Speaker 1: The adventure of the Greek interpreter. During my long and
Speaker 1: intimate acquaintance with mister Sherlock Holmes, I had never heard
Speaker 1: him refer to his relations, and hardly ever to his
Speaker 1: own early life. This reticence upon his part had increased
Speaker 1: the somewhat inhuman effect which he produced upon me, until
Speaker 1: sometimes I found myself regarding him as an isolated phenomenon,
Speaker 1: a brain without a heart, as deficient in human sympathy
Speaker 1: as he was pre eminent in intelligence. His aversion to
Speaker 1: women and his disinclination to form new friendships were both
Speaker 1: typical of his unemotional character, but not more so than
Speaker 1: his complete suppression of every reference to his own people.
Speaker 1: I had come to believe that he was an orphan
Speaker 1: with no relatives living. But one day, to my very
Speaker 1: great surprise, he began to talk to me about his brother.
Speaker 1: It was after tea on a summer evening, and the conversation,
Speaker 1: which had roamed in a desultory, spasmodic fashion from golf
Speaker 1: clubs to the causes of change in the obliquity of
Speaker 1: the ecliptic, came round at last to the question of
Speaker 1: atavism and hereditary aptitudes. The point under discussion was how
Speaker 1: far any singular gift in an individual was due to
Speaker 1: his ancestry, and how far to his own early training.
Speaker 1: In your own case, said I. From all that you
Speaker 1: have told me, it seems obvious that your faculty of
Speaker 1: observation and your peculiar facility for deduction are due to
Speaker 1: your own sister domatic training. To some extent, he answered thoughtfully,
Speaker 1: my ancestors were country squires, who appear to have led
Speaker 1: much the same life as is natural to their class.
Speaker 1: But nonetheless, my turn that way is in my veins,
Speaker 1: and may have come with my grandmother, who was the
Speaker 1: sister of Verney, the French artist. Art in the blood
Speaker 1: is liable to take the strangest forms. But how do
Speaker 1: you know that it is hereditary? Because my brother Micraft
Speaker 1: possesses it in a larger degree than I do. This
Speaker 1: was news to me. Indeed, if there were another man
Speaker 1: with such singular powers in England, how was it that
Speaker 1: neither police nor public had heard of him? I put
Speaker 1: the question with a hint that it was my companion's
Speaker 1: modesty which made him acknowledge his brother as his superior.
Speaker 1: Holmes laughed at my suggestion, My dear Watson said he
Speaker 1: I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues.
Speaker 1: To the logician, all things should be seen exactly as
Speaker 1: they are, and to underestimate oneself is as much a
Speaker 1: departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own powers. When
Speaker 1: I say, therefore, that my craft has better powers of
Speaker 1: observation than I, you may take it that I am
Speaker 1: speaking the exact and literal truth. Is he your junior,
Speaker 1: seven years my senior? How comes it that he is unknown? Oh?
Speaker 1: He is very well known in his own circle. Where then, well,
Speaker 1: in the Diogenes Club, for example? I had never heard
Speaker 1: of the institution, and my face must have proclaimed as much.
Speaker 1: The Sherlock Holmes pulled out his watch. The Diogenes Club
Speaker 1: is the queerest club in London, and Micraft one of
Speaker 1: the queerest men. He's always there from quarter to five
Speaker 1: to twenty to eight. It's six now, So if you
Speaker 1: care for a stroll this beautiful evening, I shall be
Speaker 1: very happy to introduce you to two curiosities. Five minutes later,
Speaker 1: we were in the street, walking towards Regent's Circus. You wonder,
Speaker 1: said my companion, why it is that Micraft does not
Speaker 1: use his powers for detective work. He is incapable of it.
Speaker 1: But I thought you said, I said that he was
Speaker 1: my superior in observation and deduction. If the art of
Speaker 1: the detective began and ended in reasoning from an arm chair,
Speaker 1: my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived.
Speaker 1: But he has no ambition and no energy. He will
Speaker 1: not even go out of his way to verify his
Speaker 1: own solutions, and would rather be considered wrong than take
Speaker 1: the trouble to prove himself right. Again and again. I
Speaker 1: have taken a problem to him, and have received an
Speaker 1: explanation which has afterwards proved to be the correct one.
Speaker 1: And yet he was absolutely incapable of working out the
Speaker 1: practical points which must be gone into before a case
Speaker 1: could be laid before a judge or jury. It is
Speaker 1: not his profession, then, by no means. What is to
Speaker 1: me a means of livelihood is to him the merest
Speaker 1: hobby of a dilettante. He has an extraordinary faculty for
Speaker 1: figures and audits the books in some of the government departments.
Speaker 1: Micraft lodges in Pall Mall, and he walks round the
Speaker 1: corner into Whitehall every morning and back every evening. From
Speaker 1: year's end to year's end. He takes no other exercise
Speaker 1: and is seen nowhere else except only in the Diogenes Club,
Speaker 1: which is just opposite his rooms. I cannot recall the name,
Speaker 1: very likely not. There are many men in London, you
Speaker 1: know who, some from shyness, some from misanthropy, have no
Speaker 1: wish for the company of their fellows. Yet they are
Speaker 1: not averse to comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals. It
Speaker 1: is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club
Speaker 1: was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and
Speaker 1: unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take
Speaker 1: the least notice of any other one, save in the
Speaker 1: stranger's room. No talking is under any circumstances allowed, and
Speaker 1: three offenses, if brought to the notice of the committee,
Speaker 1: render the talker liable to expulsion. My brother was one
Speaker 1: of the founders, and I have myself found it a
Speaker 1: very soothing atmosphere. We had reached Pall Mall as we talked,
Speaker 1: and we were walking down it from the Saint James's end.
