The Sign of the Four Part 2 (1/2)
”You see, Watson, if all else fails me I have still one of the scientific professions open to”Our friend won't keep us out in the cold now, I am sure”
”In you come, sir, in you come,--you and your friends,” he answered ”Very sorry, Mr Thaddeus, but orders are very strict Had to be certain of your friends before I let therounds to a huge clued in shadow save where a arretThe vast size of the building, with its gloom and its deathly silence, struck a chill to the heart Even Thaddeus Sholto seemed ill at ease, and the lantern quivered and rattled in his hand
”I cannot understand it,” he said ”There must be some mistake I distinctly told Bartholoht in hisI do not knohat to uard the premises in this way?” asked Holmes
”Yes; he has followed my father's custom He was the favorite son, you know, and I sometimes think that my father may have told him more than he ever told me That is Bartholome up there where the ht from within, I think”
”None,” said Holht in that littlebeside the door”
”Ah, that is the housekeeper's room That is where old Mrs Bernstone sits She can tell us all about it But perhaps you would not ether and she has no word of our co she may be alarmed But hush!+ what is that?”
He held up the lantern, and his hand shook until the circles of light flickered and wavered all round us Miss Morstan seizedour ears Froht the saddest andof a frightened woman
”It is Mrs Bernstone,” said Sholto ”She is the only woman in the house Wait here I shall be back in a moment” He hurried for the door, and knocked in his peculiar way We could see a tall old woht of hilad you have colad you have cos until the door was closed and her voice died away into a uide had left us the lantern Hol it slowly round, and peered keenly at the house, and at the great rubbish-heaps which cuether, and her hand was inis love, for here o who had never seen each other before that day, bethom no word or even look of affection had ever passed, and yet now in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other I have marvelled at it since, but at the tio out to her so, and, as she has often told me, there was in her also the instinct to turn to me for comfort and protection So we stood hand in hand, like two children, and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us
”What a strange place!” she said, looking round
”It looks as though all the land had been let loose in it I have seen so of the sort on the side of a hill near Ballarat, where the prospectors had been at work”
”And from the same cause,” said Holmes ”These are the traces of the treasure-seekers Youfor it No wonder that the grounds look like a gravel-pit”
At that moment the door of the house burst open, and Thaddeus Sholto ca out, with his hands thrown forward and terror in his eyes
”There is sohtened! My nerves cannot stand it” He was, indeed, half blubbering with fear, and his twitching feeble face peeping out fro expression of a terrified child
”Come into the house,” said Holmes, in his crisp, firm way
”Yes, do!” pleaded Thaddeus Sholto ”I really do not feel equal to giving directions”
We all followed him into the housekeeper's rooe The old wo up and doith a scared look and restless picking fingers, but the sight of Miss Morstan appeared to have a soothing effect upon her
”God bless your sweet calood to see you Oh, but I have been sorely tried this day!”
Our companion patted her thin, orn hand, and ht the color back into the others bloodless cheeks
”Master has locked himself in and will not answer me,” she explained ”All day I have waited to hear froo I feared that soh the key-hole You o up and look for yourself I have seen Mr Bartholo years, but I never saw him with such a face on him as that”
Sherlock Holmes took the lamp and led the way, for Thaddeus Sholto's teeth were chattering in his head So shaken was he that I had to pass my hand under his ar under him Twice as we ascended Holmes whipped his lens out of his pocket and carefully exaes of dust upon the cocoa-nutwhich served as a stair-carpet He walked slowly frolances to right and left Miss Morstan had rehtened housekeeper
The third flight of stairs ended in a straight passage of soreat picture in Indian tapestry upon the right of it and three doors upon the left Hol it in the same slow and methodical hile we kept close at his heels, with our long black shadows strea backwards down the corridor The third door was that which ere seeking Hol any answer, and then tried to turn the handle and force it open It was locked on the inside, however, and by a broad and powerful bolt, as we could see e set our la turned, however, the hole was not entirely closed Sherlock Holain with a sharp intaking of the breath
”There is so devilish in this, Watson,” said he, more moved than I had ever before seen him ”What do you make of it?”
I stooped to the hole, and recoiled in horror Moonlight was streaue and shi+fty radiance Looking straight at me, and suspended, as it were, in the air, for all beneath was in shadow, there hung a face,--the very face of our co head, the same circular bristle of red hair, the same bloodless countenance The features were set, however, in a horrible srin, which in that still andto the nerves than any scowl or contortion So like was the face to that of our little friend that I looked round at him to make sure that he was indeed with us Then I recalled to mind that he had mentioned to us that his brother and he were twins
”This is terrible!” I said to Holmes ”What is to be done?”
”The door ainst it, he put all his weight upon the lock It creaked and groaned, but did not yield Together we flung ourselves upon it once ave ith a sudden snap, and we found ourselves within Bartholomew Sholto's chamber
It appeared to have been fitted up as a chelass-stoppered bottles was drawn up upon the wall opposite the door, and the table was littered over with Bunsen burners, test-tubes, and retorts In the corners stood carboys of acid in wicker baskets One of these appeared to leak or to have been broken, for a stream of dark-colored liquid had trickled out froent, tar-like odor A set of steps stood at one side of the room, in the midst of a litter of lath and plaster, and above theh for acoil of rope was thrown carelessly together
By the table, in a wooden arm-chair, the master of the house was seated all in a heap, with his head sunk upon his left shoulder, and that ghastly, inscrutable smile upon his face He was stiff and cold, and had clearly been dead many hours It seemed to me that not only his features but all his limbs were twisted and turned in the most fantastic fashi+on By his hand upon the table there lay a peculiar instrurained stick, with a stone head like a hammer, rudely lashed on with coarse twine Beside it was a torn sheet of note-paper with solanced at it, and then handed it toof the eyebrows
In the light of the lantern I read, with a thrill of horror, ”The sign of the four”
”In God's name, what does it allover the dead man ”Ah, I expected it Look here!” He pointed to what looked like a long, dark thorn stuck in the skin just above the ear
”It looks like a thorn,” said I
”It is a thorn You may pick it out But be careful, for it is poisoned”
I took it up between er and thumb It came away from the skin so readily that hardly any mark was left behind One tiny speck of blood shohere the puncture had been
”This is all an insoluble rows darker instead of clearer”
”On the contrary,” he answered, ”it clears every instant I only require a fewlinks to have an entirely connected case”
We had alotten our companion's presence since we entered the cha in the door-way, the very picture of terror, wringing his hands andto himself Suddenly, however, he broke out into a sharp, querulous cry
”The treasure is gone!” he said ”They have robbed hih which ered it I helped him to do it! I was the last person who saw hiht, and I heard him lock the door as I came down-stairs”
”What time was that?”
”It was ten o'clock And now he is dead, and the police will be called in, and I shall be suspected of having had a hand in it Oh, yes, I aentlemen? Surely you don't think that it was I? Is it likely that I would have brought you here if it were I? Oh, dear! oh, dear! I know that I shall go mad!” He jerked his arms and stamped his feet in a kind of convulsive frenzy
”You have no reason for fear, Mr Sholto,” said Hol his hand upon his shoulder ”Take my advice, and drive down to the station to report this matter to the police Offer to assist them in every way We shall wait here until your return”
The little man obeyed in a half-stupefied fashi+on, and we heard hi down the stairs in the dark
Chapter VI