1
00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:06,040
Speaker 1: The Adventure of the Dancing Men. Holmes had been seated

2
00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,160
for some hours in silence, with his long, thin back

3
00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:11,880
curved over a chemical vessel in which he was brewing

4
00:00:12,199 --> 00:00:16,719
a particularly melodorous product. His head was sunk upon his breast,

5
00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,440
and he looked, from my point of view, like a strange,

6
00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,320
lank bird with dull gray plumage and a black top knot.

7
00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,359
Sir Watson said he, suddenly, you do not propose to

8
00:00:28,399 --> 00:00:33,200
invest in South African securities. I gave a start of astonishment.

9
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,920
Accustomed as I was to Holmes's curious faculties, this sudden

10
00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,799
intrusion into my most intimate thoughts was utterly inexplicable. How

11
00:00:42,799 --> 00:00:46,119
on earth do you know that, I asked. He wheeled

12
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,880
round upon his stool, with a steaming test tube in

13
00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,600
his hand and a gleam of amusement in his deep

14
00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:57,920
set eyes. Now, Watson, confess yourself utterly taken, Aback said he,

15
00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,679
I am. I ought to make you sign a paper

16
00:01:02,759 --> 00:01:09,000
to that effect. Why, because in five minutes you will

17
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,560
say that it is all so absurdly simple. I am

18
00:01:12,599 --> 00:01:15,920
sure that I shall say nothing of the kind. You see,

19
00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,840
my dear Watson. He propped his test tube in the rack,

20
00:01:19,079 --> 00:01:21,239
and began to lecture with the air of a professor

21
00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,560
addressing his class. It is not really difficult to construct

22
00:01:25,599 --> 00:01:30,719
a series of inferences, each dependent upon its predecessor, and

23
00:01:30,799 --> 00:01:34,799
each simple in itself. If after doing so, one simply

24
00:01:34,879 --> 00:01:38,959
knocks out all the central inferences and presents one's audience

25
00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,760
with the starting point and the conclusion, one may produce

26
00:01:42,799 --> 00:01:47,439
a startling, though possibly a meretricious effect. Now, it was

27
00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:51,280
not really difficult, by an inspection of the groove between

28
00:01:51,319 --> 00:01:54,439
your left forefinger and thumb, to feel sure that you

29
00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,959
did not propose to invest your small capital in the

30
00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:04,319
gold fields. I see no connection. Very likely not, But

31
00:02:04,439 --> 00:02:07,959
I can quickly show you a close connection. Here are

32
00:02:07,959 --> 00:02:12,159
the missing links of the very simple chain. One you

33
00:02:12,199 --> 00:02:14,800
had chalk between your left finger and thumb when you

34
00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:19,479
returned from the club last night. Two you put chalk

35
00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,919
there when you play billiards to steady the queue. Three

36
00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:29,840
you never play billiards except with Thurston. Four you told

37
00:02:29,879 --> 00:02:32,919
me four weeks ago that Thurston had an option on

38
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,879
some South African property which would expire in a month,

39
00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,840
and which he desired you to share with him. Five

40
00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,400
your check book is locked in my drawer, and you

41
00:02:43,439 --> 00:02:47,159
have not asked for the key six. You do not

42
00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:52,520
propose to invest your money in this manner. How absurdly simple,

43
00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:58,719
I cried, Quite so, said he, a little nettled. Every

44
00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,280
problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you.

45
00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,520
Here is an unexplained one. See what you can make

46
00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,840
of that, friend, Watson. He tossed a sheet of paper

47
00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,479
upon the table and turned once more to his chemical analysis.

48
00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:20,560
I looked with amazement at the absurd hieroglyphics upon the paper. Why, Holmes,

49
00:03:21,159 --> 00:03:26,280
it is a child's drawing, I cried, Oh that's your idea.

50
00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:30,879
What else should it be? That is what mister Hilton

51
00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,599
cubit of riding, thoughpe manor Norfolk is very anxious to

52
00:03:34,719 --> 00:03:39,520
know this little conundrum. Came by the first post, and

53
00:03:39,639 --> 00:03:42,479
he was to follow by the next train. And there's

54
00:03:42,479 --> 00:03:44,759
a ring at the bell, Watson, I should not be

55
00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:48,719
very much surprised if this were he. A heavy step

56
00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,639
was heard upon the stairs, and an instant later there

57
00:03:51,759 --> 00:03:55,800
entered a tall, ruddy, clean shaven gentleman whose clear eyes

58
00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:58,919
and florid cheeks told of a life fled far from

59
00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,240
the fogs of Baker's He seemed to bring a whiff

60
00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,520
of his strong, fresh bracing East Coast air with him

61
00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:09,000
as he entered. Having shaken hands with each of us,

62
00:04:09,439 --> 00:04:12,360
he was about to sit down when his eye rested

63
00:04:12,439 --> 00:04:15,599
upon the paper with the curious markings, which I had

64
00:04:15,639 --> 00:04:19,920
just examined and left upon the table. Well, mister Holmes,

65
00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,800
what do you make of these? He cried. They told

66
00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:26,439
me that you are fond of queer mysteries, and I

67
00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,639
don't think you can find a queerer one than that.

68
00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:31,720
I sent the paper on ahead so that you might

69
00:04:31,759 --> 00:04:35,160
have time to study it before I came. It is

70
00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:39,439
certainly rather a curious production, said Holmes. At first sight,

71
00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,279
it would appear to be some childish prank. It consists

72
00:04:43,319 --> 00:04:46,120
of a number of absurd little figures dancing across the

73
00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,600
paper upon which they are drawn. Why should you attribute

74
00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:54,000
any importance to so grotesque an object? I never should,

75
00:04:54,079 --> 00:04:57,800
mister Holmes, But my wife does. It is frightening her

76
00:04:57,879 --> 00:05:00,920
to death. She says nothing, but I can see terror

77
00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,639
in her eyes, and that's why I want to sift

78
00:05:03,639 --> 00:05:07,879
the matter to the bottom. Holmes held up the paper

79
00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,079
so that the sunlight shone full upon it. It was

80
00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,759
a page torn from a note book. The markings were

81
00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:20,399
done in pencil and ran in a particular way. Holmes

82
00:05:20,439 --> 00:05:23,279
examined it for some time and then folded it carefully up.

83
00:05:23,959 --> 00:05:28,319
He placed it in his pocket book. This promises to

84
00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,600
be a most interesting and unusual case, said he. You

85
00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,560
gave me a few particulars in your letter, mister Hilton cubit,

86
00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:38,360
but I should be very much obliged if you would

87
00:05:38,399 --> 00:05:40,959
kindly go over it all again for the benefit of

88
00:05:40,959 --> 00:05:44,839
my dear friend, Dr Watson. I'm not much of a

89
00:05:44,879 --> 00:05:49,439
story teller, said our visitor, nervously, clasping and unclasping his

90
00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,160
great strong hands. You'll just ask me anything that I

91
00:05:53,199 --> 00:05:55,879
don't make clear. I'll begin at the time of my

92
00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,920
marriage last year. But I want to say first of

93
00:06:00,079 --> 00:06:03,560
all that though I'm not a rich man, my people

94
00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,399
have been at riding Thorpe for a matter of five centuries,

95
00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,360
and there is no better known family in the county

96
00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,519
of Norfolk. Last year I came up to London for

97
00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,439
the jubilee, and I stopped at a boarding house in

98
00:06:15,519 --> 00:06:19,680
Russell Square because Parker, the vicar of our parish, was

99
00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,079
staying in it. There was an American young lady there.

100
00:06:23,639 --> 00:06:28,240
Patrick was the name Elsie Patrick. In some way we

101
00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,639
became friends until before my month was up, I was

102
00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,800
as much in love as man could be. We were

103
00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,199
quietly married at a registry office, and we returned to

104
00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,519
Norfolk a wedded couple. You'll think it very mad, mister Holmes,

105
00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,279
that a man of good old family should marry a

106
00:06:45,319 --> 00:06:48,360
wife in this fashion, knowing nothing of her past or

107
00:06:48,439 --> 00:06:51,639
of her people. But if you saw her and knew her,

108
00:06:52,199 --> 00:06:56,519
it would help you to understand. She was very straight

109
00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,399
about it was Elsie. I can't say that she did

110
00:06:59,399 --> 00:07:01,959
not give me every chance of getting out of it

111
00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,879
if I wished to do so. I've had some very

112
00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:10,600
disagreeable associations in my life, said she. I wish to

113
00:07:10,639 --> 00:07:14,160
forget all about them. I'd rather never allude to the past,

114
00:07:14,639 --> 00:07:17,879
for it is very painful to me. If you take me, Hilton,

115
00:07:18,399 --> 00:07:20,560
you'll take a woman who has nothing that she need

116
00:07:20,639 --> 00:07:23,839
be personally ashamed of. But you'll have to be content

117
00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:26,079
with my word for it, and to allow me to

118
00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:28,199
be silent as to all that passed up to the

119
00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,079
time when I became yours. If these conditions are too hard,

120
00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:34,920
then go back to Norfolk and leave me to the

121
00:07:34,959 --> 00:07:38,519
lonely life in which you've found me. It was only

122
00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,240
the day before our wedding that she said those very

123
00:07:41,279 --> 00:07:44,360
words to me. I told her that I was content

124
00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,120
to take her on her own terms, and I've been

125
00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:51,000
as good as my word. Well, we've been married now

126
00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:54,680
for a year, and very happy we've been. But about

127
00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,839
a month ago, at the end of June, I saw

128
00:07:57,879 --> 00:08:01,279
for the first time signs of trouble. One day, my

129
00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,639
wife received a letter from America. I saw the American stamp.

