THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES THE NAVAL TREATY

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$Title{MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES; The Naval Treaty}

$Author{Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan}

$Subject{}

$Journal{}

$Volume{}

$Date{}

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                         THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES

                          MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

                               THE NAVAL TREATY

THE JULY which immediately succeeded my marriage was made memorable by three

cases of interest, in which I had the privilege of being associated with

Sherlock Holmes and of studying his methods.  I find them recorded in my notes

under the headings of "The Adventure of the Second Stain," "The Adventure of

the Naval Treaty," and "The Adventure of the Tired Captain."  The first of

these, however, deals with interests of such importance and implicates so many

of the first families in the kingdom that for many years it will be impossible

to make it public.  No case, however, in which Holmes was engaged has ever

illustrated the value of his analytical methods so clearly or has impressed

those who were associated with him so deeply.  I still retain an almost

verbatim report of the interview in which he demonstrated the true facts of

the case to Monsieur Dubugue of the Paris police, and Fritz von Waldbaum, the

well-known specialist of Dantzig, both of whom had wasted their energies upon

what proved to be side-issues.  The new century will have come, however,

before the story can be safely told.  Meanwhile I pass on to the second on my

list, which promised also at one time to be of national importance and was

marked by several incidents which give it a quite unique character.

     During my school-days I had been intimately associated with a lad named

Percy Phelps, who was of much the same age as myself, though he was two

classes ahead of me.  He was a very brilliant boy and carried away every prize

which the school had to offer, finishing his exploits by winning a scholarship

which sent him on to continue his triumphant career at Cambridge.  He was, I

remember, extremely well connected, and even when we were all little boys

together we knew that his mother's brother was Lord Holdhurst, the great

conservative politician.  This gaudy relationship did him little good at

school.  On the contrary, it seemed rather a piquant thing to us to chevy him

about the playground and hit him over the shins with a wicket.  But it was

another thing when he came out into the world.  I heard vaguely that his

abilities and the influences which he commanded had won him a good position at

the Foreign Office, and then he passed completely out of my mind until the

following letter recalled his existence:

                                                          Briarbrae, Woking.

          MY DEAR WATSON:

               I have no doubt that you can remember "Tadpole" Phelps, who was

          in the fifth form when you were in the third.  It is possible even

          that you may have heard that through my uncle's influence I obtained

          a good appointment at the Foreign Office, and that I was in a

          situation of trust and honour until a horrible misfortune came

          suddenly to blast my career.

               There is no use writing the details of that dreadful event.  In

          the event of your acceding to my request it is probable that I shall

          have to narrate them to you.  I have only just recovered from nine

          weeks of brain-fever and am still exceedingly weak.  Do you think

          that you could bring your friend Mr. Holmes down to see me?  I

          should like to have his opinion of the case, though the authorities

          assure me that nothing more can be done.  Do try to bring him down,

          and as soon as possible.  Every minute seems an hour while I live in

          this state of horrible suspense.  Assure him that if I have not

          asked his advice sooner it was not because I did not appreciate his

          talents, but because I have been off my head ever since the blow

          fell.  Now I am clear again, though I dare not think of it too much

          for fear of a relapse.  I am still so weak that I have to write, as

          you see, by dictating.  Do try to bring him.

                                                Your old school-fellow,

                                                            PERCY PHELPS.

     There was something that touched me as I read this letter, something

pitiable in the reiterated appeals to bring Holmes.  So moved was I that even

had it been a difficult matter I should have tried it, but of course I knew

well that Holmes loved his art, so that he was ever as ready to bring his aid

as his client could be to receive it.  My wife agreed with me that not a

moment should be lost in laying the matter before him, and so within an hour

of breakfast-time I found myself back once more in the old rooms in Baker

Street.

     Holmes was seated at his side-table clad in his dressing-gown and working

hard over a chemical investigation.  A large curved retort was boiling

furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen burner, and the distilled drops were

condensing into a two-litre measure.  My friend hardly glanced up as I

entered, and I, seeing that his investigation must be of importance, seated

myself in an armchair and waited.  He dipped into this bottle or that, drawing

out a few drops of each with his glass pipette, and finally brought a

test-tube containing a solution over to the table.  In his right hand he held

a slip of litmus-paper.

     "You come at a crisis, Watson," said he.  "If this paper remains blue,

all is well.  If it turns red, it means a man's life."  He dipped it into the

test-tube and it flushed at once into a dull, dirty crimson.  "Hum!  I thought

as much!" he cried.  "I will be at your service in an instant, Watson.  You

will find tobacco in the Persian slipper."  He turned to his desk and

scribbled off several telegrams, which were handed over to the page-boy.  Then

he threw himself down into the chair opposite and drew up his knees until his

fingers clasped round his long, thin shins.

     "A very commonplace little murder," said he.  "You've got something

better, I fancy.  You are the stormy petrel of crime, Watson.  What is it?"

     I handed him the letter, which he read with the most concentrated

attention.

     "It does not tell us very much, does it?" he remarked as he handed it

back to me.

     "Hardly anything."

     "And yet the writing is of interest."

     "But the writing is not his own."

     "Precisely.  It is a woman's."

     "A man's surely," I cried.

     "No, a woman's, and a woman of rare character.  You see, at the

commencement of an investigation it is something to know that your client is

in close contact with someone who, for good or evil, has an exceptional

nature.  My interest is already awakened in the case.  If you are ready we

will start at once for Woking and see this diplomatist who is in such evil

case and the lady to whom he dictates his letters."

     We were fortunate enough to catch an early train at Waterloo, and in a

little under an hour we found ourselves among the fir-woods and the heather of

Woking.  Briarbrae proved to be a large detached house standing in extensive

grounds within a few minutes' walk of the station.  On sending in our cards we

were shown into an elegantly appointed drawing-room, where we were joined in a

few minutes by a rather stout man who received us with much hospitality.  His

age may have been nearer forty than thirty, but his cheeks were so ruddy and

his eyes so merry that he still conveyed the impression of a plump and

mischievous boy.

     "I am so glad that you have come," said he, shaking our hands with

effusion.  "Percy has been inquiring for you all morning.  Ah, poor old chap,

he clings to any straw!  His father and his mother asked me to see you, for

the mere mention of the subject is very painful to them."

     "We have had no details yet," observed Holmes.  "I perceive that you are

not yourself a member of the family."

     Our acquaintance looked surprised, and then, glancing down, he began to

laugh.

     "Of course you saw the J H monogram on my locket," said he.  "For a

moment I thought you had done something clever.  Joseph Harrison is my name,

and as Percy is to marry my sister Annie I shall at least be a relation by

marriage.  You will find my sister in his room, for she has nursed him hand

and foot this two months back.  Perhaps we'd better go in at once, for I know

how impatient he is."

     The chamber into which we were shown was on the same floor as the

drawing-room.  It was furnished partly as a sitting and partly as a bedroom,

with flowers arranged daintily in every nook and corner.  A young man, very

pale and worn, was lying upon a sofa near the open window, through which came

the rich scent of the garden and the balmy summer air.  A woman was sitting

beside him, who rose as we entered.

     "Shall I leave, Percy?" she asked.

     He clutched her hand to detain her.  "How are you, Watson?" said he

cordially.  "I should never have known you under that moustache, and I daresay

you would not be prepared to swear to me.  This I presume is your celebrated

friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes?"

