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[Assistant] The very face of our companion Thaddeus.


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[Assistant] There was the same high shining head, the same circular bristle of red hair, the same bloodless countenance.


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[Assistant] The features were set, however, in a horrible smile, a fixed and unnatural grin, which in that still and moonlit room was more jarring to the nerves than any scowl or contortion.


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[Assistant] So like was the face to that of our little friend, that I looked round at him to make sure that he was indeed with us.


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[Assistant] Then I recalled to mind that he had mentioned to us that his brother and he were twins.


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[Assistant] This is terrible, I said to Holmes. What is to be done?


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[Assistant] The door must come down," he answered, and, springing against it, he put all his weight upon the lock.


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[Assistant] It creaked and groaned, but did not yield.


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[Assistant] Together we flung ourselves upon it once more, and this time it gave way with a sudden snap, and we found ourselves within Bartholomew Sholto's chamber.


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[Assistant] It appeared to have been fitted up as a chemical laboratory. A double line of glass-stoppered bottles was drawn up upon the wall opposite the door, and a table was littered over with bunsen-burners, test-tubes, and retorts.


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[Assistant] In the corners stood carboys of acid in wicker baskets.


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[Assistant] One of these appeared to leak or to have been broken, for a stream of dark-coloured liquid had trickled out from it, and the air was heavy with a peculiarly pungent tar-like odour.


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[Assistant] A set of steps stood at one side of the room in the midst of a litter of lathe and plaster, and above them there was an opening in the ceiling large enough for a man to pass through.


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[Assistant] At the foot of the steps a long coil of rope was thrown carelessly together.


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[Assistant] By the table, in a wooden armchair, the master of the house was seated all in a heap, with his head sunk upon his left shoulder, and that ghastly, inscrutable smile upon his face.


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[Assistant] He was stiff and cold, and had clearly been dead many hours. It seemed to me


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[Assistant] They're not only his features, but all his limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashion.


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[Assistant] By his hand, upon the table there lay a peculiar instrument, a brown, close-grained stick with a stone head like a hammer, rudely lashed on with coarse twine.


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[Assistant] Beside it was a torn sheet of notepaper with some words scrawled upon it. Holmes glanced at it, then handed it to me.


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[Assistant] You see, he said with a significant raising of the eyebrows,


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[Assistant] In the light of the lantern I reared with a thrill of horror the sign of the four.


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[Assistant] I took it up between my finger and thumb. It came away from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left behind. One tiny speck of blood showed where the puncture had been.


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[Assistant] It clears every instant I only require a few missing links to have an entirely connected case.


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[Assistant] We had almost forgotten our companion's presence since we entered the chamber.


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[Assistant] He was still standing in the doorway, the very picture of Terror, wringing his hands and moaning to himself.


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[Assistant] Suddenly, however, he broke out into a sharp, querulous cry. The treasure is gone, he said. They have robbed him of the treasure.


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[Assistant] And now he is dead, and the police will be called in, and I shall be suspected of having had a hand in it. Oh yes, I am sure I shall, but you don't think so, gentlemen? Surely you don't think it was I?


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[Assistant] Is it likely that I would have brought you here if it were I? Oh dear, oh dear, I know that I shall go mad.


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[Assistant] He jerked his arms and stamped his feet in a kind of convulsive frenzy.


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[Assistant] You have no reason for fear, Mr. Sholto," said Holmes, kindly putting his hand upon his shoulder.


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[Assistant] Take my advice and drive down to the station to report this matter to the police. Offer to assist them in every way. We shall wait here until your return.


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[Assistant] The endometrium is the inside lining of the uterus.


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[Assistant] An endometrial biopsy is the removal of a sample of tissue from the endometrium for testing.


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[Assistant] A biopsy may be done to screen for cancer or precancerous cells, to determine the cause of irregular bleeding, or to investigate fertility problems.


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[Assistant] This procedure can also check for infections and monitor the effectiveness of certain medications.


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[Assistant] An endometrial biopsy can be done in your doctor's office in 10 to 15 minutes without the use of a sedative.


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[Assistant] And then place a speculum in your vagina to open it up and keep it open so the cervix is visible.


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[Assistant] Your doctor may use another instrument called a tenaculum to grasp the cervix and hold it steady during the procedure. Your doctor will then pass a long, thin, flexible tube called a pipel through your vagina and cervix and into your uterus.


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[Assistant] The Pipell is equipped with a piston-like device that creates suction when pulled.


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[Assistant] Your doctor will spin the pipel and move it up and down in the uterus while suctioning up an adequate sample of endometrial tissue. Then remove the pipel and place its contents in a container. Your doctor will complete the procedure by removing the tenaculum and speculum.


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[Assistant] After the biopsy, some patients are able to sit up immediately and feel minimal cramping. Others who may feel some dizziness will be asked to lie still for about 10 to 15 minutes before being released.


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[Assistant] An anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen or naproxen is often prescribed to minimize any menstrual-like cramping or discomfort.


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[Assistant] Your doctor will send the sample to the lab for testing.


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[Assistant] Results may be given to you by telephone or during a follow-up appointment with your physician.


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[Assistant] Chapter 7 The Episode of the Barrel


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[Assistant] The police had brought a cab with them, and in this I escorted Miss Morstan back to her home. After the angelic fashion of women, she had borne trouble with a calm face, as long as there was someone weaker than herself to support, and I had found her bright and placid by the side of the frightened housekeeper.


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[Assistant] In the cab, however, she first turned faint and then burst into a passion of weeping. So sorely had she been tried by the adventures of the night.


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[Assistant] She has told me since that she thought me cold and distant upon that journey.


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[Assistant] She little guessed the struggle within my breast, Or the effort of self-restraint which held me back.


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[Assistant] My sympathies and my love went out to her, even as my hand had in the garden.


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[Assistant] I felt that years of the conventionalities of life could not teach me to know her sweet, brave nature as had this one day of strange experiences.


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[Assistant] Yet there were two thoughts which sealed the words of affection upon my lips. She was weak and helpless, shaken in mind and nerve.


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[Assistant] It was to take her at a disadvantage to obtrude love upon her at such a time.


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[Assistant] Worse still, she was rich. If Holmes's researches were successful, she would be an heiress. Was it fair, was it honourable, that a half-pay surgeon should take such advantage of an intimacy which chance had brought about?


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[Assistant] Might she not look upon me as a mere vulgar fortune-seeker?


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[Assistant] I cannot bear to risk that such a thought should cross her mind.


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[Assistant] This Agra treasure intervened like an impassable barrier between us.


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[Assistant] It was nearly two o'clock when we reached to Mrs Cecil Foresters. The servants had retired hours ago.


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[Assistant] But Mrs. Forrester had been so interested by the strange message which Miss Morstan had received that she had sat up in the hope of her return. She opened the door herself. A middle-aged, graceful woman,


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[Assistant] And it gave me joy to see how tenderly her arms stole around the other's waist and how motherly was the voice in which she greeted her.


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[Assistant] She was clearly no mere paid dependent, but an honoured friend. I was introduced, and Mrs. Forrester earnestly begged me to step in and tell her our adventures.


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[Assistant] I explained however the importance of my errand and promised faithfully to call and report any progress which we might make with the case.


