WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:04.639 The Five Orange Pips. When I glance over my notes 2 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:07.360 and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years 3 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:10.199 eighty two and ninety, I am faced by so many 4 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:13.640 which present strange and interesting features that it is no 5 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:18.000 easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, 6 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:21.359 have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have 7 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:24.399 not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my 8 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:27.839 friend possessed in so high a degree, and which it 9 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:31.079 is the object of these papers to illustrate. Some too, 10 00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:34.640 have baffled his analytical skill, and would be as narratives 11 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:38.359 beginning without an ending, while others have been but partially 12 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:42.399 cleared up, and have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture 13 00:00:42.439 --> 00:00:45.799 and surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was 14 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.000 so dear to him. There is, however, one of these last, 15 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:52.159 which was so remarkable in its details and so startling 16 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:54.560 in its results, that I am tempted to give some 17 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:57.039 account of it, in spite of the fact that there 18 00:00:57.039 --> 00:00:59.439 are points in connection with it which have never been 19 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:04.840 and probably never will be entirely cleared up. The year 20 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:07.920 eighty seven furnished us with a long series of cases 21 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:10.719 of greater or less interest, of which I retain the 22 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:14.719 records among my headings under this one twelve months, I 23 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:17.439 find an account of the adventure of the Paradol Chamber 24 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:21.719 of the Amateur Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club 25 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.640 in the lower vault of a furniture warehouse. Of the 26 00:01:24.680 --> 00:01:27.920 facts connected with the loss of the British bark Sophie Anderson, 27 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:31.200 of the singular adventures of the Greis Pattersons in the 28 00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:35.079 island of Ufa, And finally of the Camberwell poisoning case. 29 00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:39.200 In the latter, as may be remembered, Schulock Holmes was able, 30 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:42.079 by winding up the dead man's watch, to prove that 31 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:44.879 it had been wound up two hours before, and that 32 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.840 therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time, 33 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:51.319 a deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing 34 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:54.319 up the case. All these I may sketch out at 35 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:57.480 some future date, but none of them present such singular 36 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.640 features as the strange train of circumstances which I have 37 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:04.359 now taken up my pen to describe. It was in 38 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:07.840 the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales had 39 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:11.240 set in with exceptional violence. All day, the wind had 40 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:14.599 screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so 41 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:17.520 that even here in the heart of great hand made London, 42 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:20.240 we were forced to raise our minds for the instant 43 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:23.639 from the routine of life, and to recognize the presence 44 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.280 of those great elemental forces which shriek at mankind through 45 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:31.039 the bars of his civilization, like untamed beasts in a cage. 46 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:34.919 As evening drew in, the storm grew higher and louder, 47 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:37.680 and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in 48 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:41.800 the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of 49 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:45.919 the fireplace, cross indexing his records of crime, while I 50 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:48.560 at the other, was deep in one of Clark Russell's 51 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:51.560 fine sea stories, until the howl of the gale from 52 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:55.039 without seemed to blend with the text, and the splash 53 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:57.599 of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash 54 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:00.319 of the sea waves. My wife was on a visit 55 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:02.680 to her mother's, and for a few days I was 56 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:05.639 a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street. 57 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:10.680 Why said I, glancing up at my companion, That was 58 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.840 surely the bell who could come up to night, some 59 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:18.400 friend of yours perhaps, except yourself, I have none, he answered, 60 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:23.479 I do not encourage visitors a client. Then if so 61 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.599 it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a 62 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:28.919 man out on such a day and at such an hour. 63 00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:31.680 But I take it that it is more likely to 64 00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:35.840 be some crony of the landlady's Sherlock. Holmes was wrong 65 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:38.759 in his conjecture, however, for there came a step in 66 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:41.759 the passage, and a tapping at the door. He stretched 67 