cked earl Unto night errands to the rescue Added Miss Moreston with a bright glance at me Why, Mary, your fortune depends upon the issue of this search I don't think you are nearly excited enough Just imagine what it must be to be so rich and to have the world at your feet It sent a little thrill of joy to my heart to notice that she showed no sign of elation at the prospect On the contrary, she gave a toss of her proud head, as though the matter were one in which she took small interest It is for Mr. Thaddeus Sholto that I am anxious, she said Nothing else is of any consequence, but I think he's behaved most kindly and honorably throughout It was evening before I left Camberwell, and quite dark by the time I reached home My companion's book and pipe lay by his chair, but he had disappeared I looked about in the hope of seeing a note, but there was none I suppose that Mr. Sherlock Holmes has gone out, I said to Mrs. Hudson as she came up to lower the blinds No, sir, he has gone to his room, sir Do you know, sir? Sinking her voice into an impressive whisper I am afraid for his health Why so, Mrs. Hudson? Well, he's that strange, sir After he was gone he walked and he walked up and down and up and down until I was weary of the sound of his footstep Then I heard him talking to himself and muttering, and every time the bell rang out he came on the stair-head with What is that, Mrs. Hudson? And now he has slammed off to his room, but I can hear him walking away the same as ever I hope he's not going to be ill, sir I ventured to say something to him about cooling medicine, but he turned on me, sir, with such a look that I don't know however I got out of the room I don't think that you have any cause to be uneasy, Mrs. Hudson, I answered I have seen him like this before. He has some small matter upon his mind which makes him restless I tried to speak lightly to our worthy landlady, but I was myself somewhat uneasy when through the long night I still from time to time heard the dull sound of his tread and knew how his keen spirit was chafing against this involuntary inaction At breakfast time he looked worn and haggard with a little fleck of feverish colour upon either cheek You were knocking yourself up, old man, I remarked. I heard you marching about in the night No, I could not sleep, he answered This infernal problem is consuming me. It is too much to be balked by so petty an obstacle when all else had been overcome I know the men at the launch everything and yet I can get no news I have set other agencies at work and used every means at my disposal The whole river has been searched on either side but there is no news nor has Mrs. Smith heard of her husband I shall come to the conclusion soon that they have scuttled the craft, but there are objections to that All that Mrs. Smith has put us on a wrong scent No, I think that may be dismissed. I had inquiries made and there is a launch of that description Who did have gone up the river? I have considered that possibility too and there is a search party who will work up as far as Richmond If no news comes today I shall start off myself tomorrow and go for the men rather than the boat But surely, surely we shall hear something We did not, however Not a word came to us either from Wiggins or the other agencies There were articles in most of the papers upon the Norwood tragedy They all appeared to be rather hostile to the unfortunate Thaddeus Shilto No fresh details were to be found, however, in any of them Save that an inquest was to be held upon the following day I walked over to Camberwell in the evening to report our ill success to the ladies And on my return I found homes dejected and somewhat morose He would hardly reply to my questions and busied himself all evening in an abstruse chemical analysis Which involved much heating of retorts and distilling of vapours Ending at last in a smell which fairly drove me out of the apartment Up to the small hours of the morning I could hear the clinking of his test tubes Which told me that he was still engaged in his malodorous experiment In the early dawn I woke with a start and was surprised to find him standing by my bedside Clad in a rude sail-address with a P-jacket and a coarse red scarf round his neck I am off down the river Watson Said he I have been turning it over in my mind and I can see only one way out of it It is worth trying at all vents Surely I can come with you then? said I No, you can be much more useful if you will remain here as my representative I am loath to go, for it is quite on the cards that some message may come during the day Though Wiggins was despondent about it last night I want you to open all notes and telegrams and to act on your own judgement if any news should come Can I rely upon you? Most certainly I am afraid that you will not be able to wire to me, for I can hardly tell yet where I may find myself If I am in luck, however, I may not be gone so very long I shall have news of some sort or other before I get back I had heard nothing of him by breakfast time On opening the standard, however, I found that there was a fresh illusion to the business With reference to the upper Norwood tragedy, it remarked We have reason to believe that the matter promises to be even more complex and mysterious than was originally supposed Fresh evidence has shown that it is quite impossible that Mr. Thaddeus Sholto could have been in any way concerned in the matter He and the housekeeper, Mrs. Bernstone, were both released yesterday evening It is believed, however, that the police have a clue as to the real culprits and that it is being prosecuted by Mr. Athelney Jones of Scotland Yard with all his well-known energy and sagacity Further arrests may be expected at any moment That is satisfactory so far as it goes, thought I Friend Sholto is safe at any rate I wonder what the fresh clue may be, though it seems to be a stereotyped form whenever the police have made a blunder I tossed the paper down upon the table, but at that moment my eye caught an advertisement in the agony column It ran in this way Lost, whereas Mordecai Smith, Boatman and his son, Jim, left Smith's wharf at or about three o'clock last Tuesday morning in the steam-launch Aurora Black with two red stripes, funnel black with a white band The sum of five pounds will be paid to anyone who can give information to Mrs. Smith at Smith's wharf or at 221B Baker Street as to the whereabouts of the said Mordecai Smith and the launch Aurora This was clearly Holmes's doing. The Baker Street address was enough to prove that It struck me as rather ingenious because it might be read by the fugitives without their seeing in it more than the natural anxiety of a wife for her missing husband It was a long day. Every time that a knock came to the door or a sharp step passed in the street I imagined that it was either Holmes returning or an answer to his advertisement I tried to read, but my thoughts would wander off to our strange quest and to the ill-assorted and villainous pair whom we were pursuing Could there be, I wondered, some radical flaw in my companion's reasoning? Might he be suffering from some huge self-deception? Was it not possible that his nimble and speculative mind had built up this wild theory upon faulty premises? I had never known him to be wrong, and yet the keenest reasoner may occasionally be deceived He was likely, I thought, to fall into error through the over refinement of his logic, his preference for a subtle and bizarre explanation when a plainer and more commonplace one lay ready to his hand Yet, on the other hand, I had myself seen the evidence and I had heard the reasons for his deductions When I looked back on the long chain of curious circumstances, many of them trivial in themselves, but all tending in the same direction I could not disguise for myself that even if Holmes's explanation were incorrect, the true theory must be equally outre and startling At three o'clock in the afternoon there was a loud peal at the bell, an authoritative voice in the hall, and to my surprise, no lesser person than Mr. Athelney Jones was shown up to me Very different was he, however, from the brisk and masterful professor of common sense, who had taken over the case so confidently at Upper Norwood His expression was downcast, and his bearing meek and even apologetic Good day, sir, good day," said he Mr. Sherlock Holmes is out, I understand Yes, and I cannot be sure when he will be back, but perhaps you would care to wait. Take that to chair and try one of these cigars Thank you, don't mind if I do Said he, mopping his face with a red bandana handkerchief And a whiskey and soda? Well, half a glass. It is very hot for the time of year, and I have had a good deal to worry and try me. You know my theory about this Norwood case? I remember that you expressed one Well, I've been obliged to reconsider it. I had my net drawn tightly around Mr. Sholto, so when pop, he went through a hole in the middle of it He was able to prove an alibi which could not be shaken. From the time that he left his brother's room, he was never out of sight of someone or other So it could not be he who climbed over the roofs and threw trapdoors. It's a very dark case, and my professional credit is at stake I should be very glad of a little assistance We all need help sometimes, said I Your friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes is a wonderful man, sir Said he, in a husky and confidential voice He's a man who is not to be beat. I have known that young man go into a good many cases, but I never saw the case yet that he could not throw a light upon He is irregular in his methods, and a little quick perhaps in jumping at theories, but on the whole I think he would have made a most promising officer and I don't care who knows it I have had a wire from him this morning by which I understand that he has got some clue to this Sholto business. Here is the message He took the telegram out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was dated from Poplar at twelve o'clock Go to Baker Street at once It said If I have not returned, wait for me. I am close on the track of the Sholto gang. You can come with us tonight if you want to be in at the finish This sounds well. He has evidently picked up the centre-gain, said I Ah, then he has been at fault too exclaimed Jones with evident satisfaction Even the best of us are thrown off sometimes. Of course this may prove to be a false alarm, but it is my duty as an officer of the law to allow no chance to slip, but there is someone at the door, perhaps this is he A heavy step was heard ascending the stair, with a great wheezing and rattling, as from a man who was sorely put to it for breath Once or twice he stopped, as though the climb were too much for him, but at last he made his way to our door and entered His appearance corresponded to the sounds which we had heard.  