up there to cut it. Then I gathered up a few plates and pots of
silver, to carry out the idea of a robbery, and there I left them
with orders to give the alarm when I had a quarter of an hour's
start. I dropped the silver into the pond and made off for
Sydenham, feeling that for once in my life I had done a real
good night's work. And that's the truth and the whole truth,
Mr. Holmes, if it costs me my neck."
Holmes smoked for some time in silence. Then he crossed the room
and shook our visitor by the hand.
"That's what I think," said he. "I know that every word is true,
for you have hardly said a word which I did not know. No one but
an acrobat or a sailor could have got up to that bell-rope from
the bracket, and no one but a sailor could have made the knots
with which the cord was fastened to the chair. Only once had this
lady been brought into contact with sailors, and that was on her
voyage, and it was someone of her own class of life, since she was
trying hard to shield him and so showing that she loved him. You
see how easy it was for me to lay my hands upon you when once I
had started upon the right trail."
"I thought the police never could have seen through our dodge."
"And the police haven't; nor will they, to the best of my belief.
Now, look here, Captain Croker, this is a very serious matter,
though I am willing to admit that you acted under the most extreme
provocation to which any man could be subjected. I am not sure
that in defence of your own life your action will not be
pronounced legitimate. However, that is for a British jury to
decide. Meanwhile I have so much sympathy for you that if you
choose to disappear in the next twenty-four hours I will promise
you that no one will hinder you."
"And then it will all come out?"
"Certainly it will come out."
The sailor flushed with anger.
"What sort of proposal is that to make to a man? I know enough of
law to understand that Mary would be had as accomplice. Do you
think I would leave her alone to face the music while I slunk
away? No, sir; let them do their worst upon me, but for Heaven's
sake, Mr. Holmes, find some way of keeping my poor Mary out of the
courts."
Holmes for a second time held out his hand to the sailor.
"I was only testing you, and you ring true every time. Well, it
is a great responsibility that I take upon myself, but I have
given Hopkins an excellent hint, and if he can't avail himself of
it I can do no more. See here, Captain Croker, we'll do this in
due form of law. You are the prisoner. Watson, you are a British
jury, and I never met a man who was more eminently fitted to
represent one. I am the judge. Now, gentleman of the jury, you
have heard the evidence. Do you find the prisoner guilty or not
guilty?"
"Not guilty, my lord," said I.
"Vox populi, vox Dei. You are acquitted, Captain Croker. So long
as the law does not find some other victim you are safe from me.
Come back to this lady in a year, and may her future and yours
justify us in the judgment which we have pronounced this night."
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{------------------------ End of Text ---------------------------}
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{SECO, Rev 4, 1/17/96 rms, 4th proofing}
{The Adventure of the Second Stain, by Arthur Conan Doyle}
{Source: The Strand Magazine, 28 (Dec. 1904)}
{Etext prepared by Roger Squires
[email protected]}
{Braces({}) in the text indicate textual end-notes}
{Underscores (_) in the text indicate italics}
XIII. -- The Adventure of the Second Stain.
I HAD intended "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" to be the last
of those exploits of my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, which I
should ever communicate to the public. This resolution of mine
was not due to any lack of material, since I have notes of many
hundreds of cases to which I have never alluded, nor was it caused
by any waning interest on the part of my readers in the singular
personality and unique methods of this remarkable man. The real
reason lay in the reluctance which Mr. Holmes has shown to the
continued publication of his experiences. So long as he was in
actual professional practice the records of his successes were of
some practical value to him; but since he has definitely retired
from London and betaken himself to study and bee-farming on the
Sussex Downs, notoriety has become hateful to him, and he has
peremptorily requested that his wishes in this matter should be
strictly observed. It was only upon my representing to him that I
had given a promise that "The Adventure of the Second Stain"
should be published when the times were ripe, and pointing out to
him that it is only appropriate that this long series of episodes
should culminate in the most important international case which he
has ever been called upon to handle, that I at last succeeded in
obtaining his consent that a carefully-guarded account of the
incident should at last be laid before the public. If in telling
the story I seem to be somewhat vague in certain details the
public will readily understand that there is an excellent reason
for my reticence.
It was, then, in a year, and even in a decade, that shall be
nameless, that upon one Tuesday morning in autumn we found two
visitors of European fame within the walls of our humble room in
Baker Street. The one, austere, high-nosed, eagle-eyed, and
dominant, was none other than the illustrious Lord Bellinger,
twice Premier of Britain. The other, dark, clear-cut, and
elegant, hardly yet of middle age, and endowed with every beauty
of body and of mind, was the Right Honourable Trelawney Hope,
Secretary for European Affairs, and the most rising statesman in
the country. They sat side by side upon our paper-littered
settee, and it was easy to see from their worn and anxious faces
that it was business of the most pressing importance which had
brought them. The Premier's thin, blue-veined hands were clasped
tightly over the ivory head of his umbrella, and his gaunt,
ascetic face looked gloomily from Holmes to me. The European
Secretary pulled nervously at his moustache and fidgeted with the
seals of his watch-chain.
