to you, if you can enjoy 207 00:11:21,039 --> 00:11:23,200 it in peace, well and good. If you find you 208 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:25,840 cannot take my advice, my boy, and leave it to 209 00:11:25,879 --> 00:11:29,240 your deadliest enemy, I am sorry to give you such 210 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,279 a two edged thing, but I can't say what turn 211 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:33,960 things are going to take. Kindest, sign the paper where 212 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:38,639 mister Fordham shows you. I signed the paper as directed, 213 00:11:38,799 --> 00:11:41,840 and the lawyer took it away with him. The singular 214 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:44,799 incident made, as you may think, the deepest impression upon me, 215 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:47,679 and I pondered over it and turned it every way 216 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:49,759 in my mind, without being able to make anything of it. 217 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,120 Yet I could not shake off the vague feeling of 218 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:56,960 dread which it left behind. Though the sensation grew less 219 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,519 keen as the weeks passed, and nothing happened to disturb 220 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:04,240 the usual routine of our lives. I could see a 221 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,240 change of my uncle. However, he drank more than ever, 222 00:12:07,279 --> 00:12:09,559 and he was less inclined for any sort of society 223 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,039 most of his time he would spend in his room 224 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,559 with the door locked upon the inside. But sometimes he 225 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,480 would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy, and would 226 00:12:18,519 --> 00:12:20,759 burst out of the house and tear about the garden 227 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,360 with a revolver in his hand, screaming out that he 228 00:12:23,399 --> 00:12:25,320 was afraid of no man, and that he was not 229 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:26,919 to be cooped up like a sheep in a pen 230 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:32,080 by man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, 231 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:35,480 he would rush tumultuously in at the door, and lock 232 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:37,960 and bar it behind him, like a man who can 233 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,519 brace it out no longer against the terror which lies 234 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:44,000 at the roots of his soul. At such times I 235 00:12:44,039 --> 00:12:46,639 have seen his face, even on a cold day, glisten 236 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,679 with moisture, as though it were new raised from a basin. 237 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:53,440 While to come to an end of the matter, mister Holmes, 238 00:12:53,519 --> 00:12:56,159 and not to abuse your patience, there came a knight 239 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,480 when he made one of those drunken sallies from which 240 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:02,000 he never came back. We found him when we went 241 00:13:02,159 --> 00:13:05,080 to search for him, face downward in a little green, 242 00:13:05,159 --> 00:13:07,600 scummed pool which lay at the foot of the garden. 243 00:13:08,799 --> 00:13:10,879 There was no sign of any violence, and the water 244 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,279 was but two feet deep, so that the jury, having 245 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:19,039 regard to his known eccentricity, brought in a verdict of suicide. 246 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:22,399 But I, who knew how he winced from the very 247 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,399 thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself that 248 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:26,919 he had gone out of his way to meet it. 249 00:13:28,639 --> 00:13:31,639 The matter passed, however, and my father entered into possession 250 00:13:31,639 --> 00:13:35,679 of the estate and of some fourteen thousand pounds which 251 00:13:35,759 --> 00:13:39,080 lay to his credit at the bank. At one moment 252 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:42,039 Elmes interposed, your statement is I foresee, one of the 253 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,759 most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me 254 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:46,679 have the date of the reception by your uncle of 255 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:50,799 the letter and the date of his supposed suicide. The 256 00:13:50,879 --> 00:13:54,320 letter arrived on March tenth, eighteen eighty three. His death 257 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,679 was seven weeks later, upon the night of May. The 258 00:13:56,759 --> 00:14:02,440 second thank you pray proceed. When my father took over 259 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,639 the Harsham property, he, at my request made a careful 260 00:14:05,639 --> 00:14:08,279 examination of the attic, which had always been locked up. 261 00:14:09,399 --> 00:14:12,799 We found the brass box there, although its contents had 262 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,919 been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a 263 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:21,000 paper label with the initials of K K K repeated 264 00:14:21,039 --> 00:14:26,480 upon it, and letters memoranda receipts, and a register written 265 00:14:26,519 --> 00:14:30,559 beneath these, we presume indicated the nature of the papers 266 00:14:30,559 --> 00:14:33,639 which had been destroyed by Colonel Openshore. For the rest, 267 00:14:33,919 --> 00:14:36,000 there was nothing of much importance in the attic, save 268 00:14:36,039 --> 00:14:39,000 a great many scattered papers and note books bearing upon 269 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,399 my uncle's life in America. Some of them were of 270 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:44,639 the wartime and showed that he had done his duty 271 00:14:44,639 --> 00:14:47,600 well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. 