130
00:08:06,519 --> 00:08:09,720
She turned deadly white, read the letter and threw it

131
00:08:09,759 --> 00:08:13,639
into the fire. She made no allusion to it afterwards,

132
00:08:14,279 --> 00:08:17,279
and I made none, For a promise is a promise.

133
00:08:17,959 --> 00:08:20,360
But she has never known an easy hour. From that moment.

134
00:08:21,399 --> 00:08:23,399
There is always a look of fear upon her face,

135
00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,319
a look as if she were waiting and expecting she

136
00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,279
would do better to trust me, she would find that

137
00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,960
I was her best friend. But until she speaks, I

138
00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,639
can say nothing. Mind you, she is a truthful one,

139
00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,759
mister Holmes, and whatever trouble there may have been in

140
00:08:40,799 --> 00:08:43,440
her past life, it has been no fault of hers.

141
00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,279
I am only a simple Norfolk squire. But there is

142
00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:49,879
not a man in England who ranks his family honor

143
00:08:49,919 --> 00:08:52,879
more highly than I do. She knows it well, and

144
00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,000
she knew it well before she married me. She would

145
00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,240
never bring any stain upon it. That I am sure well.

146
00:09:00,279 --> 00:09:02,879
Now I come to the queer part of my story.

147
00:09:03,519 --> 00:09:06,480
About a week ago. It was the Tuesday of last

148
00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,159
week I found on one of the window sills a

149
00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:13,720
number of absurd little dancing figures like these upon the paper.

150
00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:17,639
They were scrawled with chalk. I thought it was a

151
00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,600
stable boy who'd drawn them, but the lad swore he

152
00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,519
knew nothing about it. Anyhow, they had come there during

153
00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,440
the night. I had them washed out, and I only

154
00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:31,279
mentioned the matter to my wife afterwards. To my surprise,

155
00:09:31,879 --> 00:09:34,799
she took it very seriously and begged me if any

156
00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,279
more came to let her see them. Non did come

157
00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:42,440
for a week, and then yesterday morning I found this

158
00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,840
paper lying on the sun dial in the garden. I

159
00:09:45,919 --> 00:09:49,039
showed it to Elsie, and down she dropped in a

160
00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,600
dead faint. Since then she'd looked like a woman in

161
00:09:52,639 --> 00:09:56,279
a dream, half dazed and with terror always lurking in

162
00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:59,440
her eyes. It was then that I wrote and sent

163
00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,159
the paper to you, mister Holmes. It was not a

164
00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,000
thing that I could take to the police, for they

165
00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,639
would have laughed at me. But you will tell me

166
00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:10,120
what to do. I am not a rich man, but

167
00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,440
if there is any danger threatening my little woman, I

168
00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:17,960
would spend my last copper to shield her. He was

169
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,440
a fine creature, this man of the old English soil, simple,

170
00:10:21,799 --> 00:10:25,840
straight and gentle, with his great, earnest blue eyes and broad,

171
00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,799
comely face. His love for his wife and his trust

172
00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,320
in her shone in his features. Holmes had listened to

173
00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,600
his story with the utmost attention, and now he sat

174
00:10:36,639 --> 00:10:41,440
for some time in silent thought. Don't you think, mister Cubitt,

175
00:10:41,879 --> 00:10:45,320
said he at last, that your best plan would be

176
00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,200
to make a direct appeal to your wife and to

177
00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:52,240
ask her to share her secret with you. Hilton Cubitt

178
00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:56,440
shook his massive head. A promise is a promise, mister Holmes.

179
00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,840
If Elsie wished to tell me, she would, If not,

180
00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:04,080
it is not for me to force her confidence. But

181
00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,440
I am justified in taking my own line, and I

182
00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,360
will then I will help you with all my heart.

183
00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,799
In the first place, have you heard of any strangers

184
00:11:14,799 --> 00:11:19,440
being seen in your neighborhood? No, I presume that it

185
00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:23,480
is a very quiet place. Any fresh face would cause

186
00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:29,159
comment in the immediate neighborhood. Yes, but we have several

187
00:11:29,159 --> 00:11:33,200
small watering places not very far away, and the farmers

188
00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:39,080
take in lodgers. These hieroglyphics have evidently a meaning. If

189
00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,159
it is a purely arbitrary one, it may be impossible

190
00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,440
for us to solve it. If, on the other hand,

191
00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,279
it is systematic, I have no doubt that we shall

192
00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,399
get to the bottom of it. But this particular sample

193
00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,320
is so short that I can do nothing, and the

194
00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,360
facts which you have brought me are so indefinite that

195
00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:01,720
we have no basis for an investigation. I would suggest

196
00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,000
that you return to Norfolk, that you keep a keen

197
00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,919
look at, and that you take an exact copy of

198
00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:12,080
any fresh dancing men which may appear. It is a

199
00:12:12,159 --> 00:12:15,399
thousand pities that we have not a reproduction of those

200
00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,799
which were done in chalk upon the window sill. Make

201
00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,639
a discreet inquiry. Also as to any strangers in the neighborhood,

202
00:12:23,159 --> 00:12:26,360
When you have collected some fresh evidence, come to me again.

203
00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:29,720
That is the best advice which I can give you,

204
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:34,440
mister Hilton Cubit. If there are any pressing fresh developments,

205
00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,200
I shall be always ready to run down and see

206
00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,879
you in your Norfolk home. The interview left Sherlock Holmes

207
00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,200
very thoughtful, and several times in the next few days

208
00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,240
I saw him take his slip of paper from his

209
00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:51,159
note book and look long and earnestly at the curious

210
00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:56,159
figures inscribed upon it. He made no allusion to the affair, however,

211
00:12:56,879 --> 00:13:00,559
until one afternoon a fortnight or so later, I was

212
00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:03,840
going out when he called me back. You had better

213
00:13:03,879 --> 00:13:08,559
stay here, Watson. Why because I had a wire from

214
00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:12,960
Hilton Cubit this morning. You remember Hilton Cubit, of the

215
00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:17,240
dancing men. He was to reach Liverpool Street at one twenty.

216
00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:20,759
You may be here at any moment. I gather from

217
00:13:20,799 --> 00:13:24,360
his wire that there have been some new incidents of importance.

218
00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,320
We had not long to wait for. Our Norfolk squire

219
00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:30,919
came straight from the station as fast as a hansom

220
00:13:30,919 --> 00:13:34,679
could bring him. He was looking worried and depressed, with

221
00:13:34,799 --> 00:13:39,240
tired eyes and a lined forehead. It's getting on my nerves,

222
00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,240
this business, mister Holmes, said he as he sank like

223
00:13:42,279 --> 00:13:45,759
a wearied man into an arm chair. It's bad enough

224
00:13:45,799 --> 00:13:49,960
to feel that you are surrounded by unseen, unknown folk

225
00:13:50,279 --> 00:13:53,279
who have some kind of design upon you. But when

226
00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:55,799
in addition to that you know that it is just

227
00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,759
killing your wife by inches, then it becomes as much

228
00:13:59,759 --> 00:14:03,639
as flesh and blood can endure. She's wearing away under it,

229
00:14:04,279 --> 00:14:10,279
just wearing away before my eyes. Has she said anything yet, No,

230
00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:14,879
mister Holmes, she has not. And yet there have been

231
00:14:14,919 --> 00:14:18,480
times when the poor girl has wanted to speak, and

232
00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:22,240
yet could not quite bring herself to take the plunge.

233
00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:24,960
I have tried to help her, but I dare say

234
00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,919
I did it clumsily and scared her from it. She

235
00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,600
has spoken about my old family and our reputation in

236
00:14:32,679 --> 00:14:36,879
the county, and our pride in our unsullied honor. And

237
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,039
I always felt it was leading to the point, but

238
00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:44,279
somehow it turned off before we got there. But you

239
00:14:44,399 --> 00:14:48,960
have found out something for yourself, a good deal, mister Holmes.

240
00:14:49,559 --> 00:14:52,879
I have several fresh dancing men pictures for you to examine.

241
00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:57,120
And what is more important, I have seen the fellow

242
00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:02,240
what the man who draws the Yes, I saw him

243
00:15:02,279 --> 00:15:05,240
at his work. But I will tell you everything in order.

244
00:15:06,039 --> 00:15:08,240
When I got back after my first visit to you,

245
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,120
the very first thing I saw next morning was a

246
00:15:12,159 --> 00:15:15,720
fresh crop of dancing men. They have been drawn in

247
00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:18,519
chalk upon the black wooden door of the tool house,

248
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,440
which stands beside the lawn in full view of the

249
00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:25,840
front windows. I took an exact copy, and here it is.

250
00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,960
He unfolded a paper and laid it upon the table.

251
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:37,600
Here is a copy of the hieroglyphics. Excellent, said Holmes. Excellent,

252
00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:42,360
a prey. Continue. When I had taken the copy, I

253
00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,720
rubbed out the marks, But two mornings later a fresh

254
00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:48,639
inscription had appeared. I have a copy of it here,

255
00:15:50,039 --> 00:15:54,320
Holmes rubbed his hands and chuckled with delight. Our material

256
00:15:54,440 --> 00:16:00,000
is rapidly accumulating, said he. Three days later a message

257
00:16:00,159 --> 00:16:03,360
was left, scrawled upon paper and placed under a pebble

258
00:16:03,399 --> 00:16:07,200
on the sun dial. Here it is. The characters are

259
00:16:07,279 --> 00:16:10,960
as you see, exactly the same as the last one.

