The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part 39 (1/2)
”'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine' He 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 He had set the engine at work The lamp still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when exa was co down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than rind ainst the door, and dragged with my nails at the lock I implored the colonel to letof the levers drownedwas only a foot or two above h surface Then it flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend very much upon the position in which I ht 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 shadoavering down upon ht soush of hope back towere 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 froh, and lay half-fainting upon the other side The panel had closed again behind me, but the crash of the la of the two slabs of metal, told me how narrow had been my escape
”I was recalled toatupon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, while a woed at ht It was the sa I had so foolishly rejected
”'Come! come!' she 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 tiered tostair 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 frouide stopped and looked about her like one who is at her wit's end Then she threw open a door which led into a bedroohtly
”'It is your only chance,' said she 'It is high, but it ht sprang into view at the further end of the passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark rushi+ng forith a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a butcher's cleaver in the other I rushed across the bedroo open the , and looked out How quiet and sweet and wholesoht, 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 she were ill-used, then at any risks I was deterht had hardly flashed throughhis way past her; but she threw her arms round him and tried to hold hilish, 'remember your proain He will be silent! Oh, he will be silent!'
”'You areto break away from her 'You will be the ruin of us He has seen too much Letto the , cut atby the hands to the sill, when his blow fell I was conscious of a dull pain, arden below
”I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I pickedthe bushes as hard as I could run, for I understood that I was far froer yet Suddenly, however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness calanced down atpainfully, and then, for the first time, saw thatfrom my wound I endeavoured to tieinthe rose-bushes
”How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell Itti when I came to myself My clothes were all sodden with dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood fro of it recalled in an instant all the particulars ofthat I ht hardly yet be safe from my pursuers But to my astonisharden were to be seen I had been lying in an angle of the hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower doas a long building, which proved, uponit, to be the very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night Were it not for the ugly wound upon ht have been an evil dream
”Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about thein less than an hour The same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I arrived I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Lysander Stark The naht before waiting for me? No, he had not Was there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three o, weak and ill as I was I deter my story to the police It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first to havehere I put the case into your hands and shall do exactly what you advise”
We both sat in silence for so to this extraordinary narrative Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down from the shelf one of the ponderous cos
”Here is an advertisement which will interest you,” said he ”It appeared in all the papers about a year ago Listen to this: 'Lost, on the 9th inst, Mr Jereineer Left his lodgings at ten o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since Was dressed in,' etc, etc Ha! That represents the last time that the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy”
”Good heavens!” cried irl said”
”Undoubtedly It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and desperateshould stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out pirates ill leave no survivor from a captured shi+p Well, every o down to Scotland Yard at once as a preli for Eyford”
Soether, bound froe
There were Sherlock Holineer, Inspector Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself
Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the seat and was busy with his co a circle with Eyford for its centre
”There you are,” said he ”That circle is drawn at a radius of ten e The place ant must be somewhere near that line You said ten ood drive”
”And you think that they brought you back all that hen you were unconscious?”
”Theybeen lifted and conveyed somewhere”
”What I cannot understand,” said I, ”is why they should have spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden
Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties”
”I hardly think that likely I never saw a more inexorable face in my life”