I asked He looked about him in the slow, methodical fashion of old age Is Mr. Sherlock Holmes here? said he No, but I am acting for him. You can tell me any message you have for him It was to him himself, or was to tell it? said he But I tell you that I am acting for him. Was it about Mordecai Smith's boat? Yes, I'll know as well where it is. I'll know as whether many is after her And I'll know as whether treasure is. I'll know as all about it Then tell me, and I shall let him know It was to him I was to tell it He repeated, with the petulant obstinacy of a very old man Well, you must wait for him No, no. I ain't going to lose a whole day to please no one If Mr. Holmes ain't here, then Mr. Holmes must find it all out for himself I don't care about the look of either of you, and I won't tell a word He shuffled towards the door, but a Thelny Jones got in front of him Wait a bit, my friend, said he You have important information, and you must not walk off We shall keep you whether you like or not until our friend returns The old man made a little run towards the door But as a Thelny Jones put his broad back up against it He recognised the uselessness of resistance Pretty sought a treatment this He cried, stamping his stick I come here to see a gentleman, and you too, who I never saw in my life Seize me and treat me in this fashion You will be none the worse, I said We shall recompense you for the loss of your time Sit over here on the sofa, and you will not have long to wait He came across sullenly enough And seated himself with his face resting on his hands And I resumed our cigars and our talk Suddenly, however, Holmes' voice broke in upon us I think that you might offer me a cigar, too He said, we both started in our chairs There was Holmes sitting close to us with an air of quiet amusement Holmes, I exclaimed, you here, but where is the old man? Here is the old man, said he, holding out a heap of white hair Here he is, wig, whiskers, eyebrows and all I thought my disguise was pretty good But I hardly expected that it would stand that test Ah, you rogue! Right, Jones, highly delighted You would have made an actor and a rare one You had the proper workhouse cough And those weak legs of yours are worth ten pound a week I thought I knew the glint of your eye, though You didn't get away from us so easily, you see I have been working in that get-up all day Said he, lighting his cigar You see, a good many of the criminal classes begin to know me Especially since our friend here took to publishing some of my cases So I can only go on the warpath under some simple disguise like this You got my wire Yes, that was what brought me here How has your case prospered? No, it has all come to nothing I've had to release two of my prisoners and there is no evidence against the other two Never mind, we shall give you two others in the place of them But you must put yourself under my orders Welcome to all the official credit, but you must act on the line that I point out Is that agreed? Entirely, if you will help me to the men Well then, in the first place I shall want a fast police boat, a steam launch To be at the Westminster Stairs at seven o'clock That is easily managed, there is always one about there But I can step across the road and telephone to make sure Then I shall want two staunch men in case of resistance There will be two or three in the boat, what else? The men, we shall get the treasure I think that it would be a pleasure to my friend here to take the box round to the young lady To whom half of it rightfully belongs Let her be the first to open it, eh, Watson? It would be a great pleasure to me Rather an irregular proceeding Said Jones, shaking his head However, the whole thing is irregular And I suppose we must wink at it The treasure must afterwards be handed over to the authorities until after the official investigation Certainly, that is easily managed One other point I should much like to have a few details about this matter from the lips of Jonathan Small himself You know I like to work the detail of my cases out There is no objection to my having an unofficial interview with him Either here in my rooms or elsewhere, as long as he is efficiently guarded Well, you are master of the situation I have had no proof yet of the existence of this Jonathan Small However, if you can catch him, I don't see how I can refuse you an interview with him That is understood then Is there anything else? Only that I insist upon your dining with us It will be ready in half an hour I have oysters and a brace of grouse with something a little choice and white wines Watson, you have never yet recognised my merits as a housekeeper End of Chapter 9 Chapter 10 of The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Slipperovox recording is in the public domain Chapter 10 The End of the Islander Our meal was a merry one Holmes could talk exceedingly well when he chose And that night he did choose He appeared to be in a state of nervous exaltation I have never known him so brilliant He spoke on a quick succession of subjects On miracle plays, on medieval pottery On Stradivarius violins, on the Buddhism of Ceylon And on the warships of the future Handling each as though he had made a special study of it His bright humour marked the reaction From his black depression of the preceding days Athelney Jones proved to be a sociable soul In his hours of relaxation And faced his dinner with the air of a bon vivant For myself, I felt elated at the thought That we were nearing the end of our task And I caught something of Holmes's gaiety None of us eluded during dinner To the cause which had brought us together When the cloth was cleared Holmes glanced at his watch And filled up three glasses with port One bumper, said he To the success of our little expedition And now it is high time we were off Have your pistol, Watson I have my old service revolver in my desk You would best take it, then It is well to be prepared I see that the cab is at the door I ordered it for half-past six It was a little past seven Before we reached the West Winster Wharf Holmes eyed it critically Is there anything to market as a police boat? Yes, that green lamp at the side Then take it off The small change was made We stepped on board and the ropes were cast off Jones, Holmes and I sat in the stern There was one man at the rudder One to tend to the engines And two burly police inspectors forward Where, too? Asked Jones To the tower Tell them to stop opposite Jacobson's yard Our craft was evidently a very fast one We shot past the long lines of loaded barges As though they were stationary Holmes smiled with satisfaction As we overhauled a river steamer And left her behind us We ought to be able to catch anything on the river He said Well, hardly that But there are not many launches to beat us We shall have to catch the Aurora And she has a name for being a clipper I will tell you how the land lies, Watson You recollect how annoyed I was And balked by so small a thing Yes Well, I gave my mind a thorough rest By plunging it into a chemical analysis One of our greatest statesmen has said That a change of work is the best rest So it is When I had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon Which I was at work at I came back to our problem of the shoulders And thought the whole matter out again My boys had been up the river And down the river without results The launch was not at any landing stage of Wharf Nor had it returned I hardly have been scuttled to hide their traces Though that always remained as a possible Hypothesis of all else failed I knew this man's small Had a certain degree of low cunning But I did not think him capable of anything In the nature of delicate finesse That is usually a product of higher education I then reflected that since he had Certainly been in London some time As we had evidence that he maintained A continual watch over Ponditory Lodge He could hardly leave at a moment's notice But would need some little time If it were only a day to arrange his affairs That was the balance of probability at any rate It seems to me to be a little weak, said I It is more probable that he had arranged his affairs Before ever he set out upon his expedition No, I hardly think so This lair of his would be too valuable A retreat in case of need for him to give it up Until he was sure that he could do without it But a second consideration struck me Jonathan Small must have felt that the peculiar Appearance of his companion However much he may have topcoated him Would give rise to gossip And possibly be associated with this Norwood tragedy He was quite sharp enough to see that They had started from their headquarters Under cover of darkness, and he would wish To get back before it was broad light Now it was past three o'clock According to Mrs. Smith when they got the boat It would be quite bright and people Would be about in an hour or so Therefore, I argued, they did not go very far They paid Smith well to hold his tongue Reserved his launch for the final escape And hurried to their lodgings with the treasure box In a couple of nights when they had time To see what view the papers took And whether there was any suspicion They would make their way under cover of darkness To some ship at Graves End or in the Downs Where no doubt they had already arranged For passages to America or the colonies But the launch? They could not have taken that to their lodgings Quite so. I argue that the launch Must be no great way off In spite of its invisibility I then put myself in the place of Small And looked at it as a man of his capacity would He would probably consider that to send Back the launch or to keep it at a wharf Would make pursuit easy if the police Did happen to get on his track How then could he conceal the launch And yet have her at hand when wanted I wondered what I should do myself If I were in his shoes I could only think of one way of doing it I might land the launch over to some Builder or repairer with directions To make a trifling change in her She would then be removed to his shed Or yard and so be effectually concealed While at the same time I could have Her at a few hours notice That seems simple enough It is just these very simple things Which are extremely liable to be overlooked However, I determined to act on the idea I started at once in this harmless Seamans rig and inquired at all The yards down the river I drew blank at fifteen but at the Eighth Jacobsons I learned that The Aurora had been handed over to them Two days ago by a wooden-legged man With some trivial directions as to her rudder There ain't naught to miss with her rudder Said the foreman, there she lies with the red streaks At that moment who should come down But Mordecai Smith the missing owner He was rather the worse for liquor I should not, of course, have known him But he bellowed out his name In the name of his launch I wanted to night at eight o'clock Said he, eight o'clock sharp And frightened, for I have two gentlemen Who won't be kept waiting They had evidently paid him well But he was very flush of money Chucking shillings about to the men I followed him some distance But he subsided into an ale house So I went back to the yard And, happening to pick up one of my boys On the way, I stationed him as a sentry Over the launch He is to stand at water's edge And wave his handkerchief to us when they start We shall be lying off in the stream Of treasure and all You have planted all very neatly Whether they are the right men or not Said Jones But if the affair were in my hands I should have had a body of police in Jacobson's yard And arrested them when they came down Which would have been never This man Smalls a pretty shrewd fellow He would send a scout on ahead And if anything made him suspicious I snug for another week But you might have stuck to Mordecai Smith And so been led to their hiding place I should have wasted my day I think it is a hundred to one against Smith Knowing where they live As long as he has liquor and good pay Why should he ask questions? They sent him messages what to do No, I thought over every possible course And this is the best While this conversation had been proceeding We had been shooting the long series Of bridges which span the Thames As we passed the city The last rays of the sun were gilding The cross upon the summit of St. Paul's Highlight before we reached the tower That is Jacobson's yard Said Holmes, pointing to a bristle Of masts and rigging on the surrey side Crews gently up and down here Under cover of this string of lighters He took a pair of night glasses From his pocket and gazed Some time at the shore I see my sentry at his post He remarked, but no sign Of a handkerchief Suppose we go down St. Tramish Hotway And lie and wait for them We were all eager by this time Even the policemen and stokers Who had a very vague idea of what was going forward We have no right to take anything for granted Holmes answered It is certainly ten to one that they go downstream But we cannot be certain From this point we can see the entrance of the yard And they can hardly see us It will be a clear night and plenty of light We must stay where