Speaker 1: The Adventure of the Dancing Men. Holmes had been seated
for some hours in silence, with his long, thin back
curved over a chemical vessel in which he was brewing
a particularly melodorous product. His head was sunk upon his breast,
and he looked, from my point of view, like a strange,
lank bird with dull gray plumage and a black top knot.
Sir Watson said he, suddenly, you do not propose to
invest in South African securities. I gave a start of astonishment.
Accustomed as I was to Holmes's curious faculties, this sudden
intrusion into my most intimate thoughts was utterly inexplicable. How
on earth do you know that, I asked. He wheeled
round upon his stool, with a steaming test tube in
his hand and a gleam of amusement in his deep
set eyes. Now, Watson, confess yourself utterly taken, Aback said he,
I am. I ought to make you sign a paper
to that effect. Why, because in five minutes you will
say that it is all so absurdly simple. I am
sure that I shall say nothing of the kind. You see,
my dear Watson. He propped his test tube in the rack,
and began to lecture with the air of a professor
addressing his class. It is not really difficult to construct
a series of inferences, each dependent upon its predecessor, and
each simple in itself. If after doing so, one simply
knocks out all the central inferences and presents one's audience
with the starting point and the conclusion, one may produce
a startling, though possibly a meretricious effect. Now, it was
not really difficult, by an inspection of the groove between
your left forefinger and thumb, to feel sure that you
did not propose to invest your small capital in the
gold fields. I see no connection. Very likely not, But
I can quickly show you a close connection. Here are
the missing links of the very simple chain. One you
had chalk between your left finger and thumb when you
returned from the club last night. Two you put chalk
there when you play billiards to steady the queue. Three
you never play billiards except with Thurston. Four you told
me four weeks ago that Thurston had an option on
some South African property which would expire in a month,
and which he desired you to share with him. Five
your check book is locked in my drawer, and you
have not asked for the key six. You do not
propose to invest your money in this manner. How absurdly simple,
I cried, Quite so, said he, a little nettled. Every
problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you.
Here is an unexplained one. See what you can make
of that, friend, Watson. He tossed a sheet of paper
upon the table and turned once more to his chemical analysis.
I looked with amazement at the absurd hieroglyphics upon the paper. Why, Holmes,
it is a child's drawing, I cried, Oh that's your idea.
What else should it be? That is what mister Hilton
cubit of riding, thoughpe manor Norfolk is very anxious to
know this little conundrum. Came by the first post, and
he was to follow by the next train. And there's
a ring at the bell, Watson, I should not be
very much surprised if this were he. A heavy step
was heard upon the stairs, and an instant later there
entered a tall, ruddy, clean shaven gentleman whose clear eyes
and florid cheeks told of a life fled far from
the fogs of Baker's He seemed to bring a whiff
of his strong, fresh bracing East Coast air with him
as he entered. Having shaken hands with each of us,
he was about to sit down when his eye rested
upon the paper with the curious markings, which I had
just examined and left upon the table. Well, mister Holmes,
what do you make of these? He cried. They told
me that you are fond of queer mysteries, and I
don't think you can find a queerer one than that.
I sent the paper on ahead so that you might
have time to study it before I came. It is
certainly rather a curious production, said Holmes. At first sight,
it would appear to be some childish prank. It consists
of a number of absurd little figures dancing across the
paper upon which they are drawn. Why should you attribute
any importance to so grotesque an object? I never should,
mister Holmes, But my wife does. It is frightening her
to death. She says nothing, but I can see terror
in her eyes, and that's why I want to sift
the matter to the bottom. Holmes held up the paper
so that the sunlight shone full upon it. It was
a page torn from a note book. The markings were
done in pencil and ran in a particular way. Holmes
examined it for some time and then folded it carefully up.
He placed it in his pocket book. This promises to
be a most interesting and unusual case, said he. You
gave me a few particulars in your letter, mister Hilton cubit,
but I should be very much obliged if you would
kindly go over it all again for the benefit of
my dear friend, Dr Watson. I'm not much of a
story teller, said our visitor, nervously, clasping and unclasping his
great strong hands. You'll just ask me anything that I
don't make clear. I'll begin at the time of my
marriage last year. But I want to say first of
all that though I'm not a rich man, my people
have been at riding Thorpe for a matter of five centuries,
and there is no better known family in the county
of Norfolk. Last year I came up to London for
the jubilee, and I stopped at a boarding house in
Russell Square because Parker, the vicar of our parish, was
staying in it. There was an American young lady there.
Patrick was the name Elsie Patrick. In some way we
became friends until before my month was up, I was
as much in love as man could be. We were
quietly married at a registry office, and we returned to
Norfolk a wedded couple. You'll think it very mad, mister Holmes,
that a man of good old family should marry a
wife in this fashion, knowing nothing of her past or
of her people. But if you saw her and knew her,
it would help you to understand. She was very straight
about it was Elsie. I can't say that she did
not give me every chance of getting out of it
if I wished to do so. I've had some very
disagreeable associations in my life, said she. I wish to
forget all about them. I'd rather never allude to the past,
for it is very painful to me. If you take me, Hilton,
you'll take a woman who has nothing that she need
be personally ashamed of. But you'll have to be content
with my word for it, and to allow me to
be silent as to all that passed up to the
time when I became yours. If these conditions are too hard,
then go back to Norfolk and leave me to the
lonely life in which you've found me. It was only
the day before our wedding that she said those very
words to me. I told her that I was content
to take her on her own terms, and I've been
as good as my word. Well, we've been married now
for a year, and very happy we've been. But about
a month ago, at the end of June, I saw
for the first time signs of trouble. One day, my
wife received a letter from America. I saw the American stamp.
