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diff --git a/old/dvlft10.txt b/old/dvlft10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ab6205 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/dvlft10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1424 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Adventure of the Devil's Foot +#22 in our series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by David Brannan of Woodbridge, Virginia. + + + + + +The Adventure of the Devil's Foot + +By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle + + + +In recording from time to time some of the curious experiences +and interesting recollections which I associate with my long and +intimate friendship with Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I have continually +been faced by difficulties caused by his own aversion to +publicity. To his sombre and cynical spirit all popular applause +was always abhorrent, and nothing amused him more at the end of a +successful case than to hand over the actual exposure to some +orthodox official, and to listen with a mocking smile to the +general chorus of misplaced congratulation. It was indeed this +attitude upon the part of my friend and certainly not any lack of +interesting material which has caused me of late years to lay +very few of my records before the public. My participation in +some if his adventures was always a privilege which entailed +discretion and reticence upon me. + +It was, then, with considerable surprise that I received a +telegram from Homes last Tuesday--he has never been known to +write where a telegram would serve--in the following terms: + +Why not tell them of the Cornish horror--strangest case I have +handled. + +I have no idea what backward sweep of memory had brought the +matter fresh to his mind, or what freak had caused him to desire +that I should recount it; but I hasten, before another cancelling +telegram may arrive, to hunt out the notes which give me the +exact details of the case and to lay the narrative before my +readers. + +It was, then, in the spring of the year 1897 that Holmes's iron +constitution showed some symptoms of giving way in the face of +constant hard work of a most exacting kind, aggravated, perhaps, +by occasional indiscretions of his own. In March of that year +Dr. Moore Agar, of Harley Street, whose dramatic introduction to +Holmes I may some day recount, gave positive injunctions that the +famous private agent lay aside all his cases and surrender +himself to complete rest if he wished to avert an absolute +breakdown. The state of his health was not a matter in which he +himself took the faintest interest, for his mental detachment was +absolute, but he was induced at last, on the threat of being +permanently disqualified from work, to give himself a complete +change of scene and air. Thus it was that in the early spring of +that year we found ourselves together in a small cottage near +Poldhu Bay, at the further extremity of the Cornish peninsula. + +It was a singular spot, and one peculiarly well suited to the +grim humour of my patient. From the windows of our little +whitewashed house, which stood high upon a grassy headland, we +looked down upon the whole sinister semicircle of Mounts Bay, +that old death trap of sailing vessels, with its fringe of black +cliffs and surge-swept reefs on which innumerable seamen have met +their end. With a northerly breeze it lies placid and sheltered, +inviting the storm-tossed craft to tack into it for rest and +protection. + +Then come the sudden swirl round of the wind, the blistering gale +from the south-west, the dragging anchor, the lee shore, and the +last battle in the creaming breakers. The wise mariner stands +far out from that evil place. + +On the land side our surroundings were as sombre as on the sea. +It was a country of rolling moors, lonely and dun-colored, with +an occasional church tower to mark the site of some old-world +village. In every direction upon these moors there were traces +of some vanished race which had passed utterly away, and left as +it sole record strange monuments of stone, irregular mounds which +contained the burned ashes of the dead, and curious earthworks +which hinted at prehistoric strife. The glamour and mystery of +the place, with its sinister atmosphere of forgotten nations, +appealed to the imagination of my friend, and he spent much of +his time in long walks and solitary meditations upon the moor. +The ancient Cornish language had also arrested his attention, and +he had, I remember, conceived the idea that it was akin to the +Chaldean, and had been largely derived from the Phoenician +traders in tin. He had received a consignment of books upon +philology and was settling down to develop this thesis when +suddenly, to my sorrow and to his unfeigned delight, we found +ourselves, even in that land of dreams, plunged into a problem at +our very doors which was more intense, more engrossing, and +infinitely more mysterious than any of those which had driven us +from London. Our simple life and peaceful, healthy routine were +violently interrupted, and we were precipitated into the midst of +a series of events which caused the utmost excitement not only in +Cornwall but throughout the whole west of England. Many of my +readers may retain some recollection of what was called at the +time "The Cornish Horror," though a most imperfect account of the +matter reached the London press. Now, after thirteen years, I +will give the true details of this inconceivable affair to the +public. + +I have said that scattered towers marked the villages which +dotted this part of Cornwall. The nearest of these was the +hamlet of Tredannick Wollas, where the cottages of a couple of +hundred inhabitants clustered round an ancient, moss-grown +church. The vicar of the parish, Mr. Roundhay, was something of +an archaeologist, and as such Holmes had made his acquaintance. +He was a middle-aged man, portly and affable, with a considerable +fund of local lore. At his invitation we had taken tea at the +vicarage and had come to know, also, Mr. Mortimer Tregennis, an +independent gentleman, who increased the clergyman's scanty +resources by taking rooms in his large, straggling house. The +vicar, being a bachelor, was glad to come to such an arrangement, +though he had little in common with his lodger, who was a thin, +dark, spectacled man, with a stoop which gave the impression of +actual, physical deformity. I remember that during our short +visit we found the vicar garrulous, but his lodger strangely +reticent, a sad-faced, introspective man, sitting with averted +eyes, brooding apparently upon his own affairs. + +These were the two men who entered abruptly into our little +sitting-room on Tuesday, March the 16th, shortly after our +breakfast hour, as we were smoking together, preparatory to our +daily excursion upon the moors. + +"Mr. Holmes," said the vicar in an agitated voice, "the most +extraordinary and tragic affair has occurred during the night. +It is the most unheard-of business. We can only regard it as a +special