272 00:14:48,639 --> 00:14:50,639 Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the 273 00:14:50,679 --> 00:14:53,639 Southern States, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he 274 00:14:53,679 --> 00:14:56,759 had evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet 275 00:14:56,799 --> 00:15:02,360 bag politicians who been sent down from the North Well. 276 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,360 It was the beginning of eighty four when my father 277 00:15:04,399 --> 00:15:06,639 came to live at Horsham, and all went as well 278 00:15:06,679 --> 00:15:09,080 as possible with us until the January of eighty five. 279 00:15:10,559 --> 00:15:12,559 On the fourth day after the new year, I heard 280 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,320 my father give a sharp cry of surprise as we 281 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:19,000 sat together at the breakfast table. There he was sitting 282 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,600 with a newly opened envelope in one hand and five 283 00:15:22,799 --> 00:15:25,679 dried orange pips in the outstretched palm of the other. 284 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:28,879 He had always laughed at what he called my cock 285 00:15:28,919 --> 00:15:31,639 and bull story about the colonel. But he looked very 286 00:15:31,679 --> 00:15:34,360 scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come 287 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:38,919 upon himself. Why what, what on earth does this mean? John, 288 00:15:39,159 --> 00:15:43,799 he stammered, My heart had turned to lead. It is 289 00:15:44,039 --> 00:15:48,240 K K K, said I. He looked inside the envelope. 290 00:15:48,799 --> 00:15:51,000 So it is, he cried. Here are the very letters, 291 00:15:51,039 --> 00:15:54,399 But but what is this written above them? Put the 292 00:15:54,559 --> 00:15:58,519 papers on the sun dial, I read, peeping over his shoulder. 293 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,559 What papers want sundial, he asked, the sundale and the garden. 294 00:16:03,559 --> 00:16:05,879 There is no other, said I. But the papers must 295 00:16:05,879 --> 00:16:10,559 be those that are destroyed. Uh, said he, gripping hard 296 00:16:10,559 --> 00:16:13,080 at his courage. We are in a civilized land here, 297 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,039 and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. Where does 298 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:20,519 the thing come from from? Dundee, I answered, glancing at 299 00:16:20,559 --> 00:16:24,519 the postmark. Some preposterous practical joke, said he. What have 300 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:26,360 I to do with sun dials and papers? I should 301 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,279 take no notice of such nonsense. I should certainly speak 302 00:16:30,279 --> 00:16:33,159 to the police, I said, and be laughed up for 303 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,600 my pains. Nothing of the sort, then let me do so. No, 304 00:16:37,799 --> 00:16:39,759 I forbid you. You won't have a fuss made about 305 00:16:39,759 --> 00:16:43,759 such nonsense. It was in vain to argue with him, 306 00:16:43,759 --> 00:16:46,840 for he was a very obstinate man. I went about, however, 307 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:51,080 with a heart which was full of forebodings. On the 308 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:52,879 third day after the coming of the latter, my father 309 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:54,759 went from home to visit an old friend of his, 310 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:57,440 Major Freebody, who is in command of one of the 311 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,559 forts upon portsdown Hill. I was glad that he should go, 312 00:17:01,639 --> 00:17:03,440 for it seemed to me that he was farther from 313 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,240 danger when he was away from home. In that, however, 314 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:11,400 I was in error. Upon the second day of his absence, 315 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,640 I received a telegram from the Major imploring me to 316 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,720 come at once. My father had fallen over one of 317 00:17:16,759 --> 00:17:18,920 the deep chalk pits which are bound in the neighborhood, 318 00:17:19,039 --> 00:17:22,599 and was lying senseless with a shattered skul. I hurried 319 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,720 to him, but he passed away without ever having recovered 320 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:30,039 his consciousness. He had, as he appeared, been returning from 321 00:17:30,079 --> 00:17:32,680 Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown 322 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,799 to him and the chalk pit unfenced, the jury had 323 00:17:35,799 --> 00:17:41,759 no hesitation in bringing a verdict of death from accidental causes. Carefully, 324 00:17:41,759 --> 00:17:44,799 as I examined every fact connected with his death, I 325 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:46,920 was unable to find anything which could suggest to the 326 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:49,839 idea of murder. There was no signs of violence, no footmarks, 327 00:17:49,839 --> 00:17:52,640 no robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon 328 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:56,279 the roads. And yet I need not tell you that 329 00:17:56,319 --> 00:17:58,680 my mind was far from at ease, and that I 330 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,720 was well nigh certain that some foul plot had been 331 00:18:01,759 --> 00:18:07,599 woven round him. In this sinister way I came into 332 00:18:07,599 --> 00:18:10,839 my inheritance. You will ask me why I did not 333 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:14,599 dispose of it. I answer because I was well convinced 334 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,960 that our troubles were in some way depended upon an 335 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,799 instant in my uncle's life, and that the danger would 336 00:18:19,799 --> 00:18:24,279 be as pressing in one house as in another. It 337 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:26,480 was in January eighty five that my poor father met 338 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,880 his end, and two years and eight months have elapsed 339 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:34,160 since then. During that time I have lived happily at Horsham. 