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[Assistant] As we drove away, I stole a glance back, and I still seemed to see that little group on the step.


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[Assistant] The two graceful clinging figures, the half-open door, the hall light shining through stained glass, the barometer, and the bright stair-rods. It was soothing to catch even that passing glimpse of a tranquil English home in the midst of the wild, dark business which had absorbed us. The more I thought of what had happened, the wilder and darker it grew.


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[Assistant] I reviewed the whole extraordinary sequence of events as I rattled on through the silent gas-lit streets. There was the original problem. That at least was pretty clear now.


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[Assistant] The Death of Captain Morstan. The Sending of the Pearls. The Advertisement. The Letter. We had only light upon all those events. They had only led us, however, to a deeper and far more tragic mystery.


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[Assistant] The Indian treasure, the curious plan found among Morstan's baggage,


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[Assistant] The strange scene at Major Sholto's death, the rediscovery of the treasure immediately followed by the murder of the discoverer, the very singular accompaniments to the crime, the footsteps, the remarkable weapons, the words upon the card corresponding with those upon Captain Morstan's chart.


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[Assistant] Here was indeed a labyrinth in which a man less singularly endowed than my fellow lodger might well despair of ever finding the clue.


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[Assistant] Pinchin Lane was a row of shabby two-storeyed brick houses in the lower quarter of Lambeth.


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[Assistant] I had to knock for some time at number three before I could make my impression.


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[Assistant] At last, however, there was the glint of a candle behind the blind, and a face looked out at the upper window.


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[Assistant] Go on, you drunken vagabone! said the face.


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[Assistant] If you kick up any more row, I'll open the canals and let our 43 dogs upon you.


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[Assistant] If you'll let one out, it's just what I have come for, said I.


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[Assistant] Go on!" yelled a voice. So help me, Gracious. I have a wiper in the bag and I'll drop it on your head if you don't hook it. But I want a dog, I cried.


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[Assistant] I won't be argued with, shouted Mr. Sherman. Now stand clear, for when I say three, diagnose the wiper.


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[Assistant] Mr. Sherlock Holmes," I began, but the words had a most magical effect.


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[Assistant] For the window instantly slammed down, and within a minute the door was unbarred and open.


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[Assistant] Mr Sherman was a lanky, lean old man, with stooping shoulders, a stringy neck, and blue-tinted glasses.


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[Assistant] A friend of Mr. Sherlock is always welcome, said he.


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[Assistant] This to a stoat which thrust its wicked head and red eyes between the bars of its cage.


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[Assistant] Don't mind that, sir. It's only a slow worm. It ain't got no fangs. So I give it the run of the room, for it keeps the beetles down. You mustn't mind being just a little short, will you, at first? For I'm guided by the children, and there's many a one just comes down this lane to knock me up." What was it that Mr. Sherlock Holmes wanted, sir? He wanted a dog of yours. Ah, that will be Toby.


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[Assistant] Yes, Toby was the name. Toby lives at number seven on the left there. He moved slowly forward with his candle among the queer animal family which he had gathered around him. In the uncertain, shadowy light I could see dimly that there were glancing, glimmering eyes peeping down at us from every cranny and corner.


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[Assistant] Even the rafters above our heads were lined by solemn fowls, who lazily shifted their weight from one leg to the other as our voices disturbed their slumbers.


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[Assistant] Toby proved to be an ugly, long-haired, lop-eared creature, half spaniel and half lurcher, brown and white in colour, with a very clumsy, waddling gait.


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[Assistant] It accepted, after some hesitation, a lump of sugar which the old naturalist handed to me, and having thus sealed an alliance, it followed me to the cab and made no difficulties about accompanying me.


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[Assistant] It had just struck three on the palace clock when I found myself back once more at Pondicherry Lodge. The ex-prize-fighter McMurdo had, I found, been arrested as an accessory, and both he and Mr. Sholto had been marched off to the station.


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[Assistant] Two constables guarded the narrow gate, but they allowed me to pass with the dog on my mentioning the detective's name.


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[Assistant] Holmes was standing on the doorstep, with his hands in his pockets, smoking his pipe.


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[Assistant] Ah, you have him there, said he. Good dog, then. Atheney Jones has gone. We've had an immense display of energy since you left.


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[Assistant] He has arrested not only friend Thaddeus, but the gatekeeper, the housekeeper, and the Indian servant. We have the place to ourselves, but for a sergeant upstairs. Leave the dog here and come up.


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[Assistant] We tied Toby to the hall table and reassended the stairs. The room was as he had left it, save that a sheet had been draped over the central figure. A weary-looking police sergeant reclined in the corner.


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[Assistant] Lend me your bullseye, Sergeant," said my companion.


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[Assistant] Now, tie this bit of card round my neck so as to hang it in front of me.


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[Assistant] Thank you. Now I must kick off my boots and stockings. Just you carry them down with you,


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[Assistant] I'm going to do a little climbing and dip my handkerchief into the creosote.


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[Assistant] That will do. Now, come up into the garrote with me for a moment.


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[Assistant] We clambered up through the hole. Holmes turned his light once more upon the footsteps in the dust.


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[Assistant] I wish you particularly to notice these footmarks," he said. Do you observe anything noteworthy about them?


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[Assistant] They belong, I said, to a child or a small woman. Apart from their size, though, is there nothing else? They appear to be much as other footmarks.


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[Assistant] Bear that in mind. Now, would you kindly step over to that flap window and smell the edge of the woodwork? I shall stay here as I have this handkerchief in my hand.


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[Assistant] I did as he directed and was instantly conscious of a strong tarry smell.


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[Assistant] That is where he put his foot in getting out.


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[Assistant] If you can trace him, I should think that Toby will have no difficulty.


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[Assistant] Now run downstairs, loose the dog and look out for Blondin'.


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[Assistant] By the time that I got out into the grounds Sherlock Holmes was on the roof, and I could see him like an enormous glow-worm crawling very slowly along the ridge.


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[Assistant] I lost sight of him behind a stack of chimneys, but he presently reappeared and then vanished once more upon the opposite side.


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[Assistant] Confound the fellow. It's a most breakneck place.


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[Assistant] I ought to be able to come down where he could climb up.


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[Assistant] The water pipe feels pretty firm. Here goes, anyhow.


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[Assistant] There was a scuffling of feet, and the lantern began to come steadily down the side of the


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[Assistant] Then with a light spring he came on to the barrel, and from there to the earth.


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[Assistant] It was easy to follow him, he said, drawing on his stockings and boots. Tiles were loosened the whole way long, and in his hurry he had dropped this.


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[Assistant] It confirms my diagnosis as you doctors express it.


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[Assistant] The object which he held up to me was a small pocket or pouch woven out of coloured grasses, and with a few tawdry beads strung around it. In shape and size it was not unlike a cigarette-case.


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[Assistant] Inside were half a dozen spines of dark wood, sharp at one end and rounded at the other, like that which had struck Bartholomew Sholto.


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[Assistant] They are hellish things," said he. Look out that you don't prick yourself. I'm delighted to have them, for the chances are that they are all he has.


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[Assistant] He pushed a creosote handkerchief under the dog's nose, while the creature stood with its fluffy legs separated, and with the most comical cock to its head, like a connoisseur sniffing the bouquet of a famous vintage.


