Speaker 1: The final problem. It is with a heavy heart that
Speaker 1: I take up my pen to write these the last
Speaker 1: words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts
Speaker 1: by which my friend mister Sherlock Holmes was distinguished in
Speaker 1: an incoherent and, as I deeply feel, an entirely inadequate fashion.
Speaker 1: I have endeavored to give some account of my strange
Speaker 1: experiences in his company, from the chance which first brought
Speaker 1: us together at the period of the study in Scarlet,
Speaker 1: up to the time of his interference in the matter
Speaker 1: of the Naval Treaty, an interference which had the unquestionable
Speaker 1: effect of preventing a serious international complication. It was my
Speaker 1: intention to have stopped there and to have said nothing
Speaker 1: of that event, which has created a void in my
Speaker 1: life which the lapse of two years has done little
Speaker 1: to fill. My hand has been forced, however, by the
Speaker 1: recent letters in which Colonel James Moriarty defends the memory
Speaker 1: of his brother, no choice but to lay the facts
Speaker 1: before the public exactly as they occurred. I alone know
Speaker 1: the absolute truth of the matter, and I am satisfied
Speaker 1: that the time has come when no good purpose is
Speaker 1: to be served by its suppression. As far as I know,
Speaker 1: there have been only three accounts in the public press,
Speaker 1: that in the Jean Val de Geneve on May sixth,
Speaker 1: eighteen ninety one, the Reuter's Dispatch in the English papers
Speaker 1: on May seventh, and finally the recent letter to which
Speaker 1: I have alluded. Of these, the first and second were
Speaker 1: extremely condensed, while the last is, as I shall now show,
Speaker 1: an absolute perversion of the facts. It lies with me
Speaker 1: to tell for the first time what really took place
Speaker 1: between Professor Moriarty and mister Sherlock Holmes. It may be
Speaker 1: remembered that after my marriage and my subsequent start in
Speaker 1: private practice, the very intimate relations which had existed between
Speaker 1: Holmes and myself became, to some extent modified. He still
Speaker 1: came to me from time to time when he desired
Speaker 1: a companion in his investigation, but these occasions grew more
Speaker 1: and more seldom, until I found that in the year
Speaker 1: eighteen ninety there were only three cases of which I
Speaker 1: retain any record. During the winter of that year and
Speaker 1: the early spring of eighteen ninety one, I saw in
Speaker 1: the papers that he had been engaged by the French
Speaker 1: government upon a matter of supreme importance, and I received
Speaker 1: two notes from homes dated from Nalboonne and from Nim,
Speaker 1: from which I gathered that his stay in France was
Speaker 1: likely to be a long one. It was with some surprise, therefore,
Speaker 1: that I saw him walk into my consulting room upon
Speaker 1: the evening of April twenty fourth. It struck me that
Speaker 1: he was looking even paler and thinner than usual. Yes,
Speaker 1: I have been using myself up rather too freely, he remarked,
Speaker 1: in answer to my look, rather than to my words.
Speaker 1: I have been a little pressed of late. Have you
Speaker 1: any objection to my closing your shutters? The only light
Speaker 1: in the room came from the lamp upon the table
Speaker 1: at which I had been reading. Holmes edged his way
Speaker 1: round the wall, and, flinging the shutters together, he bolted
Speaker 1: them securely. You are afraid of something, I asked, well,
Speaker 1: I am of what of air guns? My dear Holmes,
Speaker 1: What do you mean? I think that you know me
Speaker 1: well enough Watson to understand that I am, by no
Speaker 1: means a nervous man. At the same time, it is stupidity,
Speaker 1: rather than courage, to refuse to recognize danger when it
Speaker 1: is close upon you. Might I trouble you for a match?
Speaker 1: He drew in the smoke of his cigarette, as if
Speaker 1: the soothing influence was grateful to him. I must apologize
Speaker 1: for calling so late, said he. And I must further
Speaker 1: beg you to be so unconventional as to allow me
Speaker 1: to leave your house presently by scrambling over your back
Speaker 1: garden wall. But what does it all mean? I asked.
Speaker 1: He held out his hand, and I saw in the
Speaker 1: light of the lamp that two of his knuckles were
Speaker 1: burst and bleeding. It is not an airy nothing, you see,
Speaker 1: said he, smiling. On the contrary, it is solid enough
Speaker 1: for a man to break his hand over is missus
Speaker 1: Watson in she is away upon a visit? Indeed, you
Speaker 1: are alone quite then it makes it easier for me
Speaker 1: to propose that you should come away with me for
Speaker 1: a week to the continent, where, oh anywhere. It's all
Speaker 1: the same to me. There was something very strange in
Speaker 1: all this. It was not Holmes's nature to take an
Speaker 1: aimless holiday, and something about his pale, worn face told
Speaker 1: me that his nerves were at their highest tension. He
Speaker 1: saw the question in my eyes, and, putting his finger
Speaker 1: tips together and his elbows upon his knees, he explained
Speaker 1: the situation. You have probably never heard of Professor Moriarty
Speaker 1: said he never Aye. There's the genius and the wonder
Speaker 1: of the thing, he cried. The man pervades London and
Speaker 1: no one has heard of him. That's what puts him
Speaker 1: on a pinnacle in the records of crime. I tell you, Watson,
Speaker 1: in all seriousness, that if I could beat that man,
Speaker 1: if I could free society of him, I should feel
Speaker 1: that my own career had reached its summit, and I
Speaker 1: should be prepared to turn to some more placid line
Speaker 1: in life between ourselves. The recent cases in which I
Speaker 1: have been of assistance to the Royal family of Scandinavia
Speaker 1: and to the French Republic have left me in such
Speaker 1: a position that I could continue to live in the
Speaker 1: quiet fashion which is most congenial to me, and to
Speaker 1: concentrate my attention upon my chemical researches. But I could
Speaker 1: not rest Watson. I could not sit quiet in my
Speaker 1: chair if I thought that such a man as Professor
Speaker 1: Moriarty were walking the streets of London unchallenged. What has
Speaker 1: he done? Then? His career has been an extraordinary one.