340 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:35,839 When I have begun to hope that this curse had 341 00:18:35,839 --> 00:18:38,000 passed away from the family, and that it had ended 342 00:18:38,039 --> 00:18:42,799 with the last generation, I begun to take comfort too soon. However, 343 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,799 yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in 344 00:18:46,839 --> 00:18:51,279 which it had come upon my father. The young man 345 00:18:51,319 --> 00:18:53,839 took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and turning to 346 00:18:53,839 --> 00:18:57,400 the table, he shook out upon it five little dried 347 00:18:57,599 --> 00:19:02,160 orange pips. This is the envelope. He continued to the 348 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,880 post markets in London Eastern Division, within the very words 349 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,400 which are upon my father's last message, k k ky, 350 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:13,240 and then put the papers on the sun dial. What 351 00:19:13,319 --> 00:19:19,839 have you done, asked Holmes. Nothing, nothing to tell the truth. 352 00:19:20,559 --> 00:19:23,839 He sank his face into his thin white hands. I 353 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,599 have felt helpless. I felt like one of those poor 354 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,640 rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem 355 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,759 to be in the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil 356 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:36,839 which no foresight and no precautions can guard against. Oh, 357 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:39,240 tut tut, cried Sherlock. Holmbs you must act, man, or 358 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,400 you are lost. Nothing but energy can save you. There 359 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:45,759 is no time for despair. I have seen the police. Ah, 360 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,880 they listened to my story with a smile. I am 361 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,119 convinced that the inspector has formed the opinion that the 362 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,440 letters are all practical jokes, and that the deaths of 363 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,200 my relations were really accidents, as a jury stated, and 364 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:01,279 were not to be connected with the warnings. Holmes shook 365 00:20:01,319 --> 00:20:05,359 his clenched hands in the air. Incredible imbecility, he cried. 366 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,079 They have, however, allowed me a policeman who may remain 367 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:11,599 in the house with me. Has he come with you 368 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,319 to night? No? His orders were to stay in the 369 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:19,079 house again, Holmes raved in the air. Why did you 370 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:21,000 come to me, he cried in a bubble. Why did 371 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,519 you not come at once? I did not know. It 372 00:20:25,559 --> 00:20:27,680 was only to day that I spoke to Major Prendergast 373 00:20:27,759 --> 00:20:30,119 about my troubles, and was advised by him to come 374 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:33,279 to you. It is really two days since you had 375 00:20:33,279 --> 00:20:35,680 the letter. We should have acted upon this. You have 376 00:20:35,799 --> 00:20:38,319 no further evidence, I suppose, than that which you have 377 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,960 placed before us, no suggestive detail which might help us. 378 00:20:42,799 --> 00:20:46,920 There is one thing, said John Openshaw. He rummaged in 379 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,839 his coat pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discolored 380 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:53,519 blue tinted paper, he laid it upon the table. I 381 00:20:53,559 --> 00:20:56,359 have some remembrance, said he, that on the day when 382 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,640 my uncle burned the papers, I observed that the small, 383 00:20:59,759 --> 00:21:02,640 un burned margins which lay amid the ashes were of 384 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,480 this particular color. I found this single sheet upon the 385 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:08,720 floor of his room, and I am inclined to think 386 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:10,240 that it may be one of the papers which had 387 00:21:10,319 --> 00:21:12,799 perhaps fluttered out from among the others, and in that 388 00:21:12,839 --> 00:21:16,880 way has escaped destruction. Beyond the mention of pips, I 389 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,359 do not see that it helps us much. I think 390 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,119 myself that it is a page from some private dary, 391 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:27,119 that the writing is undoubtly my uncle's. Holmes moved the 392 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,559 lamp and we both bent over the sheet of paper, 393 00:21:29,599 --> 00:21:32,319 which showed by its rugged edge that it had indeed 394 00:21:32,319 --> 00:21:36,240 been torn from a book. It was headed March eighteen 395 00:21:36,319 --> 00:21:41,880 sixty nine, and beneath with the following enigmatical notices. Fourth 396 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:48,759 Hudson came same old platform. Seventh set the pips on Macaulay, Paramore, 397 00:21:48,799 --> 00:21:55,079 and John Swain as Saint p Augustin. Ninth. McCauley cleared tenth, 398 00:21:55,759 --> 00:22:03,079 John Swain clad twelfth visited Paramore. Or well, thank you, 399 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,480 said Holmes, fulling off the paper and returning to our visitor. 400 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,200 And now you must, on no ac count, lose another instant. 401 00:22:09,319 --> 00:22:11,799 We cannot spare time even to discuss what you've told me. 402 00:22:12,079 --> 00:22:16,359 You must get home instantly and act what shall I do? 403 00:22:16,799 --> 00:22:18,119 And there is but one thing to do. You must 404 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:19,880 be done at once. You must put this piece of 405 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,079 paper which you've shown us into the brass box which 406 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,480 you've described. You must also put in it a note 407 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,119 to say that all the other papers are burned by 408 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:28,799 your uncle, and that this is the only one which remains. 