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes stopped at Adore, some little distance from the Carlton,
Speaker 1: and cautioning me not to speak. He led the way
Speaker 1: into the hall. Through the glass paneling, I caught a
Speaker 1: glimpse of a large and luxurious room in which a
Speaker 1: considerable number of men were sitting about and reading papers,
Speaker 1: each in his own little nook. Holmes showed me into
Speaker 1: a small chamber which looked out into pow Mall, and
Speaker 1: then leaving me for a minute, he came back with
Speaker 1: a companion whom I knew could only be his brother, Mycroft.
Speaker 1: Holmes was a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock.
Speaker 1: His body was absolutely corpulent, but his face, though massive,
Speaker 1: had preserved something of the sharpness of expression which was
Speaker 1: so remarkable in that of his brother. His eyes, which
Speaker 1: were of a peculiarly light, watery gray, seemed to always
Speaker 1: retain that far away, introspective look which I had only
Speaker 1: observed in Sherlock's when he was exerting his full powers.
Speaker 1: I am glad to meet you, sir, said he putting
Speaker 1: out a broad, fat hand like the flipper of a seal.
Speaker 1: I hear of Sherlock everywhere since you became his chronicler.
Speaker 1: By the way, Sherlock, I expected to see you round
Speaker 1: last week to consult me over that manor house case.
Speaker 1: I thought you might be a little out of your depth. No,
Speaker 1: I solved it, said my friend, smiling. It was Adams.
Speaker 1: Of course, Yes it was Adams. I was sure of
Speaker 1: it from the first. The two sat down together in
Speaker 1: the bow window of the club. To any one who
Speaker 1: wishes to study mankind, this is the spot, said Mycraft.
Speaker 1: Look at the magnificent types. Look at these two men
Speaker 1: who are coming towards us, for example, the billiard maker
Speaker 1: and the other. Precisely, what do you make of the other.
Speaker 1: The two men had stopped opposite the window. Some chalk
Speaker 1: marks over the waistcoat pocket were the only signs of
Speaker 1: billiards which I could see in one of them. The
Speaker 1: other was a very small, dark fellow, with his hat
Speaker 1: pushed back and several packages under his arm. An old soldier,
Speaker 1: I perceive, said Sherlock, and very recently discharged, remarked the
Speaker 1: brother served in India, I see, And a non commissioned
Speaker 1: officer Royal Artillery. I fancy, said Sherlock. And a widower,
Speaker 1: but with a child. Children, My dear boy, children come,
Speaker 1: said I laughing. This is a little too much, surely,
Speaker 1: answered Holmes. It is not hard to say that a
Speaker 1: man with that bearing expression of authority and sun baked
Speaker 1: skin is a soldier, is more than a private, and
Speaker 1: is not long from India. That he has not left
Speaker 1: the service long is shown by his still wearing his
Speaker 1: ammunition boots as they are called, observed Micraft. He had
Speaker 1: not the cavalry stride, yet he wore his hat on
Speaker 1: one side, as is shown by the lighter skin of
Speaker 1: that side of his brow. His weight is against his
Speaker 1: being a sapper. He is in the artillery. Then, of course,
Speaker 1: his complete mourning shows that he has lost someone very dear.
Speaker 1: The fact that he is doing his own shopping looks
Speaker 1: as though it were his wife. He has been buying
Speaker 1: things for children. You perceive there is a rattle, which
Speaker 1: shows that one of them is very young. The wife
Speaker 1: probably died in child bed. The fact that he has
Speaker 1: a picture book under him his arm shows that there
Speaker 1: is another child to be thought of. I began to
Speaker 1: understand what my friend meant when he said that his
Speaker 1: brother possessed even keener faculties than he did himself. He
Speaker 1: glanced across at me and smiled. Micraft took snuff from
Speaker 1: a tortoise shell box and brushed away the wandering grains
Speaker 1: from his coat front with a large red silk handkerchief.
Speaker 1: By the way, Sherlock said he, I have had something
Speaker 1: quite after your own heart, a most singular problem submitted
Speaker 1: to my judgment. I really had not the energy to
Speaker 1: follow it up, save in a very incomplete fashion, but
Speaker 1: it gave me a basis for some pleasing speculation. If
Speaker 1: you would care to hear the fact, my dear Micraft,
Speaker 1: I should be delighted. The brother scribbled a note upon
Speaker 1: a leaf of his pocket book, and ringing the bell,
Speaker 1: he handed it to the waiter. I have asked mister
Speaker 1: Melas to step across, said he. He lodges on the
Speaker 1: floor above me, and I have some slight acquaintance with him,
Speaker 1: which led him to come to me in his perplexity.
Speaker 1: Mister Melass is a Greek by extraction, as I understand,
Speaker 1: and he is a remarkable linguist. He earns his living
Speaker 1: partly as interpreter in the law courts, and partly by
Speaker 1: acting as guide to any wealthy Orientals who may visit
Speaker 1: the Northumberland Avenue hotels. I think I will leave him
Speaker 1: to tell his own very remarkable experience in his own fashion.