     I introduced him in a few words, and we both sat down.  The stout young

man had left us, but his sister still remained with her hand in that of the

invalid.  She was a striking-looking woman, a little short and thick for

symmetry, but with a beautiful olive complexion, large, dark, Italian eyes,

and a wealth of deep black hair.  Her rich tints made the white face of her

companion the more worn and haggard by the contrast.

     "I won't waste your time," said he, raising himself upon the sofa.  "I'll

plunge into the matter without further preamble.  I was a happy and successful

man, Mr. Holmes, and on the eve of being married, when a sudden and dreadful

misfortune wrecked all my prospects in life.

     "I was, as Watson may have told you, in the Foreign Office, and through

the influence of my uncle, Lord Holdhurst, I rose rapidly to a responsible

position.  When my uncle became foreign minister in this administration he

gave me several missions of trust, and as I always brought them to a

successful conclusion, he came at last to have the utmost confidence in my

ability and tact.

     "Nearly ten weeks ago--to be more accurate, on the twenty-third of May--

he called me into his private room, and, after complimenting me on the good

work which I had done, he informed me that he had a new commission of trust

for me to execute.

     "'This,' said he, taking a gray roll of paper from his bureau, 'is the

original of that secret treaty between England and Italy of which, I regret to

say, some rumours have already got into the public press.  It is of enormous

importance that nothing further should leak out.  The French or the Russian

embassy would pay an immense sum to learn the contents of these papers.  They

should not leave my bureau were it not that it is absolutely necessary to have

them copied.  You have a desk in your office?'

     "'Yes, sir.'

     "'Then take the treaty and lock it up there.  I shall give directions

that you may remain behind when the others go, so that you may copy it at your

leisure without fear of being overlooked.  When you have finished, relock both

the original and the draft in the desk, and hand them over to me personally

to-morrow morning.'

     "I took the papers and-- --"

     "Excuse me an instant," said Holmes.  "Were you alone during this

conversation?"

     "Absolutely."

     "In a large room?"

     "Thirty feet each way."

     "In the centre?"

     "Yes, about it."

     "And speaking low?"

     "My uncle's voice is always remarkably low.  I hardly spoke at all."

     "Thank you," said Holmes, shutting his eyes; "pray go on."

     "I did exactly what he indicated and waited until the other clerks had

departed.  One of them in my room, Charles Gorot, had some arrears of work to

make up, so I left him there and went out to dine.  When I returned he was

gone.  I was anxious to hurry my work, for I knew that Joseph--the Mr.

Harrison whom you saw just now--was in town, and that he would travel down to

Woking by the eleven-o'clock train, and I wanted if possible to catch it.

     "When I came to examine the treaty I saw at once that it was of such

importance that my uncle had been guilty of no exaggeration in what he said.

Without going into details, I may say that it defined the position of Great

Britain towards the Triple Alliance, and foreshadowed the policy which this

country would pursue in the event of the French fleet gaining a complete

ascendency over that of Italy in the Mediterranean.  The questions treated in

it were purely naval.  At the end were the signatures of the high dignitaries

who had signed it.  I glanced my eyes over it, and then settled down to my

task of copying.

     "It was a long document, written in the French language, and containing

twenty-six separate articles.  I copied as quickly as I could, but at nine

o'clock I had only done nine articles, and it seemed hopeless for me to

attempt to catch my train.  I was feeling drowsy and stupid, partly from my

dinner and also from the effects of a long day's work.  A cup of coffee would

clear my brain.  A commissionaire remains all night in a little lodge at the

foot of the stairs and is in the habit of making coffee at his spirit-lamp for

any of the officials who may be working overtime.  I rang the bell, therefore,

to summon him.

     "To my surprise, it was a woman who answered the summons, a large,

coarse-faced, elderly woman, in an apron.  She explained that she was the

commissionaire's wife, who did the charing, and I gave her the order for the

coffee.

     "I wrote two more articles, and then, feeling more drowsy than ever, I

rose and walked up and down the room to stretch my legs.  My coffee had not

yet come, and I wondered what the cause of the delay could be.  Opening the

door, I started down the corridor to find out.  There was a straight passage,

dimly lighted, which led from the room in which I had been working, and was

the only exit from it.  It ended in a curving staircase, with the

commissionaire's lodge in the passage at the bottom.  Halfway down this

staircase is a small landing, with another passage running into it at right

angles.  This second one leads by means of a second small stair to a side

door, used by servants, and also as a short cut by clerks when coming from

Charles Street.  Here is a rough chart of the place."

                                {see Drawing}

     "Thank you.  I think that I quite follow you," said Sherlock Holmes.

     "It is of the utmost importance that you should notice this point.  I

went down the stairs and into the hall, where I found the commissionaire fast

asleep in his box, with the kettle boiling furiously upon the spirit-lamp.  I

took off the kettle and blew out the lamp, for the water was spurting over the

floor.  Then I put out my hand and was about to shake the man, who was still

sleeping soundly, when a bell over his head rang loudly, and he woke with a

start.

     "'Mr. Phelps, sir!' said he, looking at me in bewilderment.

     "'I came down to see if my coffee was ready.'

     "'I was boiling the kettle when I fell asleep, sir.'  He looked at me and

then up at the still quivering bell with an ever-growing astonishment upon his

face.

     "'If you was here, sir, then who rang the bell?' he asked.

     "'The bell!' I cried.  'What bell is it?'

     "'It's the bell of the room you were working in.'

     "A cold hand seemed to close round my heart.  Someone, then, was in that

room where my precious treaty lay upon the table.  I ran frantically up the

stair and along the passage.  There was no one in the corridors, Mr. Holmes.

There was no one in the room.  All was exactly as I left it, save only that

the papers which had been committed to my care had been taken from the desk on

which they lay.  The copy was there, and the original was gone."

     Holmes sat up in his chair and rubbed his hands.  I could see that the

problem was entirely to his heart.  "Pray, what did you do then?" he murmured.

     "I recognized in an instant that the thief must have come up the stairs

from the side door.  Of course I must have met him if he had come the other

way."

     "You were satisfied that he could not have been concealed in the room all

the time, or in the corridor which you have just described as dimly lighted?"

     "It is absolutely impossible.  A rat could not conceal himself either in

the room or the corridor.  There is no cover at all."

     "Thank you.  Pray proceed."

     "The commissionaire, seeing by my pale face that something was to be

feared, had followed me upstairs.  Now we both rushed along the corridor and

down the steep steps which led to Charles Street.  The door at the bottom was

closed but unlocked.  We flung it open and rushed out.  I can distinctly

remember that as we did so there came three chimes from a neighbouring clock.

It was a quarter to ten."

     "That is of enormous importance," said Holmes, making a note upon his

shirt-cuff.

     "The night was very dark, and a thin, warm rain was falling.  There was

no one in Charles Street, but a great traffic was going on, as usual, in

Whitehall, at the extremity.  We rushed along the pavement, bare-headed as we

were, and at the far corner we found a policeman standing.

     "'A robbery has been committed,' I gasped.  'A document of immense value

has been stolen from the Foreign Office.  Has anyone passed this way?'

     "'I have been standing here for a quarter of an hour, sir,' said he,

'only one person has passed during that time--a woman, tall and elderly, with

a Paisley shawl.'

     "'Ah, that is only my wife,' cried the commissionaire; 'has no one else

passed?'

     "'No one.'