She turned deadly white, read the letter and threw it
into the fire. She made no allusion to it afterwards,
and I made none, For a promise is a promise.
But she has never known an easy hour. From that moment.
There is always a look of fear upon her face,
a look as if she were waiting and expecting she
would do better to trust me, she would find that
I was her best friend. But until she speaks, I
can say nothing. Mind you, she is a truthful one,
mister Holmes, and whatever trouble there may have been in
her past life, it has been no fault of hers.
I am only a simple Norfolk squire. But there is
not a man in England who ranks his family honor
more highly than I do. She knows it well, and
she knew it well before she married me. She would
never bring any stain upon it. That I am sure well.
Now I come to the queer part of my story.
About a week ago. It was the Tuesday of last
week I found on one of the window sills a
number of absurd little dancing figures like these upon the paper.
They were scrawled with chalk. I thought it was a
stable boy who'd drawn them, but the lad swore he
knew nothing about it. Anyhow, they had come there during
the night. I had them washed out, and I only
mentioned the matter to my wife afterwards. To my surprise,
she took it very seriously and begged me if any
more came to let her see them. Non did come
for a week, and then yesterday morning I found this
paper lying on the sun dial in the garden. I
showed it to Elsie, and down she dropped in a
dead faint. Since then she'd looked like a woman in
a dream, half dazed and with terror always lurking in
her eyes. It was then that I wrote and sent
the paper to you, mister Holmes. It was not a
thing that I could take to the police, for they
would have laughed at me. But you will tell me
what to do. I am not a rich man, but
if there is any danger threatening my little woman, I
would spend my last copper to shield her. He was
a fine creature, this man of the old English soil, simple,
straight and gentle, with his great, earnest blue eyes and broad,
comely face. His love for his wife and his trust
in her shone in his features. Holmes had listened to
his story with the utmost attention, and now he sat
for some time in silent thought. Don't you think, mister Cubitt,
said he at last, that your best plan would be
to make a direct appeal to your wife and to
ask her to share her secret with you. Hilton Cubitt
shook his massive head. A promise is a promise, mister Holmes.
If Elsie wished to tell me, she would, If not,
it is not for me to force her confidence. But
I am justified in taking my own line, and I
will then I will help you with all my heart.
In the first place, have you heard of any strangers
being seen in your neighborhood? No, I presume that it
is a very quiet place. Any fresh face would cause
comment in the immediate neighborhood. Yes, but we have several
small watering places not very far away, and the farmers
take in lodgers. These hieroglyphics have evidently a meaning. If
it is a purely arbitrary one, it may be impossible
for us to solve it. If, on the other hand,
it is systematic, I have no doubt that we shall
get to the bottom of it. But this particular sample
is so short that I can do nothing, and the
facts which you have brought me are so indefinite that
we have no basis for an investigation. I would suggest
that you return to Norfolk, that you keep a keen
look at, and that you take an exact copy of
any fresh dancing men which may appear. It is a
thousand pities that we have not a reproduction of those
which were done in chalk upon the window sill. Make
a discreet inquiry. Also as to any strangers in the neighborhood,
When you have collected some fresh evidence, come to me again.
That is the best advice which I can give you,
mister Hilton Cubit. If there are any pressing fresh developments,
I shall be always ready to run down and see
you in your Norfolk home. The interview left Sherlock Holmes
very thoughtful, and several times in the next few days
I saw him take his slip of paper from his
note book and look long and earnestly at the curious
figures inscribed upon it. He made no allusion to the affair, however,
until one afternoon a fortnight or so later, I was
going out when he called me back. You had better
stay here, Watson. Why because I had a wire from
Hilton Cubit this morning. You remember Hilton Cubit, of the
dancing men. He was to reach Liverpool Street at one twenty.
You may be here at any moment. I gather from
his wire that there have been some new incidents of importance.
We had not long to wait for. Our Norfolk squire
came straight from the station as fast as a hansom
could bring him. He was looking worried and depressed, with
tired eyes and a lined forehead. It's getting on my nerves,
this business, mister Holmes, said he as he sank like
a wearied man into an arm chair. It's bad enough
to feel that you are surrounded by unseen, unknown folk
who have some kind of design upon you. But when
in addition to that you know that it is just
killing your wife by inches, then it becomes as much
as flesh and blood can endure. She's wearing away under it,
just wearing away before my eyes. Has she said anything yet, No,
mister Holmes, she has not. And yet there have been
times when the poor girl has wanted to speak, and
yet could not quite bring herself to take the plunge.
I have tried to help her, but I dare say
I did it clumsily and scared her from it. She
has spoken about my old family and our reputation in
the county, and our pride in our unsullied honor. And
I always felt it was leading to the point, but
somehow it turned off before we got there. But you
have found out something for yourself, a good deal, mister Holmes.