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[Assistant] Holmes then threw the handkerchief to a distance, fastened a stout cord to the mongrel's collar, and led him to the foot of the water barrel.


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[Assistant] The creature instantly broke into a succession of high, tremulous yelps, and, with his nose on the ground and his tail in the air, patted off upon the trail at a pace which strained his leash and kept us at the top of our speed.


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[Assistant] The east had been gradually whitening, and we could now see some distance in the cold grey light.


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[Assistant] The square massive house, with its black empty windows and high bare walls, towered up sad and forlorn behind us.


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[Assistant] Our course led right across the grounds, in and out among the trenches and pits with which they were scarred and intersected. The whole place, with its scattered dirt-heaps and ill-grown shrubs, had a blighted, ill-omened look which harmonized with the black tragedy which hung over it.


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[Assistant] On reaching the boundary wall Toby ran along, whining eagerly underneath its shadow, and stopped finally in a corner screened by a young beach.


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[Assistant] Where the two walls joined several bricks had been loosened, and the crevices left were worn down and rounded upon the lower side, as though they had frequently been used as a ladder.


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[Assistant] Holmes clambered up, and taking the dog from me, he dropped it over upon the other side.


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[Assistant] There's the print of Wooden Leg's hand," he remarked, as I mounted up beside him. You see the slight smudge of blood upon the white plaster. What a lucky thing it is that we have had no very heavy rain since yesterday. The scent will lie upon the road in spite of their eight-and-twenty-hour start.


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[Assistant] I confess that I had my doubts myself when I reflected upon the great traffic which had passed along the London road in the interval. My fears were soon appeased, however.


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[Assistant] Toby never hesitated or swerved, but waddled on in his peculiar rolling fashion.


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[Assistant] Clearly the pungent smell of the creosote rose high above all other contending scents.


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[Assistant] Do not imagine," said Holmes, that I depend for my success in this case upon the mere chance of one of these fellows having put his foot in the chemical.


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[Assistant] I have knowledge now which would enable me to trace them in many different ways.


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[Assistant] This, however, is the readiest, and, since fortune has put it into our hands, I should be culpable if I neglected it. It has, however,


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[Assistant] Prevented the case from becoming the pretty little intellectual problem which it at one time promised to be. There might have been some credit to be gained out of it, but for this too palpable clue.


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[Assistant] There is credit and to spare," said I. I assure you, Holmes, that I marvel at the means by which you obtain your results in this case even more than I did in the Jefferson Hope murder.


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[Assistant] The thing seems to me to be deeper and more inexplicable.


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[Assistant] How, for example, could you describe with such confidence the wooden-legged man?


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[Assistant] I don't wish to be theatrical. It is all patent and above board.


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[Assistant] Two officers who are in command of a convict guard learn an important secret as to buried treasure.


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[Assistant] A map is drawn for them by an Englishman named Jonathan Small.


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[Assistant] You remember that we saw the name upon the chart in Captain Morstan's possession.


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[Assistant] He had signed it in behalf of himself and his associates.


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[Assistant] The sign of the four, as he somewhat dramatically called it,


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[Assistant] Aided by this chart, the officers, or one of them, gets the treasure and brings it to England, leaving, we will suppose, some condition under which he received it unfulfilled.


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[Assistant] Now then, why did not Jonathan Small get the treasure himself? The answer is obvious. The chart is dated at a time when Morstan was brought into close association with convicts.


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[Assistant] Jonathan Small did not get the treasure because he and his associates were themselves convicts and could not get away. But that's mere speculation, said I. It is more than that.


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[Assistant] It is the only hypothesis which covers the facts. Let us see how it fits in with the sequel.


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[Assistant] Major Sholto remains at peace for some years, happy in the possession of his treasure.


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[Assistant] Then he receives a letter from India which gives him a great fright. What was that?


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[Assistant] A letter to say that the men whom he had wronged had been set free, or had escaped.


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[Assistant] That is much more likely, for he would have known what their term of imprisonment was. It would not have been a surprise to him. What does he do then?


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[Assistant] He guards himself against a wooden-legged man, a white man, mark you, for he mistakes a white tradesman for him, and actually fires a pistol at him.


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[Assistant] Now only one white man's name is on the chart. The others are Hindus or Mohammedans.


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[Assistant] There is no other white man. Therefore we may say with confidence that the wooden-legged man is identical with Jonathan Small. Does the reasoning strike you as being faulty? No, it's clear and concise.


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[Assistant] Well now, let us put ourselves in the place of Jonathan Small. Let us look at it from his point of view.


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[Assistant] He comes to England with the double idea of regaining what he would consider to be his rights, and of having his revenge upon the man who had wronged him.


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[Assistant] And very possibly he established communications with someone inside the house.


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[Assistant] Mrs. Burnstone gives him far from a good character.


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[Assistant] Small could not find out, however, where the treasure was hid, for no one ever knew save the Major and one faithful servant who had died.


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[Assistant] Suddenly Small learns that the Major is on his deathbed. In a frenzy, lest the secret of the treasure die with him, he runs the gauntlet of the guards, makes his way to the dying man's window, and is only deterred from entering by the presence of his two sons.


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[Assistant] Mad with hate, however, against the dead man, he enters the room that night, searches his private papers in the hope of discovering some memorandum relating to the treasure,


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[Assistant] And finally leaves a memento of his visit in the short inscription upon the card.


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[Assistant] He had doubtless planned beforehand that should he slay the Major he would leave some such record upon the body as a sign that it was not a common murder.


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[Assistant] But from the point of view of the four associates, something in the nature of an act of justice.


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[Assistant] Whimsical and bizarre conceits of this kind are common enough in the annals of crime and usually afford valuable indications as to the criminal. Do you follow all this? Very clearly.


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[Assistant] He could only continue to keep a secret watch upon the efforts made to find the treasure.


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[Assistant] Possibly he leaves England and only comes back at intervals.


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[Assistant] Then comes the discovery of the garret, and he is instantly informed of it.


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[Assistant] We again trace the presence of some confederate in the household.


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[Assistant] Jonathan, with his wooden leg, is utterly unable to reach the lofty room of Bartholomew Sholto.


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[Assistant] He takes with him, however, a rather curious associate who gets over this difficulty, but dips his naked foot into creosote.


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[Assistant] Whence comes Toby, and a six-mile limp for a half-pay officer with a damaged Tendo Achilles? But it was the associate, and not Jonathan, who committed the crime. Quite so.


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[Assistant] And rather to Jonathan's disgust, to judge by the way he stamped about when he got into the room,


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[Assistant] He bore no grudge against Bartholomew Sholto, and would have preferred if he could have been simply bound and gagged. He did not wish to put his head in a halter.


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[Assistant] So Jonathan Small left his record, lowered the treasure box to the ground, and followed it himself.


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[Assistant] That was the train of events as far as I can decipher them.


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[Assistant] Of course, as to his personal appearance, he must be middle-aged and must be sunburned after serving his time in such an oven as the Andermans.


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[Assistant] His height is readily calculated from the length of his stride, and we know that he was bearded.


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[Assistant] His hairiness was the one point which impressed itself upon Thaddeus Sholto when he saw him at the window. I don't know that there is anything else. The associate?


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[Assistant] Ah well, there is no great mystery in that. But you will know all about it soon enough.


