[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windybank, that in every case there is some little slurring over of the E, and a slight defect in the tail of the R.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There are fourteen other characteristics, but those are the more obvious.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, Mr Windebank." Holmes continued.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think of writing another little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its relation to crime.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is a subject to which I have devoted some little attention.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have here four letters which purport to come from the missing man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They are all typewritten. In each case not only are the E's slurred and the R's tailless, but you will observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mr Windybank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes, he said. If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know when you've done it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What? Where?" shouted Mr. Windybank, turning white to his lips and glancing about him like a rat in a trap.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There is no possible getting out of it, Mr Windybank. It is quite too transparent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it was a very bad compliment when you said that it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's right, sit down and let us talk it over.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Our visitor collapsed into a chair with a ghastly face and a glitter of moisture on his brow. It's not actionable, he stammered. I am very much afraid that it is not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But between ourselves, Windybank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever came before me. Now let me just run over the course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The man sat huddled up in his chair with his head sunk upon his breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up on the corner of the mantelpiece, and, leaning back with his hands in his pockets, began talking rather to himself as it seemed than to us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The man married a woman very much older than himself for her money, said he.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he enjoyed the use of the money of the daughter as long as she lived with them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was a considerable sum for people in their position, and the loss of it would have made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with her fair personal advantages and her little income she would not be allowed to remain single long.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now her marriage would mean, of course, the last of a hundred a year. So what does her stepfather do to prevent it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He takes the obvious course of keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of people of her own age.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But soon he found that they would not answer forever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He conceives an idea more creditable to his head than to his heart.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Masked the face with a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off other lovers by making love himself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. We never thought that she would have been so carried away. Very likely not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] However that may be, the young lady was very decidedly carried away, and having quite made up her mind that her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never for an instant entered her mind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] She was flattered by the gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr Angel began to call.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There were meetings and an engagement which would finally secure the girl's affections from turning towards anyone else.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys to France were rather cumbrous.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The thing to do was clearly to bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to come.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a testament.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening on the very morning of the wedding.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] James Windybank wished Miss Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to his fate, that for ten years to come at any rate she would not listen to another man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold sneer upon his pale face.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It may be so, or it may not, Mr Holmes," said he, but if you are so very sharp, you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is you who are breaking the law now, and not me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have done nothing actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door locked, you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal constraint.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The law cannot, as you say, touch you, said Holmes, unlocking and throwing open the door.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yet there never was a man who deserved punishment more. If a young lady has a brother or a friend,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He ought to lay a whip across your shoulders by Jove.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat myself to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs. The heavy-haul door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. James Windybank running at the top of his speed down the road.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's a cold-blooded scoundrel," said Holmes, laughing as he threw himself down into his chair once more. That fellow will rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad and ends on a gallows.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The case has in some respects been not entirely devoid of interest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I cannot now entirely see. All the steps of your reasoning, I remarked.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, of course it was obvious from the first, that this Mr. Hosmer angel must have some strong object for his curious conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the stepfather.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then the fact that the two men were never together, but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in typewriting his signature, which of course inferred that his handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even the smallest sample of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You see all these isolated facts, together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same direction. And how did you verify them?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed description, I eliminated everything from it which could be the result of a disguise—the whiskers, the glasses, the voice—and I sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me whether it answered to the description of any of their travellers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I had already noticed the peculiarities of the typewriter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I wrote to the man himself at his business address, asking him if he would come here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As I expected, his reply was typewritten, and revealed the same trivial but characteristic defects.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The same post bought me a letter from Westhouse and Marbank of Fenchurch Street to say that the description tallied in every respect with that of their employee, James Windebank. And Miss Sutherland? If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Persian saying,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horus, and as much knowledge of the world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In order to start using Selenium WebDriver, we're going to have to go through a number of steps in order to set up our browser and also to install and set up Selenium.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, the first step, if you haven't already, is to install the Chrome browser. Now, while you can work with Selenium using other browsers like Firefox or Safari,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're going to be using a number of Chrome developer tools and also in order for you to work alongside to do exactly what I'm doing, it'll be much easier if you're working on the same browser and the same technology. If you haven't already got Chrome, then head over to the course resources where you'll find a link to download the latest version for your computer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then once you've done that, the next step is to download the Chrome driver. And this is different from the actual browser.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Again, in the course resources, you'll find a link to all the Chrome drivers and we have to download the version of Chrome driver that matches the version of Chrome that we have. In order to find out the version of Chrome, all you have to do, head over to the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right corner, click on these three dots, go to help and then go to about Google Chrome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And because you're going to be watching the video in the future,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This version might not be the same for you as you see right here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Currently I am completely up to date, so the latest version that I'm running is version 84.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And download it. So I just have to click here and it will take me to a page where I've got three options. Now, if I'm running a Linux computer, then I click on this one. If I'm running a Mac, I click on this one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Windows users will click on this one. So I'm running a Mac, so I'm going to take that particular file.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now I'm going to have to unzip the file and I end up with the actual Chrome driver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now the final step is to move this Chrome driver to a location of our choice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't recommend keeping the driver inside the downloads folder just because I'm sure you as well as I will often delete everything in the downloads folder without a lot of inspection. So we should move this Chrome driver to somewhere else, somewhere where it's not likely to get deleted accidentally.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In my case, I'm going to go up a level with command up and here I've got a folder that I've created called development. Now you can create a folder anywhere you like, uhm, and then call it anything you like and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Move this crumb driver over to the new location.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now the most important thing though is to actually get the file path for this particular file.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To do that on a Mac, all we have to do is right click and go to get info.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then where it says where we're going to copy all of that, hit command C to copy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then we're going to go into a new project that we've created, which I've named day 48.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In the main.py, I'm going to paste this entire file path.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I'm gonna save it as the crumb driver path. Like this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now the final step we have to add to this path is to add a forward slash to the actual Chrome driver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] PyCharm should auto suggest the name of Chrome driver, but this is now the full path that will take us to that particular driver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, if you're on Windows, the process is pretty much the same. Once you've downloaded the driver for your system, so Windows 32,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then you're going to go ahead and open it up and unzip it. So click on this extract button.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that you can actually extract everything that's inside.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now it's going to ask you for a destination for where you want to put the extracted file. So we're going to click on browse and you're going to select a location on your computer. Now, if you don't have a preference, I recommend just going to your C drive and then here creating a new folder.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Called development and then inside this folder is where you're going to extract the Chrome driver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So go ahead and click Extract and then once that's done, we'll go and navigate to that location.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it was in the C drive and it was inside the development folder.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you can check and just make sure that your Chrome driver is sitting inside here and it's an application that you've extracted from the zip file. Now to find out its file path, we're going to right click and go to properties and then in the properties, you see the location right here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So here is the location and all we have to do is just to select everything that's here and then go ahead and use Control C to copy it. And then we can paste it into our file in PyCharm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And again, we're doing the same thing that we did with the Mac. We're going to add another backslash and then add the name of our Chrome driver, like this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So now that we've installed Chrome and we've downloaded the Chrome driver, the next and last step is to install and set up Selenium.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In my main.py, I'm going to import selenium.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And make sure that you spelled it correctly so it looks like this. And then we're going to click on this red light bulb as always to install our package.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now once Selenium has been installed successfully, I'm going to change the import statement. I'm going to say that from this newly installed Selenium package, I'm going to import a module called WebDriver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's this web driver, which is going to be driving the Chrome browser and doing all of our automated tasks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's create a new driver from that new module. So driver equals WebDriver. And then we can now instantiate any browser of our choice. So in our case, we're going to be creating a Chrome browser to drive.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But you can see that you can also have Firefox or Safari and a large number of other browsers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're going to choose Chrome and notice that this is Chrome with a capital C. So we're initializing a new object here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the only required argument we have to give is the executable path. So this is the path of the executable that is the Chrome driver that we downloaded previously.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where that Chrome driver lives and then at the very end we've got the actual name