"When I discovered my loss, Mr. Holmes, which was at eight o'clock
this morning, I at once informed the Prime Minister. It was at
his suggestion that we have both come to you."
"Have you informed the police?"
"No, sir," said the Prime Minister, with the quick, decisive
manner for which he was famous. "We have not done so, nor is it
possible that we should do so. To inform the police must, in the
long run, mean to inform the public. This is what we particularly
desire to avoid."
"And why, sir?"
"Because the document in question is of s
uch immense importance
that its publication might very easily -- I might almost say
probably -- lead to European complications of the utmost moment.
It is not too much to say that peace or war may hang upon the
issue. Unless its recovery can be attended with the utmost
secrecy, then it may as well not be recovered at all, for all that
is aimed at by those who have taken it is that its contents should
be generally known."
"I understand. Now, Mr. Trelawney Hope, I should be much obliged
if you would tell me exactly the circumstances under which this
document disappeared."
"That can be done in a very few words, Mr. Holmes. The letter --
for it was a letter from a foreign potentate -- was received six
days ago. It was of such importance that I have never left it in
my safe, but I have taken it across each evening to my house in
Whitehall Terrace, and kept it in my bedroom in a locked
despatch-box. It was there last night. Of that I am certain. I
actually opened the box while I was dressing for dinner, and saw
the document inside. This morning it was gone. The despatch-box
had stood beside the glass upon my dressing-table all night. I am
a light sleeper, and so is my wife. We are both prepared to swear
that no one could have entered the room during the night. And yet
I repeat that the paper is gone."
"What time did you dine?"
"Half-past seven."
"How long was it before you went to bed?"
"My wife had gone to the theatre. I waited up for her. It was
half-past eleven before we went to our room."
"Then for four hours the despatch-box had lain unguarded?"
"No one is ever permitted to enter that room save the housemaid in
the morning, and my valet, or my wife's maid, during the rest of
the day. They are both trusty servants who have been with us for
some time. Besides, neither of them could possibly have known
that there was anything more valuable than the ordinary
departmental papers in my despatch-box."
"Who did know of the existence of that letter?"
"No one in the house."
"Surely your wife knew?"
"No, sir; I had said nothing to my wife until I missed the paper
this morning."
The Premier nodded approvingly.
"I have long known, sir, how high is your sense of public duty,"
said he. "I am convinced that in the case of a secret of this
importance it would rise superior to the most intimate domestic
ties."
The European Secretary bowed.
"You do me no more than justice, sir. Until this morning I have
never breathed one word to my wife upon this matter."
"Could she have guessed?"
"No, Mr. Holmes, she could not have guessed -- nor could anyone
have guessed."
"Have you lost any documents before?"
"No, sir."
"Who is there in England who did know of the existence of this
letter?"
"Each member of the Cabinet was informed of it yesterday; but the
pledge of secrecy which attends every Cabinet meeting was
increased by the solemn warning which was given by the Prime
Minister. Good heavens, to think that within a few hours I should
myself have lost it!" His handsome face was distorted with a
spasm of despair, and his hands tore at his hair. For a moment we
caught a glimpse of the natural man, impulsive, ardent, keenly
sensitive. The next the aristocratic mask was replaced, and the
gentle voice had returned. "Besides the members of the Cabinet
there are two, or possibly three, departmental officials who know
of the letter. No one else in England, Mr. Holmes, I assure you."
"But abroad?"
"I believe that no one abroad has seen it save the man who wrote
it. I am well convinced that his Ministers -- that the usual
official channels have not been employed."
Holmes considered for some little time.
"Now, sir, I must ask you more particularly what this document is,
and why its disappearance should have such momentous
consequences?"
The two statesmen exchanged a quick glance and the Premier's
shaggy eyebrows gathered in a frown.
"Mr. Holmes, the envelope is a long, thin one of pale blue colour.
There is a seal of red wax stamped with a crouching lion. It is
addressed in large, bold handwriting to ----"
"I fear, sir," said Holmes, "that, interesting and indeed
essential as these details are, my inquiries must go more to the
root of things. What _was_ the letter?"
"That is a State secret of the utmost importance, and I fear that
I cannot tell you, nor do I see that it is necessary. If by the
aid of the powers which you are said to possess you can find such
an envelope as I describe with its enclosure, you will have
deserved well of your country, and earned any reward which it lies
in our power to bestow."