409 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:31,640 You must assert that in such words as will carry 410 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,119 conviction with them. Having done this, you must at once 411 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,000 put the boss out upon the sundal as directed. Do 412 00:22:37,039 --> 00:22:42,279 you understand entirely? Do not think of revenge or anything 413 00:22:42,319 --> 00:22:44,599 of the sort at present. I think that we may 414 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,519 gain that by means of the law. But we have 415 00:22:46,599 --> 00:22:48,759 our web but to weave while theirs is already woven. 416 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,440 The first consideration is to remove the pressing danger which 417 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:55,519 threatens you. The second is to clear up the mystery 418 00:22:55,839 --> 00:23:00,559 and to punish the guilty parties. I thank you, said 419 00:23:00,559 --> 00:23:03,240 the young man, rising and pulling on his overcoat. You 420 00:23:03,279 --> 00:23:06,240 have given me fresh life and hope. I shall certainly 421 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,519 do as you advise, do not lose an instant, and 422 00:23:09,559 --> 00:23:11,640 above all take care of yourself in the meanwhile, For 423 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:13,000 I do not think that there can be a doubt 424 00:23:13,039 --> 00:23:16,240 that you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. 425 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:20,480 How do you go back by train from Waterloo? It 426 00:23:20,559 --> 00:23:22,359 is not yet nine. The streets will be cried in 427 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,400 so I trust that you may be in safety, and 428 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:28,400 yet you cannot guard yourself too closely. I am armed. 429 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:31,240 That is well, to morrow I shall set to work 430 00:23:31,319 --> 00:23:34,559 upon your case. I shall see you at Horsham. Then, 431 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:36,920 now know you your secret lies in London. It is 432 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:40,240 there that I shall seek it. Then I shall call 433 00:23:40,319 --> 00:23:42,160 upon you in a day, or or in two days, 434 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,000 with news as to the box and the papers. I 435 00:23:44,039 --> 00:23:48,160 shall take your advice in every particular. He shook hands 436 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:52,240 with us and took his leave. Outside, the wind still screamed, 437 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:56,680 and the rain splashed and pattered against the windows. This strange, 438 00:23:56,839 --> 00:23:59,039 wild story seemed to have come to us from amid 439 00:23:59,039 --> 00:24:01,480 the mad elements, blown in upon us like a sheet 440 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:04,160 of seaweed in a gale, and now to have been 441 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:09,880 reabsorbed by them once more. Shelock Holmes sat for some 442 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,079 time in silence, with his head sunk forward and his 443 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,880 eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then 444 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,319 he lit his pipe, and, leaning back in his chair, 445 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,759 he watched the blue smoke rings as they chased each 446 00:24:21,759 --> 00:24:26,079 other up to the ceiling. I think Watson. He remarked 447 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:28,519 at last, that of all our cases we have had 448 00:24:28,599 --> 00:24:34,640 none more fantastic than this, save perhaps the sign of four. Well, yes, 449 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,279 save perhaps that. And yet this John Openshaw seems to 450 00:24:38,279 --> 00:24:40,519 me to be walking amid even greater perils than did 451 00:24:40,519 --> 00:24:44,200 the Shoulters. But but have you, i asked, formed any 452 00:24:44,319 --> 00:24:47,559 definite conception as to what these perils are? Oh, there 453 00:24:47,559 --> 00:24:49,720 can be no question as to their nature? He answered, 454 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,319 Then what are they? Who is this K K K? 455 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:59,119 And why does he pursue this unhappy family? Shelock Holmes 456 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,400 closed his eyes and place his elbows upon the arm 457 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:05,839 of his chair, with his fingertips together. The ideal reasoner, 458 00:25:06,039 --> 00:25:08,680 he remarked, would, when he had once been shown a 459 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,559 single fact in all its bearings, to deduce from it 460 00:25:11,799 --> 00:25:14,079 not only all the chain of events which led up 461 00:25:14,079 --> 00:25:16,519 to it, but also all of the results which would 462 00:25:16,559 --> 00:25:20,599 follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole 463 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:23,519 animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the 464 00:25:23,559 --> 00:25:26,359 observer who has thoroughly understood one link in a series 465 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,400 of incidents should be able to accurately state all the 466 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,160 other ones, both before and after. We have not yet 467 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,880 grasped the results which the reason alone can attaind to. 468 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:39,000 Problems may be solved in the study which have baffled 469 00:25:39,039 --> 00:25:41,240 all those which a sort a solution by the aid 470 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:44,799 of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its 471 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,519 highest pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be 472 00:25:47,559 --> 00:25:50,119 able to utilize all the facts which have come to 473 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,559 his knowledge. And this in itself implies, as you will 474 00:25:53,599 --> 00:25:56,880 readily see, a possession of all knowledge, which, even in 475 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,400 these days of free education and encyclopedias, is a somewhat 476 00:26:00,519 --> 00:26:04,920 rare accomplishment. It is not so impossible, however, that a 477 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,200 man should possess all knowledge which is likely to be 478 00:26:07,279 --> 00:26:10,039 useful to him in his work. And this I have 479 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:14,160 endeavored in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you, 480 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:16,440 on one occasion in the early days of our friendship, 481 00:26:16,759 --> 00:26:22,039 defined my limits in a very precise fashion. Yes, I answered, laughing. 