Providence that you should chance to be here at the time, +for in all England you are the one man we need." + +I glared at the intrusive vicar with no very friendly eyes; but +Holmes took his pipe from his lips and sat up in his chair like +an old hound who hears the view-halloa. He waved his hand to the +sofa, and our palpitating visitor with his agitated companion sat +side by side upon it. Mr. Mortimer Tregennis was more self- +contained than the clergyman, but the twitching of his thin hands +and the brightness of his dark eyes showed that they shared a +common emotion. + +"Shall I speak or you?" he asked of the vicar. + +"Well, as you seem to have made the discovery, whatever it may +be, and the vicar to have had it second-hand, perhaps you had +better do the speaking," said Holmes. + +I glanced at the hastily clad clergyman, with the formally +dressed lodger seated beside him, and was amused at the surprise +which Holmes's simple deduction had brought to their faces. + +"Perhaps I had best say a few words first," said the vicar, "and +then you can judge if you will listen to the details from Mr. +Tregennis, or whether we should not hasten at once to the scene +of this mysterious affair. I may explain, then, that our friend +here spent last evening in the company of his two brothers, Owen +and George, and of his sister Brenda, at their house of +Tredannick Wartha, which is near the old stone cross upon the +moor. He left them shortly after ten o'clock, playing cards +round the dining-room table, in excellent health and spirits. +This morning, being an early riser, he walked in that direction +before breakfast and was overtaken by the carriage of Dr. +Richards, who explained that he had just been sent for on a most +urgent call to Tredannick Wartha. Mr. Mortimer Tregennis +naturally went with him. When he arrived at Tredannick Wartha he +found an extraordinary state of things. His two brothers and his +sister were seated round the table exactly as he had left them, +the cards still spread in front of them and the candles burned +down to their sockets. The sister lay back stone-dead in her +chair, while the two brothers sat on each side of her laughing, +shouting, and singing, the senses stricken clean out of them. +All three of them, the dead woman and the two demented men, +retained upon their faces an expression of the utmost horror--a +convulsion of terror which was dreadful to look upon. There was +no sign of the presence of anyone in the house, except Mrs. +Porter, the old cook and housekeeper, who declared that she had +slept deeply and heard no sound during the night. Nothing had +been stolen or disarranged, and there is absolutely no +explanation of what the horror can be which has frightened a +woman to death and two strong men out of their senses. There is +the situation, Mr. Holmes, in a nutshell, and if you can help us +to clear it up you will have done a great work." + +I had hoped that in some way I could coax my companion back into +the quiet which had been the object of our journey; but one +glance at his intense face and contracted eyebrows told me how +vain was now the expectation. He sat for some little time in +silence, absorbed in the strange drama which had broken in upon +our peace. + +"I will look into this matter," he said at last. "On the face of +it, it would appear to be a case of a very exceptional nature. +Have you been there yourself, Mr. Roundhay?" + +"No, Mr. Holmes. Mr. Tregennis brought back the account to the +vicarage, and I at once hurried over with him to consult you." + +"How far is it to the house where this singular tragedy +occurred?" + +"About a mile inland." + +"Then we shall walk over together. But before we start I must +ask you a few questions, Mr. Mortimer Tregennis." + +The other had been silent all this time, but I had observed that +his more controlled excitement was even greater than the +obtrusive emotion of the clergyman. He sat with a pale, drawn +face, his anxious gaze fixed upon Holmes, and his thin hands +clasped convulsively together. His pale lips quivered as he +listened to the dreadful experience which had befallen his +family, and his dark eyes seemed to reflect something of the +horror of the scene. + +"Ask what you like, Mr. Holmes," said he eagerly. "It is a bad +thing to speak of, but I will answer you the truth." + +"Tell me about last night." + +"Well, Mr. Holmes, I supped there, as the vicar has said, and my +elder brother George proposed a game of whist afterwards. We sat +down about nine o'clock. It was a quarter-past ten when I moved +to go. I left them all round the table, as merry as could be." + +"Who let you out?" + +"Mrs. Porter had gone to bed, so I let myself out. I shut the +hall door behind me. The window of the room in which they sat +was closed, but the blind was not drawn down. There was no +change in door or window this morning, or any reason to think +that any stranger had been to the house. Yet there they sat, +driven clean mad with terror, and Brenda lying dead of fright, +with her head hanging over the arm of the chair. I'll never get +the sight of that room out of my mind so long as I live." + +"The facts, as you state them, are certainly most remarkable," +said Holmes. "I take it that you have no theory yourself which +can in any way account for them?" + +"It's devilish, Mr. Holmes, devilish!" cried Mortimer Tregennis. +"It is not of this world. Something has come into that room +which has dashed the light of reason from their minds. What +human contrivance could do that?" + +"I fear," said Holmes, "that if the matter is beyond humanity it +is certainly beyond me. Yet we must exhaust all natural +explanations before we fall back upon such a theory as this. As +to yourself, Mr. Tregennis, I take it you were divided in some +way from your family, since they lived together and you had rooms +apart?" + +"That is so, Mr. Holmes, though the matter is past and done with. +We were a family of tin-miners at Redruth, but we sold our +venture to a company, and so retired with enough to keep us. I +won't deny that there was some feeling about the division of the +money and it stood between us for a time, but it was all forgiven +and forgotten, and we were the best of friends together." + +"Looking back at the evening which you spent together, does +anything stand out in your memory as throwing any possible light +upon the tragedy? Think carefully, Mr. Tregennis, for any clue +which can help me." + +"There is nothing at all, sir." + +"Your people were in their usual spirits?" + +"Never better." + +"Were they nervous people? Did they ever show any apprehension +of coming danger?" + +"Nothing of the kind." + +"You have nothing to add then, which could assist me?" + +Mortimer Tregennis considered earnestly for a moment. + +"There is one thing occurs to me," said he at last. "As we sat +at the table my back was to the window, and my brother George, he +being my partner at cards, was facing it. I saw him once look +hard over my shoulder, so I turned round and looked also. The +blind was up and the window shut, but I could just make