Speaker 1: A few minutes later we were joined by a short,
Speaker 1: stout man, whose olive face and cold black hair proclaimed
Speaker 1: his Southern origin, though his speech was that of an
Speaker 1: educated Englishman. He shook hands eagerly with Sherlock Holmes, and
Speaker 1: his dark eyes sparkled with pleasure when he understood that
Speaker 1: the specialist was anxious to hear his story. I do
Speaker 1: not believe that the police credit me on my word.
Speaker 1: I do not, he said in a wailing voice, just
Speaker 1: because they have never heard of it before. They think
Speaker 1: that such a thing cannot be. But I know that
Speaker 1: I shall never be easy in my mind until I
Speaker 1: know what has become of my poor man with the
Speaker 1: sticking plaster upon his face. I am all attention, said
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes. This is Wednesday evening, said mister melass Well,
Speaker 1: then it was Monday night, only two days ago. You
Speaker 1: understand that all this happened. I am an interpreter, as
Speaker 1: perhaps my neighbor there has told you, I interpret all languages,
Speaker 1: or nearly all, but as I am a Greek by
Speaker 1: birth and with a Grecian name, it is with that
Speaker 1: particular hung that I am principally associated. For many years
Speaker 1: I have been the chief Greek interpreter in London, and
Speaker 1: my name is very well known in the hotels. It
Speaker 1: happens not unfrequently that I am sent for at strange
Speaker 1: hours by foreigners who get into difficulties, or by travelers
Speaker 1: who arrived late and the wish for my services. I
Speaker 1: was not surprised therefore on Monday night when a mister Latimer,
Speaker 1: a very fashionably dressed young man, came up to my
Speaker 1: rooms and asked me to accompany him in a cab
Speaker 1: which was waiting at the door. A Greek friend had
Speaker 1: come to see him upon business, he said, and as
Speaker 1: he could speak nothing but his own tongue, the services
Speaker 1: of an interpreter were indispensable. He gave me to understand
Speaker 1: that his house was some little distance off in Kensington,
Speaker 1: and he seemed to be in a great hurry, bustling
Speaker 1: me rapidly into the cab when we had descended to
Speaker 1: the street. I say, into the cab, but I soon
Speaker 1: became doubtful as to whether it was not a carriage
Speaker 1: in which I found myself. It was certainly more roomy
Speaker 1: than the ordinary four wheeled disgrace to London, and the fittings,
Speaker 1: though fraid, were of rich quality. Mister Latimer seated himself
Speaker 1: opposite to me, and we started off through Charing Cross
Speaker 1: and up the Shaftsbury Avenue. We had come out upon
Speaker 1: Oxford Street, and I had ventured some remark as to
Speaker 1: this being a roundabout way to Kensington, when my words
Speaker 1: were arrested by the extraordinary conduct of my companion. He
Speaker 1: began by drawing a most formidable looking bludgeon loaded with
Speaker 1: lead from his pocket, and switching it backward and forward
Speaker 1: several times, as if to test its weight and strength.
Speaker 1: Then he placed it, without a word, upon the seat
Speaker 1: beside him. Having done this, he drew up the windows
Speaker 1: on each side, and I found, to my astonishment that
Speaker 1: they were covered with paper so as to prevent my
Speaker 1: seeing through them. I am sorry to cut off your view,
Speaker 1: mister Melas, said he. The fact is that I have
Speaker 1: no intention that you should see what the place is
Speaker 1: to which we are driving. It might possibly be inconvenient
Speaker 1: to me if you could find your way there. Again,
Speaker 1: as you can imagine, I was utterly taken aback by
Speaker 1: such an address. My companion was a powerful, broad shouldered
Speaker 1: young fellow, and apart from the weapon, I should not
Speaker 1: have had the slightest chance in a struggle with him.
Speaker 1: This is very extraordinary conduct, mister Latimer, I stammered. You
Speaker 1: must be aware that what you are doing is quite illegal.
Speaker 1: It is somewhat of a liberty, no doubt, said he.
Speaker 1: But we'll make it up to you. I must warn you, however,
Speaker 1: mister Melas, that if at any time tonight you attempt
Speaker 1: to raise an alarm or do anything which is against
Speaker 1: my interests, you will find it a very serious thing.
Speaker 1: I beg you to remember that no one knows where
Speaker 1: you are, and that whether you are in this carriage
Speaker 1: or in my house, you are equally in my power.
Speaker 1: His words were quiet, but he had a rasping way
Speaker 1: of saying them, which was very menacing. I sat in silence,
Speaker 1: wondering what an earth could be his reason for kidnapping
Speaker 1: me in this extraordinary fashion. Whatever it might be, it
Speaker 1: was perfectly clear that there was no possible use in
Speaker 1: my resisting. That I could only wait to see what
Speaker 1: might befall. For nearly two hours we drove without my
Speaker 1: having the least clue as to where we were going.
Speaker 1: Sometimes the rattle of the stones told of a paved causeway,
Speaker 1: and at others our smooth, silent course suggested asphalt, but
Speaker 1: save by this variation in so there was nothing at
Speaker 1: all which could, in the remotest way help me to
Speaker 1: form a guess as to where we were. The paper
Speaker 1: over each window was impenetrable to light, and a blue
Speaker 1: curtain was drawn across the glass work in front. It
Speaker 1: was a quarter past seven when we left Pall Mall,
Speaker 1: and my watch showed me that it was ten minutes
Speaker 1: to nine when we at last came to a standstill.