we are See how the folks swarm over yonder In the gaslight They're coming from work in the yard Dirty-looking rascals But I suppose every one has some little immortal spark Concealed about him You would not think it to look at them There is no a priori probability about it A strange enigma is man Someone calls him a soul Concealed in an animal I suggested When would Reed as good upon the subject Said Holmes He remarks that while the individual man Is an insoluble puzzle In aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty You can, for example Never foretell what any one man will do But you can say with precision What an average number will be up to Individuals vary, but percentages remain constant So says the statistician But do I see a handkerchief Surely there is a white flutter over yonder Yes, it is your boy I cried I can see him plainly And there is the aurora Exclaimed Holmes Full speed ahead engineer Make after that launch with the yellow light By heaven I shall never forgive myself If she proves to have the heels of us She had slipped unseen through the yard entrance And passed behind two or three small craft So that she had fairly got her speed up Before we saw her Now she was flying down the stream Near into the shore Going at tremendous rate Jones looked gravely at her And shook his head She's very fast I doubt if we shall catch her We must catch her Right-homes between his teeth Keep it on, Stokas Make her do all she can If we burn the boat, we must have them We were fairly after her now The furnace is roared And the powerful engines whizzed and clanked Like a great metallic heart A sharp, steep prow cut through the river water And sent two rolling waves To right and to left of us With every throb of the engines Prang and quivered like a living thing One great yellow lantern in our boughs Through a long flickering funnel of light In front of us Right ahead A dark blur upon the water Showed where the aurora lay And the swirl of white foam behind her Spoke of the pace at which she was going We flashed past barges Steamers, merchant vessels In and out Behind this one and round the other Voices hailed us out of the darkness But still the aurora thundered on And still we followed close upon her track Pilot on, men, pilot on Fried homes, looking down Into the engine room While the fierce glow from below Beat upon his eager aquiline face Yet every pound of steam you can I think we gain a little Said Jones, with his eyes on the aurora I am sure of it, said I We shall be up with her in a very few minutes At that moment, Helen, In a very few minutes At that moment, however, As our evil fate would have it A tug with three barges in tow Blundered in between us It was only by putting our helm hard Down that we avoided a collision And before we could round them And recover our way the aurora Had gained good two hundred yards She was still, however, well in view And the murky uncertain twilight Was settling into a clear starlit night Our boilers were strained To their utmost, and the frail shell Vibrated and creaked with the fierce energy Which was driving us along We had shot through the pool Past the West India docks Down the long Deppford reach And up again after rounding The Isle of Dogs The dull blur in front of us resolved Itself now clearly enough Into the daintier aurora Jones turned our searchlight upon her So that we could plainly see The figures upon her deck One man sat by the stern With something black between his knees Over which he stooped Beside him lay a dark mass Which looked like a newfoundland dog The boy held the tiller While against the red glare of the furnace I could see old Smith Stripped to the waist and shoveling coals For dear life They may have had some doubt at first As to whether we were really pursuing them But now, as we followed every winding And turning which they took There could no longer be any question about it. At Greenwich we were about three hundred Paces behind them At Blackwall we could not have been more Than two hundred and fifty I have coursed many creatures in many Countries during my checkered career But never did sport give me such a wild Thrill as this mad flying Manhunt down the Thames Steadily we drew in upon them Yard by yard In the silence of the night We could hear the panting and clanking Of their machinery The man in the stern still crouched upon the deck And his arms were moving as though He were busy, while every now and then He would look up and measure with a glance The distance which still separated us. Nearer we came and nearer Jones yelled to them to stop We were not more than four boats Lengths behind them Both boats flying at a tremendous pace It was a clear reach of the river With barking level upon one side And the melancholy plumstered marshes Upon the other At our hail the man in the stern Sprang up from the deck And shook his two clinched fists at us Percing the while in a high, cracked voice He was a good-sized, powerful man And as he stood poising himself With legs astride I could see that From the thigh downwards there was But a wooden stump upon the right side At the sound of his strident, angry cries There was movement in the huddled bundle Upon the deck It straightened itself into a little black man The smallest I have ever seen With a great misshapen head And a shock of tangled, dishevelled hair Holmes had already drawn his revolver And I whipped out mine at the Side of this savage, distorted creature He was wrapped in some sort of Dark ulster or blanket Which left only his face exposed But that face was enough to give a man A sleepless night Never have I seen features so deeply Marked with all bestiality and cruelty His small eyes glowed and burned With a somber light And his thick lips were writhed back From his teeth which grinned and Chattered at us with a half animal fury Fire if he raises his hand Said Holmes quietly We were within the boat's length By this time, and almost within time We were within the boat's length By this time, and almost within touch Of our quarry I can see the two of them now As they stood, the white man With his legs far apart, shrieking Out curses, and the unhallowed Dwarf with his hideous face And his strong yellow teeth gnashing At us in the light of our lantern It was well that we had So clear a view of him Even as we looked, he plucked out From under his covering a short round Piece of wood, like a school ruler And clapped it to his lips Our pistols rang out together He whirled round Threw up his arms And with a kind of choking cough Fell sideways into the stream I poured one glimpse Of his venomous menacing eyes Amid the white swirl of the waters At the same moment The wooden-legged man threw himself Upon the rudder and put it hard down So that his boat made straight in For the southern bank, while we shot Past her stern, only clearing her By a few feet. We were round after her in an instant But she was already nearly at the bank. It was a wild and desolate place, Where the moon glimmered upon a wide Expance of marshland, with pools Of stagnant water and beds Of decaying vegetation. The launch, with the dull thud, Ran up upon the mud-bank, With her bow in the air and her Stern flush with the water. The waves sprang out, but his stump Instantly sank its whole length Into the sodden soil. In vain he struggled and writhed. Not one step could he possibly take Either forwards or backwards. He yelled in impotent rage And kicked frantically into the mud With his other foot, but his Struggles only bored his wooden pin The deeper into the sticky bank.  The two smiths, father and son, Sat sullenly in their launch, But came aboard meekly enough When commanded. The aurora herself we hauled off And made fast to our stern. A solid iron chest Of Indian workmanship Stood upon the deck. This, there could be no question, Was the same that had contained The ill-omant treasure of the shelters. There was no key, But it was of considerable weight, So we transferred it carefully To our own little cabin. As we steamed slowly upstream again We flashed our searchlight In every direction, But there was no sign of the islander. Somewhere in the dark ooze At the bottom of the Thames Lie the bones of that strange visitor To our shores. See here, said Holmes, Pointing to the wooden hatchway. We were hardly quick enough With our pistols. There, sure enough, Just behind where we had been standing Stuck one of those murderous darts Which we knew so well. It must have whizzed between us At the instant that we fired. Holmes smiled at it And shrugged his shoulders in his easy fashion.  End of Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Of The Sign of the Four By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 11 The Great Agra Treasure Our captive sat in the cabin Opposite to the iron box Which he had done so much And waited so long to gain. He was a sunburned, reckless-eyed fellow With a network of lines and wrinkles All over his mahogany features Which told of a hard, open-air life. There was a singular prominence About his bearded chin Which marked a man who was not to be easily Turned from his purpose. His age may have been fifty or thereabouts, For his black, curly hair Was thickly shot with grey. His face in repose Was not an unpleasing one, Though his heavy brows and aggressive chin Gave him, as I had lately seen, A terrible expression when moved to anger.  It seemed to me That there was more sorrow than anger In his rigid and contained countenance. Once he looked up at me With a gleam of something like humour In his eyes. Well, Jonathan Small Said Holmes, lighting a cigar. I am sorry that it has come to this. And so am I, sir. He answered frankly. I don't believe that I can swing over the job. I give you my word on the book That I never raised hand against Mr. Sholto. It was that little hellhound Tonga Who shot one of his cursed darts into him. I had no part in it, sir. I was as grieved as if it had been My blood relation. A well-tested man, In my blood relation. A well-tested little devil With the slack end of the rope for it. But it was done, and I could not undo it again. Have a cigar. Said Holmes. And you had best take a pull out of my flask For you were very wet. How could you expect so small and weaker man As this black fellow to overpower Mr. Sholto and hold him while you were climbing the rope? You seem to know as much about it As if you were there, sir. The truth is that I hope to find the room clear. I know the habits of the house pretty well. And it was the time when Mr. Sholto Usually went down to his supper. I shall make no secret of the business. The best defense that I can make Is just the simple truth. Now, if it had been the old major I would have swung for him with a light heart. I would have thought no more of knifing him Than of smoking this cigar. But it's cursed hard that I should be Lagged over this young Sholto With whom I had no quarrel, whatever. You are under the charge of Mr. Sholto. He is going to bring you up to my rooms And I shall ask you for a true account of the matter. You must make a clean breast of it. For if you do, I hope that I may be of use to you. I think I can prove that the poison acts So quickly that the man was dead Before ever you reached the room. That he was, sir. I never got such a turn in my life As when I saw him grinning at me With his head on his shoulder As I climbed through the window. It fairly shook me, sir. But it would have been better if he had not scrambled off. That was how he came to leave his club And some of his darts, too, as he tells me. Which I dare say helped to put you on our track. Though how you kept on it is more than I can tell. I don't feel no malice against you for it. But it does seem a queer thing. He added, with a bit of smile, That I, who have a fair claim To nigh upon half a million of money Should spend the first half of my life Building a breakwater in the Andamans. And I'm like to spend the other half Digging drains at Dartmoor. It was an evil day for me When first I clapped eyes upon the merchant I