260
00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,279
After that, I determined to lie in wait, so I

261
00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,360
got out my revolver and I sat up in my study,

262
00:16:17,399 --> 00:16:21,360
which overlooks the lawn and garden. About two in the morning,

263
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,279
I was seated by the window, all being dark save

264
00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,799
for the moonlight outside, when I heard steps behind me,

265
00:16:29,559 --> 00:16:32,919
and there was my wife in her dressing gown. She

266
00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,799
implored me to come to bed. I told her frankly

267
00:16:36,879 --> 00:16:39,279
that I wished to see who it was who played

268
00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:43,720
such absurd tricks upon us. She answered that it was

269
00:16:43,759 --> 00:16:47,159
some senseless, practical joke, and that I should not take

270
00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,080
any notice of it. If it really annoys you, Hilton,

271
00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:53,960
we might go and travel, you and I, and so

272
00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:59,120
avoid this nuisance. What be driven out of our own

273
00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:03,720
house by a practical joker, said I, Why we should

274
00:17:03,759 --> 00:17:07,880
have the whole county laughing at us. Well, come to bed,

275
00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:13,160
said she, and we can discuss it in the morning. Suddenly,

276
00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,759
as she spoke, I saw her white face grow whiter

277
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,480
yet in the moonlight, and her hand tightened upon my shoulder.

278
00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:24,279
Something was moving in the shadow of the tool house.

279
00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,160
I saw a dark, creeping figure which crawled round the

280
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:32,920
corner and squatted in front of the door, seizing my pistol.

281
00:17:33,519 --> 00:17:35,960
I was rushing out when my wife threw her arms

282
00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:39,559
around me and held me with convulsive strength. I tried

283
00:17:39,599 --> 00:17:42,920
to throw her off, but she clung to me most desperately.

284
00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,960
At last I got clear, But by the time I

285
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,480
had opened the door and reached the house, the creature

286
00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:54,079
was gone. He had left a trace of his presence, however,

287
00:17:54,799 --> 00:17:57,200
for there on the door was the very same arrangement

288
00:17:57,279 --> 00:18:01,000
of dancing men, which had already twice appeared, and which

289
00:18:01,039 --> 00:18:04,079
I had copied on that paper. There was no other

290
00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,759
sign of the fellow anywhere, though I ran all over

291
00:18:06,799 --> 00:18:10,359
the grounds. And yet the amazing thing is that he

292
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,079
must have been there all the time, for when I

293
00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,039
examined the door again in the morning, he had scrawled

294
00:18:16,079 --> 00:18:18,240
some more of his pictures under the line which I

295
00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:23,240
had already seen. Have you that fresh drawing? Yes, it

296
00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:25,920
is very short, but I made a copy of it.

297
00:18:26,279 --> 00:18:30,480
And here it is again. He produced a paper. The

298
00:18:30,559 --> 00:18:35,480
new dance was in a different form, tell me, said Holmes,

299
00:18:36,039 --> 00:18:37,799
and I could see by his eyes that he was

300
00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,920
much excited. Was this a mere addition to the first,

301
00:18:42,559 --> 00:18:46,440
or did it appear to be entirely separate? It was

302
00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:51,160
on a different panel of the door. Excellent, This is

303
00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,400
far the most important of all for our purpose. It

304
00:18:54,480 --> 00:19:00,680
fills me with hopes. Now, mister Hilton Cubit, please continue

305
00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:05,279
your most interesting statement. I have nothing more to say,

306
00:19:05,319 --> 00:19:08,640
mister Holmes, except that I was angry with my wife

307
00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,359
that night for having held me back when I might

308
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:15,319
have caught the skulking rascal. She said that she feared

309
00:19:15,319 --> 00:19:18,839
that I might come to harm. For an instant it

310
00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,920
had crossed my mind that perhaps what she really feared

311
00:19:22,559 --> 00:19:25,799
was that he might come to harm. For I could

312
00:19:25,839 --> 00:19:29,000
not doubt that she knew who this man was and

313
00:19:29,039 --> 00:19:32,519
what he meant by these strange signals. But there is

314
00:19:32,559 --> 00:19:35,279
a tone in my wife's voice, mister Holmes, and a

315
00:19:35,319 --> 00:19:37,960
look in her eyes which forbid doubt. And I am

316
00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,759
sure that it was indeed my own safety that was

317
00:19:40,799 --> 00:19:46,039
in her mind. There's the whole case, and now I

318
00:19:46,039 --> 00:19:48,319
want your advice as to what I ought to do.

319
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,799
My own inclination is to put half a dozen of

320
00:19:51,839 --> 00:19:55,359
my farm lads in the shrubbery, and when this fellow

321
00:19:55,519 --> 00:19:58,039
comes again, to give him such a hiding that he

322
00:19:58,079 --> 00:20:02,079
will leave us in peace for the future. I fear

323
00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:04,920
it is too deep a case for such simple remedies,

324
00:20:05,279 --> 00:20:09,640
said Holmes. How long can you stay in London? I

325
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,240
must go back to day. I would not leave my

326
00:20:12,319 --> 00:20:16,200
wife alone all night for anything. She is very nervous

327
00:20:16,759 --> 00:20:20,319
and begged me to come back. I dare say, you

328
00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:23,200
are right, But if you could have stopped, I might

329
00:20:23,279 --> 00:20:25,319
possibly have been able to return with you in a

330
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,799
day or two. Meanwhile, you will leave me these papers,

331
00:20:30,279 --> 00:20:32,400
and I think that it is very likely that I

332
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,200
shall be able to pay you a visit shortly and

333
00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:40,319
to throw some light upon your case. Sherlock Holmes preserved

334
00:20:40,319 --> 00:20:43,720
his calm, professional manner until our visitor had left us,

335
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,119
although it was easy for me, who knew him so well,

336
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:51,720
to see that he was profoundly excited. The moment that

337
00:20:51,799 --> 00:20:55,519
Hilton Cubitt's broad back had disappeared through the door, my

338
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,680
comrade rushed to the table, laid out all the slips

339
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,039
of paper containing done men in front of him, and

340
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:07,839
threw himself into an intricate and elaborate calculation. For two hours,

341
00:21:08,319 --> 00:21:10,880
I watched him as he covered sheet after sheet of

342
00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:15,119
paper with figures and letters, so completely absorbed in his

343
00:21:15,279 --> 00:21:19,799
task that he had evidently forgotten my presence. Sometimes he

344
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,920
was making progress and whistled and sang at his work.

345
00:21:23,839 --> 00:21:27,319
Sometimes he was puzzled and would sit for long spells

346
00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:31,880
with a furrowed brow and a vacant eye. Finally he

347
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,079
sprang from his chair with a cry of satisfaction, and

348
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,799
walked up and down the room, rubbing his hands together.

349
00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,960
And he wrote a long telegram upon a cable form.

350
00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:46,960
If my answer to this is as I hope you

351
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,440
will have a very pretty case to add to your collection.

352
00:21:49,559 --> 00:21:53,240
Watson said, he I expect that we shall be able

353
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:55,759
to go down to Norfolk to morrow and to take

354
00:21:55,799 --> 00:21:58,640
our friend some very definite news as to the secret

355
00:21:58,799 --> 00:22:03,319
of his annoyance. I confess that I was filled with curiosity,

356
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:05,920
but I was aware that Holmes liked to make his

357
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,200
disclosures at his own time and in his own way.

358
00:22:10,279 --> 00:22:12,640
So I waited until it should suit him to take

359
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,160
me into his confidence. But there was a delay in

360
00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:20,440
that answering telegram, and two days of impatience followed, during

361
00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:22,759
which Holmes pricked up his ears at every ring of

362
00:22:22,799 --> 00:22:26,519
the bell. On the evening of the second there came

363
00:22:26,519 --> 00:22:30,640
a letter from Hilton Cubit all was quiet with him,

364
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,160
say that a long inscription had appeared that morning upon

365
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,720
the pedestal of the sun dial. He enclosed a copy

366
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:43,480
of it, which he reproduced. Holmes bent over this grotesque

367
00:22:43,519 --> 00:22:47,160
frieze for some minutes, and then suddenly sprang to his

368
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:51,519
feet with an exclamation of surprise and dismay. His face

369
00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:55,839
was haggard with anxiety. We have let this affair go

370
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,640
far enough, said he is there a train to North Walsham.

371
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,440
To night. I turned up the time table. The last

372
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,039
had just gone. Then we shall breakfast early and take

373
00:23:07,079 --> 00:23:10,480
the very first in the morning, said Holmes. Our presence

374
00:23:10,519 --> 00:23:15,119
is most urgently needed. Ah here is our expected cablegram

375
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:20,079
one moment, missus Hudson. There may be an answer. No,

376
00:23:20,319 --> 00:23:23,480
that is quite as I expected. This message makes it

377
00:23:23,559 --> 00:23:26,480
even more essential that we should not lose an hour

378
00:23:26,519 --> 00:23:30,039
in letting Hilton Cubit know how matters stand. For it

379
00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:32,880
is a singular and a dangerous web in which our

380
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:38,759
simple Norfolk squire is entangled. So indeed it proved. And

381
00:23:38,839 --> 00:23:41,200
as I come to the dark conclusion of a story

382
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,079
which had seemed to me to be only childish and bizarre,

383
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,559
I experienced once again the dismay and horror with which

384
00:23:48,599 --> 00:23:52,839
I was filled. Would that I had some brighter ending

385
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,720
to communicate to my readers, But these are the chronicles

386
00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,680
of fact, and I must follow to their dark crisis.