Speaker 1: My companion let down the window and I caught a
Speaker 1: glimpse of a low arched doorway with a lamp burning
Speaker 1: above it. As I was hurried from the carriage, it
Speaker 1: swung open, and I found myself inside the house, with
Speaker 1: a vague impression of a lawn and trees on each
Speaker 1: side of me. As I entered whether these were private grounds, however,
Speaker 1: or bona fide country, was more than I could possibly
Speaker 1: venture to say. There was a colored gas lamp inside,
Speaker 1: which was turned so low that I could see little
Speaker 1: save that the hall was of some size and hung
Speaker 1: with pictures. In the dim light, I could make out
Speaker 1: that the person who had opened the door was a small,
Speaker 1: mean looking middle aged man, with rounded shoulders. As he
Speaker 1: turned towards us, the glint of the light showed me
Speaker 1: that he was wearing glasses. Is this mister Maelis, Harold
Speaker 1: said he yes, well done, well done. No ill will,
Speaker 1: mister Maelis, I hope, but we could not get on
Speaker 1: without you. If you deal fair with us, you'll not
Speaker 1: regret it. But if you try any tricks, God help you.
Speaker 1: He spoke in a nervous, jerky fashion, and with little
Speaker 1: giggling laughs in between, but somehow he impressed me with
Speaker 1: fear more than the other. What do you want with me?
Speaker 1: I asked, only to ask a few questions, have a
Speaker 1: Greek gentleman who is visiting us, and to let us
Speaker 1: have the answers. But say no more than you are
Speaker 1: told to say, or came the nervous giggle again. You
Speaker 1: had better never have been born. As he spoke, he
Speaker 1: opened a door and showed the way into a room
Speaker 1: which appeared to be very richly furnished, but again the
Speaker 1: only light was afforded by a single lamp half turned down.
Speaker 1: The chamber was certainly large, and the way in which
Speaker 1: my feet sank into the carpet as I stepped across
Speaker 1: it told me of its richness. I caught glimpses of
Speaker 1: velvet chairs, a high white marble mantelpiece, and what seemed
Speaker 1: to be a suit of Japanese armor. At one side
Speaker 1: of it, there was a chair just under the lamp,
Speaker 1: and the elderly man motioned that I should sit in it.
Speaker 1: The younger had left us, but he suddenly returned through
Speaker 1: another door, leading with him a gentleman clad in some
Speaker 1: sort of loose dressing gown, who moved slowly towards us.
Speaker 1: As he came into the circle of dim light which
Speaker 1: enables me to see him more clearly, I was thrilled
Speaker 1: with horror at his appearance. He was deadly pale and
Speaker 1: terribly emaciated, with the protruding brilliant eyes of a man
Speaker 1: whose spirit was greater than his strength. But what shocked
Speaker 1: me more than any signs of physical weakness was that
Speaker 1: his face was grotesquely criss crossed with sticking plaster, and
Speaker 1: that one large pad of it was fastened over his mouth.
Speaker 1: Have you the slate, Harold, cried the older man, as
Speaker 1: this strange being fell rather than sat down into a chair.
Speaker 1: Are his hands and loose? Now? Then give him the pencil.
Speaker 1: You are to ask the questions, mister Melas, and he
Speaker 1: will write the answers. Ask him, first of all, whether
Speaker 1: he is prepared to sign the papers. The man's eyes
Speaker 1: flashed fire. Never he wrote in Greek upon the slate
Speaker 1: on no condition, I asked, at the bidding of our tyrant,
Speaker 1: only if I see her married in my presence by
Speaker 1: a Greek priest whom I know. The man giggled in
Speaker 1: his venomous way. You know, and what awaits you? Then
Speaker 1: I care nothing for myself. These are samples of the
Speaker 1: questions and answers which made up our strange, half spoken,
Speaker 1: half written conversation. Again and again I had to ask
Speaker 1: him whether he would give in and sign the documents.
Speaker 1: Again and again I had the same indignant reply. But
Speaker 1: soon a happy thought came to me. I took to
Speaker 1: adding on little sentences of my own to each question,
Speaker 1: innocent ones, at first to test whether either of our
Speaker 1: companions knew anything of the matter. And then, as I
Speaker 1: found that they showed no signs, I played a more
Speaker 1: dangerous game. Our conversation ran something like this, you can
Speaker 1: do no good by this obstinacy. Who are you? I
Speaker 1: care not? I am a stranger in London. Your fate
Speaker 1: will be upon your head. How long have you been here?
Speaker 1: Let it be so three weeks. The property can never
Speaker 1: be yours. What ails you? It shall not go to villains.
Speaker 1: They are starving me. You shall go free. If you
Speaker 1: sign what house is this? I will never sign. I
Speaker 1: do not know. You are not doing her any service.
Speaker 1: What is your name? Let me hear her say so Kratidis,
Speaker 1: You shall see her. If you sign where are you from?
Speaker 1: Then I shall never see her? Athens another five minutes,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes and I should have wormed out the whole
Speaker 1: story under their very noses. My very next question might
Speaker 1: have cleared the matter up. But at that instant the
Speaker 1: door opened and a woman stepped into the room. I
Speaker 1: could not see her clearly enough to know more than
Speaker 1: that she was tall and graceful, with black hair, and
Speaker 1: clad in some sort of loose white gown. Harold said she,
Speaker 1: speaking English with a broken accent. I could not stay
Speaker 1: away longer. It is so lonely up there with only Oh,
Speaker 1: my god, it is Paul. These last words were in Greek,
Speaker 1: and at the same instant the man, with a convulsive effort,
Speaker 1: tore the plaster from his lips and screaming out Sophie.