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:44.080 out his long arm to turn the lamp away from 68 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:47.479 himself and towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer 69 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:52.360 must sit. Come in, said he. The man who entered 70 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:55.719 was young, some two and twenty at the outside, well 71 00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:59.560 groomed and trimly clad, with something of refinement and delicacy 72 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:02.719 in his bed. The streaming umbrella which he held in 73 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:05.840 his hand, and his long shining waterproof told of the 74 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:09.000 fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about 75 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:11.439 him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I 76 00:04:11.479 --> 00:04:14.080 could see that his face was pale, and his eyes heavy, 77 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:16.480 like those of a man who is weighed down with 78 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.319 some great anxiety. I owe you an apology he said, 79 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:24.079 raising his golden pontene to his eyes. I trust that 80 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:26.759 I am not intruding. I fear that I have brought 81 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.600 some traces of the storm and rain into your snug chamber. 82 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:33.439 Give me your coat and umbrella, said Holmes. They may 83 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:35.759 rest here on the hook and will be dry. Presently. 84 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:39.480 You have come up from the southwest. I see, yes, 85 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:43.160 from Horsham. That clay and chalk mixture which I see 86 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:46.879 upon your toe caps is quite distinctive. I have come 87 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:52.560 for advice that is easily got, and help that is 88 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:56.839 not always so easy. I have heard of you, mister Holmes. 89 00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:59.759 I heard from Major Prendergast how you saved him in 90 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:03.600 the Bankerville club scandal. Ah. Of course he was wrongfully 91 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:06.920 accused of cheating at cards. He said that you could 92 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:11.720 solve anything. He said too much, that you are never beaten. 93 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:16.079 I have been beaten four times, three times by men 94 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:19.639 and once by a woman. But what is that compared 95 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:23.160 with the number of your successes. It is true that 96 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:26.959 I have been generally successful. Then you may be so 97 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:30.199 with me. I beg that you will draw up your 98 00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:32.839 chair to the fire and favor me with some details 99 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:37.240 as to your case. It is no ordinary one. None 100 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:39.360 of those which come to me are. I am the 101 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:43.480 last court of appeal. And yet I question, sir, whether, 102 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:46.519 in all your experience you have ever listened to a 103 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:50.360 more mysterious and inexplicable chain of events than those which 104 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:54.079 have happened in my own family. You fill me with interest, 105 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:57.720 said Holmes. Pray, give us the essential facts from the commencement, 106 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.720 and I can afterwards question you as to those details 107 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:04.199 which seemed to me to be most important. The young 108 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:06.800 man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet 109 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:11.319 out toward the blaze. My name, said, he is John Openshaw. 110 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:14.319 But my own affairs have, as far as I can understand, 111 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:17.160 little to do with this awful business. It is a 112 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:20.279 hereditary matter. So in order to give you an idea 113 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:22.959 of the facts, I must go back to the commencement 114 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:27.240 of the affair. You must know that my grandfather had 115 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:31.319 two sons, my uncle Elias and my father Joseph. My 116 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:34.680 father had a small factory at Coventry, which he enlarged 117 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:37.600 at the time of the invention of bicycling. He was 118 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:40.879 a patentee of the open shore unbreakable tire, and his 119 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.639 business met with such success that he was able to 120 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:47.519 sell it and to retire upon a handsome competence. My 121 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:50.920 uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young 122 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:54.000 man and became a painter in Florida, where he was 123 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:57.000 reported to have done very well. At the time of 124 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.399 the war, he fought in Jackson's army and afterwards under Hood, 125 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:03.399 where he rose to be a colonel. When Lee laid 126 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:06.720 down his arms, my uncle returned to his plantation, where 127 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:10.319 he remained for three or four years. About eighteen sixty 128 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.319 nine or eighteen seventy he came back to Europe and 129 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:17.120 took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. He had 130 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:20.040 made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his 131 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:23.120 reason for leaving them was his aversion to the Negroes 132 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:26.720 and his dislike of the Republican policy in extending the 133 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:30.399 