The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Regendered

by L. E. Smart

"'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out like gravel from a pit.'

  "'Ah!' said she carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully into my confidence now, Ms. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I trust you.' She rose as she spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at Eyford at 11:15.'

  "'I shall certainly be there.'

  "'And not a word to a soul.' She looked at me with a last long, questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank grasp, she hurried from the room.

  "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face and manner of my patroness had made an unpleasant impression upon me, and I could not think that her explanation of the fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my coming at midnight, and her extreme anxiety lest I should tell anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue.

  "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a word she grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door of which was standing open. She drew up the windows on either side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the horse could go."

  "One horse?" interjected Holmes.

  "Yes, only one."

  "Did you observe the colour?"

  "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the carriage. It was a chestnut."

  "Tired-looking or fresh?"

  "Oh, fresh and glossy."

  "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue your most interesting statement."

  "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel Lysandra Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. She sat at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than once when I glanced in her direction, that she was looking at me with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysandra Stark sprang out, and, as I followed after her, pulled me swiftly into a porch which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage drove away.

  "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled about looking for matches and muttering under her breath. Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew broader, and a man appeared with a lamp in his hand, which he held above his head, pushing his face forward and peering at us. I could see that he was pretty, and from the gloss with which the light shone upon his dark trousers I knew that it was a rich material. He spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a gruff monosyllable he gave such a start that the lamp nearly fell from his hand. Colonel Stark went up to him, whispered something in his ear, and then, pushing him back into the room from whence he had come, she walked towards me again with the lamp in her hand.

  "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a few minutes,' said she, throwing open another door. It was a quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said she, and vanished into the darkness.

  "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee.

  "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The man was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind him, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon his eager and beautiful face. I could see at a glance that he was sick with fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. He held up one shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and he shot a few whispered words of broken English at me, his eyes glancing back, like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind him.

  "'I would go,' said he, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no good for you to do.'

  "'But, sir,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.'

  "'It is not worth your while to wait,' he went on. 'You can pass through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled and shook my head, he suddenly threw aside his constraint and made a step forward, with his hands wrung together. 'For the love of Heaven!' he whispered, 'get away from here before it is too late!'

  "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This man might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout bearing, therefore, though his manner had shaken me more than I cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention of remaining where I was. He was about to renew his entreaties when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps was heard upon the stairs. He listened for an instant, threw up his hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and as noiselessly as he had come.

  "The newcomers were Colonel Lysandra Stark and a short thick woman, who was introduced to me as Ms. Ferguson.

  "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the way, I
was under the impression that I left this door shut just now. I fear that you have felt the draught.'

  "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I felt the room to be a little close.'

  "She shot one of her suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had better proceed to business, then,' said she. 'Ms. Ferguson and I will take you up to see the machine.'

  "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.'

  "'Oh, no, it is in the house.'

  "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?'

  "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us know what is wrong with it.'

  "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the fat manager and I behind her. It was a labyrinth of an old house, with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the gentleman, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent woman, but I could see from the little that she said that she was at least a fellow-countryman.

  "Colonel Lysandra Stark stopped at last before a low door, which she unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, and the colonel ushered me in.

  "'We are now,' said she, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set it right.'

  "I took the lamp from her, and I examined the machine very thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the colonel looking down at me.

  "'What are you doing there?' she asked.

  "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as that which she had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it was used.'

  "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of my speech. Her face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in her grey eyes.

  "'Very well,' said she, 'you shall know all about the machine.' She took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!'

  "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish of the leaking cylinder. She had set the engine at work. The lamp still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope back to my heart.

  "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me how narrow had been my escape.

  "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, while a man bent over me and tugged at me with his left hand, while he held a candle in his right. It was the same good friend whose warning I had so foolishly rejected.

  "'Come! come!' he cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste the so-precious time, but come!'

  "This time, at least, I did not scorn his advice. I staggered to my feet and ran with him along the corridor and down a winding stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about him like one who is at his wit's end. Then he threw open a door which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon was shining brightly.

  "'It is your only chance,' said he. 'It is high, but it may be that you can jump it.'

  "As he spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysandra Stark rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If he were ill-used, then at any risks I was determined to go back to his assistance. The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before she was at the door, pushing her way past him; but he threw his arms round her and tried to hold her back.

  "'Fritz! Fritz!' he cried in English, 'remember your promise after the last time. You said it should not be again. She will be silent! Oh, she will be silent!'

  "'You are mad, Elise!' she shouted, struggling to break away from him. 'You will be the ruin of us. She has seen too much. Let me pass, I say!' She dashed him to one side, and, rushing t
o the window, cut at me with her heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and was hanging by the hands to the sill, when her blow fell. I was conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the garden below.

  "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the rose-bushes.

  "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream.

  "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I arrived. I inquired of her whether she had ever heard of Colonel Lysandra Stark. The name was strange to her. Had she observed a carriage the night before waiting for me? No, she had not. Was there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three miles off.