Speaker 1: He is a man of good birth and excellent education,
Speaker 1: endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the
Speaker 1: age of twenty one, he wrote a treatise upon the
Speaker 1: binomial theorem, which has had a European vogue. On the
Speaker 1: strength of it, he won the mathematical chair at one
Speaker 1: of our smaller universities, and had, to all appearances, a
Speaker 1: most brilliant career before him. But the man had hereditary
Speaker 1: tendencies of the most diabolical kind. A criminal strain ran
Speaker 1: in his blood, which, instead of being modified, was increased
Speaker 1: and rendered infinitely more dangerous by his extraordinary mental powers.
Speaker 1: Dark rumors gathered round him in the university town, and
Speaker 1: eventually he was compelled to resign his chair and to
Speaker 1: come down to London, where he set up as an
Speaker 1: army coach. So much is known to the world, but
Speaker 1: what I am telling you now is what I have
Speaker 1: myself discovered. As you are aware, Watson, there is no
Speaker 1: one who knows the higher criminal world of London so
Speaker 1: well as I do. For years past, I have continually
Speaker 1: been conscious of some power behind the malefactor, some deep
Speaker 1: organizing power which forever stands in the way of the
Speaker 1: law and throws its shield over the wrong doer again
Speaker 1: and again. In cases of the most varying sorts forgery cases, robberies, murders.
Speaker 1: I have felt the presence of this force, and I
Speaker 1: have deduced its action in many of those undiscovered crimes
Speaker 1: in which I have not been personally consulted. For years,
Speaker 1: I have endeavored to break through the veil which shrouded it.
Speaker 1: And at last the time came when I see my
Speaker 1: thread and followed it until it led me after a
Speaker 1: thousand cunning windings to ex Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity,
Speaker 1: he is the Napoleon of crime Watson. He is the
Speaker 1: organizer of half that is evil and nearly all that
Speaker 1: is undetected in this great city. He is a genius,
Speaker 1: a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of
Speaker 1: the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in
Speaker 1: the center of its web. But that web has a
Speaker 1: thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each
Speaker 1: of them. He does little himself, He only plans, but
Speaker 1: his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Is there a
Speaker 1: crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we
Speaker 1: will say, a house to be rifled, a man to
Speaker 1: be removed? The word is pasted to the Professor. The
Speaker 1: matter is organized and carried out. The agent may be caught.
Speaker 1: In that case money is found for his bail or
Speaker 1: his defense, but the central power which uses the agent
Speaker 1: is never caught, never so much as suspected. This was
Speaker 1: the organization which I deduced, Watson, and which I devoted
Speaker 1: my whole energy to exposing and breaking up. But the
Speaker 1: Professor was fenced around with safeguards so cunningly devised that
Speaker 1: do what I would, it seemed impossible to get evidence
Speaker 1: which would convict in a court of law. You know
Speaker 1: my powers, my dear Watson. And yet at the end
Speaker 1: of three months I was forced to confess that I
Speaker 1: had at last met an antagonist who was my intellectual equal.
Speaker 1: My horror at his crimes was lost in my admiration
Speaker 1: at his skill. But at last he made a trip,
Speaker 1: only a little little trip, but it was more than
Speaker 1: he could afford. When I was so close upon him,
Speaker 1: I had my chance, And starting from that point I
Speaker 1: have woven my net around him, until now it is
Speaker 1: all ready to close. In three days, that is to say,
Speaker 1: on Monday, next matters will be ripe, and the Professor,
Speaker 1: with all the principal members of his gang will be
Speaker 1: in the hands of the police. Then will come the
Speaker 1: greatest criminal trial of the century, the clearing up of
Speaker 1: over forty mysteries, and the rope for all of them.
Speaker 1: But if we move at all prematurely, you understand, they
Speaker 1: may slip out of our hands, even at the last moment. Now,
Speaker 1: if I could have done this without the knowledge of
Speaker 1: Professor Moriarty, all would have been well. But he was
Speaker 1: too wily for that. He saw every step which I
Speaker 1: took to draw my toils round him. Again and again
Speaker 1: he strove to break away, but I as often headed
Speaker 1: him off. I tell you, my friend, that if a
Speaker 1: detailed account of that silent contest could be written, it
Speaker 1: would take its place as the most brilliant bit of
Speaker 1: thrust and parry work in the history of detection. Never
Speaker 1: have I risen to such a height, and never have
Speaker 1: I been so hard pressed by an opponent. He cut deep,
Speaker 1: and yet I just undercut him. This morning, the last
Speaker 1: steps were taken, and three days only were wanted to
Speaker 1: complete the business. I was sitting in my room, thinking
Speaker 1: the matter over, when the door opened and Professor Moriarty
Speaker 1: stood before me. My nerves are fairly proof, Watson, but
Speaker 1: I must confess to a start. When I saw the
Speaker 1: very man who's been so much in my thoughts standing
Speaker 1: there on my threshold, his appearance was quite familiar to me.