franchise to them. He was a singular man, fierce and 134 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:33.759 quick tempered, very foul mouthed when he was angry, and 135 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:37.399 of a most retiring disposition. During all the years that 136 00:07:37.480 --> 00:07:40.000 he lived at Horsham, I doubt if he ever set 137 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:42.519 foot in the town. He had a garden and two 138 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.160 or three fields round his house, and there he would 139 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:48.399 take his exercise though very often for weeks on end, 140 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:51.079 he would never leave his room. He drank a great 141 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:54.160 deal of brandy and smoked very heavily, but he would 142 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.560 see no society and did not want any friends, not 143 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:01.639 even his own brother. He didn't mind me, in fact, 144 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:04.000 he took a fancy to me, for at the time 145 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.079 when he saw me first, I was a youngster of 146 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.839 twelve or so. This would be in the year eighteen 147 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:11.480 seventy eight, after he had been eight or nine years 148 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:14.199 in England. He begged my father to let me live 149 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:16.160 with him, and he was very kind to me in 150 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:19.199 his way. When he was sober. He used to be 151 00:08:19.319 --> 00:08:22.279 fond of playing backgammon and drafts with me, and he 152 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.360 would make me his representative both with the servants and 153 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:27.839 with the trade people, so that by the time I 154 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.800 was sixteen, I was quite master of the house. I 155 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.039 kept all the keys and could go where I liked 156 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:35.519 and do what I liked, so long as I did 157 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:40.039 not disturb him in his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, 158 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:43.080 for he had a single room, a lumber room up 159 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:46.559 among the attics, which was invariably locked, and which he 160 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:49.000 would never permit either me or any one else to 161 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:53.039 enter with a boy's curiosity. I have peeped through the keyhole, 162 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:55.559 but I was never able to see more than such 163 00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:58.039 a collection of old trunks and bundles as would be 164 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:01.799 expected in such a room. One day, it was March 165 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:04.720 of eighteen eighty three, a letter with a foreign stamp 166 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:07.000 lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. 167 00:09:07.879 --> 00:09:10.240 It was not a common thing for him to receive letters, 168 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:12.960 for his bills were all paid in ready money, and 169 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:16.679 he had no friends of any sort from India, said he, 170 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:19.679 as he took it up. Pond a cherry postmark. What 171 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:23.720 can this be? Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five 172 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:27.320 little dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. 173 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:30.440 I began to laugh at this, but the laugh was 174 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:32.639 struck from my lips at the sight of his face. 175 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:36.480 His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his skin 176 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:39.200 the color of putty, and he glared at the envelope, 177 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:42.639 which he still held in his trembling hand. Kay k kay, 178 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:46.240 he shrieked. And then, my god, my god, my sins 179 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:50.679 have overtaken me. What is it? Uncle? I cried deaf, 180 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:54.399 said he, and rising from the table, he retired to 181 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:58.120 his room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up 182 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:01.600 the envelope and saw scrawlding red ink upon the inner flap, 183 00:10:02.039 --> 00:10:05.159 just above the gum, the letter K three times repeated. 184 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:09.600 There was nothing else save the five dried pips. What 185 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:13.200 could be the reason of his overpowering terror? I left 186 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:15.919 the breakfast table, and as I ascended the stair I 187 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:18.799 met him coming down with an old rusty key which 188 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:21.399 must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and 189 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:23.919 a small brass box like a cash box in the other. 190 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:27.600 They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them, still, 191 00:10:27.639 --> 00:10:30.279 said he, with an oath, tell Mary that I shall 192 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:32.600 want a fire in my room to day and send 193 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:36.799 down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer. I did as he ordered, 194 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.279 and when the lawyer arrived, I was asked to step 195 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:42.440 up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and 196 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:44.799 in the grate there was a mass of black, fluffy 197 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:48.360 ashes as of burned paper, while the brass box stood 198 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:51.639 open an empty beside it. As I glanced at the box, 199 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.039 I noticed with a start that upon the lid was 200 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.759 printed the treblequet which I had read in the morning. 