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And now that we've created our driver, we're pretty much done with installing and setting up Selenium WebDriver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But if you're wondering what this Chrome driver is, well, here's the way to think about it. We've got our Selenium package, which contains code for us to be able to interact with browsers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now it can interact with the Chrome browser, which is what we're choosing to do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it can also interact with a bunch of other ones like Safari or Firefox.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now how do we make sure that this package, which can handle all three, knows specifically how to work with the Chrome browser?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, we're going to need some sort of a bridge that bridges the Selenium code to work with the Chrome browser.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this bridge is provided by the Chrome driver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So there'll be a different driver for Safari and there'll be a different driver for Firefox. And just by switching up those drivers, it'll tell Selenium how to work with the latest version of these browsers. All we have to do is now use it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the first thing I'm going to use my driver to do is I'm just going to get it to open up a webpage. We'll use driver.get and then we can pass in the URL here.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's going to be HTTPS and then I'm going to go to amazon.com.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, if you're on Windows and you go ahead and run the code, then it should run without any issues. But if you're on a Mac, this is what happens.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You'll get a popup that says Chrome driver cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Even though we know that this is actually created by Google specifically for the Chrome browser.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if this happens, you're going to click cancel and you'll get all of these errors because it's unable to access that file.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now in order to enable it, we're going to go to the Apple symbol system preferences, and then we're going to go to security and privacy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And here, because we tried to run it before, we've got something that says Chrome driver was blocked from use. So we're going to click on the allow anyways. And now if we run this again, then it'll give us this pop-up and all we have to do is click open.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And once we've done all of that, now it's going to finally open up the site that we want to go to, Amazon.com.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Using this automated version of Chrome. And you can see this because at the right at the top here it says Chrome is being controlled by automated test software. That is our Selenium.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The driver.get method effectively opens up a new browser window with the URL that you've specified.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now, you'll also want to close down the window.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or the entire browser, once you're done with whatever it is you may want to automate or do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To do that, all we have to do is tap into driver and then we can call the method close. Now when I hit the run button, you can see now it's going to open up amazon.com and as soon as that page loaded, it pretty much just closed it down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now there's also another method called driver.quit. Now what's the difference between close and quit, you might wonder. Well, close actually just closes a single tab, the active tab where you've opened up a particular page. Now quit is actually going to quit the entire browser.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Close will close that particular tab, while quit will actually quit the entire program.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Once I'm done using my driver, I prefer actually just using quit to shut down the entire browser.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That way we can always start again from scratch and we'll have a fresh browser to work with.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And in the next and coming lessons, we're going to show you how to use Selenium to do basically anything that we could do with a mouse and keyboard as humans. But instead we're going to automate the entire process and workflow. So for all of that and more, I'll see you on the next lesson.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Chickens eat. What do chickens eat? Do you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hello everyone and welcome back to English with Lucy. So today, after the success of my 100 word pronunciation video, I thought I would bring you something.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So today I'm going to talk you through 100 phrases that you can use in everyday English conversation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But these are phrases that can be used anywhere. If you speak a different dialect of English, I encourage you to write in the comments below what you would say differently. It's really interesting and helpful for everybody else.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This video is really going to help you sound more like a native speaker because you can copy exactly what I say and the way my voice goes up and down and the way I join my words. I am reading these sentences