met And had to do with the aggra treasure Which never brought anything but a curse yet Upon the man who owned it. To him it brought murder. To Major Sholto it brought fear and guilt. To me it has meant slavery for life. At this moment a Thelny Jones thrust His broad face and heavy shoulders Into the tiny cabin. You were marked. I think I shall have a pull at that flask, Holmes. Well, I think we may all congratulate each other. Pity we didn't take the other alive, But there was no choice. I say, Holmes, you must confess that you cut it rather fine. It was all we could do to overhaul her. All is well that ends well, said Holmes. But I certainly did not know that the Aurora Was such a clipper. Smith says she is one of the fastest Launchers on the river, and that if he had Had another man to help him with the engines We should never have caught her. He knew nothing of this Norwood business. Neither he did, cried our prisoner. Not a word. I chose his launch because I heard that she was a flyer. We told him nothing, but we paid him well. And he was to get something handsome. If we reached our vessel, the Esmeralda, It graves in, outward bound for the Brazils. Well, if he has done no wrong We shall see that no wrong comes to him. If we are pretty quick in catching our men We are not so quick in condemning them. It was amusing to notice how the consequential Jones was already beginning to give himself Heirs on the strength of the capture. From the slight smile which played over Sherlock Holmes' face, I could see that the Speech had not been lost on him. We will be at Vauxhall Bridge presently, Said Jones. And shall land you, Dr Watson, with the treasure box. I need to hardly tell you that I am taking A very grave responsibility upon myself In doing this. It is most irregular. But of course an agreement is an agreement. I must however, as a matter of duty, Send an inspector with you since you have So valuable a charge. You will drive, no doubt. Yes, I shall drive. It is a pity there is no key that we may Make an inventory first. You will have to Break it open. Where is the key, my man? At the bottom of the river. Said Small, shortly. Hum. There was no use in your giving This unnecessary trouble. We have had work enough already through you. However, Doctor, I need not warn you to Be careful. Bring the box back with you To the Baker Street Rooms. You will find us there On our way to the station. They landed me at Vauxhall with my heavy iron box And with a bluff, genial inspector as my companion. A quarter of an hour's drive brought us To Mrs Cecil Foresters. The servant seemed surprised at so late a visitor. Mrs Cecil Forester was out for the evening, She explained, and likely to be very late. Miss Moreston, however, was in the drawing room. So to the drawing-room I went, box in hand, Leaving the obliging inspector in the cab. She was seated by the open window, Dressed in some sort of white, diaphanous material, With a little touch of scarlet at the neck and waist. The soft light of a shaded lamp fell upon her As she leaned back in the basket-chair, Playing over her sweet grave face, And tinting with a dull metallic sparkle The rich coils of her luxuriant hair. One white arm and hand drooped over the side of the chair, And her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy. At the sound of my footfall she sprang to her feet, however, And bright flush of surprise and of pleasure Coloured her pale cheeks. I heard a cab drive up, she said. I thought that Mrs Forester had come back very early, But I never dreamt that it might be you. What news have you brought me? I have brought something better than news, Said I, putting down the box upon the table, And speaking jovially and boisterously, Though my heart was heavy within me. I have brought you something which is worth all the news in the world. I have brought you a fortune. She glanced at the iron box. Is that the treasure, then? She asked, coolly enough. Yes, this is the great Agra treasure. Half of it is yours, and half is Thaddeus Schulte's. You will have a couple of hundred thousand each. Think of that—an annuity of ten thousand pounds. There will be few rich young ladies in England. Is it not glorious? I think that I must have been rather overacting my delight, And that she detected a hollow ring in my congratulations, For I saw her eyebrows rise a little, And she glanced at me curiously. If I have it, said she, I owe it to you. No, no, I answered, Not to me, but to my friend Sherlock Holmes. With all the will in the world I could never have followed up a clue Which has taxed even his analytical genius. As it was, we very nearly lost it at the last moment. Praise it down and tell me all about it, Dr. Watson. Said she. I narrated briefly what had occurred since I had seen her last, Holmes's new method of search, The discovery of the aurora, The appearance of Athelney Jones, Our expedition in the evening, And the wild chase down the Thames. She listened with parted lips and shining eyes To my recital of our adventures. When I spoke of the dart which had so narrowly missed us, She turned so white that I feared that she was about to faint. It is nothing. She said, as I hastened to pour her out some water. I am all right. It was a shock to me to hear that I had placed my friends in such horrible peril. That is all over, I answered. It was nothing. I will tell you no more gloomy details, Let us turn to something brighter. There is the treasure. What could be brighter than that? I got leave to bring it with me, thinking that it would interest you to be the first to see it. It would be the greatest interest to me. She said. There was no eagerness in her voice, however. It had struck her, doubtless, That it might seem ungracious upon her part to be indifferent to a prize Which had cost so much to win. What a pretty box! She said, stooping over it. This is Indian work, I suppose. Yes, it is Benari's metalwork. And so heavy. She exclaimed, trying to raise it. The box alone must be of some value. Where is the key? Small threw it into the Thames. I answered, I must borrow Mrs. Forrest's poker. There was in the front a thick and broad hasp, wrought in the image of a sitting Buddha. Under this I thrust the end of the poker, and twisted it outward as a lever. The hasp sprang open with a loud snap. With trembling fingers I flung back the lid. We both stood gazing in astonishment. The box was empty. No wonder that it was heavy. The ironwork was two-thirds of an inch thick all round. It was massive, well-made and solid, Like a chest constructed to carry things of great price, But not one shred or crumb of metal or jewellery lay within it. It was absolutely and completely empty. The treasure is lost, said Miss Moreston calmly. As I listened to the words and realized what they meant, A great shadow seemed to pass from my soul. I did not know how this aggra treasure had weighed me down Until now that it was finally removed. It was selfish, no doubt. Disloyal, wrong! But I could realize nothing saved that the golden barrier was gone from between us. Thank God! I ejaculated from my very heart. She looked at me with a quick, questioning smile. Why did you say that? She asked. Because you were within my reach again, I said, taking her hand. She did not withdraw it. Because I love you, Mary, as truly as ever a man loved a woman. Because this treasure, these riches, sealed my lips. Now that they are gone I can tell you how I love you. That is why I said thank God. Then I say thank God too. She whispered as I drew her to my side. Whoever had lost a treasure, I knew that night that I had gained one. End of Chapter 11 Chapter 12 of The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Chapter 12 The Strange Story of Jonathan Small A very patient man was that inspector in the cab, for it was a weary time before I rejoined him. His face clouded over when I showed him the empty box. There goes the reward, said he gloomily. Where there is no money, there is no pay. This night's work would have been worth a tenner each to Sam Brown and me if the treasure had been there. Mr. Thaddeus Schilto is a rich man, I said. He will see that you are rewarded, treasure or no. The inspector shook his head despondently, however. It's a bad job, he repeated. And so Mr. Atherly Jones will think. His forecast proved to be correct, for the detective looked blank enough when I got to Baker Street and showed him the empty box. They had only just arrived—Homes, the prisoner and he—for they had changed their plans so far as to report themselves at a station upon the way. My companion lounged in his armchair with his usual listless expression, while Small sat stolidly opposite to him, with his wooden leg cocked over his sound one. As I exhibited the empty box, he leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud. This is your doing, Small, said Atherly Jones angrily. Yes, I have put it away where you shall never lay hand upon it. He cried exultantly. It is my treasure, and if I can't have the loot I'll take darn good care that no one else does. I tell you that no living man has any right to it unless it is three men who are in the Andaman convict barracks and myself. I know now that I cannot have the use of it and I know that they cannot. I have acted all through for them as much as for myself. It's been the sign of four with us always. Well, I know that they would have had me do just what I have done and throw the treasure into the Thames rather than let it go to a kith or kin of Sholto or of Morstan. It was not to make them rich that we did for Ahmed. You'll find the treasure where the key is and where little Tonga is. When I saw that your launch must catch us, I put the loot away in a safe place. There are no rupees for you this journey. You are deceiving us, small, said Athelney Jones sternly. If you had wished to throw the treasure into the Thames, it would have been easier if you should have thrown box and all. Easier for me to throw and easier for you to recover, he answered, with a shrewd side-long look. The man that was clever enough to hunt me down is clever enough to pick an iron box from the bottom of a river. Now that they are scattered over five miles or so, it may be a harder job. It went to my heart to do it, though. I was half mad when you came up with us. However, there's no good grieving over it. I've had ups in my life and I've had downs, but I've learned not to cry over spilled milk. This is a very serious matter, small, said the detective. If you had helped Justice, instead of thwarting it in this way, you would have had a better chance at your trial. Justice. Smelled the ex-convict. A pretty Justice. Whose loot is this, if it is not ours? Where is the Justice that I should give it up to those who have never earned it? Look how I have earned it. Twenty long years in that fever-ridden swamp, all day at work under the mangrove tree, all night chained up in the filthy convict huts, bitten by mosquitoes, wracked with egg, bullied by every cursed black-faced policeman who loved to take it out of a white man. That was how I earned the aggra treasure, and you talk to me of Justice because I cannot bear to feel that I have paid this price only that another may enjoy it. I would rather swing a score of times, or have one of Tongva's darts in my hide, than live in a convict's cell and feel that another man is at his ease in a palace with the money that should be mine. Small had dropped his mask of stoicism, and all this came out in a wild whirl of words, while his eyes blazed and the handcuffs clanked together with the impassioned movement of his hands. I could understand, as I saw the fury into the passion of the man, that it was no groundless or unnatural terror which had possessed Major Shilto when he first learned that the injured convict was upon his track. You forget that we know nothing of all this," said Holmes quietly. We have not heard your story, and we cannot tell how far Justice may originally have been on your side. Well, sir, you have been very fair spoken