201 00:10:56.840 --> 00:11:00.480 Upon the envelope. I wish you, John, said my uncle, 202 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:03.679 to witness my will. I leave my estate, with all 203 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:07.799 its advantages and all its disadvantages, to my brother, your father. 204 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:11.320 Whence it will no doubt descend to you, if you 205 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:13.919 can enjoy it in peace, well and good. If you 206 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:16.720 find you cannot take my advice, my boy, and leave 207 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:19.639 it to your deadliest enemy, I am sorry to give 208 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:22.000 you such a two edged thing, but I can't say 209 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:25.080 what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the 210 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:29.360 paper where mister Fordham shows you. I signed the paper 211 00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:32.039 as directed, and the lawyer took it away with him. 212 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:36.320 The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest 213 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:39.360 impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned 214 00:11:39.399 --> 00:11:41.679 it every way in my mind, without being able to 215 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:44.519 make anything of it. Yet I could not shake off 216 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:47.639 the vague feeling of dread which it left behind. Though 217 00:11:47.639 --> 00:11:50.360 the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed and 218 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:53.399 nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. 219 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:56.600 I could see a change in my uncle. However, he 220 00:11:56.679 --> 00:11:59.279 drank more than ever, and he was less inclined for 221 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:02.279 any sort of snens society. Most of his time he 222 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:05.080 would spend in his room with the door locked upon 223 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.240 me inside. But sometimes he would emerge in a sort 224 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:11.120 of drunken frenzy, and would burst out of the house 225 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:13.759 and tear about the garden with a revolver in his hand, 226 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:16.799 screaming out that he was afraid of no man, and 227 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:18.720 that he was not to be cooped up like a 228 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:22.559 sheep in a pen by man or devil. When these 229 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:26.000 hot fits were over, however, he would rush tumultuously in 230 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:28.720 at the door, and lock and bar it behind him, 231 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:31.080 like a man who can brazen it out no longer 232 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.559 against the terror which lies at the root of his soul. 233 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:36.960 At such times I have seen his face, even on 234 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:40.120 a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it were 235 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:43.200 new raised from a basin. Well, to come to an 236 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:45.759 end of the matter, mister Holmes, and not to abuse 237 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:48.240 your patience. There came a night when he made one 238 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:50.679 of those drunken sallies, from which he never came back. 239 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:53.519 We found him when we went to search for him, 240 00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:57.039 face downward in a little green, scummed pool which lay 241 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:59.840 at the foot of the garden. There was no sign 242 00:12:59.879 --> 00:13:03.120 of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep. 243 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:06.679 So that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, 244 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:10.440 brought in a verdict of suicide. But I, who knew 245 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:13.120 how he winced from the very thought of death, had 246 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:15.840 much ado to persuade myself that he had gone out 247 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:18.919 of his way to meet it. The matter passed, however, 248 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:22.120 and my father entered into possession of the estate and 249 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:25.279 of some fourteen thousand pounds which lay to his credit 250 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:30.039 at the bank. One moment, Holmes interposed, your statement is 251 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:32.399 I foresee, one of the most remarkable to which I 252 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:34.919 have ever listened. Let me have the date of the 253 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:37.639 reception by your uncle of the letter and the date 254 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:41.879 of his supposed suicide. The letter arrived on March tenth, 255 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:45.759 eighteen eighty three. His death was seven weeks later, upon 256 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:51.240 the night of May second. Thank you, pray proceed. When 257 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:54.919 my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my request, 258 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:58.080 made a careful examination of the attic, which had been 259 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:01.679 always locked up. We found the brass box there, although 260 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:04.840 its contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the 261 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:07.639 cover was a paper label with the initials of K 262 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:11.480 K K repeated upon it, and letters, memoranda, receipts, and 263 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:15.600 a register written beneath these, we presume, indicated the nature 264 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:18.360 of the papers which had been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. 