Speaker 1: Sophie rushed into the woman's arms. Their embrace was but
Speaker 1: for an instant, however, for the younger man seized the
Speaker 1: woman and pushed her out of the room, while the
Speaker 1: elder easily overpowered his emaciated victim and dragged him away
Speaker 1: through the other or. For a moment, I was left
Speaker 1: alone in the room, and I sprang to my feet
Speaker 1: with some vague idea that I might in some way
Speaker 1: get a clue to what this house was in which
Speaker 1: I found myself. Fortunately, however, I took no steps, for
Speaker 1: looking up, I saw that the older man was standing
Speaker 1: in the doorway with his eyes fixed upon me. That
Speaker 1: will do, mister Melas, said he you perceive that we
Speaker 1: have taken you into our confidence over some very private business.
Speaker 1: We should not have troubled you, only that our friend,
Speaker 1: who speaks Greek and who began these negotiations, has been
Speaker 1: forced to return to the east. It was quite necessary
Speaker 1: for us to find someone to take his place, and
Speaker 1: we were fortunate in hearing of your powers. I bowed.
Speaker 1: There are five sovereigns here, said he, walking up to me,
Speaker 1: Which will I hope be a sufficient fee. But remember,
Speaker 1: he added, tapping me lightly on the chest and giggling,
Speaker 1: if you speak to a human soul about this one
Speaker 1: human soul, mind, well, may God have mercy upon your soul.
Speaker 1: I cannot tell you the loathing and horror with which
Speaker 1: this insignificant looking man inspired me. I could see him
Speaker 1: better now, as the lamp light shone upon him. His
Speaker 1: features were peaky and sallow, and his little pointed beard
Speaker 1: was thready and ill nourished. He pushed his face forward
Speaker 1: as he spoke, and his lips and eyelids were continually twitching,
Speaker 1: like a man with Saint Vitus dance. I could not
Speaker 1: help thinking that his strange, catchy little laugh was also
Speaker 1: a symptom of some nervous malady. The terror of his
Speaker 1: face lay in his eyes, however, steel gray and glistening coldly,
Speaker 1: with a malignant, inexorable cruelty in their depths. We shall
Speaker 1: know if you speak of this, said he. We have
Speaker 1: our own means of information. Now you will find the
Speaker 1: carriage waiting, and my friend will see you on your way.
Speaker 1: I was hurried through the hall and into the vehicle, again,
Speaker 1: obtaining that momentary glimpse of the trees and the garden.
Speaker 1: Mister Latimer followed closely at my heels, and took his
Speaker 1: place opposite to me, without a word. In silence, we
Speaker 1: again drove for an interminable distance, with the windows raised,
Speaker 1: until at last, just after midnight, the carriage pulled up.
Speaker 1: You will get down here, mister Malass, said my companion.
Speaker 1: I am sorry to leave you so far from your house,
Speaker 1: but there is no alternative. Any attempt upon your part
Speaker 1: to follow the carriage can only end in injury to yourself.
Speaker 1: He opened the door as he spoke, and I had
Speaker 1: hardly time to spring out when the coachman lashed the
Speaker 1: horse and the carriage rattled away. I looked around me
Speaker 1: in astonishment. I was on some sort of a heathy
Speaker 1: common mottled over with dark clumps of furze bushes. Far
Speaker 1: away stretched a line of houses with a light here
Speaker 1: and there in the upper windows. On the other side,
Speaker 1: I saw the red signal lamps of a railway. The
Speaker 1: carriage which had brought me was already out of sight.
Speaker 1: I stood gazing round and wondering where on earth I
Speaker 1: might be when I saw some one coming towards me
Speaker 1: in the darkness. As he came up to me, I
Speaker 1: made out that he was a railway porter. Can you
Speaker 1: tell me what place this is? I asked, wan's Worth
Speaker 1: Common said he can I get a train into town
Speaker 1: if you walk on a mile or so to Clapham Junction,
Speaker 1: said he, You'll just be in time for the last
Speaker 1: to Victoria. So that was the end of my adventure.
Speaker 1: Mister Holmes, I do not know where I was, nor
Speaker 1: whom I spoke with, nor anything save what I have
Speaker 1: told you, but I know that there is foul play
Speaker 1: going on, and I want to help that unhappy man
Speaker 1: if I can. I told the whole story to mister
Speaker 1: Microft Holmes next morning, and subsequently to the police. We
Speaker 1: all sat in silence for some little time after listening
Speaker 1: to this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock looked across at his brother,
Speaker 1: any steps, he asked. Micraft picked up the daily News
Speaker 1: which was lying on the side table. Anybody supplying any
Speaker 1: information to the whereabouts of a Greek gentleman named Paul
Speaker 1: Cratidees from Athens who is unable to speak English will
Speaker 1: be rewarded. A similar reward paid to any one giving
Speaker 1: information about a Greek lady whose first name is sophie
Speaker 1: X two four seven three that was in all the dailies.
Speaker 1: No answer. How about the Greek legation I have inquired?
Speaker 1: They know nothing. A wire to the head of the
Speaker 1: Athens police. Then Sherlock has all the energy of the family,
Speaker 1: said Mycroft, turning to me, Well, you take the case
Speaker 1: up by all meetings and let me know if you
Speaker 1: do any good. Certainly, answered my friend, rising from his chair.