     "'Then it must be the other way that the thief took,' cried the fellow,

tugging at my sleeve.

     "But I was not satisfied, and the attempts which he made to draw me away

increased my suspicions.

     "'Which way did the woman go?' I cried.

     "'I don't know, sir.  I noticed her pass, but I had no special reason for

watching her.  She seemed to be in a hurry.'

     "'How long ago was it?'

     "'Oh, not very many minutes.'

     "'Within the last five?'

     "'Well, it could not be more than five.'

     "'You're only wasting your time, sir, and every minute now is of

importance,' cried the commissionaire; 'take my word for it that my old woman

has nothing to do with it and come down to the other end of the street.  Well,

if you won't, I will.'  And with that he rushed off in the other direction.

     "But I was after him in an instant and caught him by the sleeve.

     "'Where do you live?' said I.

     "'16 Ivy Lane, Brixton,' he answered.  'But don't let yourself be drawn

away upon a false scent, Mr. Phelps.  Come to the other end of the street and

let us see if we can hear of anything.'

     "Nothing was to be lost by following his advice.  With the policeman we

both hurried down, but only to find the street full of traffic, many people

coming and going, but all only too eager to get to a place of safety upon so

wet a night.  There was no lounger who could tell us who had passed.

     "Then we returned to the office and searched the stairs and the passage

without result.  The corridor which led to the room was laid down with a kind

of creamy linoleum which shows an impression very easily.  We examined it very

carefully, but found no outline of any footmark."

     "Had it been raining all evening?"

     "Since about seven."

     "How is it, then, that the woman who came into the room about nine left

no traces with her muddy boots?"

     "I am glad you raised the point.  It occurred to me at the time.  The

charwomen are in the habit of taking off their boots at the commissionaire's

office, and putting on list slippers."

     "That is very clear.  There were no marks, then, though the night was a

wet one?  The chain of events is certainly one of extraordinary interest.

What did you do next?"

     "We examined the room also.  There is no possibility of a secret door,

and the windows are quite thirty feet from the ground.  Both of them were

fastened on the inside.  The carpet prevents any possibility of a trapdoor,

and the ceiling is of the ordinary whitewashed kind.  I will pledge my life

that whoever stole my papers could only have come through the door."

     "How about the fireplace?"

     "They use none.  There is a stove.  The bell-rope hangs from the wire

just to the right of my desk.  Whoever rang it must have come right up to the

desk to do it.  But why should any criminal wish to ring the bell?  It is a

most insoluble mystery."

     "Certainly the incident was unusual.  What were your next steps?  You

examined the room, I presume, to see if the intruder had left any traces--any

cigar-end or dropped glove or hairpin or other trifle?"

     "There was nothing of the sort."

     "No smell?"

     "Well, we never thought of that."

     "Ah, a scent of tobacco would have been worth a great deal to us in such

an investigation."

     "I never smoke myself, so I think I should have observed it if there had

been any smell of tobacco.  There was absolutely no clue of any kind.  The

only tangible fact was that the commissionaire's wife--Mrs. Tangey was the

name--had hurried out of the place.  He could give no explanation save that

it was about the time when the woman always went home.  The policeman and I

agreed that our best plan would be to seize the woman before she could get rid

of the papers, presuming that she had them.

     "The alarm had reached Scotland Yard by this time, and Mr. Forbes, the

detective, came round at once and took up the case with a great deal of

energy.  We hired a hansom, and in half an hour we were at the address which

had been given to us.  A young woman opened the door, who proved to be Mrs.

Tangey's eldest daughter.  Her mother had not come back yet, and we were shown

into the front room to wait.

     "About ten minutes later a knock came at the door, and here we made the

one serious mistake for which I blame myself.  Instead of opening the door

ourselves, we allowed the girl to do so.  We heard her say, 'Mother, there are

two men in the house waiting to see you,' and an instant afterwards we heard

the patter of feet rushing down the passage.  Forbes flung open the door, and

we both ran into the back room or kitchen, but the woman had got there before

us.  She stared at us with defiant eyes, and then, suddenly recognizing me, an

expression of absolute astonishment came over her face.

     "'Why, if it isn't Mr. Phelps, of the office!' she cried.

     "'Come, come, who did you think we were when you ran away from us?' asked

my companion.

     "'I thought you were the brokers,' said she, 'we have had some trouble

with a tradesman.'

     "'That's not quite good enough,' answered Forbes.  'We have reason to

believe that you have taken a paper of importance from the Foreign Office, and

that you ran in here to dispose of it.  You must come back with us to Scotland

Yard to be searched.'

     "It was in vain that she protested and resisted.  A four-wheeler was

brought, and we all three drove back in it.  We had first made an examination

of the kitchen, and especially of the kitchen fire, to see whether she might

have made away with the papers during the instant that she was alone.  There

were no signs, however, of any ashes or scraps.  When we reached Scotland Yard

she was handed over at once to the female searcher.  I waited in an agony of

suspense until she came back with her report.  There were no signs of the

papers.

     "Then for the first time the horror of my situation came in its full

force.  Hitherto I had been acting, and action had numbed thought.  I had been

so confident of regaining the treaty at once that I had not dared to think of

what would be the consequence if I failed to do so.  But now there was nothing

more to be done, and I had leisure to realize my position.  It was horrible.

Watson there would tell you that I was a nervous, sensitive boy at school.  It

is my nature.  I thought of my uncle and of his colleagues in the Cabinet, of

the shame which I had brought upon him, upon myself, upon everyone connected

with me.  What though I was the victim of an extraordinary accident?  No

allowance is made for accidents where diplomatic interests are at stake.  I

was ruined, shamefully, hopelessly ruined.  I don't know what I did.  I fancy

I must have made a scene.  I have a dim recollection of a group of officials

who crowded round me, endeavouring to soothe me.  One of them drove down with

me to Waterloo, and saw me into the Woking train.  I believe that he would

have come all the way had it not been that Dr. Ferrier, who lives near me, was

going down by that very train.  The doctor most kindly took charge of me, and

it was well he did so, for I had a fit in the station, and before we reached

home I was practically a raving maniac.

     "You can imagine the state of things here when they were roused from

their beds by the doctor's ringing and found me in this condition.  Poor Annie

here and my mother were broken-hearted.  Dr. Ferrier had just heard enough

from the detective at the station to be able to give an idea of what had

happened, and his story did not mend matters.  It was evident to all that I

was in for a long illness, so Joseph was bundled out of this cheery bedroom,

and it was turned into a sick-room for me.  Here I have lain, Mr. Holmes, for

over nine weeks, unconscious, and raving with brain-fever.  If it had not been

for Miss Harrison here and for the doctor's care, I should not be speaking to

you now.  She has nursed me by day and a hired nurse has looked after me by

night, for in my mad fits I was capable of anything.  Slowly my reason has

cleared, but it is only during the last three days that my memory has quite

returned.  Sometimes I wish that it never had.  The first thing that I did was

to wire to Mr. Forbes, who had the case in hand.  He came out, and assures me

that, though everything has been done, no trace of a clue has been discovered.

The commissionaire and his wife have been examined in every way without any

light being thrown upon the matter.  The suspicions of the police then rested

upon young Gorot, who, as you may remember, stayed over-time in the office

that night.  His remaining behind and his French name were really the only two

points which could suggest suspicion; but, as a matter of fact, I did not

begin work until he had gone, and his people are of Huguenot extraction, but

as English in sympathy and tradition as you and I are.  Nothing was found to

implicate him in any way, and there the matter dropped.  I turn to you, Mr.

