WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:07.960 The adventure of the Greek interpreter. During my long and 2 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:12.640 intimate acquaintance with mister Sherlock Holmes, I had never heard 3 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:16.480 him refer to his relations, and hardly ever to his 4 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:23.079 own early life. This reticence upon his part had increased 5 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:28.760 the somewhat inhuman effect which he produced upon me, until 6 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:32.960 sometimes I found myself regarding him as an isolated phenomenon, 7 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:39.799 a brain without a heart, as deficient in human sympathy 8 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:46.240 as he was pre eminent in intelligence. His aversion to 9 00:00:46.359 --> 00:00:51.920 women and his disinclination to form new friendships were both 10 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:57.520 typical of his unemotional character, but not more so than 11 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:01.920 his complete suppression of every reference to his own people. 12 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:06.040 I had come to believe that he was an orphan 13 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:10.280 with no relatives living. But one day, to my very 14 00:01:10.280 --> 00:01:14.359 great surprise, he began to talk to me about his brother. 15 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:20.840 It was after tea on a summer evening, and the conversation, 16 00:01:21.959 --> 00:01:25.319 which had roamed in a desultory, spasmodic fashion from golf 17 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:29.000 clubs to the causes of change in the obliquity of 18 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:33.239 the ecliptic, came round at last to the question of 19 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:40.400 atavism and hereditary aptitudes. The point under discussion was how 20 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:43.959 far any singular gift in an individual was due to 21 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.400 his ancestry, and how far to his own early training. 22 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:51.840 In your own case, said I. From all that you 23 00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:54.959 have told me, it seems obvious that your faculty of 24 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.159 observation and your peculiar facility for deduction are due to 25 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:05.120 your own sister domatic training. To some extent, he answered thoughtfully, 26 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:10.639 my ancestors were country squires, who appear to have led 27 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:13.719 much the same life as is natural to their class. 28 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:18.039 But nonetheless, my turn that way is in my veins, 29 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.280 and may have come with my grandmother, who was the 30 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:26.879 sister of Verney, the French artist. Art in the blood 31 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:31.080 is liable to take the strangest forms. But how do 32 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:35.120 you know that it is hereditary? Because my brother Micraft 33 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:39.280 possesses it in a larger degree than I do. This 34 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:43.719 was news to me. Indeed, if there were another man 35 00:02:43.879 --> 00:02:48.479 with such singular powers in England, how was it that 36 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:52.680 neither police nor public had heard of him? I put 37 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:56.280 the question with a hint that it was my companion's 38 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:59.960 modesty which made him acknowledge his brother as his superior. 39 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:05.000 Holmes laughed at my suggestion, My dear Watson said he 40 00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:10.120 I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. 41 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:15.000 To the logician, all things should be seen exactly as 42 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:19.639 they are, and to underestimate oneself is as much a 43 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:25.800 departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own powers. When 44 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.759 I say, therefore, that my craft has better powers of 45 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:32.680 observation than I, you may take it that I am 46 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:37.479 speaking the exact and literal truth. Is he your junior, 47 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:43.639 seven years my senior? How comes it that he is unknown? Oh? 48 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:49.719 He is very well known in his own circle. Where then, well, 49 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:54.599 in the Diogenes Club, for example? I had never heard 50 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:58.840 of the institution, and my face must have proclaimed as much. 51 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.240 The Sherlock Holmes pulled out his watch. The Diogenes Club 52 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:08.159 is the queerest club in London, and Micraft one of 53 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:12.439 the queerest men. He's always there from quarter to five 54 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:15.879 to twenty to eight. It's six now, So if you 55 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:19.199 care for a stroll this beautiful evening, I shall be 56 00:04:19.319 --> 00:04:24.920 very happy to introduce you to two curiosities. Five minutes later, 57 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:30.439 we were in the street, walking towards Regent's Circus. You wonder, 58 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:34.360 said my companion, why it is that Micraft does not 59 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:39.319 use his powers for detective work. He is incapable of it. 60 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:43.120 But I thought you said, I said that he was 61 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:48.079 my superior in observation and deduction. If the art of 62 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:51.480 the detective began and ended in reasoning from an arm chair, 63 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:56.040 my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived. 64 00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:00.439 But he has no ambition and no energy. He will 65 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:02.680 not even go out of his way to verify his 66 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:06.959 own solutions, and would rather be considered wrong than take 67 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:10.680 the trouble to prove himself right. Again and again. I 68 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:13.439 have taken a problem to him, and have received an 69 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:17.399 explanation which has afterwards proved to be the correct one. 70 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:21.439 And yet he was absolutely incapable of working out the 71 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:25.199 practical points which must be gone into before a case 72 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:29.360 could be laid before a judge or jury. It is 73 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:33.279 not his profession, then, by no means. What is to 74 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:36.240 me a means of livelihood is to him the merest 75 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:40.240 hobby of a dilettante. He has an extraordinary faculty for 76 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:44.439 figures and audits the books in some of the government departments. 