out the +bushes on the lawn, and it seemed to me for a moment that I saw +something moving among them. I couldn't even say if it was man +or animal, but I just thought there was something there. When I +asked him what he was looking at, he told me that he had the same +feeling. That is all that I can say." + +"Did you not investigate?" + +"No; the matter passed as unimportant." + +"You left them, then, without any premonition of evil?" + +"None at all." + +"I am not clear how you came to hear the news so early this +morning." + +"I am an early riser and generally take a walk before breakfast. +This morning I had hardly started when the doctor in his carriage +overtook me. He told me that old Mrs. Porter had sent a boy down +with an urgent message. I sprang in beside him and we drove on. +When we got there we looked into that dreadful room. The candles +and the fire must have burned out hours before, and they had been +sitting there in the dark until dawn had broken. The doctor said +Brenda must have been dead at least six hours. There were no +signs of violence. She just lay across the arm of the chair with +that look on her face. George and Owen were singing snatches of +songs and gibbering like two great apes. Oh, it was awful to +see! I couldn't stand it, and the doctor was as white as a +sheet. Indeed, he fell into a chair in a sort of faint, and we +nearly had him on our hands as well." + +"Remarkable--most remarkable!" said Holmes, rising and taking his +hat. "I think, perhaps, we had better go down to Tredannick +Wartha without further delay. I confess that I have seldom known +a case which at first sight presented a more singular problem." + + +Our proceedings of that first morning did little to advance the +investigation. It was marked, however, at the outset by an +incident which left the most sinister impression upon my mind. +The approach to the spot at which the tragedy occurred is down a +narrow, winding, country lane. While we made our way along it we +heard the rattle of a carriage coming towards us and stood aside +to let it pass. As it drove by us I caught a glimpse through the +closed window of a horribly contorted, grinning face glaring out +at us. Those staring eyes and gnashing teeth flashed past us +like a dreadful vision. + +"My brothers!" cried Mortimer Tregennis, white to his lips. +"They are taking them to Helston." + +We looked with horror after the black carriage, lumbering upon +its way. Then we turned our steps towards this ill-omened house +in which they had met their strange fate. + +It was a large and bright dwelling, rather a villa than a +cottage, with a considerable garden which was already, in that +Cornish air, well filled with spring flowers. Towards this +garden the window of the sitting-room fronted, and from it, +according to Mortimer Tregennis, must have come that thing of +evil which had by sheer horror in a single instant blasted their +minds. Holmes walked slowly and thoughtfully among the flower- +plots and along the path before we entered the porch. So +absorbed was he in his thoughts, I remember, that he stumbled +over the watering-pot, upset its contents, and deluged both our +feet and the garden path. Inside the house we were met by the +elderly Cornish housekeeper, Mrs. Porter, who, with the aid of a +young girl, looked after the wants of the family. She readily +answered all Holmes's questions. She had heard nothing in the +night. Her employers had all been in excellent spirits lately, +and she had never known them more cheerful and prosperous. She +had fainted with horror upon entering the room in the morning and +seeing that dreadful company round the table. She had, when she +recovered, thrown open the window to let the morning air in, and +had run down to the lane, whence she sent a farm-lad for the +doctor. The lady was on her bed upstairs if we cared to see her. +It took four strong men to get the brothers into the asylum +carriage. She would not herself stay in the house another day +and was starting that very afternoon to rejoin her family at St. +Ives. + +We ascended the stairs and viewed the body. Miss Brenda +Tregennis had been a very beautiful girl, though now verging upon +middle age. Her dark, clear-cut face was handsome, even in +death, but there still lingered upon it something of that +convulsion of horror which had been her last human emotion. From +her bedroom we descended to the sitting-room, where this strange +tragedy had actually occurred. The charred ashes of the +overnight fire lay in the grate. On the table were the four +guttered and burned-out candles, with the cards scattered over +its surface. The chairs had been moved back against the walls, +but all else was as it had been the night before. Holmes paced +with light, swift steps about the room; he sat in the various +chairs, drawing them up and reconstructing their positions. He +tested how much of the garden was visible; he examined the floor, +the ceiling, and the fireplace; but never once did I see that +sudden brightening of his eyes and tightening of his lips which +would have told me that he saw some gleam of light in this utter +darkness. + +"Why a fire?" he asked once. "Had they always a fire in this +small room on a spring evening?" + +Mortimer Tregennis explained that the night was cold and damp. +For that reason, after his arrival, the fire was lit. "What are +you going to do now, Mr. Holmes?" he asked. + +My friend smiled and laid his hand upon my arm. "I think, +Watson, that I shall resume that course of tobacco-poisoning +which you have so often and so justly condemned," said he. "With +your permission, gentlemen, we will now return to our cottage, +for I am not aware that any new factor is likely to come to our +notice here. I will turn the facts over in my mid, Mr, +Tregennis, and should anything occur to me I will certainly +ommunicate with you and the vicar. In the meantime I wish you +both good-morning." + +It was not until long after we were back in Poldhu Cottage that +Holmes broke his complete and absorbed silence. He sat coiled in +his armchair, his haggard and ascetic face hardly visible amid +the blue swirl of his tobacco smoke, his black brows drawn down, +his forehead contracted, his eyes vacant and far away. Finally +he laid down his pipe and sprang to his feet. + +"It won't do, Watson!" said he with a laugh. "Let us walk along +the cliffs together and search for flint arrows. We are more +likely to find them than clues to this problem. To let the brain +work without sufficient material is like racing an engine. It +racks itself to pieces. The sea air, sunshine, and patience, +Watson--all else will come. + +"Now, let us calmly define our position, Watson," he continued as +we skirted the cliffs together. "Let us get a firm grip of the +very little which we DO know, so that when fresh facts arise we +may be ready to fit them into their places. I take it, in the +first place, that neither of us is prepared to admit diabolical +intrusions into the affairs of men. Let us begin by ruling that +entirely out of our minds. Very good. There remain three +persons