482 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,640 It was a singular document philosophy, astronomy, and politics from 483 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:31,279 March to zero. I remember botany variable geology profound as 484 00:26:31,319 --> 00:26:33,839 regards the Munstain's any region within fifty miles of time. 485 00:26:34,799 --> 00:26:41,400 Chemistry is centric, anatomy, unsystematic, sensational literature and crime records 486 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:47,960 unique value player, boxer, swordsman, a lawyer and self poisoner 487 00:26:48,039 --> 00:26:51,440 by cocaine and tobacco. Those I think were the main 488 00:26:51,519 --> 00:26:57,400 points of my analysis. Helms grinned at the last item. Well, 489 00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:59,480 he said, I say now, as I said then, that 490 00:26:59,519 --> 00:27:01,480 a man should keep his little brain at it, stocked 491 00:27:01,519 --> 00:27:03,519 with all the furniture that he is likely to use, 492 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,079 and the rest he can put away in the lumber 493 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,160 room of his library, where he can get it if 494 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,960 he wants it. Now, for such a case as the 495 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,000 one which has been submitted to us tonight, we need 496 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,720 certainly to muster all our resources. Kindly hand me down 497 00:27:16,759 --> 00:27:19,759 the letter K of the American Encyclopedia, which stands upon 498 00:27:19,799 --> 00:27:23,559 the self shelf beside you. Thank you. Now, let us 499 00:27:23,599 --> 00:27:27,000 consider the situation and see what may be deduced from it. 500 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:30,559 In the first place, we may start with a strong 501 00:27:30,599 --> 00:27:34,400 presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for 502 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,480 leaving America. Men at his time of life do not 503 00:27:38,759 --> 00:27:42,079 change all their habits and exchange willingly the charming climate 504 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:45,240 of Florida for the lonely life of an English provincial town. 505 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,119 His extreme love of solitude in England suggests the idea 506 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,160 that he was in fear of someone or something. So 507 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:54,599 we may assume, as a working hypothesis that it was 508 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,039 fear of someone or something which drove him from America. 509 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,759 As to what it was he feared, we can introduce 510 00:28:00,839 --> 00:28:03,640 that by that by considering the formidable letters which were 511 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,880 received by himself and his successor. Did you remark the 512 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:12,279 postmarks of those letters? The first was from Pondicherry, the 513 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:16,039 second from Dundee, and the third from London, from East London? 514 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:21,079 What did it use from that? They're all seaports. That 515 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,960 the writer was on boarder ship. Excellent, We have already 516 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,920 a clue. There can be no doubt that the probabability, 517 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,400 that the strong probability, is that the writer was on 518 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:33,839 board a ship. And now that it is, consider another point. 519 00:28:34,279 --> 00:28:37,440 In the case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapse between the 520 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,599 threat and its fulfillment. In Dundee it was only some 521 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:45,680 three or four days. Does that suggest anything a greater 522 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,000 distance to travel? But the letter had also a greater 523 00:28:49,039 --> 00:28:51,839 distance to come. Then I do not see the point 524 00:28:52,799 --> 00:28:55,400 there at least a presumption that the vessel in which 525 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,599 the man or men are is a sailing ship. It 526 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,160 looks as that they always sent their singular warnings or 527 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:04,559 token before them when starting upon their mission. You see 528 00:29:04,599 --> 00:29:06,559 how quickly the deed followed the sign when it came 529 00:29:06,559 --> 00:29:10,240 from Dundee. If they come from Pontichery in a steamer, 530 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:12,640 they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. 