77 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:48.600 Micraft lodges in Pall Mall, and he walks round the 78 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:51.959 corner into Whitehall every morning and back every evening. From 79 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:55.240 year's end to year's end. He takes no other exercise 80 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:59.920 and is seen nowhere else except only in the Diogenes Club, 81 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:04.639 which is just opposite his rooms. I cannot recall the name, 82 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:08.279 very likely not. There are many men in London, you 83 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:12.079 know who, some from shyness, some from misanthropy, have no 84 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:15.519 wish for the company of their fellows. Yet they are 85 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:19.639 not averse to comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals. It 86 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:23.519 is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club 87 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:26.959 was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and 88 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:31.120 unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take 89 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.839 the least notice of any other one, save in the 90 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:38.879 stranger's room. No talking is under any circumstances allowed, and 91 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:42.160 three offenses, if brought to the notice of the committee, 92 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:46.680 render the talker liable to expulsion. My brother was one 93 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:50.000 of the founders, and I have myself found it a 94 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:55.079 very soothing atmosphere. We had reached Pall Mall as we talked, 95 00:06:55.959 --> 00:06:58.839 and we were walking down it from the Saint James's end. 96 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:03.240 Sherlock Holmes stopped at Adore, some little distance from the Carlton, 97 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:07.040 and cautioning me not to speak. He led the way 98 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:10.839 into the hall. Through the glass paneling, I caught a 99 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:14.600 glimpse of a large and luxurious room in which a 100 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:18.279 considerable number of men were sitting about and reading papers, 101 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:22.680 each in his own little nook. Holmes showed me into 102 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:26.319 a small chamber which looked out into pow Mall, and 103 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:29.600 then leaving me for a minute, he came back with 104 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:34.879 a companion whom I knew could only be his brother, Mycroft. 105 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:38.319 Holmes was a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock. 106 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:45.959 His body was absolutely corpulent, but his face, though massive, 107 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:50.240 had preserved something of the sharpness of expression which was 108 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:54.680 so remarkable in that of his brother. His eyes, which 109 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:59.920 were of a peculiarly light, watery gray, seemed to always 110 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:04.439 retain that far away, introspective look which I had only 111 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:08.360 observed in Sherlock's when he was exerting his full powers. 112 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:13.000 I am glad to meet you, sir, said he putting 113 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:16.279 out a broad, fat hand like the flipper of a seal. 114 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:20.839 I hear of Sherlock everywhere since you became his chronicler. 115 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:24.839 By the way, Sherlock, I expected to see you round 116 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:28.480 last week to consult me over that manor house case. 117 00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:32.799 I thought you might be a little out of your depth. No, 118 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:37.399 I solved it, said my friend, smiling. It was Adams. 119 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:41.200 Of course, Yes it was Adams. I was sure of 120 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:45.200 it from the first. The two sat down together in 121 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.720 the bow window of the club. To any one who 122 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:54.320 wishes to study mankind, this is the spot, said Mycraft. 123 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:59.679 Look at the magnificent types. Look at these two men 124 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:03.879 who are coming towards us, for example, the billiard maker 125 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:07.679 and the other. Precisely, what do you make of the other. 