Speaker 1: He is extremely tall and thin. His forehead domes out
Speaker 1: in a white curve, and his two eyes are deeply
Speaker 1: sunken in his head. He's clean shaven, pale, and acetic looking,
Speaker 1: retaining something of the professor in his feature. His shoulders
Speaker 1: around it from much study, and his face protrudes forward
Speaker 1: and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in
Speaker 1: a curiously reptilian fashion. He peered at me with great
Speaker 1: curiosity in his puckered eyes. You have less frontal development
Speaker 1: than I should have expected, said he at last. It
Speaker 1: is a dangerous habit to finger loaded firearms in the
Speaker 1: pocket of one's dressing gown. The fact is that upon
Speaker 1: his entrance I had instantly recognized the extreme personal danger
Speaker 1: in which I lay. The only conceivable escape for him
Speaker 1: lay in silencing my tongue. In an instant I had
Speaker 1: slipped the revolver from the drawer into my pocket and
Speaker 1: was covering him through the cloth. At this remark, I
Speaker 1: drew the weapon out and laid it cocked upon the table.
Speaker 1: He still smiled and blinked, but there was something about
Speaker 1: his eyes which made me feel very glad that I
Speaker 1: had it there. You evidently don't know me, said he.
Speaker 1: On the contrary, I answered, I think it is fairly
Speaker 1: evident that I do pray. Take a chair. I can
Speaker 1: spare you five minutes if you have anything to say.
Speaker 1: All that I have to say has already crossed your mind,
Speaker 1: said he. Then, possibly my answer has crossed yours, I replied,
Speaker 1: you stand fast. Absolutely. He clapped his hand into his pocket,
Speaker 1: and I raised the pistol from the table. But he
Speaker 1: merely drew out a memorandum book in which she had
Speaker 1: scribbled some dates. You crossed my path on the fourth
Speaker 1: of January, said he. On the twenty third, you incommoded me.
Speaker 1: By the middle of February, I was seriously inconvenienced by you.
Speaker 1: At the end of March I was absolutely hampered in
Speaker 1: my plans. And now at the c of April, I
Speaker 1: find myself placed in such a position through your continual persecution,
Speaker 1: that I am in positive danger of losing my liberty.
Speaker 1: The situation is becoming an impossible one. Have you any
Speaker 1: suggestion to make I asked, you must drop it, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: said he, swaying his face about you really must you
Speaker 1: know after Monday, said I. Tut tut, said he. I
Speaker 1: am quite sure that a man of your intelligence will
Speaker 1: see that there can be but one outcome to this affair.
Speaker 1: It is necessary that you should withdraw. You have worked
Speaker 1: things in such a fashion that we have only one
Speaker 1: resource left. It has been an intellectual treat to me
Speaker 1: to see the way in which you have grappled with
Speaker 1: this affair. And I say, unaffectedly that it would be
Speaker 1: a grief to me to be forced to take any
Speaker 1: extreme measure. You smile, sir, but I assure you that
Speaker 1: it really would. Danger is part of my trade. I remarked.
Speaker 1: That is not danger, said he, It is inevitable destruction.
Speaker 1: You stand in the way, not merely of an individual,
Speaker 1: but of a mighty organization, the full extent of which you,
Speaker 1: with all your cleverness, have been unable to realize. You
Speaker 1: must stand clear, mister Holmes, or be trodden under foot.
Speaker 1: I am afraid, said I, rising, as in the pleasure
Speaker 1: of this conversation, I am neglecting business of importance which
Speaker 1: awaits me elsewhere. He rose also and looked at me
Speaker 1: in silence, shaking his head sadly. Well well, said he
Speaker 1: at last. It seems a pity, But I have done
Speaker 1: what I could. I know every move of your game.
Speaker 1: You can do nothing before Monday. It has been a
Speaker 1: duel between you and me. Mister Holmes. You hope to
Speaker 1: place me in the dock. I tell you that I
Speaker 1: will never stand in the dock. You hope to beat me.
Speaker 1: I tell you that you will never beat me. If
Speaker 1: you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me. Rest
Speaker 1: assured that I shall do as much to you. You
Speaker 1: have paid me several compliments, mister Moriarty, said, I let
Speaker 1: me pay you one in return. When I say that,
Speaker 1: if I were assured of the former eventuality, I would,
Speaker 1: in the interests of the public, cheerfully accept the latter.
Speaker 1: I can promise you the one, but not the other.
Speaker 1: He snarled, and so turned his rounded back upon me
Speaker 1: and went peering and blinking out of the room. That
Speaker 1: was my singular interview with Professor Moriarty. I confess that
Speaker 1: it left an unpleasant effect upon my mind. His soft,
Speaker 1: precise fashion of speech leaves a conviction of sincerity which
Speaker 1: a mere bully could not produce. Of course, you will
Speaker 1: say why not take police precautions against him? The reason
Speaker 1: is that I am well convinced that it is from
Speaker 1: his agents the blow will fall. I have the best
Speaker 1: proofs that it would be, so you've already been assaulted,
Speaker 1: my dear Watson. Professor Moriarty is not a man who
Speaker 1: lets the grass grow under his feet. I went out
Speaker 1: about midday to transact some business in Oxford Street. As
Speaker 1: I passed the corner which leads from Bentinck Street on
Speaker 1: to the Welbeck Street crossing, a two horse van furiously driven,
Speaker 1: whizzed round and was on me like a flash. I
Speaker 1: sprang for the footpath and saved myself by the fraction
Speaker 1: of a second. The van dashed round by Marlburne Lay
Speaker 1: and was gone in an instant. I kept the pavement
Speaker 1: after that, Watson, But as I walked down Via Street,
Speaker 1: a brick came down from the roof of one of
Speaker 1: the houses and was shattered to fragments at my feet.