Holmes, as absolutely my last hope.  If you fail me, then my honour as well as

my position are forever forfeited."

     The invalid sank back upon his cushions, tired out by this long recital,

while his nurse poured him out a glass of some stimulating medicine.  Holmes

sat silently, with his head thrown back and his eyes closed, in an attitude

which might seem listless to a stranger, but which I knew betokened the most

intense self-absorption.

     "Your statement has been so explicit," said he at last, "that you have

really left me very few questions to ask.  There is one of the very utmost

importance, however.  Did you tell anyone that you had this special task to

perform?"

     "No one."

     "Not Miss Harrison here, for example?"

     "No.  I had not been back to Woking between getting the order and

executing the commission."

     "And none of your people had by chance been to see you?"

     "None."

     "Did any of them know their way about in the office?"

     "Oh, yes, all of them had been shown over it."

     "Still, of course, if you said nothing to anyone about the treaty these

inquiries are irrelevant."

     "I said nothing."

     "Do you know anything of the commissionaire?"

     "Nothing except that he is an old soldier."

     "What regiment?"

     "Oh, I have heard--Coldstream Guards."

     "Thank you.  I have no doubt I can get details from Forbes.  The

authorities are excellent at amassing facts, though they do not always use

them to advantage.  What a lovely thing a rose is!"

     He walked past the couch to the open window and held up the drooping

stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green.

It was a new phase of his character to me, for I had never before seen him

show any keen interest in natural objects.

     "There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion,"

said he, leaning with his back against the shutters.  "It can be built up as

an exact science by the reasoner.  Our highest assurance of the goodness of

Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers.  All other things, our powers,

our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first

instance.  But this rose is an extra.  Its smell and its colour are an

embellishment of life, not a condition of it.  It is only goodness which gives

extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers."

     Percy Phelps and his nurse looked at Holmes during this demonstration

with surprise and a good deal of disappointment written upon their faces.  He

had fallen into a reverie, with the moss-rose between his fingers.  It had

lasted some minutes before the young lady broke in upon it.

     "Do you see any prospect of solving this mystery, Mr. Holmes?" she asked

with a touch of asperity in her voice.

     "Oh, the mystery!" he answered, coming back with a start to the realities

of life.  "Well, it would be absurd to deny that the case is a very abstruse

and complicated one, but I can promise you that I will look into the matter

and let you know any points which may strike me."

     "Do you see any clue?"

     "You have furnished me with seven, but of course I must test them before

I can pronounce upon their value."

     "You suspect someone?"

     "I suspect myself."

     "What!"

     "Of coming to conclusions too rapidly."

     "Then go to London and test your conclusions."

     "Your advice is very excellent, Miss Harrison," said Holmes, rising.  "I

think, Watson, we cannot do better.  Do not allow yourself to indulge in false

hopes, Mr. Phelps.  The affair is a very tangled one."

     "I shall be in a fever until I see you again," cried the diplomatist.

     "Well, I'll come out by the same train to-morrow, though it's more than

likely that my report will be a negative one."

     "God bless you for promising to come," cried our client.  "It gives me

fresh life to know that something is being done.  By the way, I have had a

letter from Lord Holdhurst."

     "Ha!  what did he say?"

     "He was cold, but not harsh.  I dare say my severe illness prevented him

from being that.  He repeated that the matter was of the utmost importance,

and added that no steps would be taken about my future--by which he means, of

course, my dismissal--until my health was restored and I had an opportunity of

repairing my misfortune."

     "Well, that was reasonable and considerate," said Holmes.  "Come, Watson,

for we have a good day's work before us in town."

     Mr. Joseph Harrison drove us down to the station, and we were soon

whirling up in a Portsmouth train.  Holmes was sunk in profound thought and

hardly opened his mouth until we had passed Clapham Junction.

     "It's a very cheery thing to come into London by any of these lines which

run high and allow you to look down upon the houses like this."

     I thought he was joking, for the view was sordid enough, but he soon

explained himself.

     "Look at those big, isolated clumps of buildings rising up above the

slates, like brick islands in a lead-coloured sea."

     "The board-schools."

     "Light-houses, my boy!  Beacons of the future!  Capsules with hundreds of

bright little seeds in each, out of which will spring the wiser, better

England of the future.  I suppose that man Phelps does not drink?"

     "I should not think so."

     "Nor should I, but we are bound to take every possibility into account.

The poor devil has certainly got himself into very deep water, and it's a

question whether we shall ever be able to get him ashore.  What do you think

of Miss Harrison?"

     "A girl of strong character."

     "Yes, but she is a good sort, or I am mistaken.  She and her brother are

the only children of an iron-master somewhere up Northumberland way.  He got

engaged to her when travelling last winter, and she came down to be introduced

to his people, with her brother as escort.  Then came the smash, and she

stayed on to nurse her lover, while brother Joseph, finding himself pretty

snug, stayed on, too.  I've been making a few independent inquiries, you see.

But to-day must be a day of inquiries."

     "My practice-- --" I began.

     "Oh, if you find your own cases more interesting than mine-- --" said

Holmes with some asperity.

     "I was going to say that my practice could get along very well for a day

or two, since it is the slackest time in the year."

     "Excellent," said he, recovering his good-humour.  "Then we'll look into

this matter together.  I think that we should begin by seeing Forbes.  He can

probably tell us all the details we want until we know from what side the case

is to be approached."

     "You said you had a clue?"

     "Well, we have several, but we can only test their value by further

inquiry.  The most difficult crime to track is the one which is purposeless.

Now this is not purposeless.  Who is it who profits by it?  There is the

French ambassador, there is the Russian, there is whoever might sell it to

either of these, and there is Lord Holdhurst."

     "Lord Holdhurst!"

     "Well, it is just conceivable that a statesman might find himself in a

position where he was not sorry to have such a document accidentally

destroyed."

     "Not a statesman with the honourable record of Lord Holdhurst?"

     "It is a possibility and we cannot afford to disregard it.  We shall see

the noble lord to-day and find out if he can tell us anything.  Meanwhile I

have already set inquiries on foot."

     "Already?"

     "Yes, I sent wires from Woking station to every evening paper in London.

This advertisement will appear in each of them."

     He handed over a sheet torn from a notebook.  On it was scribbled in

pencil:

               L10 reward.  The number of the cab which dropped a fare at or

          about the door of the Foreign Office in Charles Street at quarter to

          ten in the evening of May 23d.  Apply 221B, Baker Street.

     "You are confident that the thief came in a cab?"

     "If not, there is no harm done.  But if Mr. Phelps is correct in stating

that there is no hiding-place either in the room or the corridors, then the

person must have come from outside.  If he came from outside on so wet a

night, and yet left no trace of damp upon the linoleum, which was examined

within a few minutes of his passing, then it is exceedingly probable that he

came in a cab.  Yes, I think that we may safely deduce a cab."

     "It sounds plausible."

     "That is one of the clues of which I spoke.  It may lead us to something.

And then, of course, there is the bell--which is the most distinctive feature

of the case.  Why should the bell ring?  Was it the thief who did it out of

bravado?  Or was it someone who was with the thief who did it in order to

prevent the crime?  Or was it an accident?  Or was it-- --?"  He sank back

into the state of intense and silent thought from which he had emerged; but it

seemed to me, accustomed as I was to his every mood, that some new possibility

had dawned suddenly upon him.

