Part 62 (1/2)
”No, thank you, Joseph I have a slight headache and this roo”
”What do you propose now, Mr Hol this ht of our reat help to me if you would come up to London with us”
”At once?”
”Well, as soon as you conveniently can Say in an hour”
”I feel quite strong enough, if I can really be of any help”
”The greatest possible”
”Perhaps you would liketo propose it”
”Then, if ht comes to revisit me, he will find the bird flown We are all in your hands, Mr Holmes, and you must tell us exactly what you would like done Perhaps you would prefer that Joseph came with us so as to look after me?”
”Oh, no, my friend Watson is a medical man, you know, and he'll look after you We'll have our lunch here, if you will perether”
It was arranged as he suggested, though Miss Harrison excused herself froestion What the object of my friends manuvres was I could not conceive, unless it were to keep the lady away fro health and by the prospect of action, lunched with us in the dining-roo surprise for us, however, for, after accoe, he cal
”There are one or two so,” said he ”Your absence, Mr Phelps, will in some ways rather assist eat once to Baker Street with our friend here, and reain It is fortunate that you are old school-fellows, as you must have ht, and I will be with you in time for breakfast, for there is a train which will take ation in London?” asked Phelps ruefully
”We can do that to-morrow I think that just at present I can be of ht tell theht,” cried Phelps, as we began to o back to Briarbrae,” answered Holmes, and waved his hand to us cheerily as we shot out from the station
Phelps and I talked it over on our journey, but neither of us could devise a satisfactory reason for this new development
”I suppose he wants to find out solar it was For myself, I don't believe it was an ordinary thief”
”What is your own idea, then?”
”Upon my word, you may put it down to my weak nerves or not, but I believe there is so on aroundh-flown and absurd, but consider the facts! Why should a thief try to break in at a bedroom here there could be no hope of any plunder, and why should he co knife in his hand?”
”You are sure it was not a house-breaker's jimmy?”
”Oh, no, it was a knife I saw the flash of the blade quite distinctly”
”But why on earth should you be pursued with such animosity?”
”Ah, that is the question”
”Well, if Holmes takes the same view, that would account for his action, would it not? Presu that your theory is correct, if he can lay his hands upon theway towards finding who took the naval treaty It is absurd to suppose that you have two enemies, one of whom robs you, while the other threatens your life”
”But Hol to Briarbrae”
”I have known hi yet without a very good reason,” and with that our conversation drifted off on to other topics
But it was a weary day forillness, and his misfortunes made him querulous and nervous In vain I endeavoured to interest hi which roove He would always co as to what Hol, what nee should have in thewore on his excitement became quite painful
”You have implicit faith in Holmes?” he asked
”I have seen hiht into anything quite so dark as this?”
”Oh, yes, I have known him solve questions which presented fewer clues than yours”
”But not where such large interests are at stake?”
”I don't know that To e he has acted on behalf of three of the reigning houses of Europe in very vital matters”
”But you know him well, Watson He is such an inscrutable fellow that I never quite knohat to make of him Do you think he is hopeful? Do you think he expects to ”
”That is a bad sign”
”On the contrary I have noticed that when he is off the trail he generally says so It is when he is on a scent and is not quite absolutely sure yet that it is the right one that he is most taciturn Now,ourselves nervous about theo to bed and so be fresh for whatever may await us tomorrow”
I was able at last to persuade h I knew from his excited manner that there was not much hope of sleep for hi half the nighta hundred theories, each of which was more i? Why had he asked Miss Harrison to remain in the sick-room all day? Why had he been so careful not to inform the people at Briarbrae that he intended to reelled my brains until I fell asleep in the endeavour to find some explanation which would cover all these facts
It was seven o'clock when I awoke, and I set off at once for Phelps's rooht His first question hether Holmes had arrived yet
”He'll be here when he promised,” said I, ”and not an instant sooner or later”
And ht a hanso in the e saw that his left hand athed in a bandage and that his face was very grim and pale He entered the house, but it was some little time before he came upstairs
”He looks like a beaten man,” cried Phelps
I was forced to confess that he was right ”After all,” said I, ”the clue of the roan
”I don't kno it is,” said he, ”but I had hoped for so much from his return But surely his hand was not tied up like that yesterday What can be the matter?”
”You are not wounded, Holmes?” I asked as my friend entered the roohto us ”This case of yours, Mr Phelps, is certainly one of the darkest which I have ever investigated”
”I feared that you would find it beyond you”
”It has been a e tells of adventures,” said I ”Won't you tell us what has happened?”