The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle (best management books of all time .TXT) ๐
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The Valley of Fear is the final novel in the Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story originally appeared over several issues of the monthly Strand Magazine in late 1914 before being published as a standalone work. While Doyle would continue to publish Sherlock Holmes short stories until 1927, The Valley of Fear remains Holmesโ final long-form appearance.
In the novel, Holmes and his assistant Watson are called to assist with an investigation into the murder of John Douglas, a man shot in his own home at point-blank range with a shotgun. As evidence is examined and witnesses within the house are questioned, Holmes uncovers holes in testimonies and a connection to a secret society that no one wishes to discuss.
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- Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Read book online ยซThe Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle (best management books of all time .TXT) ๐ยป. Author - Arthur Conan Doyle
By Arthur Conan Doyle.
Table of Contents Titlepage Imprint Part I: The Tragedy of Birlstone I: The Warning II: Sherlock Holmes Discourses III: The Tragedy of Birlstone IV: Darkness V: The People of the Drama VI: A Dawning Light VII: The Solution Part II: The Scowrers I: The Man II: The Bodymaster III: Lodge 341, Vermissa IV: The Valley of Fear V: The Darkest Hour VI: Danger VII: The Trapping of Birdy Edwards Epilogue Colophon Uncopyright ImprintThis ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.
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Part I The Tragedy of Birlstone I The WarningโI am inclined to thinkโ โโ said I.
โI should do so,โ Sherlock Holmes remarked impatiently.
I believe that I am one of the most long-suffering of mortals; but Iโll admit that I was annoyed at the sardonic interruption.
โReally, Holmes,โ said I severely, โyou are a little trying at times.โ
He was too much absorbed with his own thoughts to give any immediate answer to my remonstrance. He leaned upon his hand, with his untasted breakfast before him, and he stared at the slip of paper which he had just drawn from its envelope. Then he took the envelope itself, held it up to the light, and very carefully studied both the exterior and the flap.
โIt is Porlockโs writing,โ said he thoughtfully. โI can hardly doubt that it is Porlockโs writing, though I have seen it only twice before. The Greek e with the peculiar top flourish is distinctive. But if it is Porlock, then it must be something of the very first importance.โ
He was speaking to himself rather than to me; but my vexation disappeared in the interest which the words awakened.
โWho then is Porlock?โ I asked.
โPorlock, Watson, is a nom-de-plume, a mere identification mark; but behind it lies a shifty and evasive personality. In a former letter he frankly informed me that the name was not his own, and defied me ever to trace him among the teeming millions of this great city. Porlock is important, not for himself, but for the great man with whom he is in touch. Picture to yourself the pilot fish with the shark, the jackal with the lionโ โanything that is insignificant in companionship with what is formidable: not only formidable, Watson, but sinisterโ โin the highest degree sinister. That is where he comes within my purview. You have heard me speak of Professor Moriarty?โ
โThe famous scientific criminal, as famous among crooks asโ โโ
โMy blushes, Watson!โ Holmes murmured in a deprecating voice.
โI was about to say, as he is unknown to the public.โ
โA touch! A distinct touch!โ cried Holmes. โYou are developing a certain unexpected vein of pawky humour, Watson, against which I must learn to guard myself. But in calling Moriarty a criminal you are uttering libel in the eyes of the lawโ โand there lie the glory and the wonder of it! The greatest schemer of all time, the organizer of every deviltry, the controlling brain of the underworld, a brain which might have made or marred the destiny of nationsโ โthatโs the man! But so aloof is he from general suspicion, so immune from criticism, so admirable in his management and self-effacement, that for those very words that you have uttered he could hale you to a court and emerge with your yearโs pension as a solatium for his wounded character. Is he not the celebrated author of The Dynamics of an Asteroid, a book which ascends to such rarefied heights of pure mathematics that it is said that there was no man in the scientific press capable of criticizing it? Is this a man to traduce? Foul-mouthed doctor and slandered professorโ โsuch would be your respective roles! Thatโs genius, Watson. But if I am spared by lesser men, our day will surely come.โ
โMay I be there to see!โ I exclaimed devoutly. โBut you were speaking of this man Porlock.โ
โAh, yesโ โthe so-called Porlock is a link in the chain some little way from its great attachment. Porlock is not quite a sound linkโ โbetween ourselves. He is the only flaw in that chain so far as I have been able to test it.โ
โBut no chain is stronger than its weakest link.โ
โExactly, my dear Watson! Hence the extreme importance of Porlock. Led on by some rudimentary aspirations towards right, and encouraged by the judicious stimulation of an occasional ten-pound note sent to him by devious methods, he has once or twice given me advance information which has been of valueโ โthat highest value which anticipates and prevents rather than avenges crime. I cannot doubt that, if we had the cipher, we should find that this communication is of the nature that I indicate.โ
Again Holmes flattened out the paper upon his unused plate. I rose and, leaning over him, stared down at the curious inscription, which ran as follows:
534 C2 13 127 36 31 4 17 21 41
Douglas 109 293 5 37 Birlstone
26 Birlstone 9 47 171
โWhat do you make of it, Holmes?โ
โIt is obviously an attempt
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