Speaker 1: I called the police and had the place examined. There
Speaker 1: were slates and bricks piled up on the roof preparatory
Speaker 1: to some repairs, and they would of me believe that
Speaker 1: the wind had toppled over one of these. Of course
Speaker 1: I knew better, but I could prove nothing. I took
Speaker 1: a cab after that and reached my brother's rooms in
Speaker 1: Pall Mall, where I spent the day. Now I have
Speaker 1: come round to you, and on my way I was
Speaker 1: attacked by a ruff with a bludgeon. I knocked him down,
Speaker 1: and the police have him in custody. But I can
Speaker 1: tell you with the most absolute confidence that no possible
Speaker 1: connection will ever be traced between the gentlemen upon whose
Speaker 1: front teeth I have barked my knuckles, and the retiring
Speaker 1: mathematical coach who is I dare say, working out problems
Speaker 1: upon a blackboard ten miles away. You will not wonder, Watson,
Speaker 1: that my first act on entering your rooms was to
Speaker 1: close your shutters, and that I have been compelled to
Speaker 1: ask your permission to leave the house by some less
Speaker 1: conspicuous exit than the front door. I had often admired
Speaker 1: my friend's courage, but never more than now, as he
Speaker 1: sat quietly checking off a series of incidents which must
Speaker 1: have combined to make up a day of horror. You
Speaker 1: will spend the night here, I said, no, My friend,
Speaker 1: you might find me a dangerous guest. I have my
Speaker 1: plans laid, and all will be well. Matters have gone
Speaker 1: so far now that they can move without my help
Speaker 1: as far as the arrest goes. Though my presence is
Speaker 1: necessary for a conviction. It is obvious therefore that I
Speaker 1: cannot do better than get away for the few days
Speaker 1: which remain before the police are at liberty to act.
Speaker 1: It would be a great pleasure to me. Therefore, if
Speaker 1: you would come on to the continent with me. The
Speaker 1: practice is quiet, said I, and I have an accommodating neighbor.
Speaker 1: I shall be glad to come and to start to
Speaker 1: morrow morning if necessary. Oh, yes, it is most necessary.
Speaker 1: Then these are your instructions, and I beg my dear Watson,
Speaker 1: that you will obey them to the letter, for you
Speaker 1: are now playing a double handed game with me against
Speaker 1: the cleverest rogue and the most powerful syndicate of criminals
Speaker 1: in Europe. Now listen, you will despatch whatever luggage you
Speaker 1: intend to take by a trusty messenger unaddressed to Victoria
Speaker 1: to night. In the morning you will send for a hansom,
Speaker 1: desiring your man to take neither the first nor the second,
Speaker 1: which may present itself into this hansom. You will jump,
Speaker 1: and you will drive to the strand end of the
Speaker 1: louther arcade, handing the addressed the cabman upon a slip
Speaker 1: of paper, with a request that you will not throw
Speaker 1: it away, have your fare ready, and the instant that
Speaker 1: your cab stops. Dashed through the arcade, timing yourself to
Speaker 1: reach the other side. At a quarter past nine, you
Speaker 1: will find a small brougham waiting close to the curb,
Speaker 1: driven by a fellow with a heavy black cloak tipped
Speaker 1: at the collar with red. Into this you will step,
Speaker 1: and you will reach Victoria in time for the Continental Express.
Speaker 1: Where shall I meet you at the station? The second
Speaker 1: first class carriage from the front will be reserved for us.
Speaker 1: The carriage is our rendezvous. Then, yes, it was in
Speaker 1: vain that I asked Holmes to remain for the evening.
Speaker 1: It was evident to me that he thought he might
Speaker 1: bring trouble to the roof he was under, and that
Speaker 1: that was the motive which impelled him to go. With
Speaker 1: a few hurried words as to our plans for the morrow,
Speaker 1: he rose and came came out with me into the garden,
Speaker 1: clambering over the wall which leads into Mortimer Street and
Speaker 1: immediately whistling for a hansom, in which I heard him
Speaker 1: drive away. In the morning. I obeyed Holmes's injunction to
Speaker 1: the letter, a hansom was procured with such precaution as
Speaker 1: would prevent its being one which was placed ready for us,
Speaker 1: and I drove immediately after breakfast to the louther arcade,
Speaker 1: through which I hurried at the top of my speed.
Speaker 1: Abruugham was waiting with a very massive driver wrapped in
Speaker 1: a dark cloak, who the instant that I had stepped in,
Speaker 1: whipped up the horse and rattled off to Victoria station.
Speaker 1: On my alighting there, he turned the carriage and dashed
Speaker 1: away again without so much as a look in my direction.
Speaker 1: So far all had gone admirably. My luggage was waiting
Speaker 1: for me, and I had no difficulty in finding the
Speaker 1: carriage which Holmes had indicated, the less so as it
Speaker 1: was the only one in the train which was my engaged.
