The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by

  the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned.

  He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he

  thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the

  rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the

  occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but

  sooner or later she must fall a victim.

  "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his

  room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in

  the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary

  in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the

  safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to

  finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic

  clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather

  hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant.

  Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in

  order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss

  as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the

  light and attacked it."

  "With the result of driving it through the ventilator."

  "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master

  at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and

  roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person

  it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr.

  Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to

  weigh very heavily upon my conscience."

  ADVENTURE IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB

  Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr.

  Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy,

  there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his

  notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel

  Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a

  finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was

  so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that

  it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it

  gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of

  reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story

  has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but,

  like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when

  set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the

  facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears

  gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads

  on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a

  deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly

  served to weaken the effect.

  It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the

  events occurred which I am now about to summarize. I had returned

  to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker

  Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally

  even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come

  and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I

  happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington

  Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of

  these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was

  never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavoring to send

  me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence.

  One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by

  the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come

  from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I

  dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases

  were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my

  old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door

  tightly behind him.

  "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his

  shoulder; "he's all right."

  "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was

  some strange creature which he had caged up in my room.

  "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him

  round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe

  and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the

  same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even

  giving me time to thank him.

  I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the

  table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a

  soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of

  his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all

  over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than

  five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but

  he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who

  was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his

  strength of mind to control.

  "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I

  have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by

  train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I

  might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me

  here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon

  the side-table."

  I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic

  engineer, 16A. Victoria Street (3d floor)." That was the name,

  style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have

  kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You

  are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself

  a monotonous occupation."

  "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and

  laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note,

  leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical

  instincts rose up against that laugh.

  "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out

  some water from a caraffe.

  It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical

  outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis

  is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very

  weary and pale-looking.

  "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped.

  "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water,

  and the color began to come back to his bloodless cheeks.

  "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would

  kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb

  used to be."

  He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even

  my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four

  protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the

  thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from

  the roots.

  "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have

  bled considerably."

  "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must

 
have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that

  it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very

  tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig."

  "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon."

  "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own

  province."

  "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very

  heavy and sharp instrument."

  "A thing like a cleaver," said he.

  "An accident, I presume?"

  "By no means."

  "What! a murderous attack?"

  "Very murderous indeed."

  "You horrify me."

  I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered

  it over with cotton wadding and carbolized bandages. He lay back

  without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time.

  "How is that?" I asked when I had finished.

  "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man.

  I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through."

  "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently

  trying to your nerves."

  "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police;

  but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing

  evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they

  believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I

  have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and,

  even if they believe me, the clews which I can give them are so

  vague that it is a question whether justice will be done."

  "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem

  which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you

  to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the

  official police."

  "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I

  should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of

  course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me

  an introduction to him?"

  "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself."

  "I should be immensely obliged to you."

  "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to

  have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?"

  "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story."

  "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an

  instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my

  wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my

  new acquaintance to Baker Street.

  Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his

  sittingroom in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The

  Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed

  of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day

  before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the

  mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion,

  ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal.

  When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the

  sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of

  brandy and water within his reach.

  "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one,

  Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself

  absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are

  tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant."

  "Thank you," said my patient. "but I have felt another man since

  the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has

  completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable

  time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar

  experiences."

  Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded

  expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat

  opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story

  which our visitor detailed to us.

  "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor,

  residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a

  hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my

  work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner &

  Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago,

  having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of

  money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in

  business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria

  Street.

  "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in

  business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so.

  During two years I have had three consultations and one small

  job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought

  me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from

  nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my

  little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to

  believe that I should never have any practice at all.

  "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the

  office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who

  wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with

  the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at

  his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle

  size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have

  ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose

  and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over

  his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his

  natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his

  step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly

  dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than

  thirty.

  "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent.

  'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man

  who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet

  and capable of preserving a secret.'

  "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an

  address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?'

  "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just

  at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both

  an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.'

  "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if

  I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional

  qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter

  that you wished to speak to me?'

  "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to

  the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute

  secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and

  of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than

  from one who lives in the bosom of his family.'

  "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely

  depend upon my doing so.'

  "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I

  had never seen so suspicious and
questioning an eye.

  "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last.

  "'Yes, I promise.'

  "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No

  reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?'

  "'I have already given you my word.'

  "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning

  across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was

  empty.

  "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know the clerks are

  sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk

  in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to

  stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look.

  "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun

  to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man.

  Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from

  showing my impatience.

  "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time

  is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the

  words came to my lips.

  "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked.

  "'Most admirably.'

  "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I

  simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which

  has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon

  set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as

  that?'

  "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.'

  "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last

  train.'

  "'Where to?'

  "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders

  of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a

  train from Paddington which would bring you there at about

  11:15.'

  "'Very good.'

  "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.'

  "'There is a drive, then?'

  "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good

  seven miles from Eyford Station.'

  "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there

  would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop

  the night.'

  "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.'

  "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient

  hour?'

  "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to

  recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a

  young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the

  very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would

  like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do

  so.'

  "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they

  would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to

  accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to

  understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to

  do.'

  "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which

  we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I

  have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all

  laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from

  eavesdroppers?'

  "'Entirely.'

  "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that

  fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found

  in one or two places in England?'

  "'I have heard so.'

  "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small

  place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to

  discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my

  fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a

  comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two

  very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them,

  however, in the grounds of my neighbors. These good people were