Speaker 1: I'll let you know. And mister Maelas also in the meantime,
Speaker 1: mister Maelas, I should certainly be on my guard if
Speaker 1: I were you, For of course they must know through
Speaker 1: these advertisements that you have betrayed them. As we walked
Speaker 1: home together, Holmes stopped at a telegraph office and sent
Speaker 1: off several wires. You see, Watson, he remarked, Our evening
Speaker 1: has been by no means wasted. Some of my most
Speaker 1: interesting cases have come to me in this way through
Speaker 1: my craft. The problem which we have just listened to,
Speaker 1: although it can admit of but one explanation, has still
Speaker 1: some distinguishing features. You have hopes of solving it well,
Speaker 1: knowing as much as we do it will be singular. Indeed,
Speaker 1: if we failed to discover the rest, you must yourself
Speaker 1: have formed some theory which will explain the facts to
Speaker 1: which we have listened in a vague way. Yes, what
Speaker 1: was your idea? Then? It seemed to me to be
Speaker 1: obvious that this Greek girl had been carried off by
Speaker 1: the young englishman named Harold Latimer, carried off from where Athens?
Speaker 1: Perhaps Sherlock Holmes shook his head. This young man could
Speaker 1: not talk a word of Greek. The lady could talk
Speaker 1: English fairly well. Inference that she had been in England
Speaker 1: some little time, but he had not been in Greece. Well,
Speaker 1: then we will presume that she had come on a
Speaker 1: visit to England, and that this Harold had persuaded her
Speaker 1: to fly with him. That is more probable then the brother,
Speaker 1: for that I fancy must be the relationship, comes over
Speaker 1: from Greece to interfere. He imprudently puts himself into the
Speaker 1: power of the young man and his older associate. They
Speaker 1: seize him and use violence towards him in order to
Speaker 1: make him sign some papers to make over the girl's fortune,
Speaker 1: of which he may be trustee to them. This he
Speaker 1: refuses to do. In order to negotiate with him, they
Speaker 1: have to get an interpreter, and they pitch upon this
Speaker 1: mister Maylass, having used some other one before. The girl
Speaker 1: is not told of the arrival of her brother, and
Speaker 1: finds it out by the merest accident. Excellent Watson cried, Holmes,
Speaker 1: Really fancy that you are not far from the truth.
Speaker 1: You see that we hold all the cards, and we
Speaker 1: have only to fear some sudden act of violence on
Speaker 1: their part. If they give us time, we must have them.
Speaker 1: But how can we find where this house lies? Well?
Speaker 1: If our conjecture is correct, and the girl's name is
Speaker 1: or was Sophie Kratides, we should have no difficulty in
Speaker 1: tracing her. That must be our main hope. For the
Speaker 1: brother is, of course a complete stranger. It is clear
Speaker 1: that some time has elapsed since this Harald established these
Speaker 1: relations with the girl, some weeks at any rate, since
Speaker 1: the brother in Greece has had time to hear of
Speaker 1: it and come across. If they have been living in
Speaker 1: the same place during this time, it is probable that
Speaker 1: we shall have some answer to Mycraft's advertisement. We had
Speaker 1: reached our house in Baker Street while we had been talking.
Speaker 1: Holmes ascended the stair first, and as he opened the
Speaker 1: door of our room, he gave a start of surprise.
Speaker 1: Looking over his shoulder. I was equally astonished. His brother, Micraft,
Speaker 1: was sitting smoking in the arm chair. Come in, Sherlock,
Speaker 1: Come in, sir, he said, blandly, smiling at our surprised faces.
Speaker 1: You don't expect such energy from me, do you, Sherlock?
Speaker 1: But somehow this case attracts me. How did you get here?
Speaker 1: I passed you in a hansom? There has been some
Speaker 1: new development. I had an answer to my advertisement. Ah, yes,
Speaker 1: it came within a few minutes of your leaving. And
Speaker 1: to what effect? Microft Holmes took out a sheet of paper.
Speaker 1: Here it is said he written with a J pen
Speaker 1: on royal cream paper by a middle aged man with
Speaker 1: a weak constitution. Sir, he says, in answer to your
Speaker 1: advertisement of to day's date, I beg to inform you
Speaker 1: that I know the young lady in question very well.
Speaker 1: If you should care to call upon me, I could
Speaker 1: give you some particulars as to her painful history. She
Speaker 1: is living at present at the Myrtles Beckenham, Yours faithfully, J. Davenport.
Speaker 1: He writes from Lower Brixton. Said, Mycroft Holmes, do you
Speaker 1: think that we might drive to him? Now? Sherlock and
Speaker 1: learn these particulars. My dear Microft, the brother's life is
Speaker 1: more valuable than the sister's story. I think we should
Speaker 1: call at Scotland Yard for Inspector Gregson and go straight
Speaker 1: out to Beckenham. We know that a man is being
Speaker 1: done to death, and every hour may be vital. Better
Speaker 1: pick up mister maelass on our way. I suggested we
Speaker 1: may need an interpreter. Excellent, said Sherlock Holmes. Send the
Speaker 1: boy for a four wheeler and we shall be off
Speaker 1: at once. He opened the table drawer as he spoke,
Speaker 1: and I noticed that he slipped his revolver into his pocket. Yes,
Speaker 1: said he, in answer to my glance. I should say,
Speaker 1: from what we have heard, that we are dealing with
Speaker 1: a particularly dangerous gang. It was almost dark before we
Speaker 1: found ourselves in Pall Mall at the rooms of mister
Speaker 1: Maelas a gentleman had just called for him, and he
Speaker 1: was gone. Can you tell me where, asked Mycroft Holmes.