126 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:13.159 The two men had stopped opposite the window. Some chalk 127 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:17.080 marks over the waistcoat pocket were the only signs of 128 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:20.559 billiards which I could see in one of them. The 129 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:24.639 other was a very small, dark fellow, with his hat 130 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:29.759 pushed back and several packages under his arm. An old soldier, 131 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:35.720 I perceive, said Sherlock, and very recently discharged, remarked the 132 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:40.399 brother served in India, I see, And a non commissioned 133 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:45.879 officer Royal Artillery. I fancy, said Sherlock. And a widower, 134 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:51.200 but with a child. Children, My dear boy, children come, 135 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:55.240 said I laughing. This is a little too much, surely, 136 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:58.440 answered Holmes. It is not hard to say that a 137 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:01.919 man with that bearing expression of authority and sun baked 138 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:06.559 skin is a soldier, is more than a private, and 139 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:10.399 is not long from India. That he has not left 140 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:13.679 the service long is shown by his still wearing his 141 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:19.600 ammunition boots as they are called, observed Micraft. He had 142 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:23.279 not the cavalry stride, yet he wore his hat on 143 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:26.720 one side, as is shown by the lighter skin of 144 00:10:26.840 --> 00:10:30.720 that side of his brow. His weight is against his 145 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:36.039 being a sapper. He is in the artillery. Then, of course, 146 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:40.679 his complete mourning shows that he has lost someone very dear. 147 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:44.200 The fact that he is doing his own shopping looks 148 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:47.480 as though it were his wife. He has been buying 149 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:51.720 things for children. You perceive there is a rattle, which 150 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:54.919 shows that one of them is very young. The wife 151 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:58.679 probably died in child bed. The fact that he has 152 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.679 a picture book under him his arm shows that there 153 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:05.440 is another child to be thought of. I began to 154 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:08.559 understand what my friend meant when he said that his 155 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:13.519 brother possessed even keener faculties than he did himself. He 156 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:18.399 glanced across at me and smiled. Micraft took snuff from 157 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:22.799 a tortoise shell box and brushed away the wandering grains 158 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.799 from his coat front with a large red silk handkerchief. 159 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:31.679 By the way, Sherlock said he, I have had something 160 00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:37.600 quite after your own heart, a most singular problem submitted 161 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:41.559 to my judgment. I really had not the energy to 162 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:46.039 follow it up, save in a very incomplete fashion, but 163 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:51.320 it gave me a basis for some pleasing speculation. If 164 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.200 you would care to hear the fact, my dear Micraft, 165 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:58.360 I should be delighted. The brother scribbled a note upon 166 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.519 a leaf of his pocket book, and ringing the bell, 167 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:05.320 he handed it to the waiter. I have asked mister 168 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.480 Melas to step across, said he. He lodges on the 169 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:13.720 floor above me, and I have some slight acquaintance with him, 170 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:16.840 which led him to come to me in his perplexity. 171 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:21.919 Mister Melass is a Greek by extraction, as I understand, 172 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:27.039 and he is a remarkable linguist. He earns his living 173 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:32.279 partly as interpreter in the law courts, and partly by 174 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:36.840 acting as guide to any wealthy Orientals who may visit 175 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:41.759 the Northumberland Avenue hotels. I think I will leave him 176 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:46.840 to tell his own very remarkable experience in his own fashion. 177 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:51.120 A few minutes later we were joined by a short, 178 00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:56.559 stout man, whose olive face and cold black hair proclaimed 179 00:12:56.600 --> 00:13:00.480 his Southern origin, though his speech was that of an 180 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:06.200 educated Englishman. He shook hands eagerly with Sherlock Holmes, and 181 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:10.320 his dark eyes sparkled with pleasure when he understood that 182 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:14.039 the specialist was anxious to hear his story. I do 183 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.720 not believe that the police credit me on my word. 184 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:19.919 I do not, he said in a wailing voice, just 185 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:23.000 because they have never heard of it before. They think 186 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:25.320 that such a thing cannot be. But I know that 187 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:27.799 I shall never be easy in my mind until I 188 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:30.840 know what has become of my poor man with the 189 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:35.559 sticking plaster upon his face. I am all attention, said 190 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:41.279 Sherlock Holmes. This is Wednesday evening, said mister melass Well, 191 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:44.600 then it was Monday night, only two days ago. You 192 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:49.000 understand that all this happened. I am an interpreter, as 193 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:52.840 perhaps my neighbor there has told you, I interpret all languages, 194 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:55.879 or nearly all, but as I am a Greek by 195 00:13:55.960 --> 00:13:59.200 birth and with a Grecian name, it is with that 196 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:03.919 particular hung that I am principally associated. For many years 197 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:07.320 I have been the chief Greek interpreter in London, and 198 00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:10.799 my name is very well known in the hotels. It 199 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:13.679 happens not