who have been grievously stricken by some conscious or +unconscious human agency. That is firm ground. Now, when did +this occur? Evidently, assuming his narrative to be true, it was +immediately after Mr. Mortimer Tregennis had left the room. That +is a very important point. The presumption is that it was within +a few minutes afterwards. The cards still lay upon the table. +It was already past their usual hour for bed. Yet they had not +changed their position or pushed back their chairs. I repeat, +then, that the occurrence was immediately after his departure, +and not later than eleven o'clock last night. + +"Our next obvious step is to check, so far as we can, the +movements of Mortimer Tregennis after he left the room. In this +there is no difficulty, and they seem to be above suspicion. +Knowing my methods as you do, you were, of course, conscious of +the somewhat clumsy water-pot expedient by which I obtained a +clearer impress of his foot than might otherwise have been +possible. The wet, sandy path took it admirably. Last night was +also wet, you will remember, and it was not difficult--having +obtained a sample print--to pick out his track among others and +to follow his movements. He appears to have walked away swiftly +in the direction of the vicarage. + +"If, then, Mortimer Tregennis disappeared from the scene, and yet +some outside person affected the card-players, how can we +reconstruct that person, and how was such an impression of horror +conveyed? Mrs. Porter may be eliminated. She is evidently +harmless. Is there any evidence that someone crept up to the +garden window and in some manner produced so terrific an effect +that he drove those who saw it out of their senses? The only +suggestion in this direction comes from Mortimer Tregennis +himself, who says that his brother spoke about some movement in +the garden. That is certainly remarkable, as the night was +rainy, cloudy, and dark. Anyone who had the design to alarm +these people would be compelled to place his very face against +the glass before he could be seen. There is a three-foot flower- +border outside this window, but no indication of a footmark. It +is difficult to imagine, then, how an outsider could have made so +terrible an impression upon the company, nor have we found any +possible motive for so strange and elaborate an attempt. You +perceive our difficulties, Watson?" + +"They are only too clear," I answered with conviction. + +"And yet, with a little more material, we may prove that they are +not insurmountable," said Holmes. "I fancy that among your +extensive archives, Watson, you may find some which were nearly +as obscure. Meanwhile, we shall put the case aside until more +accurate data are available, and devote the rest of our morning +to the pursuit of neolithic man." + +I may have commented upon my friend's power of mental detachment, +but never have I wondered at it more than upon that spring +morning in Cornwall when for two hours he discoursed upon celts, +arrowheads, and shards, as lightly as if no sinister mystery were +waiting for his solution. It was not until we had returned in +the afternoon to our cottage that we found a visitor awaiting us, +who soon brought our minds back to the matter in hand. Neither +of us needed to be told who that visitor was. The huge body, the +craggy and deeply seamed face with the fierce eyes and hawk-like +nose, the grizzled hair which nearly brushed our cottage ceiling, +the beard--golden at the fringes and white near the lips, save +for the nicotine stain from his perpetual cigar--all these were +as well known in London as in Africa, and could only be +associated with the tremendous personality of Dr. Leon Sterndale, +the great lion-hunter and explorer. + +We had heard of his presence in the district and had once or +twice caught sight of his tall figure upon the moorland paths. +He made no advances to us, however, nor would we have dreamed of +doing so to him, as it was well known that it was his love of +seclusion which caused him to spend the greater part of the +intervals between his journeys in a small bungalow buried in the +lonely wood of Beauchamp Arriance. Here, amid his books and his +maps, he lived an absolutely lonely life, attending to his own +simple wants and paying little apparent heed to the affairs of +his neighbours. It was a surprise to me, therefore, to hear him +asking Holmes in an eager voice whether he had made any advance +in his reconstruction of this mysterious episode. "The county +police are utterly at fault," said he, "but perhaps your wider +experience has suggested some conceivable explanation. My only +claim to being taken into your confidence is that during my many +residences here I have come to know this family of Tregennis very +well--indeed, upon my Cornish mother's side I could call them +cousins--and their strange fate has naturally been a great shock +to me. I may tell you that I had got as far as Plymouth upon my +way to Africa, but the news reached me this morning, and I came +straight back again to help in the inquiry." + +Holmes raised his eyebrows. + +"Did you lose your boat through it?" + +"I will take the next." + +"Dear me! that is friendship indeed." + +"I tell you they were relatives." + +"Quite so--cousins of your mother. Was your baggage aboard the +ship?" + +"Some of it, but the main part at the hotel." + +"I see. But surely this event could not have found its way into +the Plymouth morning papers." + +"No, sir; I had a telegram." + +"Might I ask from whom?" + +A shadow passed over the gaunt face of the explorer. + +"You are very inquisitive, Mr. Holmes." + +"It is my business." + +With an effort Dr. Sterndale recovered his ruffled composure. + +"I have no objection to telling you," he said. "It was Mr. +Roundhay, the vicar, who sent me the telegram which recalled me." + +"Thank you," said Holmes. "I may say in answer to your original +question that I have not cleared my mind entirely on the subject +of this case, but that I have every hope of reaching some +conclusion. It would be premature to say more." + +"Perhaps you would not mind telling me if your suspicions point +in any particular direction?" + +"No, I can hardly answer that." + +"Then I have wasted my time and need not prolong my visit." The +famous doctor strode out of our cottage in considerable ill- +humour, and within five minutes Holmes had followed him. I saw +him no more until the evening, when he returned with a slow step +and haggard face which assured me that he had made no great +progress with his investigation. He glanced at a telegram which +awaited him and threw it into the grate. + +"From the Plymouth hotel, Watson," he said. "I learned the name +of it from the vicar, and I wired to make certain that Dr. Leon +Sterndale's account was true. It appears that he did indeed +spend last night there, and that he has actually allowed some of +his baggage to go on to Africa, while he returned to be present +at this investigation. What do you make of that, Watson?" + +"He is deeply interested." + +"Deeply interested--yes. There is a thread here which we had not +yet grasped and which might lead us through the tangle. Cheer +up, Watson, for I am very sure that our material has not yet all +come to hand. When it does we may soon leave our difficulties +behind us." + +Little did I think how soon the words of Holmes would be +realized, or how strange and sinister would be that new +development which opened up an entirely fresh line of +investigation. I was shaving at my window in the morning when I +heard the rattle of hoofs and, looking up, saw a dog-cart coming +at a gallop down the road. It pulled up at our door, and our +friend, the vicar, sprang from it and rushed up our garden path. +Holmes was already dressed, and we hastened down to meet him. + +Our visitor was so excited that he could hardly articulate, but +at last in gasps and bursts his tragic story came out of him. + +"We are devil-ridden, Mr. Holmes! My poor parish is devil- +ridden!" he cried. "Satan himself is loose in it! We are given +over into his hands!" He danced about in his agitation, a +ludicrous object if it were not for his ashy face and startled +eyes. Finally he shot out his terrible news. + +"Mr. Mortimer Tregennis died during the night, and with exactly +the same symptoms as the rest of his family." + +Holmes sprang to his feet, all energy in an instant. + +"Can you fit us both into your dog-cart?" + +"Yes, I can." + +"Then, Watson, we will postpone our breakfast. Mr. Roundhay, we +are entirely at your disposal. Hurry--hurry, before things get +disarranged." + +The lodger occupied two rooms at the vicarage, which were in an +angle by themselves, the one above the other. Below was a large +sitting-room; above, his bedroom. They looked out upon a croquet +lawn which came up to the windows. We had arrived before the +doctor or the police, so that everything was absolutely +undisturbed. Let me describe exactly the scene as we saw it upon +that misty March morning. It has left an impression which can +never be effaced from my mind. + +The atmosphere of the room was of a horrible and depressing +stuffiness. The servant had first entered had thrown up the +window, or it would have been even more intolerable. This might +partly be due to the fact that a lamp stood flaring and smoking +on the centre table. Beside it sat the dead man, leaning back in +his chair, his thin beard projecting, his spectacles pushed up +on to his forehead, and his lean dark face turned towards the +window and twisted into the same distortion of terror which had +marked the features of his dead sister. His limbs were convulsed +and his fingers contorted as though he had died in a very +paroxysm of fear. He was fully clothed, though there were signs +that his dressing had been done in a hurry. We had already +learned that his bed had been slept in, and that the tragic end +had come to him in the early morning. + +One realized the red-hot energy which underlay Holmes's +phlegmatic exterior when one saw the sudden change which came +over him from the moment that he entered the fatal apartment. In +an instant he was tense and alert, his eyes shining, his face +set, his limbs quivering with eager activity. He was out on the +lawn, in through the window, round the room, and up into the +bedroom, for all the world like a dashing foxhound drawing a +cover. In the bedroom he made a rapid cast around and ended by +throwing open the window, which appeared to give him some fresh +cause for excitement, for he leaned out of it with loud +ejaculations of interest and delight. Then he rushed down the +stair, out through the open window, threw himself upon his face +on the lawn, sprang up and into the room once more, all with the +energy of the hunter who is at the very heels of his quarry. The +lamp, which was an ordinary standard, he examined with minute +care, making certain measurements upon its bowl. He carefully +scrutinized with his lens the talc shield which covered the top +of the chimney and scraped off some ashes which adhered to its +upper surface, putting some of them into an envelope, which he +placed in his pocketbook. Finally, just as the doctor and the +official police put in an appearance, he beckoned to the vicar +and we all three went out upon the lawn. + +"I am glad to say that my investigation has not been entirely +barren," he remarked. "I cannot remain to discuss the matter +with the police, but I should be exceedingly obliged, Mr. +Roundhay, if you would give the inspector my compliments and +direct his attention to the bedroom window and to the sitting- +room lamp. Each is suggestive, and together they are almost +conclusive. If the police would desire further information I +shall be happy to see any of them at the cottage. And now, +Watson, I think that, perhaps, we shall be better employed +elsewhere." + +It may be that the police resented the intrusion of an amateur, +or that they imagined themselves to be upon some hopeful line of +investigation; but it is certain that we heard nothing from them +for the next two days. During this time Holmes spent some of his +time smoking and dreaming in the cottage; but a greater portion +in country walks which he undertook alone, returning after many +hours without remark as to where he had been. One experiment +served to show me the line of his investigation. He had bought a +lamp which was the duplicate of the one which had burned in the +room of Mortimer Tregennis on the morning of the tragedy. This +he filled with the same oil as that used at the vicarage, and he +carefully timed the period which it would take to be exhausted. +Another experiment which he made was of a more unpleasant nature, +and one which I am not likely ever to forget. + +"You will remember, Watson," he remarked one afternoon, "that +there is a single common point of resemblance in the varying +reports which have reached us. This concerns the effect of the +atmosphere of the room in each case upon those who had first +entered it. You will recollect that Mortimer Tregennis, in +describing the episode of his last visit to his brother's house, +remarked that the doctor on entering the room fell into a chair? +You had forgotten? Well I can answer for it that it was so. +Now, you will remember also that Mrs. Porter, the housekeeper, +told us that she herself fainted upon entering the room and had +afterwards opened the window. In the second case--that of +Mortimer Tregennis himself--you cannot have forgotten the +horrible stuffiness of the room when we arrived, though the +servant had thrown open the window. That servant, I found upon +inquiry, was so ill that she had gone to her bed. You will +admit, Watson, that these facts are very suggestive. In each +case there is evidence of a poisonous atmosphere. In each case, +also, there is combustion going on in the room--in the one case a +fire, in the other a lamp. The fire was needed, but the lamp was +lit--as a comparison of the oil consumed will show--long after it +was broad daylight. Why? Surely because there is some +connection between three things--the burning, the stuffy +atmosphere, and, finally, the madness or death of those +unfortunate people. That is