265 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:21.840 For the rest, there was nothing of much importance in 266 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:24.960 the attic, save a great many scattered papers and note 267 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:28.480 books bearing upon my uncle's life in America. Some of 268 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:30.840 them were of the war time and showed that he 269 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:33.600 had done his duty well and had borne the repute 270 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:36.759 of a brave soldier. Others were of a date during 271 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:40.320 the reconstruction of the Southern States, and were mostly concerned 272 00:14:40.360 --> 00:14:43.919 with politics, for he had evidently taken a strong part 273 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:46.720 in opposing the carpet bag politicians who had been sent 274 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:49.720 down from the North Well. It was the beginning of 275 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:52.159 eighty four when my father came to live at Horseham, 276 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:55.679 and all went as well as possible until the January 277 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:59.279 of eighty five. On the fourth day after the new year, 278 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:01.759 I heard and my father give a sharp cry of 279 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:05.240 surprise as we sat together at the breakfast table. There 280 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:08.399 he was sitting with a newly opened envelope in one 281 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:11.879 hand and five dried orange pips in the outstretched palm 282 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:14.600 of the other one. He had always laughed at what 283 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:17.120 he called my cock and bull story about the colonel. 284 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:19.759 But he looked very scared and puzzled now that the 285 00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:23.639 same thing had come upon him. Why what on earth 286 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:27.360 does this mean? John, he stammered, My heart had turned 287 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.240 to lead. It is K K K, said I. He 288 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:34.879 looked inside the envelope. So it is, he cried. Here 289 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:37.799 are the very letters. But what is this written above them? 290 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:42.000 Put the papers on the sun dial? I read, peeping 291 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.720 over his shoulder. What papers? What sun dial? He asked, 292 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.679 The sun dial in the garden. There is no other, 293 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:53.080 said I. But the papers must be those that are destroyed. Pooh, 294 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.039 said he, gripping hard at his courage. We are in 295 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:59.279 a civilized land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of 296 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:03.559 this kind. Where does the thing come from from? Dundee, 297 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:08.639 I answered, glancing at the post mark. Some preposterous practical joke, 298 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:11.120 said he. What have I to do with sun dials 299 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:13.960 and papers? I shall take no notice of such nonsense. 300 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:18.360 I should certainly speak to the police, I said, and 301 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:21.039 be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort, 302 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:25.200 then let me do so. No, I forbid you. I 303 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:28.799 won't have a fuss made about such nonsense. It was 304 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:30.840 in vain to argue with him for he was a 305 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:34.440 very obstinate man. I went about, however, with a heart 306 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:37.879 which was full of forebodings. On the third day after 307 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:40.639 the coming of the letter, my father went from home 308 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.799 to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who 309 00:16:43.879 --> 00:16:45.720 is in the command of one of the forts upon 310 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:49.120 portsdown Hill. I was glad that he should go, for 311 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:51.360 it seemed to me that he was further from danger 312 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:54.240 when he was away from home. In that, however, I 313 00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:57.120 was in error. Upon the second day of his absence, 314 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:00.440 I received a telegram from the Major employed me to 315 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:03.559 come at once. My father had fallen over one of 316 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:06.279 the deep chalk pits which abound in the neighborhood, and 317 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:10.480 was lying senseless with a shattered skull. I hurried to him, 318 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:14.440 but he passed away without ever having recovered his consciousness. 319 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:17.440 He had, as it appears, been returning from Fareham in 320 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:20.200 the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him 321 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:23.920 and the chalk pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation 322 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:28.319 in bringing in a verdict of death from accidental causes. Carefully, 323 00:17:28.359 --> 00:17:31.359 as I examined every fact connected with his death, I 324 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.279 was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea 325 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:37.960 of murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, 326 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:41.519 no robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon 327 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:44.000 the roads. And yet I need not tell you that 328 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.319 my mind was far from at ease, and that I 329 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.880 was well nigh certain that some foul plot had been 330 00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:52.519 woven around him. In this sinister way I came into 331 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.160 my inheritance. You will ask me why I did not 332 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:59.000 dispose of it. I answer because I was well convinced 333 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:01.880 that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an 334 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:05.000 incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would 335 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:08.680 be as pressing