to me, though I can see that I have you to thank that I have these bracelets upon my wrists. Still, I bear no grudge for that. It is all fair and aboveboard. If you want to hear my story, I have no wish to hold it back. What I say to you is God's truth, every word of it. Thank you. You can put the glass beside me here, and I'll put my lips to it if I am dry. I'm a Worcestershire man myself, born near Pershore. I dare say you would find a heap of smalls living there now if you were to look. I have often thought of taking a look round there, but the truth is that I was never much of a credit to the family, and I doubt if they would be so very glad to see me. They were all steady, chapel-going folk, small farmers, well known and respected over the countryside, while I was always a bit of a rover. At last, however, when I was about eighteen, I gave them no more trouble, for I got into a mess over a girl and could only get out of it again by taking the queen's shilling and joining the third buffs, which was just starting for India. I wasn't destined to do much soldiering, however. I had just got past the goose-step and learned to handle my musket when I was fool enough to go swimming in the Ganges. Luckily for me, my company sergeant John Holder was in the water at the same time, and he was one of the finest swimmers in the service. A crocodile took me, just as I was halfway across, and nipped off my right leg as clean as a surgeon could have done it, just above the knee. What with the shock and the loss of blood I fainted, and should have drowned if Holder had not caught hold of me and paddled for the bank. I was five months in hospital over it, and when at last I was able to limp out of it with this timber toe strapped to my stump. I found myself invalided out of the army and unfitted for any active occupation. I was, as you can imagine, pretty down on my luck at this time, for I was a useless cripple, though not yet in my twentieth year. However, my misfortune soon proved to be a blessing in disguise. A man named Abel White, who had come out there as an indigo planter, wanted an overseer to look after his coulis and keep them up to their work. He happened to be a friend of our colonels, who had taken an interest in me since the accident. To make a long story short, the colonel recommended me strongly for the post, and as the work was mostly to be done on horseback, my leg was no great obstacle, for I had enough knee left to keep good grip on the saddle. What I had to do was ride over the plantation to keep an eye on the men as they worked, and to report to the idlers. The pay was fair, I had comfortable quarters, and altogether I was content to spend the remainder of my life in indigo planting. Mr. Abel White was a kind man, and he would often drop into my little shanty and smoke a pipe with me, for white folk out there feel their hearts warm to each other as they never do here at home. Well, I was never in Lux way long. Suddenly, without a note of warning, the great mutiny broke upon us. One month India lay as still and peaceful to all appearance, as Suri or Kent.  Of course you know all about it, gentlemen. I deal more than I do very light, since reading is not in my line. I only know what I saw with my own eyes. Our plantation was at a place called Muttra, near the border of the northwest provinces. Night after night the whole sky was alight with the burning bungalows, and day after day we had small companies of Europeans passing through our estate with their wives and children on their way to Agra, where were the nearest troops. Mr. Abelwhite was an obstinate man. He had it in his head that the affair had been exaggerated, and that it would blow over as suddenly as it had sprung up. There he sat on his veranda, drinking whiskey pegs and smoking sheroops, while the country was in a blaze about him. Of course we stuck by him, I and Dawson, who, with his wife, used to do the book work and the managing. Well, one fine day the crash came. I had been away on a distant plantation and was riding slowly home in the evening when my eye fell upon something all huddled together at the bottom of a steep nulla. I rode down to see what it was, and the cold struck through my heart when I found it was Dawson's wife, all cut into ribbons, and half eaten by jackals and native dogs.  I reigned up my horse, wondering which way I should turn, but at that moment I saw thick smoke curling up from Abelwhite's mongolo and the flames beginning to burst through the roof. I knew then that I could do my employer no good, but would only throw my own life away if I meddled in the matter. From where I stood I could see hundreds of the black fiends with their red coats still on their backs dancing and howling round the burning house. Some of them pointed at me and a couple of bullets sang past my head, so I broke away across the patty fields and found myself late at night, safe within the walls at Agra. As it proved, however, there was no great safety there either. The whole country was up like a swarm of bees. Wherever the English could collect in little bands they held just the ground that their guns commanded. Everywhere else they were helpless fugitives. It was a fight of the millions against the hundreds and the cruelest part of it was that these men that we fought against, foot horse and gunners, were our own picked troops whom we had talled and trained, handling our own weapons and blowing our own bugle calls. At Agra there were the third bingle fusiliers, some Sikhs, two troops of horse and a battery of artillery. A volunteer corps of clerks and merchants had been formed and this I joined wouldn't lag at all. We went out to meet the rebels at Shah Ganj early in July and we beat them back for a time, but our powder gave out and we had to fall back upon the city. Nothing but the worst news came to us from every side, which is not to be wondered at, for if you look at the map you will see that we were right in the heart of it. Lucknow is rather better than a hundred miles to the east and Kalanpur about as far to the south. From every point on the compass there was nothing but torture and murder and outrage. The city of Agra is a great place, swarming with fanatics and fierce devil worshipers of all sorts. Our handful of men were lost among the narrow winding streets. Our leader moved across the river, therefore, and took up his position in the old fort at Agra. I don't know if any of you gentlemen have ever read or heard anything of that old fort. It is a very queer place, the queerest that ever I was in, and I have been in some rum corners too. First of all it is enormous in size. I should think that the enclosure must be acres and acres. There is a modern part which took all our garrison, women, children, stores and everything else with plenty of room over. But the modern part is nothing like the size of the old quarter where nobody goes and which is given over to the scorpions and the centipedes. It is all full of great deserted halls and winding passages and long corridors twisting in and out so that it is easy enough for folk to get lost in it. For this reason it was seldom that anyone went into it, though now and again a party with torches might go exploring. The river washes along the front of the old fort and so protects it, but on the sides and behind there are many doors and these had to be guarded, of course, in the old quarter as well as in that which was actually held by our troops. We were short-handed with hardly men enough to man the angles of the building and to serve the guns. It was impossible for us, therefore, to station a strong guard at every one of the innumerable gates. What we did was to organize a central guard house in the middle of the fort and to leave each gate under the charge of one white man and two or three natives. I was selected to take charge during certain hours of the night of a small isolated door upon the southwest side of the building. Two Sikh troopers were placed under my command and I was instructed if anything went wrong to fire my musket but I might rely upon help coming at once from the central guard. As the guard was a good two hundred paces away, however, and as the space between was cut up into a labyrinth of passages and corridors I had great doubts as to whether they could arrive in time to be of any use in case of an actual attack. While I was pretty proud at having this small command given me since I was a raw recruit and a game-legged one at that For two nights I kept the watch with my Punjabis. They were tall, fierce-looking chaps, Muhammad Singh and Abdullah Khan by name both old fighting men who had borne arms against us at Chilli and Wala. They could talk English pretty well but I could get little out of them. They preferred to stand together in Jabbar all night in their queer Sikh lingo. For myself I used to stand outside the gateway looking down on the broad winding river and on the twinkling lights of the great city. The beating of drums, the rattle of tom-toms and the yells and howls of the rebels drunk with opium and with bang for enough to remind us all night of our dangerous neighbors across the stream. Every two hours the officer of the night used to come round to all the posts to make sure that all was well. The third night of my watch was dark and dirty with a small driving rain. It was dreary work standing in the gateway hour after hour in such weather. I tried again and again to make my Sikhs talk but without much success. At two in the morning the rounds passed and broke for a moment the weariness of the night. Finding that my companions would not be led into conversation I took out my pipe and laid down my musket to strike the match. In an instant the two Sikhs were upon me. One of them snatched my firelock up and leveled it at my head while the other held a great knife to my throat and swore between his teeth that he would plunge it into me if I moved a step. My first thought was that these fellows were in league with the rebels and that this was the beginning of an assault. If our door were in the hands of the Sikh boys the place must fall and the women and children be treated as they were in Kanpur. Maybe you gentlemen think that I am just making out a case for myself but I give you my word that when I thought of that, though I felt the point of the knife at my throat I opened my mouth with the intention of giving a scream if it was my last one which might alarm the main guard. The man who held me seemed to know my thoughts for even as I braced myself to it he whispered don't make a noise the fort is safe enough there are no rebel dogs on this side of the river. There was the ring of truth in what he said and I knew that if I raised my voice I was a dead man I could read it in the fellow's brown eyes. I waited therefore in silence to see what it was that they wanted from me. Listen to me Saheb said the taller and fiercer of the pair the one whom they called Abdullah Khan. You must either be with us now or you must be silenced forever. The thing is too great a one for us to hesitate. Either you are heart and soul with us on your oath on the cross of the Christians or your body this night shall be thrown into the ditch and we shall pass over to our brothers in the rebel army. There is no middle way which is it to be death or life. We can only give you three minutes to decide for the time is passing and all must be done before the rounds come again. How can I decide said I you have not told me what you want of me but I tell you now that if it is anything against the safety of the fort I will have no truck with it so you can drive home your knife and welcome. It is nothing against the fort said he. We only ask you to do that which your countrymen come to this land for. We ask you to be rich. If you will be one of us this night we will swear to you upon the naked knife and by the threefold oath which no seek was ever known to break that you shall have your fair share of the loot. A quarter of the treasure shall be yours. We can say no fairer. But what is the treasure then I asked. I am ready to be rich as you can be if you will but show me how it can be done.  