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As I would naturally read them, I'm not making it any clearer for you guys. I'm doing it at a natural native speed and with natural native intonation, stress and connected speech. If there's something you don't get, write it in the comments and I'll see if I can make a video about it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Before we get started, I would just like to thank the sponsor of today's video. It is italki.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Italki is an online language learning platform. They have this huge database of all of the teachers you can imagine for almost every single language under the sun.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've tried it out myself to learn a little bit of Indonesian. That video will be coming up. That will be exciting. I was blown away by the quality and I was blown away by the prices. You can learn it anywhere, anytime, any day of the week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They've given me a special offer to pass on to you guys. You can get $10 worth of italki credits for free when you sign up and make your first $10 purchase. So it's like a buy one, get one free on lessons. All you have to do to claim this offer is click on the link in the description box. Right, let's get started with the lesson.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Make sure you notice the tone of my voice and the intonation and the rhythm and the stress as well. I'm going to leave space for you to imitate me as well. As well as adding to your vocabulary, this is going to be an excellent pronunciation practice and also a really good listening practice as well. Greetings.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Long time no see. Long time no see.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What are you up to these days? And now responding to greetings. I'm really good, thank you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm really good thank you. I'm doing well thanks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not much, the usual really. Leaving and saying goodbye. I must be making a move.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I need to get going I need to get going


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm going to have to have a think about that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How to say, I don't know. Ooh, I'm not really sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's your take on this? What do you think?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What are your thoughts on this? In all honesty, I don't think...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In all honesty, I don't think... If you ask me...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From my point of view, agreeing. You are totally right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You are totally right. I completely agree with you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel exactly the same way. I feel exactly the same way. Disagreeing. I don't quite agree with you on this one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't quite agree with you on this one. Actually, I don't really agree.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Actually, I don't really agree. I beg to differ. I beg to differ. That's not always the case.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's not always the case. Making bluh. Making a suggestion. How about we go out tonight?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How about we go out tonight? What do you think about staying in?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What do you think about staying in? Accepting a suggestion. That sounds like a plan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Rejecting a suggestion. I don't think I fancy that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think I fancy that. I don't really feel like it


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't really feel like it. Hmm, I'm not sure about that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not sure about that. Do you mind if we leave?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Could I possibly go? Giving permission? Of course I don't mind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of course I don't mind. Of course you can.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of course you can. Please go ahead.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Please go ahead. I'm going to have to say no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm going to have to say no Unfortunately I can't let you do that Unfortunately I can't let you do that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm sorry, but I do mind thanking people. Thank you so much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I really appreciate that. I'd really like to thank you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't thank you enough. Responding to thanks. You're welcome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Don't mention it. Apologizing. I'm so sorry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'd like to apologize. Please accept my sincerest apologies.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Please accept my sincerest apologies. Accepting an apology. You're forgiven.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're forgiven. That's okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's okay. Oh no worries. Oh no worries. Making requests. Would you mind slowing down? Would you mind slowing down? Would you be able to slow down?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would you be able to slow down? Do you think you could slow down? Could you slow down?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Could you slow down? Can you slow down?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can you slow down? I was wondering if you could slow down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wow, that sounds like I really want somebody to slow down. Uhm, making offers. Can I help you?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can I help you? How about a drink?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Responding to offers. Oh yes please. Oh yes please. That would be wonderful, thank you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That would be wonderful, thank you. Oh it's okay, but thank you. Oh it's okay, but thank you. No thank you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No thank you. Please could I have your contact details?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can I take your card? Is there any way I can contact you? How can I get in touch with you?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm a real fan of chocolate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm a real fan of chocolate. I'm very keen on music. I'm really fond of him.


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[Assistant] I'm really not a fan of chocolate.


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[Assistant] I'm really not a fan of chocolate I'm not very keen on music I'm not very keen on music


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[Assistant] Whoa! My mouth, my tongue.


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[Assistant] Don't forget to connect with me on all of my social media. I've got my Facebook, I've got my Twitter, and I've got my Instagram, where I do have some very exciting giveaways happening. Very exciting.


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[Assistant] I will see you soon for another lesson. Muah.


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[Assistant] English Singsing. Kids Vocabulary.


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[Assistant] We're starting with u-v. Uncle.


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[Assistant] Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., principal of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to opium.


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[Assistant] The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some foolish freak when he was at college.


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[Assistant] For having read De Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the same effect.


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[Assistant] He found, as so many more have done, that the practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives.


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[Assistant] I can see him now, with yellow pasty face, drooping lips, and pinpoint pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble man.


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[Assistant] One night, it was in June 89, there came a ring to my bell, about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the clock.


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[Assistant] I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day.


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[Assistant] We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps upon the linoleum.


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[Assistant] Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in some dark, coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room.


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[Assistant] You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then suddenly, losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. Oh, I'm in such trouble! she cried. I do so want a little help. Why? said my wife, pulling up her veil. It is Kate Whitney. How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when you came in.


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[Assistant] I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you.


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[Assistant] That was always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds to a lighthouse. It was very sweet of you to come.


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[Assistant] Now you must have some wine and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it, or should you rather that I sent James off to bed? Oh no, no!


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[Assistant] I want the doctor's advice and help too. It's about Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about him.


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[Assistant] It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her husband's trouble. To me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend and school companion,


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[Assistant] We soothed and comforted her by such words as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it possible that we could bring him back to her? It seems that it was.


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[Assistant] She had the surest information that of late he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the farthest east of the city.


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[Assistant] Hitherto his orgies had always been confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and shattered, in the evening.


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[Assistant] But now the spell had been upon him eight and forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar of Gold, in Upper Swandham Lane. But what was she to do?


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[Assistant] How could she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him?


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[Assistant] There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second thought, why should she come at all?


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[Assistant] I was Eaza Whitney's medical advisor, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it better if I were alone.


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[Assistant] I promised her on my word that I would send him home in a cab within two hours, if he were indeed at the address which she had given me.