Speaker 1: My only source of anxiety now was the non appearance
Speaker 1: of homes. The station clock marked only seven minutes from
Speaker 1: the time when we were due to start in Vain.
Speaker 1: I searched among the groups of travelers and leave takers
Speaker 1: for the lithe figure of my friend, there was no
Speaker 1: sign of him. I spent a few minutes in assisting
Speaker 1: a venerable Italian priest who was endeavoring to make a
Speaker 1: porter understand in his broken English that his luggage was
Speaker 1: to be booked through to Paris. Then, having taken another
Speaker 1: look around, I returned to my carriage, where I found
Speaker 1: that the porter, in spite of the ticket, had given
Speaker 1: me my decrepit Italian friend as a traveling companion. It
Speaker 1: was useless for me to explain to him that his
Speaker 1: presence was an intrusion, for my Italian was even more
Speaker 1: limited than his English. So I shrugged my shoulders resignedly,
Speaker 1: and continued to look out anxiously for my friend. A
Speaker 1: chill of fear had come over me, as I thought
Speaker 1: that his absence might mean that some blow had fallen
Speaker 1: during the night. Already the doors had all been shut
Speaker 1: and the whistle blown. When my dear Watson said a
Speaker 1: voice you have not even condescended to say good morning.
Speaker 1: I turned in uncontrollable astonishment. The aged ecclesiastic had turned
Speaker 1: his face towards me for an instant. The wrinkles were
Speaker 1: smoothed away, the nose drew away from the chin. The
Speaker 1: lower lips ceased to protrude, and the mouth to mumble.
Speaker 1: The dull eyes regained their fire. The drooping figure expanded.
Speaker 1: The next the whole frame collapsed again, and Holmes had
Speaker 1: gone as quickly as he had come. Good Heavens, I cried,
Speaker 1: how you startle me? Every precaution is still necessary, he whispered.
Speaker 1: I have reason and to think that they are hot
Speaker 1: upon our trail. Ah, there is Moriarty himself. The train
Speaker 1: had already begun to move as Holmes spoke. Glancing back,
Speaker 1: I saw a tall man pushing his way furiously through
Speaker 1: the crowd, and waving his hand as if he desired
Speaker 1: to have the train stopped. It was too late, however,
Speaker 1: for we were rapidly gathering momentum, and an instant later
Speaker 1: had shot clear of the station. With all our precautions.
Speaker 1: You see that we have cut it rather fine, said Holmes, laughing.
Speaker 1: He rose, and throwing off the black cassock and hat
Speaker 1: which had formed his disguise, he packed them away in
Speaker 1: a hand bag. Have you seen the morning paper, Watson? No,
Speaker 1: you haven't seen about Baker Street. Then Baker Street. They
Speaker 1: set fire to our rooms last night. No great harm
Speaker 1: was done. Good Heavens Holmes. This is intolerable. They must
Speaker 1: have lost my track completely after their bludgeon man was arrested.
Speaker 1: Otherwise they could not have imagined that I had returned
Speaker 1: to my rooms. They have evidently taken the precaution of
Speaker 1: watching you, however, and that is what has brought Moriarty
Speaker 1: to Victoria. You could not have made any slip in coming.
Speaker 1: I did exactly what you advised. Did you find your Brupham, Yes,
Speaker 1: it was waiting. Did you recognize your coachman, No, it
Speaker 1: was my brother Microft. It is an advantage to get
Speaker 1: about in such a case without taking a mercenary into
Speaker 1: your confidence. But we must plan what we are to
Speaker 1: do about Moriarty. Now. As this is an express and
Speaker 1: as the boat runs in connection with it, I should
Speaker 1: think we've shaken him off very effectively. My dear Watson,
Speaker 1: you evidently did not realize my meaning when I said
Speaker 1: that this man may be taken as being quite on
Speaker 1: the same intellectual place as myself. You do not imagine
Speaker 1: that if I were the pursuer, I should allow myself
Speaker 1: to be baffled by so slight an obstacle. Why then,
Speaker 1: should you think so meanly of him? What will he
Speaker 1: do what I should do? What would you do? Then?
Speaker 1: Engage a special But it must be late by no means.
Speaker 1: This train stops at Canterbury, and there is always at
Speaker 1: least a quarter of an hour's delay at the boat.
Speaker 1: He will catch us there. One would think that we
Speaker 1: were the criminals. Let us have him arrested on his arrival.
Speaker 1: It would be to ruin the work of three months.
Speaker 1: We should get the big fish, but the smaller would
Speaker 1: dart right and left out of the net on Monday.
Speaker 1: We should have them all. Nope, an arrest is inadmissible.