clear, is it not?" + +"It would appear so." + +"At least we may accept it as a working hypothesis. We will +suppose, then, that something was burned in each case which +produced an atmosphere causing strange toxic effects. Very good. +In the first instance--that of the Tregennis family--this +substance was placed in the fire. Now the window was shut, but +the fire would naturally carry fumes to some extent up the +chimney. Hence one would expect the effects of the poison to be +less than in the second case, where there was less escape for the +vapour. The result seems to indicate that it was so, since in +the first case only the woman, who had presumably the more +sensitive organism, was killed, the others exhibiting that +temporary or permanent lunacy which is evidently the first effect +of the drug. In the second case the result was complete. The +facts, therefore, seem to bear out the theory of a poison which +worked by combustion. + +"With this train of reasoning in my head I naturally looked about +in Mortimer Tregennis's room to find some remains of this +substance. The obvious place to look was the talc shelf or +smoke-guard of the lamp. There, sure enough, I perceived a number +of flaky ashes, and round the edges a fringe of brownish powder, +which had not yet been consumed. Half of this I took, as you +saw, and I placed it in an envelope." + +"Why half, Holmes?" + +"It is not for me, my dear Watson, to stand in the way of the +official police force. I leave them all the evidence which I +found. The poison still remained upon the talc had they the wit +to find it. Now, Watson, we will light our lamp; we will, +however, take the precaution to open our window to avoid the +premature decease of two deserving members of society, and you +will seat yourself near that open window in an armchair unless, +like a sensible man, you determine to have nothing to do with the +affair. Oh, you will see it out, will you? I thought I knew my +Watson. This chair I will place opposite yours, so that we may +be the same distance from the poison and face to face. The door +we will leave ajar. Each is now in a position to watch the other +and to bring the experiment to an end should the symptoms seem +alarming. Is that all clear? Well, then, I take our powder--or +what remains of it--from the envelope, and I lay it above the +burning lamp. So! Now, Watson, let us sit down and await +developments." + +They were not long in coming. I had hardly settled in my chair +before I was conscious of a thick, musky odour, subtle and +nauseous. At the very first whiff of it my brain and my +imagination were beyond all control. A thick, black cloud +swirled before my eyes, and my mind told me that in this cloud, +unseen as yet, but about to spring out upon my appalled senses, +lurked all that was vaguely horrible, all that was monstrous and +inconceivably wicked in the universe. Vague shapes swirled and +swam amid the dark cloud-bank, each a menace and a warning of +something coming, the advent of some unspeakable dweller upon the +threshold, whose very shadow would blast my soul. A freezing +horror took possession of me. I felt that my hair was rising, +that my eyes were protruding, that my mouth was opened, and my +tongue like leather. The turmoil within my brain was such that +something must surely snap. I tried to scream and was vaguely +aware of some hoarse croak which was my own voice, but distant +and detached from myself At the same moment, in some effort of +escape, I broke through that cloud of despair and had a glimpse +of Holmes's face, white, rigid, and drawn with horror--the very +look which I had seen upon the features of the dead. It was that +vision which gave me an instant of sanity and of strength. I +dashed from my chair, threw my arms round Holmes, and together we +lurched through the door, and an instant afterwards had thrown +ourselves down upon the grass plot and were lying side by side, +conscious only of the glorious sunshine which was bursting its +way through the hellish cloud of terror which had girt us in. +Slowly it rose from our souls like the mists from a landscape +until peace and reason had returned, and we were sitting upon the +grass, wiping our clammy foreheads, and looking with apprehension +at each other to mark the last traces of that terrific experience +which we had undergone. + +"Upon my word, Watson!" said Holmes at last with an unsteady +voice, "I owe you both my thanks and an apology. It was an +unjustifiable experiment even for one's self, and doubly so for a +friend. I am really very sorry." + +"You know," I answered with some emotion, for I have never seen +so much of Holmes's heart before, "that it is my greatest joy and +privilege to help you." + +He relapsed at once into the half-humorous, half-cynical vein +which was his habitual attitude to those about him. "It would be +superfluous to drive us mad, my dear Watson," said he. "A candid +observer would certainly declare that we were so already before +we embarked upon so wild an experiment. I confess that I never +imagined that the effect could be so sudden and so severe." He +dashed into the cottage, and, reappearing with the burning lamp +held at full arm's length, he threw it among a bank of brambles. +"We must give the room a little time to clear. I take it, +Watson, that you have no longer a shadow of a doubt as to how +these tragedies were produced?" + +"None whatever." + +"But the cause remains as obscure as before. Come into the +arbour here and let us discuss it together. That villainous +stuff seems still to linger round my throat. I think we must +admit that all the evidence points to this man, Mortimer +Tregennis, having been the criminal in the first tragedy, though +he was the victim in the second one. We must remember, in the +first place, that there is some story of a family quarrel, +followed by a reconciliation. How bitter that quarrel may have +been, or how hollow the reconciliation we cannot tell. When I +think of Mortimer Tregennis, with the foxy face and the small +shrewd, beady eyes behind the spectacles, he is not a man whom I +should judge to be of a particularly forgiving disposition. +Well, in the next place, you will remember that this idea of +someone moving in the garden, which took our attention for a +moment from the real cause of the tragedy, emanated from him. He +had a motive in misleading us. Finally, if he did not throw the +substance into the fire at the moment of leaving the room, who +did do so? The affair happened immediately after his departure. +Had anyone else come in, the family would certainly have risen +from the table. Besides, in peaceful Cornwall, visitors did not +arrive after ten o'clock at night. We may take it, then, that +all the evidence points to Mortimer Tregennis as the culprit." + +"Then his own death was suicide!" + +"Well, Watson, it is on the face of it a not impossible +supposition. The man who had the guilt upon his soul of having +brought such a fate upon his own family might well be driven by +remorse to inflict it upon himself. There are, however, some +cogent reasons