in one house as in another. It 336 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:11.200 was in January of eighty five that my poor father 337 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:13.559 met his end, and two years and eight months have 338 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:17.160 elapsed since then. During that time I have lived happily 339 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:19.680 at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that this 340 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:22.319 curse had passed away from the family, and that it 341 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:25.400 had ended with the last generation. I had begun to 342 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:29.160 take comfort too soon. However, yesterday morning the blow fell 343 00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:31.359 in the very shape in which it had come upon 344 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:35.559 my father. The young man took from his waistcoat a 345 00:18:35.559 --> 00:18:39.000 crumpled envelope, and turning to the table, he shook out 346 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:43.359 upon it five little dried orange pips. This is the envelope, 347 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:48.000 he continued. The postmark is London Eastern Division. Within are 348 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:50.880 the very words which were upon my father's last message, 349 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.200 K K K. And then put the papers on the 350 00:18:54.240 --> 00:19:00.440 sun dial. What have you done, asked Holmes. Nothing, nothing 351 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:04.240 to tell the truth. He sank his face into his 352 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:07.880 thin white hands. I have felt helpless. I have felt 353 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:10.119 like one of those poor rabbits when the snake is 354 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:12.720 riding toward it. I seem to be in the grasp 355 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:16.680 of some resistless, inexorable evil which no foresight and no 356 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:21.240 precautions can guard against. Tut tut, cried Sherlock Holmes. You 357 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:24.440 must act, man, or you are lost. Nothing but energy 358 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:28.160 can save you. This is no time for despair. I 359 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:32.000 have seen the police ah, but then listen to my 360 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:35.480 story with a smile. I am convinced that the inspector 361 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.680 has formed the opinion that the letters were all practical jokes, 362 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:41.880 and that the deaths of my relations were really accidents, 363 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:44.400 as the jury stated, and were not to be connected 364 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:48.279 with the warnings. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. 365 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:53.640 Incredible imbecility, he cried. They have, however, allowed me a 366 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:57.279 policeman who may remain in the house with me? Has 367 00:19:57.319 --> 00:20:00.359 he come with you tonight? No? His order were to 368 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:04.079 stay in the house again. Holmes raved in the air. 369 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:07.599 Why did you come to me, he cried, And above all, 370 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:10.680 why did you not come at once? I did not know. 371 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:13.079 It was only to day that I spoke to Major 372 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:16.200 Prendergast about my troubles, and was advised by him to 373 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:19.680 come to you. It is really two days since you 374 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:22.119 have had the letter. We should have acted before this. 375 00:20:22.839 --> 00:20:25.400 You have no further evidence, I suppose, than that which 376 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:28.599 you have placed before us, no suggestive detail which might 377 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:33.359 help us. There is one thing, said John openshawl He 378 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:36.359 rummaged in his coat pocket, and, drawing out a piece 379 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.440 of discolored, blue tinted paper, he laid it out upon 380 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:43.319 the table. I have some remembrance, said he, that on 381 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:46.240 the day when my uncle burned the papers, I observed 382 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:49.200 that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the ashes 383 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:52.960 were of this particular color. I found this single sheet 384 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:55.559 upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined 385 00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:57.519 to think that it may be one of the papers 386 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:00.920 which has perhaps fluttered out from among the others, and 387 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:04.960 in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond the mention of pips. 388 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:07.720 I do not see that it helps us much. I 389 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:10.599 think myself that it is a page from some private diary. 390 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:15.559 The writing is undoubtedly my uncle's. Holmes moved the lamp 391 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.440 and we both bent over the sheet of paper, which 392 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:21.039 showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been 393 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:24.880 torn from a book. It was headed March eighteen sixty nine, 394 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:30.519 and beneath were the following enigmatical notices. Fourth Hudson came 395 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:35.640 same old platform. Seventh set the pips on Macauley, Paramour, 396 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:41.519 and John Swain of Saint Augustine ninth. Mc cauley cleared, tenth, 397 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:47.960 John Swain cleared twelfth, visited Paramour. All well, thank you, 398 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:50.720 said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it to 399 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:53.960 our visitor. And now you must, on no account lose 400 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:57.440 another instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what 401 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:00.720