Speaker 1: I don't know, sir, answered the woman who had opened
Speaker 1: the door. I only know that he drove away with
Speaker 1: the gentleman in a carriage. Did the gentleman give a name, No, sir,
Speaker 1: he wasn't a tall, handsome, dark young man. Oh no, sir,
Speaker 1: he was a little gentleman with glasses, thin in the face,
Speaker 1: but very pleasant in his ways, for he was laughing
Speaker 1: all the time that he was talking. Come along, cried
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes abruptly. This grows serious, he observed, as we
Speaker 1: drove to Scotland Yard. These men have got hold of
Speaker 1: Maelas again he is a man of no physical courage.
Speaker 1: As they are well aware from their experience the other night,
Speaker 1: this villain was able to terrorize him the instant that
Speaker 1: he got into his presence. No doubt they want his
Speaker 1: professional services, but having used him, they may be inclined
Speaker 1: to punish him for what they will regard as his treachery.
Speaker 1: Our hope was that by taking train we might get
Speaker 1: to Beckenham soon, or sooner than the carriage. On reaching
Speaker 1: Scotland Yard, however, it was more than an hour before
Speaker 1: we could get Inspector Gregson and comply with the legal
Speaker 1: formalities which would enable us to enter the house. It
Speaker 1: was a quarter to ten before we reached London Bridge,
Speaker 1: and half past before the four of us alighted on
Speaker 1: the Beckenham platform. A drive of half a mile brought
Speaker 1: us to the myrtles, a large dark house standing back
Speaker 1: from the road in its own grounds. Here we dismissed
Speaker 1: our cab and made our way up the drive together.
Speaker 1: The windows are all dark, remarked the inspector. The house
Speaker 1: seems deserted. Our herds are flown and the nest empty,
Speaker 1: said Holmes. Why do you say so? A carriage heavily
Speaker 1: loaded with luggage has passed out during the last hour,
Speaker 1: the inspector laughed. I saw the wheel tracks in the
Speaker 1: light of the gate lamp. But where does the luggage
Speaker 1: come in. You may have observed the same wheel tracks
Speaker 1: going the other way, but the outward bound ones were
Speaker 1: very much deeper, so much so that we can say
Speaker 1: for a certainty that there was a very considerable weight
Speaker 1: on the carriage. You get a trifle beyond me there,
Speaker 1: said the inspector, shrugging his shoulder. It will not be
Speaker 1: an easy door to force, but we will try. If
Speaker 1: we cannot make someone hear us, he hammered loudly at
Speaker 1: the knocker and pulled at the bell, but without any success.
Speaker 1: Holmes had slipped away, but he came back in a
Speaker 1: few minutes. I have a window open, said he It
Speaker 1: is a mercy that you are on the side of
Speaker 1: the force and not against it, mister Holmes remarked the inspector,
Speaker 1: as he noted the clever way in which my friend
Speaker 1: had forced back the catch. Well, I think that under
Speaker 1: the circumstances we may enter without an invitation. One after
Speaker 1: the other, we made our way into a large apartment,
Speaker 1: which was evidently that in which mister Maelis had found himself.
Speaker 1: The Inspector had lit his lantern, and by its light
Speaker 1: we could see the two doors, the curtain, the lamp,
Speaker 1: and the suit of Japanese mail as he had described them.
Speaker 1: On the table lay two glasses, an empty brandy bottle,
Speaker 1: and the remains of a meal. What is that? Asked Holmes.
Speaker 1: Suddenly we all stood still and listened. A low, moaning
Speaker 1: sound was coming from somewhere over our heads. Holmes rushed
Speaker 1: to the door and out into the hall. The dismal
Speaker 1: noise came from upstairs. He dashed up, the Inspector and
Speaker 1: I at his heels, while his brother Micraft followed as
Speaker 1: quickly as his great bulk would permit. Three door faced
Speaker 1: up upon the second floor, and it was from the
Speaker 1: central of these that the sinister sounds were issuing, sinking
Speaker 1: sometimes into a dull mumble, and rising again into a
Speaker 1: shrill whine. It was locked, but the key had been
Speaker 1: left on the outside. Holmes flung open the door and
Speaker 1: rushed in, but he was out again in an instant.
Speaker 1: With his hand to his throat. It's charcoal, he cried,
Speaker 1: give it time, it will clear. Peering in, we could
Speaker 1: see that the only light in the room came from
Speaker 1: a dull blue flame, which flickered from a small brass
Speaker 1: tripod in the center. It threw a livid, unnatural circle
Speaker 1: upon the floor, while in the shadows beyond we saw
Speaker 1: the vague loom of two figures which crouched against the wall.
Speaker 1: From the open door, there reeked a horrible, poisonous exhalation,
Speaker 1: which set us gasping and coughing. Homes rushed to the
Speaker 1: top of the stairs to draw in the fresh and
Speaker 1: then dashing into the room. He threw up the window
Speaker 1: and hurled the brazen tripod out into the garden. We
Speaker 1: can enter in a minute, he gasped, darting out, again.