     It was twenty past three when we reached our terminus, and after a hasty

luncheon at the buffet we pushed on at once to Scotland Yard.  Holmes had

already wired to Forbes, and we found him waiting to receive us--a small, foxy

man with a sharp but by no means amiable expression.  He was decidedly frigid

in his manner to us, especially when he heard the errand upon which we had

come.

     "I've heard of your methods before now, Mr. Holmes," said he tartly.

"You are ready enough to use all the information that the police can lay at

your disposal, and then you try to finish the case yourself and bring

discredit on them."

     "On the contrary," said Holmes, "out of my last fifty-three cases my name

has only appeared in four, and the police have had all the credit in

forty-nine.  I don't blame you for not knowing this, for you are young and

inexperienced, but if you wish to get on in your new duties you will work with

me and not against me."

     "I'd be very glad of a hint or two," said the detective, changing his

manner.  "I've certainly had no credit from the case so far."

     "What steps have you taken?"

     "Tangey, the commissionaire, has been shadowed.  He left the Guards with

a good character, and we can find nothing against him.  His wife is a bad lot,

though.  I fancy she knows more about this than appears."

     "Have you shadowed her?"

     "We have set one of our women on to her.  Mrs. Tangey drinks, and our

woman has been with her twice when she was well on, but she could get nothing

out of her."

     "I understand that they have had brokers in the house?"

     "Yes, but they were paid off."

     "Where did the money come from?"

     "That was all right.  His pension was due.  They have not shown any sign

of being in funds."

     "What explanation did she give of having answered the bell when Mr.

Phelps rang for the coffee?"

     "She said that her husband was very tired and she wished to relieve him."

     "Well, certainly that would agree with his being found a little later

asleep in his chair.  There is nothing against them then but the woman's

character.  Did you ask her why she hurried away that night?  Her haste

attracted the attention of the police constable."

     "She was later than usual and wanted to get home."

     "Did you point out to her that you and Mr. Phelps, who started at least

twenty minutes after her, got home before her?"

     "She explains that by the difference between a 'bus and a hansom."

     "Did she make it clear why, on reaching her house, she ran into the back

kitchen?"

     "Because she had the money there with which to pay off the brokers."

     "She has at least an answer for everything.  Did you ask her whether in

leaving she met anyone or saw anyone loitering about Charles Street?"

     "She saw no one but the constable."

     "Well, you seem to have cross-examined her pretty thoroughly.  What else

have you done?"

     "The clerk Gorot has been shadowed all these nine weeks, but without

result.  We can show nothing against him."

     "Anything else?"

     "Well, we have nothing else to go upon--no evidence of any kind."

     "Have you formed any theory about how that bell rang?"

     "Well, I must confess that it beats me.  It was a cool hand, whoever it

was, to go and give the alarm like that."

     "Yes, it was a queer thing to do.  Many thanks to you for what you have

told me.  If I can put the man into your hands you shall hear from me.  Come

along, Watson."

     "Where are we going to now?" I asked as we left the office.

     "We are now going to interview Lord Holdhurst, the cabinet minister and

future premier of England."

     We were fortunate in finding that Lord Holdhurst was still in his

chambers in Downing Street, and on Holmes sending in his card we were

instantly shown up.  The statesman received us with that old-fashioned

courtesy for which he is remarkable and seated us on the two luxuriant lounges

on either side of the fireplace.  Standing on the rug between us, with his

slight, tall figure, his sharp features, thoughtful face, and curling hair

prematurely tinged with gray, he seemed to represent that not too common type,

a nobleman who is in truth noble.

     "Your name is very familiar to me, Mr. Holmes," said he, smiling.  "And

of course I cannot pretend to be ignorant of the object of your visit.  There

has only been one occurrence in these offices which could call for your

attention.  In whose interest are you acting, may I ask?"

     "In that of Mr. Percy Phelps," answered Holmes.

     "Ah, my unfortunate nephew!  You can understand that our kinship makes it

the more impossible for me to screen him in any way.  I fear that the incident

must have a very prejudicial effect upon his career."

     "But if the document is found?"

     "Ah, that, of course, would be different."

     "I had one or two questions which I wished to ask you, Lord Holdhurst."

     "I shall be happy to give you any information in my power."

     "Was it in this room that you gave your instructions as to the copying of

the document?"

     "It was."

     "Then you could hardly have been overheard?"

     "It is out of the question."

     "Did you ever mention to anyone that it was your intention to give anyone

the treaty to be copied?"

     "Never."

     "You are certain of that?"

     "Absolutely."

     "Well, since you never said so, and Mr. Phelps never said so, and nobody

else knew anything of the matter, then the thief's presence in the room was

purely accidental.  He saw his chance and he took it."

     The statesman smiled.  "You take me out of my province there," said he.

     Holmes considered for a moment.  "There is another very important point

which I wish to discuss with you," said he.  "You feared, as I understand,

that very grave results might follow from the details of this treaty becoming

known."

     A shadow passed over the expressive face of the statesman.  "Very grave

results indeed."

     "And have they occurred?"

     "Not yet."

     "If the treaty had reached, let us say, the French or Russian Foreign

Office, you would expect to hear of it?"

     "I should," said Lord Holdhurst with a wry face.

     "Since nearly ten weeks have elapsed, then, and nothing has been heard,

it is not unfair to suppose that for some reason the treaty has not reached

them."

     Lord Holdhurst shrugged his shoulders.

     "We can hardly suppose, Mr. Holmes, that the thief took the treaty in

order to frame it and hang it up."

     "Perhaps he is waiting for a better price."

     "If he waits a little longer he will get no price at all.  The treaty

will cease to be secret in a few months."

     "That is most important," said Holmes.  "Of course, it is a possible

supposition that the thief has had a sudden illness-- --"

     "An attack of brain-fever, for example?" asked the statesman, flashing a

swift glance at him.

     "I did not say so," said Holmes imperturbably.  "And now, Lord Holdhurst,

we have already taken up too much of your valuable time, and we shall wish you

good-day."

     "Every success to your investigation, be the criminal who it may,"

answered the nobleman as he bowed us out at the door.

     "He's a fine fellow," said Holmes as we came out into Whitehall.  "But he

has a struggle to keep up his position.  He is far from rich and has many

calls.  You noticed, of course, that his boots had been resoled.  Now, Watson,

I won't detain you from your legitimate work any longer.  I shall do nothing

more to-day unless I have an answer to my cab advertisement.  But I should be

extremely obliged to you if you would come down with me to Woking to-morrow by

the same train which we took yesterday."

     I met him accordingly next morning and we travelled down to Woking

together.  He had had no answer to his advertisement, he said, and no fresh

light had been thrown upon the case.  He had, when he so willed it, the utter

immobility of countenance of a red Indian, and I could not gather from his

appearance whether he was satisfied or not with the position of the case.  His

conversation, I remember, was about the Bertillon system of measurements, and

he expressed his enthusiastic admiration of the French savant.

     We found our client still under the charge of his devoted nurse, but

looking considerably better than before.  He rose from the sofa and greeted us

without difficulty when we entered.

     "Any news?" he asked eagerly.

     "My report, as I expected, is a negative one," said Holmes.  "I have seen

Forbes, and I have seen your uncle, and I have set one or two trains of

inquiry upon foot which may lead to something."