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[Assistant] How sweet the morning air is. See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo.


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[Assistant] Now the red rim of the sun pushes itself over the London cloud bank. It shines on a good many folk, but on none, I dare bet, who are on a stranger errand than you and I.


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[Assistant] How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of nature. Are you well up in your jambore?


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[Assistant] Fairly so. I worked back to him through Carlisle. That was like following the brook to the parent lake. He makes one curious but profound remark.


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[Assistant] It is that the chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.


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[Assistant] It argues, you see, a power of comparison and of appreciation, which is in itself a proof of nobility. There is much food for thought in Richter. You have not a pistol, have you? I have my stick.


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[Assistant] It is just possible that we may need something of the sort if we get to their lair.


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[Assistant] Jonathan, I shall leave to you, but if the other turns nasty, I shall shoot him dead.


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[Assistant] He took out his revolver as he spoke, and having loaded two of the chambers, he put it back into the right-hand pocket of his jacket.


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[Assistant] We had during this time been following the guidance of Toby down the half rural villa-lined roads which lead to the metropolis.


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[Assistant] Now, however, we were beginning to come among continuous streets, where labourers and dockmen were already astir,


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[Assistant] And slatternly women were taking down shutters and brushing doorsteps.


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[Assistant] At the square-topped corner public houses business was just beginning, and rough-looking men were emerging, rubbing their sleeves across their beards after their morning wet.


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[Assistant] Strange dogs sauntered up and stared wonderingly at us as we passed, but our inimitable Toby looked neither to the right nor to the left, but trotted onwards with his nose to the ground and an occasional eager whine which spoke of a hot scent.


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[Assistant] We had traversed Streatham, Brixton, Camberwell, and now found ourselves in Kennington Lane, having borne away through the side streets to the east of the Oval.


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[Assistant] The men whom we pursued seem to have taken a curiously zigzag road, with the idea probably of escaping observation.


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[Assistant] They had never kept to the main road if a parallel side street would serve their turn.


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[Assistant] At the foot of Kennington Lane they had edged away to the left through Bond Street and Miles Street. Where the latter street turns into Knight's Place Toby ceased to advance, but began to run backwards and forwards with one ear cocked and the other drooping—the very picture of canine indecision.


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[Assistant] Then he waddled round in circles, looking up to us from time to time as if asking for sympathy in his embarrassment. What the deuce is a matter with the dog!


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[Assistant] growled Holmes. They surely would not take a cab or garf in a balloon. Perhaps they stood here for some time, I suggested.


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[Assistant] Ah, it's all right. He's off again," said my companion in a tone of relief.


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[Assistant] He was indeed off, for after sniffing around again he suddenly made up his mind and darted away with an energy indetermination such as he had not yet shown.


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[Assistant] The scent appeared to be much hotter than before, for he had not even to put his nose on the ground, but tugged at his leash and tried to break into a run.


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[Assistant] I could see by the gleam in Holmes's eyes that he thought we were nearing the end of our journey.


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[Assistant] Our course now ran down nine elms until we came to Broderick and Nelson's large timber-yard, just past the White Eagle Tavern.


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[Assistant] Here the dog, frantic with excitement, turned down through the side gate into the enclosure where the sawyers were already at work.


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[Assistant] On the dog race, through sawdust and shavings, down an alley, round a passage, between two wood piles, and finally, with a triumphant yelp, sprang upon a large barrel which still stood upon the hand-trolley on which it had been brought.


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[Assistant] With lolling tongue and blinking eyes Toby stood upon the cask, looking from one to the other of us for some sign of appreciation.


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[Assistant] The staves of the barrel and the wheels of the trolley were smeared with a dark liquid, and the whole air was heavy with the smell of creosote.


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[Assistant] Sherlock Holmes and I looked blankly at each other, and then burst simultaneously into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. End of chapter 7


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[Assistant] Make sure you do at all. Hey, I don't need no watcher. Mr. Ray think you do.


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[Assistant] Book Two, Chapter Five The Avenging Angels


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[Assistant] All night their course lay through intricate defiles and over irregular and rock-strewn paths. More than once they lost their way, but hope's intimate knowledge of the mountains enabled them to regain the track once more.


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[Assistant] When morning broke, a scene of marvellous though savage beauty lay before them. In every direction the great snow-capped peaks hemmed them in, peeping over each other's shoulders to the far horizon.


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[Assistant] For the barren valley was thickly strewn with trees and boulders which had fallen in a similar manner.


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[Assistant] Even as they passed, a great rock came thundering down with a hoarse rattle which woke the echoes in the silent gorges and startled the weary horses into a gallop.


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[Assistant] As the sun rose slowly above the eastern horizon, the caps of the great mountains lit up one after the other like lamps at a festival, until they were all ruddy and glowing.


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[Assistant] The magnificent spectacle cheered the hearts of the three fugitives and gave them fresh energy. At a wild torrent which swept out of a ravine they called a halt and watered their horses while they partook of a hasty breakfast.


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[Assistant] Lucy and her father would fain have rested longer, but Jefferson hope was inexorable.


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[Assistant] They will be upon our track by this time," he said. Everything depends upon our speed. Once safe in Carson, we may rest for the remainder of our lives.


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[Assistant] During the whole of that day they struggled on through the defiles, and by evening they calculated that they were more than thirty miles from their enemies. At night-time they chose the base of a beetling crag, where the rocks offered some protection from the chill wind, and there huddled together for warmth they enjoyed a few hours' sleep.


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[Assistant] Before daybreak, however, they were up and on their way once more. They had seen no signs of any pursuers, and Jefferson Hope began to think that they were fairly out of reach of the terrible organisation whose enmity they had incurred.


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[Assistant] He little knew how far that iron grass could reach, or how soon it was to close upon them and crush them.


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[Assistant] About the middle of the second day of their flight, their scanty store of provisions began to run out.


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[Assistant] This gave the hunter little uneasiness, however, for there was game to be had among the mountains, and he had frequently before had to depend upon his rifle for the needs of life.


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[Assistant] Choosing a sheltered nook, he piled together a few dried branches, and made a blazing fire, at which his companions might warm themselves, for they were now nearly five thousand feet above the sea level, and the air was bitter and keen.


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[Assistant] Having tethered the horses and bade Lucy adieu, he threw his gun over his shoulder and set out in search of whatever chance might throw in his way.


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[Assistant] Looking back he saw the old man and the young girl crouching over the blazing fire while the three animals stood motionless in the background. Then the intervening rocks hid them from his view.


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[Assistant] He walked for a couple of miles through one ravine after another without success, though from the marks upon the bark of the trees, and other indications, he judged that there were numerous bears in the vicinity.


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[Assistant] At last, after two or three hours fruitless search, he was thinking of turning back in despair. When casting his eyes upwards, he saw a sight which sent a thrill of pleasure through his heart.


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[Assistant] On the edge of a jutting pinnacle, three or four hundred feet above him, there stood a creature, somewhat resembling a sheep in appearance, but armed with a pair of gigantic horns.


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[Assistant] The Big Horn, for so it is called, was acting probably as a guardian over a flock which were invisible to the hunter.


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[Assistant] But fortunately it was heading in the opposite direction and had not perceived him.