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[Assistant] And so in ten minutes I had left my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to be.


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[Assistant] But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my adventure. Upper Swondon Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east of London Bridge.


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[Assistant] Between a slop shop and a gin shop, approached by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search.


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[Assistant] Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet, and by the light of a flickering oil lamp above the door, I found the latch and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the brown opium smoke.


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[Assistant] And terraced with wooden berths like the forecastle of an emigrant ship.


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[Assistant] Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying in strange, fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads thrown back and chins pointing upward,


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[Assistant] With here and there a dark, lackluster eye turned upon the newcomer.


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[Assistant] Out of the black shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of the metal pipes.


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[Assistant] The most lay silent, but some muttered to themselves and others talked together in a strange, low, monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then suddenly tailing off into silence.


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[Assistant] Each mumbling out his own thoughts, and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour.


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[Assistant] At the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists and his elbows upon his knees, staring into the fire.


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[Assistant] As I entered a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. Thank you, I have not come to stay, said I. There is a friend of mine here, Mr. Eaza Whitney, and I wish to speak with him.


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[Assistant] There was a movement and an exclamation from my right.


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[Assistant] He was in a pitiful state of reaction, with every nerve in a Twitter. I say, Watson, what o'clock is it? Nearly eleven. What day? Friday, June 19th. Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What do you want to frighten the chap for?


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[Assistant] He sank his face onto his arms and began to sob in a high treble key.


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[Assistant] I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself. So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson.


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[Assistant] For I've only been here a few hours. Three pipes, four pipes—I forgot how many. But I'll go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate. Poor little Kate. Give me your hand. Have you a cab?" Yes, I have one waiting. Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Fine what I owe, Watson. I'm all of colour. I can do nothing for myself.


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[Assistant] I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager.


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[Assistant] As I passed the tall man who sat by the brazier, I felt a sudden pluck at my skirt, and a low voice whispered, Walk past me, and then look back at me. The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my side.


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[Assistant] And yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from beneath his knees as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back.


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[Assistant] It took all my self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of astonishment.


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[Assistant] He had turned his back so that none could see him, but I.


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[Assistant] His form had filled out. His wrinkles were gone.


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[Assistant] The dull eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes.


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[Assistant] He made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "'Holmes!' I whispered. "'What on earth are you doing in this den?' "'As low as you can,' he answered. "'I have excellent ears.'


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[Assistant] If you would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend of yours, I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with you. I have a cab outside. Then pray send him home in it.


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[Assistant] You may safely trust him for he appears to be too limp to get into any mischief.


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[Assistant] I should recommend you also to send a note by the cadman to your wife to say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait outside, I shall be with you in five minutes.


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[Assistant] It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes's requests, for they are always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with such a quiet air of mastery.


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[Assistant] I felt, however, that when Whitney was once confined in the cab my mission was practically accomplished.


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[Assistant] And for the rest I could not wish anything better than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular adventures which were the normal condition of his existence.


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[Assistant] In a few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness.


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[Assistant] In a very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes.


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[Assistant] For two streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and burst into a hearty fit of laughter.


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[Assistant] Did you imagine that I have added opium smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical views? I was certainly surprised to find you there. But not more so than I to find you. I came to find a friend, and I to find an enemy. An enemy?


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[Assistant] Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent ramblings of these sods, as I have done before now.


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[Assistant] Had I been recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an hour's purchase, for I have used it before now for my own purposes, and the rascally Lasker who runs it has sworn to have vengeance upon me.


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[Assistant] There is a trap-door at the back of that building near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless nights. What?


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[Assistant] You don't mean bodies. Aye, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had a thousand pounds for every poor devil who's been done to death in that den.


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[Assistant] It is the vilest murder trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that Neville St Clare has entered it never to leave it more. But our trap should be here.


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[Assistant] He put his two forefingers between his teeth and whistled shrilly.


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[Assistant] A signal which was answered by a similar whistle from the distance.


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[Assistant] Followed shortly by the rattle of wheels and the clink of horses' hooves.


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[Assistant] Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from its side lanterns, you'll come with me, won't you? If I can be of use.


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[Assistant] Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use, and a chronicler still more so. My room at the Cedars is a double-bedded one. The Cedars?


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[Assistant] Yes, that is Mr St Clare's house. I am staying there while I conduct the inquiry. Where is it, then?


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[Assistant] You'll know all about it presently. Jump up here. All right, John, we shall not need you. Here's half a crown. Look out for me tomorrow, about eleven. Give her her head. So long, then.


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[Assistant] He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which widened gradually until we were flying across a broad, balustraded bridge, with a murky river flowing sluggishly beneath us.


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[Assistant] Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of revelers.


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[Assistant] A dull rack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of the clouds.


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[Assistant] Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought.


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[Assistant] While I sat beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in upon the current of his thoughts.


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[Assistant] We had driven several miles, and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he is acting for the best.


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[Assistant] You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.


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[Assistant] Upon my word, it is a great thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are not over pleasant.


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[Assistant] I was wondering what I should say to this dear little woman tonight when she meets me at the door. You forget that I know nothing about it.


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[Assistant] I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before we get to Lee.


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[Assistant] It seems absurdly simple, and yet somehow I can get nothing to go upon.


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[Assistant] There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I can't get the end of it into my hand.


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[Assistant] Now, I'll state the case clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a spark where all is dark to me. Proceed then.


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[Assistant] Some years ago, to be definite, in May 1884, there came to Lee a gentleman, Neville St Clare by name, who appeared to have plenty of money.


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[Assistant] He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very nicely, and lived generally in good style.


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[Assistant] By degrees he made friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children.


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[Assistant] He has no occupation, but was interested in several companies, and went into town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 514 from Cannon Street every night.


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[Assistant] Is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know him.