I have several fresh dancing men pictures for you to examine.
And what is more important, I have seen the fellow
what the man who draws the Yes, I saw him
at his work. But I will tell you everything in order.
When I got back after my first visit to you,
the very first thing I saw next morning was a
fresh crop of dancing men. They have been drawn in
chalk upon the black wooden door of the tool house,
which stands beside the lawn in full view of the
front windows. I took an exact copy, and here it is.
He unfolded a paper and laid it upon the table.
Here is a copy of the hieroglyphics. Excellent, said Holmes. Excellent,
a prey. Continue. When I had taken the copy, I
rubbed out the marks, But two mornings later a fresh
inscription had appeared. I have a copy of it here,
Holmes rubbed his hands and chuckled with delight. Our material
is rapidly accumulating, said he. Three days later a message
was left, scrawled upon paper and placed under a pebble
on the sun dial. Here it is. The characters are
as you see, exactly the same as the last one.
After that, I determined to lie in wait, so I
got out my revolver and I sat up in my study,
which overlooks the lawn and garden. About two in the morning,
I was seated by the window, all being dark save
for the moonlight outside, when I heard steps behind me,
and there was my wife in her dressing gown. She
implored me to come to bed. I told her frankly
that I wished to see who it was who played
such absurd tricks upon us. She answered that it was
some senseless, practical joke, and that I should not take
any notice of it. If it really annoys you, Hilton,
we might go and travel, you and I, and so
avoid this nuisance. What be driven out of our own
house by a practical joker, said I, Why we should
have the whole county laughing at us. Well, come to bed,
said she, and we can discuss it in the morning. Suddenly,
as she spoke, I saw her white face grow whiter
yet in the moonlight, and her hand tightened upon my shoulder.
Something was moving in the shadow of the tool house.
I saw a dark, creeping figure which crawled round the
corner and squatted in front of the door, seizing my pistol.
I was rushing out when my wife threw her arms
around me and held me with convulsive strength. I tried
to throw her off, but she clung to me most desperately.
At last I got clear, But by the time I
had opened the door and reached the house, the creature
was gone. He had left a trace of his presence, however,
for there on the door was the very same arrangement
of dancing men, which had already twice appeared, and which
I had copied on that paper. There was no other
sign of the fellow anywhere, though I ran all over
the grounds. And yet the amazing thing is that he
must have been there all the time, for when I
examined the door again in the morning, he had scrawled
some more of his pictures under the line which I
had already seen. Have you that fresh drawing? Yes, it
is very short, but I made a copy of it.
And here it is again. He produced a paper. The
new dance was in a different form, tell me, said Holmes,
and I could see by his eyes that he was
much excited. Was this a mere addition to the first,
or did it appear to be entirely separate? It was
on a different panel of the door. Excellent, This is
far the most important of all for our purpose. It
fills me with hopes. Now, mister Hilton Cubit, please continue
your most interesting statement. I have nothing more to say,
mister Holmes, except that I was angry with my wife
that night for having held me back when I might
have caught the skulking rascal. She said that she feared
that I might come to harm. For an instant it
had crossed my mind that perhaps what she really feared
was that he might come to harm. For I could
not doubt that she knew who this man was and
what he meant by these strange signals. But there is
a tone in my wife's voice, mister Holmes, and a
look in her eyes which forbid doubt. And I am
sure that it was indeed my own safety that was
in her mind. There's the whole case, and now I
want your advice as to what I ought to do.
My own inclination is to put half a dozen of
my farm lads in the shrubbery, and when this fellow
comes again, to give him such a hiding that he
will leave us in peace for the future. I fear
it is too deep a case for such simple remedies,
said Holmes. How long can you stay in London? I
must go back to day. I would not leave my
wife alone all night for anything. She is very nervous
and begged me to come back. I dare say, you
are right, But if you could have stopped, I might
possibly have been able to return with you in a
day or two. Meanwhile, you will leave me these papers,
and I think that it is very likely that I
shall be able to pay you a visit shortly and
to throw some light upon your case. Sherlock Holmes preserved
his calm, professional manner until our visitor had left us,
although it was easy for me, who knew him so well,
to see that he was profoundly excited. The moment that
Hilton Cubitt's broad back had disappeared through the door, my
comrade rushed to the table, laid out all the slips
of paper containing done men in front of him, and
threw himself into an intricate and elaborate calculation. For two hours,
I watched him as he covered sheet after sheet of
paper with figures and letters, so completely absorbed in his
task that he had evidently forgotten my presence. Sometimes he
was making progress and whistled and sang at his work.
Sometimes he was puzzled and would sit for long spells
with a furrowed brow and a vacant eye. Finally he
sprang from his chair with a cry of satisfaction, and
walked up and down the room, rubbing his hands together.
And he wrote a long telegram upon a cable form.
If my answer to this is as I hope you
will have a very pretty case to add to your collection.
Watson said, he I expect that we shall be able
to go down to Norfolk to morrow and to take
our friend some very definite news as to the secret
of his annoyance. I confess that I was filled with curiosity,
but I was aware that Holmes liked to make his
disclosures at his own time and in his own way.