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[Assistant] Lying on his face, he rested his rifle upon a rock and took a long and steady aim before drawing the trigger. The animal sprang into the air


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[Assistant] Tottered for a moment upon the edge of the precipice, and then came crashing down into the valley beneath.


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[Assistant] The creature was too unwieldy to lift, so the hunter contented himself with cutting away one haunch and part of the flank.


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[Assistant] With his trophy over his shoulder, he hastened to retrace his steps, for the evening was already drawing in.


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[Assistant] He had hardly started, however, before he realised the difficulty which faced him.


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[Assistant] In his eagerness he had wandered far past the ravines which were known to him.


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[Assistant] And it was no easy matter to pick out the path which he had taken.


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[Assistant] The valley in which he found himself divided and subdivided into many gorges, which were so like each other that it was impossible to distinguish one from the other.


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[Assistant] He followed one for a mile or more until he came to a mountain torrent, which he was sure that he had never seen before.


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[Assistant] Convinced that he had taken the wrong turn, he tried another, but with the same result.


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[Assistant] Night was coming on rapidly, and it was almost dark before he at last found himself in a defile which was familiar to him.


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[Assistant] Even then, it was no easy matter to keep to the right track.


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[Assistant] For the moon had not yet risen, and the high cliffs on either side made the obscurity more profound.


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[Assistant] Wade down with his burden, and weary from his exertions, he stumbled along, keeping up his heart by the reflection that every step brought him nearer to Lucy, and that he carried with him enough to insure them food for the remainder of their journey.


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[Assistant] He had now come to the mouth of the very defile in which he had left them.


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[Assistant] Even in the darkness, he could recognise the outline of the cliffs which bounded it.


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[Assistant] They must, he reflected, be awaiting him anxiously, for he had been absent nearly five hours.


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[Assistant] In the gladness of his heart he put his hands to his mouth and made the glen re-echo to a loud hello as a signal that he was coming. He paused and listened for an answer.


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[Assistant] Non came, save his own cry, which clattered up the dreary silent ravines, and was borne back to his ears in countless repetitions.


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[Assistant] Again he shouted, even louder than before, and again no whisper came back from the friends whom he had left such a short time ago. A vague nameless dread came over him


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[Assistant] And he hurried onwards frantically, dropping the precious food in his agitation. When he turned the corner


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[Assistant] He came full in sight of the spot where the fire had been lit.


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[Assistant] There was still a glowing pile of wood ashes there, but it had evidently not been tended since his departure.


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[Assistant] The same dead silence still reigned all round with his fears all changed to convictions he hurried on. There was no living creature near the remains of the fire. Animals, man, maiden—all were gone.


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[Assistant] It was only too clear that some sudden and terrible disaster had occurred during his absence, a disaster which had embraced them all and yet had left no traces behind it. Bewildered and stunned by this blow,


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[Assistant] Jefferson Hope felt his head spin round and had to lean upon his rifle to save himself from falling. He was essentially a man of action, however.


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[Assistant] And speedily recovered from his temporary impotence.


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[Assistant] Seizing a half-consumed piece of wood from the smouldering fire, he blew it into a flame and proceeded with its help to examine the little camp.


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[Assistant] The ground was all stamped down by the feet of horses, showing that a large party of mounted men had overtaken the fugitives and the direction of their tracks proved that they had afterwards turned back to Salt Lake City. Had they carried back both of his companions with them?


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[Assistant] Jefferson Hope had almost persuaded himself that they must have done so.


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[Assistant] When his eye fell upon an object which made every nerve of his body tingle within him.


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[Assistant] A little way on one side of the camp was a low-lying heap of reddish soil, which had assuredly not been there before.


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[Assistant] He perceived that a stick had been planted on it, with a sheet of paper stuck in the cleft fork of it.


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[Assistant] The inscription upon the paper was brief, but to the point.


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[Assistant] The sturdy old man, whom he had left so short a time before, was gone then, and this was all his epitaph.


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[Assistant] Jefferson Hope looked wildly round to see if there was a second grave, but there was no sign of one.


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[Assistant] Lucy had been carried back by their terrible pursuers to fulfil her original destiny by becoming one of the harem of the elder's son.


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[Assistant] As the young fellow realised the certainty of her fate, and his own powerlessness to prevent it, he wished that he too was lying with the old farmer in his last silent resting-place.


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[Assistant] Again, however, his active spirit shook off the lethargy which springs from despair.


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[Assistant] If there was nothing else left to him, he could at least devote his life to revenge.


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[Assistant] With indomitable patience and perseverance, Jefferson Hope possessed also a power of sustained vindictiveness, which he may have learned from the Indians amongst whom he had lived.


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[Assistant] As he stood by the desolate fire, he felt that the only one thing which could assuage his grief would be thorough and complete retribution brought by his own hand upon his enemies.


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[Assistant] His strong will and untiring energy should, he determined, be devoted to that one end.


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[Assistant] With a grim white face he retraced his steps to where he had dropped the food, and having stirred up the smouldering fire he cooked enough to last him for a few days. This he made up into a bundle, and tired as he was he set himself to walk back through the mountains upon the track of the avenging angels.


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[Assistant] For five days he toiled, foot-sore and weary through the defiles which he had already traversed on horseback.


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[Assistant] At night he flung himself down among the rocks and snatched a few hours of sleep, but before daybreak he was always well on his way.


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[Assistant] On the sixth day he reached the Eagle Canyon from which they had commenced their ill-fated flight. Thence he could look down upon the home of the saints. Worn and exhausted, he leaned upon his rifle and shook his gaunt hand fiercely at the silent, widespread city beneath him.


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[Assistant] As he looked at it, he observed that there were flags in some of the principal streets, and other signs of festivity.


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[Assistant] He was still speculating as to what this might mean when he heard the clatter of horses' hooves and saw a mounted man riding towards him.


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[Assistant] As he approached, he recognised him as a Mormon named Kauper, to whom he had rendered services at different times.


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[Assistant] He therefore accosted him when he got up to him, with the object of finding out what Lucy Ferrier's fate had been.


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[Assistant] I am Jefferson Hope, he said. You remember me?


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[Assistant] The Mormon looked at him with an undisguised astonishment.


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[Assistant] Indeed, it was difficult to recognise in this tattered unkempt wanderer, with ghastly white face and fierce wild eyes, the spruce young hunter of former days.


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[Assistant] It is as much as my own life is worth to be seen talking with you.


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[Assistant] There is a warrant against you from the Holy Four for assisting the farriers away.


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[Assistant] I don't fear them or their warrant," Hope said earnestly.


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[Assistant] You must know something of this matter, Kauper. I conjure you by everything you hold dear to answer a few questions.


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[Assistant] We have always been friends. For God's sake, don't refuse to answer me.


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[Assistant] Hold up, man, hold up. You have no life left in you. Don't mind me," said Hope faintly.


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[Assistant] He was white to the very lips, and had sunk down on the stone against which he had been leaning.


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[Assistant] Marriage yesterday. That's what those flags are for on the endowment house. There was some words between young Drebber and young Stangerson as to which was to have her.


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[Assistant] They'd both been in the party that followed them, and Stangison had shot her father, which seemed to give him the best claim.


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[Assistant] When they argued it out in council, Drebber's party was the stronger, so the prophet gave her over to him.


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[Assistant] No one won't have her very long though, for I saw death in her face yesterday. She is more like a ghost than a woman. Are you off then?