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[Assistant] I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far as we have been able to ascertain, amount to £88.10, while he has £220 standing to his credit in the capital and county's bank.


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[Assistant] Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy home a box of bricks.


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[Assistant] Now by the merest chance his wife received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his departure.


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[Assistant] If you are well up in your London, you will know that the office of the company is in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swondon Lane, where you found me tonight.


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[Assistant] Mrs St Clare had her lunch, started for the city, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4.35 walking through Swandham Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me so far? It is very clear.


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[Assistant] If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs St Clare walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself.


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[Assistant] While she was walking in this way down Swandham Lane, she suddenly heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her husband looking down at her, and, as it seemed to her, beckoning to her from a second-floor window.


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[Assistant] The window is open, and she distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly agitated.


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[Assistant] He waved his hands frantically to her, and then vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind.


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[Assistant] One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town in, he had on neither collar nor necktie.


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[Assistant] Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the steps, for the house was none other than the opium den in which she found me to-night.


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[Assistant] And running through the front room she attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor.


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[Assistant] At the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lasker scoundrel of whom I have spoken, who thrust her back, and aided by a dane, who acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street.


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[Assistant] Filled with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the lane, and by rare good fortune met in Fresno Street a number of constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat.


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[Assistant] The inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to the room in which Mr St Clare had last been seen. There was no sign of him there.


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[Assistant] In fact, in the whole of that floor there was no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who it seems made his home there.


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[Assistant] Both he and the Lasker stoutly swore that no one else had been in the front room during the afternoon.


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[Assistant] So determined was their denial that the inspector was staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs St Clare had been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had promised to bring home. This discovery


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[Assistant] And the evident confusion which the cripple showed made the inspector realise that the matter was serious.


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[Assistant] The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an abominable crime.


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[Assistant] The front room was plainly furnished as a sitting-room, and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon the back of one of the wharves.


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[Assistant] Between the wharf and the bedroom window is a narrow strip which is dry at low tide, but is covered at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water.


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[Assistant] The bedroom window was a broad one, and opened from below.


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[Assistant] On examination, traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill.


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[Assistant] Were all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of his coat.


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[Assistant] His boots, his socks, his hat and his watch, all were there.


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[Assistant] There were no signs of violence upon any of these garments, and there were no other traces of Mr Neville St Clare.


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[Assistant] Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no other exit could be discovered.


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[Assistant] And the ominous blood stains upon the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by swimming.


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[Assistant] For the tide was at its very highest at the moment of the tragedy.


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[Assistant] And now, as to the villains who seem to be immediately implicated in the matter,


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[Assistant] The Lasker was known to be a man of the vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs St Clare's story, he was known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few seconds of her husband's appearance at the window,


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[Assistant] He could hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime.


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[Assistant] His defence was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he could not account in any way for the presence of the missing gentleman's clothes. So much for the Lasker manager.


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[Assistant] Now for the sinister cripple who lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. Clair.


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[Assistant] His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which is familiar to every man who goes much to the city. He is a professional beggar.


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[Assistant] Though in order to avoid the police regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestors.


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[Assistant] Some little distance down Threadneedle Street. Upon the left-hand side there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the wall.


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[Assistant] Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, cross-legged, with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him.


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[Assistant] I have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time.


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[Assistant] His appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him without observing him.


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[Assistant] A shock of orange hair, a pale face disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bull-dog chin, and a pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular contrast to the colour of his hair.


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[Assistant] All mark him out from amid the common crowd of mendicants, and so too does his wit, for he is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be thrown at him by the passers-by.


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[Assistant] This is the man whom we now learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest. But a cripple, said I.


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[Assistant] What could he have done single-handed against a man in the prime of life? He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp.


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[Assistant] But in other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man.


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[Assistant] Mrs St Clare had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her presence could be of no help to them in their investigations.


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[Assistant] Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful examination of the premises, but without finding anything which threw any light upon the matter.


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[Assistant] One mistake had been made in not arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes during which he might have communicated with his friend Alaska.


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[Assistant] But this fault was soon remedied and he was seized and searched without anything being found which could incriminate him.


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[Assistant] There were, it is true, some blood stains upon his right shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring finger, which had been cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from the same source.


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[Assistant] He denied strenuously, having ever seen Mr Neville St Clare, and swore that the presence of the clothes in his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police.


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[Assistant] As to Mrs St Clare's assertion that she had actually seen her husband at the window,


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[Assistant] He declared that she must have been either mad or dreaming.


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[Assistant] He was removed, loudly protesting to the police station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue.


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[Assistant] And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they had feared to find. It was Neville St Clare's coat, and not Neville St Clare, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And what do you think they found in the pockets? I cannot imagine.


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[Assistant] No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with pennies and half pennies. Four hundred and twenty-one pennies and two hundred and seventy half pennies.


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[Assistant] It was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a human body is a different matter.


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[Assistant] There is a fierce eddy between the wharf and the house.


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[Assistant] It seemed likely enough that the weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked away into the river. But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?


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[Assistant] No sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough.


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[Assistant] Suppose that this man Boone had thrust Neville Sinclair through the window. There is no human eye which could have seen the deed. What would he do then?


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[Assistant] It would, of course, instantly strike him that he must get rid of the telltale garments.


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[Assistant] He would seize the coat then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it would occur to him that it would swim and not sink.


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[Assistant] He has little time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his Alaska confederate that the police are hurrying up the street.


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[Assistant] There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret hoard where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the pockets to make sure of the coats sinking.


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[Assistant] He throws it out, and would have done the same with the other garments, had not he heard the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the window when the police appeared. It certainly sounds feasible.


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[Assistant] Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a better.


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[Assistant] Boone, as I've told you, was arrested and taken to the station.