     "You have not lost heart, then?"

     "By no means."

     "God bless you for saying that!" cried Miss Harrison.  "If we keep our

courage and our patience the truth must come out."

     "We have more to tell you than you have for us," said Phelps, reseating

himself upon the couch.

     "I hoped you might have something."

     "Yes, we have had an adventure during the night, and one which might have

proved to be a serious one."  His expression grew very grave as he spoke, and

a look of something akin to fear sprang up in his eyes.  "Do you know," said

he, "that I begin to believe that I am the unconscious centre of some

monstrous conspiracy, and that my life is aimed at as well as my honour?"

     "Ah!" cried Holmes.

     "It sounds incredible, for I have not, as far as I know, an enemy in the

world.  Yet from last night's experience I can come to no other conclusion."

     "Pray let me hear it."

     "You must know that last night was the very first night that I have ever

slept without a nurse in the room.  I was so much better that I though I could

dispense with one.  I had a night-light burning, however.  Well, about two in

the morning I had sunk into a light sleep when I was suddenly aroused by a

slight noise.  It was like the sound which a mouse makes when it is gnawing a

plank, and I lay listening to it for some time under the impression that it

must come from that cause.  Then it grew louder, and suddenly there came from

the window a sharp metallic snick.  I sat up in amazement.  There could be no

doubt what the sounds were now.  The first ones had been caused by someone

forcing an instrument through the slit between the sashes, and the second by

the catch being pressed back.

     "There was a pause then for about ten minutes, as if the person were

waiting to see whether the noise had awakened me.  Then I heard a gentle

creaking as the window was very slowly opened.  I could stand it no longer,

for my nerves are not what they used to be.  I sprang out of bed and flung

open the shutters.  A man was crouching at the window.  I could see little of

him, for he was gone like a flash.  He was wrapped in some sort of cloak which

came across the lower part of his face.  One thing only I am sure of, and that

is that he had some weapon in his hand.  It looked to me like a long knife.  I

distinctly saw the gleam of it as he turned to run."

     "This is most interesting," said Holmes.  "Pray what did you do then?"

     "I should have followed him through the open window if I had been

stronger.  As it was, I rang the bell and roused the house.  It took some

little time, for the bell rings in the kitchen and the servants all sleep

upstairs.  I shouted, however, and that brought Joseph down, and he roused the

others.  Joseph and the groom found marks on the bed outside the window, but

the weather has been so dry lately that they found it hopeless to follow the

trail across the grass.  There's a place, however, on the wooden fence which

skirts the road which shows signs, they tell me, as if someone had got over,

and had snapped the top of the rail in doing so.  I have said nothing to the

local police yet, for I thought I had best have your opinion first."

     This tale of our client's appeared to have an extraordinary effect upon

Sherlock Holmes.  He rose from his chair and paced about the room in

uncontrollable excitement.

     "Misfortunes never come single," said Phelps, smiling, though it was

evident that his adventure had somewhat shaken him.

     "You have certainly had your share," said Holmes.  "Do you think you

could walk round the house with me?"

     "Oh, yes, I should like a little sunshine.  Joseph will come, too."

     "And I also," said Miss Harrison.

     "I am afraid not," said Holmes, shaking his head.  "I think I must ask

you to remain sitting exactly where you are."

     The young lady resumed her seat with an air of displeasure.  Her brother,

however, had joined us and we set off all four together.  We passed round the

lawn to the outside of the young diplomatist's window.  There were, as he had

said, marks upon the bed, but they were hopelessly blurred and vague.  Holmes

stooped over them for an instant, and then rose shrugging his shoulders.

     "I don't think anyone could make much of this," said he.  "Let us go

round the house and see why this particular room was chosen by the burglar.  I

should have thought those larger windows of the drawing-room and dining-room

would have had more attractions for him."

     "They are more visible from the road," suggested Mr. Joseph Harrison.

     "Ah, yes, of course.  There is a door here which he might have attempted.

What is it for?"

     "It is the side entrance for trades-people.  Of course it is locked at

night."

     "Have you ever had an alarm like this before?"

     "Never," said our client.

     "Do you keep plate in the house, or anything to attract burglars?"

     "Nothing of value."

     Holmes strolled round the house with his hands in his pockets and a

negligent air which was unusual with him.

     "By the way," said he to Joseph Harrison, "you found some place, I

understand, where the fellow scaled the fence.  Let us have a look at that!"

     The plump young man led us to a spot where the top of one of the wooden

rails had been cracked.  A small fragment of the wood was hanging down.

Holmes pulled it off and examined it critically.

     "Do you think that was done last night?  It looks rather old, does it

not?"

     "Well, possibly so."

     "There are no marks of anyone jumping down upon the other side.  No, I

fancy we shall get no help here.  Let us go back to the bedroom and talk the

matter over."

     Percy Phelps was walking very slowly, leaning upon the arm of his future

brother-in-law.  Holmes walked swiftly across the lawn, and we were at the

open window of the bedroom long before the others came up.

     "Miss Harrison," said Holmes, speaking with the utmost intensity of

manner, "you must stay where you are all day.  Let nothing prevent you from

staying where you are all day.  It is of the utmost importance."

     "Certainly, if you wish it, Mr. Holmes," said the girl in astonishment.

     "When you go to bed lock the door of this room on the outside and keep

the key.  Promise to do this."

     "But Percy?"

     "He will come to London with us."

     "And am I to remain here?"

     "It is for his sake.  You can serve him.  Quick!  Promise!"

     She gave a quick nod of assent just as the other two came up.

     "Why do you sit moping there, Annie?" cried her brother.  "Come out into

the sunshine!"

     "No, thank you, Joseph.  I have a slight headache and this room is

deliciously cool and soothing."

     "What do you propose now, Mr. Holmes?" asked our client.

     "Well, in investigating this minor affair we must not lose sight of our

main inquiry.  It would be a very great help to me if you would come up to

London with us."

     "At once?"

     "Well, as soon as you conveniently can.  Say in an hour."

     "I feel quite strong enough, if I can really be of any help."

     "The greatest possible."

     "Perhaps you would like me to stay there to-night?"

     "I was just going to propose it."

     "Then, if my friend of the night comes to revisit me, he will find the

bird flown.  We are all in your hands, Mr. Holmes, and you must tell us

exactly what you would like done.  Perhaps you would prefer that Joseph came

with us so as to look after me?"

     "Oh, no, my friend Watson is a medical man, you know, and he'll look

after you.  We'll have our lunch here, if you will permit us, and then we

shall all three set off for town together."

     It was arranged as he suggested, though Miss Harrison excused herself

from leaving the bedroom, in accordance with Holmes's suggestion.  What the

object of my friend's manoeuvres was I could not conceive, unless it were to

keep the lady away from Phelps, who, rejoiced by his returning health and by

the prospect of action, lunched with us in the dining-room.  Holmes had a

still more startling surprise for us, however, for, after accompanying us down

to the station and seeing us into our carriage, he calmly announced that he

had no intention of leaving Woking.

     "There are one or two small points which I should desire to clear up

before I go," said he.  "Your absence, Mr. Phelps, will in some ways rather

assist me.  Watson, when you reach London you would oblige me by driving at

once to Baker Street with our friend here, and remaining with him until I see

you again.  It is fortunate that you are old school-fellows, as you must have

much to talk over.  Mr. Phelps can have the spare bedroom to-night, and I will

be with you in time for breakfast, for there is a train which will take me

into Waterloo at eight."