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[Assistant] Yes, I am off," said Jefferson Hope, who had risen from his seat. His face might have been chiselled out of marble, so hard and set was its expression, while its eyes glowed with a baleful light.


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[Assistant] Where are you going? Never mind," he answered, and slinging his weapon over his shoulder, strode off down the gorge and so away into the heart of the mountains to the haunts of the wild beasts.


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[Assistant] Amongst them all there was none so fierce and so dangerous as himself.


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[Assistant] The prediction of the Mormon was only too well fulfilled. Whether it was the terrible death of her father, or the effects of the hateful marriage into which she had been forced, poor Lucy never held up her head again, but pined away and died within a month.


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[Assistant] Her sottish husband, who had married her principally for the sake of John Ferrier's property, did not affect any great grief at his bereavement. But his other wives mourned over her, and sat up with her the night before the burial, as is the Mormon custom.


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[Assistant] They were grouped round the beer in the early hours of the morning, when to their inexpressible fear and astonishment the door was flung open, and a savage-looking, weather-beaten man in tattered garments strode into the room.


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[Assistant] Without a glance or a word to the cowering women, he walked up to the white silent figure which had once contained the pure soul of Lucy Ferrier. Stooping over her, he pressed his lips reverently to her cold forehead, and then, snatching up her hand, he took the wedding ring from her finger.


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[Assistant] She shall not be buried in that," he cried with a fierce snarl, and before an alarm could be raised sprang down the stairs and was gone.


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[Assistant] So strange and so brief was the episode that the watchers might have found it hard to believe it themselves, or persuade other people of it, had it not been for the undeniable fact that the circlet of gold which marked her as having been a bride had disappeared.


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[Assistant] For some months Jefferson Hope lingered among the mountains, leading a strange, wild life, and nursing in his heart the fierce desire for vengeance which possessed him.


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[Assistant] Tales were told in the city of the weird figure which was seen prowling about the suburbs, and which haunted the lonely mountain gorges.


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[Assistant] Once a bullet whistled through Stangerson's window and flattened itself upon the wall within a foot of him.


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[Assistant] On another occasion, as Drebber passed under a cliff, a great boulder crashed down on him, and he only escaped a terrible death by throwing himself upon his face.


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[Assistant] The two young Mormons were not long in discovering the reason of these attempts upon their lives, and led repeated expeditions into the mountains in the hope of capturing or killing their enemy, but always without success.


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[Assistant] Then they adopted the precaution of never going out alone or after nightfall, and of having their houses guarded.


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[Assistant] After a time they were able to relax these measures, for nothing was either heard or seen of their opponent, and they hoped that time had cooled his vindictiveness.


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[Assistant] Far from doing so. It had, if anything, augmented it.


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[Assistant] The hunter's mind was of a hard, unyielding nature, and the predominant idea of revenge had taken such complete possession of it that there was no room for any other emotion.


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[Assistant] He was, however, above all things practical.


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[Assistant] He soon realized that even his iron constitution could not stand the incessant strain which he was putting upon it.


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[Assistant] Exposure and want of wholesome food were wearing him out.


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[Assistant] If he died like a dog among the mountains, what was to become of his revenge then?


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[Assistant] And yet such a death was sure to overtake him if he persisted.


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[Assistant] He felt that that was to play his enemies game.


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[Assistant] So he reluctantly returned to the old Nevada mines, there to recruit his health, and to amass money enough to allow him to pursue his object without privation.


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[Assistant] His intention had been to be absent a year at the most.


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[Assistant] But a combination of unforeseen circumstances prevented his leaving the mines for nearly five.


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[Assistant] At the end of that time, however, his memory of his wrongs and his craving for revenge were quite as keen as on that memorable night when he had stood by John Ferrier's grave.


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[Assistant] Disguised, and under an assumed name, he returned to Salt Lake City, careless what became of his own life as long as he obtained what he knew to be justice. There he found evil tidings awaiting him.


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[Assistant] There had been a schism among the chosen people a few months before.


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[Assistant] Some of the younger members of the church having rebelled against the authority of the elders, and the result had been the secession of a certain number of the malcontents who had left Utah and become Gentiles.


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[Assistant] Among these have been Drebber and Stangerson, and no one knew whither they had gone.


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[Assistant] Rumour reported that Drebber had managed to convert a large part of his property into money, and that he had departed a wealthy man.


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[Assistant] While his companion, Stangerson, was comparatively poor.


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[Assistant] There was no clue at all, however, as to their whereabouts.


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[Assistant] Many a man, however vindictive, would have abandoned all thought of revenge in the face of such a difficulty.


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[Assistant] But Jefferson Hope never faltered for a moment.


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[Assistant] With the small competence he possessed, eeked out by such employment as he could pick up, he travelled from town to town through the United States in quest of his enemies. Year passed into year, his black hair turned grizzled


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[Assistant] But still he wandered on, a human bloodhound, with his mind wholly set upon the one object upon which he had devoted his life. At last his perseverance was rewarded.


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[Assistant] It was but a glance of a face in a window, but that one glance told him that Cleveland in Ohio possessed the men whom he was in pursuit of.


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[Assistant] He returned to his miserable lodgings, with his plan of vengeance all arranged.


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[Assistant] It chanced, however, that Drebber, looking from his window, had recognised the vagrant in the street, and had read murder in his eyes.


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[Assistant] He hurried before a justice of the peace accompanied by Stangerson, who had become his private secretary, and represented to him that they were in danger of their lives from the jealousy and hatred of an old rival.


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[Assistant] That evening Jefferson Hope was taken into custody, and not being able to find sureties, was detained for some weeks.


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[Assistant] When at last he was liberated it was only to find that Drebber's house was deserted, and that he and his secretary had departed for Europe.


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[Assistant] Again the Avenger had been foiled, and again his concentrated hatred urged him to continue the pursuit.


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[Assistant] Funds were wanting, however, and for some time he had to return to work, saving every dollar for his approaching journey.


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[Assistant] At last, having collected enough to keep life in him, he departed for Europe and tracked his enemies from city to city, working his way in any menial capacity, but never overtaking the fugitives.


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[Assistant] When he reached St. Petersburg they had departed for Paris.


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[Assistant] And when he followed them there he learned that they had just set off for Copenhagen.


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[Assistant] At the Danish capital he was again a few days late, for they had journeyed on to London.


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[Assistant] Where he at last succeeded in running them to earth. As to what occurred there.


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[Assistant] We cannot do better than quote the old hunter's own account.


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[Assistant] Floaty and drifty and white. They're all different shapes. Oh.


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[Assistant] Oh, I think that one looks like a fluffy fish. And now there's a funny bird.


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[Assistant] Oh, baby terrapins! They look like little turtles.


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[Assistant] Hey guys, welcome to day 47 of 100 days of code. Today we're going to be building a project that I personally find really useful.


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[Assistant] I don't know about you, but I find it much more time efficient to go online and search for the thing that I need rather than have to go and browse through the shops, find the thing I want, and I just find the whole shopping experience really tiring.


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[Assistant] Whereas with buying stuff online, you could simply go on Amazon, type in the thing you want, and then a few days later you'll get it delivered straight to your door.