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[Assistant] But it could not be shown that there had ever before been anything against him.


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[Assistant] He had for years been known as a professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and the questions which have to be solved


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[Assistant] What Neville St. Clair was doing in the opium den? What happened to him when there?


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[Assistant] Where is he now? And what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance are all as far from a solution as ever.


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[Assistant] I confess that I cannot recall any case within my experience which looked at the first glance so simple, and yet which presented such difficulties.


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[Assistant] While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us.


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[Assistant] Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows.


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[Assistant] We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. We have touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent.


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[Assistant] See that light among the trees? That is the cedars, and beside that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet.


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[Assistant] But why are you not conducting a case from Baker Street? I asked.


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[Assistant] Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here.


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[Assistant] Mrs St Clare has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for my friend and colleague.


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[Assistant] I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa there! Whoa!


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[Assistant] We had pulled up in front of a large villa, which stood within its own grounds.


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[Assistant] A stable boy had run out to the horse's head, and, springing down, I followed Holmes up the small winding gravel drive which led to the house.


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[Assistant] As we approached the door flew open and a little blonde woman stood in the opening clad in some sort of light mousseline soie with a touch of fluffy pink chiffon at her neck and wrists.


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[Assistant] She stood with her figure outlined against a flood of light, one hand upon the door, one half raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head and face protruded with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing question.


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[Assistant] And then, seeing that there were two of us, she gave a cry of hope, which sank into a groan, and she saw that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. No good news? None. No bad? No. Thank God for that! But come in. You must be weary, for you have had a long day. This is my friend Dr. Watson.


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[Assistant] He has been of most vital use to me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this investigation.


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[Assistant] I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly.


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[Assistant] You will, I am sure, forgive anything that you may be wanting in our arrangements when you consider the blow which has come so suddenly upon us.


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[Assistant] My dear madam," said I, I am an old campaigner, and if I were not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be indeed happy.


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[Assistant] Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a well-lit dining room, upon the table of which a cold supper had been laid out.


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[Assistant] I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion. Upon what point? In your heart of hearts. Do you think that Neville is alive? Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. Frankly now.


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[Assistant] She repeated, standing upon the rug and looking keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. Frankly then, madam, I do not. You think that he is dead? I do. Murdered? I don't say that, perhaps. And on what day did he meet his death? On Monday.


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[Assistant] Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how it is that I have received a letter from him today.


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[Assistant] Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been galvanised.


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[Assistant] Yes, today. She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of paper in the air. May I see it? Certainly.


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[Assistant] He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out upon the table, he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder.


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[Assistant] The envelope was a very coarse one, and was stamped with the grave's end postmark, and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day before, for it was considerably after midnight.


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[Assistant] Of course writing, moment Holmes. Surely this is not your husband's writing, madam. No, but the enclosure is.


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[Assistant] I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go and inquire as to the address. How can you tell that?


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[Assistant] The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink which has dried itself. The rest is of the greyish colour which shows that blotting paper had been used


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[Assistant] If it had been written straight off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not familiar with it.


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[Assistant] It is of course a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! There has been an enclosure here. Yes, there was a ring, his signet ring. And you are sure that this is your husband's hand? One of his hands. One? His hand when he wrote hurriedly.


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[Assistant] All will come well. There is a huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. Wait in patience. Nevel.


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[Assistant] Posted to day in Grey's End by a man with a dirty thumb.


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[Assistant] And the flap has been gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been chewing tobacco.


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[Assistant] And you have no doubt that it is your husband's hand, madam? None. Neville wrote those words. And they were posted to-day at Grave's End.


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[Assistant] Well, Mrs St Clare, the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the danger is over. But he must be alive, Mr Holmes.


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[Assistant] Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent.


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[Assistant] The ring after all proves nothing. It may have been taken from him. No, no, it is, it is his very own writing.


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[Assistant] Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only posted to-day. That is possible.


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[Assistant] If so, much may have happened between


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[Assistant] Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I should know if evil came upon him.


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[Assistant] On the very day that I saw him last, he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that something had happened.


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[Assistant] Do you think that I would respond to such a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?


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[Assistant] I have seen too much to know that the impression of a woman may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical reasoner.


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[Assistant] And in this letter you certainly have a very strong piece of evidence to corroborate your view.


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[Assistant] But if your husband is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away from you? I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable.


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[Assistant] He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry. Yes. A call for help, you thought. Yes, he waved his hands. But it might have been a cry of surprise.


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[Assistant] Astonishment at the unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands. It is possible. And you thought he was pulled back. He disappeared so suddenly. He might have leapt back. You did not see anyone else in the room.


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[Assistant] No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and Alaska was at the foot of the stairs.


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[Assistant] Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his ordinary clothes on. But without his collar or tie, I distinctly saw his bare throat. Had he ever spoken of Swandham Lane? Never. Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium? Never. Thank you, Mrs St Clare.


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[Assistant] Those are the principal points about which I wish to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day to-morrow.


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[Assistant] A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary after my night of adventure.


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[Assistant] Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for days and even a week without rest, turning it over, rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view, until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his data were insufficient.


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[Assistant] It was soon evident to me that he was now preparing for an all-night sitting.


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[Assistant] He took off his coat and waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from the sofa and arm-chairs.


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[Assistant] With these he constructed a sort of eastern divan upon which he perched himself cross-legged with an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front of him.


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[Assistant] In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep.


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[Assistant] And so he sat, when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still between his lips.


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[Assistant] The smoke still curled upward, and the room was full of a dense tobacco haze.


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[Assistant] Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He chuckled to himself as he spoke.


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[Assistant] It was no wonder that no one was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four.


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[Assistant] I'd hardly finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was putting in the horse.