So I waited until it should suit him to take
me into his confidence. But there was a delay in
that answering telegram, and two days of impatience followed, during
which Holmes pricked up his ears at every ring of
the bell. On the evening of the second there came
a letter from Hilton Cubit all was quiet with him,
say that a long inscription had appeared that morning upon
the pedestal of the sun dial. He enclosed a copy
of it, which he reproduced. Holmes bent over this grotesque
frieze for some minutes, and then suddenly sprang to his
feet with an exclamation of surprise and dismay. His face
was haggard with anxiety. We have let this affair go
far enough, said he is there a train to North Walsham.
To night. I turned up the time table. The last
had just gone. Then we shall breakfast early and take
the very first in the morning, said Holmes. Our presence
is most urgently needed. Ah here is our expected cablegram
one moment, missus Hudson. There may be an answer. No,
that is quite as I expected. This message makes it
even more essential that we should not lose an hour
in letting Hilton Cubit know how matters stand. For it
is a singular and a dangerous web in which our
simple Norfolk squire is entangled. So indeed it proved. And
as I come to the dark conclusion of a story
which had seemed to me to be only childish and bizarre,
I experienced once again the dismay and horror with which
I was filled. Would that I had some brighter ending
to communicate to my readers, But these are the chronicles
of fact, and I must follow to their dark crisis.
The strange chain of events which for some days made
riding Thorpe manner a household word through the length and
breadth of England. We had hardly alighted at North Walsham
and mentioned the name of our destination when the station
master hurried towards us. I suppose that you're the detectives
from London, said he. A look of annoyance passed over
Holmes's face. What makes you think such a thing, because
Inspector Marne from Norwich has just passed through. But maybe
you're the surgeons. She's not dead, or wasn't by last accounts.
He may be in time to save her. Yet, though
it be for the gallows. Holmes's brow was dark with anxiety.
We are going to Ridingthorpe Manor, said he. But we
have heard nothing of what has passed there. It's a
terrible business, said the station master. They are shot, both
mister Elton Kube and his wife. She shot and then herself,
So the servants say he's dead and her life is
despaired of dear, dear, one of the oldest families in
the County of Norfolk and one of the most honored.
Without a word, Holmes hurried to a carriage, and during
the long seven miles drive he never opened his mouth.
Seldom have I seen him so utterly despondent. He had
been uneasy during all our journey from town, and I
had observed that he had turned over the morning papers
with anxious attention. But now this sudden realization of his
worst fears left him in a blank melancholy. He leaned
back in his seat, lost in gloomy speculation. Yet there
was much a round to interest us, for we were
passing through as singular a countryside as any in England,
where a few scattered cottages represented the population of to day,
while on every hand enormous square towered churches bristled up
from the flat grid green landscape and told of the
glory and prosperity of old East Anglia. At last, the
violent rim of the German Ocean appeared over the green
edge of the Norfolk coast, and the driver pointed with
his whip to two old brick and timber gables which
projected from a grove of trees ers Roardingthorpe. Manor, said he.
As we drove up to the porticoed front door, I
observed in front of it, beside the tennis lawn, the
black tool house, and the pedestaled sun dial with which
we had such strange associations. A dapper little man with
a quick alert manner and a waxed mustache had just
descended from a high dog cart. He introduced himself as
Inspector Martin of the Norfolk Constabulary, and he was considerably
astonished when he heard the name of my companion. Why,
mister Holmes, the crime was only committed at three this morning?
How could you hear of it in London and get
to the spot as soon as I anticipated it? I
came in the hope of preventing it. Then you must
have important evidence of which we are ignorant, for there
was said to be a most united couple. I have
only the evidence of the dancing men, said Holmes. I
will explain the matter to you later. Meanwhile, since it
is too late to prevent this tragedy, I am very
anxious that I should use the knowledge which I possess
in order to ensure that justice be done. Will you
associate me in your investigation? Or will you prefer that
I should act independently. I should be proud to feel
that we were acting together, mister Holmes, said the inspector earnestly.
In that case, I should be glad to hear the
evidence and to examine the premises without an instant of
unnecessary delay. Inspector Martin had the good sense to allow
my friend to do things in his own fashion, and
contented himself with carefully noting the results. The local surgeon,
an old, white haired man, had just come down from
Missus Hilton Cubet's room, and he reported that her injuries
were serious, but not necessarily fatal. The bullet had passed
through the front of her brain, and it would probably
be some time before she could regain consciousness. On the
question of whether she had been shot or had shot herself,
he would not venture to express any decided opinion. Certainly,
the bullet had been discharged at very close quarters. There
was only the one pistol found in the room, two
barrels of which had been emptied. Mister Hilton Cubitt had
been shot through the heart. It was equally conceivable that
he had shot her and then himself, or that she
had been the criminal. For the revolver lay upon the
floor midway between them. Has he been moved, asked Holmes.
We have moved nothing except the lady. We could not
leave her lying wounded upon the floor. How long have
you been here, doctor, since four o'clock? Anyone else? Yes,
the constable here, and you have touched nothing nothing. You
have acted with great discretion. Who sent you the housemaid Saunders?