unfrequently that I am sent for at strange 200 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:17.679 hours by foreigners who get into difficulties, or by travelers 201 00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:21.080 who arrived late and the wish for my services. I 202 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:24.919 was not surprised therefore on Monday night when a mister Latimer, 203 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:28.399 a very fashionably dressed young man, came up to my 204 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:31.399 rooms and asked me to accompany him in a cab 205 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:35.080 which was waiting at the door. A Greek friend had 206 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:38.279 come to see him upon business, he said, and as 207 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:41.720 he could speak nothing but his own tongue, the services 208 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:46.399 of an interpreter were indispensable. He gave me to understand 209 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:49.440 that his house was some little distance off in Kensington, 210 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:52.600 and he seemed to be in a great hurry, bustling 211 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.840 me rapidly into the cab when we had descended to 212 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:59.639 the street. I say, into the cab, but I soon 213 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.559 became doubtful as to whether it was not a carriage 214 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:06.159 in which I found myself. It was certainly more roomy 215 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:11.639 than the ordinary four wheeled disgrace to London, and the fittings, 216 00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:16.639 though fraid, were of rich quality. Mister Latimer seated himself 217 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:20.399 opposite to me, and we started off through Charing Cross 218 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:23.799 and up the Shaftsbury Avenue. We had come out upon 219 00:15:23.799 --> 00:15:27.080 Oxford Street, and I had ventured some remark as to 220 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:31.279 this being a roundabout way to Kensington, when my words 221 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:35.679 were arrested by the extraordinary conduct of my companion. He 222 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:40.440 began by drawing a most formidable looking bludgeon loaded with 223 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:44.120 lead from his pocket, and switching it backward and forward 224 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:47.440 several times, as if to test its weight and strength. 225 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:51.320 Then he placed it, without a word, upon the seat 226 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:55.799 beside him. Having done this, he drew up the windows 227 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:00.039 on each side, and I found, to my astonishment that 228 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.159 they were covered with paper so as to prevent my 229 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.720 seeing through them. I am sorry to cut off your view, 230 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:10.480 mister Melas, said he. The fact is that I have 231 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:13.120 no intention that you should see what the place is 232 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:17.080 to which we are driving. It might possibly be inconvenient 233 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:20.240 to me if you could find your way there. Again, 234 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:24.279 as you can imagine, I was utterly taken aback by 235 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:28.919 such an address. My companion was a powerful, broad shouldered 236 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:32.399 young fellow, and apart from the weapon, I should not 237 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:35.720 have had the slightest chance in a struggle with him. 238 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:41.600 This is very extraordinary conduct, mister Latimer, I stammered. You 239 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:45.080 must be aware that what you are doing is quite illegal. 240 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:48.960 It is somewhat of a liberty, no doubt, said he. 241 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:53.639 But we'll make it up to you. I must warn you, however, 242 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:57.360 mister Melas, that if at any time tonight you attempt 243 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:00.000 to raise an alarm or do anything which is against 244 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:03.720 my interests, you will find it a very serious thing. 245 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:06.480 I beg you to remember that no one knows where 246 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:09.759 you are, and that whether you are in this carriage 247 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:13.839 or in my house, you are equally in my power. 248 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.920 His words were quiet, but he had a rasping way 249 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:23.440 of saying them, which was very menacing. I sat in silence, 250 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:26.440 wondering what an earth could be his reason for kidnapping 251 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:31.559 me in this extraordinary fashion. Whatever it might be, it 252 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:34.359 was perfectly clear that there was no possible use in 253 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:38.039 my resisting. That I could only wait to see what 254 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:43.480 might befall. For nearly two hours we drove without my 255 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:46.240 having the least clue as to where we were going. 256 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:51.279 Sometimes the rattle of the stones told of a paved causeway, 257 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:56.799 and at others our smooth, silent course suggested asphalt, but 258 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:01.839 save by this variation in so there was nothing at 259 00:18:01.880 --> 00:18:04.799 all which could, in the remotest way help me to 260 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:09.640 form a guess as to where we were. The paper 261 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.640 over each window was impenetrable to light, and a blue 262 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:17.480 curtain was drawn across the glass work in front. It 263 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:19.759 was a quarter past seven when we left Pall Mall, 264 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:22.720 and my watch showed me that it was ten minutes 265 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:26.440 to nine when we at last came to a standstill. 