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[Assistant] I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his boots. I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe.


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[Assistant] He continued, seeing my look of incredulity. I have just been there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this gladstone bag.


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[Assistant] Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will not fit the lock.


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[Assistant] We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible and out into the bright morning sunshine.


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[Assistant] In the road stood our horse and trap, with the half-clad stable boy waiting at the head.


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[Assistant] We both sprang in and away we dashed down the London road.


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[Assistant] A few country carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as some city in a dream.


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[Assistant] It has been in some points a singular case, said Holmes, flicking the horse on into a gallop.


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[Assistant] I confess that I have been as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at all.


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[Assistant] In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily from their windows, as we drove through the streets of the Surrey side.


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[Assistant] Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road, we crossed over the river, and dashing up Wellington Street, wheeled sharply to the right, and found ourselves in Bow Street.


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[Assistant] Sherlock Holmes is well known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted him.


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[Assistant] One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. Who was on duty? asked Holmes. Inspector Bradstreet, sir. Ah, Bradstreet. How are you?


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[Assistant] A tall stout official had come down the stone-flagged passage in a peaked cap and frogged jacket. I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet.


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[Assistant] Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here.


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[Assistant] It was a small office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his desk.


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[Assistant] I called about that Begum and Boone, the one who was charged with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. Clair of Lee.


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[Assistant] Oh, he gives no trouble, but he is a dirty scoundrel. Dirty?


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[Assistant] Yes, it's all we can do to make him wash his hands. And his face is as black as a tinker's.


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[Assistant] Well, once his case has been settled he'll have a regular prison bath, and I think if you saw him you'd agree with me that he needed it. I should like to see him very much, would you?


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[Assistant] That's easily done. Come this way. You can leave your bag. No, I think that I'll take it. Very good. Come this way if you please.


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[Assistant] He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door and glanced through. He is asleep, said he. You can see him very well.


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[Assistant] We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and heavily.


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[Assistant] He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as becoming his calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his tattered coat.


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[Assistant] He was, as the inspector had said, extremely dirty.


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[Assistant] But the grime which covered his face could not conceal its repulsive ugliness.


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[Assistant] A broad wheel from an old scar ran right across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a perpetual snarl.


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[Assistant] He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. I had an idea that he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me.


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[Assistant] He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my astonishment, a very large bath sponge.


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[Assistant] Hee hee, you are a funny one, chuckled the inspector.


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[Assistant] Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable figure.


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[Assistant] Well, I don't know why not, said the inspector. He doesn't look a credit to the Bow Street sales, does he?


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[Assistant] He slipped his key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell.


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[Assistant] The sleeper half turned and then settled down once more into a deep slumber.


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[Assistant] Holmes, stooped to the water jug, moistened his sponge and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the prisoner's face.


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[Assistant] Let me introduce you," he shouted, to Mr. Neville St. Clair of Lee, in the county of Kent. Never in my life have I seen such a sight.


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[Assistant] The man's face peeled off under the sponge like the bark from a tree.


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[Assistant] Gone was the coarse brown tint. Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the repulsive sneer to the face.


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[Assistant] A twitch brought away the tangled red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment.


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[Assistant] Then suddenly, realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and threw himself down with his face to the pillows.


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[Assistant] Great Evans! cried the inspector. It is indeed the missing man. I know him from the photograph.


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[Assistant] With making away with Mr. Neville Sink. Oh come, you can't be charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of it, said the inspector with a grin. Well, I've been twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake.


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[Assistant] If I am Mr Neville St Clare, then it is obvious that no crime has been committed, and that therefore I am illegally detained.


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[Assistant] No crime, but a very great error has been committed, said Holmes. You would have done better to have trusted your wife.


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[Assistant] It was not the wife, it was the children, groaned the prisoner.


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[Assistant] God help me. I would not have had them ashamed of their father.


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[Assistant] Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him kindly on the shoulder.


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[Assistant] If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said he, of course you can hardly avoid publicity.


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[Assistant] On the other hand, if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible case against you,


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[Assistant] I do not know that there is any reason the details should find their way into the papers.


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[Assistant] Inspector Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you might tell us, and submit it to the proper authorities. The case would then never go into court at all.


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[Assistant] God bless you, cried the prisoner passionately.


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[Assistant] I would have endured imprisonment, I, even execution, rather than have left my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. You are the first who have ever heard my story.


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[Assistant] My father was a schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent education.


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[Assistant] I travelled in my youth, took to the stage and finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London.


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[Assistant] One day my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them.


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[Assistant] There was the point from which all my adventures started.


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[Assistant] It was only by trying begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to base my articles.


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[Assistant] When an actor, I had of course learned all the secrets of making up and had been famous in the green room for my skill.


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[Assistant] I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible, I made a good scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a small slip of flesh-coloured plaster.


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[Assistant] Then with a red head of hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller, but really as a beggar.


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[Assistant] For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no less than twenty-six shillings in fourpence.


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[Assistant] I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter, until some time later I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ served upon me for twenty-five pounds.


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[Assistant] I was at my wits end where to get the money, but a sudden idea came to me.


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[Assistant] I begged a fortnight's grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, and spent the time in begging in the city under my disguise.


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[Assistant] In ten days I had the money and had paid the debt.


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[Assistant] Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous work at two pound a week, when I knew that I could earn as much in a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on the ground, and sitting still.


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[Assistant] It was a long fight between my pride and the money


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[Assistant] But the dollars won at last, and I threw up reporting and sat day after day in the corner, which I had first chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets with coppers. Only one man knew my secret.


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[Assistant] He was the keeper of a low den in which I used to lodge in Swandham Lane, where I could every morning emerge as a squalid beggar, and in the evenings transform myself into a well-dressed man about town.