Speaker 1: What then we shall get out at Canterbury. And then well,
Speaker 1: then we must make a cross country journey to new
Speaker 1: Haven and so over to Dieppe. Moriarty will again do
Speaker 1: what I should do. He will get on to Paris,
Speaker 1: mark down our luggage and wait for two days at
Speaker 1: the depot. In the meantime, we shall treat ourselves to
Speaker 1: a couple of carpet bags, encourage the manufacturers of the
Speaker 1: countries through which we travel, and make our way at
Speaker 1: our leisure into Switzerland via Luxembourg and Basel. At Canterbury. Therefore,
Speaker 1: we alighted, only to find that we should have to
Speaker 1: wait an hour before we could get a train to
Speaker 1: New Haven. I was still looking rather ruefully after the
Speaker 1: rapidly disappearing luggage van which contained my wardrobe, when Holmes
Speaker 1: pulled my sleeve and pointed up the line. Already, you see,
Speaker 1: said he. Far away from among the Kentish woods, there
Speaker 1: rose a thin spray of smoke. A minute later a
Speaker 1: carriage and engine could be seen flying along the open
Speaker 1: curve which leads to the station. We had hardly time
Speaker 1: to take our place behind a pile of luggage when
Speaker 1: it passed with a rattle and a roar, beating a
Speaker 1: blast of hot air into our faces. There he goes,
Speaker 1: said Holmes, as we watched the carriage swing and rock
Speaker 1: over the points. There are limits, you see, to our
Speaker 1: friend's intelligence. It would have been a kurummehtre had he
Speaker 1: deduced what I would deduce and acted accordingly. And what
Speaker 1: would he have done had he overtaken us? There cannot
Speaker 1: be the least doubt that he would have made a
Speaker 1: murderous attack upon me. It is, however, a game at
Speaker 1: which two may play. The question now is whether we
Speaker 1: should take a premature lunch here or run our chance
Speaker 1: of starving. Before we reached the buffet at new Haven,
Speaker 1: we made our way to Brussels that night and spent
Speaker 1: two days there, moving on upon the third day as
Speaker 1: far as Strasbourg. On the Monday morning. Holmes had telegraphed
Speaker 1: to the London police, and in the evening we found
Speaker 1: a reply waiting for us at our hotel. Holmes tore
Speaker 1: it open and then, with a bitter curse, hurled it
Speaker 1: into the grate. I might have known it, he groaned.
Speaker 1: He has escaped Moriarty. They have secured the whole gang,
Speaker 1: with the exception of him. He has given them the slip.
Speaker 1: Of course, when I had left the country there was
Speaker 1: no one to cope with him. But I did think
Speaker 1: that I had put the game in their hands. I
Speaker 1: think that you had better return to England, Watson. Why
Speaker 1: because you will find me a dangerous companion. Now this
Speaker 1: man's occupation is gone. He is lost if he returns
Speaker 1: to London. If I read his character right, he will
Speaker 1: devote his whole energies to revenging himself upon me. He
Speaker 1: said as much in our short interview, and I fancy
Speaker 1: that he meant it. I should certainly recommend you to
Speaker 1: return to your practice. It was hardly an appeal to
Speaker 1: be successful with one who was an old campaigner as
Speaker 1: well as an old friend. We sat in the Strasbourg
Speaker 1: Sala Manges arguing the question for half an hour. But
Speaker 1: the same night we had resumed our journey and were
Speaker 1: well on our way to Geneva for a charming week.
Speaker 1: We wandered up the valley of the Rhone, and then
Speaker 1: branching off at Luke, we made our way over the
Speaker 1: Gemmy Pass, still deep in snow, and so by way
Speaker 1: of Interlaken to Meyringen. It was a lovely trip, the
Speaker 1: dainty green of the spring below, the virgin white of
Speaker 1: the winter above. But it was clear to me that
Speaker 1: never for one instant did Holmes forget the shadow which
Speaker 1: lay across him in the homely alpine villages or in
Speaker 1: the lonely mountain passes. I could tell, by his quick
Speaker 1: glancing eyes and his sharp scrutiny of every face that
Speaker 1: passed us, that he was well convinced that walk where
Speaker 1: we would, we could not walk ourselves clear of the
Speaker 1: danger which was dogging our footsteps. Once I remember, as
Speaker 1: we passed over the Gemmi and walked along the border
Speaker 1: of the melancholy Daubensee. A large rock which had been
Speaker 1: dislodged from the ridge upon our right, clattered down and
Speaker 1: roared into the lake behind us. In an instant, Holmes
Speaker 1: had raced up on to the ridge, and, standing upon
Speaker 1: a lofty pinnacle, craned his neck in every direction. It
Speaker 1: was in vain that our guide assured him that a
Speaker 1: fall of stones was a common chance in the springtime
Speaker 1: at that spot. He said nothing, but he smiled at
Speaker 1: me with the air of a man who sees the
Speaker 1: fulfillment of that which he had expected. And yet for
Speaker 1: all his watchfulness, he was never depressed. On the contrary,
Speaker 1: I could never recollect having seen him in such exuberant spirits.
Speaker 1: Again and again he recurred to the fact that if
Speaker 1: he could be assured that society was freed from Professor Moriarty,
Speaker 1: he would cheerfully bring his own career to a conclusion.
Speaker 1: I think that I may go as far as to say, Watson,
Speaker 1: that I have not lived wholly in vain. He remarked.
Speaker 1: If my record were closed to night, I could still
Speaker 1: survey it with equanimity. The air of London is the
Speaker 1: sweeter for my presence in over a thousand cases. I
Speaker 1: am not aware that I have ever used my powers
Speaker 1: upon the wrong side of late. I have been tempted
Speaker 1: to look into the problems furnished by nature rather than
Speaker 1: those more superficial ones for which our artificial state of
Speaker 1: society is responsible. Your memoirs will draw to an end, Watson,
Speaker 1: upon the day that I crown my career by the
Speaker 1: capture or extinction of the most dangerous and capable criminal
Speaker 1: in Europe. And I shall be brief and yet exact
Speaker 1: in the little which remains for me to tell. It
Speaker 1: is not a subject on which I would willingly dwell,
Speaker 1: and yet I am conscious that a duty devolves upon
Speaker 1: me to omit no detail. It was on the third
Speaker 1: of May that we reached the little village of Meyringen,
Speaker 1: where we put up at the englisher Hoof, then kept
Speaker 1: by Peter Steiler, the elder. Our landlord was an intelligent
Speaker 1: man and spoke excellent English, having served for three years
Speaker 1: as waiter at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. At his advice,
Speaker 1: on the afternoon of the fourth we set off together
Speaker 1: with the intention of crossing the hills and spending the
Speaker 1: night at the hamlet of Rosenlauis. We had strict injunctions, However,
Speaker 1: on no account to pass the falls of Reichenbach, which
Speaker 1: are about half way up the hill, without making a
Speaker 1: small detour to see them. It is indeed a fearful place.