Speaker 1: Where is a candle? I doubt if we could strike
Speaker 1: a match in that atmosphere. Hold the light at the door,
Speaker 1: and we shall get them out my craft. Now, with
Speaker 1: a rush, we got the poisoned men and dragged them
Speaker 1: out into the well lit hall. Both of them were
Speaker 1: blue lipped and insensible, with swollen, congested faces and protruding eyes. Indeed,
Speaker 1: so distorted were their features that, save for his black
Speaker 1: beard and stout figure, we might have failed to recognize
Speaker 1: in one of them, the Greek interpreter who had parted
Speaker 1: from us only a few hours before at the Diogenes Club.
Speaker 1: His hands and feet were securely strapped together, and he
Speaker 1: bore over one eye the marks of a violent blow.
Speaker 1: The other, who was secured in a similar fashion, was
Speaker 1: a tall man in the last stage of emaciation, with
Speaker 1: several strips of sticking plaster arranged in a grotesque pattern
Speaker 1: over his face. He had ceased to moan as we
Speaker 1: laid him down, and a glance showed me that for
Speaker 1: him at least our aid had come too late. Mister Maelas, however,
Speaker 1: still lived, and in less than an hour, with the
Speaker 1: aid of ammonia and brandy, I had the satisfaction of
Speaker 1: seeing him open his eyes, and of knowing that my
Speaker 1: hand had drawn him back from that dark valley. In
Speaker 1: which all paths meet. It was a simple story which
Speaker 1: he had to tell, and one which did but confirm
Speaker 1: our own deductions. His visitor, on entering his rooms, had
Speaker 1: drawn a life preserver from his sleeve, and had so
Speaker 1: impressed him with the fear of instant and inevitable death,
Speaker 1: that he had kidnapped him for the second time. Indeed,
Speaker 1: it was almost mesmeric the effect which this giggling Ruffian
Speaker 1: had produced upon the unfortunate linguist, for he could not
Speaker 1: speak of him save with trembling hands and a blanched cheek.
Speaker 1: He had been taken swiftly to Beckenham, and had acted
Speaker 1: as interpreter in a second interview even more dramatic than
Speaker 1: the first, in which the two englishmen had menaced their
Speaker 1: prisoner with instant death if he did not comply with
Speaker 1: their demands. Finally finding him proof against every threat, they
Speaker 1: had hurled him back into his prison, and after reproaching
Speaker 1: Melas with his treachery which appeared from the newspaper advertisement,
Speaker 1: they had stunned him with a blow from a stick,
Speaker 1: and he remembered nothing more until he found us bending
Speaker 1: over him. And this was the singular case of the
Speaker 1: Grecian interpreter, the explanation of which is still involved in
Speaker 1: some mystery. We were able to find out, by communicating
Speaker 1: with the gentleman who had answered the advertisement, that the
Speaker 1: unfortunate young lady came of a wealthy Grecian family, and
Speaker 1: that she had been on a visit to some friends
Speaker 1: in England. While there she had met a young man
Speaker 1: named Harold Latimer, who had acquired an ascendancy over her,
Speaker 1: and had eventually persuaded her to fly with him. Her friends,
Speaker 1: shocked at the event, had contented themselves with informing her
Speaker 1: brother at Athens, and had then washed their hands of
Speaker 1: the matter. The brother, on his arrival in England, had
Speaker 1: imprudently placed himself in the power of Latimer and of
Speaker 1: his associate, whose name was Wilson Kemp, a man of
Speaker 1: the foulest antecedents. These two, finding that through his ignorance
Speaker 1: of the language he was helpless in their hands, had
Speaker 1: kept him a prisoner, and had endeavored, by cruelty and
Speaker 1: starvation to make him sign away his own and his
Speaker 1: sister's property. They had kept him in the house without
Speaker 1: the girl's knowledge, and the plaster over the face had
Speaker 1: been for the purpose of making recognition difficult in case
Speaker 1: she should ever catch a glimpse of him. Her feminine perception, however,
Speaker 1: had instantly seen through the disguise when, on the occasion
Speaker 1: of the interpreter's visit, she had seen him for the
Speaker 1: first time. The poor girl, however, was herself a prisoner,
Speaker 1: for there was no one about the house except the
Speaker 1: man who acted as coachman and his wife, both of
Speaker 1: whom were tools of the conspirators. Finding that their secret
Speaker 1: was out and that their prisoner was not to be cast,
Speaker 1: the two villains with the girl had fled away at
Speaker 1: a few hours notice from the furnished house which they
Speaker 1: had hired, having first, as they thought, taken vengeance both
Speaker 1: upon the man who had defied and the one who
Speaker 1: had betrayed them. Months afterwards, a curious newspaper cutting reached
Speaker 1: us from Budapeste. It told how two Englishmen who had
Speaker 1: been traveling with a woman had met with a tragic end.
Speaker 1: They had each been stabbed, it seems, and the Hungarian
Speaker 1: police were of opinion that they had quarreled and had
Speaker 1: inflicted mortal injuries upon each other. Holmes, however, is I
Speaker 1: fancy of a different way of thinking and holds to
Speaker 1: this day that if one could find the Grecian Girl,
Speaker 1: one might learn how the wrongs of herself and her
Speaker 1: brother came to be avenged. That is the end of
Speaker 1: The Greek Interpreter by Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Greg
Speaker 1: Wagland for Magpie Audio, Copyright twenty nineteen.