531 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,599 But as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I 532 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,359 think that those seven weeks represented the difference between the 533 00:29:19,359 --> 00:29:22,160 mail boat which brought the letter and the sailing vessel 534 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:26,480 which brought the writer. It is possible, more than that, 535 00:29:26,559 --> 00:29:29,960 it is probable. And now you see the deadly urgency 536 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:32,119 of this new case. And why I urged Young Openshort 537 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,920 to caution that blow has already fallen at the end 538 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:36,559 of the time when it should have take the centers 539 00:29:36,559 --> 00:29:39,519 to travel the distance. But this one comes from London, 540 00:29:39,559 --> 00:29:43,920 and therefore we cannot count upon delay. God, I cried, 541 00:29:44,119 --> 00:29:48,880 what can it mean? This relentless persecution. The papers which 542 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:52,119 open Shore carried are obviously of vital importance to the 543 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,759 person or persons in the sailing ship. I think that 544 00:29:55,799 --> 00:29:57,759 it is quite clear that there must be more than 545 00:29:57,799 --> 00:30:00,440 one of them. A single man could not have carried 546 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:02,319 out two deaths in such a way as to deceive 547 00:30:02,359 --> 00:30:05,079 a condoner's jury. There must have been several in it, 548 00:30:05,359 --> 00:30:08,079 and there must have been men of resource and determination 549 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,000 their papers. They mean to have to be the old 550 00:30:11,039 --> 00:30:13,759 holder of them who it may. In this way you 551 00:30:13,839 --> 00:30:16,440 see k k kay ceases to be the initials of 552 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:20,960 an individual and becomes the badge of a society. But 553 00:30:21,119 --> 00:30:25,519 of what society? Have you never, said, shlock Colmbs, bending 554 00:30:25,519 --> 00:30:28,960 forward and singing his voice. Have you never heard of 555 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:34,839 the ku Klux clan? I? Never have Holmes turned over 556 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:37,200 the leaves of the book upon his knee. Here it 557 00:30:37,279 --> 00:30:41,200 is said he presently ku Klux Klan, A name derived 558 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,279 from the fanciful resemblance to the sand produced by cocking 559 00:30:44,279 --> 00:30:47,480 a rifle. This terrible secret society was formed by some 560 00:30:47,559 --> 00:30:50,480 ex Confederate soldiers in the Southern States after the Civil War, 561 00:30:50,799 --> 00:30:53,279 and it rapidly formed local branches in different parts of 562 00:30:53,279 --> 00:30:57,680 the country, notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, that Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. 563 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,480 Its power was used for political purposes, principally for the 564 00:31:01,599 --> 00:31:05,000 terrorizing of the Negro voters and the murdering and driving 565 00:31:05,079 --> 00:31:07,519 for the country of those who were opposed to its views. 566 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,759 Its outrages were used to preceeded by a warning sent 567 00:31:10,839 --> 00:31:14,200 to the marked man in some fantastic but generally recognized 568 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:18,039 shape a sprig of oak leaves in some parts, melon seeds, 569 00:31:18,119 --> 00:31:21,880 or orange pips in others. On receiving this, the victim 570 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:25,200 might either openly abjure his former ways, or might fly 571 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:28,200 from the country. If he braved the matter out, death 572 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,319 would unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange 573 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:35,759 and unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organization of the society, 574 00:31:35,799 --> 00:31:38,440 and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a 575 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,079 case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it 576 00:31:41,119 --> 00:31:44,160 with impunity, on which any of its outrages were traced 577 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:47,920 home to the perpetrators. For some years the organization flourished, 578 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:49,839 in spite of the efforts of the United States government 579 00:31:50,279 --> 00:31:53,839 and of the better classes of the community in the South. Eventually, 580 00:31:54,079 --> 00:31:57,240 in the year eighteen sixty nine, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, 581 00:31:57,599 --> 00:32:00,480 although there have been sporadic outbreaks of the same sought 582 00:32:00,599 --> 00:32:05,799 since that date. You'll observe, said Holmes, laying down the volume, 583 00:32:06,119 --> 00:32:08,759 that the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident 584 00:32:08,839 --> 00:32:12,000 with the disappearance of open Share from America with their papers. 585 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:14,759 It may well have been cause and effect. It is 586 00:32:14,799 --> 00:32:16,279 no wonder that Tea in his family have some of 587 00:32:16,319 --> 00:32:19,960 the more implacable spirits upon their track. You can understand 588 00:32:20,119 --> 00:32:23,000 that this register and diary may implicate some of the 589 00:32:23,039 --> 00:32:25,160 first men in the South, and that there may be 590 00:32:25,279 --> 00:32:27,680 many who will not sleep easy at night until it 591 00:32:27,759 --> 00:32:32,400 is recovered. Then the page we have seen is such 592 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:34,640 as we might expect. It ran as if I remember right, 593 00:32:35,119 --> 00:32:37,799 sent the pips to A, B and C, that is, 594 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,759 sent the society's worn into them. Then there are successive 595 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,680 entries that A and B cleared all left the country, 596 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,240 and finding that C was visited with I fear a 597 00:32:48,359 --> 00:32:51,799 sinister result for C. Well, I think, doctor, that we 598 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:53,960 may let some light into this dark place. And I 599 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,640 believe that the only chance young Openshaw has in the 600 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:00,160 meantime is to do what I have told him. As 601 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:01,640 nothing more to be said or to be done to night. 