Was it she who gave the alarm? She and Missus King,
the cook? Where are they now in the kitchen? I
believe then? I think we'd better hear their story? At
once the old hall, oak paneled and high windowed, had
been turned into a court of investigation. Holmes sat in
a great, old fashioned chair, his inexorable eyes gleaming out
of his haggard face. I could read in them a
set purpose to devote his life to this quest, until
the client whom he had failed to save, should at
last be avenged. Trim Inspector Martin, the old gray headed
country doctor, myself, and a stolid village policeman made up
the rest of that strange company. The two women told
their story clearly enough. They had been aroused from their
sleep by the sound of an explosion, which had been
followed a minute later by a second one. They slept
in adjoining rooms, and Missus King had rushed into Saunders. Together.
They had descended the stairs. The door of the study
was open, and a candle was burning upon the table.
Their master lay upon his face in the center of
the room. He was quite dead near the window. His
wife was crouching her head leaning against the wall. She
was horribly wounded, and the side of her face was
red with blood. She breathed heavily, but was incapable of
saying anything. The passage, as well as the room, was
full of smoke and the smell of powder. The window
was certainly shut and fastened upon the inside. Both women
were positive upon the point. They had at once sent
for the doctor and for the constable. Then, with the
aid of the groom and the stable boy, they had
conveyed their injured mistress to her room. Both she and
her husband had occupied the bed. She was clad in
her dress, he in his dressing gown over his night clothes.
Nothing had been moved in the study. So far as
they knew, there had never been any quarrel between husband
and wife. They had always looked upon them as a
very united couple. These were the main points of the
servant's evidence. In answer to Inspector Martin, they were clear
that every door was fastened upon the inside, and that
no one could have escaped from the house. In answer
to Holmes, they both remembered that they were conscious of
the smell of powder from the moment that they ran
out of their rooms upon the top floor. I command
that fact very carefully to your attention, said Holmes to
his professional colleague. And now I think that we are
in a position to undertake a thorough examination of the room.
The study proved to be a small chamber, lined on
three sides with books, and with a writing table, facing
an ordinary window which looked out upon the garden. Our
first attention was given to the body of the unfortunate squire,
whose huge frame lay stretched across the room. His disordered
dress showed that he had been hastily aroused from sleep.
The bullet had been fired at him from the front
and had remained in his body after penetrating the heart.
His death had certainly been instantaneous and painless. There was
no powder marking, either upon his dressing gown or on
his hands. According to the country surgeon, the lady had
stains upon her face, but none upon her hand. The
absence of the latter means nothing, though its presence may
mean everything, said Holmes. Unless the powder from a badly
fitting cartridge happens to spurt backward, one may fire many
shots without leaving a sign. I would suggest that mister
Cubitt's body may now be removed. I suppose, doctor, you
have not recovered the bullet which wounded the lady. A
serious operation will be necessary before that can be done.
But there are still four cartridges in the revolver. Two
have been fired and two wounds inflicted, so that each
bullet can be accounted for, so it would seem, said Holmes,
perhaps you can account also for the bullet which has
so obviously struck the edge of the window. He had
turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was pointing to
a hole which had been drilled right through the lower
window sash, about an inch above the bottom by George,
cried the inspector. However, did you see that because I
looked for it? Wonderful, said the country doctor. You are
certainly right, sir. Then a third shot has been fired,
and therefore a third person must have been present. But
who could that have been, and how could he have
got away? That is the problem which we are now
about to solve, said Sherlock Holmes. You remember, Inspector Martin,
when the servants said that on leaving their room they
were at once conscious of a smell of powder. I
remarked that the point was an extremely important one. Yes, sir,
But I confess I did not quite follow you. It
suggested that at the time of the firing, the window
as well as the door of the room had been open.
Otherwise the fumes of powder could not have been blown
so rapidly through the house. A draft in the room
was necessary for that. Both door and window were only
opened for a very short time. However, how could you
prove that because the candle was not gutted? Capital, cried
the inspector. Capital, feeling sure that the window had been
open at the time of the tragedy, I conceived that
there might have been a third person in the affair
who stood outside this opening and fired through it. Any
shot directed at this person might hit the sash. I looked,
and there, sure enough was the bullet mark. But how
came the window to be shut and fastened? The woman's
first instinct would be to shut and fasten a window.
But hullo, what is this? It was a lady's hand
bag which stood upon the study table, a trim little
hand bag of crocodile skin and silver. Holmes opened it
and turned the contents out. There were twenty five pound
notes of the Bank of England, held together by an
India rubber band. Nothing else. This must be preserved, for
it will figure in the trial, said Holmes as he
handed the bag with its contents to the inspector. It
is now necessary that we should try to throw some
light upon this third bullet, which has clearly from the
splintering of the wood, been fired from inside the room.
I should like to see Missus King the cook again.
You said, Missus King, that you were awakened by a
loud explosion. When you said that, did you mean that
it seemed to you to be louder than the second one? Well, sir,
it wakened me from my sleep, so it is hard
to judge, but it did seem very loud. You don't
think that it might have been two shots fired almost
at the same instant. I'm sure I couldn't say, sir,
I believe that it was undoubtedly, So I rather think,
Inspector Martin, that we have now exhausted all that this
room can teach us. If you will kindly step round
with me, we shall see what fresh evidence the garden
has to offer. A flower bed extended up to the
study window, and we all broke into an exclamation as
we approached it. The flowers were trampled down, and the
soft soil was imprinted all over with footmarks. Large masculine
feet they were, with peculiarly long sharp toes. Homes hunted
about among the grass and leaves, like a retriever after
a wounded bird. Then, with a cry of satisfaction, he
bent forward and picked up a little brazen cylinder. I thought, so,
said he. The revolver had an ejector, and here is
the third cartridge. I really think, Inspector Martin, that our
case is almost complete. The country Inspector's face had shown
his intense amazement at the rapid and masterful progress of
Holmes's investigation. At first he had shown some disposition to
assert his own position, but now he was overcome with
admiration and ready to follow without question wherever Holmes led.