266 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:30.759 My companion let down the window and I caught a 267 00:18:30.759 --> 00:18:33.519 glimpse of a low arched doorway with a lamp burning 268 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:36.480 above it. As I was hurried from the carriage, it 269 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:41.160 swung open, and I found myself inside the house, with 270 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:43.680 a vague impression of a lawn and trees on each 271 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:48.559 side of me. As I entered whether these were private grounds, however, 272 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:53.480 or bona fide country, was more than I could possibly 273 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:57.960 venture to say. There was a colored gas lamp inside, 274 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:01.480 which was turned so low that I could see little 275 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:04.200 save that the hall was of some size and hung 276 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:08.160 with pictures. In the dim light, I could make out 277 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:10.400 that the person who had opened the door was a small, 278 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:15.359 mean looking middle aged man, with rounded shoulders. As he 279 00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:18.920 turned towards us, the glint of the light showed me 280 00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:23.480 that he was wearing glasses. Is this mister Maelis, Harold 281 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:28.119 said he yes, well done, well done. No ill will, 282 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:30.960 mister Maelis, I hope, but we could not get on 283 00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:33.480 without you. If you deal fair with us, you'll not 284 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:36.319 regret it. But if you try any tricks, God help you. 285 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:40.720 He spoke in a nervous, jerky fashion, and with little 286 00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:44.839 giggling laughs in between, but somehow he impressed me with 287 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:48.559 fear more than the other. What do you want with me? 288 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.039 I asked, only to ask a few questions, have a 289 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.079 Greek gentleman who is visiting us, and to let us 290 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:57.799 have the answers. But say no more than you are 291 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:02.079 told to say, or came the nervous giggle again. You 292 00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:06.440 had better never have been born. As he spoke, he 293 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:09.200 opened a door and showed the way into a room 294 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.160 which appeared to be very richly furnished, but again the 295 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:17.400 only light was afforded by a single lamp half turned down. 296 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:22.079 The chamber was certainly large, and the way in which 297 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:25.000 my feet sank into the carpet as I stepped across 298 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:29.839 it told me of its richness. I caught glimpses of 299 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:33.880 velvet chairs, a high white marble mantelpiece, and what seemed 300 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:37.400 to be a suit of Japanese armor. At one side 301 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:41.359 of it, there was a chair just under the lamp, 302 00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:44.759 and the elderly man motioned that I should sit in it. 303 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:49.240 The younger had left us, but he suddenly returned through 304 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:53.279 another door, leading with him a gentleman clad in some 305 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:57.920 sort of loose dressing gown, who moved slowly towards us. 306 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:02.039 As he came into the circle of dim light which 307 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:06.240 enables me to see him more clearly, I was thrilled 308 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:11.200 with horror at his appearance. He was deadly pale and 309 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:16.880 terribly emaciated, with the protruding brilliant eyes of a man 310 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:22.480 whose spirit was greater than his strength. But what shocked 311 00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:26.799 me more than any signs of physical weakness was that 312 00:21:26.920 --> 00:21:32.680 his face was grotesquely criss crossed with sticking plaster, and 313 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:36.279 that one large pad of it was fastened over his mouth. 314 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:42.000 Have you the slate, Harold, cried the older man, as 315 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:46.039 this strange being fell rather than sat down into a chair. 316 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:50.920 Are his hands and loose? Now? Then give him the pencil. 317 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:55.720 You are to ask the questions, mister Melas, and he 318 00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:00.279 will write the answers. Ask him, first of all, whether 319 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.519 he is prepared to sign the papers. The man's eyes 320 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:09.000 flashed fire. Never he wrote in Greek upon the slate 321 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:14.480 on no condition, I asked, at the bidding of our tyrant, 322 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:18.519 only if I see her married in my presence by 323 00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:22.839 a Greek priest whom I know. The man giggled in 324 00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:26.799 his venomous way. You know, and what awaits you? Then 325 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:32.079 I care nothing for myself. These are samples of the 326 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:36.319 questions and answers which made up our strange, half spoken, 327 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:40.519 half written conversation. Again and again I had to ask 328 00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:44.319 him whether he would give in and sign the documents. 