I will swear it I answered provided that the fort is not endangered. Then my comrade and I will swear that you shall have a quarter of the treasure fully divided among the four of us. There are but three said I. No Dost Akbar must have his share. We can tell the tale to you while we await them. Do you stand at the gate Mohammed Singh and give notice of their coming. The thing stands thus Sahib and I tell it to you because I know that an oath is binding upon a Feringi and that we may trust you.  But the Sikh knows the Englishman and the Englishman knows the Sikh. Harken then to what I have to say. There is a Raja in the northern provinces who has much wealth though his lands are small. Much has come to him from his father and more still he has set by himself for he is of a low nature and hordes his gold rather than spend it. When the troubles broke out he would be friends both with the lion and the tiger with the sepoy and with the company's Raj. Soon however it seemed to him that the white men's day was come for through all the land he could hear of nothing but of their death and their overthrow. Yet being a careful man he made such plans that come what might half at least of his treasure should be left to him. That which was in gold and silver he kept by him in the vaults of his palace but the most precious stones and the choicest pearls that he had he put in an iron box and sent it by a trusty servant who under the guise of a merchant should take it to the fort at Agra there to lie until the land is at peace. Thus if the rebels won he would have his money but if the company conquered his jewels would be saved to him. Having thus divided his horde he threw himself into the cause of the sepoys since they were strong upon his borders. By doing this Marku Sahib his property becomes the due of those who have them true to their salt. This pretended merchant who travels under the name of Ahmed is now in the city of Agra and desires to gain his way into the fort. He has with him as traveling companion my foster brother Dost Akbar who knows his secret. Dost Akbar has promised this night to lead him to a side poster of the fort and has chosen this one for his purpose. Here he will come presently and here he will find Muhammad Singh and myself awaiting him. The place is lonely and none shall know of his coming. The world shall know of the merchant Ahmed no more but the great treasure of the Raja shall be divided among us. What say you to it Sahib? In Worcestershire the life of a man seems a great and a sacred thing but it is very different when there is fire and blood all around you and you have been used to meeting death at every turn. Whether Ahmed the merchant lived or died was a thing as light as air to me but at the talk about the treasure my heart turned to it and I thought of what I might do in the old country with it and how my folk would stare when they saw their ne'er-du-well coming back with his pockets full of gold moydours. I had therefore already made up my mind. Abdullah Khan, however, thinking that I hesitated, pressed the matter more closely. Consider, Sahib, said he, that if this man is taken by the commandant he will be hung or shot and his jewels taken by the government so that no man will be a rupee the better for them. Now since we do the taking of him why should we not do the rest as well? The jewels will be as well with us as in the company's coffers. There will be enough to make every one of us rich men and great chiefs. No one can know about the matter for here we are cut off from all men. What could be better for the purpose? Say again, then, Sahib, whether you are with us or if we must look upon you as an enemy. I am with you heart and soul, said I. It is well, he answered, handing me back my firelock. You see that we trust you for your word, like ours, is not to be broken. We have now only to wait for my brother and the merchant. Does your brother know, then, of what you will do? I asked. The plan is his. He has devised it. We will go to the gate and share the watch with Mohammed Singh. The rain was still falling steadily for it was just the beginning of the wet season. Brown heavy clouds were drifting across the sky and it was hard to see more than a stone cast. A deep moat lay in front of our door but the water was in places nearly dried up and could easily be crossed. It was strange to me to be standing there with those two wild Punjabis waiting for the man who was coming to his death. Suddenly my eye caught the glint of a shaded lantern at the other side of the moat. It vanished among the mound heaps and then appeared again coming slowly in our direction. Here they are, I exclaimed. You will challenge him, Sahib, as usual, whispered Abdullah. If him no cause for fear, send us in with him and we shall do the rest while you stay here on guard. Have the lantern ready to uncover that we may be sure that it is indeed the man. The light had flickered onwards, now stopping and now advancing until I could see two dark figures upon the other side of the moat. I let them scramble down the sloping bank, splash through the mire and climb halfway up to the gate before I challenged them. Who goes there? said I in a subdued voice. Friends came the answer. I uncovered my lantern and threw a flood of light upon them. The first was an enormous seek with a black beard which swept nearly down to his cummerbund. Outside of a show I have never seen so tall a man. The other was a little fat round fellow with a great yellow turban and a bundle in his hand done up in a shawl.  It gave me the chills to think of killing him, but I thought of the treasure and my heart set as hard as a flint within me. When he saw my white face he gave a little chirp of joy and came running up towards me. Your protection, sahib, he panted. Your protection for the unhappy merchant Ahmed. I have traveled across Rajputana that I might seek the shelter of the fort at Agra. I have been robbed and beaten and abused because I have been the friend of the company. It is a blessed night this when I am once more in safety, I and my poor possessions. What have you in the bundle? I asked. An iron box, he answered, which contains one or two little family matters which are of no value to others but which I should be sorry to lose. Yet I am not a beggar and I shall reward you young sahib and your governor also if he will give me the shelter I ask. I could not trust myself to speak longer with the man.  It was best to get it over. Take him to the main guard, said I. The two Sikhs closed in upon him on each side and the giant walked behind while they marched in through the dark gateway. Never was a man so compassed round with death. I remained at the gateway with the lantern. I could hear the measured tramp of their footsteps sounding through the lonely corridors. Suddenly it ceased and I heard voices and a scuffle with the sound of blows. A moment later there came to my horror a rush of footsteps coming in my direction with the loud breathing of a running man.  I have never seen a man run so fast as that little merchant. He was gaining on the Sikh and I could see that if he once passed me and got to the open air he would save himself yet. My heart softened to him but again the thought of his treasure turned me hard and bitter. I cast my firelock between his legs as he raced past and he rolled twice over like a shot rabbit. There he could stagger to his feet the Sikh was upon him and buried his knife twice in his side. The man never uttered moan nor moved muscle but lay where he had fallen. I think myself that he may have broken his neck with the fall. You see, gentlemen, that I am keeping my promise. I'm telling you every word of the business just exactly as it happened whether it is in my favour or not. He stopped and held out his manacled hands for the whisky and water which Holmes had brewed for him. For myself I confess that I had now conceived the utmost horror of the man, not only for this cold-blooded business in which he had been concerned but even more for the somewhat flippant and careless way in which he narrated it. Whatever punishment was in store for him I felt that he might expect no sympathy from me. Sherlock Holmes and Jones sat with their hands upon their knees, deeply interested in the story but with the same disgust written upon their faces. He may have observed it, for there was a touch of defiance in his voice and manner as he proceeded. It was all very bad, no doubt, said he. I should like to know how many fellows in my shoes would have refused a share of this loot when they knew that they would have their throats cut for their pains. Besides, it was my life for his when once he was in the fort. If he had got out the whole business would come to light and I should have been court-martialed and shot as likely as not. For people were not very lenient at a time like that.  Well, we carried him in, Abdullah, Akbar, and I. A fine weight he was, too, for all that he was so short. Muhammad Singh was left to guard the door. We took him to a place which the Sikhs had already prepared. It was some distance off where a winding passage leads to a great empty hall, the brick walls of which were all crumbling to pieces. The earth floor had sunk in at one place, making a natural grave. So we left Ahmed the merchant there, having first covered him over with loose bricks. This done we all went back to the treasure. It lay where he had dropped it when he was first attacked. The box was the same which now lies open upon your table. A key was hung by a silken cord to that carved handle upon the top. We opened it and the light of the lantern gleamed upon a collection of gems such as I have read of and thought about when I was a little lad at Pershor. It was blinding to look upon them. When we had feasted our eyes, we took them all out and made a list of them. There were one hundred and forty-three diamonds of the first water, including one which has been called, I believe, the Great Mogul, and is said to be the second largest stone in existence. Then there were ninety-seven very fine emeralds and one hundred and seventy rubies, some of which, however, were small. There were forty carbuncles, two hundred and ten sapphires, sixty-one agates, and a great quantity of barrels, onyxes, cat-size, turquoises, and other stones, the very names of which I did not know at the time, though I have become more familiar with them since. Besides this there were nearly three hundred very fine pearls, twelve of which were set in a gold coronet. By the way, these last had been taken out of the chest and were not there when I recovered it. After we had counted our treasures we put them back into the chest and carried them to the gateway to show them to Muhammad's seeing. Then we solemnly renewed our oath to stand by each other and be true to our secret. We agreed to conceal our loot in a safe place until the country should be at peace again and then to divide it equally among ourselves. There was no use dividing it at present, for if gems of such value were found upon us it would cause suspicion and there was no privacy in the fort nor any place where we could keep them. We carried the box, therefore, into the same hall where we had buried the body and there under certain bricks in the best preserved wall we made a hollow and put our treasure. We made careful note of the place and next day I drew four plans, one for each of us, and put the sign of the four of us at the bottom for we had sworn that we should always act for all so that none might take advantage. That is an oath that I can put my hand to my heart and swear that I have never broken. Well, there's no use my telling you gentlemen what came of the Indian mutiny. After Wilson took Delhi and Sir Colin relieved Lucknell, the back of the business was broken. Fresh troops came pouring in and Nanna Sahib made himself scarce over the frontier. A flying column under