387
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,400
The strange chain of events which for some days made

388
00:24:03,559 --> 00:24:07,400
riding Thorpe manner a household word through the length and

389
00:24:07,559 --> 00:24:12,319
breadth of England. We had hardly alighted at North Walsham

390
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,920
and mentioned the name of our destination when the station

391
00:24:16,079 --> 00:24:20,079
master hurried towards us. I suppose that you're the detectives

392
00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:24,079
from London, said he. A look of annoyance passed over

393
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:28,920
Holmes's face. What makes you think such a thing, because

394
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:32,759
Inspector Marne from Norwich has just passed through. But maybe

395
00:24:32,799 --> 00:24:37,079
you're the surgeons. She's not dead, or wasn't by last accounts.

396
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:39,880
He may be in time to save her. Yet, though

397
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:44,720
it be for the gallows. Holmes's brow was dark with anxiety.

398
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,920
We are going to Ridingthorpe Manor, said he. But we

399
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,200
have heard nothing of what has passed there. It's a

400
00:24:52,279 --> 00:24:56,839
terrible business, said the station master. They are shot, both

401
00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:01,039
mister Elton Kube and his wife. She shot and then herself,

402
00:25:01,599 --> 00:25:04,720
So the servants say he's dead and her life is

403
00:25:04,759 --> 00:25:08,759
despaired of dear, dear, one of the oldest families in

404
00:25:08,799 --> 00:25:11,440
the County of Norfolk and one of the most honored.

405
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,039
Without a word, Holmes hurried to a carriage, and during

406
00:25:16,079 --> 00:25:18,839
the long seven miles drive he never opened his mouth.

407
00:25:19,839 --> 00:25:23,519
Seldom have I seen him so utterly despondent. He had

408
00:25:23,559 --> 00:25:26,559
been uneasy during all our journey from town, and I

409
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,640
had observed that he had turned over the morning papers

410
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:34,160
with anxious attention. But now this sudden realization of his

411
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,680
worst fears left him in a blank melancholy. He leaned

412
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:43,559
back in his seat, lost in gloomy speculation. Yet there

413
00:25:43,599 --> 00:25:46,319
was much a round to interest us, for we were

414
00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:49,440
passing through as singular a countryside as any in England,

415
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,839
where a few scattered cottages represented the population of to day,

416
00:25:54,519 --> 00:25:59,200
while on every hand enormous square towered churches bristled up

417
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,240
from the flat grid green landscape and told of the

418
00:26:02,279 --> 00:26:07,200
glory and prosperity of old East Anglia. At last, the

419
00:26:07,279 --> 00:26:09,839
violent rim of the German Ocean appeared over the green

420
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,119
edge of the Norfolk coast, and the driver pointed with

421
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,559
his whip to two old brick and timber gables which

422
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:21,759
projected from a grove of trees ers Roardingthorpe. Manor, said he.

423
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,680
As we drove up to the porticoed front door, I

424
00:26:25,759 --> 00:26:28,920
observed in front of it, beside the tennis lawn, the

425
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,240
black tool house, and the pedestaled sun dial with which

426
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:36,720
we had such strange associations. A dapper little man with

427
00:26:36,759 --> 00:26:40,519
a quick alert manner and a waxed mustache had just

428
00:26:40,559 --> 00:26:44,799
descended from a high dog cart. He introduced himself as

429
00:26:44,839 --> 00:26:49,240
Inspector Martin of the Norfolk Constabulary, and he was considerably

430
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,759
astonished when he heard the name of my companion. Why,

431
00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:56,359
mister Holmes, the crime was only committed at three this morning?

432
00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,039
How could you hear of it in London and get

433
00:26:59,079 --> 00:27:03,759
to the spot as soon as I anticipated it? I

434
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,240
came in the hope of preventing it. Then you must

435
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,400
have important evidence of which we are ignorant, for there

436
00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,920
was said to be a most united couple. I have

437
00:27:14,039 --> 00:27:17,640
only the evidence of the dancing men, said Holmes. I

438
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:21,680
will explain the matter to you later. Meanwhile, since it

439
00:27:21,799 --> 00:27:25,000
is too late to prevent this tragedy, I am very

440
00:27:25,039 --> 00:27:27,519
anxious that I should use the knowledge which I possess

441
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:31,559
in order to ensure that justice be done. Will you

442
00:27:31,599 --> 00:27:34,960
associate me in your investigation? Or will you prefer that

443
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:39,240
I should act independently. I should be proud to feel

444
00:27:39,279 --> 00:27:42,920
that we were acting together, mister Holmes, said the inspector earnestly.

445
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,119
In that case, I should be glad to hear the

446
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,599
evidence and to examine the premises without an instant of

447
00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:55,039
unnecessary delay. Inspector Martin had the good sense to allow

448
00:27:55,079 --> 00:27:58,119
my friend to do things in his own fashion, and

449
00:27:58,319 --> 00:28:03,160
contented himself with carefully noting the results. The local surgeon,

450
00:28:03,839 --> 00:28:06,759
an old, white haired man, had just come down from

451
00:28:06,759 --> 00:28:10,680
Missus Hilton Cubet's room, and he reported that her injuries

452
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:15,559
were serious, but not necessarily fatal. The bullet had passed

453
00:28:15,559 --> 00:28:19,000
through the front of her brain, and it would probably

454
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:23,039
be some time before she could regain consciousness. On the

455
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,680
question of whether she had been shot or had shot herself,

456
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:31,559
he would not venture to express any decided opinion. Certainly,

457
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:35,160
the bullet had been discharged at very close quarters. There

458
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,960
was only the one pistol found in the room, two

459
00:28:38,039 --> 00:28:41,920
barrels of which had been emptied. Mister Hilton Cubitt had

460
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:45,599
been shot through the heart. It was equally conceivable that

461
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,319
he had shot her and then himself, or that she

462
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,279
had been the criminal. For the revolver lay upon the

463
00:28:51,319 --> 00:28:56,519
floor midway between them. Has he been moved, asked Holmes.

464
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:00,440
We have moved nothing except the lady. We could not

465
00:29:00,519 --> 00:29:04,160
leave her lying wounded upon the floor. How long have

466
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:10,079
you been here, doctor, since four o'clock? Anyone else? Yes,

467
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:15,599
the constable here, and you have touched nothing nothing. You

468
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:22,039
have acted with great discretion. Who sent you the housemaid Saunders?

469
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,519
Was it she who gave the alarm? She and Missus King,

470
00:29:26,759 --> 00:29:31,000
the cook? Where are they now in the kitchen? I

471
00:29:31,039 --> 00:29:34,599
believe then? I think we'd better hear their story? At

472
00:29:34,599 --> 00:29:40,079
once the old hall, oak paneled and high windowed, had

473
00:29:40,119 --> 00:29:44,200
been turned into a court of investigation. Holmes sat in

474
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:48,359
a great, old fashioned chair, his inexorable eyes gleaming out

475
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,400
of his haggard face. I could read in them a

476
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:54,799
set purpose to devote his life to this quest, until

477
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:57,720
the client whom he had failed to save, should at

478
00:29:57,759 --> 00:30:02,920
last be avenged. Trim Inspector Martin, the old gray headed

479
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:07,279
country doctor, myself, and a stolid village policeman made up

480
00:30:07,319 --> 00:30:11,920
the rest of that strange company. The two women told

481
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,559
their story clearly enough. They had been aroused from their

482
00:30:15,599 --> 00:30:18,559
sleep by the sound of an explosion, which had been

483
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:22,279
followed a minute later by a second one. They slept

484
00:30:22,319 --> 00:30:27,400
in adjoining rooms, and Missus King had rushed into Saunders. Together.

485
00:30:27,519 --> 00:30:30,759
They had descended the stairs. The door of the study

486
00:30:30,839 --> 00:30:33,440
was open, and a candle was burning upon the table.

487
00:30:34,279 --> 00:30:37,079
Their master lay upon his face in the center of

488
00:30:37,119 --> 00:30:41,799
the room. He was quite dead near the window. His

489
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:46,000
wife was crouching her head leaning against the wall. She

490
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:48,920
was horribly wounded, and the side of her face was

491
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:54,079
red with blood. She breathed heavily, but was incapable of

492
00:30:54,079 --> 00:30:57,559
saying anything. The passage, as well as the room, was

493
00:30:57,599 --> 00:31:00,880
full of smoke and the smell of powder. The window

494
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,759
was certainly shut and fastened upon the inside. Both women

495
00:31:05,839 --> 00:31:08,960
were positive upon the point. They had at once sent

496
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,279
for the doctor and for the constable. Then, with the

497
00:31:12,319 --> 00:31:14,920
aid of the groom and the stable boy, they had

498
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:19,200
conveyed their injured mistress to her room. Both she and

499
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,880
her husband had occupied the bed. She was clad in

500
00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,680
her dress, he in his dressing gown over his night clothes.