Whom do you suspect, he asked, I'll go into that later.
There are several points in this problem which I have
not been able to explain to you yet. Now that
I have got so far, I had best proceed on
my own lines and then clear the whole matter up
once and for all, just as you wish, mister Holmes.
So long as we get our man I have no
desire to make mysteries, but it is impossible at the
moment of action to enter into long and complex explanations.
I have the threads of this affair all in my hand.
Even if this lady should never recover consciousness, we can
still reconstruct the events of last night and ensure that
justice be done. First of all, I wish to know
whether there is any inn in this neighborhood known as Elridges.
Were cross questioned, but none of them had heard of
such a place. The stable boy threw a light upon
the matter by remembering that a farmer of that name
lived some miles off in the direction of East Ruston.
Is it a lonely farm, very lonely, sir? Perhaps they
have not heard yet of all that happened here during
the night. Maybe not, Sir Holmes thought for a little,
and then a curious smile played over his face. Saddle
a horse, my lad said he, I shall wish you
to take a note to Elridge's farm. He took from
his pocket the various slips of the dancing men. With
these in front of him, he worked for some time
at the study table. Finally he handed a note to
the boy with directions to put it into the hands
of the person to whom it was addressed, and especially
to answer no questions of any sort which might be
put to him. I saw the outside of the note
addressed in straggling irregul killer characters, very unlike Holmes's usual
precise hand. It was consigned to mister Abe Slaney Elridge's farm,
east Ruston, Norfolk. I think Inspector Holmes remarked that you
would do well to telegraph for an escort, as if
my calculations proved to be correct, you may have a
particularly dangerous prisoner to convey to the county jail. The
boy who takes this note could no doubt forward your telegram.
If there is an afternoon train to town, Watson, I
think we should do well to take it, as I
have a chemical analysis of some interest to finish, and
this investigation draws rapidly to a close. When the youth
had been dispatched with the note, Sherlock Holmes gave his
instructions to the servants. If any visitor were to call
asking for missus Hilton Cubit, no information should be given
as to her condition, but he was to be shown
at once into the drawing room. He impressed these points
upon them with the utmost earnestness. Finally, he led the
way into the drawing room with the remark that the
business was now out of our hands, and that we
must while away the time as best we might, until
we could see what was in store for us. The
doctor had departed to his patients, and only the Inspector
and myself remained. I think that I can help you
to pass an hour in an interesting and profitable manner,
said Holmes, drawing his chair up to the table and
spreading out in front of him the various papers upon
which were recorded the antics of the dancing men. As
to you, friend Watson, I owe you every atonement for
having allowed your natural curiosity to remain so long unsatisfied.
To you, Inspector, the whole incident may appeal as a
remarkable professional study. I must tell you first of all
the interesting circumstances connected with the previous consultations which mister
Hilton Cubit had with me in Baker Street. He then
shortly recapitulated the facts which have already been recorded. I
have here in front of me these singular productions at
which one might smile had they not proved themselves to
be the forerunners of so terrible a tragedy. I am
fairly familiar with all forms of secret writings, and are
myself the author of a trifling monograph upon the subject,
in which I analyze one hundred and sixty separate ciphers.
But I confess that this is entirely new to me.
The object of those who invented the system has apparently
been to conceal that these characters convey a message, and
to give the idea that they are the mere random
sketches of children. Having once recognized, however, that the symbols
stood for letters, and having applied the rules which guide
us in all forms of secret writings, the solution was
easy enough. The first message submitted to me was so
short that it was impossible for me to do more
than to say with some confidence that the symbol x
x X stood for E. As you are aware, E
is the most common letter in the English alphabet, and
it predominates to so marked an extent that even in
a short sentence, one would expect to find it most often.
Out of fifteen symbols in the first message, four were
the same. So it was reasonable to set this down
as E. It is true that in some cases the
figure was bearing a flag and in some cases not,
but it was probable from the way in which the
flags were distributed that they were used to break the
sentence up into words. I accepted this as a hypothesis,
and noted that E was represented by x x X.
But now came the real difficulty of the inquiry. The
order of the English letters after E is by no
means well marked, and any preponderance which may be shown
in an average of a printed sheet may be reversed
in a single short sentence, speaking roughly, T A O, I, N, S, H, R, D,
and L are the numerical order in which letters occur.
But T, A, O and I are very nearly abreast
of each other, and it would be an endless task
to try each combination until a meaning was arrived at.