Colonel Greathead came round to Agra and cleared the pandies away from it. Peace seemed to be settling upon the country and we four were beginning to hope that the time was at hand when we might safely go off with our shares of the plunder. In a moment, however, our hopes were shattered by our being arrested as the murderers of Akhmet. It came about in this way. When the Rajah put his jewels into the hands of Akhmet, he did it because he knew that he was a trusty man. They are suspicious folk in the East, however. So what does this Rajah do but take a second, even more trusty servant and set him to play the spy upon the first? This second man was ordered never to let Akhmet out of his sight and he followed him like his shadow. He went after him that night and saw him pass through the doorway. Of course he thought that he had taken refuge in the fort and applied for admission there himself next day but could find no trace of Akhmet. This seemed to him so strange that he spoke about it to a sergeant of guides who brought it to the ears of the Commandant. A thorough search was quickly made and the body was discovered. Thus at the very moment that we thought that all was safe we were all four seized and brought to trial on a charge of murder. Three of us because we had held the gate that night and the fourth because he was known to have been in the company of the murdered man. Not a word about the jewels came out at the trial for the Raja had been deposed and driven out of India so no one had any particular interest in them. The murder, however, was clearly made out and it was certain that we must all have been concerned in it. The three Sikhs got penal servitude for life and I was condemned to death though my sentence was afterwards commuted into the same as the others. It was rather a queer position that we found ourselves in then. There we were all four tied by the leg and with precious little chance of ever getting out again while we each held a secret which might have put each of us in a palace if we could only have made use of it. It was enough to make a man eat his heart out to have to stand the kick in the cuff of every petty jack-in office to have rice to eat and water to drink and that gorgeous fortune was ready for him outside just waiting to be picked up. It might have driven me mad but I was always a pretty stubborn one so I just held on and bided my time. At last it seemed to me to have come. I was changed from Agra to Madras and from there to Blair Island in the Andamans. There are very few white convicts at this settlement and as I had behaved well from the first I soon found myself a sort of privileged person. I was given a hut in Hopetown which is a small place on the slopes of Mount Harriet and I was left pretty much to myself. It is a dreary, fever-stricken place and all beyond our little clearings was infested with wild cannibal natives who were ready enough to blow a poison dart at us if they saw a chance. There was digging and dishing and yam planting and a dozen other things to be done so we were busy enough all day though in the evening we had a little time to ourselves. Among other things I learned to dispense drugs for the surgeon and picked up a smattering of his knowledge. All the time I was on the lookout for a chance of escape but it is hundreds of miles from any other land and there is little or no wind in those seas so it was a terribly difficult job to get away. The surgeon, Dr. Summerton, was a fast, sporting young chap and the other young officers would meet in his rooms of an evening and play cards. The surgery where I used to make up my drugs was next to his sitting room with a small window between us. Often if I felt lonesome I used to turn out the lamp in the surgery and then standing there I could hear their talk and watch their play. I am fond of a hand at cards myself and it was almost as good as having one to watch the others. There was Major Shalto, Captain Morstan and Lieutenant Bromley Brown who were in command of the native troops and there was the surgeon himself and two or three prison officials, crafty old hands who made a nice, sly, safe game. A very snug little party they used to make. Well there was one thing which very soon struck me and that was that the soldiers used always to lose and the civilians to win. Mind I don't say that there was anything unfair but so it was. These prison chaps had done little else than play cards ever since they had been at the Andamans and they knew each other's game to a point while the others just played to pass the time and threw their cards down anyhow. Night after night the soldiers got up poorer men and the poorer they got the more keen they were to play. Major Shalto was the hardest hit. He used to pay in notes in gold at first but it soon came to notes of hand and for big sums. He sometimes would win for a few deals just to give him heart and then the luck would set in against him worse than ever. All day he would wander about as black as thunder and he took to drinking a deal more than was good for him. One night he lost even more heavily than usual. I was sitting in my hut when he and Captain Morstan came stumbling along on the way to their quarters. They were bosom friends those two and never far apart. The Major was raving about his losses. It's all up Morstan he was saying as they passed my hut. I shall have to send in my papers. I am a ruined man. Nonsense old chap said the other slapping him up on the shoulder. I've had a nasty facer myself but that was all I could hear but it was enough to set me thinking. A couple of days later Major Shalto was strolling on the beach so I took the chance of speaking to him. I wish to have your advice Major said I. Well small what is it he asked taking his sheroot from his lips. I wanted to ask you sir said I. Who is the proper person to whom hidden treasure should be handed over. I know where half a million worth lies and as I cannot use it myself I thought perhaps the best thing that I could do would be to hand it over to the proper authorities and then perhaps they would get my sentence shortened for me. Half a million small he gasped looking hard at me to see if I was an earnest. Quite that sir in jewels and pearls it lies there ready for anyone and the queer thing about it is that the real owner is outlawed and cannot hold property so that it belongs to the first comer. To government small he stammered to government but he said it in a halting fashion and I knew in my heart that I had got him. You think then sir that I should give the information to the governor general said I quietly. Well well you must not do anything rash or that you might repent let me hear all about it small give me the facts. I told him the whole story with small changes so that he could not identify the places. When I had finished he stood stock still and full of thought. I could see by the twitch of his lip that there was a struggle going on within him. This is a very important matter small he said at last. You must not say a word to anyone about it and I shall see you again soon. Two nights later he and his friend Captain Morstan came to my hut in the dead of the night with a lantern. I want you just to let Captain Morstan hear that story from your own lips small said he. I repeated it as I had told it before.  Captain Morstan nodded. Look here small said the major. We have been talking it over my friend here and I and we have come to the conclusion that this secret of yours is hardly a government matter after all but is a private concern of your own which of course you have the power of disposing of as you think best. Now the question is what price would you ask for it? We might be inclined to take it off and at least look into it if we could agree as to terms. He tried to speak in a cool careless way but his eyes were shining with excitement and greed. Why as to that gentlemen I answered trying also to be cool but feeling as excited as he did. There is only one bargain which a man in my position can make. I shall want you to help me to my freedom and to help my three companions to theirs. We shall then take you into partnership and give you a fifth share to divide between you. Huh! he said. A fifth share? That is not very tempting. It would come to fifty thousand a piece said I. But how can we gain your freedom? You know very well that you ask an impossibility. Nothing of the sort I answered. I have thought it all out to the last detail. The only bar to our escape is that we can get no boat fit for the voyage and no provisions to last us for so long a time. There are plenty of little yachts and yalls at Calcutta or Madras which would serve our turn well. Do you bring one over? We shall engage to get aboard her by night and if you will drop us on any part of the Indian coast you will have done your part of the bargain. If there were only one he said. None or all I answered. We have sworn it. The four of us must always act together. You see Moreston said he. Small is a man of his word. He does not flinch from his friend. I think we may very well trust him. He said dirty business. The other answered. Yet as you say the money would save our commissions handsomely. Well small said the major. We must I suppose try and meet you. We must first of course test the truth of your story. Tell me where the boxes hid and I shall get leave of absence and go back to India in the monthly relief boat to inquire into the affair. Not so fast said I, growing colder as he got hot. I must have the consent of my three comrades. I tell you that it is four or none with us. Nonsense he broke in. What have three black fellas to do with our agreement? Black or blue said I. They are in with me and we all go together. Well the matter ended by a second meeting at which Muhammad Singh, Abdul Aqan and Dost Akbar were all present. We talked the matter over again and at last we came to an arrangement. We were to provide both the officers with charts of the part of the Agra Fort and mark the place in the wall where the treasure was hid. Major Sholto was to go to India to test our story. He found the box he was to leave it there to send out a small yacht provision for a voyage which was to lie off Rutland Island and to which we were to make our way and finally to return to his duties. Captain Morstan was then to apply for leave of absence to meet us at Agra and there we were to have a final division of the treasure he taking the Major's share as well as his own. All this we sealed by the most solemn o's that the mind could think were the lips utter. I sat up all night with paper and ink and by the morning I had the two charts already signed with the sign of four that is of Abdullah Akbar Muhammad and myself. Well gentlemen I'll weary you with my long story and I know that my friend Mr. Jones is impatient to get me safely stowed in Chokey. I'll make it as short as I can. The villain Sholto went off to India but he never came back again. Captain Morstan showed me his name among a list of passengers in one of the mailboats very shortly afterwards. His uncle had died leaving him a fortune and he had left the army yet he could stoop to treat five men as he had treated us. Morstan went over to Agra shortly afterwards and found, as we expected, that the treasure was indeed gone. The scoundrel had stolen it all without carrying out one of the conditions on which we had sold him the secret. From that day I lived only for vengeance. I thought of it by day and I nursed it by night. It became an overpowering, absorbing passion with me. I cared nothing for the law, nothing for the gallows. To escape, to track down Sholto, to have my hand upon his throat, that was my one thought. Even the Agra treasure had come to be a smaller thing in my mind than the slaying of Sholto. Well, I have set my mind on many things in this life and never one which I did not carry out. But it was weary years before my time came. I have told you that I had picked up something of medicine. One day when Dr. Somerton was down with a fever, a little Andaman Islander was picked up by a convict gang in the woods.  