501
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:30,240
Nothing had been moved in the study. So far as

502
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,880
they knew, there had never been any quarrel between husband

503
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:35,440
and wife. They had always looked upon them as a

504
00:31:35,559 --> 00:31:39,759
very united couple. These were the main points of the

505
00:31:39,799 --> 00:31:44,319
servant's evidence. In answer to Inspector Martin, they were clear

506
00:31:44,359 --> 00:31:47,240
that every door was fastened upon the inside, and that

507
00:31:47,319 --> 00:31:50,759
no one could have escaped from the house. In answer

508
00:31:50,759 --> 00:31:53,160
to Holmes, they both remembered that they were conscious of

509
00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:55,279
the smell of powder from the moment that they ran

510
00:31:55,319 --> 00:31:59,279
out of their rooms upon the top floor. I command

511
00:31:59,279 --> 00:32:02,480
that fact very carefully to your attention, said Holmes to

512
00:32:02,519 --> 00:32:05,680
his professional colleague. And now I think that we are

513
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,720
in a position to undertake a thorough examination of the room.

514
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,400
The study proved to be a small chamber, lined on

515
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,319
three sides with books, and with a writing table, facing

516
00:32:16,359 --> 00:32:20,640
an ordinary window which looked out upon the garden. Our

517
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,839
first attention was given to the body of the unfortunate squire,

518
00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:28,519
whose huge frame lay stretched across the room. His disordered

519
00:32:28,599 --> 00:32:31,759
dress showed that he had been hastily aroused from sleep.

520
00:32:32,599 --> 00:32:34,680
The bullet had been fired at him from the front

521
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,119
and had remained in his body after penetrating the heart.

522
00:32:39,079 --> 00:32:43,519
His death had certainly been instantaneous and painless. There was

523
00:32:43,559 --> 00:32:46,279
no powder marking, either upon his dressing gown or on

524
00:32:46,359 --> 00:32:51,079
his hands. According to the country surgeon, the lady had

525
00:32:51,119 --> 00:32:55,519
stains upon her face, but none upon her hand. The

526
00:32:55,599 --> 00:32:59,319
absence of the latter means nothing, though its presence may

527
00:32:59,359 --> 00:33:04,799
mean everything, said Holmes. Unless the powder from a badly

528
00:33:04,839 --> 00:33:09,039
fitting cartridge happens to spurt backward, one may fire many

529
00:33:09,039 --> 00:33:12,839
shots without leaving a sign. I would suggest that mister

530
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:18,119
Cubitt's body may now be removed. I suppose, doctor, you

531
00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:21,720
have not recovered the bullet which wounded the lady. A

532
00:33:21,839 --> 00:33:25,119
serious operation will be necessary before that can be done.

533
00:33:25,559 --> 00:33:28,799
But there are still four cartridges in the revolver. Two

534
00:33:28,839 --> 00:33:32,079
have been fired and two wounds inflicted, so that each

535
00:33:32,119 --> 00:33:36,559
bullet can be accounted for, so it would seem, said Holmes,

536
00:33:38,319 --> 00:33:41,240
perhaps you can account also for the bullet which has

537
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:45,079
so obviously struck the edge of the window. He had

538
00:33:45,119 --> 00:33:48,599
turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was pointing to

539
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:51,240
a hole which had been drilled right through the lower

540
00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:55,880
window sash, about an inch above the bottom by George,

541
00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:01,279
cried the inspector. However, did you see that because I

542
00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:06,240
looked for it? Wonderful, said the country doctor. You are

543
00:34:06,319 --> 00:34:09,320
certainly right, sir. Then a third shot has been fired,

544
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,440
and therefore a third person must have been present. But

545
00:34:13,519 --> 00:34:15,719
who could that have been, and how could he have

546
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,360
got away? That is the problem which we are now

547
00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:24,239
about to solve, said Sherlock Holmes. You remember, Inspector Martin,

548
00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:27,239
when the servants said that on leaving their room they

549
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,719
were at once conscious of a smell of powder. I

550
00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:34,840
remarked that the point was an extremely important one. Yes, sir,

551
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:39,000
But I confess I did not quite follow you. It

552
00:34:39,119 --> 00:34:41,800
suggested that at the time of the firing, the window

553
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,400
as well as the door of the room had been open.

554
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,280
Otherwise the fumes of powder could not have been blown

555
00:34:48,519 --> 00:34:51,800
so rapidly through the house. A draft in the room

556
00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:55,719
was necessary for that. Both door and window were only

557
00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:59,159
opened for a very short time. However, how could you

558
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:04,679
prove that because the candle was not gutted? Capital, cried

559
00:35:04,679 --> 00:35:09,199
the inspector. Capital, feeling sure that the window had been

560
00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:12,360
open at the time of the tragedy, I conceived that

561
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:14,679
there might have been a third person in the affair

562
00:35:15,079 --> 00:35:18,880
who stood outside this opening and fired through it. Any

563
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,719
shot directed at this person might hit the sash. I looked,

564
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:26,880
and there, sure enough was the bullet mark. But how

565
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,960
came the window to be shut and fastened? The woman's

566
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,559
first instinct would be to shut and fasten a window.

567
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:39,719
But hullo, what is this? It was a lady's hand

568
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:43,039
bag which stood upon the study table, a trim little

569
00:35:43,079 --> 00:35:47,440
hand bag of crocodile skin and silver. Holmes opened it

570
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:51,159
and turned the contents out. There were twenty five pound

571
00:35:51,159 --> 00:35:53,880
notes of the Bank of England, held together by an

572
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:59,119
India rubber band. Nothing else. This must be preserved, for

573
00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:01,840
it will figure in the trial, said Holmes as he

574
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:05,599
handed the bag with its contents to the inspector. It

575
00:36:05,679 --> 00:36:07,800
is now necessary that we should try to throw some

576
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,199
light upon this third bullet, which has clearly from the

577
00:36:11,199 --> 00:36:14,639
splintering of the wood, been fired from inside the room.

578
00:36:15,679 --> 00:36:18,239
I should like to see Missus King the cook again.

579
00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:23,519
You said, Missus King, that you were awakened by a

580
00:36:23,679 --> 00:36:27,679
loud explosion. When you said that, did you mean that

581
00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:32,000
it seemed to you to be louder than the second one? Well, sir,

582
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,559
it wakened me from my sleep, so it is hard

583
00:36:35,559 --> 00:36:40,480
to judge, but it did seem very loud. You don't

584
00:36:40,519 --> 00:36:43,320
think that it might have been two shots fired almost

585
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,639
at the same instant. I'm sure I couldn't say, sir,

586
00:36:49,039 --> 00:36:53,000
I believe that it was undoubtedly, So I rather think,

587
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,360
Inspector Martin, that we have now exhausted all that this

588
00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,800
room can teach us. If you will kindly step round

589
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:03,000
with me, we shall see what fresh evidence the garden

590
00:37:03,039 --> 00:37:06,800
has to offer. A flower bed extended up to the

591
00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,159
study window, and we all broke into an exclamation as

592
00:37:10,159 --> 00:37:13,920
we approached it. The flowers were trampled down, and the

593
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:19,159
soft soil was imprinted all over with footmarks. Large masculine

594
00:37:19,159 --> 00:37:24,840
feet they were, with peculiarly long sharp toes. Homes hunted

595
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,440
about among the grass and leaves, like a retriever after

596
00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:32,079
a wounded bird. Then, with a cry of satisfaction, he

597
00:37:32,199 --> 00:37:37,159
bent forward and picked up a little brazen cylinder. I thought, so,

598
00:37:37,719 --> 00:37:42,519
said he. The revolver had an ejector, and here is

599
00:37:42,559 --> 00:37:47,000
the third cartridge. I really think, Inspector Martin, that our

600
00:37:47,079 --> 00:37:51,880
case is almost complete. The country Inspector's face had shown

601
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,400
his intense amazement at the rapid and masterful progress of

602
00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:59,880
Holmes's investigation. At first he had shown some disposition to

603
00:38:00,119 --> 00:38:03,639
assert his own position, but now he was overcome with

604
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:08,079
admiration and ready to follow without question wherever Holmes led.

605
00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:13,519
Whom do you suspect, he asked, I'll go into that later.

606
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,559
There are several points in this problem which I have

607
00:38:16,599 --> 00:38:19,559
not been able to explain to you yet. Now that

608
00:38:19,639 --> 00:38:22,239
I have got so far, I had best proceed on

609
00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,960
my own lines and then clear the whole matter up

610
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:29,320
once and for all, just as you wish, mister Holmes.

611
00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:32,599
So long as we get our man I have no

612
00:38:32,679 --> 00:38:35,760
desire to make mysteries, but it is impossible at the

613
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:39,280
moment of action to enter into long and complex explanations.

614
00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:42,480
I have the threads of this affair all in my hand.

615
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,840
Even if this lady should never recover consciousness, we can

616
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:50,400
still reconstruct the events of last night and ensure that

617
00:38:50,599 --> 00:38:54,480
justice be done. First of all, I wish to know

618
00:38:54,519 --> 00:38:58,000
whether there is any inn in this neighborhood known as Elridges.

619
00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:02,280
Were cross questioned, but none of them had heard of

620
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:05,800
such a place. The stable boy threw a light upon

621
00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,440
the matter by remembering that a farmer of that name

622
00:39:08,519 --> 00:39:11,239
lived some miles off in the direction of East Ruston.