Speaker 1: The torrent, swollen by the melting snow, plunges into a
Speaker 1: tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up like the
Speaker 1: smoke from a burning house. The shaft into which the
Speaker 1: river hurls itself is an immense chasm, lined by glistening
Speaker 1: coal black rock, and narrowing into a creaming, boiling pit
Speaker 1: of incalculable depth, which brims over and shoots the stream
Speaker 1: onward over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green
Speaker 1: water roaring forever down, and the thick, flickering curtain of
Speaker 1: spray hissing forever upward, turn a man giddy with their
Speaker 1: constant whirl and clamor We stood near the edge, peering
Speaker 1: down at the gleam of the breaking water far below us,
Speaker 1: against the black rocks, and listening to the half human
Speaker 1: shout which came booming up with the spray out of
Speaker 1: the abyss. The path has been cut half way round
Speaker 1: the fall to afford a complete view, but it ends
Speaker 1: abruptly and the traveler has to return as he came.
Speaker 1: We had turned to do so when we saw a
Speaker 1: Swiss lad come running along it with a letter in
Speaker 1: his hand. It bore the mark of the hotel which
Speaker 1: we had just left, and was addressed to me by
Speaker 1: the landlord. It appeared that within a very few minutes
Speaker 1: of our leaving, an English lady had arrived, who was
Speaker 1: in the last stage of consumption. She had wintered at
Speaker 1: Davos Platz and was journeying now to join her friends
Speaker 1: at Lucerne. When a sudden hemorrhage had overtaken her. It
Speaker 1: was thought that she could hardly live a few hours,
Speaker 1: but it would be a great consolation to her to
Speaker 1: see an English doctor, and if I would only return,
Speaker 1: et cetera. The good Stuyler assured me in a PostScript
Speaker 1: that he would himself look upon my compliance as a
Speaker 1: very great favor. Since the lady absolutely refused to see
Speaker 1: a Swiss physician, and he could not but feel that
Speaker 1: he was incurring a great responsibility, the appeal was one
Speaker 1: which could not be ignored. It was impossible to refuse
Speaker 1: the request of a fellow country woman dying in a
Speaker 1: strange land. Yet I had my scruples about leaving homes.
Speaker 1: It was finally agreed, however, that he should retain the
Speaker 1: young Swiss messenger with him as guide and companion while
Speaker 1: I returned to Meydringen. My friend would stay some little
Speaker 1: time at the fall, he said, and would then walk
Speaker 1: slowly over the hill to Rosenlowey, where I was to
Speaker 1: rejoin him in the evening. As I turned away, I
Speaker 1: saw Holmes with his back against a rock and his
Speaker 1: arms folded, gazing down at the rush of the waters.
Speaker 1: It was the last that I was ever destined to
Speaker 1: see of him in this world. When I was near
Speaker 1: the bottom of the descent, I looked back. It was
Speaker 1: impossible from that position to see the fall, but I
Speaker 1: could see the curving path which winds over the shoulder
Speaker 1: of the hill and lead to it. Along this a
Speaker 1: man was, I remember, walking very rapidly. I could see
Speaker 1: this black figure clearly outlined against the green behind him.
Speaker 1: I noted him and the energy with which he walked,
Speaker 1: but he passed from my mind again as I hurried
Speaker 1: on upon my errand it may have been a little
Speaker 1: over an hour before I reached myringhen Old Stuyler was
Speaker 1: standing at the porch of his hotel. Well, said I,
Speaker 1: as I came hurrying up, I trust that she is
Speaker 1: no worse. A luck of surprise passed over his face,
Speaker 1: and at the first quiver of his eyebrows, my heart
Speaker 1: turned to lead in my breast. You did not write this,
Speaker 1: I said, pulling the letter from my pocket. There is
Speaker 1: no sick englishwoman in the hotel. Certainly not, he cried.
Speaker 1: But it has the hotel mark upon it. Ha. It
Speaker 1: must have been written by that tall Englishman who came
Speaker 1: in after you had gone, he said. But I waited
Speaker 1: for none of the landlord's explanations. In a tingle of fear,
Speaker 1: I was already running down the village street and making
Speaker 1: for the path which I had so lately descended. It
Speaker 1: had taken me an hour to come down. For all
Speaker 1: my efforts, two more had passed before I found myself
Speaker 1: at the fall of Reichenbach. Once more. There was Holme's
Speaker 1: alpine stock, still leaning against the rock by which I
Speaker 1: had left him. But there was no sign of him,
Speaker 1: and it was in vain that I shouted. My only
Speaker 1: answer was my own voice. Reverberating in a rolling echo
Speaker 1: from the cliffs around me. It was the sight of
Speaker 1: that alpine stock which turned me cold and sick. He
Speaker 1: had not gone to rosen Lowy. Then he had remained
Speaker 1: on that three foot path, with sheer wall on one
Speaker 1: side and sheer drop on the other, until his enemy
Speaker 1: had overtaken him. The young Swiss had gone too. He
Speaker 1: had probably been in the pay of Moriarty, and had
Speaker 1: left the two men together. And then what had happened?