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[Assistant] This fellow, Alaska, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that my secret was safe in his possession.


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[Assistant] Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of money.


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[Assistant] I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London could earn seven hundred pounds a year.


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[Assistant] All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me.


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[Assistant] And it was a very bad day in which I failed to take two pounds.


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[Assistant] As I grew richer, I grew more ambitious, took a house in the country, and eventually married without anyone having a suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had business in the city. She little knew what.


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[Assistant] Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my room above the opium den, when I looked out of my window and saw to my horror and astonishment that my wife was standing in the street with her eyes fixed full upon me.


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[Assistant] I gave a cry of surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and rushing to my confidant, Alaska, entreated him to prevent anyone from coming up to me.


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[Assistant] I heard a voice downstairs, but I knew that she could not ascend.


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[Assistant] Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig.


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[Assistant] Even a Y size could not pierce so complete a disguise.


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[Assistant] But then it occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that the clothes might betray me.


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[Assistant] I threw open the window, reopening by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in the bedroom that morning.


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[Assistant] Then I seized my coat which was weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of the window and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes would have followed.


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[Assistant] But at that moment there was a rush of constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found—rather, I confessed to my relief that instead of being identified as Mr. Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain.


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[Assistant] I was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and hence my preference for a dirty face.


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[Assistant] Knowing that my wife would be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the laska at a moment when no constable was watching me.


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[Assistant] Together with a hurried scroll telling her that she had no cause to fear.


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[Assistant] That note only reached her yesterday, said Holmes. Good God! What a week she must have spent!


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[Assistant] The police have watched this laska," said Inspector Broad Street.


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[Assistant] And I can quite understand that you might find it difficult to post a letter unobserved.


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[Assistant] Probably he handed it to some sailor customer of his who forgot all about it for some days.


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[Assistant] That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly. I have no doubt of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging? Many times. But what was a fine to me?


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[Assistant] It must stop here, however," said Broad Street. If the police are to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone.


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[Assistant] In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps may be taken.


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[Assistant] But if you have found again, then all must come out. I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reached your results."


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[Assistant] By sitting upon five pillows and consuming an ounce of shag.


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[Assistant] Hello everyone and welcome back to English with Lucy.


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[Assistant] Today I've got a slightly longer video lesson for you. We're going to be talking about vocabulary.


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[Assistant] And more specifically, how to describe people's appearances.


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[Assistant] Now this is a really, really important topic. It's normally one of the first things that you learn when you start to learn English.


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[Assistant] Uhm, but I want to go a bit more in depth.


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[Assistant] Normally people are able to describe basic appearances. I want to teach you slightly more advanced vocabulary.


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[Assistant] So that you can really give an accurate description of people's appearances. If you find understanding me slightly difficult, you can switch on subtitles and so you'll be able to see the words at the bottom of the screen.


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[Assistant] Quickly, before we get started, this video will help you with your speaking and your writing and your vocabulary. It will also help you with your listening, because you'll be listening to me and learning more vocabulary.


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[Assistant] But if you want to take your listening and your pronunciation to the next level, why not try audible.com? Audible is a website where you can download and listen to audiobooks. They've got thousands of titles.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I listen to them myself when I go on my long runs. It takes me about a marathon to finish a book but I really enjoy it. If you download books in English, it's an excellent way of improving your listening and your pronunciation. They are giving you a free audiobook


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[Assistant] All you have to do is click on the link in the description box and sign up. And if after one month you don't want to pay, you can cancel it. It's completely free.


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[Assistant] Let's get started with the lesson. So firstly, we're going to talk about people's bodies. And I think I'm going to start by talking about height, how tall somebody is. So you might already know these basic terms, short and tall, short and tall. But what about if somebody is a normal height?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, there are a couple of ways that you can express this. You can say they are of average height.


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[Assistant] So I would say I am around five foot six. I'm actually five foot five and a half, but sometimes I say I'm five foot six. Other words that you can include are very or quite. So he is very tall or she is quite short. Next we have body type and weight.


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[Assistant] Now, you have to be a little bit careful when describing somebody's body type or their weight because you can hurt their feelings. So firstly, I'm going to give you some positive adjectives to describe somebody's weight.


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[Assistant] And then afterwards I'll give you the more negative ones so that you can understand when or when not to use them.


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[Assistant] But I will warn you, weight in the UK especially and many other places in the world is a very sensitive subject. So, if you think you might insult somebody,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's often best not to say anything at all. Um, but that's not my role here. I'm teaching you words. So let's get started.


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[Assistant] These are generally considered to be negative words. So let's talk about some positive alternatives. For thin, you can describe somebody as slender or slim.


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[Assistant] They are really nice words. If somebody called me slender or slim, I'd be flattered. Another word is lean, and this means that they're just skin and muscle. It's a positive word because it means they're in shape. They're muscly, there's no fat on them, they're lean. You can also call somebody petite.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this is when somebody has a small build. It's normally used to describe females who have small shoulders, they're quite short, they're just like a woman, only smaller, they're petite.


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[Assistant] If somebody is very thin, you can call them slight. They're very slight. And another one is lanky. This means that somebody is tall and very thin.


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[Assistant] It means they've got long limbs. Lanky. If somebody has got a bit of meat on them,


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[Assistant] Womanly. Voluptuous. This means normally that they've got quite a big bum and big boobs. They're normally flattering when used in a non-creepy way. For a man, stocky.


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[Assistant] Well built. Muscly. Okay, now to touch on the negative words. Some quite soft ones for somebody who is larger are plump, chubby, round. This doesn't mean


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[Assistant] Fat or big, it just means that they've got a little bit extra on them. You can also say overweight.


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[Assistant] Large. Big. Heavy. And if somebody is very thin, you can call them underweight. Skinny.