623
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:18,239
Is it a lonely farm, very lonely, sir? Perhaps they

624
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,639
have not heard yet of all that happened here during

625
00:39:20,639 --> 00:39:25,000
the night. Maybe not, Sir Holmes thought for a little,

626
00:39:25,039 --> 00:39:29,159
and then a curious smile played over his face. Saddle

627
00:39:29,199 --> 00:39:32,360
a horse, my lad said he, I shall wish you

628
00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:36,199
to take a note to Elridge's farm. He took from

629
00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:40,079
his pocket the various slips of the dancing men. With

630
00:39:40,199 --> 00:39:42,679
these in front of him, he worked for some time

631
00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:46,159
at the study table. Finally he handed a note to

632
00:39:46,159 --> 00:39:48,559
the boy with directions to put it into the hands

633
00:39:48,599 --> 00:39:51,840
of the person to whom it was addressed, and especially

634
00:39:52,199 --> 00:39:55,000
to answer no questions of any sort which might be

635
00:39:55,039 --> 00:39:58,039
put to him. I saw the outside of the note

636
00:39:58,199 --> 00:40:02,960
addressed in straggling irregul killer characters, very unlike Holmes's usual

637
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:08,000
precise hand. It was consigned to mister Abe Slaney Elridge's farm,

638
00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:13,920
east Ruston, Norfolk. I think Inspector Holmes remarked that you

639
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:17,119
would do well to telegraph for an escort, as if

640
00:40:17,119 --> 00:40:20,239
my calculations proved to be correct, you may have a

641
00:40:20,239 --> 00:40:25,280
particularly dangerous prisoner to convey to the county jail. The

642
00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:28,480
boy who takes this note could no doubt forward your telegram.

643
00:40:29,159 --> 00:40:32,199
If there is an afternoon train to town, Watson, I

644
00:40:32,199 --> 00:40:34,519
think we should do well to take it, as I

645
00:40:34,599 --> 00:40:38,000
have a chemical analysis of some interest to finish, and

646
00:40:38,119 --> 00:40:43,119
this investigation draws rapidly to a close. When the youth

647
00:40:43,159 --> 00:40:46,079
had been dispatched with the note, Sherlock Holmes gave his

648
00:40:46,159 --> 00:40:49,679
instructions to the servants. If any visitor were to call

649
00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:53,480
asking for missus Hilton Cubit, no information should be given

650
00:40:53,559 --> 00:40:56,159
as to her condition, but he was to be shown

651
00:40:56,199 --> 00:40:59,719
at once into the drawing room. He impressed these points

652
00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:04,199
upon them with the utmost earnestness. Finally, he led the

653
00:41:04,199 --> 00:41:06,559
way into the drawing room with the remark that the

654
00:41:06,559 --> 00:41:09,519
business was now out of our hands, and that we

655
00:41:09,599 --> 00:41:12,559
must while away the time as best we might, until

656
00:41:12,559 --> 00:41:15,360
we could see what was in store for us. The

657
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,880
doctor had departed to his patients, and only the Inspector

658
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:22,760
and myself remained. I think that I can help you

659
00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:25,920
to pass an hour in an interesting and profitable manner,

660
00:41:26,119 --> 00:41:29,480
said Holmes, drawing his chair up to the table and

661
00:41:29,559 --> 00:41:32,400
spreading out in front of him the various papers upon

662
00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:37,079
which were recorded the antics of the dancing men. As

663
00:41:37,119 --> 00:41:42,320
to you, friend Watson, I owe you every atonement for

664
00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:47,320
having allowed your natural curiosity to remain so long unsatisfied.

665
00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:51,239
To you, Inspector, the whole incident may appeal as a

666
00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:55,519
remarkable professional study. I must tell you first of all

667
00:41:56,039 --> 00:42:01,480
the interesting circumstances connected with the previous consultations which mister

668
00:42:01,559 --> 00:42:05,480
Hilton Cubit had with me in Baker Street. He then

669
00:42:05,519 --> 00:42:10,000
shortly recapitulated the facts which have already been recorded. I

670
00:42:10,079 --> 00:42:13,159
have here in front of me these singular productions at

671
00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:16,719
which one might smile had they not proved themselves to

672
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:20,679
be the forerunners of so terrible a tragedy. I am

673
00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:24,599
fairly familiar with all forms of secret writings, and are

674
00:42:24,679 --> 00:42:27,920
myself the author of a trifling monograph upon the subject,

675
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:31,679
in which I analyze one hundred and sixty separate ciphers.

676
00:42:32,519 --> 00:42:35,840
But I confess that this is entirely new to me.

677
00:42:37,039 --> 00:42:39,840
The object of those who invented the system has apparently

678
00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:43,840
been to conceal that these characters convey a message, and

679
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:46,000
to give the idea that they are the mere random

680
00:42:46,079 --> 00:42:51,800
sketches of children. Having once recognized, however, that the symbols

681
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:55,400
stood for letters, and having applied the rules which guide

682
00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,920
us in all forms of secret writings, the solution was

683
00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:02,920
easy enough. The first message submitted to me was so

684
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:05,480
short that it was impossible for me to do more

685
00:43:05,519 --> 00:43:09,760
than to say with some confidence that the symbol x

686
00:43:10,039 --> 00:43:14,320
x X stood for E. As you are aware, E

687
00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:17,239
is the most common letter in the English alphabet, and

688
00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:20,840
it predominates to so marked an extent that even in

689
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:25,079
a short sentence, one would expect to find it most often.

690
00:43:25,239 --> 00:43:28,519
Out of fifteen symbols in the first message, four were

691
00:43:28,559 --> 00:43:31,480
the same. So it was reasonable to set this down

692
00:43:31,519 --> 00:43:35,320
as E. It is true that in some cases the

693
00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:38,800
figure was bearing a flag and in some cases not,

694
00:43:39,719 --> 00:43:41,639
but it was probable from the way in which the

695
00:43:41,719 --> 00:43:45,079
flags were distributed that they were used to break the

696
00:43:45,159 --> 00:43:49,360
sentence up into words. I accepted this as a hypothesis,

697
00:43:50,159 --> 00:43:53,679
and noted that E was represented by x x X.

698
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:58,280
But now came the real difficulty of the inquiry. The

699
00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:00,639
order of the English letters after E is by no

700
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:04,320
means well marked, and any preponderance which may be shown

701
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:07,400
in an average of a printed sheet may be reversed

702
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:14,559
in a single short sentence, speaking roughly, T A O, I, N, S, H, R, D,

703
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:18,639
and L are the numerical order in which letters occur.

704
00:44:19,559 --> 00:44:24,559
But T, A, O and I are very nearly abreast

705
00:44:24,559 --> 00:44:27,239
of each other, and it would be an endless task

706
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:30,440
to try each combination until a meaning was arrived at.

707
00:44:31,599 --> 00:44:35,840
I therefore waited for fresh material. In my second interview

708
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:38,400
with mister Hilton Cubit, he was able to give me

709
00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:42,800
two other short sentences and one message, which appeared since

710
00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:47,199
there was no flag to be a single word. Here

711
00:44:47,239 --> 00:44:50,960
are the symbols now in the single word, I've already

712
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:53,400
got the two e's coming. Second and fourth in a

713
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:58,239
word of five letters, it might be sever or lever,

714
00:44:59,159 --> 00:45:03,880
or never. There can be no question that the latter,

715
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:06,599
as a reply to an appeal, is far the most probable,

716
00:45:07,239 --> 00:45:10,239
and the circumstances pointed to its being a reply written

717
00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:14,719
by the lady. Accepting it as correct, we are now

718
00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:17,840
able to say that the symbols stand respectively for N,

719
00:45:18,559 --> 00:45:24,119
V and R. Even now I was in considerable difficulty,

720
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:27,079
but a happy thought put me in possession of several

721
00:45:27,119 --> 00:45:31,239
other letters. It occurred to me that if these appeals

722
00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:34,599
came as I expected from someone who had been intimate

723
00:45:34,679 --> 00:45:38,880
with the lady in her early life, a combination which

724
00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:43,159
contained two e's with three letters between might very well

725
00:45:43,199 --> 00:45:47,599
stand for the name Els. On examination, I found that

726
00:45:47,599 --> 00:45:50,599
such a combination formed the termination of the message, which

727
00:45:50,679 --> 00:45:55,480
was three times repeated. It was certainly some appeal to Els.

728
00:45:56,719 --> 00:45:58,639
In this way I had got my l S and

729
00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:03,400
I what appeal could it be? There were only four

730
00:46:03,519 --> 00:46:06,599
letters in the word which preceded L C, and it

731
00:46:06,719 --> 00:46:11,000
ended in E. Surely the word must be come. I

732
00:46:11,079 --> 00:46:13,760
tried all other four letters ending in E, but could

733
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:17,119
find none to fit the case. So now I was

734
00:46:17,159 --> 00:46:20,800
in possession of C, O, and M and I was

735
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:23,679
in a position to attack the first message once more,

736
00:46:24,239 --> 00:46:27,119
dividing it into words and putting dots for each symbol

737
00:46:27,159 --> 00:46:31,559
which was still unknown. So treated it worked out in

738
00:46:31,599 --> 00:46:38,440
this fashion M space dot e r space dot dot

739
00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:45,800
e space s l dot n e dot. Now the

740
00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:49,519
first letter can only be A, which is a most

741
00:46:49,679 --> 00:46:53,039
useful discovery, since it occurs no fewer than three times

742
00:46:53,079 --> 00:46:57,000
in this short sentence, and the H is also apparent

743
00:46:57,039 --> 00:47:02,719
in the second word. Now it becomes m here a

744
00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:09,079
dot e slain or, filling in the obvious vacancies in

745
00:47:09,119 --> 00:47:15,199
the name m here abe slainey. I had so many

746
00:47:15,280 --> 00:47:18,079
letters now that I could proceed with considerable confidence to

747
00:47:18,159 --> 00:47:22,280
the second message, which worked out in this fashion A

748
00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:30,239
dot space e l r I dot space e s here.