Speaker 1: Who was to tell us what had happened? Then I
Speaker 1: stood for a moment or two to collect myself, for
Speaker 1: I was dazed with the horror of the thing. Then
Speaker 1: I began to think of Holmes's own methods, and to
Speaker 1: try to practice them in reading this tragedy. It was alas,
Speaker 1: only too easy to do. During our conversation, we had
Speaker 1: not gone to the end of the path, and the
Speaker 1: alpine stock marked the place where we had stood. The
Speaker 1: blackish soil is kept forever soft by the incessant drift
Speaker 1: of spray, and a bird would leave its tread upon it.
Speaker 1: Two lines of footmarks were clearly marked along the farther
Speaker 1: end of the path, both leading away from me. There
Speaker 1: were none. Returning a few yards from the end, the
Speaker 1: soil was all plowed up into a patch of mud,
Speaker 1: and the branches and ferns which fringed the chasm were
Speaker 1: torn and bedraggled. I lay upon my face and peered over,
Speaker 1: with the spray spouting up all around me. It had
Speaker 1: darkened since I left, and now I could only see
Speaker 1: here and there the glistening of moisture upon the black walls,
Speaker 1: and far away down at the end of the shaft,
Speaker 1: the gleam of the broken water. I shouted, but only
Speaker 1: the same half human cry of the fall was borne
Speaker 1: back to my ears. But it was destined that I
Speaker 1: should after all have a last word of greeting from
Speaker 1: my friend and comrade. I have said that his alpine
Speaker 1: stock had been left leaning against a rock which jutted
Speaker 1: on to the path from the top of this boulder.
Speaker 1: The gleam of something bright caught my eye, and raising
Speaker 1: my hand, I found that it came from the silver
Speaker 1: cigarette case which he used to carry. As I took
Speaker 1: it up, a small square of paper upon which it
Speaker 1: had lain fluttered down on to the ground, and unfolding it,
Speaker 1: I found that it consisted of three pages torn from
Speaker 1: his note book and addressed to me. It was characteristic
Speaker 1: of the man that the direction was as precise and
Speaker 1: the writing as firm and clear, as though it had
Speaker 1: been written in his study. My dear Watson, it said,
Speaker 1: I write these few lines through the courtesy of mister Moriarty,
Speaker 1: who awaits my convenience for the final discussion of those
Speaker 1: questions which lie between us. He has been giving me
Speaker 1: a sketch of the methods by which he avoided the
Speaker 1: English police and kept himself informed of our movements. They
Speaker 1: certainly confirmed the very high opinion which I had formed
Speaker 1: of his abilities. I am pleased to think that I
Speaker 1: shall be able to free society from any further effects
Speaker 1: of his presence, though I fear that it is at
Speaker 1: a cost which will give pain to my friends, and
Speaker 1: especially my dear Watson. To you, I have already explained
Speaker 1: to you, however, that my career had in any case
Speaker 1: reached its crisis, and that no possible conclusion to it
Speaker 1: could be more congenial to me than this. Indeed, if
Speaker 1: I may make a full confession to you, I was
Speaker 1: quite convinced that the letter from Meyringen was a hoax,
Speaker 1: and I allowed you to depart on that errand under
Speaker 1: the persuasion that some development of this sort would follow,
Speaker 1: tell Inspector Patterson that the papers which he needs to
Speaker 1: convict the gang are in Pigeonhole, m done up in
Speaker 1: a blue envelope and inscribed Moriarty. I made every disposition
Speaker 1: of my property before leaving England and handed it to
Speaker 1: my brother Microft. Pray, give my greetings to missus Watson,
Speaker 1: and believe me to be my dear fellow. Very sincerely yours,
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes. A few words may suffice to tell the
Speaker 1: little that remains. An examination by experts leaves little doubt
Speaker 1: that a person contest between the two men ended, as
Speaker 1: it could hardly fail to end in such a situation,
Speaker 1: in their reeling over locked in each other's arms, any
Speaker 1: attempt at recovering the bodies was absolutely hopeless, and there,
Speaker 1: deep down in that dreadful cauldron of swirling water and
Speaker 1: seething foam, will lie for all time the most dangerous
Speaker 1: criminal and the foremost champion of the law of their generation.
Speaker 1: The Swiss youth was never found again, and there can
Speaker 1: be no doubt that he was one of the numerous
Speaker 1: agents whom Moriarty kept in his employ. As to the gang,
Speaker 1: it will be within the memory of the public how
Speaker 1: completely the evidence which Holmes had accumulated exposed their organization,
Speaker 1: and how heavily the hand of the dead man weighed
Speaker 1: upon them of their terrible chief. Few details came out
Speaker 1: during the proceedings, And if I have now been compelled
Speaker 1: to make a clear stateatement of his career, it is
Speaker 1: due to those injudicious champions who have endeavored to clear
Speaker 1: his memory by attacks upon him, whom I shall ever
Speaker 1: regard as the best and the wisest man whom I
Speaker 1: have ever known. End of the final problem