I took him in hand, though he was as venomous as a young snake, and after a couple of months I got him all right and able to walk. He took a kind of fancy to me then and would hardly go back to his woods, but was always hanging about my hut. I learned a little of his lingo from him and this made him all the fonder of me. Tonga, for that was his name, was a fine boatman and owned a big roomy canoe of his own. When I found that he was devoted to me and would do anything to serve me, I saw my chance of escape. I talked it over with him. He was to bring his boat round on a certain night to an old wharf which was never guarded, and there he was to pick me up. I gave him directions to have several gourds of water and a lot of yams, coconuts, and sweet potatoes. He was staunch and true as little Tonga, no man ever had a more faithful mate. At the night named he had his boat at the wharf. As a chance, however, there was one of the convict guard down there, a vile pathin who had never missed a chance of insulting and injuring me. I had always vowed vengeance, and now I had my chance. It was as if fate had placed him in my way that I might pay my debt before I left the island. He stood on the bank with his back to me and his carbine on his shoulder. I looked about for a stone to beat out his brains with, but none could I see. Then a queer thought came into my head and showed me where I could lay my hand on a weapon. I sat down in the darkness and unstrapped my wooden leg. With three long hops I was on him. He put his carbine to his shoulder, but I struck him full and knocked the whole front of his skull in. You can see the split in the wood now where I hit him. We both went down together for I could not keep my balance, but when I got up I found him still lying quiet enough. I made for the boat and in an hour we were well out at sea. Tonga had brought all his earthly possessions with him, his arms and his gods. Among other things he had a long bamboo spear and some Andaman coconut matting with which I made a sort of sail. For ten days we were beating about, trusting to luck, and on the eleventh we were picked up by a trader which was going from Singapore to Jeddah with a cargo of melee pilgrims. They were a rum crowd and Tonga and I soon managed to settle down among them. They had one very good quality. They let you alone and asked no questions. Well, if I were to tell you all the adventures that my little chum and I went through you would not thank me for I would have you here until the sun was shining. Here and there we drifted about the world, something always turning up to keep us from London. All the time, however, I never lost sight of my purpose. I would dream of Sholto at night.  At last, however, some three or four years ago we found ourselves in England. I had no great difficulty in finding where Sholto lived and I sent to work to discover whether he had realized the treasure or if he still had it. I made friends with someone who could help me. I named no names for I don't want to get anyone else in a hole. And I soon found that he still had the jewels. Then I tried to get at him in many ways. But he was pretty sly and had always two prize fighters besides his son and his kitmugar on guard over him. One day, however, I got word that he was dying. I hurried at once to the garden, mad that he should slip out of my clutches like that. And looking through the window I saw him lying in his bed with his sons on each side of him. I'd have come through and taken my chance with the three of them, only even as I looked at him his jaw dropped and I knew that he was gone. I got into his room that same night, though, and I searched his papers to see if there was any record of where he had hidden our jewels. There was not a line, however, so I came away, bitter and savage as a man could be. Before I left I bethought me that if I ever met my Sikh friends again it would be a satisfaction to know that I had left some mark of our hatred, so I scrawled down the sign of the fore-office as it had been on the chart and appended it on its bosom. It was too much that he should be taken to the grave without some token from the men whom he had robbed and befooled. We earned a living at this time by my exhibiting poor tanga at fairs and other such places as the Black Cannibal. He would eat raw meat and dance his war dance, so we always had a hat full of pennies after a day's work. I still heard all the news from Pondicherry Lodge, and for some years there was no news to hear except that they were hunting for the treasure. At last, however, came what we had waited for so long. The treasure had been found. It was up at the top of the house in Mr. Bartholomew Sholto's chemical laboratory. I came at once and had a look at the place, but I could not see how with my wooden leg I was to make my way up to it. I learned, however, about a trapped door in the roof, and also about Mr. Sholto's supper-hour. It seemed to me that I could manage the thing easily through tanga. I brought him out with me with a long rope wound round his waist. He could climb like a cat, and he soon made his way through the roof. But as ill luck would have it Bartholomew Sholto was still in the room, through his cost. Tanga thought he had done something very clever in killing him, for when I came up by the rope I found him strutting about as proud as a peacock. Very much surprised was he when I made at him with the rope's end and cursed him for a little blood-thirsty imp. I took the treasure-box and let it down, and then slid down myself, having first left the sign of the four upon the table to show that the jewels had come back at last to those who had most right to them. Tanga then pulled up the rope, closed the window, and made off the way that he had come. I don't know that I have anything else to tell you. I had heard a water-man speak of the speed of Smith's launch, the Aurora, so I thought she would be a handy-craft for our escape. I engaged with old Smith and was to give him a big sum if he got us safe to our ship. He knew, no doubt, that there was some screw loose, but he was not in our secrets. All this is the truth, and if I tell it to you gentlemen, it is not to amuse you, for you have not done me a very good turn. But it is because I believe the best defense I can make is just to hold back nothing but let all the world know how badly I have myself been served by Major Sholto and how innocent I am of the death of his son. A very remarkable account, said Sherlock Holmes. A fitting wind-up to an extremely interesting case. There is nothing at all new to me in the latter part of your narrative, except that you brought your own rope, that I did not know. By the way, I had hoped that Tanga had lost all his darts, yet he managed to shoot one at us in the boat. He had lost them all, sir, except the one which was in his blow-pipe at the time. Well, of course. Said Holmes. I had not thought of that. Is there any other point which you would like to ask about? Asked the convict affably. I think not, thank you. My companion answered. Well, Holmes. Said a Thelny-Jones. You are a man to be human, and we all know that you are a connoisseur of crime, but duty is duty, and I have gone rather far in doing what you and your friend asked me. I shall feel more at ease when we have our storyteller here safe under lock and key. The cab still waits, and there are two inspectors downstairs. I am much obliged to you both for your assistance. Of course, you'll be wanted at the trial. Good night to you. Good night, gentlemen both. Said Jonathan Small. You first, Small. Remarked the wary Jones as they left the room. I'll take particular care that you don't club me with your wooden leg, whatever you may have done to the gentleman at the Enderman Isles. Well, and there is the end of our little drama, I remarked, after we had set some time smoking in silence. I fear that it may be the last investigation in which I shall have the chance of studying your methods. Miss Moreston has done me the honour to accept me as a husband in perspective. He gave a most dismal groan. I feared as much, said he. I really cannot congratulate you. I was a little hurt. Have you any reason to be dissatisfied with my choice? I asked. Not at all. I think she is one of the most charming young ladies I ever met, and might have been most useful in such work as we've been doing. She had a decided genius that way, witnessed the way in which she preserved that agri-plan from all the other papers of her father. But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional as opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things, I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgement. I trust, said I, laughing, that my judgement may survive the ordeal. But you look weary. Yes, the reaction is already upon me. I shall be as limp as a rag for a week. Strange, said I. How terms of what in another man I should call laziness, alternate with your fits of splendid energy and vigor? Yes, he answered. There are in me the makings of a very fine loafer, and also of a pretty spry sort of fellow. I often think of those lines of Old Goethe. Shadadas dinatur no ainen mensch os deuschuf denzum verdigen man ver anzum shelmen destof. By the way, apropos of this Norwood business, you see that they had, as I surmised, a confederate in the house, who could be none other than Lal Rao, the butler. So Jones actually has the undivided honour of having caught one fish in his great haul. The division seems rather unfair, I remarked. You have done all the work in this business. I get a wife out of it. Jones gets the credit. Pray what remains for you? For me, said Sherlock Holmes. There still remains the cocaine bottle. And he stretched his long white hand up for it. End of Chapter 12 End of The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


This study found at the Cardiac Rehabilitation Barriers Scale, CRBS, is reliable and valid in Arabic-speaking countries. It can help identify the most common barriers to cardiac rehabilitation participation, which can then be used to develop strategies to mitigate these barriers. This article was authored by Raghda Al-Jahani, Sherri El Grace, Azil Abu Rub, and others.


Iskosweva is very important in this region, in the Eastern Central Africa region, to show how serious this disease is. It can cure up to 100% if there are particularly improved animals. It is estimated like about a million cattle die of this disease every year in this region. In situations where farmers keep one or two animals, they can completely wipe their livelihoods. In the more extensive farming systems, like the pastro systems, we find life so keepers lose like up to half of the calf population. The animals that survive from the disease, they are affected for life because of these cancer like effects. The animals do not grow as well as they could, they don't produce as much milk. So they are long term effects. Only two years ago, it was first reported in the Komoro Islands for the first time. So it's a 12th country in this region. Recently it's been moving very rapidly to the north of South Sudan. It is in the province neighboring Ethiopia and there is no reason why it cannot cross into that country. On the western side it's moved to the states bordering Central African Republic and there is no reason why it can't cross to that country as well. South Sudan and Central African Republic are going through some kind of civil war. I think East Coast fever would have a hugely devastating effect to the livelihoods of those people in those countries. It's a very effective vaccine and at the moment it's the only means we have to prevent the devastation from this disease. Even though it costs 8-12 dollars, there is a huge demand from all types of livestock keepers, both the small holders and the nomadic pastoral livestock keepers. So it's been very popular amongst the masses who have bought close to 600,000 doses over the last several years.