749
00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:32,760
I could only make sense by putting T and g

750
00:47:33,039 --> 00:47:35,880
for the missing letters, and supposing that the name was

751
00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:39,119
that of some house or inn which the writer was staying.

752
00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:43,480
Inspector Martin and I had listened with the utmost interest

753
00:47:43,639 --> 00:47:45,639
to the full and clear account of how my friend

754
00:47:45,679 --> 00:47:48,519
had produced results which had led to so complete a

755
00:47:48,599 --> 00:47:52,559
command over our difficulties. What did you do, then, sir,

756
00:47:53,159 --> 00:47:56,960
asked the Inspector. I had every reason to suppose that

757
00:47:57,039 --> 00:48:00,920
this Abe Slainey was an American, since Abe is an

758
00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:04,760
American contraction, and since the letter from America had been

759
00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:08,239
the starting point of all the trouble, I had also

760
00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:11,440
every cause to think that there was some criminal secret

761
00:48:11,519 --> 00:48:15,639
in the matter. The lady's allusions to her past and

762
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:19,480
her refusal to take her husband into her confidence both

763
00:48:19,599 --> 00:48:23,559
pointed in that direction. I therefore cabled to my friend

764
00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:27,360
Wilson Hargreave of the New York Police Bureau, who has

765
00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:29,400
more than once made his use of my knowledge of

766
00:48:29,400 --> 00:48:33,159
London crime. I asked him whether the name of Abe

767
00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:38,039
Slainey was known to him. Here is his reply, the

768
00:48:38,119 --> 00:48:42,280
most dangerous crook in Chicago. On the very evening upon

769
00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:45,559
which I had his answer, Hilton Cubitt sent me the

770
00:48:45,639 --> 00:48:50,199
last message from Slaney. Working with known letters, it took

771
00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:55,280
this form elsie dot r E dot A R E

772
00:48:56,280 --> 00:49:01,880
space to meet thy go. The addition of a P

773
00:49:02,039 --> 00:49:04,679
and a D completed a message which showed me that

774
00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:09,159
the rascal was proceeding from persuasion to threats, and my

775
00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:12,000
knowledge of the crooks of Chicago prepared me to find

776
00:49:12,039 --> 00:49:14,840
that he might very rapidly put his words into action.

777
00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:19,000
I at once came to Norfolk with my friend and colleague,

778
00:49:19,039 --> 00:49:24,079
doctor Watson, but unhappily, only in time to find that

779
00:49:24,199 --> 00:49:28,800
the worst had already occurred. It is a privilege to

780
00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:31,360
be associated with you in a handling of a case,

781
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:35,599
said the inspector warmly. You will excuse me. However, if

782
00:49:35,639 --> 00:49:39,400
I speak frankly to you, you are only answerable to yourself.

783
00:49:39,960 --> 00:49:43,000
But I have to answer to my superiors. If this

784
00:49:43,159 --> 00:49:47,280
Abe Slaney living at Elridge's is indeed the murderer, and

785
00:49:47,440 --> 00:49:49,920
if he has made his escape while I am seated here,

786
00:49:50,599 --> 00:49:54,719
I should certainly get into serious trouble. You need not

787
00:49:54,800 --> 00:49:58,360
be uneasy. He will not try to escape. How do

788
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:02,000
you know to fly would be a confession of guilt.

789
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:06,360
Then let us go arrest him. I expect him here

790
00:50:06,400 --> 00:50:11,159
every instant. But why should he come because I have

791
00:50:11,239 --> 00:50:15,360
written and asked him? But this is incredible, mister Holmes.

792
00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:18,800
Why should he come because you have asked him? Would

793
00:50:18,880 --> 00:50:22,320
not such a request rather rouse his suspicions and cause

794
00:50:22,400 --> 00:50:25,519
him to fly? I think I have known how to

795
00:50:25,559 --> 00:50:29,400
frame the letter, said Sherlock Holmes. In fact, if I

796
00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:32,960
am not very much mistaken. Here is the gentleman himself

797
00:50:33,119 --> 00:50:36,920
coming up the drive. A man was striding up the

798
00:50:36,960 --> 00:50:41,199
path which led to the door. He was a tall, handsome,

799
00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:44,639
swarthy fellow, clad in a suit of gray flannel, with

800
00:50:44,679 --> 00:50:48,320
a panama hat, a bristling black beard, and a great,

801
00:50:48,480 --> 00:50:51,800
aggressive hooked nose, and flourishing a cane as he walked.

802
00:50:52,719 --> 00:50:54,920
He swaggered up a path as if the place belonged

803
00:50:54,960 --> 00:50:58,199
to him, and we heard his loud, confident peal at

804
00:50:58,239 --> 00:51:03,760
the bell. I think, gentlemen, said Holmes quietly, that we

805
00:51:03,800 --> 00:51:07,280
had best take up our position behind the door. Every

806
00:51:07,320 --> 00:51:11,199
precaution is necessary when dealing with such a fellow. You

807
00:51:11,199 --> 00:51:14,639
will need your handcuffs. Inspector, you can leave the talking

808
00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:19,280
to me. We waited in silence for a minute, one

809
00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:22,519
of those minutes which one could never forget. Then the

810
00:51:22,599 --> 00:51:26,480
door opened and the man stepped in. In an instant,

811
00:51:26,719 --> 00:51:29,679
Holmes clapped a pistol to his head, and Martin slipped

812
00:51:29,679 --> 00:51:32,599
the handcuffs over his wrists. It was all done so

813
00:51:32,639 --> 00:51:35,679
swiftly and deftly that the fellow was helpless Before he

814
00:51:35,719 --> 00:51:39,159
knew that he was attacked. He glared from one to

815
00:51:39,199 --> 00:51:41,880
the other of us with a pair of blazing black eyes,

816
00:51:42,599 --> 00:51:47,760
and he burst into a bitter laugh. Well, gentlemen, you

817
00:51:47,880 --> 00:51:51,119
have the drop on me, this tame. I seem to

818
00:51:51,159 --> 00:51:54,599
have knocked up against something hard. But I came here

819
00:51:54,599 --> 00:51:58,400
in answer to a letter from missus Hilton Cubit. Don't

820
00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:01,280
tell me that she is in this. Don't tell me

821
00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:04,960
that she helped to set a trap for me. Missus

822
00:52:05,079 --> 00:52:08,840
Hilton Cubit was seriously injured and is at death's door.

823
00:52:10,159 --> 00:52:13,000
The man gave a hoarse cry of grief, which rang

824
00:52:13,159 --> 00:52:18,719
through the house. You're crazy, he cried fiercely. It was

825
00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:21,639
he that was hurt, not she who would have hurt

826
00:52:21,679 --> 00:52:25,039
little Elsie. I may have threatened her, God forgive me,

827
00:52:25,559 --> 00:52:27,559
but I would not have touched a hair of her hair.

828
00:52:27,599 --> 00:52:30,880
Pretty head. Take it back, you say that she is

829
00:52:30,960 --> 00:52:35,119
not hurt. She was found badly wounded by the side

830
00:52:35,119 --> 00:52:38,920
of her dead husband. He sank with a deep groan

831
00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:42,960
on the settee and buried his face in his manacled hands.

832
00:52:44,119 --> 00:52:47,119
For five minutes he was silent. Then he raised his

833
00:52:47,199 --> 00:52:51,239
face once more and spoke with a cold composure of despair.

834
00:52:52,960 --> 00:52:55,719
I have nothing to hide from you, gentlemen, said he.

835
00:52:56,400 --> 00:52:58,800
If I shot the man he had as shut up me,

836
00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:02,119
and there's no no murder in that. But if you

837
00:53:02,159 --> 00:53:04,880
think I could have hurt that woman, then you don't

838
00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:08,719
know either me or her. I tell you there was

839
00:53:08,800 --> 00:53:10,840
never a man in this world loved a woman more

840
00:53:10,880 --> 00:53:13,480
than I loved her. I had a right to her.

841
00:53:14,159 --> 00:53:17,239
She was pledged to me years ago. Who was this

842
00:53:17,440 --> 00:53:20,599
englishman that he should come between us. I tell you

843
00:53:21,159 --> 00:53:23,360
that I had the first right to her, and that

844
00:53:23,440 --> 00:53:27,960
I was only claiming my own. She broke away from

845
00:53:28,000 --> 00:53:30,400
your influence when she found the man that you are,

846
00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:34,719
said Holmes sternly. She fled from America to avoid you,

847
00:53:35,280 --> 00:53:39,000
and she married an honorable gentleman in England. You dogged

848
00:53:39,039 --> 00:53:42,000
her and followed her, and made her life a misery

849
00:53:42,039 --> 00:53:44,639
to her in order to induce her to abandon the

850
00:53:44,760 --> 00:53:47,719
husband whom she loved and respected, in order to fly

851
00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:52,400
with you, whom she feared and hated. You have ended

852
00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:55,320
by bringing about the death of a noble man and

853
00:53:55,440 --> 00:53:59,480
driving his wife to suicide. That is your record in

854
00:53:59,480 --> 00:54:02,920
this business, mister Abe Slaney, and you will answer for

855
00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:07,440
it to the law if Elsie dies. I care nothing

856
00:54:07,559 --> 00:54:11,320
what becomes of me, said the American. He opened one

857
00:54:11,360 --> 00:54:13,719
of his hands and looked at a note crumpled up

858
00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:18,039
in his palm. See here, mister, he cried, with a

859
00:54:18,079 --> 00:54:21,280
gleam of suspicion in his eyes. You're not trying to

860
00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:24,119
scare me over this, are you? If the lady has

861
00:54:24,159 --> 00:54:26,679
heard as bad as you say, who was it that

862
00:54:26,760 --> 00:54:30,559
wrote this note? He tossed it forward on to the table.