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[Assistant] But one of the things I've noticed with online shopping is that the prices of things vary dramatically from day to day.


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[Assistant] For example, one of the things I've been really tempted to buy is a instant pot. Uhm, it's basically like a souped up pressure cooker. It can do all the normal things, like cook your rice, or work as a slow cooker, or pressure cook your meat until it's really tender.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It can even do crazy stuff like bake a cake in the pressure cooker or make yoghurt.


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[Assistant] This is something that I've had my eye on for a while, but I haven't really been able to pull the trigger just because I can't really justify paying $120 for something that I can sort of do with the other things I have, right? You can bake a cake with an oven. You can, uhm, you can make everything on the stove.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it's something that I've really been fascinated by and I wonder if I could cut down the amount of time I spend cooking so I can do some other things like making programming tutorials.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But one of the things I've noticed about this item or a lot of items on Amazon is that the price really fluctuates. So I've been keeping my eye on this product for a while now and I've seen it go up and down, even on a day to day basis sometimes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there is a really cool website that I discovered called camelcamelcamel.com where you can simply take a product's, um, URL. So you select the size you want, the style, the item, whatever it may be. And then you take the URL and you paste it into camelcamelcamel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it will give you the price history of that product. Isn't that cool? So now you can look and get actual data on how much that product cost over the past few months or year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you can now see what was the lowest price, what was the highest price and see how it just fluctuates almost randomly. Now, normally I would think that on big sale days like Black Friday or Prime Day that you would get the cheapest price, but actually that's not always the case.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For example, in this case, the cheapest price for this item happened on May 25th, which is I think just a normal day. I don't really know why it got price dropped to that amount.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now we can actually do this using what we've learned and then on that day I get an email and it tells me Instant Pot price alert. The product price is now 99.99 below your target price. Go ahead and buy now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So this is basically the functionality that we want to build using our knowledge of Python and web scraping.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And our Python bot is going to be the one that's going to be constantly checking for the price. And when the time is right, it's going to be the one that's going to alert us using an email telling us to buy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that we don't have to spend every day looking at the website, checking the price and doing something that our Python bot could do by itself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The idea here is our little Python bot is going to have a set time, let's say 9 AM every day, where it checks that URL that we got.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's going to look at a specific thing on that webpage, which is the price. So at the moment it's registering as $119.99 and the moment when it checks that price and it sees 99,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 0.9 something. So anything that's below our set target of a hundred dollars, then it's going to send us an email and give us an alert.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So then we can go to the URL and purchase that product. Instead of having to check it ourselves, we now get notified when our condition is met.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As you can imagine, this is going to involve a little bit of web scraping where we try to get hold of the value of this price.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we turn it into a number and we check it against our target price.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then when the conditions are met, then we use the SMTP module to send ourselves an email.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that's the goal of today's project. And I think if you're somebody like me who buys a lot of stuff online, then this is going to be pretty interesting for you. And I hope that'll actually come in handy at some point as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So head over to the next lesson and let's get started building our Amazon price tracking bot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And because of that, I gotta tell you the truth. That's why my favorite place was the Quad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I came up with this idea with only eight weeks left to train. Only had eight weeks.


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[Assistant] Now I know that you've heard the cliché quote that life is a marathon, not a sprint. Well, I'm going to tell you sometimes,


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[Assistant] When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years 82 and 90, I am faced by so many which present strange and interesting features that it is no easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some, however, have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend possessed in so higher degree, and which it is the object of these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his analytical skill, and would be as narratives beginnings without an ending


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] While others have been but partially cleared up, and have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to him.


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[Assistant] There is, however, one of these last, which was so remarkable in its details, and so startling in its results, that I am tempted to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are points in connection with it which never have been, and probably never will be, entirely cleared up.


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[Assistant] The year 87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater or lesser interest, of which I retain the records.


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[Assistant] Among my headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the amateur mendicant society who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a furniture warehouse.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of the Facts Connected with the Loss of the British Bark Sophie Anderson, of the Singular Adventures of the Grice Pattersons in the Islands of Ufa, and finally of the Camberwell Poisoning Case.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the latter, as may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time.


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[Assistant] But none of them present such singular features as the strange train of circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe.


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[Assistant] It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales had set in with exceptional


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[Assistant] All day the wind had screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that even here in the heart of great, hand-made London


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We were forced to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life, and to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like untamed beasts in a cage.


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[Assistant] As evening drew in the storm grew higher and louder and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in the chimney.


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[Assistant] Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the fireplace, cross-indexing his records


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[Assistant] While I at the other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea stories, until the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of the sea waves.


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[Assistant] My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street.


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[Assistant] Why? said I, glancing up at my companion.


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[Assistant] That was surely the bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?


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[Assistant] Except yourself I have none, he answered. I do not encourage visitors. A client, then?


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[Assistant] If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out on such a day and at such an hour.


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[Assistant] But I take it that it is more likely to be some crony of the landladies.


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[Assistant] Sherlock Holmes is wrong in his conjecture, however, for there came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door.


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[Assistant] He stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit.


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[Assistant] The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the outside, well-groomed and trimly-clad, with something of refinement and delicacy in his bearing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The streaming umbrella which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof, told of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is weighed down with some great anxiety.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I owe you an apology," he said, raising his gold pantsnee to his eyes.


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[Assistant] I trust I am not intruding. I fear that I have brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug chamber.


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[Assistant] Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. They may rest here on the hook, and will be dry presently.


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[Assistant] You have come up from the south-west, I see. Yes, from Horsham.


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[Assistant] That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is quite distinctive. I have come for your advice.


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[Assistant] I have heard of you, Mr Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards. He said that you could solve anything. He said too much. That you are never beaten.


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[Assistant] I have been beaten four times, three times by men, and once by a woman. But what is that compared with a number of your successes?


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[Assistant] It is true that I have been generally successful. Then you may be so with me.


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[Assistant] I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire, and favour me with some details as to your case. It is no ordinary one.


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[Assistant] None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of appeal.


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[Assistant] And yet I question, sir, whether in all your experience you have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of events than those which have happened in my own family.


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[Assistant] You fill me with interest," said Holmes. Pray, give us the essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards question you as to those details which seem to me the most important.


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[Assistant] The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out towards the blaze.


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[Assistant] Is John Openshaw. But my own affairs have, as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful business. It is a hereditary matter, so in order to give you an idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the affair.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You must know that my grandfather had two sons, my uncle Elias and my father Joseph.


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[Assistant] My father had a small factory at Coventry, which he enlarged at the time of the invention


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[Assistant] He was a patentee of the open-shore unbreakable tyre, and his business met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire upon a handsome competence.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and became a planter in Florida where he was reported to have done very well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a Colonel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When Lee laid down his arms, my uncle returned to his plantation where he remained for three or four years.


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[Assistant] He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his reason for leaving them was his aversion to the Negroes and his dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to them.


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[Assistant] He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of the most retiring disposition.


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[Assistant] During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or three fields round his house, and there he would take his exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave his room.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very heavily.


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[Assistant] But he would see no society and did not want any friends, not even his own brother.