     "But how about our investigation in London?" asked Phelps ruefully.

     "We can do that to-morrow.  I think that just at present I can be of more

immediate use here."

     "You might tell them at Briarbrae that I hope to be back to-morrow

night," cried Phelps, as we began to move from the platform.

     "I hardly expect to go back to Briarbrae," answered Holmes, and waved his

hand to us cheerily as we shot out from the station.

     Phelps and I talked it over on our journey, but neither of us could

devise a satisfactory reason for this new development.

     "I suppose he wants to find out some clues as to the burglary last night,

if a burglar it was.  For myself, I don't believe it was an ordinary thief."

     "What is your own idea, then?"

     "Upon my word, you may put it down to my weak nerves or not, but I

believe there is some deep political intrigue going on around me, and that for

some reason that passes my understanding my life is aimed at by the

conspirators.  It sounds high-flown and absurd, but consider the facts!  Why

should a thief try to break in at a bedroom window where there could be no

hope of any plunder, and why should he come with a long knife in his hand?"

     "You are sure it was not a house-breaker's jimmy?"

     "Oh, no, it was a knife.  I saw the flash of the blade quite distinctly."

     "But why on earth should you be pursued with such animosity?"

     "Ah, that is the question."

     "Well, if Holmes takes the same view, that would account for his action,

would it not?  Presuming that your theory is correct, if he can lay his hands

upon the man who threatened you last night he will have gone a long way

towards finding who took the naval treaty.  It is absurd to suppose that you

have two enemies, one of whom robs you, while the other threatens your life."

     "But Holmes said that he was not going to Briarbrae."

     "I have known him for some time," said I, "but I never knew him do

anything yet without a very good reason," and with that our conversation

drifted off on to other topics.

     But it was a weary day for me.  Phelps was still weak after his long

illness, and his misfortunes made him querulous and nervous.  In vain I

endeavoured to interest him in Afghanistan, in India, in social questions, in

anything which might take his mind out of the groove.  He would always come

back to his lost treaty, wondering, guessing, speculating as to what Holmes

was doing, what steps Lord Holdhurst was taking, what news we should have in

the morning.  As the evening wore on his excitement became quite painful.

     "You have implicit faith in Holmes?" he asked.

     "I have seen him do some remarkable things."

     "But he never brought light into anything quite so dark as this?"

     "Oh, yes, I have known him solve questions which presented fewer clues

than yours."

     "But not where such large interests are at stake?"

     "I don't know that.  To my certain knowledge he has acted on behalf of

three of the reigning houses of Europe in very vital matters."

     "But you know him well, Watson.  He is such an inscrutable fellow that I

never quite know what to make of him.  Do you think he is hopeful?  Do you

think he expects to make a success of it?"

     "He has said nothing."

     "That is a bad sign."

     "On the contrary.  I have noticed that when he is off the trail he

generally says so.  It is when he is on a scent and is not quite absolutely

sure yet that it is the right one that he is most taciturn.  Now, my dear

fellow, we can't help matters by making ourselves nervous about them, so let

me implore you to go to bed and so be fresh for whatever may await us

to-morrow."

     I was able at last to persuade my companion to take my advice, though I

knew from his excited manner that there was not much hope of sleep for him.

Indeed, his mood was infectious, for I lay tossing half the night myself,

brooding over this strange problem and inventing a hundred theories, each of

which was more impossible than the last.  Why had Holmes remained at Woking?

Why had he asked Miss Harrison to remain in the sick-room all day?  Why had he

been so careful not to inform the people at Briarbrae that he intended to

remain near them?  I cudgelled my brains until I fell asleep in the endeavour

to find some explanation which would cover all these facts.

     It was seven o'clock when I awoke, and I set off at once for Phelps's

room to find him haggard and spent after a sleepless night.  His first

question was whether Holmes had arrived yet.

     "He'll be here when he promised," said I, "and not an instant sooner or

later."

     And my words were true, for shortly after eight a hansom dashed up to the

door and our friend got out of it.  Standing in the window we saw that his

left hand was swathed in a bandage and that his face was very grim and pale.

He entered the house, but it was some little time before he came upstairs.

     "He looks like a beaten man," cried Phelps.

     I was forced to confess that he was right.  "After all," said I, "the

clue of the matter lies probably here in town."

     Phelps gave a groan.

     "I don't know how it is," said he, "but I had hoped for so much from his

return.  But surely his hand was not tied up like that yesterday.  What can be

the matter?"

     "You are not wounded, Holmes?"  I asked as my friend entered the room.

     "Tut, it is only a scratch through my own clumsiness," he answered,

nodding his good-morning to us.  "This case of yours, Mr. Phelps, is certainly

one of the darkest which I have ever investigated."

     "I feared that you would find it beyond you."

     "It has been a most remarkable experience."

     "That bandage tells of adventures," said I.  "Won't you tell us what has

happened?"

     "After breakfast, my dear Watson.  Remember that I have breathed thirty

miles of Surrey air this morning.  I suppose that there has been no answer

from my cabman advertisement?  Well, well, we cannot expect to score every

time."

     The table was all laid, and just as I was about to ring Mrs. Hudson

entered with the tea and coffee.  A few minutes later she brought in three

covers, and we all drew up to the table, Holmes ravenous, I curious, and

Phelps in the gloomiest state of depression.

     "Mrs. Hudson has risen to the occasion," said Holmes, uncovering a dish

of curried chicken.  "Her cuisine is a little limited, but she has as good an

idea of breakfast as a Scotchwoman.  What have you there, Watson?"

     "Ham and eggs," I answered.

     "Good!  What are you going to take, Mr. Phelps--curried fowl or eggs, or

will you help yourself?"

     "Thank you.  I can eat nothing," said Phelps.

     "Oh, come!  Try the dish before you."

     "Thank you, I would really rather not."

     "Well, then," said Holmes with a mischievous twinkle, "I suppose that you

have no objection to helping me?"

     Phelps raised the cover, and as he did so he uttered a scream and sat

there staring with a face as white as the plate upon which he looked.  Across

the centre of it was lying a little cylinder of blue-gray paper.  He caught it

up, devoured it with his eyes, and then danced madly about the room, pressing

it to his bosom and shrieking out in his delight.  Then he fell back into an

armchair, so limp and exhausted with his own emotions that we had to pour

brandy down his throat to keep him from fainting.

     "There!  there!" said Holmes soothingly, patting him upon the shoulder.

"It was too bad to spring it on you like this, but Watson here will tell you

that I never can resist a touch of the dramatic."

     Phelps seized his hand and kissed it.  "God bless you!" he cried.  "You

have saved my honour."

     "Well, my own was at stake, you know," said Holmes.  "I assure you it is

just as hateful to me to fail in a case as it can be to you to blunder over a

commission."

     Phelps thrust away the precious document into the innermost pocket of his

coat.

     "I have not the heart to interrupt your breakfast any further, and yet I

am dying to know how you got it and where it was."

     Sherlock Holmes swallowed a cup of coffee and turned his attention to the

ham and eggs.  Then he rose, lit his pipe, and settled himself down into his

chair.

     "I'll tell you what I did first, and how I came to do it afterwards,"

said he.  "After leaving you at the station I went for a charming walk through

some admirable Surrey scenery to a pretty little village called Ripley, where

I had my tea at an inn and took the precaution of filling my flask and of

putting a paper of sandwiches in my pocket.  There I remained until evening,

when I set off for Woking again and found myself in the highroad outside

Briarbrae just after sunset.