863
00:54:31,920 --> 00:54:35,920
I wrote it to bring you here. You wrote it.

864
00:54:36,519 --> 00:54:38,800
There was no one on earth outside the joint who

865
00:54:38,880 --> 00:54:41,840
knew the secret of the dancing men? How came you

866
00:54:41,920 --> 00:54:46,880
to write it? What one man can invent, another can discover?

867
00:54:47,400 --> 00:54:50,400
Said Holmes. There is a cab coming to convey you

868
00:54:50,440 --> 00:54:54,440
to Norwich, mister Slaney. But meanwhile you have time to

869
00:54:54,440 --> 00:54:57,960
make some small reparation for the injury you have wrought.

870
00:54:58,719 --> 00:55:02,519
Are you aware that missus Hilton Cubit has herself lain

871
00:55:02,639 --> 00:55:06,639
under grave suspicion of the murder of her husband, and

872
00:55:06,760 --> 00:55:09,719
that it was only my presence here and the knowledge

873
00:55:09,719 --> 00:55:12,519
which I happened to possess, which has saved her from

874
00:55:12,519 --> 00:55:15,800
the accusation. The least that you owe her is to

875
00:55:15,840 --> 00:55:18,480
make it clear to the whole world that she was

876
00:55:18,519 --> 00:55:23,679
in no way directly or indirectly responsible for his tragic end.

877
00:55:24,960 --> 00:55:28,440
I asked nothing better, said the American. I guess the

878
00:55:28,559 --> 00:55:31,440
very best case I can make for myself is the

879
00:55:31,519 --> 00:55:36,039
absolute naked truth. It is my duty to warn you

880
00:55:36,199 --> 00:55:39,000
that it will be used against you, cried the inspector,

881
00:55:39,440 --> 00:55:42,679
with the magnificent fair play of the British criminal law.

882
00:55:43,800 --> 00:55:49,199
Slainy shrugged his shoulders. I'll chance that, said he. First

883
00:55:49,199 --> 00:55:52,119
of all, I want you, gentlemen, to understand that I

884
00:55:52,119 --> 00:55:55,480
have known this lady since she was a child. There

885
00:55:55,519 --> 00:55:58,159
were seven of us in a gang in Chicago, and

886
00:55:58,239 --> 00:56:01,440
Elsie's father was the boss of thet He was a

887
00:56:01,480 --> 00:56:04,679
clever man, was Old Patrick, who as he who had

888
00:56:04,719 --> 00:56:07,719
invented that writing which would pass as a child's scrawl

889
00:56:07,800 --> 00:56:11,239
unless she just happened to have the key to it. Well,

890
00:56:11,519 --> 00:56:14,599
Elsie learned some of our ways, but she couldn't stand

891
00:56:14,599 --> 00:56:17,079
the business, and she had a bit of honest money

892
00:56:17,079 --> 00:56:19,000
of her own, so she gave us all the slip

893
00:56:19,039 --> 00:56:22,360
and got away to London. She'd been engaged to me,

894
00:56:22,920 --> 00:56:25,239
and she would have married me, I believe, if i'd

895
00:56:25,239 --> 00:56:29,239
taken over another profession. But she would have nothing to

896
00:56:29,280 --> 00:56:32,159
do with anything on the cross. It was only after

897
00:56:32,199 --> 00:56:34,519
a marriage to this Englishman that I was able to

898
00:56:34,519 --> 00:56:37,840
find out where she was. I wrote to her but

899
00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:41,760
got no answer. After that, I came over and A's

900
00:56:41,800 --> 00:56:43,960
letters were no use. I put my messages where she

901
00:56:43,960 --> 00:56:47,199
could read them. Well, I've been here a month now.

902
00:56:48,039 --> 00:56:50,039
I lived in that farm where I had a room

903
00:56:50,119 --> 00:56:53,199
down below, could get in and out every night, and

904
00:56:53,280 --> 00:56:56,199
no one the wiser. I tried all I could to

905
00:56:56,239 --> 00:56:59,599
coax Elsie a way. I knew that she read the messages.

906
00:57:00,239 --> 00:57:02,320
For once she wrote an answer under one of them.

907
00:57:03,239 --> 00:57:05,719
Then my temper got the better of me, and I

908
00:57:05,760 --> 00:57:08,800
began to threaten her. She sent me a letter then,

909
00:57:09,320 --> 00:57:11,599
imploring me to go away, and saying that it could

910
00:57:11,599 --> 00:57:14,480
break her heart if any scandal should come upon her husband.

911
00:57:16,119 --> 00:57:18,840
She said that she would come down when her husband

912
00:57:18,880 --> 00:57:21,639
was asleep at three in the morning and speak with

913
00:57:21,760 --> 00:57:24,199
me through the end window if I would go away

914
00:57:24,239 --> 00:57:27,840
afterwards and leave her in peace. She came down and

915
00:57:27,920 --> 00:57:30,119
brought money with her, trying to bribe me to go.

916
00:57:31,119 --> 00:57:33,719
This made me mad, and I caught her arm and

917
00:57:33,760 --> 00:57:36,719
tried to pull her through the window. At that moment,

918
00:57:37,000 --> 00:57:39,360
in rushed her husband with his revolver in his hand.

919
00:57:40,320 --> 00:57:42,960
Elsie had sunk down upon the floor, and we were

920
00:57:43,000 --> 00:57:47,000
face to face. I was healed also, and I held

921
00:57:47,079 --> 00:57:49,039
up my gun to scare him off and let me

922
00:57:49,079 --> 00:57:53,440
get away. He fired and missed me. I pulled off

923
00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:56,800
almost at the same instant, and down he dropped. I

924
00:57:56,880 --> 00:57:59,320
made away across the garden, and as I went I

925
00:57:59,400 --> 00:58:03,079
heard the window shut behind me. That's God's truth, gentlemen,

926
00:58:03,679 --> 00:58:06,880
every word of it. And I heard no more about

927
00:58:06,920 --> 00:58:09,400
it until that lad came riding up with a note

928
00:58:09,480 --> 00:58:12,119
which made me walk in here like a jay and

929
00:58:12,239 --> 00:58:16,880
give myself into your hands. A cab had drawn up

930
00:58:16,880 --> 00:58:21,159
whilst the American had been talking. Two uniformed policemen sat inside.

931
00:58:21,920 --> 00:58:24,840
Inspector Martin rose and touched his prisoner on the shoulder.

932
00:58:25,880 --> 00:58:31,519
It's time for us to go. Can I see her first? No,

933
00:58:31,920 --> 00:58:35,320
she is not conscious, mister Sherlock holmbs. I only hope

934
00:58:35,320 --> 00:58:38,000
that if ever again I have an important case, I

935
00:58:38,039 --> 00:58:40,400
shall have the good fortune to have you by my side.

936
00:58:41,840 --> 00:58:44,440
We stood at the window and watched the cab drive away.

937
00:58:45,559 --> 00:58:48,559
As I turned back, my eye caught the pellet of

938
00:58:48,639 --> 00:58:52,280
paper which the prisoner had tossed upon the table. It

939
00:58:52,400 --> 00:58:56,440
was the note with which Holmes had decoyed him. See

940
00:58:56,440 --> 00:58:59,239
if you can read it, Watson said he with a smile.

941
00:59:00,360 --> 00:59:05,360
It contained no word but a little line of dancing men.

942
00:59:05,960 --> 00:59:09,039
If you use the code which I have explained, said Holmes,

943
00:59:09,679 --> 00:59:12,960
you will find that it simply means come here. At

944
00:59:12,960 --> 00:59:16,840
once I was convinced that it was an invitation which

945
00:59:16,840 --> 00:59:19,639
he would not refuse, since he could never imagine that

946
00:59:19,719 --> 00:59:23,280
it could come from any one but the lady. And so,

947
00:59:23,480 --> 00:59:26,599
my dear Watson, we have ended by turning the dancing

948
00:59:26,639 --> 00:59:28,960
men to good, when they have so often been the

949
00:59:29,000 --> 00:59:32,159
agents of evil. And I think that I have fulfilled

950
00:59:32,159 --> 00:59:35,480
my promise of giving you something unusual for your note book.

951
00:59:36,280 --> 00:59:39,000
Three forty is our train, and I fancy we should

952
00:59:39,000 --> 00:59:42,639
be back in Baker Street for dinner. Only one word

953
00:59:42,639 --> 00:59:46,480
of epilog. The American Abe Slaney was condemned to death

954
00:59:46,519 --> 00:59:49,719
at the Winter Assizes at Norwich, but his penalty was

955
00:59:49,800 --> 00:59:55,199
changed to penal servitude in consideration of mitigating circumstances and

956
00:59:55,239 --> 00:59:58,559
the certainty that Hilton Cubit had fired the first shot

957
00:59:59,760 --> 01:00:02,840
of missus Hilton Cubit. I only know that I have

958
01:00:02,880 --> 01:00:06,440
heard she recovered entirely, and that she still remains a widow,

959
01:00:07,199 --> 01:00:09,960
devoting her whole life to the care of the poor

960
01:00:10,559 --> 01:00:16,079
and to the administration of her husband's estate. End of

961
01:00:16,119 --> 01:00:17,880
the Adventure of the Dancing Men,