against it. Fortunately, there is one man in +England who knows all about it, and I have made arrangements by +which we shall hear the facts this afternoon from his own lips. +Ah! he is a little before his time. Perhaps you would kindly +step this way, Dr. Leon Sterndale. We have been conducing a +chemical experiment indoors which has left our little room hardly +fit for the reception of so distinguished a visitor." + +I had heard the click of the garden gate, and now the majestic +figure of the great African explorer appeared upon the path. He +turned in some surprise towards the rustic arbour in which we +sat. + +"You sent for me, Mr. Holmes. I had your note about an hour ago, +and I have come, though I really do not know why I should obey +your summons." + +"Perhaps we can clear the point up before we separate," said +Holmes. "Meanwhile, I am much obliged to you for your courteous +acquiescence. You will excuse this informal reception in the +open air, but my friend Watson and I have nearly furnished an +additional chapter to what the papers call the Cornish Horror, +and we prefer a clear atmosphere for the present. Perhaps, since +the matters which we have to discuss will affect you personally +in a very intimate fashion, it is as well that we should talk +where there can be no eavesdropping." + +The explorer took his cigar from his lips and gazed sternly at my +companion. + +"I am at a loss to know, sir," he said, "what you can have to +speak about which affects me personally in a very intimate +fashion." + +"The killing of Mortimer Tregennis," said Holmes. + +For a moment I wished that I were armed. Sterndale's fierce face +turned to a dusky red, his eyes glared, and the knotted, +passionate veins started out in his forehead, while he sprang +forward with clenched hands towards my companion. Then he +stopped, and with a violent effort he resumed a cold, rigid +calmness, which was, perhaps, more suggestive of danger than his +hot-headed outburst. + +"I have lived so long among savages and beyond the law," said he, +"that I have got into the way of being a law to myself. You +would do well, Mr. Holmes, not to forget it, for I have no desire +to do you an injury." + +"Nor have I any desire to do you an injury, Dr. Sterndale. +Surely the clearest proof of it is that, knowing what I know, I +have sent for you and not for the police." + +Sterndale sat down with a gasp, overawed for, perhaps, the first +time in his adventurous life. There was a calm assurance of +power in Holmes's manner which could not be withstood. Our +visitor stammered for a moment, his great hands opening and +shutting in his agitation. + +"What do you mean?" he asked at last. "If this is bluff upon +your part, Mr. Holmes, you have chosen a bad man for your +experiment. Let us have no more beating about the bush. What DO +you mean?" + +"I will tell you," said Holmes, "and the reason why I tell you is +that I hope frankness may beget frankness. What my next step may +be will depend entirely upon the nature of your own defence." + +"My defence?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"My defence against what?" + +"Against the charge of killing Mortimer Tregennis." + +Sterndale mopped his forehead with his handkerchief. "Upon my +word, you are getting on," said he. "Do all your successes +depend upon this prodigious power of bluff?" + +"The bluff," said Holmes sternly, "is upon your side, Dr. Leon +Sterndale, and not upon mine. As a proof I will tell you some of +the facts upon which my conclusions are based. Of your return +from Plymouth, allowing much of your property to go on to Africa, +I will say nothing save that it first informed me that you were +one of the factors which had to be taken into account in +reconstructing this drama--" + +"I came back--" + +"I have heard your reasons and regard them as unconvincing and +inadequate. We will pass that. You came down here to ask me +whom I suspected. I refused to answer you. You then went to the +vicarage, waited outside it for some time, and finally returned +to your cottage." + +"How do you know that?" + +"I followed you." + +"I saw no one." + +"That is what you may expect to see when I follow you. You spent +a restless night at your cottage, and you formed certain plans, +which in the early morning you proceeded to put into execution. +Leaving your door just as day was breaking, you filled your +pocket with some reddish gravel that was lying heaped beside your +gate." + +Sterndale gave a violent start and looked at Holmes in amazement. + +"You then walked swiftly for the mile which separated you from +the vicarage. You were wearing, I may remark, the same pair of +ribbed tennis shoes which are at the present moment upon your +feet. At the vicarage you passed through the orchard and the +side hedge, coming out under the window of the lodger Tregennis. +It was now daylight, but the household was not yet stirring. You +drew some of the gravel from your pocket, and you threw it up at +the window above you." + +Sterndale sprang to his feet. + +"I believe that you are the devil himself!" he cried. + +Holmes smiled at the compliment. "It took two, or possibly +three, handfuls before the lodger came to the window. You +beckoned him to come down. He dressed hurriedly and descended to +his sitting-room. You entered by the window. There was an +interview--a short one--during which you walked up and down the +room. Then you passed out and closed the window, standing on the +lawn outside smoking a cigar and watching what occurred. +Finally, after the death of Tregennis, you withdrew as you had +come. Now, Dr. Sterndale, how do you justify such conduct, and +what were the motives for your actions? If you prevaricate or +trifle with me, I give you my assurance that the matter will pass +out of my hands forever." + +Our visitor's face had turned ashen gray as he listened to the +words of his accuser. Now he sat for some time in thought with +his face sunk in his hands. Then with a sudden impulsive gesture +he plucked a photograph from his breast-pocket and threw it on +the rustic table before us. + +"That is why I have done it," said he. + +It showed the bust and face of a very beautiful woman. Holmes +stooped over it. + +"Brenda Tregennis," said he. + +"Yes, Brenda Tregennis," repeated our visitor. "For years I have +loved her. For years she has loved me. There is the secret of +that Cornish seclusion which people have marvelled at. It has +brought me close to the one thing on earth that was dear to me. +I could not marry her, for I have a wife who has left me for +years and yet whom, by the deplorable laws of England, I could +not divorce. For years Brenda waited. For years I waited. And +this is what we have waited for." A terrible sob shook his great +frame, and he clutched his throat under his brindled beard. Then +with an effort he mastered himself and spoke on: + +"The vicar knew. He was in our confidence. He would tell you +that she was an angel upon earth. That was why he telegraphed to +me and I returned. What was my baggage or Africa to me when I +learned that such a fate had come upon my