     "Well, I waited until the road was clear--it is never a very frequented

one at any time, I fancy--and then I clambered over the fence into the

grounds."

     "Surely the gate was open!" ejaculated Phelps.

     "Yes, but I have a peculiar taste in these matters.  I chose the place

where the three fir-trees stand, and behind their screen I got over without

the least chance of anyone in the house being able to see me.  I crouched down

among the bushes on the other side and crawled from one to the other--witness

the disreputable state of my trouser knees--until I had reached the clump of

rhododendrons just opposite to your bedroom window.  There I squatted down and

awaited developments.

     "The blind was not down in your room, and I could see Miss Harrison

sitting there reading by the table.  It was quarter-past ten when she closed

her book, fastened the shutters, and retired.

     "I heard her shut the door and felt quite sure that she had turned the

key in the lock."

     "The key!" ejaculated Phelps.

     "Yes, I had given Miss Harrison instructions to lock the door on the

outside and take the key with her when she went to bed.  She carried out every

one of my injunctions to the letter, and certainly without her cooperation you

would not have that paper in your coat-pocket.  She departed then and the

lights went out, and I was left squatting in the rhododendron-bush.

     "The night was fine, but still it was a very weary vigil.  Of course it

has the sort of excitement about it that the sportsman feels when he lies

beside the watercourse and waits for the big game.  It was very long,

though--almost as long, Watson, as when you and I waited in that deadly room

when we looked into the little problem of the Speckled Band.  There was a

church-clock down at Woking which struck the quarters, and I thought more than

once that it had stopped.  At last, however, about two in the morning, I

suddenly heard the gentle sound of a bolt being pushed back and the creaking

of a key.  A moment later the servants' door was opened, and Mr. Joseph

Harrison stepped out into the moonlight."

     "Joseph!" ejaculated Phelps.

     "He was bare-headed, but he had a black cloak thrown over his shoulder,

so that he could conceal his face in an instant if there were any alarm.  He

walked on tiptoe under the shadow of the wall, and when he reached the window

he worked a long-bladed knife through the sash and pushed back the catch.

Then he flung open the window, and putting his knife through the crack in the

shutters, he thrust the bar up and swung them open.

     "From where I lay I had a perfect view of the inside of the room and of

every one of his movements.  He lit the two candles which stood upon the

mantelpiece, and then he proceeded to turn back the corner of the carpet in

the neighbourhood of the door.  Presently he stooped and picked out a square

piece of board, such as is usually left to enable plumbers to get at the

joints of the gas-pipes.  This one covered, as a matter of fact, the T joint

which gives off the pipe which supplies the kitchen underneath.  Out of this

hiding-place he drew that little cylinder of paper, pushed down the board,

rearranged the carpet, blew out the candles, and walked straight into my arms

as I stood waiting for him outside the window.

     "Well, he has rather more viciousness than I gave him credit for, has

Master Joseph.  He flew at me with his knife, and I had to grasp him twice,

and got a cut over the knuckles, before I had the upper hand of him.  He

looked murder out of the only eye he could see with when we had finished, but

he listened to reason and gave up the papers.  Having got them I let my man

go, but I wired full particulars to Forbes this morning.  If he is quick

enough to catch his bird, well and good.  But if, as I shrewdly suspect, he

finds the nest empty before he gets there, why, all the better for the

government.  I fancy that Lord Holdhurst, for one, and Mr. Percy Phelps for

another, would very much rather that the affair never got as far as a

police-court."

     "My God!" gasped our client.  "Do you tell me that during these long ten

weeks of agony the stolen papers were within the very room with me all the

time?"

     "So it was."

     "And Joseph!  Joseph a villain and a thief!"

     "Hum!  I am afraid Joseph's character is a rather deeper and more

dangerous one than one might judge from his appearance.  From what I have

heard from him this morning, I gather that he has lost heavily in dabbling

with stocks, and that he is ready to do anything on earth to better his

fortunes.  Being an absolutely selfish man, when a chance presents itself he

did not allow either his sister's happiness or your reputation to hold his

hand."

     Percy Phelps sank back in his chair.  "My head whirls," said he.  "Your

words have dazed me."

     "The principal difficulty in your case," remarked Holmes in his didactic

fashion, "lay in the fact of there being too much evidence.  What was vital

was overlaid and hidden by what was irrelevant.  Of all the facts which were

presented to us we had to pick just those which we deemed to be essential, and

then piece them together in their order, so as to reconstruct this very

remarkable chain of events.  I had already begun to suspect Joseph from the

fact that you had intended to travel home with him that night, and that

therefore it was a likely enough thing that he should call for you, knowing

the Foreign Office well, upon his way.  When I heard that someone had been so

anxious to get into the bedroom, in which no one but Joseph could have

concealed anything-- you told us in your narrative how you had turned Joseph

out when you arrived with the doctor--my suspicions all changed to

certainties, especially as the attempt was made on the first night upon which

the nurse was absent, showing that the intruder was well acquainted with the

ways of the house."

     "How blind I have been!"

     "The facts of the case, as far as I have worked them out, are these: This

Joseph Harrison entered the office through the Charles Street door, and

knowing his way he walked straight into your room the instant after you left

it.  Finding no one there he promptly rang the bell, and at the instant that

he did so his eyes caught the paper upon the table.  A glance showed him that

chance had put in his way a State document of immense value, and in an instant

he had thrust it into his pocket and was gone.  A few minutes elapsed, as you

remember, before the sleepy commissionaire drew your attention to the bell,

and those were just enough to give the thief time to make his escape.

     "He made his way to Woking by the first train, and, having examined his

booty and assured himself that it really was of immense value, he had

concealed it in what he thought was a very safe place, with the intention of

taking it out again in a day or two, and carrying it to the French embassy, or

wherever he thought that a long price was to be had.  Then came your sudden

return.  He, without a moment's warning, was bundled out of his room, and from

that time onward there were always at least two of you there to prevent him

from regaining his treasure.  The situation to him must have been a maddening

one.  But at last he thought he saw his chance.  He tried to steal in, but was

baffled by your wakefulness.  You may remember that you did not take your

usual draught that night."

     "I remember."

     "I fancy that he had taken steps to make that draught efficacious, and

that he quite relied upon your being unconscious.  Of course, I understood

that he would repeat the attempt whenever it could be done with safety.  Your

leaving the room gave him the chance he wanted.  I kept Miss Harrison in it

all day so that he might not anticipate us.  Then, having given him the idea

that the coast was clear, I kept guard as I have described.  I already knew

that the papers were probably in the room, but I had no desire to rip up all

the planking and skirting in search of them.  I let him take them, therefore,

from the hiding-place, and so saved myself an infinity of trouble.  Is there

any other point which I can make clear?"

     "Why did he try the window on the first occasion," I asked, "when he

might have entered by the door?"

     "In reaching the door he would have to pass seven bedrooms.  On the other

hand, he could get out on to the lawn with ease.  Anything else?"

     "You do not think," asked Phelps, "that he had any murderous intention?

The knife was only meant as a tool."

     "It may be so," answered Holmes, shrugging his shoulders.  "I can only

say for certain that Mr. Joseph Harrison is a gentleman to whose mercy I

should be extremely unwilling to trust."