I therefore waited for fresh material. In my second interview
with mister Hilton Cubit, he was able to give me
two other short sentences and one message, which appeared since
there was no flag to be a single word. Here
are the symbols now in the single word, I've already
got the two e's coming. Second and fourth in a
word of five letters, it might be sever or lever,
or never. There can be no question that the latter,
as a reply to an appeal, is far the most probable,
and the circumstances pointed to its being a reply written
by the lady. Accepting it as correct, we are now
able to say that the symbols stand respectively for N,
V and R. Even now I was in considerable difficulty,
but a happy thought put me in possession of several
other letters. It occurred to me that if these appeals
came as I expected from someone who had been intimate
with the lady in her early life, a combination which
contained two e's with three letters between might very well
stand for the name Els. On examination, I found that
such a combination formed the termination of the message, which
was three times repeated. It was certainly some appeal to Els.
In this way I had got my l S and
I what appeal could it be? There were only four
letters in the word which preceded L C, and it
ended in E. Surely the word must be come. I
tried all other four letters ending in E, but could
find none to fit the case. So now I was
in possession of C, O, and M and I was
in a position to attack the first message once more,
dividing it into words and putting dots for each symbol
which was still unknown. So treated it worked out in
this fashion M space dot e r space dot dot
e space s l dot n e dot. Now the
first letter can only be A, which is a most
useful discovery, since it occurs no fewer than three times
in this short sentence, and the H is also apparent
in the second word. Now it becomes m here a
dot e slain or, filling in the obvious vacancies in
the name m here abe slainey. I had so many
letters now that I could proceed with considerable confidence to
the second message, which worked out in this fashion A
dot space e l r I dot space e s here.
I could only make sense by putting T and g
for the missing letters, and supposing that the name was
that of some house or inn which the writer was staying.
Inspector Martin and I had listened with the utmost interest
to the full and clear account of how my friend
had produced results which had led to so complete a
command over our difficulties. What did you do, then, sir,
asked the Inspector. I had every reason to suppose that
this Abe Slainey was an American, since Abe is an
American contraction, and since the letter from America had been
the starting point of all the trouble, I had also
every cause to think that there was some criminal secret
in the matter. The lady's allusions to her past and
her refusal to take her husband into her confidence both
pointed in that direction. I therefore cabled to my friend
Wilson Hargreave of the New York Police Bureau, who has
more than once made his use of my knowledge of
London crime. I asked him whether the name of Abe
Slainey was known to him. Here is his reply, the
most dangerous crook in Chicago. On the very evening upon
which I had his answer, Hilton Cubitt sent me the
last message from Slaney. Working with known letters, it took
this form elsie dot r E dot A R E
space to meet thy go. The addition of a P
and a D completed a message which showed me that
the rascal was proceeding from persuasion to threats, and my
knowledge of the crooks of Chicago prepared me to find
that he might very rapidly put his words into action.
I at once came to Norfolk with my friend and colleague,
doctor Watson, but unhappily, only in time to find that
the worst had already occurred. It is a privilege to
be associated with you in a handling of a case,
said the inspector warmly. You will excuse me. However, if
I speak frankly to you, you are only answerable to yourself.
But I have to answer to my superiors. If this
Abe Slaney living at Elridge's is indeed the murderer, and
if he has made his escape while I am seated here,
I should certainly get into serious trouble. You need not
be uneasy. He will not try to escape. How do
you know to fly would be a confession of guilt.
Then let us go arrest him. I expect him here
every instant. But why should he come because I have
written and asked him? But this is incredible, mister Holmes.
Why should he come because you have asked him? Would
not such a request rather rouse his suspicions and cause
him to fly? I think I have known how to
frame the letter, said Sherlock Holmes. In fact, if I
am not very much mistaken. Here is the gentleman himself
coming up the drive. A man was striding up the
path which led to the door. He was a tall, handsome,
swarthy fellow, clad in a suit of gray flannel, with
a panama hat, a bristling black beard, and a great,
aggressive hooked nose, and flourishing a cane as he walked.
He swaggered up a path as if the place belonged
to him, and we heard his loud, confident peal at
the bell. I think, gentlemen, said Holmes quietly, that we
had best take up our position behind the door. Every
precaution is necessary when dealing with such a fellow. You
will need your handcuffs. Inspector, you can leave the talking
to me. We waited in silence for a minute, one
of those minutes which one could never forget. Then the
door opened and the man stepped in. In an instant,
Holmes clapped a pistol to his head, and Martin slipped
the handcuffs over his wrists. It was all done so
swiftly and deftly that the fellow was helpless Before he
knew that he was attacked. He glared from one to
the other of us with a pair of blazing black eyes,
and he burst into a bitter laugh. Well, gentlemen, you
have the drop on me, this tame. I seem to
have knocked up against something hard. But I came here
in answer to a letter from missus Hilton Cubit. Don't
tell me that she is in this. Don't tell me
that she helped to set a trap for me. Missus
Hilton Cubit was seriously injured and is at death's door.
The man gave a hoarse cry of grief, which rang
through the house. You're crazy, he cried fiercely. It was
he that was hurt, not she who would have hurt
little Elsie. I may have threatened her, God forgive me,
but I would not have touched a hair of her hair.
Pretty head. Take it back, you say that she is
not hurt. She was found badly wounded by the side
of her dead husband. He sank with a deep groan
on the settee and buried his face in his manacled hands.
For five minutes he was silent. Then he raised his
face once more and spoke with a cold composure of despair.
I have nothing to hide from you, gentlemen, said he.