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[Assistant] He didn't mind me. In fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years in England.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He begged my father to let me live with him, and he was very kind to me in his way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When he was sober, he used to be fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would make me his representative both with the servants and with the tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite master of the house.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I kept all the keys and could go where I liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in his privacy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There was one singular exception, however, for he had a single room, a lumber room, up among the attics, which was invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or anyone else to enter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With a boy's curiosity I have peeped through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such a room.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was in March, 1883, a letter with a foreign stamp lay upon the table in front of the Colonel's plate.


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[Assistant] It was not a common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Out there jumped five little dried orange pips, which patted down upon his plate.


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[Assistant] I began to laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight of his face.


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[Assistant] His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding his skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope, which he still held in his trembling hand.


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[Assistant] Death, said he, and rising from the table, he retired to his room, leaving me palpitating with horror.


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[Assistant] I took up the envelope, and saw, scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his overpowering terror?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I left the breakfast table, and as I ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key which must have belonged to the attic in one hand, and a small brass box like a cash box in the other.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They may do what they like, but I'll check-make them still," said he with an oath. Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my room today, and send down to Fordham the Horsham lawyer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to step up to the room.


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[Assistant] The fire was burning brightly, and in the grate there was a mass of black fluffy ashes as of burned paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it.


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[Assistant] As I glanced at the box I noticed with a start that upon the lid was printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the envelope.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I wish you, John," said my uncle, to witness my will.


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[Assistant] I leave my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to my brother, your father, whence it will no doubt descend to you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good. If you find you cannot,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest enemy.


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[Assistant] I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper where Mr. Fordham shows you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest impression upon me, and I pondered over it, and turned it every way in my mind without being able to make anything of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yet I could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left behind.


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[Assistant] Though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives.


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[Assistant] I could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, and he was less inclined for any sort of society.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, and that he was not to be cooped up like a sheep in a pen by man or devil.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When these hot fits were over, however, he would rush tumultuously in at the door, and lock and bar it behind him, like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror which lies at the roots of his soul.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At such times I have seen his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it were new raised from a basin.


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[Assistant] Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to abuse your patience.


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[Assistant] There came a night when he made one of those drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him when we went to search for him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Face downward in a little green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep.


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[Assistant] So that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, brought in a verdict of suicide.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I, who knew how he winced from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself that he had gone out of his way to meet it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The matter passed, however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and of some fourteen thousand pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One moment, Holmes interposed, your statement is, I foresee, one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let me have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and the date of his supposed suicide.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The letter arrived on March 10th 1883.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been always locked up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We found the brass box there, although its contents had been destroyed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the inside of the cover was a paper label with the initials of KKK repeated upon it, and letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register written beneath.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For the rest, there was nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many scattered papers and notebooks bearing upon my uncle's life in America.


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[Assistant] Some of them were of the wartime, and showed that he had done his duty well, and had borne the repute of a brave soldier.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the southern states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag politicians who had been sent down from the north.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, it was the beginning of 84 when my father came to live at Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us, until the January of 85.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the fourth day after the New Year I heard my father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the breakfast table.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There he was, sitting with a newly opened envelope in one hand, and five dried orange pips in the outstretched palm of the other one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He had always laughed at what he called my cock-and-bull story about the Colonel, but he looked very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon himself. Why, what on earth does this mean, John? he stammered. My heart had turned to lead.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it is, he cried. Here are the very letters. But what is this written above them?


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[Assistant] Put the papers on the sundial, I read peeping over his shoulder. What papers, what sundial? he asked.


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[Assistant] The sundial in the garden. There is no other, said I, but the papers must be those that are destroyed.


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[Assistant] Poof! said he, gripping hard at his courage.


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[Assistant] We are in a civilized land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. Where does the thing come from?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What have I to do with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such nonsense. I should certainly speak to the police, I said.


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[Assistant] And be laughed at for my pains? Nothing of the sort. Then let me do so.


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[Assistant] No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such nonsense.


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[Assistant] It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate man.


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[Assistant] I went about, however, with a heart which was full of forebodings.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the third day after the coming of the letter, my father went from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was glad that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from danger when he was away from home.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram from the Major imploring me to come at once.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My father had fallen over one of the deep chalk pits which abound in the neighbourhood


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But he passed away without having ever recovered his consciousness.


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[Assistant] He had, as it appears, been returning from Faram in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in bringing in a verdict of death from accidental causes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Carefully, as I examined every fact connected with his death


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[Assistant] I was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of murder.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no robbery,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No record of strangers having been seen upon the roads


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, and that I was well nigh certain that some foul plot had been woven round him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me why I did not dispose of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I answer because I was well convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as pressing in one house as another.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was in January 85 that my poor father met his end, and two years and eight months have elapsed since then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] During that time I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, however.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in which it had come upon my father.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You must act, man, or you are lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for despair. I have seen the police. Ah! But they listen to my story with a smile.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I am convinced that the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with the warnings. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Incredible imbecility, he cried.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in the house with me. Has he come with you to-night? No, his orders were to stay in the house. Again Holmes raved in the air. Why did you come to me? he cried.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And above all, why did you not come at once?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did not know. It was only today that I spoke to Major Prendergast about my troubles, and was advised by him to come to you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than that which you have placed before us. No suggestive detail which might help us."


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That on the day when my uncle burned the papers I observed that the small unburned margins which lay amid the ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet upon the floor of his room.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I am inclined to think that it may be one of the papers which has perhaps fluttered out from among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Beyond the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps as much. I think myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is undoubtedly my uncle's.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from a book.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was headed March 1869, and beneath were the following enigmatical notices.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fourth, Hudson Cain, same old platform. Seventh, set the pips on Macaulay, Paramore, and John Swain of St Augustine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you, said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it to our visitor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And now you must on no account lose another instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told me. You must get home instantly and act. What shall I do?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You must put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass box which you have described.


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[Assistant] You must also put in a note to say that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that this is the only one which remains.


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[Assistant] You must assert that in such words as will carry conviction with them.


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[Assistant] Having done this, you must at once put the box out upon the sundial as directed. Do you understand? Entirely


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[Assistant] Do not think of revenge or anything of the sort at present.


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[Assistant] I think that we may gain that by means of the law.


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[Assistant] But we have our web to weave while theirs is already woven.


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[Assistant] The first consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens you.


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[Assistant] The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the guilty parties.


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[Assistant] I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his overcoat. You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall certainly do as you advise. Do not lose an instant.


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[Assistant] And above all take care of yourself in the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you go back? By train from Waterloo.


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[Assistant] It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that you may be in safety, and yet you cannot guard yourself too closely. I am armed.


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[Assistant] That is well. Tomorrow I shall set to work upon your case. I shall see you at Horsham,


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[Assistant] No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek it.


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[Assistant] Then I shall call upon you in a day or in two days with news as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave.


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[Assistant] Outside the wind still screamed, and the rain splashed and pattered against the windows. This strange wild story seemed to have come to us from amid the mad elements, blown in upon us like a sheet of seaweed in a gale, and now to have been reabsorbed by them once more.


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[Assistant] Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. "'I think, Watson,' he remarked at last.


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[Assistant] That of all our cases we have had none more fantastic than this. Save perhaps the sign of four. Well, yes, save perhaps that. And yet this John Openshaw seems to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the Sholtos.


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[Assistant] But have you, I asked, formed any definite conception as to what these perils are?


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[Assistant] There can be no question as to their nature, he answered. Then what are they?