The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (polar express read aloud .TXT) ๐
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- Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Read book online ยซThe Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (polar express read aloud .TXT) ๐ยป. Author - Arthur Conan Doyle
โHas she said anything yet?โ
โNo, Mr. Holmes, she has not. And yet there have been times when the poor girl has wanted to speak, and yet could not quite bring herself to take the plunge. I have tried to help her, but I daresay I did it clumsily, and scared her from it. She has spoken about my old family, and our reputation in the county, and our pride in our unsullied honour, and I always felt it was leading to the point, but somehow it turned off before we got there.โ
โBut you have found out something for yourself?โ
โA good deal, Mr. Holmes. I have several fresh dancing-men pictures for you to examine, and, what is more important, I have seen the fellow.โ
โWhat, the man who draws them?โ
โYes, I saw him at his work. But I will tell you everything in order. When I got back after my visit to you, the very first thing I saw next morning was a fresh crop of dancing men. They had been drawn in chalk upon the black wooden door of the tool-house, which stands beside the lawn in full view of the front windows. I took an exact copy, and here it is.โ He unfolded a paper and laid it upon the table. Here is a copy of the hieroglyphics:
โExcellent!โ said Holmes. โExcellent! Pray continue.โ
โWhen I had taken the copy, I rubbed out the marks, but, two mornings later, a fresh inscription had appeared. I have a copy of it here:โ
Holmes rubbed his hands and chuckled with delight.
โOur material is rapidly accumulating,โ said he.
โThree days later a message was left scrawled upon paper, and placed under a pebble upon the sundial. Here it is. The characters are, as you see, exactly the same as the last one. After that I determined to lie in wait, so I got out my revolver and I sat up in my study, which overlooks the lawn and garden. About two in the morning I was seated by the window, all being dark save for the moonlight outside, when I heard steps behind me, and there was my wife in her dressing-gown. She implored me to come to bed. I told her frankly that I wished to see who it was who played such absurd tricks upon us. She answered that it was some senseless practical joke, and that I should not take any notice of it.
โโIf it really annoys you, Hilton, we might go and travel, you and I, and so avoid this nuisance.โ
โโWhat, be driven out of our own house by a practical joker?โ said I. โWhy, we should have the whole county laughing at us.โ
โโWell, come to bed,โ said she, โand we can discuss it in the morning.โ
โSuddenly, as she spoke, I saw her white face grow whiter yet in the moonlight, and her hand tightened upon my shoulder. Something was moving in the shadow of the tool-house. I saw a dark, creeping figure which crawled round the corner and squatted in front of the door. Seizing my pistol, I was rushing out, when my wife threw her arms round me and held me with convulsive strength. I tried to throw her off, but she clung to me most desperately. At last I got clear, but by the time I had opened the door and reached the house the creature was gone. He had left a trace of his presence, however, for there on the door was the very same arrangement of dancing men which had already twice appeared, and which I have copied on that paper. There was no other sign of the fellow anywhere, though I ran all over the grounds. And yet the amazing thing is that he must have been there all the time, for when I examined the door again in the morning, he had scrawled some more of his pictures under the line which I had already seen.โ
โHave you that fresh drawing?โ
โYes, it is very short, but I made a copy of it, and here it is.โ
Again he produced a paper. The new dance was in this form:
โTell me,โ said Holmesโand I could see by his eyes that he was much excitedโโwas this a mere addition to the first or did it appear to be entirely separate?โ
โIt was on a different panel of the door.โ
โExcellent! This is far the most important of all for our purpose. It fills me with hopes. Now, Mr. Hilton Cubitt, please continue your most interesting statement.โ
โI have nothing more to say, Mr. Holmes, except that I was angry with my wife that night for having held me back when I might have caught the skulking rascal. She said that she feared that I might come to harm. For an instant it had crossed my mind that perhaps what she really feared was that he might come to harm, for I could not doubt that she knew who this man was, and what he meant by these strange signals. But there is a tone in my wifeโs voice, Mr. Holmes, and a look in her eyes which forbid doubt, and I am sure that it was indeed my own safety that was in her mind. Thereโs the whole case, and now I want your advice as to what I ought to do. My own inclination is to put half a dozen of my farm lads in the shrubbery, and when this fellow comes again to give him such a hiding that he will leave us in peace for the future.โ
โI fear it is too deep a case for such simple remedies,โ said Holmes. โHow long can you stay in London?โ
โI must go back to-day. I would not leave my wife alone all night for anything. She is very nervous, and begged me to come back.โ
โI daresay you are right. But if you could have stopped, I might possibly have been able to return with you in a day or two. Meanwhile you will leave me these papers, and I think that it is very likely that I shall be able to pay you a visit shortly and to throw some light upon your case.โ
Sherlock Holmes preserved his calm professional manner until our visitor had left us, although it was easy for me, who knew him so well, to see that he was profoundly excited. The moment that Hilton Cubittโs broad back had disappeared through the door my comrade rushed to the table, laid out all the slips of paper containing dancing men in front of him, and threw himself into an intricate and elaborate calculation. For two hours I watched him as he covered sheet after sheet of paper with figures and letters, so completely absorbed in his task that he had evidently forgotten my presence. Sometimes he was making progress and whistled and sang at his work; sometimes he was
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