If I shot the man he had as shut up me,
and there's no no murder in that. But if you
think I could have hurt that woman, then you don't
know either me or her. I tell you there was
never a man in this world loved a woman more
than I loved her. I had a right to her.
She was pledged to me years ago. Who was this
englishman that he should come between us. I tell you
that I had the first right to her, and that
I was only claiming my own. She broke away from
your influence when she found the man that you are,
said Holmes sternly. She fled from America to avoid you,
and she married an honorable gentleman in England. You dogged
her and followed her, and made her life a misery
to her in order to induce her to abandon the
husband whom she loved and respected, in order to fly
with you, whom she feared and hated. You have ended
by bringing about the death of a noble man and
driving his wife to suicide. That is your record in
this business, mister Abe Slaney, and you will answer for
it to the law if Elsie dies. I care nothing
what becomes of me, said the American. He opened one
of his hands and looked at a note crumpled up
in his palm. See here, mister, he cried, with a
gleam of suspicion in his eyes. You're not trying to
scare me over this, are you? If the lady has
heard as bad as you say, who was it that
wrote this note? He tossed it forward on to the table.
I wrote it to bring you here. You wrote it.
There was no one on earth outside the joint who
knew the secret of the dancing men? How came you
to write it? What one man can invent, another can discover?
Said Holmes. There is a cab coming to convey you
to Norwich, mister Slaney. But meanwhile you have time to
make some small reparation for the injury you have wrought.
Are you aware that missus Hilton Cubit has herself lain
under grave suspicion of the murder of her husband, and
that it was only my presence here and the knowledge
which I happened to possess, which has saved her from
the accusation. The least that you owe her is to
make it clear to the whole world that she was
in no way directly or indirectly responsible for his tragic end.
I asked nothing better, said the American. I guess the
very best case I can make for myself is the
absolute naked truth. It is my duty to warn you
that it will be used against you, cried the inspector,
with the magnificent fair play of the British criminal law.
Slainy shrugged his shoulders. I'll chance that, said he. First
of all, I want you, gentlemen, to understand that I
have known this lady since she was a child. There
were seven of us in a gang in Chicago, and
Elsie's father was the boss of thet He was a
clever man, was Old Patrick, who as he who had
invented that writing which would pass as a child's scrawl
unless she just happened to have the key to it. Well,
Elsie learned some of our ways, but she couldn't stand
the business, and she had a bit of honest money
of her own, so she gave us all the slip
and got away to London. She'd been engaged to me,
and she would have married me, I believe, if i'd
taken over another profession. But she would have nothing to
do with anything on the cross. It was only after
a marriage to this Englishman that I was able to
find out where she was. I wrote to her but
got no answer. After that, I came over and A's
letters were no use. I put my messages where she
could read them. Well, I've been here a month now.
I lived in that farm where I had a room
down below, could get in and out every night, and
no one the wiser. I tried all I could to
coax Elsie a way. I knew that she read the messages.
For once she wrote an answer under one of them.
Then my temper got the better of me, and I
began to threaten her. She sent me a letter then,
imploring me to go away, and saying that it could
break her heart if any scandal should come upon her husband.
She said that she would come down when her husband
was asleep at three in the morning and speak with
me through the end window if I would go away
afterwards and leave her in peace. She came down and
brought money with her, trying to bribe me to go.
This made me mad, and I caught her arm and
tried to pull her through the window. At that moment,
in rushed her husband with his revolver in his hand.
Elsie had sunk down upon the floor, and we were
face to face. I was healed also, and I held
up my gun to scare him off and let me
get away. He fired and missed me. I pulled off
almost at the same instant, and down he dropped. I
made away across the garden, and as I went I
heard the window shut behind me. That's God's truth, gentlemen,
every word of it. And I heard no more about
it until that lad came riding up with a note
which made me walk in here like a jay and
give myself into your hands. A cab had drawn up
whilst the American had been talking. Two uniformed policemen sat inside.
Inspector Martin rose and touched his prisoner on the shoulder.
It's time for us to go. Can I see her first? No,
she is not conscious, mister Sherlock holmbs. I only hope
that if ever again I have an important case, I
shall have the good fortune to have you by my side.
We stood at the window and watched the cab drive away.
As I turned back, my eye caught the pellet of
paper which the prisoner had tossed upon the table. It
was the note with which Holmes had decoyed him. See
if you can read it, Watson said he with a smile.
It contained no word but a little line of dancing men.
If you use the code which I have explained, said Holmes,
you will find that it simply means come here. At
once I was convinced that it was an invitation which
he would not refuse, since he could never imagine that
it could come from any one but the lady. And so,
my dear Watson, we have ended by turning the dancing
men to good, when they have so often been the
agents of evil. And I think that I have fulfilled
my promise of giving you something unusual for your note book.
Three forty is our train, and I fancy we should
be back in Baker Street for dinner. Only one word
of epilog. The American Abe Slaney was condemned to death
at the Winter Assizes at Norwich, but his penalty was
changed to penal servitude in consideration of mitigating circumstances and
the certainty that Hilton Cubit had fired the first shot
of missus Hilton Cubit. I only know that I have
heard she recovered entirely, and that she still remains a widow,
devoting her whole life to the care of the poor
and to the administration of her husband's estate. End of
the Adventure of the Dancing Men,