darling? There you +have the missing clue to my action, Mr. Holmes." + +"Proceed," said my friend. + +Dr. Sterndale drew from his pocket a paper packet and laid it +upon the table. On the outside was written "Radix pedis diaboli" +with a red poison label beneath it. He pushed it towards me. "I +understand that you are a doctor, sir. Have you ever heard of +this preparation?" + +"Devil's-foot root! No, I have never heard of it." + +"It is no reflection upon your professional knowledge," said he, +"for I believe that, save for one sample in a laboratory at Buda, +there is no other specimen in Europe. It has not yet found its +way either into the pharmacopoeia or into the literature of +toxicology. The root is shaped like a foot, half human, half +goatlike; hence the fanciful name given by a botanical +missionary. It is used as an ordeal poison by the medicine-men +in certain districts of West Africa and is kept as a secret among +them. This particular specimen I obtained under very +extraordinary circumstances in the Ubangi country." He opened +the paper as he spoke and disclosed a heap of reddish-brown, +snuff-like powder. + +"Well, sir?" asked Holmes sternly. + +"I am about to tell you, Mr. Holmes, all that actually occurred, +for you already know so much that it is clearly to my interest +that you should know all. I have already explained the +relationship in which I stood to the Tregennis family. For the +sake of the sister I was friendly with the brothers. There was a +family quarrel about money which estranged this man Mortimer, but +it was supposed to be made up, and I afterwards met him as I did +the others. He was a sly, subtle, scheming man, and several +things arose which gave me a suspicion of him, but I had no cause +for any positive quarrel. + +"One day, only a couple of weeks ago, he came down to my cottage +and I showed him some of my African curiosities. Among other +things I exhibited this powder, and I told him of its strange +properties, how it stimulates those brain centres which control +the emotion of fear, and how either madness or death is the fate +of the unhappy native who is subjected to the ordeal by the +priest of his tribe. I told him also how powerless European +science would be to detect it. How he took it I cannot say, for +I never left the room, but there is no doubt that it was then, +while I was opening cabinets and stooping to boxes, that he +managed to abstract some of the devil's-foot root. I well +remember how he plied me with questions as to the amount and the +time that was needed for its effect, but I little dreamed that he +could have a personal reason for asking. + +"I thought no more of the matter until the vicar's telegram +reached me at Plymouth. This villain had thought that I would be +at sea before the news could reach me, and that I should be lost +for years in Africa. But I returned at once. Of course, I could +not listen to the details without feeling assured that my poison +had been used. I came round to see you on the chance that some +other explanation had suggested itself to you. But there could +be none. I was convinced that Mortimer Tregennis was the +murderer; that for the sake of money, and with the idea, perhaps, +that if the other members of his family were all insane he would +be the sole guardian of their joint property, he had used the +devil's-foot powder upon them, driven two of them out of their +senses, and killed his sister Brenda, the one human being whom I +have ever loved or who has ever loved me. There was his crime; +what was to be his punishment? + +"Should I appeal to the law? Where were my proofs? I knew that +the facts were true, but could I help to make a jury of +countrymen believe so fantastic a story? I might or I might not. +But I could not afford to fail. My soul cried out for revenge. +I have said to you once before, Mr. Holmes, that I have spent +much of my life outside the law, and that I have come at last to +be a law to myself. So it was even now. I determined that the +fate which he had given to others should be shared by himself. +Either that or I would do justice upon him with my own hand. In +all England there can be no man who sets less value upon his own +life than I do at the present moment. + +"Now I have told you all. You have yourself supplied the rest. +I did, as you say, after a restless night, set off early from my +cottage. I foresaw the difficulty of arousing him, so I gathered +some gravel from the pile which you have mentioned, and I used it +to throw up to his window. He came down and admitted me through +the window of the sitting-room. I laid his offence before him. +I told him that I had come both as judge and executioner. The +wretch sank into a chair, paralyzed at the sight of my revolver. +I lit the lamp, put the powder above it, and stood outside the +window, ready to carry out my threat to shoot him should he try +to leave the room. In five minutes he died. My God! how he +died! But my heart was flint, for he endured nothing which my +innocent darling had not felt before him. There is my story, Mr. +Holmes. Perhaps, if you loved a woman, you would have done as +much yourself. At any rate, I am in your hands. You can take +what steps you like. As I have already said, there is no man +living who can fear death less than I do." + +Holmes sat for some little time in silence. + +"What were your plans?" he asked at last. + +"I had intended to bury myself in central Africa. My work there +is but half finished." + +"Go and do the other half," said Holmes. "I, at least, am not +prepared to prevent you." + +Dr. Sterndale raised his giant figure, bowed gravely, and walked +from the arbour. Holmes lit his pipe and handed me his pouch. + +"Some fumes which are not poisonous would be a welcome change," +said he. "I think you must agree, Watson, that it is not a case +in which we are called upon to interfere. Our investigation has +been independent, and our action shall be so also. You would not +denounce the man?" + +"Certainly not," I answered. + +"I have never loved, Watson, but if I did and if the woman I +loved had met such an end, I might act even as our lawless lion- +hunter has done. Who knows? Well, Watson, I will not offend +your intelligence by explaining what is obvious. The gravel upon +the window-sill was, of course, the starting-point of my +research. It was unlike anything in the vicarage garden. Only +when my attention had been drawn to Dr. Sterndale and his cottage +did I find its counterpart. The lamp shining in broad daylight +and the remains of powder upon the shield were successive links +in a fairly obvious chain. And now, my dear Watson, I think we +may dismiss the matter from our mind and go back with a clear +conscience to the study of those Chaldean roots which are surely +to be traced in the Cornish branch of the great Celtic speech." + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Adventure of the Devil's Foot + diff --git a/old/dvlft10.zip b/old/dvlft10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0414188 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/dvlft10.zip |