329 00:22:44.519 --> 00:22:49.559 Again and again I had the same indignant reply. But 330 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:54.200 soon a happy thought came to me. I took to 331 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:57.559 adding on little sentences of my own to each question, 332 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:02.000 innocent ones, at first to test whether either of our 333 00:23:02.039 --> 00:23:06.240 companions knew anything of the matter. And then, as I 334 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:09.599 found that they showed no signs, I played a more 335 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:15.160 dangerous game. Our conversation ran something like this, you can 336 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:18.880 do no good by this obstinacy. Who are you? I 337 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:22.599 care not? I am a stranger in London. Your fate 338 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:25.559 will be upon your head. How long have you been here? 339 00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:29.839 Let it be so three weeks. The property can never 340 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:34.400 be yours. What ails you? It shall not go to villains. 341 00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:37.759 They are starving me. You shall go free. If you 342 00:23:37.880 --> 00:23:41.880 sign what house is this? I will never sign. I 343 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:45.839 do not know. You are not doing her any service. 344 00:23:46.039 --> 00:23:50.160 What is your name? Let me hear her say so Kratidis, 345 00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:53.680 You shall see her. If you sign where are you from? 346 00:23:54.279 --> 00:23:59.200 Then I shall never see her? Athens another five minutes, 347 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:01.799 mister Holmes and I should have wormed out the whole 348 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:05.839 story under their very noses. My very next question might 349 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:09.079 have cleared the matter up. But at that instant the 350 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:13.039 door opened and a woman stepped into the room. I 351 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:15.799 could not see her clearly enough to know more than 352 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:19.799 that she was tall and graceful, with black hair, and 353 00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:24.680 clad in some sort of loose white gown. Harold said she, 354 00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:28.599 speaking English with a broken accent. I could not stay 355 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:32.000 away longer. It is so lonely up there with only Oh, 356 00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:36.200 my god, it is Paul. These last words were in Greek, 357 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:40.240 and at the same instant the man, with a convulsive effort, 358 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:44.359 tore the plaster from his lips and screaming out Sophie. 359 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:49.240 Sophie rushed into the woman's arms. Their embrace was but 360 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.119 for an instant, however, for the younger man seized the 361 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:55.200 woman and pushed her out of the room, while the 362 00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:59.319 elder easily overpowered his emaciated victim and dragged him away 363 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:02.319 through the other or. For a moment, I was left 364 00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:04.720 alone in the room, and I sprang to my feet 365 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:07.200 with some vague idea that I might in some way 366 00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:09.400 get a clue to what this house was in which 367 00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:13.880 I found myself. Fortunately, however, I took no steps, for 368 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:16.680 looking up, I saw that the older man was standing 369 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:19.920 in the doorway with his eyes fixed upon me. That 370 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:23.640 will do, mister Melas, said he you perceive that we 371 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:28.279 have taken you into our confidence over some very private business. 372 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:32.240 We should not have troubled you, only that our friend, 373 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:35.880 who speaks Greek and who began these negotiations, has been 374 00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:40.119 forced to return to the east. It was quite necessary 375 00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:43.400 for us to find someone to take his place, and 376 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:47.519 we were fortunate in hearing of your powers. I bowed. 377 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:52.680 There are five sovereigns here, said he, walking up to me, 378 00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:57.240 Which will I hope be a sufficient fee. But remember, 379 00:25:57.880 --> 00:26:01.359 he added, tapping me lightly on the chest and giggling, 380 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:05.480 if you speak to a human soul about this one 381 00:26:05.720 --> 00:26:13.640 human soul, mind, well, may God have mercy upon your soul. 382 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:18.000 I cannot tell you the loathing and horror with which 383 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:22.920 this insignificant looking man inspired me. I could see him 384 00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:26.519 better now, as the lamp light shone upon him. His 385 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:31.559 features were peaky and sallow, and his little pointed beard 386 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:36.680 was thready and ill nourished. He pushed his face forward 387 00:26:36.759 --> 00:26:40.680 as he spoke, and his lips and eyelids were continually twitching, 388 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:45.200 like a man with Saint Vitus dance. I could not 389 00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:50.599 help thinking that his strange, catchy little laugh was also 390 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:55.839 a symptom of some nervous malady. The terror of his 391 00:26:56.039 --> 00:27:03.720 face lay in his eyes, however, steel gray and glistening coldly, 392 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:10.680 with a malignant, inexorable cruelty in their depths. We shall 393 00:27:10.759 --> 00:27:14.920 know if you speak of this, said he. We have 394 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:19.680 our own means of information. Now you will find the 395 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:24.359 carriage waiting, and my friend will see you on your way. 396 00:27:25.880 --> 00:27:28.839 I was hurried through the hall and into the vehicle, again, 397 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:33.519 obtaining that momentary glimpse of the trees and the garden. 398 00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:37.480 Mister Latimer followed closely at my heels, and took his 399 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:40.440 place opposite to me, without a word. In silence, we 400 00:27:40.519 --> 00:27:44.559 again drove for an interminable distance, with the windows raised, 401 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:50.839