Sherlock Holmes rose with a smile.
"You are two of the most busy men in the country," said he, "and
in my own small way I have also a good many calls upon me. I
regret exceedingly that I cannot help you in this matter, and any
continuation of this interview would be a waste of time."
The Premier sprang to his feet with that quick, fierce gleam of
his deep-set eyes before which a Cabinet has cowered. "I am not
accustomed, sir ----" he began, but mastered his anger and resumed
his seat. For a minute or more we all sat in silence. Then the
old statesman shrugged his shoulders.
"We must accept your terms, Mr. Holmes. No doubt you are right,
and it is unreasonable for us to expect you to act unless we give
you our entire confidence."
"I agree with you, sir," said the younger statesman.
"Then I will tell you, relying entirely upon your honour and that
of your colleague, Dr. Watson. I may appeal to your patriotism
also, for I could not imagine a greater misfortune for the country
than that this affair should come out."
"You may safely trust us."
"The letter, then, is from a certain foreign potentate who has
been ruffled by some recent Colonial developments of this country.
It has been written hurriedly and upon his own responsibility
entirely. Inquiries have shown that his Ministers know nothing of
the matter. At the same time it is couched in so unfortunate a
manner, and certain phrases in it are of so provocative a
character, that its publication would undoubtedly lead to a most
dangerous state of feeling in this country. There would be such a
ferment, sir, that I do not hesitate to say that within a week of
the publication of that letter this country would be involved in a
great war."
Holmes wrote a name upon a slip of paper and handed it to the
Premier.
"Exactly. It was he. And it is this letter -- this letter which
may well mean the expenditure of a thousand millions and the lives
of a hundred thousand men -- which has become lost in this
unaccountable fa
shion."
"Have you informed the sender?"
"Yes, sir, a cipher telegram has been dispatched."
"Perhaps he desires the publication of the letter."
"No, sir, we have strong reason to believe that he already
understands that he has acted in an indiscreet and hot-headed
manner. It would be a greater blow to him and to his country than
to us if this letter were to come out."
"If this is so, whose interest is it that the letter should come
out? Why should anyone desire to steal it or to publish it?"
"There, Mr. Holmes, you take me into regions of high international
politics. But if you consider the European situation you will
have no difficulty in perceiving the motive. The whole of Europe
is an armed camp. There is a double league which makes a fair
balance of military power. Great Britain holds the scales. If
Britain were driven into war with one confederacy, it would assure
the supremacy of the other confederacy, whether they joined in the
war or not. Do you follow?"
"Very clearly. It is then the interest of the enemies of this
potentate to secure and publish this letter, so as to make a
breach between his country and ours?"
"Yes, sir."
"And to whom would this document be sent if it fell into the hands
of an enemy?"
"To any of the great Chancelleries of Europe. It is probably
speeding on its way thither at the present instant as fast as
steam can take it."
Mr. Trelawney Hope dropped his head on his chest and groaned
aloud. The Premier placed his hand kindly upon his shoulder.
"It is your misfortune, my dear fellow. No one can blame you.
There is no precaution which you have neglected. Now, Mr. Holmes,
you are in full possession of the facts. What course do you
recommend?"
Holmes shook his head mournfully.
"You think, sir, that unless this document is recovered there will
be war?"
"I think it is very probable."
"Then, sir, prepare for war."
"That is a hard saying, Mr. Holmes."
"Consider the facts, sir. It is inconceivable that it was taken
after eleven-thirty at night, since I understand that Mr. Hope and
his wife were both in the room from that hour until the loss was
found out. It was taken, then, yesterday evening between
seven-thirty and eleven-thirty, probably near the earlier hour,
since whoever took it evidently knew that it was there, and would
naturally secure it as early as possible. Now, sir, if a document
of this importance were taken at that hour, where can it be now?
No one has any reason to retain it. It has been passed rapidly on
to those who need it. What chance have we now to overtake or even
to trace it? It is beyond our reach."
The Prime Minister rose from the settee.
"What you say is perfectly logical, Mr. Holmes. I feel that the
matter is indeed out of our hands."
"Let us presume, for argument's sake, that the document was taken
by the maid or by the valet ----"
"They are both old and tried servants."
"I understand you to say that your room is on the second floor,
that there is no entrance from without, and that from within no
one could go up unobserved. It must, then, be somebody in the
house who has taken it. To whom would the thief take it? To one
of several international spies and secret agents, whose names are
tolerably familiar to me. There are three who may be said to be
the heads of their profession. I will begin my research by going
round and finding if each of them is at his post. If one is
missing -- especially if he has disappeared since last night -- we
will have some indication as to where the document has gone."
"Why should he be missing?" asked the European Secretary. "He