602 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:04,200 So hand me over my violin, and let us try 603 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:06,680 to forget for half an hour the miserable weather and 604 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:12,000 the still more miserable ways of our fellow men. It 605 00:33:12,039 --> 00:33:14,680 had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining 606 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:17,440 with a subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs 607 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,279 over the great city. Sherlock Holmes was already a breakfast 608 00:33:21,319 --> 00:33:24,000 when I came down. You will excuse me for not 609 00:33:24,039 --> 00:33:26,759 waiting for you, said he. I have, I foresee a 610 00:33:26,799 --> 00:33:28,759 very busy day before me and looking into this case 611 00:33:28,759 --> 00:33:32,240 of the young open shores. Or what steps would you take? 612 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,599 I asked? It will very much depend upon the results 613 00:33:35,599 --> 00:33:38,359 of my first inquiries. I may have to go down 614 00:33:38,359 --> 00:33:42,680 to Halsham. After all, you will not go down there first, No, 615 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,119 I I shall commence with the city. Just ring the 616 00:33:45,119 --> 00:33:47,039 bell and the maid will bring you up your coffee. 617 00:33:48,799 --> 00:33:51,559 As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the 618 00:33:51,599 --> 00:33:55,880 table and glanced my eye over it. It rested upon 619 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,279 a heading which sent a chill to my heart. Holmes, 620 00:33:58,279 --> 00:34:01,480 I cried, you are too late, ah, said he, laying 621 00:34:01,519 --> 00:34:04,160 down his cup. I fear as much. How is it done? 622 00:34:05,519 --> 00:34:07,319 He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was 623 00:34:07,359 --> 00:34:11,119 deeply moved. My eye caught the name of Openshaw on 624 00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:15,519 the heading tragedy near Waterloo Bridge. Here is the account 625 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:19,000 between nine and ten last night, Pieceuch Consctible cook of 626 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,960 the h Division on duty near Waterloobridge, had a cry 627 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,920 for help and a splash in the water. The night, however, 628 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,119 was extremely dark and stormy, so that, in spite of 629 00:34:27,119 --> 00:34:29,280 the help of several passers by, was quite impossible to 630 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,840 effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was given, and by 631 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,199 the aid of the water police, the body was eventually recovered. 632 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:37,840 It proved to be that of a young gentleman, whose name, 633 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:39,800 as it appears from an envelope which was found in 634 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:43,360 his pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. 635 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:46,159 It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down 636 00:34:46,199 --> 00:34:49,000 to catch the last train from Waterloo station, and that 637 00:34:49,079 --> 00:34:51,440 in his haste and the extreme darkness, he missed his 638 00:34:51,559 --> 00:34:53,679 path and walked over the edge of one of the 639 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:57,400 small landing places for river steamboats. The body exhibited no 640 00:34:57,559 --> 00:34:59,760 traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that 641 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:02,800 the to have been the victim of an unfortunate accident, 642 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:05,199 which should have the effect of calling the attention of 643 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:07,960 the authorities to the condition of the riverside landing stages. 644 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:13,960 We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed 645 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,400 and shaken than I have ever seen him. That hurts 646 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:20,280 my pride, Watson, he said, at last, It is a 647 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:22,679 petty feeding, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It 648 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,280 becomes a personal matter with me now, and and if 649 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:27,280 God sends me health, I shall set my hand upon 650 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:30,480 this gang, that he should come to me for help, 651 00:35:30,519 --> 00:35:32,440 and that I should send him away to his death. 652 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,079 He sprang from his chair and paced about the room 653 00:35:36,119 --> 00:35:40,159 in uncontrollable agitation, with a flush upon his sallow cheeks 654 00:35:40,239 --> 00:35:44,360 and a nervous clasping and unclasping of his long, thin hands. 655 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:48,360 They must be cunning devils, he explained at last. How 656 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,320 could they have decoyed him down there? The embankment is 657 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:53,840 not on the direct line to the station. The bridge, 658 00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:55,599 no doubt, was too crowded, even on such a night 659 00:35:55,639 --> 00:35:58,760 for their purpose. Well, Watson, we shall see who will 660 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,079 will in the long run. I'm going out now to 661 00:36:02,159 --> 00:36:04,639 the police. No, I should be my own place. When 662 00:36:04,639 --> 00:36:06,599 I have spun the web, they may take the flies, 663 00:36:06,639 --> 00:36:11,079 but not before. All day I was engaged in my 664 00:36:11,119 --> 00:36:13,199 professional work, and it was late in the evening before 665 00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:16,719 I returned to Baker Street. Shallow Colmbs had not come 666 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:19,679 back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he entered. 667 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:24,239 Looking pale and worn, he walked up to the sideboard, and, 668 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:27,519 tearing a piece from the loaf, he divided, voraciously, washing 669 00:36:27,559 --> 00:36:31,760 it down with a long draft of water. You are hungry, 670 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,400 I remarked, starving. It had escaped my memory. I've had 671 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:39,039 nothing since breakfast, nothing, not a bite. I had no 672 00:36:39,079 --> 00:36:43,440 time to think of it. And how have you succeeded? Well, 673 00:36:44,559 --> 00:36:47,440 you have a clue. I have them in the hollow 674 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:50,719 of my hand, young openshawls shall not long remain unavenged. 675 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:53,800 Why Watson let us put their own devilish trademark upon them? 676 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:58,480 It is well thought of. What do you mean? He 677 00:36:58,519 --> 00:37:01,559 took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces, 678 00:37:01,639 --> 00:37:05,119 he squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these, 679 00:37:05,159 --> 00:37:07,760 he took five and thrust them into an envelope. On 680 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:11,400 the inside the flap he wrote s H for j O. 681 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:16,159 Then he sealed it and addressed it to Captain James 682 00:37:16,199 --> 00:37:22,440 Calhoun bark lone Star Savannah, Georgia. That will await him 683 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:25,559 when he enters port, said he chuckling. It may give 684 00:37:25,639 --> 00:37:28,639 him a sleepless night. You find it as sure a 685 00:37:28,639 --> 00:37:32,519 precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him. And 686 00:37:32,639 --> 00:37:36,039 who is this, Captain Calhoun? The leader of the gang? 687 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,840 I shall have the others but he first, how did 688 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:43,320 you trace it? Then he took a large sheet of 689 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,320 paper from his pocket, all covered with dates and names. 690 00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,440 I've spent the whole day, said he over Lloyd's registers 691 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,159 and files of the old papers, following the future career 692 00:37:52,199 --> 00:37:55,320 of every vessel which touched a Pondicherry. In January and 693 00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,719 February in eighty three, there were thirty six ships of 694 00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:02,480 fair tonnage which were reported there during those months. Of these, one, 695 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:06,599 the Lone Star, instantly attracted my attention, since although it 696 00:38:06,679 --> 00:38:09,320 was reported as having clear from London, the name is 697 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:11,119 that which is given to one of the states of 698 00:38:11,159 --> 00:38:15,639 the Union, Texas. I think I was not, and I'm 699 00:38:15,679 --> 00:38:17,360 not sure which, but I knew that the ship must 700 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:22,760 have an American origin. What then I searched the Dundee records, 701 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:24,880 and when I found that the bark Lone Star was 702 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:28,559 there in January eighty five, my suspicion became a certainty. 703 00:38:29,599 --> 00:38:31,719 I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at 704 00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:35,599 present in the Port of London. Yes, the Lone Star 705 00:38:35,639 --> 00:38:38,599 had arrived here last week. I went down to the 706 00:38:38,599 --> 00:38:40,639 Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down 707 00:38:40,679 --> 00:38:43,360 the river by the early tide this morning, homeward bound 708 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,920 to Savannah. I wired to Gravesend and learned that she 709 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,480 had passed some time ago. And as the wind is easterly, 710 00:38:49,519 --> 00:38:51,079 I have no doubt that she has now passed the 711 00:38:51,119 --> 00:38:53,440 good winds, and not very far from the Isle of Wight. 712 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:57,760 What would you do, then, oh, I have my hand 713 00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:00,920 upon him. He and the two mates are, as I learned, 714 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,519 the only native born Americans in the ship. The others 715 00:39:03,559 --> 00:39:06,880 of Finns and Germans. I know also that they were 716 00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:10,239 all three away from the ship last night. I had 717 00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:12,239 it from the Stevador, who has been loading their cargo. 718 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:15,440 By the time that their sailing ship reaches Savannah, the 719 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:17,920 mail boat will have carried this letter, and the cable 720 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:20,559 will have informed the piece of Savannah that these three 721 00:39:20,639 --> 00:39:24,519 gentlemen are badly wanted here. Upon a charge of murder, 722 00:39:27,159 --> 00:39:29,639 there is ever a floor. However, in the best laid 723 00:39:29,639 --> 00:39:33,400 of human plans, and the murderers of John Openshaw were 724 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:35,920 never to receive the orange pips which would show them 725 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:39,000 that another as a cunning and as resolute as themselves 726 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:43,840 was upon their tracks. Very long and very severe were 727 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:48,159 the equinoctial gales that here waited long for news of 728 00:39:48,199 --> 00:39:51,599 the Lone Star of Savannah, but none never reached us. 729 00:39:52,559 --> 00:39:54,840 We did at last hear that somewhere far out in 730 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:57,960 the Atlantic, a shattered stern post of the boat was 731 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,559 seen swinging in the trough of a wave. Were the 732 00:40:00,639 --> 00:40:05,079 letters L S carved upon it. And that is all 733 00:40:05,239 --> 00:40:08,079 which we shall ever know of the fate of the 734 00:40:08,119 --> 00:40:14,719 lone Star, end of the five Orange Pips.